The story of Jonah

So you think you have heard a few sermons about Jonah?

Perhaps you have.

But I seriously doubt if you have heard the story as told by this individual.

This link was sent to me by a friend and it is toooooo wonderful to just leave in the inbox.

So, without further ado, pull up a chair and watch this 7 min 44 sec video.  HERE’S THE LINK

What would you do?

Several of my nieces and nephews play golf and they are approaching the age of this young golfer.

Likely many of you also play golf.

And several of my friends do.

In fact, many years ago I did also but the green fees soon put an end to that since frugal (or ? cheap according to some folks) is my middle name.

But whether one plays or not this article caught my attention and likely will yours also.

What is it?

Well, it seems that a teen golfer disqualifies himself and gives up the medal he won !

It is quite a story. HERE’S THE LINK.

Hand bells ? Who needs hand bells?

Likely you have enjoyed listening to (or perhaps playing in) a hand bell choir.

But, this is not your ‘average’ hand bell choir.

In fact, there are no hand bells at all.

Yet, it is a ‘choir’ and the ‘music’ is being performed by a group from the St Luke’s Lutheran Church.

There are several little short videos of their music so if you like what you hear, then click on some of the others.

You will definitely need to hear at least one of these, and like potato chips, you will probably not be satisfied with only one.

For example, the “Dance of the Reed Flutes” is a hoot. Be sure to listen to it also.

But let’s start with the first one, a 2 minute 3 second video. HERE’S THE LINK

How do cats drink?

Talk about a DIT (Daily Interesting Thing), this is really one. 

Actually it might be two DITs in one, in that, today, we are going to discover 2 new things (to me and perhaps to you).

DIT # 1 is this picture of a Bengal Cat which belongs to one of my friends. 

The first time I saw this unusual cat, it had on a harness!   I kid you not. And it seemingly happily wears it when outside going for a walk!

It is a most unusual and beautiful cat and was even friendly, which for me, a dog person, is very unusual.

But enough of this pontificating about a most interesting cat.

Moving on to DIT # 2:  Another friend who is also a cat lover sent an article about a recent cat study that has been done.

What is it this time? you ask.

Well, most of us have watched cats drink.  And perhaps a few wondered how they drink. 

Personally, though I have watched cats drink, it never crossed my mind to think that I (or anyone) really needed to know how they drink.  I was just happy that they did.

But, did you know that US Tax dollars funded a study that has “unveiled the secret of how cats lap water or milk ... “

Yes, our tax dollars at work!

And to find out what was discovered, though I wish the article about the report our tax dollars paid for had included the video, HERE’S THE LINK. 

And if you are wondering about the Bengal Cat breed and want to know more about this “relatively new hybrid breed of cat, formed by the cross of a domestic feline and an Asian Leopard Cat", HERE’S A LINK.

Christopher Bear’s Update

Those of you who have followed this DIT site know of Baby Christopher.

He was born Nov 30, 2009.

Pre-birth ultrasound exams revealed that he had severe Cardiac problems.

After birth the problems were discovered to be even more severe and he urgently needed a Cardiac transplant.

So he was transferred by Air Ambulance from his birth hospital in Oregon (which does not do transplants) to one in Arkansas which did.

Jan 16, 2010, he received his New Heart (with sadness and grateful thanks to the Unknown Donor and family).

Christopher will be 1 year old on November 30.  He spent almost 11 of those months in intensive and cardiac care units in hospitals.

Just a few weeks ago he was FINALLY discharged home.

He is still on renal dialysis and will be until sometime in the future (in a few years?) when he might be able to get a kidney transplant.

But, this update is to let you know that he is HOME at last with his family (they are doing the renal dialysis on a portable home dialysis unit.)

Christopher’s first year of life has been a journey of Faith and Trust in God by his parents, siblings, relatives, and innumerable friends who have followed his saga.

His mother has recently posted an ‘at home’ update on the Caring Bridge site.

Also, a 7 minute 55 second video summarizing Baby Christopher’s first year was recently posted on YouTube. I have put both it and the mother’s ‘at home’ update on the same page.  HERE’S THE LINK

Hallelujah Chorus in Philadelphia

People were milling around and shopping in Macy’s in Philadelphia.

An organ is playing in the background entertaining the shoppers as is often done in Malls and big stores during the holiday shopping season.

But, then, something unusual happens.

Amazing. 

Check this out.  HERE’S THE LINK.
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Giant Spider Webs in Madagascar

Usually when you think of Madagascar, you think of Lemurs since that is their native habitat.

You do associate Lemurs with Madagascar, don’t you?

Of course, I know you do.

But when you think of Madagascar, do you think of BIG spiders and BIG spider webs?

Probably not and until recently not many people did, except those living in Madagascar.

Usually when one thinks of spiders, one thinks of small little creatures that spin smallish webs.

And, as you know, spiders catch things to eat in their spider web nets.

