An amazing Christmas Light Display

I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like this--it is only about an hour from my house, so I may try to go see it. According to the site I first heard about this, "This display was the work of Carson Williams of Mason, Ohio, who spent about three hours sequencing the 88 Light-O-Rama channels that control the 16,000 Christmas lights in his 2004 holiday lighting spectacular. The musical accompaniment is broadcast over a low-power radio station so that it is only audible to visitors tuned in to the correct frquency and doesn't disturb the neighbors." (Hat tip--www.snopes.com)

What's love, er, chemistry got to do with it?

Love may be a "second hand emotion" as the old song goes, but this article tells us that it's also a pretty amazing bit of molecular chemistry, too. Now that we know what's going on, when will be be able to bottle and sell this?

I am a Numenorean!

Numenorean

To which race of Middle Earth do you belong?

Off We Go

I'm sitting in Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, along with Scott, as the two of us are on the way to India to serve with IMI. Leaving Dayton was uneventful, though a little late. We walked through two concourses to immediately board our Detroit flight. After dinner, I took a sleeping pill to rest, and slept quite well until we were just an hour from Amsterdam. I am thankful to be rested.

Some observations from this airport--
I hate Euros (the money, not the people), especially since one is worth $1.25. So, when you see good prices on things here, they really aren't.
The international airport signs here, and just about everywhere, are bright yellow. Why?
My last trip here reminded me that this is a very sin-soaked city, and proud of it. I'm glad I'm in transit. I know that there are probably wonderful people here and things to see, but I just don't have the desire right now.
I may buy a bag of tulip bulbs on the way home, it would be cool in our new garden out front to see some tulips come up in the spring, and to know that they were from Holland!
I got a double espresso here, and probably paid too much. Never mind--it is probably the last good coffee I'll have for a few weeks. The sacrifices we make!!!
Seriously, Scott and I are getting excited about the work we will be doing with IMI. This is Scott's first time out of the country (not counting Mexico), and he knows he'll learn a lot. This is my first visit to India, and I am excited to be a part of training men on the front lines of the advance of the Gospel. It will be me that learns more in this time, I am sure.
I wish Kathy and the kids were with me, but I know that they will do just fine there. Everyone there, look in on them, will you? Thanks! I don't know how often I'll get access like this--but I'll try to post some pictures as we go along, and also to keep you aware of how to pray. Right now, pray for the safe conclusion of the journey and for the chance to see God work in a mighty way as we take up our opportunities there.

A Proper End to a Bad Episode
Go here to read that Doug Wead, former friend of President Bush, has apologized for releasing tapes he made years ago where then Governor Bush was discussing how he would approach personal questions about his past in seeking the presidency. This has been a particularly sad episode, because Mr. Wead is an evangelical Christian and apparently a minister who, nevertheless, secretly recorded conversations and then released them without permission. I cannot for the life of me think of a reason that could have been used for a Christian to justify this behavior, and I am pleased that it is being disowned by Mr. Wead himself. Now, will the media cover this as they have covered the release?

Bloggers in Need of Protection
I would encourage anyone who might look here to follow this link to a site dedicated to protecting those whose blogging has endangered their freedom or their lives. Currently two Iranian bloggers are facing long prison terms, and public pressure may be the only weapon (outside of prayer) that might free them. Committee to Protect Bloggers

Rain, Traffic, and Strange Justice
I was driving in to my office today from a breakfast appointment when I discovered I was no longer driving. It seems all roads from our suburban paradise to the BIG CITY where most people work had water, mud, or a lack of driveable pavement due to the recent storms that have inundated our area. So, everyone within a 50 mile radius had descended on the one road that goes right by our church and my office. Nearly 30 minutes to go less than two miles is almost a record here.

While sitting on the road, I heard Laura Ingraham (www.lauraingraham.com) on her morning show discussing a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court--a 6-2 ruling against California's prison administrators and their system of segregating prisoners racially due to gang violence among those in custody. My thoughts were,

1. Who sued to bring this case to court--an Aryan Brotherhood member who was concerned that he couldn't bunk with a Crip?
2. While segregation as a societal practice is evil, doesn't the protection of those incarcerated also count for something?
3. Don't certain civil rights get curtailed when one is a felon and in jail?
4. Do the six justices who voted against this policy believe they are making people safer (one of government's responsibilities), or is this actually an evil plot to increase the number of deaths in prison?

If there were some clear pattern of abuse of prisoners by guards based on race, or if the claim were that segregated populations were being treated differently, this would be a different matter. But to remove the ability of the prison officials charged with maintaining a safe and orderly environment to separate groups based on a real danger seems, in my view, to be the unhinging of reason from social policy.

I'm staking my claim on a little bit o' turf here in the blogosphere--what I wind up doing with it might take some time to figure out, but "nothing ventured, nothing gained."