Guardian Unlimited has added me to a list of their favorite weblogs. Cool.

Postmodern Worship
The last post on postmodern worship can be found here. In it the author explains many of the elements of worship in an emerging culture.

Done. Hockey Pundits was giving an error everytime I used w.bloggar or any other programs that use Blogger's API. It was driving me crazy and I finally got it fixed. It took far longer and was far more hassle than it was worth but it was done. I also tweaked some the html with Pundits so it looks a little better. The site is growing more popular every day and we aren't even at the opening of NHL training camps yet. The greatest problem with hockey pundits is finding hockey fans who take some pride in the site and in their writing. I don't want it to be a flame site but something that reflects some thought and research. We'll see how it goes.

MacGyver is coming to a big screen near you. Patty and Selma should be over joyed.

Winamp's page title, "Winamp3 would have happened two years ago, but we had the munchies." Jeb was quite critical of Winamp 3.0 but I have found it workable. The more complex the skin, the more it bogs your system. He had problems with it skipping on his computer but it is playing my CD's on MyPlay fine.

Jason Evans points me to a fascinating article in Fast Company about the future of companies and organizations in the postmodern world."
"People," they argue, "have changed more than the commercial organizations upon which they depend. And here is the new opportunity: In that chasm that now separates individuals and organizations lies the key to a new economic order with vast opportunities for wealth creation and individual fulfillment." We have arrived, Zuboff and Maxmin believe, at a "transaction crisis." Managerial capitalism succeeded spectacularly in turning us into a nation of individuals. "It has created a new world," Zuboff says. "We have more stuff and more access to experiences. But it's having all of those things that has turned us into people who think of ourselves as individuals and who want more control."

This issue of Fast Company also has an article on BMW and their willingness to mess with success to stay ahead of the curve.
At a time when many global companies are hunkering down and retrenching, BMW is moving forward, placing a big bet that it has a winning design for future growth. Companies typically take risks because there is no other option: Their backs are against the wall and there's no choice but to change. BMW is making bold moves at the very peak of its success. "Carmakers are running up against a very tough choice," observes brand analyst Will Rodgers, cofounder of SHR Perceptual Management. "Either they protect their market share and play not to lose, like GM and Toyota, or they go all out, place some big bets, and play to win. BMW is playing to win."

Bangle fills notebooks with cartoon-like sketches of his travels and observations, with quick captions written in German and English. There's a star chart for locating the Southern Cross; there are notes from last year's World Economic Forum, including a whimsical sketch of Hillary Clinton's begrimed high heels and a free-flowing illustration of the gateway to the Alamo, in San Antonio, Texas. Tellingly, there's not a single sketch of a car. Bangle won't comment on his jottings ( too personal ), but as he closes the journal, he offers a cryptic bit of advice: "Take notes on the world. There will be a test."

Saturday is the last day for early registration!

SOULARIZE: A LEARNING PARTY OCT. 15 - 18, 2002 MINNEAPOLIS, MN

EXPLORE the mystery, adventure, and community of ministry in our emerging culture. Join other artists, musicians, storytellers, church leaders, church planters, theologians, and community advocates. Over the past four years at Soularize, people have found refreshing and challenging ways to connect with other church leaders who are wrestling with ministry in the 21st century (whether you call it postmodernism, emerging generations, or the next church). Soularize 2002 will expose you to the latest trends, tools, authors and speakers and have the surprise moments that have made Soularize a unique and inspiring conference.


AUGUST 31ST IS THE END OF EARLY REGISTRATION for Soularize 2002 at $199 per person ($125 spouses). If you've been thinking about going, you might as well save some bucks and sign up now! (There are special discounts for multiple team member registration too.) After August 31, the cost is $249.
http://www.TheOoze.com/Soularize

We know we're reaching leaders in the emerging culture that are bi-vocational--if not multi-vocational--so scholarships are available based on need.

Soularize's unique edge is our speakers and experiences. For example:

THE REVEREND BERNICE KING, daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., is one of our featured keynote speakers.

THE DAMAH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL TOUR - three days after the 2002 winners are announced, we will host the first stop on the 2002 Tour of this festival of spiritual experiences in film.

