Global Warming Projections Overestimated, Says Black Carbon Study

A detailed analysis of black carbon, the residue of burned organic matter, in computer climate models suggests they may be overestimating global warming predictions. A new Cornell study in Nature Geosciences quantified the amount of black carbon in Australian soils and found that there was far more than expected, said Johannes Lehmann, the paper's lead author and a Cornell professor of biogeochemistry. The survey was the largest of black carbon ever published.

As a result of global warming, soils are expected to release more carbon dioxide, the major greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere, which, in turn, creates more warming. Climate models try to incorporate these increases of carbon dioxide from soils as the planet warms, but results vary greatly when realistic estimates of black carbon in soils are included in the predictions, the study found.

Soils include many forms of carbon, including organic carbon from leaf litter and vegetation and black carbon from the burning of organic matter. It takes a few years for organic carbon to decompose, as microbes eat it and convert it to carbon dioxide. But black carbon can take 1,000-2,000 years, on average, to convert to carbon dioxide.

By entering realistic estimates of stocks of black carbon in soil from two Australian savannas into a computer model that calculates carbon dioxide release from soil, the researchers found that carbon dioxide emissions from soils were reduced by about 20 percent over 100 years, as compared with simulations that did not take black carbon's long shelf life into account.

The findings are significant because soils are by far the world's largest source of carbon dioxide, producing 10 times more carbon dioxide each year than all the carbon dioxide emissions from human activities combined. Small changes in how carbon emissions from soils are estimated, therefore, can have a large impact.

"We know from measurements that climate change today is worse than people have predicted," said Lehmann. "But this particular aspect, black carbon's stability in soil, if incorporated in climate models, would actually decrease climate predictions."

The study quantified the amount of black carbon in 452 Australian soils across two savannas. Black carbon content varied widely, between zero and more than 80 percent, in soils across Australia.

"It's a mistake to look at soil as one blob of carbon," said Lehmann. "Rather, it has different chemical components with different characteristics. In this way, soil will interact differently to warming based on what's in it."
Article was found here.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Global warming is a myth, and a lot of arrogant fools bought into it.
Compared to the size of the earth, human population is like invisible microbes and their footprint is erased by elements immediately after it's left. The earth is a living breathing planet, and no matter how much 'harm' people can do to environment, it will always win. When it comes to human vs nature, the nature always wins. We are not gods but dust, we come from dust and to dust we return. It's shocking how arrogant people are these days, they think they can change the orbit of the planet, but are helpless in the face of tsunamis, tornadoes and earthquakes. People who reject God always turn into dumb animals.

Windows 7 Ultimate Cracked

Windows 7 Ultimate Cracked and Activated Permanently with OEM SLP Master Product Key (with SLIC 2.1)
Posted July 29th, 2009 by Mary Jane

* Windows 7

Windows 7 Ultimate has been cracked, and can be permanently activated with OEM style instant offline activation which will pass Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) validation, before even any Windows 7 is officially released according to Windows 7 release schedule.

All hell breaks loose when a Windows 7 Ultimate OEM DVD ISO from Lenovo been leaked and posted on Chinese forum. The ISO was quickly grabbed to retrieve boot.wim, which was then used to retrieve the OEM-SLP product key and OEM certificate for Windows 7 Ultimate.

Microsoft has updated the the SLP (System-Locked Preinstallation), a procedure that used to preactivate Windows operating system for mass distribution by major OEM (original equipment manufacturers), to version 2.1 to support Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 while provided backward-compatibility for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 activation. Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 OEM activation is provided by SLP 2.0. SLP 2.1 requires SLIC imprinted in BIOS to be updated to SLIC version 2.1 too, which contains new Windows Marker.

After extracting the OEM certificate and OEM product key, it’s confirmed that Windows 7 uses the same digitally signed OEM certificate (in .xrm-ms extension) that is been used in Windows Vista. Windows Vista OEM cert can be used in Windows 7 has been explained in Windows 7 forum. As OEM certificate is digitally signed by Microsoft with its own Private Key with OEM Public Key and OEMID (part of SLIC table in BIOS). The combination of correct Private Key, Public Key with OEMID will pass SLP validation as valid Microsoft license. Meanwhile, Windows Marker is signed by OEM itself based on OEMID and OEMTableID (both belongs to SLIC) using the private key that matches the public key. Thus, the same OEM cert can be used for many different SLICs, as long as OEMID remains the same, as in the case of SLP 2.0 and SLP 2.1, although Windows Marker has changed due to different OEMTableID.

