From glass alabaster she poured out the depths of her
soul. O foot of Christ would you wait if her harlotries
known? falls a tear to darken the dirt. Of humblest
offerings to forgive the hurt. She is strong enough to stand
in your love. I can hear her say..I am weak. I am poor, I'm
broken Lord but I'm yours. Hold me Now. Hold me Now.
Let he without sin cast the first stone if you will. To say
that my bride isn't worth half the blood that I've spilled.
Point your finger and laugh if you choose to say my
beloved is borrowed and used (chorus)

Listening to Jennifer Knapp today. I am being reminded that I too need to be pouring out the depths of my soul. It has been too long since I have humbled myself at His feet, too long since...

Properties of gold

A little piece from Lambert Dolphin's website at www.ldolphin.org

Gold has been known since the dawn of mankind. Not long after the creation of the earth, the book of Genesis records that the gold found in the land of Havilah "is good." There are 358 references to gold in the Bible, the last of which makes reference to the heavenly city. Only in recent years has a process been discovered for casting gold in transparent form and in gold-plating glass. Scripture records the amount of gold used in adorning the great temple Solomon built in Jerusalem 3000 years ago. It's 3750 tons of gold would be worth over 45 billion dollars today!

Gold has an atomic number 79 and an atomic weight of 196.9665. Gold is 19.3 times heavier than water, melts at 1063 degrees Centigrade, and is the most malleable and ductile of all the elements. One ounce of this metal (slighter more than a cubic centimeter) may be beaten into 300 square feet of gold leaf. Gold can be fired by a potter into clays to produce exquisitely beautiful porcelain or glass.

Gold is chemically quite inert. No single acid dissolves it. It is unaffected by oxygen or hydrogen sulfide. Gold does not rust, tarnish, corrode, crumble, decompose or decay, even after centuries on the sea floor or in a damp dripping cavern. Gold is found in nature principally as a free metal in veins of quartz, or in alluvial (placer) deposits resulting from the breakup of such rock. Gold in nature typically contains 10 to 15 percent silver in solid solution; it may also contain copper, iron, or more rarely bismuth, tin, lead, platinum, palladium, or iridium. Electrum is the usual name applied to gold containing a high silver content. Gold sometimes occurs in nature in combination with tellurium in the mineral sylvanite. Gold chlorides and cyanides also occur more rarely.

Gold is number 81 down on a list of the atomic elements in terms of relative abundance in the universe and has been highly prized for jewelry and coins since the dawn of mankind. Gold is economically mined today by open pit methods (for example in Nevada and California) even though the gold content is somewhat less than 0.1 ounce per ton of waste rock. The famous gold mines of South Africa are more than a mile deep. Gold is often recovered as a by-product of other metal mining, for example copper or lead. The total amount of gold mined in the world in the history of mankind amounts to less than 90,000 tons. If this gold were all collected together it would fit into a cube only 58 feet on a side! Total gold production per year in the world is less than 2000 tons of which about two-thirds comes from South Africa, 30% from the Soviet Union, 4% from Canada and 3% from the United States. Perhaps only 40,000 tons of gold remains in the earth yet to be mined.

Five stories below the ground at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York City is an enormous, compartmentalized vault holding some 10,000 metric tons of gold worth $117 billion - the gold reserves of some 50 nations.

The "London Good Delivery Bar," which is the standard bar used in international trade, weighs 400 ounces troy. One troy ounce is equal to 1.09714 regular (avoirdupois) ounces. These bars have a refiner name, a bar number, and other information stamped on them, and the minimum fineness must be .995, or 99.5% pure gold.

Gold leaf is widely used for lettering names on glass, for building ornamentation and gilding. In 1986 the Statue of Liberty was refurbished with 6000 squares of gold leaf. 250,000 leaves of gold can be stacked into a pile only one inch high.

Gold is a good electrical conductor - almost identical with that of aluminum and not far from silver and copper. Because of its high atomic stability gold emits no particles or rays from its nucleus. It enters into almost no chemical reactions at room temperature and therefore is impossible to detect at a distance by a remote sensing or a chemical-sniffing method.

In the United States about one-fifth of the annual production, that is about 47 metric tons, is used for electronics where superior electrical conductivity and corrosion resistance are required. Gold can be vacuum deposited on glass or plastic to make heat reflecting windows or sunglasses of superior optical screening properties.

Gold can be detected close up (for instance on the sea floor) using neutron activation. However this technique involving the use of a radioactive isotope and sensitive detectors is not much used today. The claims of some amateur prospectors that gold can be detected at a distance by a "molecular frequency detector" are unfounded according to all known legitimate science. Success, if any, obtained with one of these devices (which are in a class similar to dowsing or water-witching methods) can not be explained by any principle known to science today.

