SKYNET Delayed! End of the world pushed back.

November 7,2027

A soft light glows in the night sky. It circles around the earth in the same pattern that it has for the last three years. Calm. Normal. Not like the earth beneath it. On earth, metallic androids known as " Terminators" have taken over.

It turns out crazy kid and his mom were telling the truth.
Whooda thunk it?
Let's go back a decade or two.






November 7, 2007

In case you all missed it, the UK has delayed the launch of their 3.6 billion pound (the currency, not the weight) military Skynet 5B satellite.
5B was to join its sister satellite, the 5A, which was launched last March.

The satellite system is "designed to give British commanders access to more information, much faster," reported the BBC.

"The spacecraft's[5B] Ariane rocket has developed an electronic problem in one of its solid fuel boosters and will be rolled back to an inspection shed."

Electronic problem? Maybe Judgement Day isn't too far afterall.

The truth is that Skynet has been around for quite sometime. The 60's actually. In any case, I am sure that I one of millions that are making this joke.

Did you know that...?

Did you know that the man with $1 in his bank account and Jesus is more financially stable than the one who has $1 billion and is alone?

See, the man who has Jesus is promised that Jesus will take care of him, while the one without Jesus has no such promise.

So, when that financial crash comes, and it will, the man who had $1 billion will find that in the end he had nothing and was grabbing the wind, while the Christian who trusts in God for his provision will find himself still fed.
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Writing about murder- Journaling about journalism

I promised in a twitter message that I would write about my experience on covering my first murder trial.

====Disclaimer====
As this is a journal of my experience, not a news article, you will be reading some of my opinion.
Once again, I am not a lawyer, a judge, or on the jury. This is a story coming from an up-and-coming journalist who is LEARNING. Thus, this article despite my best efforts, may contain an error or two. Treat this like Wikipedia, not the L.A. Times.
Got it? Good.
===============

The night before:
I was in class, stressing out about what I should do for my court article. It had to be on a criminal trial. The teacher was excellent at giving several tips including who I could rely on for information (read: not the court reporter, clerk, or judge. Who is left?) regarding the background of a specific case.

NOTE: I didn't have a clue what I was going to report on last night. So I asked God to help me out.

Morning and Afternoon.

When I went into the court house, everything worked out PERFECTLY. While going through the metal detector, I asked an Sheriff's department officer if he knew of interesting cases today. He said that there was going to be something going on in A-5 at 11. A CLUE!
So I went to A-5 around 10-1030. The judge was hearing several cases.
I approached the baliff's in the room and asked for more information, which they provided.
I also was able to talk to one of the detectives in charge of the investigation. He was also a witness.
I obtained contact info from both the prosecutor and the defense to obtain a statement later.
It really was like a puzzle. Getting one whispered clue about where I should be at such and such a time or who I should talk to to get specific information.
So, some tips for my fellow freelancers and beginning journalists:

Things I have learned last night and today:
1. Baliffs are your best source for background info.
2. Be careful of how loud you ask certain questions and be aware of your surroundings as you don't know who might me behind you e.g. the defendants family.
3. Remember, ANYTHING said in a courtroom is public and can be legally written about. Use your own discretion.
4. Be Bold. Don't be intimidated. Some people won't like you. Some people will. Please the people is not your job, telling the truth as accurately as possible is.
5. Nevertheless, be sensitive. Having had family in prison for crimes, I can tell you it is important to remember what your words will do to the families left in their wake.

Well that, is about it. 'Til next time

Untitled by the Moment

"Untitled by the moment" Jacob Nahin

Have you ever felt like running away? 

A roller coaster, life, what a trite analogy

but fitting.

Time to start the next stanza,

next thing on the list,

pass the shovel please.

Performance based culture

It sucks

the life out I mean

Life, life, life

running around and 'round and 'round

the merry goes around

or does it?

