The Peaceful Gnome

The Small Catechism about Print Email RSS --> Share http://www.cph.org/t-topic-catechism.aspx';a2a_onclick=1;a2a_prioritize= ['facebook','twitter','delicious','digg','linkedin','myspace','blogger_post','typepad_post','stumbleupon','fark']; In This Section: Luther's Preface to the Small Catechism The Ten Commandments The Creed The Lord's Prayer The Sacrament of Holy Baptism Confession The Sacrament of the Altar Daily Prayers Table of Duties Christian Questions with Their Answers Luther's Small Catechism The catechism is an essential part of any Christian’s library. Brief, clear summaries of God’s Word allow individuals and families alike to use the Small Catechism as a powerful tool and prayer book. Though the catechism was written by Martin Luther in 1529, its question and answer format provides Christians with a timeless guide book that ...

While I'm sure this will not pass I will refuse to get one if it does. It that results in unemployment I'll spend my increased spare time making sure that the government goes away completely, whatever it takes at that point. Dems spark alarm with call for national ID Card By Alexander Bolton - 04/30/10 06:00 AM ET A plan by Senate Democratic leaders to reform the nation’s immigration laws ran into strong opposition from civil liberties defenders before lawmakers even unveiled it Thursday...The American Civil Liberties Union, a civil liberties defender often aligned with the Democratic Party, wasted no time in blasting the plan. “Creating a biometric national ID will not only be astronomically expensive, it will usher government into the very center of our lives. Every worker in America will need a government permission slip in order to work. And all of this will come with a new federal bureaucracy — one that combines the worst elements of the DMV and the TSA,” sa...

I watched about 2/3 of the movie "The Corporation" today.  I stopped because it was pretty repetitive in it's condemnation of capitalism and praising of "public" ownership and solutions, which is to say they were pretty much old fashioned socialists.  I happen to agree with them that corporations are vile and evil, but the movie only made occasional passing mention of the fact that virtually EVERYTHING corporations are able to do is due to the backing of the government (a corporate subsidiary these days).  Everything from the courts to the police to the legislature to the president of the USA are dedicated to the corporations, which means they are dedicated to the ultra-rich stockholders actually.  Which lets us know how this all came down.  Rich folk, tired of being held accountable for their actions bought laws allowing them to pretend that they are not responsible for their actions!  Of course, since every organ of the government is and always ha...

How silly can the communist overlords of Frisco get? Pretty darned silly! :-D Now the Frisco Soviet is demanding that Major League Baseball pull the All Star Game out of Phoenix! Don't they realize that by Frisco boycotting anything they strengthen it? Frisco is so hated by so much of Flyoverland (the area between New York and the West Coast) that the simple fact that Frisco says "don't go there" will inspire tens of thousands of people to decide they should check out Arizona who otherwise would not have even considered going there. And yes, I'm deliberately using "FRISCO" only because it annoys those who live in that city. Boycott Frisco! I am going to, I am going to avoid spending any money inside the city limits, I'll make sure to pack my lunch every day and I won't even buy coffee there any more. I can't avoid going there because it's where I work, but I can make sure they don't get a nickle of sales tax ...

Go to HELL Steve Jobs! I had intended for my next computer to be an Apple, I really did! But with the backstabbing ways that corporation has been displaying recently, dissing Flash over old grudges , then as I found out in this morning's email: buying and then destroying competition with a BETTER PRODUCT, like lala (see below) I would not willingly give Apple a dime! Of course now I'm going to be forced , against my will, to buy songs from iTunes just to get my money back. But once I've done that, no way they are getting more money from me. (Yes, I am really pissed off and feel ripped off, which is normal when dealing with amoral psychopathic corporations.) This REALLY SUCKS! I HATE CORPORATE AMERICA! This is an automated message. Please do not reply. Dear Larry D., The Lala service will be shut down on May 31st. In appreciation of your support over the last five years, you will receive a credit in the amount of your Lala ...

