Moore Musings

1 Year of Housing

It has now been 1 year since Sharon and I took up residence in our own house.
Some major accomplishments that follow from this task:
- Acquiring Tiger-Kitty
- Planting a garden and harvesting many tomatoes
- Having company over often, including housing most of my family for 3 days for Thanksgiving
- Holding a LAN party
- Unpacking most of our books
- Operating a snow-blower
- Getting to church more quickly and more often

We are both very thankful to God for his direction and protection, and remind you all that we are always looking for people to come by. We won't make you sleep on the floor!

Its June Already

No time for a long post, but an update is in order.
The last few months have been packed with fixing the house, visiting family, and enjoying the beginning of summer. Major fixes so far:
- Caulking the bathtub
- Trimming trees off the roof and power lines
- Killing giant ant hills
- Fixing the basement power subsystem of outlets
- Fixing the phone switch in the basement
- Fixing the "screen" door in back (its a modular system with large glass blinds)

However its not all work. I had a great time reading by the fire with Sharon on Saturday night... firepit is win. Also, rigging a box fan to blow on the fire is as effective as it is funny-looking.

We've also discovered our cheap local Chinese take-out, but still nowhere good we can hit after 11 on Friday nights. We're enjoying being able to entertain, and being much closer to church.

We've discovered the pleasure of a basement computer room, and so far avoided A/C use. We even grew new grass in the back yard for the fat bunny-rabbits!

A short list of future plans:
June: visit Goshen
July: visit Iowa
August: visit Indy and Texas

That's about it... life goes on.

News Titles

From Google News this morning: "South Korea warship pursuing oil tanker hijacked by pirates off Somali coast"

Hijacking a warship has to be quite the feat.

Great Country Music Lines

Here are some good ones.

"That's my girl, but that ain't my truck."
"I love my wife, but I love to fish."
"I've never seen tires on a truck this high."
"I hate her, I'll think of a reason later."
"Its five o'clock somewhere."
"Tequila makes her clothes fall off."
"Working all week to put beer on the table."

What's not to love?

Hamas-Mossad Secret Agent turns to Christ

Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of a Hamas founder, recently authored "Son of Hamas".

In it he describes his life, from his youth during the birth of the revolutionary force in the Holy Land, through his work as a secret agent for the Mossad, and eventually his life-changing conversion to Christianity.

I came upon an article about the book.

Perhaps his most profound, and controversial, statement from the article is this:
"The problem is not in Muslims, The problem is with their God. They need to be liberated from their God. He is their biggest enemy. It has been 1,400 years they have been lied to."

Prolific Poster

While I may at times neglect my posting duties, at least I post semi-regularly.

Samuel Pepys, however, as far more exacting. Check out his blog here.

His extensive daily diary, kept from 1660 to 1669, is full of his insights and struggles as a naval minister in the upper government of Britain. The blog site posts his diary entry for each corresponding day from nearly 350 years ago.

His first hand accounts of the Great Fire and Great Plague are amazing, and his political intrigues show that not a lot has changed in how people govern.

In any event, at the very least read his wikipedia entry. Who knows, maybe it will inspire better blogging practice!

Thoughts on Book of Eli

Don't worry, no spoilers in this section.

The Book of Eli is one of the finer movies I have seen in some time, and I would highly recommend it. There are two things I think it illustrates well, and while I am be no means the film critic of the level of some of my readers, I will attempt to express them below the fold.

Spoilers below!

House!

Sharon and I are excited to announce to anyone who hasn't heard yet: we have a confirmed offer accepted on a house here in Milwaukee!

Our closing date is March 19th, and we hope to move that weekend if possible.
Hurrah!

Reputation?

Today I received this message from a coworker via inter-company IM:

(10:24:25 AM) Jared Wheeler*: I just realized, only two out of the eleven emails I have from you aren't about food.
(10:24:43 AM) Jared Wheeler*: I just found it amusing.

Perhaps I should be more guarded lest my plans be discovered...

*Naturally, I'm not giving the coworker's name. Instead, I am blaming Jared.

Register the SC?

It appears that all subversive groups are now required to register in South Carolina.

"Every member of a subversive organization... who advocates, teaches, advises or practices the duty, necessity or propriety of controlling, conducting, seizing or overthrowing the government of the United States ... shall register with the Secretary of State."

Virtual Sight-Seeing

Interested in seeing the sights of the world? Don't have the cash to travel internationally? Google Streetview is the solution. Avoid the smells and airsickness, all while enjoying the views and avoiding the traffic!

See the magnificent Eiffel Tower!
Marvel at the seat of efficient politics in Washington DC.
View the fantastic architecture of the Sydney Opera House.
Stop by Britain to see the punctual Big Ben, or the oldest computer, Stonehenge.

Are there any significant and iconic images in Japan or southern China? I can't get close enough to Mount Fuji, and I don't know what to look for in China.

News and News

Sharon and I are avidly house-hunting, with varying degrees of success.
I'll post again soon on that, for now I shall leave you with this interesting article link.

Jurisprudence Fetishest gets off on Technicality

2010 State of the Union Address Synopsis

President Obama's 2010 State of the Union address had the usual components. There was a mix of rhetoric, patriotic fervor, and announcement of policies he plans to enact. Having listened to the speech, I took notes and will here attempt to condense all points related to actual policy.
While I am happy to discuss and present my opinions on the speech, I want to first establish what he said.

1) Bank fees to recover monies lent to bail-out banks
2) A New Jobs bill which gives tax credits to small businesses and reduces capital gains tax for small businesses. Also, provides incentives to businesses of all sizes to make capital investments.
3) New jobs developing national infrastructure.
4) Tax breaks for local jobs, rather then overseas jobs.
5) New and clean nuclear energy plants.
6) Closer look at offshore drilling (implying more drilling)
7) Energy and Climate bill to make clean energy “profitable”
8) Increase exports by adjusting export regulation and providing incentives
9) New trade agreements
10) 10K tax credit for 4 year college students
11) 10% income cap on student loan repayment
12) School debts forgiven after 20 years, 10 years for those in public service jobs
13) Retirement accounts available to all Americans
14) Health Insurance reform, not just health care.
15) An insurance market preserving competition, saving 1 trillion over 20 years, and preserving your current Doctor and plan if desired
16) In 2000, there was a 200 billion government surplus. By 2008, there was a 1 trillion deficit, due to recession aid, prescription drug program, 2 wars, and lowering of taxes
17) Starting in 2011, he will freeze all government spending for 3 years except for national security, medicare, medicade, and social security (according to Wikipedia, in 2009 these 4 expenses totaled 60% of the government budget)
18) Eliminate tax cuts for those making 250K+, and various large companies
19) A government finance commission was blocked by the Senate, so he has established it by Executive Order
20) Address the ruling by the Supreme Court allowing no spending or source limit on elections
21) Require online publishing of all bill earmarks in Congress pre-vote
22) Currently increasing Afghan troop presence, but will have them home in 2011
23) All “combat troops” out of Iraq by August 2010
24) Secure all nuclear weapons in the world (with help of other nations) and establish and enforce restrictions on nonconforming nations
25) Repeal “don't ask don't tell”
26) Fix immigration problems
27) Fix gender job pay discrimination

What are your thoughts on his policies and goals?

Over Edited

I am always amused when I see an article that has apparently been edited to the point of failure. See this example:

She had been lying in the snow for over two hours before the rescue team arrived on Monday night after injuring her leg.

On the behalf or Randy and Wilson, I pray for editors everywhere.