The trick is to have BIOS modded to include the SLIC 2.1. The SLIC 2.1 can be modded into BIOS physically (hardmod or biosmod) or been emulated or simulated during Windows boots up (softmod). Various SLIC 2.1 BIN has been retrieved from various notebook computer that shipped with new SLIC 2.1 in BIOS to support the free Windows 7 Upgrade Option from Windows Vista. The information can be used to mod the BIOS. If you’re not technically know-how, it’s possible to request for BIOS mod assistant, or wait for Windows 7 Loader or WoW7.

Last but not least (which makes no activation crack works properly so far) is OEM-SLP product key for Windows 7. So far no OEM-SLP product key required to activate Windows 7 as OEM offline instant activation been leaked yet as no machine has been officially ship in Windows 7 by OEM, until now.

The extracted Windows 7 Ultimate OEM-SLP product key, 22TKD-F8XX6-YG69F-9M66D-PMJBM, can be used to activate installed Windows 7 Ultimate system, which BIOS has a valid OEM SLIC 2.1, and corresponding OEM cert, even if it’s OEM cert meant for Windows Vista. Best news is that, the product key appears to be a master OEM-SLP product key for Windows 7 Ultimate, which able to activate many OEM brands, such as HP, Dell, MSI and Lenovo. Checkout the discussion at Windows 7 forums.

Tip: It doesn’t matter if you have download and install Windows 7 RTM retail version ISO or Windows 7 RTM OEM version ISO. Just use the following commands to convert to OEM version:

slmgr.vbs -ilc OEM.XRM-MS (where OEM.XRM-MS is a valid OEM cert matching with SLIC 2.1 in BIOS)
slmgr -ipk 22TKD-F8XX6-YG69F-9M66D-PMJBM

Both 32-bit and 64-bit (x86 and x64) Windows 7 Ultimate system should and can be activated immediately. For Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Home Basic, and Windows 7 Starter, the OEM-SLP keys haven’t been leaked, thus can’t be OEM-activated yet. It’s expected that various Windows 7 activators, Windows 7 activation toolkits, Windows 7 Loaders and etc are expected to be released by various hackers soon.

GOD has abandoned America

"The wicked shall be turned into hell, all the nations that forget God." (Psalm 9:17)

The keys to victorious Christian living

The reason why many Christians live in sin and cannot overcome various addictions, is because, deep down inside in their inner being, they have never believed that God loves them unconditionally and eternally.

They think that they have to be worth of the love of God, and because none of us is really worthy, they conclude that God loves them only when they are good. In John 15:09 we read Jesus saying: “I have loved you, [just] as the Father has loved Me”

You can never fathom the depth of the love of God for Jesus, or of the greatness of the love which Jesus has for you, and when you begin to understand the greatness off unconditional love which Jesus has for you with no performance strings attached, you begin to live a victorious life of a Christian. Think of these things continually until they become a strong conviction in your heart.

The only thing a Christian is required to do is to believe, and the rest is God working through you, as your faith grows, so will the power of God in your life in proportion to your faith

PLIGHT OF BEES

A new study by the National Academy of Sciences suggests that scientists still do not know the exact cause of the disorder that has resulted in the mysterious disappearance of billions of honeybees. However there is some evidence that the bees may have been infected with multiple viruses that combined to create "the perfect storm."

This troubling phenomenon is the subject of a new documentary titled "The Last Beekeeper." The film follows commercial beekeepers from Montana, Washington, and South Carolina in an effort to shed light on the vital importance of honeybees and the struggles they face.

In recent years scientists have observed a pattern of abnormal behavior in colonies of honeybees across the nation - a puzzling phenomenon that could have far-reaching consequences. Thousands of colonies are dying off, and the cause remains a mystery. The problem began in 2006 and peaked last year. It is estimated that this phenomenon has resulted in the deaths of as much as 46 percent of the honeybee population throughout the United States.

Colony Collapse Disorder

For lack of a better name, scientists have dubbed this phenomenon "colony collapse disorder." Colony collapse disorder or CCD is the rapid and unexpected loss of adult worker bees from the colony over a very short period of time. Bees are flying off in search of pollen and nectar and simply never returning to their colonies. And nobody knows why. Researchers say the bees are presumably dying in the fields, perhaps becoming exhausted or simply disoriented and eventually falling victim to the cold.

