Sorry to have been gone for a while. The Charming Mrs. GotDesign and I went to Reno, NV for a week. What a beautiful area! It is places like the Sierra Nevada mountains and Lake tahoe that reaffirm what Paul said in Romans 1:20:

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

The power of God is clearly seen in His creation -- the Sierra Nevadas, Lake Tahoe, etc.

I have a few reading assignments for you. They are on subjects that are dear to me. One is about the growing attacks on Christianity and its evangelical practitioners in particular. The other is about an attack on an obscure provision of the Constitution of the United States.

Were Nazis Christians? Are Christians fascists? by Marvin Olasky is about recent attacks on Christianity. There seems to be a growing trend in trying to paint all Christians as extremists and radicals. This might become so if the culture continues to be pushed farther and farther to the Left. But, for centuries Christianity has been mainstream, not some farcical, extremist belief. One could even argue that Christianity has been mainstream in Western society since Constantine the Great legalized Christianity throughout the Roman Empire in 313 AD. It seems to me that Olasky does a good job of reporting on the fallacies of these recent attempts to paint American Christians (Evangelicals) as radicals. Go take a look at the article and let me know what you think.

The second article is about Governor Arnold Schwartzenegger's recent veto of a bill from the California state legislature that would have given all of the state's electoral college votes to "whichever candidate receives the most popular votes nationally." This may take a little explanation by way of introduction.

Many people came to realize during the 2004 Presidential election that the United States is (and always has been under its current constitution) an indirect democracy. By "indirect," I mean that the people do not directly elect their chief executive. When the people vote, they are signalling their intent to an Electoral College which then places the actual votes for the presidential candidate. Each state within the Union decides how to allocate the electoral votes. Some will cast all of their electoral votes for the candidate who wins the popular vote within their states, while some states cast their electoral votes based on which candidates wins a majority in each congressional district. So basically, each state sets its own policy on the casting of electoral college votes.

This particular bill in California would have cast all of California's electoral votes for whoever wins the popular vote nationally. It means that California would turn over its votes to the majority of other states -- effectively nullifying the will of California's voters. George Will explains this failed legislation very well. Take a look and let me know what you think.

I couldn't help myself in using the classic Looney Tunes episode title, but my usage is not as hilarious as the original. A great deal of talk lately has been about Muslim response to Danish cartoons or the Pope's speech, and now an opera -- Idomeneo by Mozart -- is being scrapped because of expected Muslim backlash about certain scenes in the opera. Namely, the decapitation of the Prophet Mohammed.

But after reading a recent column at OpinionJournal.com, I am of a mixed mind about this particular incident in the Muslim attack on Western culture. Normally, I would say "damn the torpedoes" let the opera continue. By no means would I advocate placating the cry-baby segment of the Islamic faith by pulling the opera. But, this is where I am of a mixed mind. The producer, Hans Neuenfels, has made his own revision of Mozart's 1871 opera.

As Roger Kimball states in his OJ piece, the original opera, Idomeneo, is a story of sacrifice and reconciliation. Kimball sums up the original thusly:

The opera ends with King Idomeneo issuing a "last command. I announce peace,"
before ceding power to his son.

Whereas, Neuenfels' ending now concludes with King Idomeneo parading around the island of Crete with grisly trophies -- the severed heads of Poseidon, Jesus, Buddha, and the Prophet Mohammed.

If the original Mozart production were scrapped for fear of Muslim reprisal, I would be much more outraged and probably make a bigger stink about it. But, knowing more about the specifics of the revised Idomeneo, I will merely express my relief that such a travesty of art will put out of our misery.

Many of you have been very supportive of me recently during my current period of unemployment. Until recently, things have not looked particularly good for me. But all of that seems to be changing.

I have just come from an interview. A friend of mine -- from my early days in Louisville -- owns an advertising and design company. Before my recent trip to Mississippi, he took me to lunch and told me he felt I would fit very well with his company. Today, I met with him and his two designers so they could learn a little bit more about me. They confirmed something I already knew about myself -- I'm weird. They didn't expect someone with military service experience to have the creative background that I do. But I am happy to confound them. My friend told me that he would contact me later this week to follow up on this interview. The most encouraging thing about the interview was that they started talking about how I would fit into their workflow.

