Congratulations to the American people! Barak Obama and hope.

Heartfelt congratulations to the citizens of the United States of America. The election of Barak Obama as the president of the United States of America is a noteworthy event, worthy of celebration. It shows that the American people have within their hearts a desire for a new way, a new way of dealing with their internal affairs, and a new way of dealing with the rest of the world.

This election holds great hope for the world's most powerful nation. Power, favour, and influence come with a great deal of responsibility. My prayer is that Mr Obama will be all that we hope he will be. The pressure to achieve, and to turn around the mess that Mr Bush has left will be immense. However, I would encourage you to pray that God will grant wisdom, courage and strength to Mr Obama and his team - it is possible that God could work through them to bring about both national, and international, transformation. It is possible that justice could be established where previously there has only been strife and abuse. It is possible that wealth could be shared and lives changed. It is possible that the west could reach to the south and bring about global shifts that will deal not only with the interests of the few, but with the real struggles of the many.

Such change will be costly. Politicians are not known for sacrificial leadership - rather, the system of deomocratic (ologarchies) relies upon winning the popular opinion of one's electorate. However, we have seen in South Africa how one person, Mr Nelson Mandela, could be an angent of change, peace, reconcilliation and renewal. I pray the same for the new President of the United States of America.

May that nation and all of her people be blessed! And, may the abundance of the blessing that they experience be used by God to bring greater blessing to the rest of the world.

A boy and his best friends!

I thought this was such a cool picture! In it you'll see little Liam watching the iTunes visualiser while our little dog Wendy (named from Peter Pan) keeps watch. A dog, and iMac and a dummy (pacifier for you Brits and yanks)...

PS. Please spare a prayer for little Liam, he is still not well. After 8 weeks of antibiotics he cannot shake his chest infection and tonsillitis. He struggles to breathe and gets fits from the fever from time to time. It is very unsettling for all of us! But, he is alive, and he will outgrow it!
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Sarah Palin gets punk'd by French prank phone callers.

Hilarious! Just goes to show we shouldn't take ourselves too seriously!

The popular Montreal comedy duo Marc-Antoine Audette and Sebastien Trudel, aka "The Masked Avengers" ( Les Justiciers Masques ) are notorious for prank-calling heads of state and celebrities who take themselves a little too seriously. Surely none take themselves so seriously as Sarah Palin. She was pranked by the pair today when they social-hacked their way past security and convinced her she was speaking to Nicolas Sarkozy, the president of France.

Fake Sarkozy drops plenty of hints it's a fake call, and suggests Palin would make a good president "one day you too." She replies, "well, maybe in eight years!" Snip:

He tells Palin one of his favorite pastimes is hunting, also a passion of the 44-year-old Alaska governor.

"I just love killing those animals. Mmm, mmm, take away life, that is so fun," the fake Sarkozy says.

He proposes they go hunting together by helicopter, something he says he has never done.

"Well, I think we could have a lot of fun together while we're getting work done," Palin counters. "We can kill two birds with one stone that way."

The comedian jokes that they shouldn't bring Cheney along on the hunt, referring to the 2006 incident in which the vice-president shot and injured a friend while hunting quail.

"I'll be a careful shot," responds Palin.

Playing off the governor's much-mocked comment in an early television interview that she had insights into foreign policy because "you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska," the caller tells her: "You know we have a lot in common also, because ... from my house I can see Belgium."

She replies: "Well, see, we're right next door to different countries that we all need to be working with, yes."

Coverage: Washington Post, AP via HuffPo. Here's the comedy duo's home page. (thanks, Richard Metzger)

Tribute to Col. Pappy: A Life of Pwnage (pure pwnage)

Yes, he was an inspiring soul indeed! A moment's silence, a tilt of the joystick, a mural in second life... These would all be fitting tributes to Col. Pappy!

Whilst I never had the honour of sharing a mission with him (or anyone else for that matter) - his passing is a sad reality of history... He was one of the very first 8bit gamers, heck he was a king on the FPS when 300 baud modems were state of the art!

Please feel free to leave your tributes in the comments below.

Here's the video

From one of my favourite internet sensations - pure pwnage.