According to a report by the National Research Council, "In CCD, the bee colony proceeds rapidly from a strong colony with many individuals to a colony with few or no surviving bees. Queens are found in collapsing colonies with a few young adult bees, lots of brood, and more than adequate food resources. No dead adult bees are found in the colony or outside in proximity to the colony. A unique aspect of CCD is that there is a significant delay in robbing of the dead colony by bees from other colonies or invasion by pest insects; this suggests the presence of a deterrent chemical or toxin in the hive."

Experts say that large-scale bee die-offs have happened before. However never before has the cause of death been so elusive. Scientists have so-far been unable to identify what is causing the deaths. The most likely possibilities are a parasite, an unknown virus, some kind of bacteria, pesticides, or some combination of these factors. A few have even suggested that the problem could be the result of fluctuations in the earth's magnetic field. Scientists believe the magnetic field is what enables migrating birds and other animals and insects - such as bees - to navigate. The problem has prompted congressional hearings and has left scientists around the world scrambling to find answers.

Why Are Bees So Important?

The reason experts are so concerned is that honeybees make more than just honey. Honeybee hives are rented out to growers to pollinate their crops, and many commercial beekeepers move around the country as the growing seasons change. Each year, an estimated more than 2 million bee colonies are rented out to farmers. What most people don't realize is that there are more than 90 crops that rely on honeybees for pollination. Among them are: apples, oranges, avocados, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, citrus fruit, melons, peaches, pears, artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, celery, cucumbers, soybeans, almonds and various other nuts, as well as a wide variety of other crops. In fact, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, about one-third of our food supply comes from insect-pollinated plants, and the honeybee is responsible for 80 percent of that pollination. Even cattle, which feed on alfalfa, depend on bees.

Kevin Hackett, head of the USDA's bee and pollination program, described colony collapse disorder as "the biggest general threat to our food supply." He also said that if the collapse worsens, we could end up being "stuck with grains and water."

In the US, honeybees are used to pollinate 15 billion dollars worth of fruits, vegetables, nuts and other crops annually. Zac Browning, vice president of the American Beekeeping Federation, described the importance of the bee population by saying "Every third bite we consume in our diet is dependent on a honeybee to pollinate that food." Thus the continued loss of billions of honeybees could have a substantial impact on our food supply and our economy

Documentary looks at plight of the honeybee
New Clues in the Mass Death of Bees
Life Without Bumblebees?
New Documentary Sheds Light on Plight of Bees

BBC Weard Nature - Animals Feeding

Eight Ways to Spot Emotional Manipulation

Emotional Manipulation is Also "Covert Aggression." See: "Psychopaths: Wolves in Sheep's Clothing"

1) There is no use in trying to be honest with an emotional manipulator. You make a statement and it will be turned around. Example: I am really angry that you forgot my birthday. Response - "It makes me feel sad that you would think I would forget your birthday, I should have told you of the great personal stress I am facing at the moment - but you see I didn’t want to trouble you. You are right I should have put all this pain (don’t be surprised to see real tears at this point) aside and focused on your birthday. Sorry." Even as you are hearing the words you get the creeped out sensation that they really do NOT mean they are sorry at all - but since they’ve said the words you’re pretty much left with nothing more to say. Either that or you suddenly find yourself babysitting their angst!! Under all circumstances if you feel this angle is being played - don’t capitulate! Do not care take - do not accept an apology that feels like bullshit. If it feels like bullshit - it probably is. Rule number one - if dealing with an emotional blackmailer TRUST your gut. TRUST your senses. Once an emotional manipulator finds a successful maneuver - it’s added to their hit list and you’ll be fed a steady diet of this shit.

2) An emotional manipulator is the picture of a willing helper. If you ask them to do something they will almost always agree - that is IF they didn’t volunteer to do it first. Then when you say, "ok thanks" - they make a bunch of heavy sighs, or other non verbal signs that let you know they don’t really want to do whatever said thing happens to be. When you tell them it doesn’t seem like they want to do whatever - they will turn it around and try to make it seem like OF COURSE they wanted to and how unreasonable you are. This is a form of crazy making - which is something emotional manipulators are very good at. Rule number two - If an emotional manipulator said YES - make them accountable for it. Do NOT buy into the sighs and subtleties - if they don’t want to do it - make them tell you it up front - or just put on the walk-man headphones and run a bath and leave them to their theater.