SOULARIZE WORKSHOPS come from our community, so it's virtually all the authors, speakers and friends that you've come to recognize, and a chance to
meet in person many of those names or aliases you've run into on the phoneor online. Brian McLaren, Liquid thinking, Rudy Carrasco, Tom & Christine Sine, Dan Kimball, Denise VanEck, Chris Seay, Karen Ward, Tony Jones, Holly Rankin, Mark Oestreicher, Heather Kirk-Davioff, Jordan Cooper, Joel Vestal, Andy Harrington, John Franke, Doug Pagitt...

LARGE SCALE PUBLIC ART - Tour guides/docents will help us explore the emotional, aesthetic and spiritual impact of art in the largest urban sculpture garden in the U.S. and how the church might contribute to the arts.

INTERACTIVE LABS including video editing, digital photography, art expression, cyber caf�, theology pub, song-writing studio, experiential worship installations and screening room (bring your own videos). If you are a musician, you might want to consider joining our house band "The Dirty Worship Band" led by Tim Taber formally of The Prayer Chain.

15 MINUTES OF FAME - many conferences have representatives from companies come and tell you what you need, trying to sell you their wares. At Soularize we reverse the roles. Publishers, record companies, stock art buyers, etc. come to discover the new resources of the emerging culture. Bring your CD-Rom, your manuscript, your demo tape, or instrument and you'll have a chance to meet and talk with people that you'd have a difficult time meeting outside of the Soularize context.

If you love to learn in a hands-on relational way, and like the idea of a schedule with longer lunches and open evenings for discussion with fellow travelers, I hope that you'll check out the website and that we'll see you in Minneapolis in October.

Spencer Burke
Your Party Host
http://www.TheOoze.com/Soularize

Am off to have a cup of coffee with fellow blogger John Janzen today and then later off to a place called The Quest at Christopher Lake for Lakeview Church's staff retreat. Since I have been at Lakeview, staff retreat has grown from a 1/2 day planning session to a three day retreat. I will be away from e-mail and the weblog till sometime on Friday. I never know what to expect anymore but we will see what happens. I am not a big fan of the camp. I find not having my own space a little tiring after a while. That and the bathrooms are designed for children so the sink is at my knees. I have some good reading to plow through. Hopefully some reviews will come of it.

A Prophet of Hope (from the Guardian)
The Guardian has a fascinating article on Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. It writes,
The latest challenge is to construct a way for different cultures to get along in a globalised world. The old mechanisms were fine in their day, says Sacks: the principles of religious tolerance or separation of church and state worked well inside the boundaries of a nation state. But we are no longer living in neatly defined, single societies; now we inhabit a world where "everything affects everything else", whether it's terror or economics. So now we need "a doctrine strong enough to allow different groups to live together without an overarching political structure."
His conclusions have and will rattle conservatives of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity but it is a fascinating dialogue he is engaging in. The Guardian goes on to say,
So what are his views of the current Israeli situation? What does he make of the ancient Jewish command, quoted in his book: "Do not ill-treat a stranger [ie a non-Israelite] or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt"? How can that square with Israel's 35-year-long occupation of the West Bank and Gaza?
"You cannot ignore a command that is repeated 36 times in the Mosaic books: 'You were exiled in order to know what it feels like to be an exile.' I regard that as one of the core projects of a state that is true to Judaic principle. And therefore I regard the current situation as nothing less than tragic, because it is forcing Israel into postures that are incompatible in the long- run with our deepest ideals."
I can't wait to read his book.

Sony Finally Haults Production of Betamax Players
Over the last year I have given examples of corporations, organizations, and churches that struggle to change with the times but Sony wins the grand prize. I had no idea that Sony was still making Betamax. They shipped 2,800 units last year and my question is to who?

Had a vehicle broken into last night. Wendy lost her ID, credit cards, and a little cash. Frustrating. I had this happen a couple of years ago. I don't mind losing the cash or even the credit cards but losing the health, SIN, and drivers liscence is most frustrating and a pain to replace. Even things like business cards. That and they don't help you at all.

