Soul and Spirit

Blog Attack

Somebody (from Saudi Arabia, apparently) attacked this blog this morning.

First, someone succeeded in breaching my login. Once in there, he changed my login password as well as the email associated with my account. That was at 11:29.

Then he launched four SQL Injection Attacks at 11:31, 11:33, 11:34, and 11:43. Thankfully, those were detected and blocked by my firewall, which also identified the attacker’s IP as 94.97.85.10.

Thankfully, I tried to log in shortly thereafter.

When I couldn’t do so because my password wasn’t valid, my cranial alarm bells went from dormant to frenzied in a NanoSomethingOrOther.

I went straight to my SQL database, changed the email address on my account back to what it should be, then changed the password. I was done with that by 11:53.

I’ve been unable to detect any other damage done to this blog. But this person could have changed posts, comments, and pictures. So I’m warning you: there may be bad content somewhere here.

If you come across evidence of such tampering, please let me know right away.

Thanks.

And may God bless the attacker. Amen.

Asylum for Homeschoolers

We have customers who finally had to move from Germany to another European country for the same reason the Romeikes moved to the US:

Uwe and Hannelore Romeike may have been considered outside the norms of civil society in their native Germany, but not in Morristown, Tennessee, where they and their five children now live. The Romeikes are homeschoolers who are determined to provide the education for their children, ranging in age from two to twelve. In Morristown, that is about as controversial as bass fishing, but in Germany it is a crime.

The Romeike's tale is big news today, with both TIME Magazine and The New York Times devoting major stories to their plight, and to the fact that a federal immigration judge in Memphis granted them asylum — and homeschooling is the reason.

As Campbell Robertson reports in today’s edition of The New York Times, the Romeike’s determination to homeschool their children ran into direct collision with German laws banning the practice: “Among European countries, Germany is nearly alone in requiring, and enforcing, attendance of children at an officially recognized school. The school can be private or religious, but it must be a school. Exceptions can be made for health reasons but not for principled objections.”

Source: Where Homeschooling is Outlawed — Asylum?

I am thankful for the freedom we have in the United States (yet) to educate our children according to the dictates of our conscience.

Haiti: News You May Have Missed

A catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake with the epicenter in a highly-populated area struck the nation of Haiti on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010. In the month after the earthquake, reports indicated that more than three million people were affected by its devastation, including over 200,000 dead, 300,000 injured and 1,000,000 left homeless.

What neither you nor I have heard anything about is what happened in Haiti one month later on Feb. 12, 2010. It is the stuff of news, good news, but there is no evidence on any major news organization Web site that the event ever occurred. None of the major television news organizations covered it.

[…]

This is the news from Haiti you will not hear. It is good news.

With the global humanitarian initiative to aid the Haitian people in their recovery from disaster, countless people have assisted in concrete ways. They have delivered supplies, pulled people from rubble, brought food and water, treated the sick and injured, buried the dead and made every effort to bring order to a land of turmoil. Haitians have witnessed the hand of God at work in the presence of so many people willing to put their lives on hold to help.

Source: News from Haiti you will not hear — I encourage you to read the whole story!

Cut Down (ie RIP)

Two large trees
Well aged
And mature
Shading many of us.

Cut down
This past week
Sadly
Though unsurprisingly.

Farewell
Howard King
And John Yoder
Til we meet you
On the other side.

And thanks
Many thanks
For the shade.

That’s not how I planned to start this post. But my own plans notwithstandingatall, that’s what happened.

What I intended to say originally was something along the lines of, “No, they weren’t cut down! They were transplanted!”

We lost them, like someone loses a bar of gold when he puts it in the country’s bestest, safest, guaranteedest safety deposit box. It’s not lost at all.

So we say we lost John and Howard. And we did. But in reality, they are founder and safer than they’ve ever been. We get them back eventually. Provided we go where they are now kept by The Master Banker, if you will.

That is hope — Christian hope!

Howard died this past Wednesday afternoon around four. John died early yesterday morning around 12:15.

Howard: Welcome to Glory, John!

John: Thank you, Howard! You’re looking great!!

Howard: Yup. And check this out: no more incomplete fingers!