3) Crazy making - saying one thing and later assuring you they did not say it. If you find yourself in a relationship where you figure you should start keeping a log of what’s been said because you are beginning to question your own sanity --You are experiencing emotional manipulation. An emotional manipulator is an expert in turning things around, rationalizing, justifying and explaining things away. They can lie so smoothly that you can sit looking at black and they’ll call it white - and argue so persuasively that you begin to doubt your very senses. Over a period of time this is so insidious and eroding it can literally alter your sense of reality. WARNING: Emotional Manipulation is VERY Dangerous! It is very disconcerting for an emotional manipulator if you begin carrying a pad of paper and a pen and making notations during conversations. Feel free to let them know you just are feeling so "forgetful" these days that you want to record their words for posterity’s sake. The damndest thing about this is that having to do such a thing is a clear example for why you should be seriously thinking about removing yourself from range in the first place. If you’re toting a notebook to safeguard yourself - that ol’ bullshit meter should be flashing steady by now!

4) Guilt. Emotional manipulators are excellent guilt mongers. They can make you feel guilty for speaking up or not speaking up, for being emotional or not being emotional enough, for giving and caring, or for not giving and caring enough. Any thing is fair game and open to guilt with an emotional manipulator. Emotional manipulators seldom express their needs or desires openly - they get what they want through emotional manipulation. Guilt is not the only form of this but it is a potent one. Most of us are pretty conditioned to do whatever is necessary to reduce our feelings of guilt. Another powerful emotion that is used is sympathy. An emotional manipulator is a great victim. They inspire a profound sense of needing to support, care for and nurture. Emotional Manipulators seldom fight their own fights or do their own dirty work. The crazy thing is that when you do it for them (which they will never ask directly for), they may just turn around and say they certainly didn’t want or expect you to do anything! Try to make a point of not fighting other people’s battles, or doing their dirty work for them. A great line is "I have every confidence in your ability to work this out on your own" - check out the response and note the bullshit meter once again.

5) Emotional manipulators fight dirty. They don’t deal with things directly. They will talk around behind your back and eventually put others in the position of telling you what they would not say themselves. They are passive aggressive, meaning they find subtle ways of letting you know they are not happy little campers. They’ll tell you what they think you want to hear and then do a bunch of jerk off shit to undermine it. Example: "Of course I want you to go back to school honey and you know I’ll support you." Then exam night you are sitting at the table and poker buddies show up, the kids are crying the t.v. blasting and the dog needs walking - all the while "Sweetie" is sitting on their ass looking at you blankly. Dare you call them on such behavior you are likely to hear, "well you can’t expect life to just stop because you have an exam can you honey?" Cry, scream or choke ‘em - only the last will have any long-term benefits and it’ll probably wind your butt in jail.

6) If you have a headache an emotional manipulator will have a brain tumor! No matter what your situation is the emotional manipulator has probably been there or is there now - but only ten times worse. It’s hard after a period of time to feel emotionally connected to an emotional manipulator because they have a way of de-railing conversations and putting the spotlight back on themselves. If you call them on this behavior they will likely become deeply wounded or very petulant and call you selfish - or claim that it is you who are always in the spotlight. The thing is that even tho you know this is not the case you are left with the impossible task of proving it. Don’t bother - TRUST your gut and walk away!

7) Emotional manipulators somehow have the ability to impact the emotional climate of those around them. When an emotional manipulator is sad or angry the very room thrums with it - it brings a deep instinctual response to find someway to equalize the emotional climate and the quickest route is by making the emotional manipulator feel better - fixing whatever is broken for them. Stick with this type of loser for too long and you will be so enmeshed and co-dependent you will forget you even have needs - let alone that you have just as much right to have your needs met.

8) Emotional manipulators have no sense of accountability. They take no responsibility for themselves or their behavior - it is always about what everyone else has "done to them". One of the easiest ways to spot an emotional manipulator is that they often attempt to establish intimacy through the early sharing of deeply personal information that is generally of the "hook-you-in-and-make-you-sorry-for-me" variety. Initially you may perceive this type of person as very sensitive, emotionally open and maybe a little vulnerable. Believe me when I say that an emotional manipulator is about as vulnerable as a rabid pit bull, and there will always be a problem or a crisis to overcome.

Wise quotes by various people

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.

A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it.

Try to become not a man of success, but try rather to become a man of value.

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.

Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous.

The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.

Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm.