But, how about BIG spiders and BIG webs. Are there any?

Well, yes -- In Madagascar spiders with reallllllly big webs have been found.

These webs are really big -- so big that scientists are wondering how the spiders do this and how they attach them and ...

Well, hmmmmm.  I guess these are big questions IF one is wearing the “old earth worldview / evolutionary glasses” which say that spiders and their ability to make reallllly big webs just happened by chance.

For folks wearing the “young earth worldview” gasses, the answer is simple.

So, what is the simple answer to these amazing spiders and their humongous webs? you ask.

How about just believing what the Bible says -- which is that God created all creatures (and this would include spiders with their ability to spin webs) to be what they are and to do what they do.

Anyway, if you interested in seeing some of these BIG webs.  HERE’S THE LINK.

Football Trick play

 It is Friday and that means many folks on Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday will either be at football games in person or watching on TV.

So it is only ‘timely’ to have a football DIT today.

You may have already seen this as it has been on Yahoo and Fox News. 

But, if you have missed this video, it is a ‘must see’.

What is it?

Well, it is a 27 second video of the most unusual football play that I have ever seen.

It was sent to us by one of our friends on the other side of the world though the play happened in Texas.

One of the bloggers in the comment section below the video said that this is an illegal play.

Well, perhaps so.

But it is still a hoot.  HERE’S THE LINK

Today is Veterans day

Is your flag flying???

Veterans Day has other names.  You may have first heard it called Armistice day or Remembrance Day.

But regardless of the name, it is an important day.

First proclaimed a Holiday on November 11, 1919, it seems to be one of the few holidays that is still observed on its originally intended day.

Most other Memorial days (Various birthdays of Presidents, etc. ) have been moved to include a weekend or whatever.

But Veterans day is still observed on November 11.

Some of you working folks will get the day off.  Others will not.

And being on Thursday this week, you are not likely to be going on a trip or having a cookout or whatever.

But, regardless of what you do or don’t do, we do need to ‘remember’ this day.

To read why it is important HERE’S THE LINK.
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Jump Rope like you probably never saw before

 This is not your grandmother’s way of jumping rope

There is a video ‘out there’ on the net that was emailed to me by a friend that seems to be some kind of jump rope competition.

And wow!  These folks have taking this sport to a whole new level.

This is not the skip skip skip jumping rope routine that most of us did as kids.

And it is not even the fancier jumping that athletes such as ‘prize fighters’ do.

No, Toto, we are not in Kansas anymore.

You will NOT believe what you see.

And, you will notice, there are NO fat folks in the group.

For a noisy and very animated 7 minute 59 second video, HERE’S THE LINK 

And if, after seeing that video, you were ‘inspired’ to take up or resume your old jumping skills, for some instructions (or reminders) to get you started, HERE’S THE LINK.

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19 Easy Home Winterization Projects

Unless you live in Florida or some other similar balmy climate, you have probably noticed that it is getting COLD outside.  Brrrrrr.
So, for us in the Northern Hemisphere, that means that winter is coming (or is here).

And that means that heating bills will be going up.

So what to do?

Well, for 19 suggestions regarding how to winterize things around your house or apartment,  HERE’S A LINK.

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Baking Soda in your Refrigerator

 Everyone has seen the famous yellow box of Baking Soda.

And if you have ever read the small print on the box, you have discovered that Baking soda has a zillion uses.

Perhaps the most famous of its uses is that of removing odors from the refrigerator.

So, since you are probably already using Baking Soda in your fridge, this article will be of interest.

Bottom line:  you can’t just put it in the fridge and forget it.  Sigh.

As with everything, it seems, there are helpful ‘rules’ and ‘guidelines’

So if you would like to know the ‘best’ way to use Baking Soda in the fridge, HERE’S THE LINK.

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Ezekiel 35 and 36, A Great History Lesson

                   
Recently I was loaned a very interesting book.

It had lots of maps (I love maps) and a lot of reallllly interesting history about The mountains of Israel.

It is a short book and a fast read.

But in its brief 120 pages it succinctly explains the somewhat (to me and perhaps to you) confusing but very significant chapters in the Bible, Ezekiel 35 and 36.

Why are they ‘somewhat confusing’?

Well, they are prophecies addressed to the mountains in Israel !

This is definitely a book that every Christian needs to read.

It was published in 1993 and has had several printings since then with 90,000 or more copies having been sold all around the world.

The person who loaned the book to me got it from a member of his Sunday School class but I don’t know where that person got it.

However, checking around, I discovered that it can be found at Amazon. (And, no, we do not get any money from this suggestion.  We just think you should read it and pass it on to others.)

HERE’S THE LINK and be sure to read the 19 or so reviews and the sample pages with the index, introduction, the 2 chapters in Ezekiel and more.

Daylight Savings Times ENDS Sunday Nov 7

This is a big heads up and reminder that

It is “Fall Back time.”

