One item crossed my path today that grabbed me and bugged me. Item one, media bias in the reporting of the words of any public, conservative person, this time William Bennett, to promote the idea that conservative people are foolish, racist and unworthy of consideration.
First, the currently popular book, Freakanomics, promotes a view of the world not fully understood by many casual reviewers and the section on crime demographics and abortion is particularly problematic as Bill Bennet found out today. He commented that the book hypothesizes that the increase in abortion has contributed to the decline in crime in America. He went on to theoretically comment that abortions of black males would reduce the crime rate. He carefully extended his comment to include the statements that such an idea is morally wrong, empty of any value and reprehensible.
The author of the book responded to Bill Bennett's comments on the authors blog.
http://www.freakonomics.com/2005/09/bill-bennett-and-freakonomics.html
Then the 24 hour news system of America picked up his remarks and edited them down to just the salacious words with no context and began to condem the man as a racist pig on the far right of the spectrum.
The entire little episode seems to show up the new media and reporting style more the the possible poor choice of words on talk radio. It also follows on the heals of the news medias cheerful and entirely wrong reporting of all the rapes and assaults and murders and chaos in the New Orleans Superdome that never actually happend. Never mind checking the facts or getting it right. Getting it first, fast and emotionally is what keeps the viewers. Issue the corrections later.
Friday, September 30, 2005
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Mt Sinai, Ron Wyatt and pseudo archeology
> http://www.jimandpenny.com/en/
As always I am interested and thrilled by new ideas and
theories regarding history and the Bible. The above web site
is the story of an American family in Saudi Arabia and their
journeys into the desert in search of Mount Sinai in Arabia
instead of in the Sinai region of Egypt. Very interesting.
I do not remember just where, on the web I am sure, but I
have seen pictures of this same mountain in Arabia and read
the story of others who have found this mountain and feel
that it fits the description and image of Sinai better then
the "traditional" site to the north and west.
But I am dissapointed that this family, and others, have
relied on the writings and theories of Ron Wyatt, the
deceased and completely debunked self made researcher who
said he solved all the big puzzles of Bible geography before
he died.
http://www.wyattmuseum.com/
Ron Wyatt was a busy man who over a number of years
discovered:
Noah's Ark
Sodom and Gomorrah
Mt. Sinai
The Red Sea crossing site
Ark of the Covenant
Blood on the Ark mercy seat
How the pyramids were built
The golden calf alter
And other wonderful discoveries too wonderful to discuss....
This site which argues against Ron Wyatt discoveries
describes him as, "a devout Seventh Day Adventist."
http://www.isitso.org/guide/wyatt.html
All three sites above are interesting reading with the
standard disclaimer that since it is on the internet let the
reader beware and draw your own conclusions.
As always I am interested and thrilled by new ideas and
theories regarding history and the Bible. The above web site
is the story of an American family in Saudi Arabia and their
journeys into the desert in search of Mount Sinai in Arabia
instead of in the Sinai region of Egypt. Very interesting.
I do not remember just where, on the web I am sure, but I
have seen pictures of this same mountain in Arabia and read
the story of others who have found this mountain and feel
that it fits the description and image of Sinai better then
the "traditional" site to the north and west.
But I am dissapointed that this family, and others, have
relied on the writings and theories of Ron Wyatt, the
deceased and completely debunked self made researcher who
said he solved all the big puzzles of Bible geography before
he died.
http://www.wyattmuseum.com/
Ron Wyatt was a busy man who over a number of years
discovered:
Noah's Ark
Sodom and Gomorrah
Mt. Sinai
The Red Sea crossing site
Ark of the Covenant
Blood on the Ark mercy seat
How the pyramids were built
The golden calf alter
And other wonderful discoveries too wonderful to discuss....
This site which argues against Ron Wyatt discoveries
describes him as, "a devout Seventh Day Adventist."
http://www.isitso.org/guide/wyatt.html
All three sites above are interesting reading with the
standard disclaimer that since it is on the internet let the
reader beware and draw your own conclusions.
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Did I mention we rode up Mt St. Helena?
Mark and I purchased new mountain bikes this summer.
Specialized Hard Rock's.
He and I have ridden and ridden all across the PUC property and other spots in Napa County. In late August there was the annual Howell Mountain Challenge race held at PUC and Mark came in third in his class on his very first race. The race for his class was ten miles of roads and trails in our back yard and his local knowledge probably helped cover his lack of experience.
