Greg

https://grahamtx.net

Catholic School Teacher

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GregGrahamTX@BitcoinNostr.com

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greggrahamtx@getalby.com

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Last Notes

2024-09-09 01:48:59

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This is a very good way to think about our times. I am sure that Tolkien thought the same about his time, but it has become worse since then.

2024-09-06 20:33:03

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N5GSG. I got my license as a kid in 1977 and got back into the hobby in 2021. I do mostly CW on HF and am getting into digital modes. #HamRadio

2024-09-06 10:33:58

Why should we believe in God (in 100 words)?
We observe three things in the Universe. First, everything we observe is temporary and changing. There must be some kind of foundation that is the eternal and unchanging cause of it all. Second, the Universe is full of beauty, mathematical precision, and unfathomable design that the greatest human intellects struggle to understand. Third, we human animals have lofty desires for love, justice, and meaning that goes way beyond physical existence and animal life. These three things point to an all-powerful, eternal, unchanging, intelligent, and loving Creator who made humans in His image for the purpose of eternal life with Him.

2024-07-24 17:47:55

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Congratulations on the General license, and I’m glad to hear the G90 is working well for you.

2024-07-24 02:54:05

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I have a 40 m QCX+ and a 20 m QCX Mini. They both work well and were fun to build. I also have a QDX that I need to build. QRP labs have great designs, so I expect the QMX to be a good choice.

2024-07-16 20:45:59

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You covered up your radio. That’s what I want to see!

2024-05-01 17:33:41

Hello Nostr!

2024-03-19 01:19:41

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I made my first JS8 QSOs last Saturday. I like this mode and will do more with it when I can.

2024-02-17 17:15:12

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No, you are not the last. I haven't seen it yet. I am just now watching Blade Runner 2049 (in stages because it's long) that I checked out from the library. The problem is that I usually watch movies with my wife, and she's not that interested in science fiction. I occasionally see a movie with some of my work friends who like more nerdy fare, and the last time I did that, it was Oppenheimer.

2024-02-10 14:12:35

Someday I will dig into the Go CLI Nostr code out there to make use of it. #note1k9u…cnl6

2024-02-08 14:56:32

This expression caught my attention years ago after I had become disgusted with the theological arguments that went on in the church I was in. It began my reading of the Church Fathers and changed my life. #note10u3…p4sc

2024-02-06 02:56:53

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Thanks! I need to write more!

2024-01-29 03:35:32

St. Thomas Aquinas is my confirmation saint, and today my wife and I celebrated his feast day by participating in the first annual St. Thomas Aquinas Eucharistic Procession at the University of Dallas.
#note18nf…6yf6

2024-01-29 03:25:03

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I like them both, too.

2024-01-25 03:22:19

This looks cool. I need to try it out someday.
#nevent1q…f9dk

2024-01-25 03:21:47

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This is on my list to look into someday. Right now I'm focused on portable HF where I operate CW and am trying to get into digital modes like Olivia and JS8Call.

2024-01-25 03:18:45

Here is a blog post about some thoughts I had that were triggered by the Gospel reading at Mass this morning. Share and enjoy! https://grahamtx.net/posts/2024/parables-and-divine-hiddenness/

2024-01-25 01:29:47

The latest issue of the University of Dallas publication, Veritas, has a very good article on the redefinition of marriage by Ryan T. Anderson. https://give.udallas.edu/veritas/winter2023

2024-01-20 18:09:23

https://m.primal.net/HYcN.jpg

2024-01-08 03:21:59

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Anthony Esolen is great. Enjoy!

2024-01-06 03:38:16

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How did it go? I ended up giving up caffeine during Advent (and beyond) for health reasons. Sometimes we voluntarily take up a penance, but sometimes, God allows a penance to be imposed upon us by circumstances. For me, it was difficult for a few days, but it's not too bad now.

2024-01-06 01:46:17

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Looking great, @npub1jlr…ynqn! Keep up the good work, and God bless!

2024-01-04 17:13:26

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The Word of God is an infinite person because only such a person can adequately express the infinity of God. Knowing that person is the same as knowing God. “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”

2024-01-04 15:13:34

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Good one!