Yes, tonight, this Saturday night (well, technically in the wee hours of Sunday morning), Daylight Savings Time ends.

So, be sure to change allllll your clocks and timers and everything that ‘blinks when the power goes out’ BACK one hour before you go to bed tonight (Saturday night).

If you don’t do this, you'll be an hour early to church!  And, if you are a Baptist, I guess that means you will be the early bird making the coffee and putting out the donuts.   : )

Anyway, this will be a 25 hour day, so, joy and happiness, you get another hour of sleep tonight !!!!

But, alas, if you have a job where you are on call or on duty when the time changes, well, sad about that as you have to work longer.  Sigh.

Also, this is a good time change the batteries in your smoke detectors.

And if you want to know more about the how and why and ins and outs of Daylight Savings Time, HERE’S A LINK
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Twitpics (Twitter Pictures) from space

Yesterday we viewed 22 pictures by the Astronomy Photographer of 2010.

Today let’s view 22 more pictures.

This time these are pictures sent back from space by an Astronaut via his Twitter account.

The uber rich, in addition to the astronauts, are starting to travel to space to see such things. 

If you are not uber rich but would still love to see what it looks like from a platform in space, then this link is for you.

So, put on your ‘virtual spacesuit’ and pretend you are on the space station as you view these pictures.

Beautiful.   HERE’S THE LINK.

And if you liked those, to view 12 more from the same 'twitter' person.  HERE'S THE LINK

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Astronomy Photography

22 pictures by Tom Lowe, the Astronomy Photographer of the year 2010.

These are beautiful.

What more can one say.

Check them out. HERE’S THE LINK.

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From Darkness to Light

Monday we discovered that many Major League Baseball players are giving a testimony for Christ.

And recently we followed the rescue of the 33 miners in Chile and heard snippets about the faith of the miners.

But, alas, not many ‘ spiritual details’ were forthcoming by the main stream media.

And you, like I, probably wanted to know more.

Well, now ‘more’ is starting to leak out.

A wonderful article with an accompanying short video has made it onto the net.

You will be blessed by it.  HERE’S THE LINK
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Today is Election day.

Be sure to VOTE !!!

No links. No click throughs today.

Instead, spend the time today going to your polling place, voting, and then watching or listening to the results.

We will continue these DITs (Daily Interesting Things) tomorrow.

So, Catch ya later.    : )
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It's Baseball World Series Time

Some of us are more ‘into’ the World Series than others.

My neighbors are following it closely and so are many friends and relatives.

Others are more ‘into’ college or pro football at this time of the year.

But, for those of you who follow Baseball and the players, this article will be of great interest to you.  It was to me.

What is it about?

Well, as a big clue, the title of the article is “MLB World Series Players Testify of God’s Grace.”  HERE’S THE LINK.
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October 31 -- Why is it important?

Which (pun intended although the spelling is different) do you think of when you see this date on the calendar?  Halloween? or the Reformation?

Probably you think of Halloween but are you aware that it was on Oct 31, 1517, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg Church and thus began what is now known as the Protestant Reformation?

Likely your children, grandchildren, neighbors, or whomever are ‘celebrating’ the Halloween aspect of this date by either ‘trick or treating’ or having some kind of Church event which is semi-incorporating an observance of the witches halloween, either calling it a ‘fall festival’ or some other ‘innocent’ sounding name.

Indeed, many folks today decorate their yards and houses with goblins, ghosts,  pumpkins, etc. But, should they or you even celebrate Halloween at all? 

There are many excellent articles and resources that explain why observance of Halloween is NOT a good thing.  You can find some of them HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

So, rather than celebrating Halloween, how about thinking about the Reformation and the positive results that came from it.  Your Church might even want to have a “Reformation Party” or event with videos, talks, whatever, telling about what happened and why. 

One of the reasons our Churches are in the mess they are in today is because folks do NOT know about the Reformation, what it accomplished, why it is important, and what will result if we abandon what it accomplished.

So, forget celebrating Halloween and begin to think about the Reformation when you see Oct 31 roll around on your calendar.

To read the 95 Theses in Martin Luther’s own words, HERE’S THE LINK

Top scientists in Scotland are teaching that The Bible is true!

Hmmmmm. Imagine that !!

There are ‘real’ scientists in Scotland that believe “...the world was created in 6 days and ...”

Amazing.  Who would have thought in this day and age?

The article, of course, is written by a person who appears to be wearing old earth worldview glasses.

And the ‘eminent scientists’ are proponents of “Intelligent Design” theory which, as you know, for the most part does not acknowledge The God of the Bible as being The Designer, but does recognize a ‘Designer’ instead of the ‘big bang’ theory.

Still, this is a definite step in the right direction when one sees where scientists have been ‘going’ and what is being taught in schools.

So with that by way of caveats, here is the very interesting article.  HERE’S THE LINK

Peanut Butter Experiment

 Another interesting email has arrived.

