Biblical hermeneutics

The hermeneutic I like to follow is this:

1. Let Scripture exegete Scripture where possible.
2. Follow the principle of contextual realism. You accept what the text is saying as real (as opposed to allegorical, symbolic, metaphorical) unless the context or genre clearly either indicates you should not.
3. Believe that God's expressed purpose and Will is evident in one consistent and connected thread from OT to NT.
4. Note the particular grammatical-historical-cultural dimension of the text.
5. Take into account Church tradition and preponderence of teaching.
6. Engage in a systematic theology whereby each issue is analyzed across all of Scripture in a rigorous way.

"Fall"

chilly winds envelope me
i walk slowly
through the park

trees paint the sky
orange, red, yellow and green
stark vivid hues

my steps are measured
i think of harvest
nature's bounty revealed

wafting through the air
i smell burnt leaves
an intoxicating fragrance

childhood memories stream past
jumping on piles of leaves
moist and crunchy

 - Zachary Uram (c) 2012

My Belly II

I smack my belly
I don't why why

I love to smack it
I can't tell a lie

I smack it all over
It resonates with glee

Oh what joy I get
From smacking my belly

I will smack it in the day
I will smack it at night

I will never stop smacking it
What a delight

So rotund and peaceful
Is my fatty belly

It loves to make music
So sweetly

I'll never stop smacking
My belly so fair

For all the ages
I will smack it with flair

Smack one
Smack two

Smack three
And Smack four

Smack it all over
Smack for ever more

- Zachary Uram (c) 2012

Blog publicity and Olympics coverage redux

Thanks to a recent story in The Independent online my blog got a bunch of pageviews. Woot! Check out the stats:

By the way, I agree with journalist Guy Adams. NBC's coverage of the Olympics has been amateurish, inept and downright irritating. He didn't deserve to have his Twitter account suspended. Instead of broadcasting events live, which would occur in the afternoon here, they make us wait until 8pm EST to watch tape delayed broadcasts. This is after the results have already been known for hours and disseminated all over various media outlets! Further NBC is making dumb mistakes. Last night they announced the winner of the women's 100m freestyle race before the race was aired thanks to a promo spot for the Today Show. This is embarrassing. And one would get the impression from watching NBC's coverage that the only events which exist are track and field, gymnastics and swimming; and the only countries competing are China, Britain and America!

"untitled"

among the clouds
floating on daydreams
my senses soar

bathed in sunlight
the air crackles
an ionized breeze

below the ocean
teeming with life
an aquablue paradise

a warm glow
envelops my body
peaceful and soothing

afar are mountains
spiraling frosty peaks
soaring towards Heaven

what splendid majesty
God's wondrous Creation
embrace it now

 - Zachary Uram (c) 2012

Shroud of Turin

Disgusted by the secular media and researchers. This find does not cast doubt on the Shroud of Turin! Is it so unfathomable that in a huge metropolis like Jerusalem with different garment makers you could have different weaving techniques and one versus multiple piece burial cloths? HOW ASANINE!!! The Shroud of Turin is amazing and true and is scientific proof of the resurrection of Christ! PRAISE GOD!

Haywire (2011)

This film was in sore need of a strong stylized narrative. I attribute this to the director, Soderbergh, who is known for being heavy handed and muddy in his story telling. The storytelling was laborious and at times disjointed. Just shows you can have 4 well known and very competent actors, Douglas, Banderas, McGregor and Fassbender, who if not given a good script and proper direction will not produce a film worthy of their stature. The focus on Mallory's fighting skills (Carano is an ex MMA fighter) is one of this film's downfalls. Instead of having her take out someone with a sniper rifle and suppressor she *has* to engage in minutes of hand to hand combat and literally beat them into submission or abeyance. I do give Carano credit for taking on such a prominent acting role (she clearly needs to still grow as an actor), but since she didn't have the acting chops equal to her co-stars she should have been molded into a more minimalistic character focused tightly on her skill as a badass assassin/super agent. There's been a lot of talk comparing this film to the Bourne franchise. What Bourne had and this movie lacks is a fast paced intricate yet clearly articulated plot where all of the story arcs and even sub plots are integrated and contribute to a single intelligent narrative.