2023-12-15 12:47:14

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When I was a junior in high school, in the minutes before Physics class, I was talking to my friend Chad. It was 1979, and only a few of us at my school had used a computer and could write programs in BASIC. Chad had even done some paid work, so I really looked up to him. As we were waiting for the bell to ring, he was showing me prophecies in the Old Testament that were fulfilled by Jesus. I saw that there was a coherency in the Bible, even though it had been written by many human authors over the span of centuries. I realized that coherency was evidence of divine authorship of the Bible, so I have spent the rest of my life seeking the God that I got a glimpse of back in high school.

2023-12-15 00:13:40

According to timechaincalendar.com, today is Cold Card Day. It says, "On this day in 2017, Coinkite released the world's most trusted and secure bitcoin hardware wallet, the Coldcard." I know I love my Cold Card. Happy Cold Card Day, @npub1az9…m8y8!

2023-12-11 03:24:12

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2023-12-10 04:20:08

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Yes. In my apartment complex, I see parents with their little children in the parking lot. They have to be on the lookout for cars and make sure the children are out of the way. I'm sure that when the parents are busy, the children have to be shut up indoors.

2023-12-10 03:44:12

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You are right. In my area, I only see immigrant families and minorities with children living in the apartment complexes. I think white Americans wait until they're in a house before having children, but they do have dogs. We do have nice public playgrounds nearby, though.
I also wonder if there are liability concerns with playgrounds that apartment owners don't want to get involved with.

2023-12-07 20:10:16

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I knew Finrod prophesied that God would enter our world as a man in a beautiful passage in *Morgoth’s Ring*.
Thank you for the well wishes. The classes went well. In one, we talked about Google’s new Gemini AI, and in the other, we talked about Book I of *Mere Christianity* by C. S. Lewis. Now I am working on writing a Python exam.

2023-12-07 13:46:13

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Good morning! Finrod is my favorite character in the Silmarillion. I'm doing well. I'm teaching my last classes of the semester today and getting ready for final exams.

2023-12-06 19:26:36

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Thanks for posting that. The replies gave me some people to follow.

2023-12-06 15:14:04

Happy Feast of St. Nicholas! In this brilliant reflection, Pope Benedict combines Santa Clause, astronomy, the Council of Nicea, and the love of Jesus.
https://m.primal.net/HSkk.png

2023-11-30 15:10:35

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I like Voddie Baucham. I’ve seen some videos of him preaching.

2023-11-30 15:08:56

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I have heard that a lot over the years, especially in the Design Thinking stuff that comes from the Stanford d School. The purpose is to encourage the free flow of ideas and not risk people being afraid to share their ideas because they might not be good enough. Once all of the ideas are on the table, they can be critically evaluated. This can be taken to an extreme that is just a waste of time. I’ve been in meetings where there was someone who took advantage of this to just spout nonsense.

2023-11-27 03:31:44

Today is the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. One of the readings at Mass this morning shows the order that God is restoring under the kingship of Christ. God makes everything subject to Christ, who presents his kingdom back to his Father, establishing the true Patriarchy of love.
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. “For God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things under him, that God may be everything to every one. (1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28)

2023-11-24 18:18:28

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The zap appeared to work on my end. I’m using Primal iOS with Alby.

2023-11-22 22:51:46

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Brilliant!

2023-11-22 20:47:27

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Wow, that’s a good insight!

2023-11-22 18:31:00

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Attempts at compassion that run counter to the truth are not truly compassionate. Sadly, many leaders in the Church act like they don’t believe there are eternal consequences to sin.

2023-11-21 19:28:17

In the Passion narrative we see how even the disciples, though they had shared Jesus’ life and listened to his words, were still thinking of a political kingdom, brought about also by force. In Gethsemane, Peter had unsheathed his sword and began to fight, but Jesus stopped him (cf. Jn 18:10-11). He does not wish to be defended by arms, but to accomplish the Father’s will to the end, and to establish his kingdom not by armed conflict, but by the apparent weakness of life-giving love. The kingdom of God is a kingdom utterly different from earthly kingdoms.
Pope Benedict XVI
From: Homily, 25 November 2012

2023-11-21 16:35:15

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I have no expectation of privacy with ChatGPT, so I've used it carefully and sparingly.

2023-11-20 19:36:18

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What do you think of the documented experiences of people whose brains stop functioning for a time, but after they are revived, report events that took place while they were brain dead? These reports include events and observations in other locations than where the patient was located because their point of view moved away from their body. This module you describe should not be capable of this.