While relatively scarce on earth, gold is apparently more common than brick or asphalt in God's Eternal City, the New Jerusalem, "The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, clear as glass...And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass." (Revelation 21:18, 21)

You Decide: Verdict

We had a split group. Eaglewood and Ian stating not guilty. Roci and Arielle finding guilty. Wes and Ted saying he is in for trouble with the cops either way, and Triton wanting more info possibly coming down on either side accordingly.

Well here is the way the jury saw it. Not Guilty.

“The fact that the group was not leaving and continued to engage Mr. Hill,” the foreman wrote in an e-mail to The Gazette, “led us to determine that it was reasonable for Mr. Hill to believe that the group of assailants might use physical force against him.”

“Although Mr. Knott was in his vehicle, there was no credible evidence that Mr. Knott was leaving,” the foreman wrote, adding that testimony showed some of the people were still outside a car yelling at Hill.

In an interview after the verdict, the foreman said the law offers no clear “line” where an intruder must be before deadly force can be used.

The foreman, who asked not to be identified because he feared for his family’s safety, said the way the [Colorado’s Homeowners Protection Act] is written made a guilty verdict impossible.

“All four criteria for the use of deadly force against an intruder were met,” he wrote.

The law CRS 18-1-704.5 states

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 18-1-704, any occupant of a dwelling is justified in using any degree of physical force, including deadly physical force, against another person when that other person has made an unlawful entry into the dwelling, and when the occupant has a reasonable belief that such other person has committed a crime in the dwelling in addition to the uninvited entry, or is committing or intends to commit a crime against a person or property in addition to the uninvited entry, and when the occupant reasonably believes that such other person might use any physical force, no matter how slight, against any occupant.

(3) Any occupant of a dwelling using physical force, including deadly physical force, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2) of this section shall be immune from criminal prosecution for the use of such force.

(4) Any occupant of a dwelling using physical force, including deadly physical force, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2) of this section shall be immune from any civil liability for injuries or death resulting from the use of such force.

According to the foreman all 4 criteria were met.
1.) Unlawful entry.
2.) Reasonable belief a crime has been commited.
3.) Reasonable belief of intent to commit a crime against his person.
4.) Reasonable belief physical force (however slight) might be used against him.

It is interesting that there are so many quotes by the family of the deceased about jurors "rot[ing] in hell" and letting Hill get "away with murder" In fact a pastor of the deceased (Knott) spoke of how he was such a wonderful boy. Left out of all their comments is how Knott was demonstrably committing a crime, and a violent one at that. If indeed Knott was such a wonderful person, why had he just assualted a sleeping person? Were I to lose a loved one after they had done something as inherently dangerous as that, I would grieve but I would also realize that he had brought such a fate upon himself. If ya hadnt figured out, I am for not guilty.

Thanks all for participating. It is interesting to see where y'all stand given a brief scenario. I might have to do this again.

You Decide

Here is the scenario. Bob has a party at his house, gets into an arguement with Jill over a stolen purse, Jill punches Bob. Bob grabs a rifle and makes Jill and her friend Jenny leave. Jill and Jenny threaten to come back with their boyfriends.

Later that night, Jill and Jenny come back with their boyfriends, Joe and Rick. The four find Bob in his room sleeping and assault him. Jill punches Bob in the face (this time using brass knuckles) The four head out to the car after promising to come back (again), Bob grabs his rifle and goes to the front door. Bob shoots and kills Joe who was sitting in the car. Some of the group was at this time standing outside of the car yelling at Bob. There is no indication of if Bob was shooting at Joe in particular or missed someone else and hit Joe. Night, distance approx 90 feet.

Your verdict?

Wind-Power

Our power company sends out a little newsletter/magazine and I found an interesting item on wind-power. For starters, it provides a whopping 0.1% of the energy used in America. It lists wood and water as providing the remainder of the 6.1% that is from renewable sources.

To give an idea of how much land would need to be dedicated to wind farms it gave this factoid. The city of Denver would require 1500 square miles of land to meet it's power requirement. And that is just Denver, not the metro area.

Housecleaning

Just did some tidying up here at my cyber-home. You may notice some changes and other maybe not.

Blogroll Additions: Eaglewood, his wife Birdie, and Astrosmith. Also added the Colorado Springs' Gazette's "Out There" blog.

Pics

uh oh, I have figured out the whole image thing...

Anyways, I thought I would test it with some good ol' Calvin.

Pierced

Got pierced yesterday. The verdict is not yet in on whether or not I like it, but the Wife thinks it looks good.