Osteen is a false prophet

I just read in an article that megachurch pastor Joel Osteen is now endorsing Mormonism! Osteen is greatly deceived! He is a wolf in sheep's clothing. His Christianity Lite "everything is positive" gospel is sending millions of deluded followers to Hell! Mormonism is absolutely NOT part of the Christian faith. They deny the deity of Christ and teach that Satan and Jesus were brothers! YOU CANNOT DENY CHRIST'S DEITY AND BE A CHRISTIAN! They do not have the Holy Spirit and are lost in spiritual darkness. REPENT AND TURN TO CHRIST! Osteen sickens me. He needs to actually read the Bible and he'll see that Christ promised us suffering and tribulations not materialistic comfort and worldly success. His father had bad theology too.

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." 
- 2 Tim. 4:3-4 

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them." - Matt. 7:15-20 

"Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved." - Matt. 24:11-13 

"For false Christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the Elect." - Matt. 24:24 & Mark 13:22 

"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world." - 1 John 4:1 

"But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the Second Death." - Rev. 21:8

La mort de la France?

Sarkozy had problems, but of the french leaders in modern times he alone had been brave enough to ban the Muslim veil (hijab) and he sees that radical, fundamentalist Islam (Islamism) is hell bent on dominating France, destroying the Judeo-Christian historic culture and replacing it with a tyrannical Muslim hegemony where an Islamic theocracy rules over all under strict Islamic law (sharia). In such a state all non-Muslims would be relegated to the status of second class citizens (this process is known as dhimmitude). I am in favor of the laïcité (secular government) in France and in America. It is a mechanism to safeguard our liberties, including our religious liberties.

The new leader Hollande is a liberal socialist. The liberal socialists have done more harm to modern Western civilization than any other force. They peel away traditional Judeo-Christian morality, set laws to liberalize the land: rampant divorce, disintegration of family life, rampant drug and alcohol use due to a permissive culture, a populace dumbed down by the education system and mass media. So this coupled with misguided immigration policy will eat away at the historic culture like a cancer virus. Once this process is complete society is destroyed and another belief system (such as Marxism, radical Islam, or secular humanism) takes preeminence. I weep for France! Please note: I have dear Muslim friends, I am not against Muslims or any faith group, but I am strongly against the fundamentalist strain of Islam which preaches the destruction and subjugation of the West. Many immigrants in America have different religions and histories and that makes America a richer place, but for this process to be successful there is an unwritten understanding that the new immigrants will try to become part of the greater American society (no not McDonald's - lol) and not actively work to destroy our historic institutions (whether they be religious, secular, cultural).

Here is a short film on how radical Islam is trying to destroy France:


Some Muslims were recently caught demonstrating in support of the Toulouse killer Mohammed Merah! Imagine that, to march in support of a mass murderer. This is totally Satanic!

I fear we will soon face in France another Battle of Tours to stop the radical Muslim advance into Europe, but who will be our Charles Martel? Where is the unity and leadership? What is worse about this new Muslim conquest is that Europe invited the Trojan Horse of radical Islam into her lands. What a foolish and dangerous capitulation! 95% of the current conflicts in the world relate in some way to radical Islam. We cannot ignore the data. Fundamentalist Islam is on the move and its sole aim is global domination and hegemony. The brutal attacks of the Jihadists are only one spear. Muslim immigration into Europe coupled with extremely high birth rates could spell the death of Christianity in Europe in just two or three generations! This is the fruit of liberal socialist policies, the historic Christian faith is subverted, the historic culture is replaced with new Islamic culture, the social milieu and language are replaced and you have a Europe broken and weak, unable to battle against the Islamic tidal wave overtaking it!

I pray that France turns back to God, puts their faith in Jesus and only then can a united France, strengthened by faith, take the country back. Let the serpent of liberalism perish!