2023-11-19 23:37:10

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Rocketry is an easier problem to solve than sin. That took the death of God’s Son to solve, but sadly modern man is rejecting that solution.

2023-11-19 15:42:37

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What is the thing that experiences the illusion?

2023-11-18 02:21:46

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That’s interesting. Maybe I can visit Utrecht someday.

2023-11-15 22:35:10

God formed man to be imperishable;
the image of his own nature he made them.
But by the envy of the Devil, death entered the world,
and they who are in his possession experience it.
But the souls of the just are in the hand of God,
and no torment shall touch them.
They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead;
and their passing away was thought an affliction
and their going forth from us, utter destruction.
But they are in peace.
For if before men, indeed, they be punished,
yet is their hope full of immortality;
Chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed,
because God tried them
and found them worthy of himself.
As gold in the furnace, he proved them,
and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.
In the time of their visitation they shall shine,
and shall dart about as sparks through stubble;
They shall judge nations and rule over peoples,
and the Lord shall be their King forever.
Those who trust in him shall understand truth,
and the faithful shall abide with him in love:
Because grace and mercy are with his holy ones,
and his care is with his elect. (Wisdom 2:23-3:9)

2023-11-15 22:30:13

Hear, O kings, and understand;
learn, you magistrates of the earth's expanse!
Hearken, you who are in power over the multitude
and lord it over throngs of peoples!
Because authority was given you by the Lord
and sovereignty by the Most High,
who shall probe your works and scrutinize your counsels.
Because, though you were ministers of his kingdom, you judged not rightly,
and did not keep the law,
nor walk according to the will of God,
Terribly and swiftly shall he come against you,
because judgment is stern for the exalted–
For the lowly may be pardoned out of mercy
but the mighty shall be mightily put to the test.
For the Lord of all shows no partiality,
nor does he fear greatness,
Because he himself made the great as well as the small,
and he provides for all alike;
but for those in power a rigorous scrutiny impends.
To you, therefore, O princes, are my words addressed
that you may learn wisdom and that you may not sin.
For those who keep the holy precepts hallowed shall be found holy,
and those learned in them will have ready a response.
Desire therefore my words;
long for them and you shall be instructed. (Wisdom 6:1-11)

2023-11-15 22:10:32

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I appreciate Tim's concern with the problems of feminism, but I think his advice could use some nuance. Feminism has infected the thinking of most people in the west, so it is rare to find anyone unaffected by it. A man and woman considering marriage will need to work out the issue of male headship as well as mutual submission. I know Tim rejects the teaching of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI on mutual submission, but I think he needs to reexamine that. Sometimes the man, as the leader, needs to bend to the needs of the wife, and that is a form of self-sacrificial submission. It takes wisdom and discernment to know when that needs to happen. However, if the girlfriend, after a heart-to-heart discussion on the topic, is unwilling to let the man lead, they should not get married. Conversely, if a woman is not convinced her boyfriend will lead the family by treating her with loving care and respect, they should not get married.

2023-11-13 22:32:52

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That's a great idea!

2023-11-12 12:30:11

The readings for today fit together beautifully, and while they are always important, they are especially relevant for the confusing and destructive age we live in. We must seek wisdom, the oil to keep our lamps filled, so that we are ready for the coming Bridegroom. Of course, true wisdom is only found in the incarnate eternal Word of God, Jesus Christ.
Wisdom is radiant and unfading,
and she is easily discerned by those who love her,
and is found by those who seek her.
She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her.
He who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty,
for he will find her sitting at his gates.
To fix one’s thought on her is perfect understanding,
and he who is vigilant on her account will soon be free from care,
because she goes about seeking those worthy of her,
and she graciously appears to them in their paths,
and meets them in every thought. (Wisdom 6:12-16)
But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those maidens rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise replied, ‘Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut. Afterward the other maidens came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. (Matthew 25:1-13)

2023-11-11 15:43:32

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This is a big one for me.

2023-11-11 15:35:35

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Good morning, everyone!

2023-11-11 15:34:56

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Nevermore

2023-11-11 15:32:19

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@npub1jlr…ynqn is working on something that could be the foundation of something like Teams or Slack. You should follow him.