Lobsters, caviar and brandy for MPs at summit on starvation
THE sickening champagne and caviar lifestyle being enjoyed by Earth Summit delegates was exposed yesterday. They are gorging on mountains of lobster, oysters and fillet steak at the Johannesburg conference -- aimed at ending FAMINE. As the summit began yesterday, desperate kids in nearby shanty towns queued for water at standpipes. Bigwig politicians among the 60,000 delegates, including Deputy PM John Prescott, also get vintage bubbly and brandy. Taxpayers are footing the �500,000 bill for the 70-strong British party. Friends of the Earth called the extravagance "deplorable". (via Metafilter)

Daniel Miller (no permalinks) blogs from Greenbelt . I amazed at what God is doing all over the world. I would love to be at Greenbelt 2003.

The Homeless Guy
A blog from a homeless man in Tennessee. Powerful stuff. (via Jason Evans)

If you write for God you will reach many men and bring them joy. If you write for men - you may make some money and you may give someone a little joy and you may make a noise in the world, for a little while. If you write only for yourself you can read what you yourself have written and after ten minutes you will be so disgusted you will wish that you were dead.
Excerpted from New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton.

Too cool.

A great Daniel Miller type link. 'THANK YOU FOR FINANCING GLOBAL TERROR' stickers. The thing isn't just about oil consumption but a change in how we see the world we are in. No longer are we willing to sit back and let the State Department handle the dipliomacy, people want to get involved and do their thing. The web allows for that. This isn't just about oil but about a new age where people don't want to watch anymore, they want to do and the net is the ideal medium for that.

The net allows people to voice their own opinions and get more involved in the governing and political process. My own venue for communicating about politics may not shape George W. Bush's opinion but may help shape and convince others. That may not seem a lot but when you have a couple million blogs out there, it adds up and becomes a force by its own.

New from McDonald's: the McAfrika burger.
McDonald's has been accused of extreme insensitivity after releasing a new sandwich called the "McAfrika" in Norway, one of the world's richest countries, at a time when 12 million people are facing starvation in southern Africa. The launch of the new hamburger has infuriated the Norwegian equivalent of Christian Aid and the Norwegian Red Cross and generated a storm of bad publicity for the American fast-food giant.
Margaret Brusletto, a spokeswoman for the company, said she was sorry the name of the product had offended many. "That wasn't our intention," she told Aftenposten. "We acknowledge that we have chosen an unfortunate time to launch this new product." Faced with mounting protest about the new McAfrika, she initially said the company would "consider" a request to share proceeds from its sales with aid agencies but a meeting with the Norwegian Red Cross and others produced no such agreement.
(from Instapundit.com)

The first employee weblog policy I have seen. Looks fair.

Build a School - each click provides scholarship money for students who need help in attending school in developing nations. The Hunger Site provides much needed food with every click. Check out both sites daily and make a difference!

Religious faiths of comic book characters and superheroes - article shows an emerging trend in how we look at faith. (link via Andrew Jones)

One last thing tonight/this morning...
I am stealing this idea from Kevin Roberts (CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi). There are some short video clips of Roberts talking about creativity, the net, and company vision arond 30-90 seconds long. Jeb and I are going to film five or six leaders at Lakeview giving interviews about the vision, mission, challenges, successes, of Lakeview and cut them into 30-60 second soundbytes to use in worship, teaching times, and even large group meetings to start, close, or illustrate something. They will clean and simple. I think it could turn out to be really cool. We will be posting all of them online when we get them done.

Putting our money where our mouth is...
I haven't gotten everyone at Lakeview on a blog yet but Darren, Jeb, John, myself, and the Discipleship Team is online with a blog. Dean's blog is being designed now and will roll out in October sometime. First he wants to be set up with Dragon's Naturally Speaking 6. I have never used it but some people think it is amazing and it is cheaper than I thought it was.
The only blog that really has any kind of goal is the Discipleship one and that is to provide some links and resources for people at Lakeview to explore. The rest are pure chaos. If I was a senior pastor (wait, I am a senior pastor) of a church of more than a couple hundred (okay, that I am not), a weblog is going to be an invaluable communications tool yet so few churches use them. Even e-mail is ignored. Dean and I were chatting today about the power of Bill Hybel's e-mail he sends out to anyone who wants it but no one else seems to do it. This is the same Bill Hybels who three years ago said he was never going to use a computer. If he can figure it out, why can't the rest of the church?

