"The killing season" of Burma
04.20.06 (9:45 am) [edit]"Burma's military dictatorship has launched a new wave of attacks against predominantly Christian Karen villages, as reported by Christian Newswire on behalf of Christian Freedom International (CFI). "In Burma this time of year is known locally as the 'killing season' and this year is no exception," said the CFI story. "During the dry season soldiers can move easier in the dense jungles of Burma, and this year the military junta has stepped up its genocidal attacks on the Karen, an ethnic minority in Burma." More than 700 displaced men, women and children recently arrived in Ko Kay village. "When the new soldiers arrived in Toungoo and Nyaunglebin districts, they spread their soldiers around the area. They try to find Karen villages. If they see the villagers, they try to capture and persecute them. Therefore, people who are living there dare not face the Burma army. They fled their villages and are hiding in the mountainside and jungle in safe places to save their lives," said Aro. This is creating a humanitarian emergency. Aro is reported to have said, "The Burmese came and destroyed everything so all the villagers having nothing to eat and cannot grow food for the year."" --ASSIST News Service
Horrible! These people endure such discriminating persecution EVERY YEAR according to this article. Say a prayer for the Karen people of Burma.
Lessons from a ladybug
04.19.06 (10:14 pm) [edit]As I left campus today, a large orange ladybug with about four spots landed on my arm. I felt the creature crawling up my arm and so I plucked it off myself and placed it gently on a nearby red hand railing. I was rather surprised that the bug didn't fly away when I picked it up, so I watched it for a moment as I stretched a bit so I didn't look totally ridiculous staring at a rail. The ladybug was creeping along the pole sluggishly, so I stopped stretching to examine the bug further. Upon further examination, the creature flipped out it's wings, and there lay the reason for it's slowness; it's wings were still glistening wet, meaning it was a baby ladybug. I watched intently as the bug gradually slipped it's wings from under the orange spotted shell to dry in the warm sun. A few moments later the wings gave a slight twitch--a try at flight. The bug stayed put. I wanted to help the bug take flight, but I being without wings myself had no idea of how to go about flying, so I resigned to continue watching. The ladybug fluttered it's wings again and this time took off into the sky above my head. I watched the tiny creature until it had flown out of sight, flitting here and there. Success!
I couldn't help but smile as I lost sight of the ladybug. Spring in all it's newness takes my breath away. I love watching the trees burst forth with fresh green leaves, which I will be so thankful for in a few months in the heat of summer. I like to watch flowers shoot from beneath the desolate earth and blossom in the many colors of the rainbow. One of my favorite photo themes includes time lapsed photos of flowers as they emerge for the first time in spring. I've taken a few groups of those myself. Every spring what seemed dead revives in a miracle of rebirth. Coming to Christ is just like spring-- what was once dead in sin is reborn into the newness of Christ. *shakes head* God and His creation amaze me.
Water v. Coke
04.15.06 (1:37 am) [edit]"WATER
.1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. (Likely applies to half the world population.)
.2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is mistaken for hunger.
.3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as 3%.
.4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.
.5. Lack of water, the ... #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.
.6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.
.7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.
.8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%., and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer. Are you drinking the amount of water you should drink every day?
COKE
.1. In many states the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.
.2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and it will be gone in two days.
.3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the "real thing" sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous china.
.4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.
.5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.
.6. To loosen a rusted bolt: Apply a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.
.7. To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.
.8. To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of Coke into the load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your windshield.
FOR YOUR INFORMATION:
.1. The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. It will dissolve a nail in about four days. Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase of osteoporosis.
.2. To carry Coca-Cola syrup! (the concentrate) the commercial trucks must use a hazardous Material place cards reserved for highly corrosive materials.
.3. The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean engines of the trucks for about 20 years!"
--MySpace bulletin. Rather disturbing. I don't drink anything carbonated out of habit from years of athletic training, but I KNOW I'm one of those chrocially dehydrated people. I may drink a glass of water or juice at meals--if that much. The only time I really chug is at practice, because I have to in order to not become seriously dehydrated because I arrive to practice somewhat dehydrated anyway. I've been trying to get in the habit of drinking more water, but I can't seem to make a habit of it. Any suggestions?
Baby Annoucement
04.13.06 (10:39 pm) [edit]*Squeals in delight* GUESS WHAT!! A long time friend of mine--I've known her and her husband practically my whole life-- Julia announced with Robert about 2 weeks ago that she's pregnant. *SQUEALS!* (I feel like a little pink pig I've been squealing so much.) I'm SO excited, in case you didn't catch that. They're one of those married-the-girl-next-doo r stories, and now they're having a baby! It's like a fairytale.
I can't really think of anything else to say, except that I'm excited and I can't wait! They'll be such a cute family. Awwww! I suppose I should add a request for prayers for them both, their families and the baby. Those would definatly be helpful!
The Cowboy 10 Commandments
04.10.06 (12:32 am) [edit]The Cowboy 10 Commandments
1) Just one God.
2) Honor yer Ma and Pa.
3) No tellin' tales or gos'ipin'.
4) Git yerself to Sunday meetin'.
5) Put nuthin' before God.
6) No foolin' around with another fella's gal.
7) No killin'.
8) Watch yer mouth.
9) Don't take what ain't yers.
10) Don't be hankerin fer yer buddy's stuff.
-- Courtesy of Myspace bulletin. Located on a wall at the Cross Trails Chruch in Fairlie, Texas.
I've been hacked!!
04.06.06 (11:33 pm) [edit]My MySpace account was hacked sometime between this morning around midnight and this afternoon around 4:30. Big time frame so far for a crime, but I'm working on that. So my friends got dirty comments and some of my picture captions turned dirty, while others were totally deleted, then my password changed. That's what threw me for a loop; my password has been randomly changed before due to MySpace problems, so I thought it was happening again, so I didn't discover the problem until a few moments ago. I've only been hacked twice now, but good golly it stinks! I just spent about 30 minutes fixing all the damage done to my profile and changing all the passwords that I have on everything on the internet. (I only use so many passwords, so if someone has one, they could get into a few other of my accounts. Not the best idea, but I can only remember so many random words, you know.) So ya, pray that my friends will forgive "me" for the comments, as well as whoever it was, and that it won't happen again. And if you were on of the unlucky ones that got an icky comment, I'm sorry! Thanks!
Politics
04.04.06 (11:54 pm) [edit]The official state question of New Mexico: Red or green?
Millions of people die of hunger everyday and our leaders find it more necessary to solve problems such as the state question of New Mexico over world hunger.
I LOVE politics. 
Different people
04.02.06 (12:40 am) [edit]Do you know what's encredibly draining? Hanging out with people that don't lead a life style anything like yours. The tennis team went to San Antonio for a couple matches. I love my team dearly, they're just alot different than I am, and putting up with all their talk just drains every last bit of energy out of me. I was in bed at 11 last night, and the only reason I am up to post this now is because I hit a second wind. I was falling asleep today at about 10:30. Off to bed with me.
P.S.- Happy daylight savings time!