I want to thank all of my readers who have sent me notes of encouragement and have asked for my resumes to circulate. It means a lot to me that help someone you only know from my online rantings. At this point I would only ask for your prayers concerning this job opportunity. This could be the position that starts me on the career path I've been seeking for years. By God's will, and for his glory, I will get this position. Please pray that this will be so.

Thanks again.

I want apologize for my absence of late. For the past two weeks I have been in lovely, scenic Hattiesburg, MS at Camp Shelby. Camp Shelby, as near as I can tell, is the primary National Guard facility for deploying Nat'l Guard troops to Iraq and Afghanistan. Anyway, the Guard unit to which I am assigned -- the 231st MI Company -- returned from Iraq in June and I went to Shelby in order to unload my unit's shipping containers and prepare the unit's equipment for return to the Louisville, KY area. And glamorous work it is (ahem).

In the meantime, I am ready to return to the blogosphere. And there is no dearth of issues to comment on, so I shall dig in.

The Pope
Can you say "much ado about nothing?" Muslim extremists have only justified the Pope's words by reacting violently. They are doing the Muslim faith absolutely no good. You know, there used to be a time when Muslims and Christians and Jews could live together rather peacefully. But now, the moderate elements of Islam have sat idly by while the extremists have taken over as the public face of Islam. The peace-loving majority of Muslims must step up and oppose their violent brothers and reclaim the reputation of Islam and the Prophet Mohammed.

Thailand
By now, you may have heard of the breaking news from Thailand. Some are reporting it as a coup d'etat, whereas others are reporting it as a coup attempt. Right now, Fox News is reporting that the Thai military has seized control of the media and the Prime Minister's offices and is declaring support for a return to monarchy. Now, while I am against the widespread corruption that seems to have spread through the Thai government, I am aghast that the military has risen against the government and have left the people of Thailand without a voice in their nation.

When it comes to political philosophy, am I first and foremost a proponent of Democracy. I feel that power, in its most basic form, is derived from the consent of the people. But in Thailand, senior members of the military have usurped the people's position and have toppled a government that was democratically elected. Whatever claims of corruption there may be, these have to be resolved through Thailand's judiciary not by the arbitrary exercise of military force.

Aliens!
Finally (for now), NASA has delayed the scheduled Wednesday-morning landing of the space shuttle Atlantis. Part of the reason is the spotting of a mysterious object orbiting the earth near the International Space Station. It's aliens, I'm tellin' ya! They're comin' to suck out our brains! Quickly, find yourself some aluminum foil and make little hats -- it's the only way to protect your brains!

Above are the opening lines from Psalm 3 and they are an accurate reflection of how I feel at the moment. I find myself in a position that I was in not even a year ago -- out of work and not sure where to go. Today, I was cut loose from my job and I feel horrible. I was not released for any specific cause, but this does little to assuage my fears and guilt.

My fears are that I will not be able to find a job that will provide for my wife and I. My fears tell me that I will be living over a steam grate this winter somewhere in downtown Louisville. My fears would have me break down and live in shadows and doubt.

My guilt says that I didn't do enough to achieve the goals that were set before me. My guilt says that I'll never be good enough to make a real career for myself. My guilt tells me that I the best I should expect is a position at McDonald's somewhere.


I have been very careful to include the full text of Psalm 3 here. Including the word, "Selah." Selah means, pause and consider. And while I have been pausing and considering for most of the afternoon, it has been difficult not to consider my fears and my guilt. And while, emotionally, I have struggled with these, I have also lifted up my voice to the LORD. I am confident that the LORD will hear my cry and, as David says in Psalm 40, he will lift me from the mud and mire of my fears and guilt. While I am not confident in myself (at the moment), I am confident that the LORD has wonderful things planned for me and that HE will sustain me.

I would appreciate your prayers for my job search.

UPDATE: Well, I have two interviews scheduled for Tuesday, August 22nd. I'm feeling a little more confident about my prospects. Thanks for your prayers and keep praying.