AKMA on Academic Websites
AKMA replies to David Weinberger with...
It's not just marketers who don't get the Web (your premise number two). One of the near-unanimous complaints at the recent Wabash Conference involved the extent to which academic administrations likewise miss the digital difference. Plenty of administrators tend to regard institutional websites as rain forests of possible disaster that their Infotech Centers for Disease Control and CIA must protect from change, innovation, and deviation from institutional norm. I?m acquainted with at least one institution that refused to allow its faculty to use institutional webspace lest they take advantage of their academic freedom to say something that would be unpopular with alums. These administratores hew to the ideal of a website as a glossy admissions brochure, only online--static, innocuous, usually uninteresting, and often communicating nothing distinctive about an organization (after all, it's those pesky distinctive things that might put a web visitor off!).

Doesn't this deal with a bigger issue of how people see web relationships. When I spoke at Lakeview Church last, the only statistic that anyone cares about is Sunday morning attendance (it was a long weekend but around 700 people). A quick look at WebTrends told me that several hundred people downloaded the RealAudio version of the sermon (I haven't got the text online yet... doh) but they don't matter in my denominations eyes because we don't see those as "real". I heard or read something by Mike Slaughter at Ginghamsburg Church (I think it was in unLearning Church) about how many people from other continents download and print out his sermons and use them for small groups. One women in Austrailia goes to another church but feels very connected with Ginghamsburg Church (if I remember correctly -- book is at the office). I don't know what his conference of the UMC is like but I imagine that like many other denominations don't care that much about web traffic unless it turns into weekend church attendance. Lakeview Church.com is accessed from all over the world and its sermons are extremely popular. Sure some of that is other pastors doing "research" but much of it other people seeking out online and finding something of value at Lakeview. For them that relationship is real regardless how we see it.

When does a relationship become real? I think for many when they see a monetary value to it. If people started tithing to Lakeview Church via PayPal or some other mean, we would value those relationships more. In the academic context, if I started to pay to read AKMA's or Robert Webber or Dallas Willard's blog (the last two don't have them but if they did...) I can see USC or Northern wanting to spend a lot more money and offering a lot more freedom because the relationship has value.

For schools (or churches) who only value face to face or even paying relationships, a glossy flash driven website that supposedly will "wow" the user into attending the church/seminary/NGO, it makes a lot of sense (despite the fact that gloss only works on paper and even then poorly) to have a "online brochure".

One thing that has never made sense to me about seminaries is that they advertise and promote individual "superstar" professors in trade magazines yet offer nothing similar online. Two reasons why I would consider Drew would be Thomas Oden and Len Sweet but nowhere do I see http://oden.drew.edu or http://sweet.drew.edu or a Drew link on Sweet's website. Oden's site is a business card with a bad picture. No links, no nothing. Sweet's new site (reviews are mixed on the redesign although I like it... for what that is worth) is great... weblog (not working), message boards, links to books, writings, and even the occasional rant but not connected to Drew. Maybe Len Sweet likes it this way and Thomas Oden doesn't want to be bothered (the early church father's didn't blog and so neither will I...) but there are so many schools that miss the opportunity to create a place where people can connect to the school, the faculty, and each other.

The other issue is the control factor and the fear of getting in trouble. Lakeview Church's weblog has generated some heat for some of the links that have been added to some of the leadership's own blogs. I can understand why people would say no to giving space away. I had someone ripping my head off for something published on someone else's blog. I am not sure if they left convinced we weren't responsible.

One the flipside, Doc suggested yesterday that AOL give everyone a blog. Forget AOL (I am not convinced it will help them) but if I am a college or church web administrator, I am giving everyone a weblog. The potential for chaos and lawsuits and cranky alumni is there but these aren't idiots you have hired and people aren't as stupid online as you fear. As I read AKMA's post I am shocked that the same schools that trust people to teach in their classrooms won't trust them to post anything online under the school banner. As Dee Hock points out in "The Birth of the Chaordic Age", it is the chaos that happens (from things like blogs) as we move towards a common goal that allows so many exciting things to happen. Command and control is the killer of the chaordicness and the vision and promise. The combined conversations of alumni, professors, friends, and foes.. the potential for something cool is overwhelming. I just wish someone would agree with me and do it.