2023-11-11 15:29:07

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As others said, bad children are not always the fault of their parents, but I don't know the details of that family. I'm sure it's had to be an emperor and a good father. My impression of Marcus Aurelius is that although he appeared to be a seeker of wisdom and wrote some good things, he rejected the wisdom of the Christian Gospel. If he was truly open to wisdom, he would have listened to the Christian witness that was around him. We know that Justin Martyr wrote to him twice about Jesus.

2023-11-11 15:19:08

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That's great that you have the support of your wife. I've been blessed to have my wife on the same page through our twists and turns.

2023-11-10 20:34:33

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Have you entered the Orthodox Church, or are you still in the consideration stage? I came close to becoming Orthodox but instead checked out a conservative Anglican communion called the Charismatic Episcopal Church (CEC). I thought it would give my wife and I the benefits of Orthodoxy but not seem so foreign, which bothered her more than me at the time.
However, in the CEC I found that they did not have an answer to the problem of unity in the Church. I came to the conclusion that the solution that Jesus gave us is the successors of the Apostles (bishops) who are united around the successor of Peter (the Pope of Rome).
I reluctantly entered the Catholic Church, mostly out of obedience to the truth that I believed had been revealed to me. It has since proved to be a blessing to my wife and I, despite current problems in the hierarchy. Just like in the Protestant world, there are good and bad people as well as good and bad communities within the Catholic world, and we have found some good ones. I have also found great blessings in the saints and established traditions of the Church. Even though there is argument, controversy, and confusion on these things today, especially on the Internet, we have 2000 years of solid doctrine and godly examples to cling to and can pretty much ignore the present-day noise.
Interestingly, there was a scandal in the leadership of the CEC shortly after we became Catholic resulting in several of my friends leaving. Most of them became Eastern Orthodox.

2023-11-07 20:58:46

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After I came to faith in high school in an Evangelical context, I ran into doctrinal disagreements among friends in college that caused me to start looking back towards the Reformation for answers. For a while, I thought I had found the answers I sought in Calvinism, but when I started seeing cracks in the Reformed edifice, I went deeper into history. Then there was no turning back.

2023-11-07 20:48:23

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I was a somewhat obnoxious Calvinist for a while in my early 20s. I sympathize with their position even though I have moved on.

2023-11-06 15:24:21

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It’s so complicated. Hamas is clearly genocidal, but I can’t stand behind everything the government of Israel is doing, either. A lot of innocent people are being used as pawns in this power struggle, and there’s a lot of information we commoners don’t have, so I don’t see how we can make a definitive judgement of one side over the other.

2023-11-06 11:41:49

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Wow!

2023-11-06 02:26:57

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The Catholic Current is one I recently discovered. It's from a radio show done by Fr. Robert McTeigue SJ. He's one of those rare orthodox Jesuits. He's very smart and insightful, and he doesn't mince words when it comes to problems in the culture or the Church, not matter how high it goes.

2023-11-06 02:17:54

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Cap it!

2023-11-04 12:10:59

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I use Fountain now, but for a while I used Podverse. Features I like in Fountain are:
1. Value-for-value sats streaming and boosts
2. I like the way the queue works, letting me organize what I want to listen to next.
3. The activity feed on the home page is interesting, although I should look at it more.
There are several podcasts I like, but for here I recommend the Thank God for Nostr podcast.

2023-11-04 11:33:04

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Let me try again, this time using Primal instead of Snort.
https://m.primal.net/HPQK.jpg

2023-11-03 21:25:33

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Seeing all of these Orthodox clerics made me think you would be interested in this icon. I had the privilege of attending a Bible study led by Abp. Dmitri of Dallas for several months in 1999 while I was on the journey from Calvinist-Evangelical Christianity to exploring historic Christianity. Abp. Dmitri was going through Romans and showed me another way to interpret it, which opened my mind to a world beyond Protestantism. The fact that he was a man who was clearly close to Jesus gave him credibility that was life-changing for me. The first time I saw him celebrate the Divine Liturgy was Triumph of Orthodoxy Sunday. As he preached his homily, questions would come to my mind, and then he would appear to answer my question with his next sentence. It was as if we were having a conversation. Needless to say, it was a very moving experience. Although I did not end up becoming Orthodox, I have a soft spot in my heart for you all. Anyway, this icon was posted on Facebook yesterday in celebration of the 100th anniversary of his birth. Many people who knew him are proclaiming he is a saint, and I certainly support that.