Penny-less people

and pockets full of cash

both are alike:

eyes look at the ground

Smiles, smiles

tears,tears

these are a few of my favorite things

minus the tears

except when they help

I'm Rich!

Ok, Picture This:

A large diamond. A wall, forget that, a Truck Load, naw, too small, a 60,000 sq. ft HOUSE full of the latest and greatest in fashion and technology designed by the best in the biz. And that is just the start.

A beautiful wife (or husband), just the beginning. A person who is fully and completely all that you have, do, or could ever hope for in a lifetime mate. I mean, this person has it all. Personality, physical-ity (my own word?), Godly, good mom (or dad), the perfect balance to who you are. Yeah. Cool.

Not enough. Now you have the best children. Not always obedient (cause where is the fun in that?), but definitely the best. They run, jump, swim, and play.

Now, maybe the house isn't your style. Maybe you want quaint, small. Maybe you want to be single for life. Maybe you don't want kids
Whatever life looks like in your dreams, wherever your highest imaginations take you, go there for a moment.
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Come on back.
The point:
The one who has all of that, and just that, is still a pauper compared to a Christian. Guys, Jesus, this Jesus whom we love so much, He is REAL. I mean REAL REAL, like more real than the bed you are sitting on or the chair you are sitting in, more real than school, more real than the disasters and the blessings of this life. He is real, and He is coming back. Now that IS cool. Man, I love Him.

No cause for love

A couple of days ago, I had a revelation, definitely God inspired.

Love does not have a cause.
More specifically, God's love doesn't have a cause.

Think about it. He has always existed as has His nature. Therefore, Love, a part of His nature, is eternal.

Cool. So what? What this means is that I never caused or did anything for Him to to make Him love me, He just does. Wow. And because I didn't do anything to get Him to love me and desire me in the first place, I can't do anything to make Him stop. Cool.
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Walls and Posters and the existence of Something or Someone beyond us.

I'm sure that you have been in a room with a blank wall. I mean totally bare. Not a poster, picture, award, plague, drape, curtain ... you get my point. Just white primer.

Well if you have then there may have been something at the back of your head that asked, "Why isn't there something on this wall?"

At least with me it did. And that led me to this line of questioning:

What is it in us that longs for there to be something to take up that blank space?
Why is it there?
How did it come to be there?
Who or What put it there?
When did it happen?

Why do we desire to create? To design?

OK- So good news can be hard to come by...

...on the Internet. 'Turns out that most legitimate news organizations stick with the term "if it bleeds it leads." That sucks. Who wants to read about death and tragedy all of the time? Apparently a lot of people. I find myself sucked into the paper on a daily basis. I can't even tell ya how many RSS feeds I have.

So, I am going to type some of my own good news and I encourage you to do the same. It helps.

I successfully replaced my second sprinkler valve, 2 days after installing a valve stem in my shower. Both were very edifying with how much I have learned (by God's grace of course) over my 4.5 years at the hardware store.

Second, the IHOP Prayer Room webstream video finally works without crashing IE in Windows Vista! THANK YOU GOD!

Third, and this is of UBER impotance to me, I got to hang out with a pretty cool group of individuals from a new church I started going to recently .Very cool, very loving, very motivated people with a heart for God that I love and adore. Thank yuo God for bringing me to this church! I actually DESIRE to go to church. I don't dread it. I love it. Cool. Here is a shout out to all of yas.

Lastly, though I could go on and on, I am SOO blessed to tell you that my hand(s) are almost back to full, painless strength. Praise you God. I can't even put it into proper words how happy I am about this.

For those that don't know, I was diagnosed with tendonitis, and ended up with it in both hands. For a computer junkie and journalist, this was a real blow to me.Glory to God for healing me and thanks to all of you who prayed for me!

One more thing, if you are saved, Do Not Fear (Joel 2:21), Do Not Fear (22), BE Strong and Courageous (Deuteronomy 31:6), BE Strong and Courageous (Joshua 1:9). Perfect love casts out ALL fear (1 John 1:18), Perfect love casts out ALL fear (1 John 1:18)

iPhone, iPod Touch, Now the Bod-Fi

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Hopefully that headline has enough buzz words to land me a hit or two.