Whoa. I never expected the angry e-mail about "commercializing" my blog with a banner ad for Soularize. A couple of things to point out. First of all I am not getting paid. The ad is there because 1) I am going to Soularize and it is one cool learning party (one of the things I live my life by, when Spencer Burke hosts a party, I want to be there) 2) I think everyone who reads my blog will have a great time there too. 3) Every once in a while I give a plug to things that friends are up to or things that friends refer to me. I don't make any money of them but I think they are cool enough to pass on. 4) I put up the banner last year all over the site and I will probably do it next year. 5) Feel free to ad the banner to your blog and link it to http://www.theooze.com/soularize

I am glad we got this all settled. Thanks for e-mailing me but I haven't sold out... yet!

Ford CEO - Ride Sharing is Killing Us
Washington DC - William Ford Jr., CEO of the Ford Motor Company testified before Congress about the nationwide problem of ride sharing. Ford cited ride swapping as the number one reason for the the company's declining revenue. "These 'pool pirates are depriving Ford of rightful income. Three sometimes four people are sharing rides. Less wear and tear on the cars means fewer new car purchases. That's revenue that's being robbed from Ford."

A recent study by the Gartner Group supports Ford's claims that ride sharing runs rampant across the US. The study showed showed that children under the age of 16 were the biggest offenders. Almost 99% of children in that age group said they had shared a ride in the past week. The study also showed that ride sharing had spread to the Internet in the form of "Car Pool" message boards where the "Road Robbers" set up their swaps.

Many Representatives questioned Ford's claim that consumers used ride sharing to put off purchases of new cars for 3 or even 4 years. "You're telling me that people don't receive new cars as gifts from lobbyists every year? I find that allegation preposterous," asked a Representative from Virginia.

I have never seen very many effective Jr. High ministries. Lakeview has been lucky enough to be an exception and ZOOO does a remarkable job in reaching kids from all over Saskatoon. Their media guru Ben Pogoda just finished the ZOOO site. You can find it at www.lakeviewchurch.com/zooo. Ben also put together some very nice wallpaper in their media section. If you want to see why ZOOO has been effective, here is some evidence.

Covers from newspapers around the world on September 12, 2002 umm, I meant to say 2001. On a similar topic, the Wall Street Journal tries to answer the question of why is Osama Bin Laden so popular in the Arab world?

Advertising On MTV A Sociological Study by Rainbow Solomon and Brian Quigg
Throughout history, concerns have been voiced about the influence of the media on young people. Although media forms, and those who control them, have gone through several transformations, the concerns remain the same. Plato wrote about the influence of poets on the young people of his time in the same fashion that many sociology scholars approach the effects of television on today?s youth.

Of particular interest today is the influence of Music Television (MTV). MTV was launched in August 1981, by Warner Amex Satellite Entertainment Co.(WASEC), as a 24 hour cable program service of endless videos. Existing conditions paved the way for MTV?s entry into the market. There was a change from post WW II mass-oriented products to a wider range of specialized products. The record industry experienced economic stagnation after retail sales dropped from 726.2 million in 1978 to what would end up to be 575.6 million in 1982 (Banks, 1996). In addition, technological developments of the television created audio features, such as models that could play through high quality speakers in stereo. While improvements were being made to television, radio remained same-old-same-old. They were generally conservative, resisting new music. These conditions facilitated the unfolding of MTV into a major music and advertising power, which was confirmed when, shortly after the MTV premier, music stores reported significantly increased sales, especially of those videos featured (Banks, 1996).

Nothing worse than having a really great idea that everyone agrees with the exception of the passive aggressive person who won't make the call while agreeing with your idea.

The other is when people say, "well we don't have any better ideas" when they haven't even tried to look for them.

Top Ten Signs Your Group is Getting TOO Small.

