March 11th, 2010 at 8:02 am
This quote breaks into the story:
“Well, here it goes, boys!”
Stephen Shankster called out some final instructions and bits of advice as we pulled up to a wide field that was now serving as a “tent city” – neighborhoods of sheets draped over crossed poles or sticks, housing thousands of Haitians who have lost their homes and their few possessions.
“This is a moderately sized tent city,” Stephen explained. “There’s probably around 3,000 people living here.” Stephen is a German Baptist who has volunteered with Christian Aid Ministries in Haiti for the past five years and is fluent in Creole. Seth and I, along with four CAM missionaries and two Haitians, were in the back of a covered truck filled with hygiene kits, tarps and other relief materials. The living conditions in these cities are beyond deplorable. The hastily erected tents are stacked almost on top of each other and there is no running water and no sewage. The only food and water they receive is brought in by relief organizations or the U.S. military.
“Back up against that wall, really close,” Stephen called out to the driver. “Closer! It has to be narrow enough that only one person can fit through at a time so they don’t mob us.”
“Looks like we chose the local bathroom to hand our stuff out,” Daniel Horner, another German Baptist working with CAM, observed as he gingerly alighted from the back of the truck. By now a crowd of curious onlookers was quickly closing in on the truck. Their wild eyes emanated desperation. For a moment I could feel their anguish as I looked into their eyes and I saw myself. These were people, just like me, with hopes and dreams for their futures. Now by circumstances completely out of their control they were here in this squalor, existing little better than animals.
At first the distribution went relatively smoothly….
Ah, but now you shall have to visit 3 Guys in Haiti for the before and after portions!
Tags: Haiti
Posted in Christianity 101 | No Comments »
March 11th, 2010 at 7:37 am
What’s with this from the UK Times Online?
Father Gabriele Amorth, 85, who has been the Vatican’s chief exorcist for 25 years and says he has dealt with 70,000 cases of demonic possession, said that the consequences of satanic infiltration included power struggles at the Vatican as well as “cardinals who do not believe in Jesus, and bishops who are linked to the Demon”.
He added: “When one speaks of ‘the smoke of Satan’ [a phrase coined by Pope Paul VI in 1972] in the holy rooms, it is all true – including these latest stories of violence and paedophilia.”
Source: Chief exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth says Devil is in the Vatican
Tags: Catholic Church
Posted in Religion | No Comments »
March 10th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Somebody (from Saudi Arabia, apparently) attacked this blog this morning.
First, someone succeeded in breaching my login. Once in there, he changed my login password as well as the email associated with my account. That was at 11:29.
Then he launched four SQL Injection Attacks at 11:31, 11:33, 11:34, and 11:43. Thankfully, those were detected and blocked by my firewall, which also identified the attacker’s IP as 94.97.85.10.
Thankfully, I tried to log in shortly thereafter.
When I couldn’t do so because my password wasn’t valid, my cranial alarm bells went from dormant to frenzied in a NanoSomethingOrOther.
I went straight to my SQL database, changed the email address on my account back to what it should be, then changed the password. I was done with that by 11:53.
I’ve been unable to detect any other damage done to this blog. But this person could have changed posts, comments, and pictures. So I’m warning you: there may be bad content somewhere here.
If you come across evidence of such tampering, please let me know right away.
Thanks.
And may God bless the attacker. Amen.
Tags: hackers, security
Posted in Tech Stuff, Thankful, This and That, You've Been Warned | No Comments »
March 10th, 2010 at 7:23 am
I have never fought for my rights
that I did not wish afterward
that I had not done so.
Samuel M. Shoemaker
Tags: quotes
Posted in Lessons for Living, Today's Thought | No Comments »
March 9th, 2010 at 7:44 am
We have customers who finally had to move from Germany to another European country for the same reason the Romeikes moved to the US:
Uwe and Hannelore Romeike may have been considered outside the norms of civil society in their native Germany, but not in Morristown, Tennessee, where they and their five children now live. The Romeikes are homeschoolers who are determined to provide the education for their children, ranging in age from two to twelve. In Morristown, that is about as controversial as bass fishing, but in Germany it is a crime.
The Romeike's tale is big news today, with both TIME Magazine and The New York Times devoting major stories to their plight, and to the fact that a federal immigration judge in Memphis granted them asylum — and homeschooling is the reason.
As Campbell Robertson reports in today’s edition of The New York Times, the Romeike’s determination to homeschool their children ran into direct collision with German laws banning the practice: “Among European countries, Germany is nearly alone in requiring, and enforcing, attendance of children at an officially recognized school. The school can be private or religious, but it must be a school. Exceptions can be made for health reasons but not for principled objections.”
Source: Where Homeschooling is Outlawed — Asylum?
I am thankful for the freedom we have in the United States (yet) to educate our children according to the dictates of our conscience.
Tags: freedom
Posted in Children, Politics, Thankful | No Comments »