2023-11-01 14:44:20

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That is a great clip. I am going to show it to some people I know who struggle with discouragement.

2023-11-01 11:28:34

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Happy Feast of All Saints!

2023-11-01 11:23:12

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is God of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel. -Hebrews 12:22-24
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels stood round the throne and round the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God for ever and ever! Amen.” -Revelation 7:9-12

2023-10-26 18:57:03

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I'm very happy with River for buys, but I haven't done a sell yet.

2023-10-26 18:50:45

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I have a few news sites that I sample to get different perspectives, including CNN, Fox, Al Jazeera, Gateway Pundit, BBC, LifeSite News, Breitbart, and National Catholic Register. I don't look at every one every day, but it is interesting to quickly compare a few.

2023-10-26 13:27:13

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... and if it's not an improvement, why would you code it, right?

2023-10-26 10:23:49

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GM!

2023-10-25 17:26:42

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I just saw on the hyperscript website that it was inspired by HyperTalk. I will have to give it a try.

2023-10-25 16:29:21

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Yes, HyperCard was pretty hot at the time. The most impressive thing I know that was made in HyperCard was the original version of the Myst computer game. Avionics pretty much refers to the electronics on an airplane. Most of what I did on that project was work on the system call interface for the little real-time operating system that supported the navigation, communications, and weapon control software.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myst

2023-10-25 12:52:06

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Good morning! It's nice to see that your morning meditations are back.

2023-10-24 18:42:50

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HyperTalk was kind of fun, and the whole HyperCard environment was an easy way to create a kind of Macintosh GUI app. I used it to simulate cockpit controls for a U.S. Navy aircraft that was in development at the time, so essentially I was mocking up the user interface for the aircraft. The group I worked for was called Pilot Vehicle Interface (PVI), but I left them to work on avionics software because I thought that was *real programming*. I learned a lot doing avionics, but it was a much more structured software engineering situation that was not as free-wheeling and fun as when I was with PVI.
The biggest problem with HyperTalk was that Apple tried to make it English-like so that non-programmer people could use it. That made the syntax somewhat verbose and sometimes ambiguous. Other programming languages that tried to be "easy", such as COBOL, BASIC, Excel, PHP, or even JavaScript, have similar problems to a lesser extent.

2023-10-24 18:29:27

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This made me think of William Gibson's 1984 novel, *Neuromancer*. I read it right when it came out, so my memory of it is vague, but I remember that there were powerful AIs that had their own community in cyberspace, which is the global network that is central to the novel. The protagonist tries to get help from these AIs, and has a hard time because most of the AIs are much more interested in their own community than the affairs of humans.

2023-10-24 02:23:35

Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will bring forth your vindication as the light,
and your right as the noonday.
Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over him who prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!
Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
For the wicked shall be cut off;
but those who wait for the Lord shall possess the land.
Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look well at his place, he will not be there.
But the meek shall possess the land,
and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.
Psalm 37:5-11

2023-10-23 20:58:30

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I don't know about hyperscript, but in 1988 I was writing code in HyperTalk. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HyperTalk

2023-10-20 08:22:10

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The ROC used to exist on the mainland, but as the communists gained power, they retreated to Taiwan. When I was a child, there were people who still hoped the ROC would regain control of the mainland.

2023-10-19 19:37:05

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I've been listening to some Sola Scriptura debates recently, and I've found them less than satisfying. I feel like some Catholic apologists make it sound like Tradition and the Magisterium answers all of the questions, removes all ambiguities, and settles all disagreements. The current problems in the Vatican have shown that is not true. There are still hard problems in Catholic theology, areas of disagreement, and mysteries that will likely never be understood in this life. Nonetheless, I have found the difference between Protestant theology and Catholic theology to be night and day.
I didn't get here by listening to Catholic apologists, though. I started by looking into ancient Christianity, then trying to merge modern Protestant and Patristic Christianity, all along learning more about how Catholic beliefs were not what I had been taught as a Protestant. As I worked through issue after issue, against my preference, the Catholic position eventually came out on top each time. I did not want to become Catholic because it was going to cost me in my career plans and in personal relationships, but eventually my conscience wouldn't let me stay out of the Church.
However, I had some friends who were with me in that journey that ended up Anglican or Eastern Orthodox. I disagree with them, but I respect their choices. The road is very complicated, and there are hundreds of factors that shape who we become and what we believe. I know that God understands all of that and will judge each of according to what we have been given. I am not capable of judging anyone, and for that, I am glad.