Sorry, but I wont be posting pics of it!

Ted & Abortion

Concerning abortion Ted writes

*long, disgusted sigh*
I repeat the favorite prayer of Ruby Jeanette Burns: "God, save us from the freaking do-gooders! Amen."
Ted | Homepage | 12.02.05 - 10:12 pm | #

and

Speaking of black-robed (child-molesting, idol-worshipping) priests being judicial activists, the Hawaii law is Biblically spot-on (Genesis 2:7) which is much more than can be said for the Papist lies of the anti-choice crowd!

I never actually refered to a single religious text, Christian or otherwise, but since Ted provided us a Scripture I decided to compare this to Hawaiian law. Genesis 2:7 tells us that G-d formed man from dust and breathed life into him (For the sake of argument we'll assume Ted is stating this is a "person".) Hawaiian law defines "person" as "a human being who has been born and is alive." HRS § 707-700 This would tend to contradict the assumption that Hawaiian law is more biblically accurate as Adam was not indeed "born" and therefore was not a person.

The more I see our Senators, Reps and Presidents cavorting with "his hellyness" and the Vatican's backward-collared sith-lords, the more I'm led to believe separation of Cult and state is a good idea that's long overdue.

When cavorting, does one suppose our politicians are cavorting with the Pope? There are some that I think we can take off the list, such as Kennedy who would rather spend time with a bottle and a woman (willing or not) and those whose only thought is how to get re-elected (far far too many of them) What of the rest? Planned Parenthood gives a score of 47.8 for the Senate, and the Republicans put in for (and passed) a $60 million increase for Planned Parenthood. That alone shows little love for the Catholics. What else is there... Evolution in schools, condoms handed out and even demonstrated in schools, books such as "heather has two mommies", and sex questionaires for elementry children. Lets add to that the victories of groups such as the ACLU and PAW in removing religion from public life. Oh yeah, lets not forget good ol' Bush not saying anything about Christmas in his holiday cards. Honestly, the Pope must be the weakest world dictator ever.

And I think I will leave it up to Triton to explain the separation of church and state which is nowhere to be found in the Constitution or Declaration of Independence.

And PLEASE don't come at me with out-of-context quotes from Isaiah or Jeremiah and freaking "what-if!!!"s.
Ted | Homepage | 12.12.05 - 8:43 am | #

Wasn't necessary and I still havent brought up religion.

Difster's "Best Of"

Most of you already stop by Difster's blog but for those of you who don't or those who havent stopped by, you should check out this post. Ya just might find a new favorite blogger.

Difster's Best Of

Blood for Oil

Remember the "No blood for oil" slogans?
Wes

There is a little store downtown that has a campaign running right now...

"Blood For Oil"

Seems they are giving oil to those who donate blood.

Of miseducation and Ipods

I came across an interesting story in the local paper from this past sunday. It states that the students of this alternative school get free Ipods for good attendence. Not good grades, attendence. First off, where was this school when I was in jai... school? You might also be wondering where they get the money for such things. After all, schools are notorious for never having enough funding right? After all, there arent enough books to go around, bands, arts and sports are forever on the verge of being axed, and of course teachers make poverty wages. Well wonder no more. Our good friends at the NEA have helped us to answer such questions.


The good folk at the NEA have compiled a list of the pertinent data. The average per student funding across the nation is a measly eight thousand six hundred eighteen dollars ($8618.) How can anyone expect to get an education for such a small sum of money? And how can one expect to get good teachers when the average wage is on $47,808? After all the national average is $35,648.55 (per the SSA)

So lets see, the average wage for a teacher is 34% higher than that of, well, everyone else (and that does include teachers so that SSA # should be lower) and the publik schools get 229%+ what private schools get ($3757: $3267 in 2000, adding a 15% increase we come up with an estimated $3757 for 2005)

Exactly where is the problem? And why are we continually told there is no money for supplies and extracurricular activities? And why do these children perform so poorly?

And perhaps more importantly than all this is where is my taxpayer purchased Ipod?

Abortion

Well, I thought I was going to post about abortion. but now that I am sitting here trying to do it, I can't come up with anything new to say. I was going to bring up this price list for "harvested" parts. Or perhaps how Hawaii now says it is okay for a woman to harm the baby while it is still in the womb. Perhaps a study of how women who have had abortions have a much higher rate of breast cancer. Perhaps I could write on how abortions are done(caution!), or how the fetus is its own unique being from conception.