This time the email was from the K-House eNews, a email letter that comes from time to time.

And it contained a very interesting article.

What is it? 

Well, in a nutshell (pun intended) it is about something to consider the next time you open a jar of peanut butter or a sealed jar of anything for that matter.

HERE’S THE LINK

Peak hour traffic

I know a guy who has pontificated over the years about the long waits at traffic lights and the time spent (wasted) in rush hour traffic.

In fact, he often calculates how many hours a year are spent waiting at traffic lights and enduring rush time traffic in general. 

Sometimes these totals add up to days or weeks when calculated over the course of a year.

He, for one, therefore, will surely be interested in the link today.  

Who would have thought that the peak hour traffic drive time is worse in Nashville, Tn. than anywhere else in the country????

And a frequent DIT (Daily Interesting Thing visitor) who lives in Birmingham will find the ranking of her city amazing also.

To see where your city stacks up, HERE’S THE LIST

A “Mini-Pompeii” found in Norway

Recently while dining with a frequent reader of DIT (Daily Interesting Things), we discussed the interesting fact that many archaeological sites seem to have been covered in a layer of sand. 

These sites have often been found in the far Northern regions close to the ocean or rivers.

Well, it seems another such site has been found.

This site, found in Norway near the North Sea, was found under 3 feet of undisturbed sand.

It is thought to be 5,500 years old. 

Hmmm.  That is an interesting date as it places it near the time of the post flood, post Babel, and the early Ice Age events.

The article, of course, neglects to consider such events. 

But, with your ‘young earth worldview’ glasses on, you might want to evaluate these findings in the light of the possibility that the ‘catastrophic’ event may have been related to some of these post-flood (of Noah) events, and especially events related to the Ice Age.   HERE’S THE LINK

A Balloon with an unusual assignment.

Wow!  This is a reallllllly interesting video.

It was sent to us by folks in Arkansas who visit this DIT (Daily Interesting Things) site from time to time and found it on the net. (Thanks for the link and congratulations to you Hogs fans for winning the football game Saturday! )

So, what is this video about ? you ask.

Well, seems that a small group -- a father and son and friends -- decided to send a video camera attached to a weather balloon into the upper stratosphere of earth.

It worked.  It went up to about 100,000 feet (about 19 miles) and returned some very interesting pictures.

Their video is condensed down to 6 minutes 59 seconds.

Very Interesting.  Check it out.  HERE’S THE LINK

How did evolution do this?

Bees (hard to see in this tiny picture but they are there) and Flowers

“Bee’s tiny brains beat computers, study finds”

That is the title of a most interesting article on the net on Sunday Oct 24, 2010.

Seems that “Bees can solve complex mathematical problems which keep computers busy for days ....”
And they do this with a “brain the size of a grass seed...”

Wow.

And to think that this all happened by ‘accident’ (evolution).

Amazing.

Well, of course, we at DIT (Daily Interesting Things) do not think the 'better than a computer' bee brain just evolved.  Rather, this seems to be more ‘proof / evidence’ (as if any more was needed) that there is a Creator behind the ‘bee brain’ and everything else.

And if bees can do this with a brain the size of a grass seed, what can / should humans do with much bigger brains?  What are you doing with yours? Is your ‘big brain’ buying the evolution ‘theory’?

Anyway, to read this most interesting article, HERE’S THE LINK
      

Why 66 Books in the Bible ?

 Back in June, on the 27th, we touched upon this topic.

The article that you read at that time was by Brian H. Edwards. If you want to refer back to it, HERE’S THE LINK

And, if you want even more ‘written’ information, there is another article on the AIG website, also by Brian Edwards, that also discusses this topic.  HERE’S THE LINK

Both of those are excellent articles and if you are a person who ‘learns’ by reading, then you will find them highly informative.

But recently I came across a video by this same person, Brian Edwards, that is a ‘must see’.

I am not sure where the video was made but it was probably at one of the if not ‘the’ most recent AIG Creation College meetings.  It has the look and feel of such a setting.

But, regardless or where or when, or whether you learn by reading or by seeing, it is an excellent ‘must see’ video that is divided into two parts.

Part 1 is just under 14 minutes in length and part 2 is 14 min 56 seconds. Both can be viewed from one link. 

And don’t panic when you get to the link and you see Part 2 at the top of the page. If you keep looking you will see that on the page itself both Part 1 and 2 are available.

So pull up a chair, get comfortable, and HERE’S THE LINK

Happy Birthday World !!!

 Did you know that today, October 23, is the World's Birthday? 

And, no, the world is not celebrating a big bang ‘birth’ that supposedly occurred billions and billions of years ago. 

The earth is actually much much younger than that.

So, how old is the world really?

How about 6,014 years?

That is what  Bishop James Ussher has calculated in his book, Annals of the World.

Who was Bishop Ussher and how and why did he calculate the age of the world?

Well, to discover the answer to those questions and more, HERE’S THE LINK.

