America's greatest sensational tabloid was closed down. I'm not sure why. On this page is a note from one of the managing editors.


pax hominibus,
joel

I know that the video game part of this is a year old or so, but I'm going to comment on it anyway, since there's some new information.

I'm a Christian who advocates non-violence, especially in the real world.

There's a video game based off of the "Left-Behind" series of Christian books, in which the player is supposed to control an army that kills off the minions of the Anti-Christ. The big problem I have with this is two-fold. First, its emulating something that evangelical Christians are actually expecting to happen IN REAL LIFE. In other words, prepare to kill these people with beliefs different than yours. Second, it's based on the common video game scheme of KILLING "THE OTHER," whomever that adversary may be.

Often when I'm playing video games (I like the old-school dungeons and dragons type partly because they can be and remain in fantasy), I recognize the character I'm playing, is supposedly fighting for the side of "good" according to the storyline, fighting off orcs, goblins, and other obviously-evil foes. If you've been reading what I've been teaching/saying/singing, the existence of "the Other" is much akin to the existence of "the Adversary." Regarding who is the Adversary, we make the distinction ourselves, or with the help of our advisors/ministers/sacred-texts. Again, if you've been reading my blog, you know that "the Adversary," is a way of distinguishing "the Devil." And in so doing, we search for ways to demonize other peoples whose customs, foods, cultures, and/or technologies, are things we don't understand or trust, whom we would call orcs, goblins, sorcerers, dragons, etc... .boo!!

In my theology, the Devil only exists for those who point their finger in his/His/her/Her/gher/Gher direction (the adversary/Adversary/enemy/Enemy). In a way, that statement only adds fuel to the fire for those who operate from within the type of biblical understanding associated with Left-Behind thinking. I have a feeling they will claim the age-old adage "the devil's greatest trick is to convince you He doesn't exist."* If they can get past that, and understand that they are creating/propagating enemies, we can get to a unified community. In the meantime, they'll be what I will hereafter refer to as FBS Christians. If you claim to be Christian, and preach hate toward those who you're taught are "other," you're an FBS Christian. If you claim to be Christian, and make minor attempts to help your neighbor, by giving a little into an offering plate each week, but spend triple that amount on payments for a first, second, or third car, that's FBS Christianity.

*of course the devil's trump trick played upon being pointed out (by both Jesus and Mohammed, may peace and blessings be upon them) is to convince you that He is God, and that His adversary's name is "the Adversary".

If you're ready to take up arms against people you fear (note the current reason for the U.S. war with Iraq (and maybe Iran) is that They *might* do Us harm. (and meanwhile, We ARE doing Them harm. And from the title, the "Violent War for Christians" I mention is that the Christians are embracing our fighting troops, with support from the U.S. Department of Defense. This group, called Operation Straight Up, with a motto on their front page of "Until every soldier hears the truth" is going to go to Iraq and provide Bob Hope style entertainment, mixing in a strong dose of Christian prosyletizing. Let it be known that they do NOT have my support. Soldiers everywhere have my support, in that I want them to have a wonderful life and not be surrounded by hellish war, inner spiritual turmoil/devastation, and bloodshed. But any people trying to further polemicize an already ideological war have no support from me. They are FBS Christians.

My wife is calling me, and mad. I'm not supposed to be blogging right now, gotta clean the house for visitors. Gotta go.

lyrics: Kiss them for me. - Siouxsie and the Banshees.

colors: Red, White, Blue, and YOU!

mood: Patriotic, and upset, and hopeful.

chant/prayer/mantra: Love one another. May we remember at least that. Blessed be.


pax hominibus,
joel

Today at th DFW airport: people scowl or look away nervously. In my eyes, i am just another guy with a mohawk.... Ju

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i knew i had passed 1000, but had no idea i'd found so many in the last fourteen months...

sorry the formatting is kind of funky, but i'm not going to take the trouble to fix it. actually, it's way funky. please think of this as an opportunity to experience a page with a whole lot of white space, and extra breathing room for the eyeballs.

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J
1		YEAR				COIN
2			Penny	(Phila)	(Denver)	Nickel	Dime	Quarter	Other	Foreign
3		1940				1
4		1949	1		x(wheat)
5		1950
6		1951
7		1952
8		1953	1		x
9		1954
10		1955
11		1956
12		1957
13		1958
14		1959	1	x
15		1960	2		x
16		1961	3		x
17		1962				1
18		1963	6		x
19		1964	8		x	1
20		1965			No mint marks		2	1
21		1966	6	x	No mint marks		1	1
22		1967	2	x	No mint marks		3
23		1968	7		x		1			1 Canadian dime
24		1969	12		x		1
25		1970	9	x	x		1	1
26		1971	6		x
27		1972	11	x	x	1	1
28		1973	12	x	x	1		1
29		1974	16	x	x			3	1 half-dollar	1 Canadian penny
30		1975	16	x	x	2	3			1 one-pfenning (1pf)
31		1976	18	x	x	1	2	1
32		1977	11	x	x	1	1	1
33		1978	18	x	x		1		1 half-dollar	1 2pf
34		1979	18	x	x		1	2	2 SBA	1 1pf
35		1980	15	x	x	1	2	1		1 dutch 10-cent
36		1981	15	x	x	1	3	1
37		1982	23	x	x	2		1
38		1983	26		x	1	2	3		1 schilling
39		1984	26	x	x	1	2	3
40		1985	10	x	x	2	1
41		1986	17	x	x	2	2	4
42		1987	21	x	x	1	5	2
43		1988	22	x	x	1	4	1		1 Can dime
44		1989	28	x	x	1	4	1
45		1990	27	x	x		9	3
46		1991	17	x	x	1		3		1 1pf, 1 2pf
47		1992	23	x	x	2	6
48		1993	17	x	x	1	1	1		1 Can cent
49		1994	35	x	x		11	3		2 2pf
50		1995	31	x	x	4	12			1 2pf, 1 1pf, 1 5-centime
51		1996	26	x	x	3	13	2		1 10pf, 2 1pf
52		1997	25	x	x	2	4	1
53		1998	42	x	x	2	1	2
54		1999	33	x	x	1	6	2
55		2000	42	x	x	3	6	6		1 pence, 1 2-Euro
56		2001	18	x	x	2	4	2
57		2002	19	x	x	1	5	1
58		2003	15	x	x		4
59		2004	18	x	x	1	2	1		1 euro-cent
60		2005	23	x	x	2	3	2		1 Can cent
61		2006	31	x	x		5	4
62		2007	5	x	x		1
63		2008
64		2009
65		2010
66		Unidentified Mutilated	14				1			1
67		TOTAL COUNT	848			47	137	61	4	24
68
69		ALL COINS	1121

lyrics: get down make love(live), by nine inch nails (originally by queen
and head like a hole(live), also by nine inch nails

colors: copper, nickel, zinc

mood: gooey

chant/prayer/mantra: meditation on what is love.


pax hominibus,
joel

The TH!NK two-seater electric vehicle is to hit markets around Europe in 2008, and then some test markets in the U.S. in 2009. The limiting factors for the U.S.? The danger posed by all the giant cars on the roads, and a less well-developed electric fueling station infrastructure.

Read the link above, and see some of the brilliant innovations it will include (e.g. your car will email you when it needs a tune-up, and if the electric company is short on electricity, your car's battery can send some back).

AND California's own Pacific Gas and Electric (and other electricity providers) will be able to buy your car's battery when it no longer has the juice it used to (and consequently no longer has as much range as it did when new), and can use them for energy storage to fulfill peak demands.

pax hominibus,
joel