2023-10-19 18:46:50

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That's certainly true, @npub1s6z…wk4c. By the way, since we are conversing, let me take the opportunity to tell you that I have enjoyed listening to you on podcasts such as TFTC and Bitcoin.review. I started digging into crypto in May 2022 to address the interests of some of my high school students. I soon learned that Bitcoin was not only first, but that it is unique. I lost interest in the altcoins, and as I tried to learn how Bitcoin works in order to explain it to my students, I became more and more fascinated by the technology behind it. Someday, when I have more time, I would like to dive into your "Bitcoin, Explained" podcast. Thank you for what you for all of your contributions to Bitcoin. I think it will prove to be an important thing.

2023-10-18 23:11:51

Today is the feast of Saint Luke, physician and writer of *The Gospel According to Luke* and *The Acts of the Apostles* in the New Testament. Today I read this passage from Luke's gospel:
"And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal habitations.
“He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Luke 16:9-13)
Jesus calls money "unrighteous mammon", associating it with a pagan god called Mammon. He wants us to be generous with our money, using it to make friends who will welcome us into eternal life. Greed can keep us out of heaven. Generosity not only frees us from earthly cares that weigh us down, but the money we give away can help others who may become our friends for eternity.
What caught my attention and made me think of posting this on Nostr is that Jesus says, "so that when it [money] fails..." Jesus is telling us that money will fail. Is he talking about the failure of fiat? Not necessarily, because the people of his day did not use fiat money, but he may have had future fiat money in mind. The truth is, for many people, their money fails in one way or another during their lifetime, but for all of us, our money fails us at our death. Whatever comes after death, our money won't go with us, even Bitcoin.

2023-10-18 17:58:22

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It's interesting you should say that. I didn't get into the subject of contraception in my previous post because it's a complicated moral issue, but it is an important root cause. Contraception allows a separation between sex and parenthood, which weakens family bonds, contributing to the rise of divorce, remarriage, and homes with step fathers. Most sexual abuse of children is by step fathers. A man is much less likely to abuse his own children, but the children of another man are much more vulnerable, especially when their father is absent.

2023-10-18 17:48:57

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This was supposed to be a much longer post that I wrote in Shipyard. I clicked on Preview and the note went away. I thought I had found it in drafts, but it only gave me the option of Reposting. I tried that, but it evidently just created a blank post. @npub1l2v…ajft

2023-10-14 15:30:36

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I would be happy if people would just raise the question of a root cause and pursue it with an open mind. I believe the root cause is rapidly increasing moral relativism, but since most people may not be thinking along those lines, more explanation is required, so please forgive the long post.
I see the roots of this in the Renaissance with the idea that "Man is the measure of things" rather than God. While there were many good things that came out of this humanism, the moral authority of the Catholic Church was questioned, and the Protestant Reformation, which responded to genuine problems in the Church, further ate away at this authority. The Protestants replaced the authority of the Church with the authority of the Bible. The wars of religion that followed the Reformation further weakened Christian authority so that in the Enlightenment, Reason was proposed as superior to Revelation as a source of morality. Modern critical scholarship proceded to cast doubt on the texts of the Bible so that even the Bible came be seen as irrelevant.
These changes began first among the intellectuals of Europe, but their ideas spread through the universities and seminaries so that even priests and ministers began to doubt the truth of Christian doctrine and morals. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was common among the well educated to not take traditional Christian morality seriously. Sigmund Freud provided rationale for not only doubting Christian sexual morality, but believing it be actually harmful because it repressed our natural sexual expression.
In the United States, the common people tended to cling to religion, but movies and television romanticized sexual freedom that was at odds with what they were taught at church. Over the decades the Hollywood lifestyle seemed more and more normal while Christian morality looked too restrictive and old-fashioned. In the United States, the sexual revolution in the late 1960s threw off the traditional moral restraints and began a series of legal changes, including no-fault divorce, legalized abortion, and same-sex marriage.
In my lifetime (I’m 61), I've seen the following changes. When I was a child, all of the children of the neighborhood played with each other all over the neighborhood, and no one worried as long as we were home for dinner. My mom would sometimes send me to the convenience store over half a mile away near the highway to pick up something she needed when I was still pretty small. We had a non-sectarian prayer at the beginning of each day in the public school. School shootings were unthinkable even though guns were very common in Texas. By the time I was in high school, 1977-1981, things had become much different. In my public high school, one band director was fired for sexual misconduct with a student, and the college counselor was caught in the act with a boy in the school bathroom, and ended up shooting himself. There were rumors about our principal and one of my history teachers, but nothing was ever proven. Now, responsible parents will not leave their children unsupervised outside their own fenced-in yard, and even Catholic priests are no longer considered safe.
In summary, secularism leads to moral relativism where eventually anything is permissible (e.g. Ivan Karamazov). There are still good people, but the restraints on bad people deteriorate until chaos threatens to overwhelm the good. Bitcoiners blame fiat for the problems of the world, but currency devaluation was considered a serious sin in the Middle Ages, so that moral restraint had to be eliminated before we could have fiat currency. I believe the solution is a widespread revival of faith in God with the realization that He knows what makes for a fulfilling life. When we abandon the path He has shown us, we wander off into self-destruction.

