When you teach your son, you teach your son’s son.  ~The Talmud

Since Fathers’ Day, I’ve been thinking a good bit about my fatherhood and my relationship with my 12-year-old son. He and I usually run jog together in the mornings, but he has been unable to join me the last couple of days. As a result, I’ve had some thinking time during my solo workouts.

What are the life lessons I would like for my son to learn from me? What can I teach him to truly help him get a running start towards maximizing his amazing potential?

1. Take responsibility for your actions. Don’t shift blame. Be truthful. Don’t give excuses. In the end, effort matters somewhat but performance is what really counts. Be a stand-up guy on which others can depend.
2. Be a creator. The world is full of takers with a sense of entitlement. Don’t wait to be told what needs to be done. Search out opportunities to fill needs and create value.
3. Be a positive thinker. The world is full of naysayers. Complaining is pointless. Worrying solves nothing. Your attitude shapes your reality. Don’t let you be the limiting factor on realizing your potential. Dream big and know that your dreams are possible.
   • As a corollary to positive thinking, push your envelope. Make it a habit to go outside your comfort zone. The person that lifts the same weight for the same number of repetitions every day, never grows stronger. Make sure you’re straining a bit. Don’t be afraid to fail. Increase your capabilities.
4. Be true to yourself. Don’t fall prey to peer pressure. Don’t be a sheep. Think for yourself. Don’t be afraid to be different and to stand out from the crowd. And always follow your moral compass.
5. Have fun. Life is indeed short. Don’t make it all seriousness and no fun — that makes Jack a dull boy. Notice the absurdities and relish the ironies. Laugh often. Play hard. Love a lot.

Now if only I could learn these lessons.

…Physician, heal thyself… –Luke 4:23

According to Faux Fox News, some activists are scared shitless concerned that the Denver police department is armed with such a diabolical device.

We know this weapon and weapons like it have been used at other large protests before. –Mark Cohen, co-founder of the activist group Re-create 68

There’s just one small fly in their, er, ointment; the existence of the brown note has never been scientifically proven. In fact, this urban myth has even been recently busted on the popular Discovery Channel show Mythbusters.

Still, the concept of such a weapon has seeped into popular culture and has been featured in an episode of Southpark as a sound played in a world wide recorder concert that caused the entire population of Earth to suddenly defecate. In the popular comic strip Transmetropolitan, the main character, Spider Jerusalem, totes a pistol-shaped “Bowel Disruptor” used to defeat and otherwise humiliate his enemies.

It’s almost as if we want the brown note myth to be true.

But what has me rumbling is that Faux Fox News published this story at all. Given their right-wing conservativism and well-known pandering to the lowest common societal denominator, I suppose it’s no wonder they’re gushing over the opportunity to spin a story so that the evil Democrats will be using a defecation weapon on brave protesters. I think their editors are combining their metaphors, throwing something at a fan to see what sticks on the wall.

And it smells like doody.

Props to Mr. Miyagi.

Memory is a crazy woman that hoards colored rags and throws away food. — Austin O’Malley

I have an erratic memory. On second thought, erratic is the wrong word; I have a very selective memory. My problem is that I don’t get to select what I remember.

If I’m asked to pick up three things from the store on the way home, I’m lucky to remember to stop at the store. If I do stop, I won’t be able to recall at least one of the items. If I borrow an item, I’ll place it next to the door so that I’ll remember to return it; it will still be there a month later. I don’t recall what I had for lunch yesterday, nor the name of the movie I saw last week. If you introduce yourself to me, it’s guaranteed that I’ll forget your name within 30 seconds.

On the other hand, I will remember your face forever. I retain almost every joke I ever hear. My recall of useless trivia is near legendary. Van Gogh cut off his left ear (he was right-handed). Neville Chamberlain was the British prime minister whose policy of appeasing Hitler was supposed to ensure "peace in our time". There are 63 known moons orbiting Jupiter.

I can tell you immediately that the first 12 digits of pi are 3.14159265359. The first 12 digits of the natural log e? Why, it’s 2.71828182845. Avogadro’s number is 6.0221415 x 10²³. And, of course, the speed of light is 186,282.397 miles/second. Doesn’t everyone know these constants off the top of their head?