Scientific Stupidity

Stupid virus researchers have released a paper in the journal NATURE, and another paper will soon appear in SCIENCE, showing step by step how to change two genes in the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus so that the resulting mutated strain has a 80% mortality rate among humans! These papers were based on actual research conducted in the Netherlands and the US where researchers mutated the H5N1 virus in their labs into a form communicable by air with direct contact! What fools! This show scientific curiosity needs to be tempered by sound moral principles and have limits on what may be done for the sake of seeing if it can be done. If this pandemic ever got out it could literally devastate all life on earth. It would make the 1918 flu pandemic that killed 50 million people look tame by comparison! Imagine if the mutated virus they created had gotten released outside the lab! Do these sorts of mutations using theoretical computer models you idiots!

Nota bene:
I am not against dissemination of ideas, but I am against publicly disclosing such dangerous information in a reckless manner. Al Qaeda can just pick up a copy of NATURE and have one of their researchers start work on a deadly virus. I would prefer the authors of such papers take more responsibility. It's not enough to hide behind "all knowledge should be open" and let come what may.

Diablo franchise ruined

Diablo 3 is a big disappointment. Blizzard decided to make it too much like World of Warcraft with big 3D characters, they have ornate environments, less features, and sadly less monsters. All they needed to do to make it awesome was to keep it like Diablo 2 except make the 2D graphics better, add more acts, more monsters and the integrated inventory, but no they got greedy and ruined the game. Not everyone has drunk the World of Warcraft Kool-Aid! Diablo 3 runs noticeably slower on my PC, they clearly dumbed the game down by having fewer monsters, fewer skills, and you can't change your skills mid-battle easily. Also you must have an active internet connection to even play in single player mode. How stupid can you get!? In my view the game experience has not been improved. This was all about the money. Blizzard knew that by making the game similar to WoW, and dumbing it down, they would make it more attractive to newbies and to hardcore WoW players who are looking for another game but with a similar feel. I think this has destroyed the franchise and I want no part of it!Totally disgusted :(

Cherry Blossoms

gentle and fragrant
they sing
perfuming Japan

delicate and cheerful
they blossom
spring returns

slowly and inexorably
they fall
samurai souls

honored and revered
they float
among clouds

- by Zachary Uram (c) 2012

God Bless America (2011) film review

In this film we see another false dichotomy:

Left = good, intelligent, free thinking, uber cool

Right = bad, dumb, closed minded, lame

This distillation is the sum total of the script. The writing is amateurish and so ridiculous and downright trite that I found myself laughing aloud at line after line.

Being a Leftist film, if this is the best of the so-called New Left there is nothing to fear, it couldn't resist taking a dig at Christianity (which has sadly become a popular trend for the unthinking tired comedians of our time) with the "imaginary friends" line.

This film fancies itself some deep indictment of the American psyche while it delivers nothing more than a caricature of an imagined America which is more revealing of the disturbances in the minds of the writers and liberalism in general. It could have been much more, but like much of popular discourse it cannot escape viewing the world in a binary state where either agrees with you and is worthy of blameless rightness, or disagrees and is thus a vulgar enemy to be mocked and ridiculed on every imaginable level.

This film is partisan in the worst possible way and does nothing to address the real problems we face or to posit solutions which would include meaningful dialogue, a return to the best of those traditional values the Left hate so intensely, more focus on education (we've become an unthinking nation in many ways), greater devotion to the spiritual man and less on the carnal.

By glorifying murder and showing it in such a callous and thoughtless way this film is just another nihilistic rant that rings hollow and nullifies any positive message the writers thought they were delivering. Violence without any redeeming aspect (eg. preserving another life, stopping a great evil) is the refuge of the weak minded and morally bankrupt.

New Gmail interface

At midnight (nearly 2 hours ago) I was FORCED by Google to using the crappy new user interface. I hate it! There is TONS of white space, it's very hard to quickly differentiate between the three leveled view panes, they've removed the labeled buttons and replaced them with ambiguous icons, and it is noticeably SLOWER! Also I see they have removed the option in setting which forced replies to be in plain text so when I reply now and the person I'm replying to used HTML now my reply defaults to HTML! THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE GOOGLE! And to make it worse there is no CLASSIC LOOK option available. Ugh if Yahoo makes it possible to easily import my Gmail I may switch! It's sad Gmail used to be the fastest, most intuitively easy to understand and concise web mailer out there. THANKS FOR RUINING A GREAT PRODUCT GOOGLE YOU MORONIC HIPSTERS who listen to clueless web stylists who put subjective style over objective substance.

