Lessons for Living | Ain't Complicated

Shifting

Focus, that is.

Away from blogging so much, that is.

Late last night I decided it is necessary for me to scale back and refocus my footprint on the Web.

Here are some of the particulars of that decision:

Cease from posting at Bless! as I have been.
Cut back posting here at Ain’t Complicated to once a week.
After getting through Proverbs this time, stop posting at Panting Hart (unless it’s to post my “inspirational” images for computer wallpaper and screensavers).
Stop being a regular visitor and/or contributor to some blogs.
Resume development of Anabaptists.

This is a difficult decision which will be difficult for me to implement.

However, in my reading this morning, these two verses confirm my decision for me:

“Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds” (Proverbs 27:23).

“For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation?” (Proverbs 27: 24).

The state of my flocks is not good.

[He that waiteth on his master shall be honoured (Proverbs 27:18)]

from Proverbs 27:18

What Comes Next?

That’s the question.

But I have something different in mind with it than you might expect.

So read this first:

Israeli warplanes retaliating for rocket fire from the Gaza Strip pounded dozens of security compounds across the Hamas-ruled territory in unprecedented waves of airstrikes Saturday, killing at least 155 and wounding more than 310 in the single bloodiest day of fighting in recent memory.

As you were “inputting” this information into your head, what came next?

I don’t mean what comes next on the ground in the Middle East.

I mean, after you learned of the above airstrikes, what came next in your thoughts and attitudes?

Read it all

Try Gratefulness (It’s in Season!)

ODOT says rush-hour plowing on I-5 was for drivers’ safety

Citing concern for motorists’ safety, the Oregon Department of Transportation on Wednesday strongly defended its decision to close part of southbound Interstate 5 during Tuesday evening’s rush hour, stranding thousands of holiday travelers and commuters for hours.

Officials said that rapidly deteriorating road conditions had created a dangerous situation that left the agency no choice but to act when it did.

Already jammed with rush hour and holiday travelers, an 11-mile stretch of the freeway — from the Southwest Haines Street exit in Portland to the Charbonneau exit south of Wilsonville — was closed about 4:30 p.m. as a “moving blockade” of ODOT equipment lumbered south at about 5 mph.

I wasn’t there. Not behind the wheel of a “civilian” vehicle. Not behind the wheel of an ODOT vehicle. Not behind the “wheel” at ODOT.

But I still say “Thank you!” to all the folks at ODOT for their work.

And to each one of you ODOT equipment operators on the freeways last evening that got the finger from irate motorists, please accept ten thumbs-up from me for each obscene gesture you got.

And an especially-blessed Christmas to you as well.

Thanks again!

The Meaning of Is

Here’s part of the story:

Flirting goes high-tech with racy photos shared on cellphones, Web

Passing a flirtatious note to get someone’s attention is so yesterday. These days, young people use technology instead.

About a third of young adults 20-26 and 20% of teens say they’ve sent or posted naked or semi-naked photos or videos of themselves, mostly to be “fun or flirtatious,” a survey finds.

A third of teen boys and 40% of young men say they’ve seen nude or semi-nude images sent to someone else; about a quarter of teen girls and young adult women have.

[…]

Most of those surveyed (73%) said they knew sending sexually suggestive content “can have serious negative consequences,” yet 22% said it’s “no big deal.”

Adrift.

And so the moral decline continues.

What Do You Think?

Here’s an interesting piece I read earlier today: Watch Out.

“I was the third boy in line. Once everyone was in place he started going through the pockets of every boy, and he found the watch in mine. I had been hoping against hope that he wouldn’t find it, as I planned to return it to Naftali after school. However, now the rebbi had the culprit. I was shaking as I waited for him to shout at me, or express glee that he found it.

“Instead he continued checking every single boy! When he finished searching the last boy, he said, ‘You all can go back to your seats. I have the watch.’

“As I walked back to my seat I had to hold myself back from crying. I understood what the rebbi did and how he saved me from being embarrassed. He had continued the search so no one could figure out who had taken the watch. As we sat down he didn’t even look my way so no one could possibly have any inkling who the guilty party was. He resumed teaching. I decided then and there that someday I would like to be like him.”

What do you think of the rebbi’s approach?

Morning News

Three stories: New Bionic Arms for Wounded Soldiers, Trimming Words Out of a Dictionary, and “Tell Me How to Do It.”

New Bionic Arms for Wounded Soldiers

The Luke Arm has four fingers and an opposable thumb, and was designed to be controlled by muscular movement in the wearer’s remaining limbs.