10. You can follow up on all group members without leaving your house.
9. Your daughter sets out her dolls, so there is only one empty chair.
8. During Prayer time you find yourself quoting Matthew 18:20 "Where two or three are gathered..."
7. Every Chair is the empty chair.
6. Your usual waitress at the restaurant where your weekly men's small group meets asks, "Will anyone be joining you this week?"
5. You over hear your son explain to a friend, "Naw, she doesn't always talk to herself. Just during small group discussions."
4. You say, "Tonight we're going to pray for the empty room." instead of the empty chair.
3. When you join in prayer and you have to hold your own hand.
2. You decide to grow the group by encouraging schizophrenia.
1. Worship involves: You, a guitar, and 5 cardboard cutouts.

-from Volume 1, Issue 14 of Small Group Dynamics-Byte Size, a free twice a month email from The Small Group Network.

Thailand to Ban Elephants from Streets "Raising an elephant must be done in a way that does not humiliate the pride and dignity of the national animal," Prapat told reporters.

I hate baseball
That's not true. I love baseball. I love watching baseball. I love playing catch with my wife in the backyard on our day off. I love it when my friends come over to my house and they bring their baseball gloves. At the same time I get angry when I think a bunch of billionaires and millionaires are going to go on strike because they can only think of themselves. I blame the players. There I said it. It is the players fault. Salaries are out of whack and if the league doesn't do something about it, they will go out of business either way. Either they will go bankrupt competing with Atlanta, L.A., Chicago, and NY or they will go bankrupt because very few fans find the idea of watching their team compete for a wild-card spot every decade very much fun. I hope the owners win and crush the players union.

It is so frustrating because the players are enraged that the owners are losing money but the owners are in a no win situation. You can't compete if you are outside of a major market consistently so you are serving up a rebuilding team almost all the time. The fans won't bond with the players emotionally because we all know they are headed to a major market as soon as they become free agents. A salary cap has to happen. As basketball and football proved, players still get their money and the teams (unless you are the Cinncinnati Bengals or Denver Nuggets) can become competetive. Competetive teams make for fanatical fans and a fun league. Why can't the players see this?

This blog is now Coopzilla, no wait, I'm being sued.
David Weinberger let's us see what is going on inside TOHO's rather dormant brains for them suing Davezilla for copyright violation.

TOHO Corp owns Godzilla. Somehow they feel that the citizens of earth are so stupid that we would confuse Davezilla for Godzilla. I can just see the conversation between Wendy and I now.

Me: That movie wasn't what I expected.
Wendy: Really, what were your hoping for.
Me: A giant lizard knocking over buildings but all I saw was a professor of New Testament studies typing on his iBook.
Wendy: Doh, I know what happened. You wanted to see Godzilla but instead we got confused and went to AKMAzilla. I thought something was wrong but that zilla on the end of Dave and AKMA's blog is so confusing...
Me: Ya, TOHO needs to sue someone. How can the average person be expected to tell the difference between a weblog and a man in a rubber suit.

I cannot pray in the name of Jesus to have my own will; the name of Jesus is not a signature of no importance, but the decisive factor. The fact that the name of Jesus comes at the beginning does not make it a prayer in the name of Jesus; but this means to pray in such a manner that I dare name Jesus in it, that is to say, dare to think of Him, think His holy will together with whatever I am praying for.
... Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)

Iraq's Aziz Says U.S. Attack Would Fail
This is a news story?! What is Iraq supposed to say? "Man, George is right, we do have a tyrannt running the place and our army is in disarray after the last time we fought. We are doomed." It is a slow news and blog day.

Coca-Cola Accused of Using Death Squads to Target Union Leaders
I'd like to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony" C'mon, everybody. Well except for you over there with the AK-47.

FREE THE MOUSE

From the site,

Over the past forty years, Congress has extended the term of existing copyrights 11 times, thereby stopping the flow of creative material into the public domain. The biggest supporters of these laws are individuals and corporations with extremely valuable copyrights that are about to expire (for example, Mickey Mouse). The biggest effect of these laws is to make unavailable an extraordinary range of creative material for next generation's creators. Just as Walt Disney used the works of the Brothers Grimm to produce some of the best of the Disney stories, so too should the next Walt Disney be able to build upon the stories told by Disney.