I recently watched an episode of "The Human Mind" on the Science Channel in which the 2003 World Memory Champion (yes, there apparently is such a contest) was featured.

Of course, I can’t recall his name.

The man was given 10 shuffled decks of cards which he memorized in order. He was then asked to name the 103^rd card…the 17^th card… the 484^th card, etc. He correctly named the card every time! In fact, he then named all 520 cards in sequence!

How did he do it? He used what was termed a "location" technique. He lives in London and before demonstrations, he takes a ritualized walk through the city — always the same path, visiting the same sites. As he examined the decks of cards, he married the sequence of cards into his memorized walk. In addition, he uses imagery for each card; the two of clubs becomes a teddy bear, a 10 of diamonds becomes a saw. So, if those were the first two cards and he began his walk at Big Ben, he would visualize a teddy bear with a saw at Big Ben.

I was discussing this technique with my business partner and he mentioned that in the Hannibal Lecter series of books, Lecter describes his "memory mansion" which he decorates with treasured memories — another location technique.

In the same episode, an Oxford University study was profiled in which grade school children were given a daily pill for several months. Most of the students experienced a marked increase in their academic abilities, concentration, imagination, and memory. What was the magic pill? An Omega-3 supplement.

So, if you meet me in the near future and feel that I’m eyeing you in an odd manner, it’s probably because I’m picturing you as an octopus at Starbucks. And that smell? It’s because I’ve overdosed on Omega-3 laden fish oil.

If you’re trying to remember a happy memory, don’t think back to a time when you were ALSO thinking of a happy memory, because man, how long does this go on?!  –Jack Handey, Deep Thoughts

• The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
• The Four Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
• The Way of Sanchin Kata by Kris Wilder

Now that I look at the list, I find it to be an interesting combination. An observer might say that I’m determined to get my way and free my time to do things I truly enjoy. Of course, they might just say I’m whacked.

One of the pieces of software that I needed to load was Microsoft’s .NET 2.0 Software Development Kit — 354 megabytes of software development kit! But I have a fast Internet connection, so I downloaded the file and ran the setup.

No go. While extracting the bundled files, the setup process bombed out, saying one of the CAB files was corrupt. Hmmm…maybe the file was corrupted in transit. So, I download the file…again.

Once again, I run the setup. Again, the process bombs out with the same error message.

On a lark, I fire up Firefox — a very good free browser — and download the file…again. Once again, I run the setup. Lo and behold, the files extract and install successfully!

How ironic is it that Microsoft’s SDK for a core component of their operating system is corrupt when downloaded from their site using their browser, but works when downloaded with an alternative browser.

Don | Glory2Jesus@ArmyofGod.com | IP: 72.218.37.151

I’m glad those babykilling abortionists were stopped from murdering any more innocent children in their mother’s womb.

Apr 9, 12:23 AM

A quick search of Wikipedia reveals that the Army of God “is a radical anti-abortion terrorist organization that advocates the use of violence to combat abortion”. It also reveals that Don is likely Donald Spitz.

After graduating from Vanderbilt University and the University of Kentucky Medical School, the Dr. Gunn went to work as an ob/gyn at a public hospital in Brewton, AL. The idealistic Gunn elected to live in a poor, rural community where no other OB/GYN was practicing because, according to The New York Times, it had the highest infant-mortality rate in the United States. A statistic he hoped to change. Although he was initially a specialist in infertility, when a local clinic asked for his help because it couldn’t find a doctor who would perform abortions, Gunn agreed.

His empathy for the young mothers and because virtually no other doctors were willing the help them, led Gunn to eventually focus his medical practice solely on abortions. He traveled across Alabama, Georgia, and Florida — often 1000 miles per week — providing an unpopular service in communities that lacked reliable abortion providers. He practiced medicine across the Southeast, seeing patients in Mobile, Fort Walton, Columbus, Pensacola, Montgomery, Birmingham, Tallahassee, Savannah, and Orlando.

Pensacola was called “the Selma of the abortion rights movement”, notable for its pro-life violence. In the spring of 1984, an abortion clinic was bombed and then, six months later, was bombed again on Christmas Day. The offices of two Pensacola doctors were also bombed that same Christmas. The bomber called it “a gift to Jesus on his birthday”.

