Just wanted to let everyone know about a new program a PersecutionBlog.com. I signed up and would encourage everyone who blogs about the persecuted church to do the same.
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Would you write Paul?
If you found out that Paul was in jail, would you write to him? Check out this story on PersecutionBlog.com for some thoughts.
Cyndi and I have decided to write one person a week. Don't know how? Well, visit PrisonerAlert.com. There you can find out about prisoners. You can even write a short letter and have it translated. Postage isn't that expensive. Give it a shot.
Why Hasn’t Pres. Bush…
Why hasn't the President, who is back from his vacation, send troops down to assist with the looters/prisoners? Wouldn't this call for them to restore some type of order? Again, this maybe a naive question but I don't live in a major metropolis so I honestly don't know the procedure.
The answer is simple and doesn't have anything to do with politics. According to the Posse Comitatus Act, the US military is prohibited from exercising law enforcement within the United States. I for one agree with this. The US military isn't trained to keep law and order. They are trained for war. War where the point is to KILL PEOPLE and BREAK THINGS. Good law enforcement keeps these two things to a minimum.
Did anyone else see this?
I was watching Fox News tonight and saw a report where they interviewed a guy in Mississippi. This guy was very distraught. His story…incredible. He and his family were in the attic of their house. Their house, in his words, split. His wife was sucked out. He cannot find her.
This man needs our prayers. I wish I could find the story. I wish I knew of some way to help this man. Someone needs to tell him that God loves him and can help heal his wounds.
Neat Diagram of New Orleans
While watching news coverage of Hurricane Katrina, I always wanted one of those cool maps of New Orleans. You know the one….the one showing the Mississippi River on one side, Lake Pontchartrain on the other, and the town in the middle. Well, I found one today:
College and Parents
I came across this article today about colleges dealing with parents. I thought you would be interested in it too.
One of the reasons given in the story for such intrusiveness by parents is the “tight bond between Baby Boomer parents and their children.” I’m not sure I buy that. Sounds to me like the problem is rooted in a lack of parenting skills. Because parents are so overbearing and meddlesome, their kids aren’t learning how to be independent by doing things for themselves.
Hear Hear
New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina
I don't know why, but Hurricane Katrina and its impact on New Orleans is very fascinating to me. I went to bed last night and Katrina was a Category 3 hurricane (for more information on hurricane categories, click here). I woke up this morning and it was a Category 5 hurricane. Here is an image of the storm:
They were talking about how New Orleans is below sea level. It is also surrounded on multiple sides by significant water. Here is a Google Map. Here is a NASA picture on Wikipedia. Here is a topo map from terraserver. This means that every drop of water in New Orleans has to be pumped out. I started to do some research and thinking about this. If I were in New Orleans, my big worry would be the pumps failing. If they loose power. If they get flooded and cannot keep up. If I were a journalist in New Orleans, I would find one of these pumping stations and report from there.
But this got me wondering what kind of pumps they used and how many they had. It took me a bit of research, so here is what I found out. Currently, the pumps they use are Wood Screw Pumps (don't bother googling for screw pumps…you won't get any information on these). These pumps are more like power assisted syphons. The best site I found was this one. If you want a good description of the pumps, scroll all the way to the bottom for a good diagram.
These pumps appear to have a very good record and can pump a TON of water. If they hold up, I think they will do ok. But, if I were a reporter, I would still broadcast from one. Imagine the picture you could get.
This afternoon after church, I watched Fox News and the Weather Channel while surfing on the internet. I came across this site talking about the "worst case scenario" for New Orleans. Basically, this storm fits the bill.
New Orleans has already issued an evacuation order. Here is a link of the evacuation plan from the city. They have also opened up the SuperDome as a shelter. I have mixed feelings about all this. If I lived in New Orleans and my house were above sea level, I would stay. I would have my house strengthened and reinforced so I could stay. I would board up the windows, hunker down, and ride it out. Here is why:
1. Have you seen the roads? They are parking lots. I would stay at home because, as scary as it would be, it would be so much worse to be trapped in a car
2. Have you thought what would happen if that many people got scared and started a riot in the SuperDome? How about if the structure starts to have problems, but they–the goverment–won't let you out. I would rather not have to worry about other people.
Something else….if I lived in an area where this could happen, I would have supplies on hand at my house to board up everything. There is no way I would go to the storm to have to go to the store. Imagine how much they would charge.