OK Mr. Manning, tell us what you really think of Obama :-D http://la-gun.com/manning/ Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

This is from "The Big Picture" layout on the Shanghai Worlds Fair, the Spanish Pavilion has a huge animated baby mannequin displayed, the question is, "Why?" Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

From Cyberbrethern: Eyjafjallajokull Eruption: Amazing Photos My first thought when I saw these photos was, “Wow, it is Mordor!” Tolkien fans will know what I mean, non-Tolkien fans? Never mind. The photo was taken by Ragnar Th Sigurdsson/www.arctic-images.com in Iceland. Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

GOOD NEWS! Under the American Soviet Regime of our Beloved Great Leader Barak Obama only safe, factory produced food will be legal.  No more of that nasty organic stuff produced by small local farmers!  You must know that only properly supervised government approved giant corporations can safely feed you, and now that will be the law... REJOICE! Organic, small farmers fret over FDA regulation Carolyn Lochhead, Chronicle Washington Bureau Tuesday, April 27, 2010 Craig Lee / The Chronicle (04-27) 04:00 PDT Washington -- Small farmers in California who have led a national movement away from industrial agriculture face a looming crackdown on food safety that they say is geared to big corporate farms and will make it harder for them to survive. The small growers, many of whom grow dozens of different kinds of vegetables and fruits, say the inherent benefits of their size, and their sensitivity to extra costs, are being ignored. They are fighting to carve out...

Woo, in this one it all becomes clear to me... Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

From the NY Times , this is truly amazing stuff, nothing like having a clearly defined set of goals and a straightforward strategy to reach them :-) Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

...about waiting for the Lutheran Study Bible for my Blackberry Kindle Reader ... I downloaded the sample section and checked it out and loved it so much that I went ahead and ordered and instantly downloaded it.  Nice :-) If you have a Blackberry or iPhone you should get the Kindle Reader , especially if you are like me and don't want to lug around extra devices like a dedicated e-reader or computer and you want to read huge books like the Book of Concord on the train but don't want to use a dolly   to carry them around :-) Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

I now have yet another e-book reader installed on my Blackberry!  Kindle from Amazon has now put out a version for Blackberry so no books will ever escape me again!  So far I've only got two books on it but they are doozies, I've got Concordia, The Lutheran Confessions and Treasury of Daily Prayer on there.  Now I can have the TDP and the Book of Concord with me all of the time, without risking a hernia!  Woo Hoo!  :-)  There is one more I want but I'm waiting till next month so as to spread around the costs and that is The Lutheran Study Bible . Yes, I have all three of these books in paper form but they are not exactly what you would call portable, so this makes me very happy ;-) Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

Lame gang tags vs. real street art...  I do like street art, it makes a city more interesting.  Stupid gang tags I can do without though... Street Artist Banksy Marks the Mission by Garrett McAuliffe A new quasi-verified mural attributed to the notoriously anonymous Banksy materialized above Amnesia Bar on Valencia Street some time Wednesday, according to art snoopers, enthusiasts and nearby shop owners. Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/inthemission/detail?entry_id=62063&tsp=1#ixzz0m44vuJm6 -- Larry Devich http://larry-devich.blogspot.com/ It is more blessed to ask forgiveness than permission Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

via antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov In case you missed this awesome shot of the Icelandic Volcano last week. Posted via web from The Angry Gnome

The same family who were on GMA were also on The Joy Behar Show on CNN, she was much more reasonable, IMO :-) Check it out: http://cnn.com/video/ ?/video/bestoftv/2010/04/21/behar.unschooling.cnn Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

Peter Gray has a well timed (see the GMA stories) and fascinating article about unschoolers and math. I have noticed that Serenity and other unschoolers she plays with are quite good at math, even though no one has taught it to them. I'm constantly amazed at the fact that she understands multiplication, division and fractions, without calling them that of course, but she uses them and talks about them and is totally relaxed about it too. Very cool. Maybe one day I'll stop being amazed, but I doubt it. :-D Published on Psychology Today ( http://www.psychologytoday.com ) By Peter Gray Created Apr 15 2010 - 6:06am We fear it and loathe it; we admire but are also suspicious of those who are good at it; we place it in such high esteem that we make children study (or pretend to study) it almost every day of every year that they are in school; and we use it as a major criterion for college entry. We put math on a pedestal and then we avert our eyes, or else we spit a...