I could write upon the negative mental effects, or the various harmful physical aspects. Or how an abortion damages a woman's ability to have children in the future. I could write upon the various pro-abortion political parties, or on Planned Parenthood. Or maybe how it has been proven that PP will conceal a crime to get an abortion? But if I mention PP then perhaps I should go into how it was started by Margaret Sanger who was a leading Eugenics proponent and how PP still "caters" to the minority community.

All in all, it seems that I cant find anything new to write, so I guess I just wont. Have a good weekend y'all!

**Update**
It is now found that women who had an abortion have a 248% greater risk of commiting suicide in the following year versus women who did not. Seems there is one good thing from socialized medicine... centralized records which can be utilized by huge studies.

End Of The Econ Series

Since this blog has been completely overwhelmed by the response to the econ series, I am temporarily suspending any such further posts until we can increase the available bandwidth.

Supply

Continuing on the Econ topic I wanted to addresss the issue of Supply. That of course being one part of the Supply/Demand equation but also something else. The amount of a resource that is available.

When looking at the supply of a resource we often think in terms of "how much." As in, there are X barrels of oil left. Well, economically speaking, this is not a good line of thinking. When we say X what we really mean is that is what is economically feasible to harvest. We may be aware that there is a one ton deposit of platinum (worth approx 32 million today) deep in the crust but it may cost so much more to mine it that it wouldnt be counted in the supply. Same with any natural resource.
So X is really X+Y with Y being the stuff that isnt economically feasible to mine.

So is X+Y the sum total of all of the resource to be found in the earth? If one were to say that all the oil in the earth is X+Y one would still be incorrect from an economic standpoint (Tho perhaps not from a technical standpoint). Why? Because of new technologies and new applications. Take copper. It once had to be laid out by the truckload to handle our communications needs and looking at the forecasts of the day one would be led to believe that conservation is a must. But looking at the scene today one sees a very different picture. We now broadcast much of our communications thru fiber optics or even thru the air.

Oil is a common concern perhaps even a primary concern today but it too is not irreplacable. I found today this post on Aldogg's site. It talks of a company making plastics from corn sugars. By and large plastic has been made by the conversion of natural products or by syththesis from primary chemicals coming from oil, natural gas or coal. (Plasticresource.com) Because of the lower cost of oil this company was only able to get companies who wanted to be more "green" but with the cost of oil going up so steeply this past year this company's sales have gone up over 200%.

So in summary, the true value of X far exceeds that of the sum total of X+Y. If/when the cost of X goes up Z will inevitably come in and pick up the slack. There is always a plan B, we just won't see it until that plan becomes cost effective.

Deflationary fears

I was flipping thru the Wall Street Journal from last Sunday and came across a rather annoying quote. I dont remember who said it but he stated he was worried about deflation occuring next year. Leaving aside the whole Federal Reserve (which has kept us above 3% inflation since before I was born) I want to tackle the issue of deflation.

For the purpose of this and probable future posts I am going to define some terms.
Deflation: Less money, each unit worth more
Recession: A drop in the GDP for two or more consecutive quarters
Inflation: More money, each unit worth less
Stagnation: High unemployment
Stagflation: High inflation coupled with high unemployment (stagnation)
Depression: A period where business activity drops signifigantly

Currently the Fed is pursuing a policy of constant "controlled" inflation. Inflation is where you add to the supply of money which, after a few transactions, devalues all of the money in the supply. Your parents will tell you that they could fill a whole paper bag full of candy for $1 but because of inflation that isnt possible now. Inflation is due entirely to banks. Individuals cannot cause inflation.

Now deflation is basically the opposite. As the money supply contracts each unit of money becomes worth more. Were deflation to take place you might one day tell your kids it used to cost $25 to fill a bag of candy whereas they might be able to fill it for $1. Where inflation cannot be caused by individuals, deflation can be. A reduction in spending and/or an increase in savings. Banks can also cause deflation by printing money at less than the replacement level. Deflation can lead to a temporary reduction in jobs as the market adjusts to the higher purchasing power of each dollor. (Look at it from the boss's perspective. The income could be less than last year even tho more units and real profit could have been made. After all, it is numbers not actual value they are looking at.)

Deflation is basically unheard of. There is no way the people who benefit most from inflation would stop it. Who is it that benefits most from inflation? The Federal Gov. The FedGov is the first "person" to get to spend that money, before it causes a devaluation of the whole supply. They also do it to the tune of billions weekly, but I digress.

Adopting a policy of controlled deflation would be a great thing for our economy, or even just keeping the money at a replacement level. With "I-believe-inflation-is-good" Bernanke taking the helm of the Fed soon all those with unfounded fears of deflation can breath a sigh of relief.