But more important than the few valuable copyrights that these extensions protect, this case is about freeing the vast majority of creative work still under copyright that no one seeks to protect -- indeed, work which the current copyright owner doesn't even know he or she owns. Many films from the 1920s and 1930s are decaying in vaults because current copyright holders cannot be identified. Many books and songs published in the early part of the century are unavailable because the cost of finding the copyright owner is just too high. Congress sacrificed all these works, just to protect a few valuable copyrights. But as the Supreme Court has said, "you can't burn the house to roast the pig" -- not even to save The Mouse.

I agree that copyright holders need protection but I also believe that there needs to be a viable public domain so ideas can be built upon each other. Even some of the writings of the Christian church are at risk of being lost forever. Take some time to inform yourself on this issue.

How can we embrace poverty as a way to God when everyone around us wants to become rich? Poverty has many forms. We have to ask ourselves, "What is my poverty?" Is it lack of money, lack of emotional security, lack of a loving partner, lack of security, lack of safety, lack of self-confidence? Each human being has a place of poverty. That's the place where God wants to dwell! "How blessed are the poor," Jesus says (Matthew 5:3). This means that our blessing is hidden in our poverty.
We are so inclined to cover up our poverty and ignore it that we often miss the opportunity to discover God, who dwells in it. Let's dare to see our poverty as the land in which our treasure is hidden.
- Henri Nouwen.

I am part way through The Seven Story Mountain by Thomas Merton. The book is one to ponder and has too much richness to plow through. I imagine it will find me and a good cup of coffee early tomorrow morning. Alan Creech recommended a couple ofther books by Merton that I will be reading in the not to distant future (comments are a great innovation to weblogs). Thoughts In Solitude, New Seeds of Contemplation, and The New Man. Merton's writings have been a wondeful discovery for me right now for where I am at on my spiritual journey.

Oddly enough while looking for these books on Amazon.com, their search engine was working horribly. I don't know if it was a short-term maintenance issue or what but none of his books we popping up, even when I cut and pasted the titles in the search box. As a book lover, you have no idea how disconcerting Amazon.com having problems is...

Seth Godin asks, "How much does style cost?"

Wil Wheaton (a.k.a. Wesley Crusher from Star Trek: TNG) posts his feelings from being cut from Star Trek: Nemesis

We are what we read.

Bob Costas interview on Larry King Live about Major League Baseball and the possibility of the strike.

Christianity started out in Palestine as a fellowship. Then it moved to Greece and became a philosophy, then it went to Rome and became an institution, and then it went to Europe and became a government. Finally it came to America where we made it an enterprise.
Richard Halverson, while he was US Senate Chaplain (via Jason Evans)

The Celtic saints of earlier centuries made much of the idea of peregrinatio, a difficult-to-translate word that suggests an open-ended journey. It was not uncommon for medieval Irish monks to set out with no destination; they left with only the simple impulse to go and seek, guided by the Holy Spirit. Unlike the pilgrimages to shrines common to medieval lore, writes Esther de Waal, "there [was] no specific end or goal such as that of reaching a...holy place that allows the pilgrim at the end of the journey to return home with a sense of mission accomplished." Rather the idea was to learn to live as travelers, pilgrims, "guests of the world," as sixth-century Irishman Saint Columbanus put it. There was to be a creative openness, even if that meant living in a kind of exile so as not to hold too tightly to one's ambitions and spiritual itinerary. The idea was to leave behind the known and safe to find a truer basis for security. This was a largely inner journey.
Timothy Jones: A Place for God, Page 46-47 (via Karen Neudorf)

War Against Iraq...
I was doing some research on the proposed war against Iraq and I rediscovered Stephen Shield's amazing resource that looks at war from a variety of different worldviews. A great page to start if you are looking at the issue.

The Washington Post reports that there is no conclusive evidence of weapons of mass destruction.

Some Top Military Brass Favor Status Quo in Iraq
Despite President Bush's repeated bellicose statements about Iraq, many senior U.S. military officers contend that President Saddam Hussein poses no immediate threat and that the United States should continue its policy of containment rather than invade Iraq to force a change of leadership in Baghdad.
The conclusion, which is based in part on intelligence assessments of the state of Hussein's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs and his missile delivery capabilities, is increasing tensions in the administration over Iraqi policy.