Just sat here listening to this on my work computer, it is a version of Psalm 51 , my favorite Psalm, chanted in Latin.  Sends chills up my spine... enjoy: Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

Good Morning America did a rather pathetic hit piece on unschooling yesterday that drew huge amounts of comment on their website.  To their credit they had the family back on today to defend themselves and they were much more evenhanded this time around. The best response I've seen so far though is on Jeff Sabo's blog Just a Bald Man. Here is a teaser here from Jeff's longer post : Let me start by saying that I am not the parent who essentially turns my children over to local and state-run school programs for ten hours a day while I go to work to earn more money so I can buy more consumer goods that give me pleasure. I am not the parent who doesn't participate in my child's learning. I am not the parent who places blind faith in an education system that all Americans know is broken and has lead us to lose pace with the remainder of the world. And I am not the parent who sits back idly and recognizes that it is broken but uses it anyway. No, I am the ...

via treelobsters.com "Crabby" old pope. :-) Posted via web from The Angry Gnome

What does April 15 mean to most people? It means paying taxes to the government for most I would imagine. Once upon a time that is what it meant to me as well. But these days it is a reminder of who I am in Christ, a baptized child of God. I remember that especially on this day because April 15 is the date in 1956 that I was baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. For a long time I was unaware of this fact but a few years ago, as I was coming back into the church I made an effort to get a record of my baptism and found out the date. It is nice to have an easy to remember date and nice that I can celebrate on this day instead of just complaining about the government. Thanks be to God! Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

via planetrawwalnutcreek.com Check out the menu, I want to try the Ravioli and the Meat(less)loaf too. I think we'll take an excursion next week to check them out. :-) Posted via web from The Angry Gnome

via sisterbetty.org There are 300 stairways in San Francisco where the hills are too steep for roads. I've been up a few of them but I had no idea there were so many. I think I'll schedule a few trips to the city with Serenity to climb some of the more interesting ones. Good exercise and fun to boot. Posted via web from The Angry Gnome

No need to bother with facts, just buy it! Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

-- Larry Devich http://larry-devich.blogspot.com/ It is more blessed to ask forgiveness than permission Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

I saw a version of this tagged to the end of an email today: The purpose of life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body... but rather to slide in broadside, thoroughly used up... totally worn out... and loudly proclaiming. .. WOW... WHAT A RIDE! Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

He is Risen Indeed! Posted via email from Our Family Blog

via pressdemocrat.com Obviously this is only possible to homeschoolers. Enough said. (Story is behind the "via pressdemocrat.com" link beneath the photo.) Posted via web from The Angry Gnome

Here is the schedule of services for Holy Week at Messiah Lutheran Church , I plan on going to all of them: Thu, April 1st, 7:30 p.m. Maundy Thursday Have Mercy Upon Us Friday, April 2nd, 12-3:00 p.m. Good Friday - Tre Ore Liturgy 7:30 p.m. Good Friday Vespers, Who Bore Our Shame Saturday, April 3rd, 7:30 p.m. Easter Vigil - Baptism of Isla Philpott Sunday, April 4th, Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ 8:30 a.m. Easter Breakfast 10:00 a.m. Easter Divine Worship Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

Scientists have discovered the part of the brain that makes people gullible, it was claimed today. The findings could have massive implications for treating the growing number of people who fall wide-eyed for sensationalist media reports. Professor Cristoph Morris, who led the research, said that a part of the brain called the inferior supra-credulus was unsually active in people with a tendency to believe horoscopes and papers invoking fancy brain scans. “This correlation is so strong that we can speculate about a causal link with a high degree of certainty,” he concluded. Morris made his discovery using a brain-scanning technique called fluorescence magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which can read people’s thoughts with an incredible degree of accuracy, just slightly better than chance. His results are published in the Journal of Evolutionary Psychoimagery. When Morris studied individual neurons within the supra-credulus, he found that gullibility was associated with the ...