John Burt — a former KKK member and founder of Our Father’s House, a shelter for unwed mothers — was the local pro-life extremist leader in Pensacola. In 1986, John Burt invaded the Ladies Center, slamming the clinic’s director, Linda Taggart, against a wall before trashing the clinic with three accomplices. In 1988, Burt and John Brockhoeft, a man convicted of arson against a clinic in Columbus, OH, were apprehended with a trunkful of pipe bomb materials after parking in a lot across the street from the Ladies Center. Burt served jail time for these incidents. He also demonstrated in support of two young couples who bombed three clinics.

Fast forward to March 10, 1993. John Burt is leading a right-to-life demonstration, sponsored by Rescue America, in front of the Pensacola Women’s Medical Service Clinic. Inflamed by Burt’s rhetoric, Michael F. Griffin lurked near the back door of the clinic. As Dr. Gunn entered the clinic via this door, Michael Griffin rushed up behind Dr. Gunn and shot him three times in the back. Gunn died two hours later during emergency surgery. Griffin immediately surrendered to police.

Within an hour of the killing, Rescue America, a Houston-based group for which Mr. Burt served as the Florida leader, issued a statement requesting that donations for Mr. Griffin’s family be sent to Our Father’s House, another of Mr. Burt’s organizations. Don Treshman, the group’s national director, said:

We don’t condone killing an abortionist, but we don’t condemn it either.

Matt Trewhella, a pro-life extremist involved with the group Missionaries to the Unborn, said he:

would not condemn someone who killed Hitler’s doctors … and neither will I condemn Michael Griffin.

The NY Times had a different perspective in their editorial.

This murder was the latest escalation in a crescendo of violence by anti-abortion activists. In the name of “life,” the anti-abortion army has bombed or set fire to more than 100 clinics over the past 15 years, invaded more than 300 and vandalized more than 400. Last month in Corpus Christi, Tex., its arsonists leveled a clinic and three nearby buildings. It has stalked medical personnel, used their photographs on “Wanted for Murder” posters, forced physicians to wear bulletproof vests and work behind steel shutters. It has also driven many doctors out of their abortion practice.

Gunn was a recognizable figure partly because Operation Rescue, another anti-abortion extremist group, had put his face and phone number on a “Wanted” poster and displayed it at a rally in Alabama.

John Burt became a central figure in Michael Griffin’s trial. In fact, Griffin’s defense was that Burt brainwashed him with videos, books, prayer sessions, use of an effigy of Dr. Gunn, and even a funeral for a pair of aborted fetuses. Burt’s response?

I’ve shown those videos and literature to thousands of people who never killed anyone. I would respect Michael a lot more if he had stuck with his original defense, which was that he acted for God when he shot Dr. Gunn.

Paul Hill would often participate in protests with John Burt. Hill went on the Phil Donahue Show and called Dr. Gunn’s murder a “justifiable homicide”. A little over a year after Dr. Gunn’s murder, Hill got into the act himself, killing Dr. John Britton (who took over as clinic doctor after Gunn’s death) and James Barrett in Pensacola in July 1994. Hill was sentenced to death but never expressed remorse for his crime.

In June 2003, Burt’s faithful were left in disbelief, when the 65-year-old was charged with molesting a 15-year-old resident of Our Father’s House, the shelter he ran for unwed mothers. A month later, Burt pleaded not guilty to five counts of criminal conduct: four lewd or lascivious molestation counts, and another for slipping the 15-year-old a handwritten invitation to have sex with him. Local authorities said that after Burt’s arrest, other residents of Our Father’s House — a Christian-based boarding school for pregnant teens — came forward with similar stories of sexual abuse.

In May 2004, Burt was sentenced to 18 years in prison. In January of this year, Burt lost his final appeal in the Florida 1st District Court of Appeal.

Hallelujah.

BTW, Get Your Gunn was the first official single from Marilyn Manson. The song was inspired by the killing of Dr. Gunn, which the band called “the ultimate hypocrisy”.

From the show Understanding on the Science Channel:

If you were to represent the entire electromagnetic spectrum (from radio waves to gamma rays) as a 2500 mile long roll of movie film, the section of visible light would be one frame of film. Amazingly, most of the electromagnetic radiation emitted by stars falls within that one frame.