I was supposed to ride in the race but was unable to enter after a tragic and freak accident involving a massive sprain of my left ankle while practising riding wheelies on my new bike. Freak thing, should not have happened and I failed to calculate the forces of gravity. So no race for me.
But last sunday we rode up the fire road to the top of Mt St Helena.
From the website: summitpost.org
Mount Saint Helena is the highest point in the San Francisco Bay Area watershed. It is located on the boundaries between Napa, Sonoma, and Lake counties, about 80-90 miles north of San Francisco. It is of volcanic origin, situated in the general area of Clear Lake Volcanic Field, a geologically active area with numerous geysers and hot springs. From the summit on a clear day Lassen Peak, High Sierra, Snow Mountain, Mount Diablo, Mount Tamalpais, Pacific Ocean are all visible. With a binocular you can even see the high-rise buildings in downtown San Francisco.
Mount Saint Helena has a summit plateau bordered by five sub-peaks. North Peak is the highest point. The edges of the summit plateau drops off precipitously to the surrounding valleys. A fire road (gated) goes to the top, where there are radio and TV antennas. Most of the hike is along the fire road, however the lowest 1 mile is a hiking trail if you use the hiker's trailhead. Along the fire road there are numerous rock outcrops popular for technical rock climbing.
About biking up Mt. St. Helena: it is a rewarding 5 mile up-hill journey to the 4343 foot summit. You start right around 2200 feet at the fire road entrance. There is a gate but you can easily hoist your bike over it after parking just down the road a little bit. Be extremely cautious of traffic when crossing the highway to the entrance. Many drivers think they're competing in the Indy 500 when they drive this stretch of highway so WATCH OUT.
Once you reach the top keep an eye out for some of the outstanding features of California. All of this is hard to take in at one time especially if the weather isn't on your side. Try to go on a clear day or just after a storm. If you can swing it, go early before the sun rises and you'll be rewarded with a SPECTACULAR sunrise. I always bring a camera. Every day presents something new. So Mount Saint Helena is one of those places that should be visited over and over agian. It's gaining popularity though and it is often almost impossible to find a place to park. So go early!
Now back to Craig
the ride up took 1 hour and forty five minutes of relentless riding, walking, riding, pushing, short rests and riding some more. Each of us thought about quitting at different times, but we pushed on to the top of the south peak. If I keep this up I may end up in shape.
Specialized Hard Rock's.
He and I have ridden and ridden all across the PUC property and other spots in Napa County. In late August there was the annual Howell Mountain Challenge race held at PUC and Mark came in third in his class on his very first race. The race for his class was ten miles of roads and trails in our back yard and his local knowledge probably helped cover his lack of experience.
I was supposed to ride in the race but was unable to enter after a tragic and freak accident involving a massive sprain of my left ankle while practising riding wheelies on my new bike. Freak thing, should not have happened and I failed to calculate the forces of gravity. So no race for me.
But last sunday we rode up the fire road to the top of Mt St Helena.
From the website: summitpost.org
Mount Saint Helena is the highest point in the San Francisco Bay Area watershed. It is located on the boundaries between Napa, Sonoma, and Lake counties, about 80-90 miles north of San Francisco. It is of volcanic origin, situated in the general area of Clear Lake Volcanic Field, a geologically active area with numerous geysers and hot springs. From the summit on a clear day Lassen Peak, High Sierra, Snow Mountain, Mount Diablo, Mount Tamalpais, Pacific Ocean are all visible. With a binocular you can even see the high-rise buildings in downtown San Francisco.
Mount Saint Helena has a summit plateau bordered by five sub-peaks. North Peak is the highest point. The edges of the summit plateau drops off precipitously to the surrounding valleys. A fire road (gated) goes to the top, where there are radio and TV antennas. Most of the hike is along the fire road, however the lowest 1 mile is a hiking trail if you use the hiker's trailhead. Along the fire road there are numerous rock outcrops popular for technical rock climbing.
About biking up Mt. St. Helena: it is a rewarding 5 mile up-hill journey to the 4343 foot summit. You start right around 2200 feet at the fire road entrance. There is a gate but you can easily hoist your bike over it after parking just down the road a little bit. Be extremely cautious of traffic when crossing the highway to the entrance. Many drivers think they're competing in the Indy 500 when they drive this stretch of highway so WATCH OUT.