A leader leads by example not by force.

I'm not an atheist and I don't think I can call myself a pantheist. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many different languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books but doesn't know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God.

He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.

Computers are incredibly fast, accurate and stupid. Human beings are incredibly slow, inaccurate and brilliant. Together they are powerful beyond imagination.

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.

An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.

To believe in something, and not live it, is dishonest.

Don't count the days, make the days count.

The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it.

To improve is to change. To be perfect is to change often.

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.

I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.

Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.

I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.

A person starts to live when he can live outside himself.

To study and not think is a waste. To think and not study is dangerous.

The price of greatness is responsibility.

Real interesting geneology question and answer

2, 4, 8, 16 ... how can you always have MORE ancestors as you go back in time?

Have you ever considered the puzzle of doubling ancestors? Everybody has two parents, four grandparents, eight great grandparents, and so on back through time, with the number of ancestors doubling in each generation. Go back 30 generations and the number of ancestors tops one billion. Eventually we arrive at a time when we have more ancestors than there could have been people in the world. How can this be? Common sense, not to mention the book of Genesis, suggests the human race started off with a handful of individuals whose numbers steadily increased. What are the implications of these two surging numerical tides, ancestors and descendants, butting head to head? Enclosed is a $10 check for the trouble of a personal reply.

— George M., Monrovia, California

Dear George:

You ask a question as cosmic as this one and you think a lousy sawbuck is going to cover it? Keep your money until you can fork over some real cash. The ancestor puzzle has its explanation in what one genealogist has called "pedigree collapse." This occurs when relatives, usually cousins, marry, in effect narrowing the family tree. (Fortunately for the gene pool, most of the cousins are only distantly related.) When this happens you find that many of the "slots" in a given generation of your family tree are filled by duplicates.

Consider an extreme case. Mr. and Mrs. Nosepicker have two children, a girl and a boy. These two develop an unnatural yen for one another and marry. Six months later the girl gives birth to an eight-pound horseradish with a lisp. In theory, the horseradish has four grandparents. In reality, its maternal and paternal grandparents are identical. Two of the four grandparent slots are thus filled by duplicates--pedigree collapse with a vengeance. Only slightly less extreme is the case of Alfonso XIII of Spain (1886-1941). Because of inbreeding in the royal family, he had only ten great-great-grandparents instead of the expected 16.

If you go back far enough, however, pedigree collapse happens to everybody. Think of your personal family tree as a diamond-shaped array imposed on the ever-spreading fan of human generations. (I told you this was cosmic.) As you trace your pedigree back, the number of ancestors in each generation increases steadily up to a point, then slows, stops, and finally collapses. Go back far enough and no doubt you would find that you and all your ancestors were descended from the first human tribe in some remote Mesopotamian village. Or, if you like, from Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

These simple facts have given rise to some remarkable displays of statistical pyrotechnics. Demographer Kenneth Wachtel estimates that the typical English child born in 1947 would have had around 60,000 theoretical ancestors at the time of the discovery of America. Of this number, 95 percent would have been different individuals and 5 percent duplicates. (Sounds like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but you know what I mean.) Twenty generations back the kid would have 600,000 ancestors, one-third of which would be duplicates. At the time of the Black Death, he'd have had 3.5 million--30 percent real, 70 percent duplicates. The maximum number of "real" ancestors occurs around 1200 AD--2 million, some 80 percent of the population of England.

Pedigree collapse explains why it's so easy for professional genealogists to trace your lineage back to royalty--go far enough back and you're related to everybody. For that matter, you're probably related to everybody alive today. Some geneticists believe that everybody on earth is at least 50th cousin to everybody else. For a fuller discussion of the above, see The Mountain of Names, by Alex Shoumatoff (1985).

— Cecil Adams

Mind-Control Microbe

Five years ago, Oxford University zoologists showed that the parasite Toxoplasma gondii alters the brain chemistry of rats so that they are more likely to seek out cats. Infection thus makes a rat more likely to be killed and the parasite more likely to end up in a cat—the only host in which it can complete the reproductive step of its life cycle. The parasite also lives in the brain cells of thousands of species, including about 60 million supposedly symptom-free Americans. Studies over the past few years have suggested that toxoplasmosis infections in humans, too, may cause behavioral changes—from subtle shifts to outright schizophrenia. Two studies this year add even weirder twists.


Toxoplasma gondii, revealed here in
a colorized electron micrograph, may
exert a spooky influence on the
people it infects.