Now the bridge has been finished!

First the tunnel in Switzerland ....

And now we learn that the bridge has been finished.

Bridge?  What bridge?

Well, it seems that the Hoover Dam bypass bridge has been completed and is scheduled to be open to traffic next week.

Prior to the completion of this bridge most of the traffic from Nevada to Arizona went across the top of Hoover Dam.

Now, with the bypass bridge in service, folks will see Hoover dam at a distance of about 1600 feet to the north as they travel over the new bridge.

But that is not all they will see. 

They will also see a stunning view below since this bridge is the second-hightest bridge in the US and the 14th highest in the world.  Hmmm. Sounds like another candidate for “scariest bridges’.

Having personally seen the very early beginnings of this bridge under construction, it is exciting to see that it is finally finished. Wow.

Anyway, to read all about it, HERE’S THE LINK.

And for a 3 minute 29 second time lapse video of it being built HERE’S THE LINK.

Baby Christopher has gone home at last !

                     Yes, at long last, Baby Christopher has been discharged from the hospital and has gone home to be with his mother, father, brother, and sister.

No, he is not ‘cured’.  

His heart transplant is working great !!!

But, he is still in total renal failure so has gone home with a portable dialysis machine and indwelling feeding tube.

So his mother, father, and siblings will now become his ‘medical folks’ as they do the renal dialysis, tube feedings, injections, and all the other things that this ‘very sick’ little boy will need.

He will have to be on the ‘dialysis machine’ for 16 hours a day.   Wow.

And this will continue, unless a miracle from God restarts his kidneys, until he is 2 or 3 years old when a renal transplant will be considered.

So, all that to say, yayyyyy he is finally out of the hospital after almost 11 months.

But. lest you think that this family is ‘down’ or ‘discouraged’, I think you will be blessed by this recent post from the Caring Bridge website.  It was written by Christopher’s mother on Sunday Oct 17, just a few days before his discharge home.   HERE’S THE LINK.

The world’s longest tunnel

You may have heard about this.  Or maybe not.

But the longest tunnel in the world has been completed.

It is in Switzerland

And, no, it is not totally finished.

The train tracks must be laid before the tunnel will be in service in about 2017 or so.

But, the monumental break though has happened with the humongous drill seen in the picture above.

This is not the first long tunnel in Switzerland.

A few years ago several of us went on a tour to Switzerland and as part of our adventures we took a train ride through a long tunnel up to the ‘top of the world’, a scenic tourist site.

The interesting thing about that trip was that one of our travelers does not like tunnels at all and busied herself listening to music on her iPod to try to ‘forget’ where she was and what she was doing. 

That tunnel was only about 12 miles long.

This tunnel, which has just been finished, the longest one in the world, is 35.5 miles. Wow.

My friend would not be happy traveling in this new tunnel. 

Anyway, to read about it, HERE’S THE LINK

And to see a 2 minute 37 video of the break through event (after another irritating brief commercial), HERE’S THE LINK

Nikon ‘Small World’ Photographs

18 pictures seen through the Light microscope.

Amazingly the microscope used for these pictures is just the ‘ordinary’ optical (light) microscope, the kind used in classrooms and medical labs.  We are not even talking about the fancier super detailed resolution scopes such as the electron microscope and others.

Too bad Darwin didn’t know about these exquisite details in things too small to see without a microscope.  Perhaps he wouldn’t have thought the cell and other things were so ’simple’.

For example, the Paramecium seen in picture 12 is a one celled animal found in fresh water.  Even though only about half of the one cell is seen in the picture, look at all the many complex structures that are visible within that one half of one cell. Astounding!

As you view these 18 pictures, consider whether it seems likely that all these various structures just happened by chance (evolution).

My vote is NO.  Obviously, there is a God and He created these things. HERE’S THE LINK. 
Hint: look on the right hand side of the page to click the arrows to see the pictures.

And if you want to know more about microscopes, HERE'S A LINK

Did you notice the T-Shirts?

As the 33 Chilean Miners came out of the mine one by one, you probably noticed that many were wearing a tan T-Shirt over their green coveralls.

Being somewhat of a T-shirt nut, I  noticed and wondered about the T-Shirts, what they said, and why they were wearing them.

Well, now we know.

This article explains about the T-Shirts, how they got them, why they wore them, and more.

I think you will be blessed by this article and the pictures.  HERE’S THE LINK

And to read a tad more but without pictures HERE'S ANOTHER LINK

Butterfly in the Chile Mine

This article was posted on the net on Sept 28, 2010 but I just ran across it and thought you would be interested!

The 33 miners were still trapped in the mine in Chile at the time the article was written and posted on the net.

So what is this all about ? you ask.

Well, it seems that a butterfly....

Wait, you should read this for yourself. 

The article is very short but amazing and wonderful.  HERE’S THE LINK

Energy saving tips

It is getting cold here and perhaps where you are also.