Once you reach the top keep an eye out for some of the outstanding features of California. All of this is hard to take in at one time especially if the weather isn't on your side. Try to go on a clear day or just after a storm. If you can swing it, go early before the sun rises and you'll be rewarded with a SPECTACULAR sunrise. I always bring a camera. Every day presents something new. So Mount Saint Helena is one of those places that should be visited over and over agian. It's gaining popularity though and it is often almost impossible to find a place to park. So go early!
Now back to Craig
the ride up took 1 hour and forty five minutes of relentless riding, walking, riding, pushing, short rests and riding some more. Each of us thought about quitting at different times, but we pushed on to the top of the south peak. If I keep this up I may end up in shape.
Announcing Craig's Blog
After much wondering and pondering and realizing I needed to do it
for me, I have finally created a weblog and decided to share with you
that it exists.
Sending Mark to a new Christian school got me started. Thinking about
hurricanes and weather has kept me going. There is always something
going on. For better or worse the weirdness and shallowness of the
SDA community will be observed on from time to time. And it any of
you desire to comment that is fine too.
http://okbacktothestory.blogspot.com/
craig
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Hurricanes and weather erata
When you think about the devestation that Galveston had over
a hundred years ago from a hurricane you wonder what the end
of time will/would look like with multiple calamities all
over the earth. The devestation from these storms in the
Gulf of Mexico makes any earthquake in California pale in
comparison. Even the '06 quake in San Francisco caused
historically uncertain damage since the city was ravaged
with fire just after the quake. And stories continue to this
day about some fires being set to destroy property that was
not destroyed in the quake.
But these hurricanes have destroyed more, killed more then
the quakes by far. I spent some significant time reviewing
the site weatherwar.info and while the super secret monster
government takes control of the world weather using secret
weapons that we never heard of and it all will kill us but
they wll never tell us theory leaves me unconvinced; I do
wonder what impact humans have had on the weather.
Right now, in the far north there is an on-going melt off of
glaciers and polar seasonal ice that has been going on for
more then fifty seasons.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2558319.stm
What impact has man and the machines of man had on this long
term event? I have no idea, but I wonder.
As a counter point to the current melt back in the arctic,
science points out that the hills of Ohio and the carved
canyons of Yosemite were both made with the action of ice in
either large ice age flows or tremendous glaciers of the
distant pass.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ice/chill.html
So what brought an end to such great ice and cold ages of
the past? I am not discussing passage of time here but the
cause of change. At the end of the "ice age" there must have
been some cause of global warming.
What was that cause. I doubt that it was the automobile
a hundred years ago from a hurricane you wonder what the end
of time will/would look like with multiple calamities all
over the earth. The devestation from these storms in the
Gulf of Mexico makes any earthquake in California pale in
comparison. Even the '06 quake in San Francisco caused
historically uncertain damage since the city was ravaged
with fire just after the quake. And stories continue to this
day about some fires being set to destroy property that was
not destroyed in the quake.
But these hurricanes have destroyed more, killed more then
the quakes by far. I spent some significant time reviewing
the site weatherwar.info and while the super secret monster
government takes control of the world weather using secret
weapons that we never heard of and it all will kill us but
they wll never tell us theory leaves me unconvinced; I do
wonder what impact humans have had on the weather.
Right now, in the far north there is an on-going melt off of
glaciers and polar seasonal ice that has been going on for
more then fifty seasons.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2558319.stm
What impact has man and the machines of man had on this long
term event? I have no idea, but I wonder.
As a counter point to the current melt back in the arctic,
science points out that the hills of Ohio and the carved
canyons of Yosemite were both made with the action of ice in
either large ice age flows or tremendous glaciers of the
distant pass.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ice/chill.html
So what brought an end to such great ice and cold ages of
the past? I am not discussing passage of time here but the
cause of change. At the end of the "ice age" there must have
been some cause of global warming.
What was that cause. I doubt that it was the automobile
Monday, September 19, 2005
Schools and Control
I would never have ever ever pushed the buttons of a teacher or choir
director or principals wife. No, not me.
There seems to be a teacher preparation method that instructs young
teachers to "involve" the children in the classroom structure and
leadership. This will give the children "ownership" and make them
feel "valued". OK, wonderful, but just who is in charge? Often it
seems it is the kids. One of the local SDA schools seems to focus on
student satisfaction and "self esteem" rather then academics and
sound instruction. The families in the region openly comment, " you
go to this school for the academics and to that school for the good
self esteem." As if a quality school could not offer both at the same
time.