;-)

Create multiple Universes for just US $20!

I have always been intrigued by the possibility of the existence of multiple Universes (is that even marginally correct grammar!?) A large portion of my Masters degree research in Systematic Theology considered the influence of 'the new science' (mainly quantum theory, but also microbiology) on our vision of reality. I read persons such as Einstein, Rosen, Podolsky, Talbot, Bohm, Russel, Heisenberg, Sharpe, Capra, Schroedinger, Tipler, Zukav and Keepin; oh, and of course the converging point was Ken Wilber...

Perhaps, however, in this regard David Deutsch was one of the most influential contributors to my understanding of the possibility of the existence of a 'multiverse' (as opposed to a 'universe'). See Deutsch, D 1985. Quantum theory, the Clark-Turing Principle and the universal quantum computer. Proceedings of the Royal society of London A400. You can take a peak at my Bibliography from my research proposal here: Bibliography science religion.rtf.

Simply stated, in a quantum universe, is it feasible to think that we are the only true existence (and here I'm not talking about aliens!) that operates in a linear fashion filling all of reality? Is it not possible, even plausible, to consider that the EPR paradox operates on a vastly more complex and real manner, allowing for the existence of an infinite number of parallel Universes where each decision made by each person causes a split in reality that allows that set of events to run their course to their conclusion? It is a little like streams branching of the primary tributary of a river, with each split an infinite number of new possibilities come into being - the radical complexity of these splits may appear chaotic, but when one traces them recursively one is able to observe some sense of order.

Of course there are some astute theologians who have considered similar possibilities. Take for example Teilhard de Chardin (who wrote in the early part of the last century about such reailities, even before the EPR paradox was even considered in the mainstream scientific community).

Creation, incarnation, and redemption constitute the one movement, which Teilhard calls 'pleromization'. It is a movement towards the 'pleroma', the fullness of being, in which God and his completed world exist united together (Lyons commenting on Teilhard in Lyons 1982:156).

The notion of increasing complexity, of 'collapse' in order and a movement towards the radical complexity of Christ (what Teilhard calls the 'Christ omega'), is in keeping with Christian scripture and Christian tradition (see for example Col 1.16-20 (see esp. v.20), Eph 1.10 - which is, of course, the verse that inspired the 'Father of the Church' Tertullian to formulate his doctrine of recapitulation of creation in Christ and Christ in salvation (anakephalaiosis about which I'm sure Steve Hayes could tell us a whole lot).

Anyway, I had two thoughts about this whole thing of 'alternate' Universes. First, I was thinking, if this is true, which one of the multiple Dion's am I? And, in relation to this, I wonder if the other Dion's experience as much blessing and joy as I do? Of course, in relation to God, I was also thinking how incredibly wide and deep the love of God would need to be in order to incorporate not only the complexity and potential of this universe, but the complexity and potential of an infinite number of Universes! A great mystery of love indeed!

Well, here's something to think about - with just US $ 20 you can emulate a multitude of universes! Of course this is just an illustration of the concept (and not a creation of it). But, I thought it was quite interesting regardless! From boingboing.

Are you willing to take on the responsibility that comes with bringing trillions of universes into existence, each teeming with sentient life? That's something to ponder before plunking down $20 for this make-your-own-universe kit, created by artist Jonathon Keats.

If two events are possible, quantum theory assumes that both occur simultaneously - until an observer determines the outcome. For example, in Schrodinger's famous thought experiment, in which his cat may have been killed with a 50 per cent probability, the cat is both alive and dead until someone checks. When the observation is made, the universe splits into two, one for each possible outcome. For example, Schrodinger's cat would be alive in one universe and dead in the other universe.

According to the theory, any kind of measurement causes the universe to split and this is the basis of Keats' new device. His universe creator uses a piece of uranium-doped glass to create a steam of alpha particles, which are then detected using a thin sliver of scintillating crystal. Each detection causes the creation of a new universe.

The make-your-own-universe kit

Catholic Bishops - 'And the word became digital'

Ah fantastic! Some bishops of the Catholic Church have made a great move forward for the Christian faith! When I read this story I wondered how many of the Bishops of my denomination knew what an iPod was?

