Posts

Posted on

Interesting Parasites

In my surfing tonight, I also came across this interesting article on parasites.  I thought it was an interesting read.

Here are the six it deals with:

  • Cymothoa exigua
  • Screwworms
  • Sacculina carcini
  • Filarial Worms
  • Guinea Worms
  • Leucochloridium paradoxum
Posted on

Do you live in Alabama? Better watch out!

I was surfing tonight when I came across this story on giant yellow jacket nests.  From the story:

MOBILE — To the bafflement of insect experts, gigantic yellow jacket nests have started turning up in old barns, unoccupied houses, cars and underground cavities across the southern two-thirds of Alabama.

Specialists say it could be the result of a mild winter and drought conditions, or multiple queens forcing worker yellow jackets to enlarge their quarters so the queens will be in separate areas. But experts haven't determined exactly what's behind the surprisingly large nests.

Auburn University entomologists, who say they've never seen the nests so large, have been fielding calls about the huge nests from property owners from Dothan up to Sylacauga and over into west-central Alabama's Black Belt.

At one site in Barbour County, the nest was as large as a Volkswagen Beetle, said Andy McLean, an Orkin pesticide service manager in Dothan who helped remove it from an abandoned barn about a month ago.

That is just insane!  Wonder how you kill them all to start getting rid of the nest.

Posted on

Bike Stolen

Last Wednesday Wallace (one of the other guys who is training for The 2006 Missions Century) had his bicycle stolen from the parking lot at work.  This was a brazen theft….the guy rode up on a junker bike, parked it beside the rack, took a pair of bolt cutters and cut Wallace's lock, and then he rode off on the bike.  Insane!  This was in broad daylight in front of an office building that has traffic most of the day.

So, last Thursday and Friday, I didn't ride because I wanted to get one of those nice U locks (I had a rubber steel cable type lock).

Posted on

No Posts

Sorry for the lack of posts lately.  Work has been crazy the past week.

Posted on

Todays Bike Ride — Aug. 12, 2006

Just in case you don't know, I spent most of the week sick.  I didn't get to ride for 4 days.  When I rode on Friday, I felt very sluggish.  Wallace and I agreed we'd keep it simple, short, and just keep it easy this morning.

When I left the house, I felt terrible.  On roads where I was keeping up 18-20mph, today I was struggling to do 15-17mph.  I thought today would be horrible.  Was I bummed.  The temperature was great (perhaos a bit chilly).  Wallace met me and we started riding.  When we got to our turn point, he wanted to do more and I didn't have anything wrong with that.  We experimented with a new road.  This took us out into the country…it was excelent.

On the way back, I finally "hit the groove" so to speak.  I was feeling great and the miles were churning away under the tires.

If you want to see the stats, look at my August 2006 Bike Stats page.  If you want to see the route, click here for the map of our Aug. 12, 2006 ride into the country around Richmond, VA.

Posted on

This is the kind of poll I want to “lag behind” in

One of the blogs I read is Mainstream Baptist.  Don't get your hopes up….it isn't mainstream at all….it is VERY liberal.  Anyway, today, there was a post about Americans Lagging the World in Scientific Understanding.  On the surface, it appears as if that is bad; however, if you look closer, it is a good thing.  Why is it good?  It turns out that it isn't scientific understanding we lag behind in…it is acceptance of evolution:

The study found that over the past 20 years:

The percentage of U.S. adults who accept evolution declined from 45 to 40 percent. The percentage overtly rejecting evolution declined from 48 to 39 percent, however. And the percentage of adults who were unsure increased, from 7 to 21 percent. Of the other countries surveyed, only Turkey ranked lower, with about 25 percent of the population accepting evolution and 75 percent rejecting it. In Iceland, Denmark, Sweden and France, 80 percent or more of adults accepted evolution; in Japan, 78 percent of adults did.

Looks like support for evolution is going down (45% -> 40%).  That is good.  The next number is bad:  fewer people are rejecting evolution (48% -> 39%).  However, there is some hope.  The number of people unsure about evolution went up from 7% -> 21%.

Christians, don't be swayed:  everyone doesn't believe in evolution.  Kids in school, don't let your teachers lie to you:  not everyone believes evolution.  Parents trying to teach your kids the truth, don't be swayed:  not everyone believes in evolution.

Don't forget that we need to give them something to believe in.  We need to stand firm on the Bible.  We need to stand firm on the Genesis!  There is only one Biblical stand you can take:  the earth was created about 7,000 years ago.  God created the earth and everything in it in six literal days(apx. 24 hours…like we know them now).

If you need information to back up these positions, or still aren't sure, there are a few things you can do:

  • Read the Bible.  Especially focus on Genesis 1-11.  Ask God to reveal the truth to you.
  • Go visit the Answers in Genesis website.  They have information and scientific evience that can help you decide.
Posted on

Chinas Three Self “Church”

Before I get going to far, I should probably explain some things.  The way I understand it, China "officially" has "freedom" of religion.  But, if you want to be a Christian, you MUST go to the Three-Self Church.  These "churches" aren't real churches….they are more like government propoganda houses.

I was reading new articles in my RSS reader when this article on Worthy News popped up.  It appears as if a pastor had gone too far and the government didn't like it:

MIDLAND, TEXAS / SHANXI PROVINCE, CHINA (ANS) — A pastor in the Three-Self Church in Pinglu County, Shanxi Province was prohibited from preaching and forced to leave the church by the Chinese Religious Affairs Bureau.

But what could have caused him to fall out of favor?  Well, it seems he invited another pastor to come preach in his pulpit:

According to information received from a reliable souce by the China aid Association (CAA), the Pinglu Church invited a Hong Kong based American Pastor Dennis Balcombe (Chinese name Bao Dening) — who is strongly opposed by the local Religious Affairs Bureau — to visit the church,

Pastor Balcombe was born in the United States and is an active missionary in Asia. He contributed a great deal to the charismatic revival in Henan Province in the mid 1980s. He is now senior pastor of Revival Christian Church in Hong Kong, (see: www.rcchk.org/default_eng.htm).

If you want to read more, read the full article on the Pastor who was evicted from the Three-Self Church in China.

vomblogosphere150X100a.jpg

vomblogosphere150X100b.gif