Well, I guess we can only watch and pray for the people down there. Remember, God is God and is in control.
Oh, before I quit writing, here is a collection of other links I found that may be of interest:
http://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/pao/history/NO_Drainage/NO_Drain_chap4a.pdf
http://www.cityofno.com/portal.aspx?portal=46&tabid=36
http://www.asme.org/history/brochures/h003.pdf
http://www.answers.com/topic/a-baldwin-wood
http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/2002-07-02/blake.html
http://gatewayno.com/history/PUMPS.html
http://www.weather.com/newscenter/specialreports/hurricanes/vulnerablecities/neworleans.html
http://gis.esri.com/uc2003/sag/info/screenshots/LADOTD_LACoastalElevation.jpg
BTW, where do I sign up for Jim Cantore (the Weather Channel guy) or a news reporter who gets to go to all these places? That would be an awesome job!
Only Way to Heaven?
It seems that Kirk Cameron is troubled by a poll that shows 68% of evangelical Christians think that Jesus is not the exclusive way to God.
Kirk Cameron is troubled? What about me? I'm troubled by this too! Are you?
Along the same lines, Dr. Mohler has an article on his blog today about inclusive positions on the way to heaven. I think these two things speak towards our belief (or lack of belief). If people really believe the Bible, would they believe this way?
Jesus claimed repeatedly to be the exclusive way to Heaven and a right relationship with God. The Bible says it…. Are we willing to stand by the Bible? Why do "Christians" play church and believe the Bible in such a wishy washy way? It would be much easier for them to just admit they aren't Christians and quit playing church. They could then go golfing, boating, or insert your favorite activity here on SUnday morning and not have to worry about anything.
I’ve figured it out
In my post about how many MPGs I get on my bike I said I worked the numbers for Pepsi and came up with two different numbers. I now know why. I had a two liter of Pepsi. That TWO liter had 800 Cal in it. I then did the math like I had a one liter of Pepsi. If I rerun the math using the 400 Cal/Liter number, everything works out the same.
Miles Per Gallon
With gas prices on the rise–why does headline news have to report on the price every 1/2 hour–I thought I would do some interesting calculations to see what kind of mileage I get on my bike. I used the stats from my most recent ride as the starting point:
Ride Stats:
Distance: 32.6 mi
Time: 2 hr 9 min
Avg. Speed: 15.0 mph
Cal. Expended: 2500 (apx)
So, let's assume I go 15 mph (wind resistance is the most significant friction to overcome on a bike. As with all parasitic drag, it goes up as the square of the speed.). Given my last ride, I get 0.01304 miles per Cal (or, if you prefer a kcal…1 Cal = 1000 cal = 1Kcal)
Pepsi
Pepsi has 100 Cal. per 8oz serving. There are 16 8oz servings in a gallon. A gallon of Pepsi has 1600 Cal. That works out to 20.8 mpg of Pepsi.
Someone out there, figure out why I get different numbers if I work them differently. If I say Pepsi has 800 Cal. per liter and there are are 3.78 liters per gallon. That works out to 3024 Cal per gallon. This works out to 39.4 miles per gallon of Pepsi. Why the difference??? I cannot see where either set of numbers is wrong, but one of them has to be. Go get your 2liter out of the fridge and work it out for yourself.
Milk
Milk is sold by the gallon and has 1760 Cal per gallon. That works out to 22.9 mpg of milk
Gatorade
Gatorade (according to the bottle I have in the fridge) has 50 Cal per serving. A serving is 8oz. There are 16 servings of Gatorade in a gallon. This means that a gallon of Gatorade has 800 cal. That works out to 10.4 mpg of Gatorade.
Sweet Tea
This is how I make my sweet tea….about 1 cup of sugar in 1/2 gallon. So, that means 2 cups per gallon. According to dietitian.com, table sugar has 16 Cal. per teaspoon. There are 48 tsp in a cup. That works out to 96 tsp in 2 cups. That equals 1536 Cal. So, I would get 20 mpg of sweet tea.
Pizza
I know, pizza doesn't come in gallons, but I'm having one for dinner. a Large Pizza Hut Meat Lovers. According to Pizza Hut.com my pizza has 320 Cal/slice. It looks like there were 16 slices total. That means the whole pie has 5120 Cal. That means I would get 66.7 miles per pizza.