And that means it is time to start putting blankets on the beds, closing doors and windows from the night (and daytime) air and, gasp, it will soon be time to turn on the heating system if you haven’t already done that.

Don’t know about you, but heating bills around here are a lot higher than the summer cooling bills.

So, what to do?

Well, a friend found this link that suggests 10 Energy-Efficient moves to do in a weekend.

Guess that means that you will have to miss some football games while you do these handy dandy activities. 

Or perhaps you can do a few at a time over several weekends and still see your favorite teams.

Anyway, for some really ‘cool’ (pun intended) suggestions HERE’S THE LINK.

And HERE'S ANOTHER LINK with some more tips.

Abandoned at Walmart

 Saw this brief video on a Facebook page tonight.

It is such a hoot that I knew you would want to see it also.

So,without further introduction or ‘ado’, to see this 2 minutes 35 second video of a poor little waif that was abandoned in a Walmart store, HERE’S THE LINK.

They are all out. They are all safe.

Unless you have been living in a (pun not intended) hole (of which I am often accused) you probably already know this.

Indeed you have probably been glued to your TV set watching the rescue events in person.

But, just in case you didn’t see or hear the news.

All 33 miners and all the rescuers are safely out of the mine after 89 days of the 33 miners being trapped underground in the mine in Chile.

For details HERE’S A LINK

World’s scariest runways

Yesterday we mentioned the amazing new Boeing 787, the Dreamliner, and how it is almost ready for ‘prime time’.

Well, since we are thinking about airplanes, today would be a good time to look at some of the runways that this and other planes might encounter.

Of course, there are ‘normal’ runways but there are also some that are very scary.

It is the scary ones we want to look at today.

For example, I have experienced the exciting ‘white knuckle’ landing at the scary Tegucigalpa, Honduras airport.  It is every bit as exciting as the video shows.

Ditto re the Airport (no longer used) in Hong Kong. That was also an ‘adventure’ to both fly into and later to be on the streets below as the big 747s screamed overhead just a few feet above the buildings. You could almost touch them. Wow.

If you love to fly, you will love these 17 videos.

If you are afraid to fly, you will still love them even though this might reinforce your reasons for not flying.

But, actually, whether you are afraid to fly or not, these 17 scary runway landings are amazing and well worth your viewing.  HERE’S THE LINK

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is undergoing flight tests!

Awhile back several of us went to the Boeing plant near Seattle, took the tour, and saw the various Boeing airplanes under construction.

Needless to say, it was a never to be forgotten experience.

What a HUGE building!  And, of course, several huge planes were being built in it including the Boeing 787, the Dreamliner.

After the tour was over, one of our group asked us: “Of all that you saw, what was the most impressive?”

To which we as one replied unhesitatingly, “Seeing the 787 Dreamliner being built!”

Yes, the Dreamliner is going to be quite a plane.  But, having undergone so many delays for so many reasons, I was beginning to wonder if it would be finished in my lifetime.

Well, perhaps not that dire of a wait.

But, apparently it is now undergoing flight tests and hopefully will begin flying commercially in 2011.

If you would like to get an idea of what happens during some of these tests, then you will appreciated this 2 minute 54 second video. (You might have to hit 'reload' a few times to get the video to load in the blank space. At least I had to do that. So persevere, the video is there.)   HERE’S THE LINK

And if you would like to learn more about this amazing plane including the specs, the reasons for the manufacturing delays, and pictures of the flight deck and the anticipated seating and cabin configurations HERE’S A LINK

Already Gone

Yesterday we referenced this article (here is the link again) about the new ‘trinity’ of the youth in England.

Only 20% of those born after 1982, the age group know as Generation Y, believe in a God “who created the world and hears my prayers”, according to that article.

And, sadly, this is not only happening in England.  It is happening in America, Canada, Australia, etc. etc. etc.

But WHY is this happening? 

Previously we recommended an excellent book which explains about this sad state of affairs and how and why it has come about.

Today, we want to remind you once again about this book, Already Gone, by Ken Ham. 

If you have not yet read it. it is imperative that you put this on your ‘get it now and read it now’ list of things to do.

Why?

Well, for info about the book, Already Gone, HERE’S A LINK

And for another explanation about what is happening to Generation Y that includes a brief but powerful  2 minute 45 second video, HERE’S THE LINK

To order a copy or several copies since you will want to share this with many folks including your Pastor, Youth Director, Sunday School Director, etc.  HERE’S THE LINK

A new secular trinity

This is an interesting, amazing, and very sad thing.

Seems that in England  “young people have a ‘faded memory’ of Christianity”.

What?

Yes, it seems that, according to a recent article on the web, “Religion is largely irrelevant to most young people who rely instead on a ‘secular trinity’ of themselves, their family and their friends to give meaning to their lives ...”

WOW !

This is serious and I doubt that it is only in England. 