Let's get with the new technology!

ROME (Hollywood Reporter) - An assembly of Catholic bishops on Monday called for the use of mass communications -- including television, cinema, DVDs and even iPods -- to be used to spread the Bible in as many languages as possible.

The nod toward technology is not unusual: The Vatican had one of Europe's first Web sites, for example, and has always been quick to adopt new technologies. The bishops' conference said that the stakes are higher than ever, arguing that the written word was insufficient for the modern world.

"The voice of the Divine Word must resonate over the radio, on Internet channels with virtual distribution (and by) CDs, DVDs and iPods, and on television and cinema screens," an official statement said.

Nice one brothers (or should that be Fathers!)

Microsoft adverts are SOOOO bad, they're even crashing TVs!

I'm not sure if you've seen the strange, and absolutely silly, Microsoft adverts with Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld? They have nothing to do with any Microsoft product, in fact as far as I can recall they don't even mention Windows (in any form!), they speak about leather shoes, underpants, and of course hot dogs on a stick... Sound crazy!? Well, it is!

Surely this must be one of the clearest examples of just how badly Microsoft has lost the plot!

Here's the Microsoft advert:

And here's the GREAT Apple retort!

This Hilarious posting comes from 'The Onion' - I laughed so hard I almost bust a gut!

e

Users have reported a number of failures resulting from the defective commercials, ranging from inability to change channels to "couldn't finish Heroes."

The Microsoft ads, which began airing earlier this week, are being blamed for generating critical system errors in more than 70 million televisions. In addition, thousands of frustrated Americans said that the ads have caused their TVs to become unresponsive, their screens to turn blue, and a small box with the message "terminal application error" to suddenly appear.

"I was in the middle of watching Monday Night Football when, all of a sudden, that stupid ad comes on and my TV freezes up," said Scottsdale, AZ resident Michael Chaplin, adding that he never wanted to see the commercial in the first place. "The next thing I know, all these numbers and symbols show up and I get an error message saying 'invalid file format' or something. Now my TV is ruined."

Enlarge Image

The new ad campaign, which features footage of everyday Americans using PCs, was launched as an upgrade to the poorly performing Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates commercials, which suffered unspecified failures in two-thirds of U.S. households. Microsoft pulled the defective ads in mid-September, but the move came too late, as countless televisions had already been infected with viruses and spyware.

So far over a half million television users have complained about the new ads. Some, such as Louisville, KY native Andrew Ryland, said they were instructed by tech support to press and hold the power, mute, and number seven buttons on their remotes in an attempt to shut down their television sets.

When that failed, many television owners said they were left with no other option but to manually restart their devices.

"I tried to push the power button, but nothing happened," said Andover, CT resident David Lax, who claimed that his television has never had any compatibility issues with commercials in the past. "Luckily I called my buddy Todd, who's pretty good with televisions, and he told me that you just have to unplug it and plug it back in."

Although the commercials crashed nearly every available brand of plasma and LCD television, as well as afflicting older cathode-ray models, Microsoft spokesperson Sarah Machen insisted that the problem was not her company's fault, and that it likely resulted from low memory, a fragmented disk, or perhaps an outdated video card. A press release issued by the software giant also advised televisions users to avoid quickly switching back and forth between programs to prevent any future crashes.

"Our engineers have repeatedly tested this commercial to work out all the bugs, and we proudly stand behind this advertisement," Machen said. "We've heard numerous complaints about a virus, so we urge all users to remember that there are untrustworthy cable channels out there that they should never visit."

Chicago resident Rick Yoder, 33, said he brought the 36-inch Sony Trinitron he purchased in 1999 into a licensed Microsoft dealer and paid well over $1,000 to add a graphic accelerator card and new motherboard that his television lacked.

"I took my TV into the store and they added a bunch of cards and stuff so I can watch it again," Yoder said. "But the shows run really slow. Now it takes me an hour and a half to get through an episode of Scrubs. And sometimes this hourglass thing comes on the screen right at a good part and, by the time it finally goes away, the show is over."

In some cases, the frequent crashes have caused more than just temporary hassles, with some Americans losing months of important shows they had saved on their TiVos.