I am looking for a good resources that isn't so much about long term planning but more along the idea of long term wandering and then doing some planning around those ideas. If you have any ideas, let me know at coop@jordoncooper.sk.ca. I don't really know what I am looking for so any ideas are helpful.

The greatest sinners are the most boring people in the world because they are also the most bored and the ones who find life most tedious. Yet when it is all over and they are dead, the record of their sins in history becomes exceedingly uninteresting and is inflicted on school children as a penance which is all the more bitter because even an eight-year-old can readily see the uselessness of learning about people like Hitler, Stalin, and Napoleon.

Excerpted from New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton.

ginkworld.net looks at why people are leaving the church despite over 500 billion dollars spent in North America in the last decade.

U.S. SUSPECTS WORLD NOT PUTTING U.S. INTERESTS FIRST

Washington, D.C. (SatireWire.com) -- In a stinging accusation, the U.S. today charged other nations with taking a narrow-minded "world view" and deliberately failing to consider U.S. economic interests above individual international concerns. World leaders immediately denied the charges, calling the U.S. allegations, "paranoid delusions of non-grandeur."

"They can deny it, but from carbon dioxide emissions to Internet privacy standards, these internationals appear to be taking a rather myopic 'world view,' instead of stepping back and looking at the broader American economic view," said U.S President George W. Bush. "These people have to recognize that there is an entire United States community out there beyond their borders."

If this troubling trend continues, Bush warned, the United States will be forced to "take its ball and go home." Asked exactly what ball he was referring to, Bush replied: "It's big and blue and we all live on it."

Lousy cops

Dennis Camplin, don't click here!
Gizmodo, the gadget's weblog is now online. I am not that materialistic but I have a weakness for computer gadgets, PDA's, and that sort of stuff. When Dennis worked at Lakeview he kind of fed this temptation. Even with Dennis in Calgary he lets me know of this new Palm keyboard and (gulp) Palm modem. As Dennis justified it in his mind, it started to make more sense to buy in my mind. (that being said, I love my Palm). The problem is that when Dennis gets a new PDA or gadget, it moves from my "wants" to "needs" list in a matter of moments.

File-swapping foes exert P2P pressure
Last Friday, Reuters reported that some of the most senior members of Congress are pressuring the Justice Department to invoke a little-known law: the No Electronic Theft (NET) Act. Under the NET Act, signed by President Clinton in 1997, it is a federal crime for a person to share copies of copyrighted products such as software, movies or music with friends and family members if the value of the work exceeds $1,000. Violations are punishable by one year in prison, or if the value tops $2,500, not more than five years in prison. That's a mighty weapon to wield against peer-to-peer pirates, especially when so many Americans are potential federal felons, but it seems likely that the Justice Department will honor Congress' request. The agency already has used the NET Act to imprison software pirates, a move that tech companies hailed as "an important component of the overall effort to prevent software theft."

Dave Winer provides a better alternative,
Our best advice for HIllary Rosen. Offer the same service that Morpheus and Kazaa operate, with high quality scans, and a $50 monthly fee. Run an ad campaign aimed at parents, saying that this is the responsible and honest thing for their families to do. Give Mom and Dad an easy way to spend a few bucks on the kids' happiness (and find some of their favorite oldies too). Promise to get some of the money to flow to the artists. Everyone says "In the end, Hillary did the right thing." You must know in your heart it's going to end this way, so you might as well do it sooner than later. BTW, you gotta apologize before any of this. People who use music on the Internet don't think of themselves as pirates, and every time you repeat it in a press release you're building negative goodwill. When you ask the parents to do the right thing, first you have to show that you're willing to do it too. The facts are out. You keep all the money for yourselves. The artists get nothing. You care not one whit about the art, on either side of the equation. That's the insult. That has to be dealt with. How dare you threaten to throw users in jail. You should be in jail if there were any justice.

This is too cool.
PBS has launched a media literacy site for kids that helps them learn about commercialism and advertising. I love the idea and help spread the word.