John: Yeah, I can see that…with two eyes.

Yeah, I know. Kinda strange. But in a nice sort of way.

And here’s something also kinda-strange-to-the-human-mind, but also in a nice sort of way:

“Precious
in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his saints.”
Psalm 116:15

Got Bias?

If you’re asking me, sure. I’ve got plenty of it. And you can assume that when you read here at my blog.

Timothy Egan, one of the Opinionators over at the New York Times, also has bias:

From out of the ordered suburbs of Idaho to the grim chaos of Haiti came 40-year-old Laura Silsby — fleeing creditors who had foreclosed on her home and ex-employees stiffed of their wages.

To the Caribbean she went with nine other self-appointed missionaries and an audacious plan: they would “gather 100 orphans from the streets,” of the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, according to an outline on the Web site of Silsby’s group, New Life Children’s Refuge.

The children would be whisked across the border into the Dominican Republic. Food, shelter, legal permits: the basics would be worked out by divine blueprint. For now, they needed funds — tax deductible!

Source: The Missionary Impulse – Opinionator Blog – NYTimes.com

Wow! 😯

I don’t know if Timothy Egan admits to his bias, but just in case, I’ll admit him to it for him. (Or something like that.) 😆

I imagine you have your biases as well. And I’m sure WorldNet Daily does as well, so I’ll offer this piece of theirs as partial counterbalance to Timothy Egan:

Her foibles and frailties notwithstanding, Laura Silsby – backed by the Rev. Clint Henry and his 500-member, Idaho-based, Baptist Church – is probably the best thing that’ll ever happen to these waifs.

Whatever were Sillby’s plans for the children, these were far and away better than what’s in store for them if they remain at home.

Well, opinion pieces aside, here’s a news piece from the BBC (which we hope is unbiased, but not with a lot of hope): Haiti poised to free last two American missionaries

A judge in Haiti has said the last two Christian US missionaries being held on suspicion of abducting children after the earthquake may be freed in days.

Bernard Sainvil told Reuters the case, which involves 33 children, should be closed this week because there were no criminal grounds to pursue it.

“No criminal grounds” — so how will Timothy Egan deal with that?

I don’t plan to try to find out.

Hopefully Laura Silsby will get her creditor and employee woes ironed out.

More importantly, though, hopefully the Haiti children will get the help and opportunity and love and homes they need.

Maybe Christian Aid Ministries will help in that.

Oh, wait. I should say that hauling children not your own across international boundaries is a really dumb thing to do if you don’t have all your authorization ducks quacking in a row. That goes for Mark Roth, Timothy Egan, Laura Silsby, Bernard Sainvil, Bernard Sain-Vil, and/or Christian Aid Ministries.

Green Tea Creativity

Do you know how to write creatively?

Here are some examples of non-dull writing.

Drink a few cups of green tea and you could avoid dentists drills and bills.

Fortunately, a few cups of green tea may bring him back so he can help you avoid diabetes — or at least fend off its complications.

Drinking green tea isn’t like putting a bodyguard between you and skin cancer — it’s like having a whole team of them.

Those who drank at least two cups of green tea every day had the lowest risk of losing their memory and thinking ability.

Green tea turned 20 percent of drug-resistant superbugs into helpless wimps…. The same bacteria that had virtually ignored antibiotics before were easily wiped out by a combination of antibiotics and green tea.

A compound found in soothing green tea could be the key to reducing inflammation, joint damage, and more.

Don’t believe everything you read. A 2006 study found that drinking green tea makes no difference in your risk of prostate cancer — yet, a newer study disagrees. This study suggested that green tea may not prevent all prostate cancers, but it may cut your odds of advanced or life-threatening cancer by half.

Make lemon your main squeeze when you drink tea and you may get four times as many health-building compounds from your tea.

The Kitchen Table Book

The Kitchen Table Book tells me so.

I’ve been drinking green tea for quite a while (it seems like). But not enough. Time to ramp it up, folks! And add lemon juice as well. This is exciting stuff!

Please note: No cynics or mockers were hurt in the production of this post. I reject responsibility for what happens to them if they read it.

Above all, love God!