2023-10-13 20:58:17

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Who is going to argue against protecting children from sexual abuse? Therefore, it can excuse any tyranny. What is never addressed are the root causes of child sexual abuse.

2023-10-11 13:42:50

This quote from the late Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI, regarding the parable of the vineyard, is very relevant for the Church today.
Yet there is a promise in Jesus' words: the vineyard will not be destroyed. While the unfaithful labourers abandon their destiny, the owner of the vineyard does not lose interest in his vineyard and entrusts it to other faithful servants. This means that, although in certain regions faith is dwindling to the point of dying out, there will always be other peoples ready to accept it.
From: Homily, 5 October 2008

2023-10-11 00:54:05

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Podverse has value for value but not some of the other features of Fountain, like earning sats for listening, clips, and the social feature. https://podverse.fm

2023-10-09 00:17:51

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It’s comforting to believe that God doesn’t exist and there’s no accountability for how we live our lives. However, the comfort is only temporary and will not help us at our death, even if we’re successful at stifling the truth until then.

2023-10-09 00:09:31

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Frost Nixon is a good movie.

2023-10-08 02:12:41

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I'm not a Dispensationalist, but I do take notice when the Holy Land is in the news. I think it still has a significant role to play, but I doubt any of us know exactly what that will be.

2023-10-06 20:30:30

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Libertarianism is a broad concept. The parts that they object to and the parts that you hold to might not overlap.

2023-10-05 18:49:47

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This is my interpretation of what they might say, which is that the Biblical view of man is not individualistic, but family and relationship oriented. The American idea of individualism comes from the Enlightenment, not the Bible. We are born into a family, and our identity comes from there. Families make up tribes and communities, and communities make up nations. God started with the family of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and his sons. From these sons come the 12 tribes that form the structure of the nation of Israel.
It is true that individual Israelites were not regulated by the national government, but they were regulated by the family. The head of the family ruled the family. When there are disputes between families, those are arbitrated by village, town, or tribal elders. Only the cases that couldn't be resolved at lower levels went to Moses, Joshua, the judges, or the kings.

2023-10-05 18:35:14

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I just noticed it Celsius. Even Texas doesn't get that hot.

2023-10-05 18:34:23

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Welcome to Texas!

2023-10-05 14:39:11

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Amen! This is a huge thing today. It's so easy to see big problems in society and other people, and to think that complaining about them makes us a good Christian. We need to focus on our own faults and growing in virtue.

2023-10-05 14:36:13

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I recommend NewPolity ( https://newpolity.com/ ) for a nuanced approach to this topic. They recognize the tyranny of today's governments, but they do not advocate a Libertarian a solution. They draw from the Bible as well as Christian political theory and historical examples of more successful functioning Christian societies. What they are discussing cannot be enacted in the next election cycle, but I believe they do have a vision that can give as goal to work towards long-term, even if we don't know how we can get there from here.