But thanks to neurological advances in “targeted renervation” by Dr. Todd Kuiken of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, the Luke Arm can now connect directly to motor nerves, meaning it can be controlled purely by thought alone.

And the nerve connections are two-way: The wearer gets “force feedback” about his own grip and movements, allowing him to pick up an empty water bottle without crushing it.

Many cheers for Dean Kamen and Dr. Todd Kuiken and the Department of Defense.

Trimming Words Out of a Dictionary

Oxford University Press has removed words like “aisle”, “bishop”, “chapel”, “empire” and “monarch” from its Junior Dictionary and replaced them with words like “blog”, “broadband” and “celebrity”. Dozens of words related to the countryside have also been culled.

The publisher claims the changes have been made to reflect the fact that Britain is a modern, multicultural, multifaith society.

But academics and head teachers said that the changes to the 10,000 word Junior Dictionary could mean that children lose touch with Britain’s heritage.

“We have a certain Christian narrative which has given meaning to us over the last 2,000 years. To say it is all relative and replaceable is questionable,” said Professor Alan Smithers, the director of the centre for education and employment at Buckingham University. “The word selections are a very interesting reflection of the way childhood is going, moving away from our spiritual background and the natural world and towards the world that information technology creates for us.”

[…]

Words taken out:

Carol, cracker, holly, ivy, mistletoe

Dwarf, elf, goblin

Abbey, aisle, altar, bishop, chapel, christen, disciple, minister, monastery, monk, nun, nunnery, parish, pew, psalm, pulpit, saint, sin, devil, vicar

Coronation, duchess, duke, emperor, empire, monarch, decade

adder, ass, beaver, boar, budgerigar, bullock, cheetah, colt, corgi, cygnet, doe, drake, ferret, gerbil, goldfish, guinea pig, hamster, heron, herring, kingfisher, lark, leopard, lobster, magpie, minnow, mussel, newt, otter, ox, oyster, panther, pelican, piglet, plaice, poodle, porcupine, porpoise, raven, spaniel, starling, stoat, stork, terrapin, thrush, weasel, wren.

Acorn, allotment, almond, apricot, ash, bacon, beech, beetroot, blackberry, blacksmith, bloom, bluebell, bramble, bran, bray, bridle, brook, buttercup, canary, canter, carnation, catkin, cauliflower, chestnut, clover, conker, county, cowslip, crocus, dandelion, diesel, fern, fungus, gooseberry, gorse, hazel, hazelnut, heather, holly, horse chestnut, ivy, lavender, leek, liquorice, manger, marzipan, melon, minnow, mint, nectar, nectarine, oats, pansy, parsnip, pasture, poppy, porridge, poultry, primrose, prune, radish, rhubarb, sheaf, spinach, sycamore, tulip, turnip, vine, violet, walnut, willow

Some of those deletions are astounding!

Then again, how would you keep a dictionary from becoming thicker and thicker?

Even so, jeers not cheers for that dictionary and its publisher?

“Tell Me How to Do It”

A Korean immigrant who lost his wife, two children and mother-in-law when a Marine Corps jet slammed into the family’s house said Tuesday he did not blame the pilot, who ejected and survived.

“Please pray for him not to suffer from this accident,” a distraught Dong Yun Yoon told reporters gathered near the site of Monday’s crash of an F/A-18D jet in San Diego’s University City community.

“He is one of our treasures for the country,” Yoon said in accented English punctuated by long pauses while he tried to maintain his composure.

“I don’t blame him. I don’t have any hard feelings. I know he did everything he could,” said Yoon, flanked by members of San Diego’s Korean community, relatives and members from the family’s church.

[…]

“I know there are many people who have experienced more terrible things,” Yoon said. “But, please, tell me how to do it. I don’t know what to do.”

He doesn’t blame the pilot?!

He wants you to pray that the pilot wouldn’t suffer?!

He considers the pilot a national treasure?!

He knows others have suffered greater tragedy?!

Mr. Yoon, you are quite the man!

(Dare I say he’s obviously not a “typical” home-grown American?)

May God sustain Mr. Yoon and the young pilot.

(And keep the lawyers and “suers” away from Mr. Yoon, please. Thanks.)

Suppose I’m at WalMart and see an item with a price that’s so “too good to be true” that it must be a mistake. Say a normally $300 digital camera for $30. So I attempt to purchase it for $30…and succeed.

What should I do in such a case?

Tell the store management about the matter.
Tell family and friends about the “great deal that’s surely a mistake so you’d better buy a camera before they discover and rectify the mistake.”
Blog about it here so you can “check your local WalMart for the same or similar goofs.”
Buy as many of those cameras as I can so I can resell them at a profit.

What say you?

And why?