Look around you.  Look at the lifestyles, interests, activities, etc. of  the young folks in the group known as Generation Y (those born after 1982).

This is a must read and must think about article.  HERE’S THE LINK.

5 Tricks of Identity Thieves

Awhile back we mentioned 16 very dangerous places on the internet.

But, being ‘off’ the net is not necessarily a ‘safe’ place to be either.

Seems that thieves and scammers are alive and well everywhere. 

This article and the accompanying 2 minute 41 second video gives the scary details.  HERE’S THE LINK

And for more information about Identity Theft on Social Network sites HERE’S A LINK

World’s scariest hikes

Yesterday we saw some scary roads.

But, you know what, some of those roads pale in comparison compared to some of these scary hikes.

Hike # 2 in Yosemite made me nervous just sitting on the couch watching the 3 minute video.

And that is just for starters.   Hike # 4 in China ... welllll ! Who would do that? Not I, that’s for sure.

Ditto re hike # 11.

And there are other scary hikes in this series of scary hikes.

Plus, remember, going UP on the hike is only ‘half the fun’.  The hiker still has to go back down.  There are no helicopters or easy routes back that I saw.  How about you.

Personally, imho, the safe and terra firma ‘couch potato’ position of looking at the pictures and videos is the ONLY way to do these hikes.

Enjoy.  HERE’S THE LINK 

World’s scariest bridges

You remember that friend on the other side of the world that we mentioned yesterday?

Yes, I thought so.

Well, she found another interesting thing for our DIT (Daily Interesting Things).

This time she has discovered a group of the “World’s Scariest Bridges”.

And they are scary.  Some more so than others as is the usual case with these things.  But, there are some that no one in their right mind would want to encounter.

So, if you are willing to view these (from the comfort of your easy chair or desk, which is the only way some of these should be encountered), then check these out.
HERE’S THE LINK.

Are Plastic containers safe?

For the past several days we have been looking wayyyyy back in time -- to the Mayans, to folks in Armenia/Turkey, and even those in the Orkneys.

And we noticed some of the things they had and did not have as they lived their, to us, simple and often primitive lives.

Those folks did not have many of the ‘conveniences’ we have today.

But perhaps that was not all bad.  That might have been a blessing in disguise, especially when it comes to plastic containers.

Plastic containers?  What are you talking about? you ask.

Well, a friend, who lives on the other side of the world, found this very interesting article about Plastic containers.

After reading this article, you might want to rethink what you use when it comes to cooking, storing, etc.  

Maybe the ‘early folks’ who used clay pots and other such ‘simple’ things were on the right track after all.   HERE’S THE LINK

Tomb of the Eagles

Yesterday we read about the Archaeological site, Gobekli Tepe.

You probably recall seeing a picture of a hand holding a small stone with a precision drilled hole. 

This was obviously not an ordinary hole.  It was a hole that surely required some type of highly advance drilling tool.

The appearance of the precision hole indicates that it was not made by someone rotating a stick (like Boy Scouts use to start fires in an emergency) for months and years but by someone using a very sharp cutting tool, perhaps unlike what we have even today.

Why do I bring this up? you ask.

Well, several years ago a group of us went to The Tomb of the Eagles (in the Orkneys) and saw a stone (the albertite 'button’) with a precision drilled hole that was very reminiscent of the stone in yesterday’s DIT (Daily Interesting Thing).

Now the question is, “Why does a stone in Armenia (Turkey today) and a stone in the Orkneys of Scotland look like the same type of tool had drilled them both?” Even the rock in which the hole was drilled seems to be the same or very similar. And what was the purpose of the drilling of the hole?

And....

Well, we could go on and on with the questions and the discoveries.

But, the point (pun intended) remains, it seems that folks many thousands of years ago (The Tomb of the Eagles is thought to be about 5000 years old) were much more highly advanced than we give them credit for.

Yes, many likely were ‘hunter-gatherers’ but, instead of being hunter gatherers of the evolutionary process of man’s ‘development’, ---

Consider the possibility that they were ‘hunter-gatherers’ because, having been dispersed around the world at the time of the Tower of Babel event, they had much knowledge but no longer had access to the machinery, tools (except small tools), and etc available in their pre-Babel Dispersion life.

Hmmmm. What a concept. Could it be that the Biblical accounts re. the age of the earth and all the events that happened (pre-flood world, Noah’s flood, Tower of Babel dispersion, etc) are all true!

Well, YES.

So, with that concept in mind and your ‘young earth’ glasses in place, look at the stone with the precision drilled hole as well as the other artifacts at the Tomb of the Eagles.  HERE’S THE LINK

And if you plan to visit one day, and I hope you do,  HERE’S ANOTHER LINK

Gobekli Tepe

During a dinner discussion with a reader of DIT (Daily Interesting Things), I learned of a very interesting archaeological site in Turkey.