For those that aren't in touch with the latest and greatest gadgets, Apple just announced an iPod that can do everything that the iPhone can, minus the phone, and for $100 -200 less. Furthermore, Apple has dropped the price of the actual iPhone $200 for their 8gb model, and will be phasing out the 4gb model.

I would provide links. Instead, just go to Engadget.

So, this must really irk those that bought the iPhone on release. 200 dollars less. The good news:you stil have your iPhone and it still does more than the iPod Touch. As for the 200 bucks, that is unfortunately the price of this premium.

On another note:


These days you need a CAT 5 cable running from your veins to keep in touch with all the gadgeting going on. Kinda sucks. Kinda rocks.

Come to think of it, I am a bit outdated. Cat 5 is sooooo 20th century. Instead, why not have wi-fi built directly into the body and a chip with Safari attached to our retinas? I call it Bod-Fi. You heard it here first folks.

Now, lets take a look at that Hit Counter...

Blogging About Nothing to Blog About

Something to blog about. My kingdom for an idea.
And nothing springs to mind.

Here I sit, cruising over the headlines of at least 100 RSS headlines, with nothing that is worthy of note. Horrible.

Sure, there is plenty going on in the world, just nothing worth writing a blog about. Now that is news because those who know me know that I love to talk... alot.

It think I need a focus for my writing. That seems to be what all of the popular blogs advise and do.
I just am having trouble picking. Almost everything out there interests me to some degree. Maybe I should start two blogs like ShawnBlanc.

Naw, I should at least hit 101 total hits before I do that. (I currently have over 90 including my own.)

Something Positive

It's a good idea to say positive things, especially about the goodness of God. Even more so when one is not feeling so good.

So, without further adeu...

Good thing #1: I am able to clearly get IHOP's Audio webcast. Very thankful for this. I find that whenever I am at a prayer/intimacy slump in my relationship with God, He loves to use this cast to bring me back. w00t [wow loot for the non-geeks out there] indeed!

Good thing #2: God has given me a check in my spirit about going to the beach, and confirmed it with not one but two other people sp far. Guess I won't be going. I am so glad that He talks to me. I mean, He doesn't have to y'know. He CHOOSES to... that's just cool and more.

Good thing # 3 (because things have to come in threes): I got to work with Bob today. Y'know I love this guy. What a good heart. The man is a true blessing to me. And Travis. Gosh, I love this guy! Not saved, he truly puts saved people to shame in so many areas, especially his generosity. Like randomly buying me a red Gatorade. Tasty.
And Caleb. Evertime this former co-worker / best friend of mine/ awesome brother of God enters the store, it changes the ENTIRE atmosphere. he carries the presence of God with him wherever he goes.

Good thing #4 (because three is not enough): The lyrics, "Holy,Holy,Holy Open up our eyes to see," straight from the IHOP webcast about 45 seconds ago.

and the thank yous go on and on: Shawn blanc's many many blogs such as The Fight Spot, Randy Bohlender from stuff i think, Jackson Bohlender because the dude is just hilarious and downright honest, Trevor for being a good bud and carrying me through some difficult fires, and so on!

So thank you God for all of them and this.: My hands are working. AMEN AMEN AMEN! w00t! w00t! w00t! Thank you God Amen! Amen! Amen!

People are ready. Its harvest time!

So, here I am, in line at the campus bookstore...boring boring right? Wrong!
I was on my way to the bookstore and I saw a girl in long sleeves. In the summer.
Then I saw another girl, clutching a paper in her hand,crying, and I realized something (or should I say that God opened my eyes): this campus is ripe for the harvest. These people want to be saved. They want God!
God wants broken people folks. Those that know they can't do it on there own. Here they are God. Use me...I'll keep ya posted.
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