U.S. Geological Survey biologist Kevin Lafferty has linked high rates of toxoplasmosis infection in 39 countries with elevated incidences of neuroticism, suggesting the mind-altering organism may be affecting the cultures of nations.

And They Crucified Him

I think we, every one of us, ought to be humiliated or humbled every time we pick up the book of Acts and read the glory that attended the life of that first church. By contrast the most successful kind of Christianity that we know, the most charismatic, the most to be lauded and applauded is utterly anemic and does not bear comparison.
How is it that these rude men, fishermen and louts who had no advantage of the kind that we have enjoyed, were able to turn cities upside down and shake the earth? Why is it we have not had a corresponding affect in our own generation? The answer, in my opinion is, that in missing the cross we have missed the power of the resurrection, we have sidestepped the cross as a subject let alone as experience because we have no tolerance or sympathy for suffering. The denial of self in any form is suffering. And we have not been encouraged to that.
We have overindulged and spoiled our youth, compromised truth in our marriages, suffered causalities and losses among our ministers, and given ground to the spirit of independence and rebellion in the churches. All because we cannot stand pain. We parents who indulge our kids rather than chasten them, are we being loving or self-indulgent? We pastors who condescend to placate men, rather than speak the truth to them in love, why are we so sparing? We saints who see the defects and things that need to be corrected in each other, why are we silent? Where are the Pauls in our generation who will confront the Peters, who have compromised the Gospel by being one thing with one group and another thing with another? Paul said he would not entertain that situation to go on beyond the moment for the purity of the Gospel’s sake.
I call that love. But you know that kind of love as an act is painful and it’s humiliating. It’s easy to be misunderstood. For which reason we prefer to keep quiet. For which reason the world is running amuck with us and for which reason we move into increasing carnality, not being corrected by one another.
The avoidance of pain is a costly avoidance. And the symbol of the cross at the heart of the faith is an invitation to share in His sufferings. In a word our Christianity is degenerating into a middle class culture. A sanctifying cover-up for the status quo. A vacuous praise club, an equating of gain as Godliness, a comfortable religiosity that leaves our real interests unchallenged and undisturbed in the avoidance of the cross of Christ Jesus. Somehow am I naïve to think we ought to look different, speak differently, act differently – that there ought to be such a savor and fragrance about us of Christ that it is a savor of death unto death to self and life unto life to others. The fact the world can so easily tolerate us, the fact of the almost complete absence of reproach, let alone of persecution, is itself a shameful testimony that we are so like the world that we cannot be distinguished from it.
We have lost even the difference, the sense of the difference, between that which is sacred and that which is profane. I believe that God could lay at the door of the church the full responsibility for the present condition of the world. And the things over which we cluck our tongues and point our fingers and look distain down our noses about are the things which can be attributed to us for we have not established in the earth a standard and an alternative to which a dying world might have turned. They simply did not know that there is such a thing as that which is holy and that which is sacred. For we ourselves are wallowing in the things that are earthly, common, unclean, and profane. The only alternative to that which is earthly, carnal, sensual and devilish is that which is heavenly. And there is no way to attain to that which is heavenly independent of the cross of Christ Jesus.
If the prophet Isaiah seeing the Lord high and lifted up cried out “Woe is me, I am undone! I am a man of unclean lips and I live in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” What then shall we say who are not prophets and oracles of God. We need to have our vision and our sight corrected. We need to address our lives to the plumb line of God. The standard of God to the cross of Christ Jesus. Not academically, religiously, or superficially – but in the actual experience of our lives as those who have come wiling to abandon everything.
Paul said “I am determined to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified.” We desperately and urgently need to know Him – exactly as He is.
http://braveheartedgospel.com/Transcripts/Entries/2009/9/3_And_They_Crucified_Him_-_Art_Katz_(transcript).html

Find Out If Your Computer Is Secretly Connecting to the Web

If you are trying to track down why your computer is running so slooowwwly, try using this simple DOS command from Digital Inspiration to uncover a possible problem:

* Type cmd in your Windows Run box.
* Type "netstat -b 5 > activity.txt" and press enter.
* After say 2 minutes, press Ctrl+C.
* Type "activity.txt" on the command line to open the log file in notepad (or your default text editor)

This .txt file will have a record of everything that has made an Internet connection in the last couple of minutes; you can then check your task manager to find out where it is and take care of it.