Seems this site, Gobekli Tepe, currently only partially excavated, has many standing stones and circle structures similar to the well known Stonehenge and other similar structures around the world -

But, the structures in Gobekli Tepe in Turkey (the area known as Armenia in the Bible in 2 Kings 19:37 and Isaiah 37:38) are thought to be older than Stonehenge.

Older?  

Yes. The structures in Gobekli Tepe are thought to be about 12,000 years old whereas Stonehenge is thought to be about 6,000 years old.  (Remember, these are dates selected by those wearing ‘old earth glasses’)

Everyone agrees, this is a fascinating and important discovery. 

But, the interpretation depends on which glasses you are wearing (‘old earth / evolutionary glasses’ or the ‘young earth / Creation by God glasses’)

If you wear the evolutionary glasses, the date of 12,000 or so years attributes the water erosion, location, etc. to the ‘last’ (of several) ice age with local heavy rains, etc.  The people who lived in this ‘era’ are called hunter-gatherers and folks today are understandably amazed that hunter-gatherers could build such things with no tools or with very rudimentary tools such as stones, sticks, ropes, whatever.

But, with ‘young earth’ glasses, the explanation re the water erosion, etc. is viewed within the context of the civilization before (a very highly advanced civilization) and after Noah’s flood (which likely began with the highly advanced pre-flood knowledge and then deteriorated rapidly as a result of the Babel Dispersion event), the ice age (the only ice age) that occurred after Noah’s flood, and etc.

Wearing old earth glasses, discoveries such as Gobekli Tepe are really very difficult (more likely impossible) to explain.

But, wearing young earth glasses, such discoveries make a lot of sense.  For example, the location of Gobekli Tepe is practically at the foot of the Mountains of Aarat.   Remember what happened there? Yes. Noah’s ark landed.

And civilization began anew from there. 

So, could Gobekli Tepe be one of the earliest post Flood structures?

And could Stonehenge and other similar sites around the world be later post flood and even post Babel structures? Hmmm.

Similarly, could the water erosion seen on many of these old structures, including the Sphinx and Pyramids of Egypt, be due to the heavy rains post Flood -- the heavy rains which ultimately produced the one and only ice age?

Just a thought.

So, put on your ‘young earth’ glasses and see what else you can interpret as you view the article and pictures of Gobekli Tepe.  HERE’S THE LINK

And if you would like to read still more, The Smithsonian.com site reported on this also.  HERE’S THE LINK

Finally, what does AIG have to say about this? HERE’S THE LINK

What is a Christian ?

There is a lot of confusion these days about ‘What is a Christian’.

Some just use the name, ‘Christian’, without understanding what a real Christian is.

Their life styles do not suggest that they are a Christian as often the person lives, acts, thinks, talks, etc. just like a non-Christian.

So what is a Christian really?

Well, a good and succinct answer to that question came in a snail mail letter that I received recently from Samaritan's Purse.

Going to their website I was unable to find it posted online so perhaps it is only in printed form.

Not knowing who wrote it, though it might have been Franklin Graham, the  President of Samaritan’s Purse, still, it is definitely a must read. 

So, without further ado to read this answer for yourself, HERE’S THE LINK

The 17 Most Dangerous Places on the Web

Recently while chatting with a relative, I learned that once again their computer had been seriously compromised with several viruses and was very very sick.

Unfortunately, this has happened more than once to that computer. 

But, fortunately, they have a good friend who is a computer guru who each time was able to get the machine back up and running.

But, since this keeps happening (yes, you guessed it, it IS a Windows based machine), I thought this interesting article would be of help to them and to the rest of you folks reading this DIT.

What is this interesting article?

It is information about the 17 most dangerous places on the Internet and how, when, and why to be careful -- to be very careful when visiting them.

This is a busy site so it might load slowly or you might have to refresh but it is well worth the visit. HERE’S THE LINK.

The Chile Mine collapse of Aug 5, 2010

You surely heard about this on TV but then the news quickly died out so I, and probably you also, figured that they had been rescued and all is well.

Well, not so fast.

Seems they (all 33) are still there, still trapped in the mine !!!

And they are not expected to be rescued until sometime in early October or November or later.

Early October or November or later!   How can that be? 

And what are they doing.

Well, for one thing they are watching movies. 

And though not mentioned in the article, one movie that they will see is the Jesus Film.

An email from the Campus Crusade Ministry stated, “We have received word that the 33 miners in Northern Chile will receive a New Testament and "The Story of Jesus," the audio/radio adaptation of the "JESUS" film on an MP3 player. Some estimate that the men--trapped 2,300 feet (701 meters) underground since early August--may face separation from the outside world and their families until Christmas.“

This article is definitely a must read as it gives details about the rock fall, the days of total darkness and dust, and much more.  You will be amazed.

But wait, stop the presses, there is good news!

The article that we were going to post has been changed.  Now the revised article tells about a breakthrough and the expectant hope that now they will be rescued in Early October. HERE’S THE LINK