"I was watching Cold Case and it said 'show not found,'" Tim Honnermann of Oakland said. "But I was watching the show. How is that even possible?"

Recent frustrations with Microsoft have not been limited to its television ads, however. Earlier this week, a billboard promoting the company's latest Windows platform angered hundreds in Detroit when it fell onto three cars, instantly killing all passengers.

Friendfeed, twitter, facebook, blogspot, myspace, SMS, voicemail... and love!

The internet has made many things so much easier. Today I had three friends from school, whom I had not had any contact from in over 20 years, contact me via facebook! I keep up to date on the (almost) hourly activities of friends all over the world via twitter. Each night I can get a peek into the thoughts, joys, and struggles of some of my blogging friends by checking out their blog updates. When I need to reach someone and they're in a meeting I can leave a voicemail, and they'll phone back when they can. Then, of course, there is the ubiquitous text message to just send a quick note, a reminder, or tell your wife you love her!

I use all of these technologies (and more!) and still some people say that I am hard to get hold of! My word, what is it going to take? Will I actually have to meet some people in 'the real world' just to satisfy their need for relationship!? ha ha! Articifical intelligence, artificial relationships, artificial living.

The mystery of the brain - erasing specific memories.

I thought this was quite an interesting post - as researches come to discover more and more about the human mind we face the possibility of using such knowledge to help humanity in significant ways. Could you imagine being able to help a victim of abuse to find freedom from the nightmares and memories of the abusive event? Or, how about a crime victim being freed from the fear of recurring attacks?

Of course the converse questions also need consideration - is it not useful to have a healthy sense of concern about certain areas and situations, based upon one's memory of previous bad experience? I, for one, drive a lot more carefully since having my motorcycle accident! Whilst the accident was unpleasant it has at least left me with a much healthier respect for the dangers of riding my bike!

Anyway, here's the post:

As researchers learn more about how memory works, the possibility of targeted amnesia becomes more feasible. Scientists recently succeeded in wiping out a nasty memory from the mind of a genetically-engineered mouse. By altering the activity of a specific enzyme, they affected a mouse's ability to recall the experience of being shocked. The team from the Medical College of Georgia and the East China Normal University reported their findings in the science journal Neuron. From Science news:

Insight from such experiments may one day lead to therapies that can erase traumatic memories for people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, or wipe clean drug-associated cues that lead addicts to relapse.

“We should never think of memories as being fixed,” says Howard Eichenbaum, a neuroscientist at Boston University. “They are constantly being renovated and restructured.”

Eichenbaum is not convinced that Tsien and his colleagues have erased the mice’s memories. Altering a memory so that it can’t be recalled under certain circumstances might produce similar results, he says. “We never know for sure that it’s really gone,” he says.

But if chemicals can help someone specifically forget painful or traumatic memories, it may be irrelevant whether the memories are entirely erased or are just altered beyond recognition, Eichenbaum says.

"Selective memory"

'Gee gas!' [go for it!] Liam the great, today and the Rugby!

Thanks so much for all the prayers for little Liam! He is doing so much better. As you may recall, Liam was born very early (premature at just over 6 months of gestation). That has left him with a few little health challenges, one of which is his lungs. Megan and Liam were to fly to Argentina with me, but sasly he fell ill and so they could not come along. When I got back he was much better for about a week, but then his lungs started giving some trouble again - earlier this week the doctors wanted to admit him to hospital, but thankfully we were able to care for him at home with a few doses of antibiotics, some other meds, and 'the mask'! He's such a good little guy.

In this picture he is playing the piano while Megie 'gee hom gas' (an Afrikaans saying that can be roughly translated as 'go for it!') He's such a good little guy. He sits so still until it's done, then he runs off again to play with the dog!

Today I'm leading a leaders 'advance' (i.e., not a retreat!) We'll be looking at how this particular Church can become more fully inclusive (since they are already an inclusive Church, which my friends Steve Lottering and Phil Buckland Pastor), and also how they can work for the total transformation of their community by addressing systemic poverty and establishing Goid's Kingdom in all spheres of society.