I have commented here before that I was invited to sit on a "parent's
panel" is a teacher training seminar at PUC, this was a couple years
ago. In the seminar the panel of parents were presented with various
parent/teacher communication opportunities. Your kid hit another
child, your kid lit the bathroom on fire, whatever...
In each situation the parents were asked to express how the school
should handle the situation and communicate with the parents and
child. After each parent expressed what they thought should be done,
the facilitator explained to the teachers in training exactly how to
respond to that type of parental "meddeling or micro manageing". The
student teachers were told over and over. "you are the teacher and
you need to not let the parent's desires control the relationship."
So the teacher is supposed to be in charge and if the parent does not
like the teacher classroom style, go ahead, talk to the teacher but
don't expect any great results. The teacher is in charge.
It is about time for my picture to arrive on the blog. No particular reason, just time. Today I posted a lengthy report on our family choice of schools on the CVA list. One of the list members was asking why we chose a christian school rather then an SDA school. Now I wish I had sent the post as an email to the blog so I would not need to say it all twice. Too bad.
Saturday, September 17, 2005
What to say?
It has been a week. Mark is settling in to his new school and Linda and I are adjusting to the drive. 110 miles a day for school drop off and pickup is going to be interesting if we don't find some car pool partners.
Mark is pleased with his teacher and the school. He is aware that this change actually holds him back a year and he is doing sixth grade over again. He said, I am glad since I understand the work better. I hope that does not mean he is thrilled to not have to work hard since he already knows the material. I was doing the age/grade math in my head last night and if he has no other setbacks it should be all OK. He will finish 8th grade at 15 and turn 19 during his senior year in high school.
I guess all the angst on my part is related to me. How am I doing as a father, are we providing the very best for Mark. I more then hope so, I want to make it so. Yesterday Mark asked me to help him print out some pictures of him for the school bulletin board. A baby picture and a current pic. We did that and then he showed me a paragraph he wrote to go along with his pictures about his dad. About me. I was touched. He wrote of a loving dad who spends time and takes the family camping and loves God and cares about Mark.
Mark is pleased with his teacher and the school. He is aware that this change actually holds him back a year and he is doing sixth grade over again. He said, I am glad since I understand the work better. I hope that does not mean he is thrilled to not have to work hard since he already knows the material. I was doing the age/grade math in my head last night and if he has no other setbacks it should be all OK. He will finish 8th grade at 15 and turn 19 during his senior year in high school.
I guess all the angst on my part is related to me. How am I doing as a father, are we providing the very best for Mark. I more then hope so, I want to make it so. Yesterday Mark asked me to help him print out some pictures of him for the school bulletin board. A baby picture and a current pic. We did that and then he showed me a paragraph he wrote to go along with his pictures about his dad. About me. I was touched. He wrote of a loving dad who spends time and takes the family camping and loves God and cares about Mark.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Mark changes schools
Today was the day we had to finally decide where Mark will be attending school this school year. Short history. We pulled him from PUCE late last year due to significant conflict between Mr Fisher and Mark in the 6th grade classroom. Mark was failing to learn, the teacher was failing to use teaching methods that connected with Mark. Mark finished the year in home school. That was in March or April. Since then he has been working on all his subjects at home and after the summer break we started a home school program led by Linda that included all required 7th grade subjects plus band at PUCE and math at Sylvan Learning Center in Santa Rosa. Due to a variety of conflicts from scheduling to personalities we decided that Mark needed to be back in the classroom. But where?
Dona is teaching at First Christian School in Napa and recommended we explore that option. I wanted us to explore Foothills school. Linda and Mark visited both schools and felt the differences in each school made Napa Christian the best choice for Mark. Both felt the attitude of the school, the style of the teacher and the focus on Jesus Christ was stronger and better suited to Mark in Napa rather then Foothills. So we started doing the financial math. Tuition, $470, deposit $250, uniforms, $200?, monthly gas, $400. It all seems completely insurmoutable. Impossible.