Depression In Men

found an interesting article from the LA Times on "male-based depression"

Some depressed men may be plagued by impotence and loss of sexual interest, but others may become wildly promiscuous. Many complain of depression’s physical symptoms — sleep troubles, fatigue, headaches or stomach distress — without ever discerning their psychological source. Compared with women suffering depression, depressed men are more likely to behave recklessly, drink heavily or take drugs, drive fast or seek out confrontation.

Depressed men may bully and bluster and accuse those around them of failing them. For many men, anger — a masculine emotion that one “manages” rather than succumbs to — is a mask for deep mental anguish. “That’s their way of weeping,” says psychologist William Pollack, director of the Centers for Men and Young Men at McLean Hospital in suburban Boston.
“It’s embarrassing to be sad,” he says. “And the difference between being sad and lazy is hard to distinguish.”

Neither tears nor indolence, it seems, are manly virtues.
“Depression equals vulnerability and shame and lack of functioning. That takes away the man’s masculinity — and for men, that takes away the sense of self,” says Pollack, author of “Real Boys: Rescuing Our Sons from the Myths of Boyhood.” In the American ethos, Pollack says, “a man who’s vulnerable is not even a man any more. . . . It’s the equivalent of being psychologically castrated.”

...behave recklessly, ... drive fast or seek out confrontation. check check and check. Its an issue that doesnt ever quite go away but it isnt really a problem for me anymore. Hope none of you knows anyone who is depressed, but this is good info to have.

Battle Hymn Of The Republic

it just seems appropriate today

Julia Ward Howe

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored,
He has loosed the fateful lightening of His terrible swift sword
His truth is marching on.

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps
His day is marching on.

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnish`d rows of steel,
"As ye deal with my contemners, So with you my grace shall deal;"
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel
Since God is marching on.

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

Unavailable

I am setting my Blog to "Away" for the next week or so. I will be checking blogs but not doing much in the blogosphere.

Ya'll take care

Shalom

Response to Roci

This is from a conversation over at Wes's Blog in the comments.

Roci writes

1. China should not be underestimated. They should be exploited. We are doing that quite nicely now.

Are we truly exploiting China? I doubt they see it that way. In fact, they have continued to help us out by not floating their monetary system which would cause huge upheavals in our economy.

2. China's submarines are quieter than our because they can't leave port under their own power. They are refurbed russian boats. We know where they are, all the time. If they come to blows with us, they won't survive long enough to be a threat. Sound is not everything.

Part of the problem (or benefit) of subs is that you dont know where they are. Sub detection technology is still very limited, and with oceans so big they are nearly impossible to find. And according to Richard Fisher, Jr., a China weapons expert and vice president of the International Assessment and Strategy Center, said China's submarine development was comparable enough to U.S. technology to be a legitimate threat. "The Type 094 will constitute the first reliable Chinese second [nuclear] strike capability," he said.

3. National debt is meaningless. What will happen when the money runs out? Ask Alexander Hamilton. He was secretary of the treasury the last time we had a balanced budget. Money is just paper. The national debt, more paper. We have lots of trees and can make a LOT of paper.

We most certainly can make a lot of paper. The problem is, who wants paper? Right now a lot of people do, and will trade for it. But paper is just that. Paper. As it has no intrinsic value it is only worth what others would give for it. Hyper inflation can and has happened in the past and can very well happen to us. As one notable example, hyper-inflation in post WWI Weimar Republic (Germany) was so horrific that by 1923 it cost 5 million marks to mail a letter.

4. The rate of inflation is a guess. Maybe it is right. A monthly rate is meaningless.

Rate of Inflation is not a guess. on 8/1/05 x = $100.00 then on 9/1/05 x = $101.90 Indeed that isnt much but that is just one month. And while it isnt wise to say that one months inflation will carry out for the whole year, once it is there it doesnt go away. (when was the last time you heard of deflation happening?)

5. 20 million man army in china? Who cares? How far can they swim? Gee that means we might have to use 5% of our nuclear arsenal.

The original point was that China isnt some 3rd world country. China is currently a top user of every commodity and will soon surpass the US in every single one for those it hasnt already. That isnt a weakness. Once they become the top consumer it would be wise of them to float their money and adjust it to its actual worth which is higher than it is now. What would that mean? It would mean that China could purchase at an even higher rate (causing us to pay more via the iron law of Supply & Demand) and bye-bye cheap imports for the US. We face more threats than simply militarily or from terrorists. Economics is going to be what takes this country down. Odd how that happens when countries become socialist.

I leave with this quote

"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." -- Thomas Jefferson in 1802 in a letter to then Secretary of the Treasury, Albert Gallatin