Later on I shall watch the rugby. My team, Western Province, are not in the final. However, I have enough conviction to support any team that IS NOT the Bulls! So I'll be screaming for the Sharks!

Have a blessed weekend!
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What matters most, but that's a matter of time

The last three days at the Methodist Church of Southern Africa's conference on same relationships and the blessing of same sex civil unions has been most enlightening.

The reality is that we have discovered, what is in fact the only possible position of integrity that we can hold (in my opinion), that we have a variety of perspectives and positions on this matter. While there are two broad perspectives, those in favour of blessing such unions and accepting persons with a same sex orientation within all spheres of the Church, and those who do not - there were just as many subtle variations within these two broad perspectives as there were members (33 persons in attendance).

Some lamented the fact that we did not adopt one position over the other (i.e., an inclusive or an exclusive position). My own understanding is that I am grateful that we have not done so! If my position was taken at the exclusion of other positions we may well have found that the Church would split, since any difinitive position would include some and exclude others.

Here's what I've discovered:

1. That the persons who hold the various positions generally do so not with malice, but with deep conviction, faith and sincerity.
2. That one cannot even hold with certainty that there are two clear positions on this matter. The truth is that there are many positions, each one held with the same sincerity, love, and faith. So, to adopt one position would ALWAYS be a compromise for the majority of persons.
3. The third thing that I have realised is that even the firmest held positions tend to change through encounter and relationship. One of the ministers at the gathering shared the testimony of his gay daughter, this has clearly softened the hearts of many here. This is the thing that has struck me most! Here's a picture of me with my son. I love him desperately, as I love my daughter. As a father, and a Christian, I know that God would honour my love for my son, and that God would want me not only to be a good father to him, but also to do everything in my power to find a place for him within the community of the Church! Let's just say that my son ever came to me and said that his sexual preference is different from mine, i.e., he came to realise that he has a same sex orientation. Yet, the Church that I serve cannot offer him either blessing of space. That would present me with a HUGE problem! I should have to seriously consider whether I could belong to a Church that does not accept and love my Christian son, simply because of a sexual preference.

Do you see what I am getting at?

So here's the final thing I would like to add at this point.

4. The only possible position that the Church can hold with integrity is a position that recognises the truth that we have varying AND evolving positions on this matter - as such the only true position is not one on human sexuality, but rather one that makes a clear statement on the nature of the Christian Church. If the Church is loving, if it is the Church of Christ who loves and created the whole universe, then this Church needs to be careful to create space for everyone who Jesus loves! So, the only responsible way forward is a statement on the mininstry and mission of the Church. The Church is the Church of Jesus who loves all people and that we shall bear the pain and struggle of living together in love with those with whom we may not agree. Furthermore, my prayer is that we shall allow the grace of Jesus to so penetrate our hearts that we will not only feel love towards all persons, but that we shall find practical ways of allowing that love to find expression in diverse and varied manners within the Church.

Currently there is not an equal balance of power between those who reject persons of a same sex orientation and those who accept and affirm them - for this balance to become a reality the Church will need to make some space (carefully regulated, and carefully scrutinized and managed) where some clergy and Churches can be allowed to bless persons of a same sex orientation who love Jesus completely and have same sex relationships that meet the standards of Christian sexual ethics.

This may seem controversial, but I hold this position because of the Lord that I know, the Church that I love, and the knowledge that I have of the Lord who loves both the world and the Church in all of its forms!

As for the meetings, Gus and I shall need to edit the audio recordings and make them available. The meetings have prepared a statement that will be made public once it has been sent to the Presiding Bishop. It is not the same as my statement above, but I can also say with certainty that the statement does not openly favour either an inclusive or an exclusive point of view.

Let me know what your thoughts are!

All for the sake of Christ and His Kingdom!
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The Concord outside of my Hotel Window!

I was looking through the photos on my phone in the meetings today and found this picture I took from the Jury's Inn hotel near Heathrow terminal 4 about a month ago. Just outside my windows was a Concord commercial jet plane! I could hardly believe it!

I spoke to some of the staff at the Hotel who indicated that it was being decomissioned to be put on display somewhere. The jet is quite small. I was surprised!
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