I was in Albion at dept retreat and Linda and I spent much time on the phone together, then time praying apart. How could we pay the bill in Napa, what was God's plan? What was the best decision, where was the clear sign from God we needed. I finally declared that based on finances alone we had to make the choice for Foothills, it just had to be the right decision. I spoke with Linda again, she felt, NO, it was not the best choice. I spoke to Mark again, he said, "Dad, I will go to school where ever you and Mom feel is the best place for me, but I must say that I did not like the noise and talking back to the teacher in the class at Foothills and I am afraid if I attended there I would start to act the same way. I think the best place for me is Napa but I don not know how you can pay for that. But the spirit there is much better and more like Jesus."
Well, how do I go against that? How could I possibly say, No, all wrong there kiddo, off to Foothills you go? Maybe this was the sign I actually was looking for.
Linda and Mark are in Napa right now, finishing details of enrollment.
Dona is teaching at First Christian School in Napa and recommended we explore that option. I wanted us to explore Foothills school. Linda and Mark visited both schools and felt the differences in each school made Napa Christian the best choice for Mark. Both felt the attitude of the school, the style of the teacher and the focus on Jesus Christ was stronger and better suited to Mark in Napa rather then Foothills. So we started doing the financial math. Tuition, $470, deposit $250, uniforms, $200?, monthly gas, $400. It all seems completely insurmoutable. Impossible.
I was in Albion at dept retreat and Linda and I spent much time on the phone together, then time praying apart. How could we pay the bill in Napa, what was God's plan? What was the best decision, where was the clear sign from God we needed. I finally declared that based on finances alone we had to make the choice for Foothills, it just had to be the right decision. I spoke with Linda again, she felt, NO, it was not the best choice. I spoke to Mark again, he said, "Dad, I will go to school where ever you and Mom feel is the best place for me, but I must say that I did not like the noise and talking back to the teacher in the class at Foothills and I am afraid if I attended there I would start to act the same way. I think the best place for me is Napa but I don not know how you can pay for that. But the spirit there is much better and more like Jesus."
Well, how do I go against that? How could I possibly say, No, all wrong there kiddo, off to Foothills you go? Maybe this was the sign I actually was looking for.
Linda and Mark are in Napa right now, finishing details of enrollment.
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Yesterday
Yesterday I went to a memorial service for a man I only met twice in my life, Dr. Rodney Beard. He was a professor at Stanford from 1949 to 1969 and I met him twice at business luncheons in the 1990's. He served on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District Hearing Board prior to my service and that was our only connection. The service was in the Faculty Club at Stanford.
At the service his daughter Marney told family stories and shared that the family used to vacation at what she called, "white cottage ranch" when she was young. I spoke with her after the service and learned that we were probably both in Angwin at the same time in the early 1960's. Circles of life that rarely touch.
I was at the service to reconnect with other friends from the BAAQMD and it was a treat to spend an hour with Tom Ferrito and Ken Manister. Tom is the former mayor of Los Gatos and Ken is a law professor. Both are practising attorny's. Tom, Ken and I were each Chairperson of the Hearing Board over the years and I will probably forever have the distinction of being the youngest Chair in the history of the Board. Ken is currently representing a company before an air district board in Red Bluff in a case involving medical waste disposal. http://www.redbluffdailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,134~26762~3048765,00.html
In this case the green activist and slandor slinger, Bradley Angel is representing "Greenaction" of San Francisco in questioning the validity of the CEQA process of the permit. Bradley is the activist fired by Green Peace after failing to prevail over my Hearing Board in the IES case of about 1998 in Oakland.
At the service his daughter Marney told family stories and shared that the family used to vacation at what she called, "white cottage ranch" when she was young. I spoke with her after the service and learned that we were probably both in Angwin at the same time in the early 1960's. Circles of life that rarely touch.
I was at the service to reconnect with other friends from the BAAQMD and it was a treat to spend an hour with Tom Ferrito and Ken Manister. Tom is the former mayor of Los Gatos and Ken is a law professor. Both are practising attorny's. Tom, Ken and I were each Chairperson of the Hearing Board over the years and I will probably forever have the distinction of being the youngest Chair in the history of the Board. Ken is currently representing a company before an air district board in Red Bluff in a case involving medical waste disposal. http://www.redbluffdailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,134~26762~3048765,00.html
In this case the green activist and slandor slinger, Bradley Angel is representing "Greenaction" of San Francisco in questioning the validity of the CEQA process of the permit. Bradley is the activist fired by Green Peace after failing to prevail over my Hearing Board in the IES case of about 1998 in Oakland.
Day one of the rest of the story
This is posting one in Craig's blog. Topics will range across: family, work, God, friends and related topics.
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