My new Gmail report card:

Usability: F

Aesthetic: F-
Ease of Use: D-

Customization: E-

Intuitiveness: F-

What really irks me even more than this monstrosity from Google is the fact that they are SO ARROGANT they felt compelled to FORCE it on me and don't even give the option for the classic interface! Also in using other Google products I've noticed how upset and frustrated people are with the fact that Google doesn't provide a toll free number for feedback; they have no official support or complaint department you can email. Your best bet is to post on some random product specific group in Google Groups and pray someone at Google sees your post! This is totally unacceptable for a company that is as large and profitable as Google! They now reek of arrogance.

"My Belly"

my belly is swollen
and that's no lie
i smack my belly
i don't know why

i smack it in the day
i smack it at night
my supersized belly
is always a delight

so give me yummy foods
and delicious drinks
to consume at my leisure
recompensed with great pleasure

- Zachary Uram (c) 2012

Dysfunctional Housewives of New Jersey

I think that Caroline Manzo, Jacqueline Laurita and Teresa Giudice, from the reality show, "Real Housewives of New Jersey", are some of the most vapid and acrimonious people I've ever witnessed on TV. They have heaped so much vitriol and hatefulness towards Danielle.

Caroline clearly has control issues and it's hilarious and sad that she views herself as a paragon of virtue and goes to church (Catholic), yet sees nothing wrong with basically acting in a manner that is the total antithesis of what Jesus preached. Does she really think God is OK with her constantly calling someone "garbage" and obsessively demeaning and gossiping about them? She is also a huge hypocrite. She literally explodes at even the slightest perceived offense, yet treats others in a negative fashion that is magnitudes worse than the perceived wrong against her! Life is a binary game in her view, there must be a righteous winner and an evil loser in her personal moral calculus.

Theresa refers to Danielle constantly with nasty pejoratives, calling her "bitch", "coke whore", "whore", "pig" and other unsavory terms. Jacqueline constantly refers to Danielle as a "pig" and "psycho". Both of these women can invariably be seen wearing a crucifix necklace, yet they talk like street thugs. It's disgraceful.

Caroline obviously has a persecution complex and needs for the world to see her as the innocent victim all the while she engages in childish tirades and endless polemics against her perceived enemies. Several times she has said that, "Danielle will not win." She has no problem with acting like a belligerent foul mouthed bully. She is always the one wronged who is without reproach, all the while she viciously lambasts others. On the Season 1 finale Caroline had a staged breakdown crying and yelling at Danielle calling her once again "garbage" for some great evil that she claimed Danielle perpetrated against her family. As we later learned from Danielle's blog, what happened was that Caroline's ex brother in law had a custody dispute and one day knocked on Danielle's door and asked for Caroline's cell phone number. Danielle had no knowledge of the ongoing dispute between Caroline and him so she gave the number out. During the reunion show Caroline tried to spin it to make it sound as if Danielle knew what was going on and sought the man out herself as an attack on the Manzo family. I think Caroline is delusional and paranoid, anyone and anything whom she doesn't like or is at odds with her unyielding personal opinions are perceived as the enemy. Some of Caroline's comments are so absurd it's like something out of a Mickey Spillane novel. She loves being offended on behalf of her family, then Caroline has the opportunity to talk tough and be intimidating, boasting about how if you mess with her family she will go after you.

Theresa also seems obsessed with Danielle and says the most vile things about her. It was particularly offensive and outrageous when Theresa and Caroline were denigrating Danielle's children, saying they had dead eyes and were not socially well adjusted! Jacqueline turned on Danielle as well and now obsessively talks about her with Theresa, Caroline and Dina. They claim they want to forget about Danielle, yet are compelled to discuss here incessantly. These women are obsessed with Danielle, clinical obsession!

Jacqueline now calls Danielle scum and a pig every chance she gets, and all of the women call Danielle crazy and insinuate she has mental problems. It doesn't just end there either, Jacqueline's annoying and spoiled daughter Ashley, who routinely disrespects her parents and has a bad attitude, set up hate pages on Facebook attacking Danielle, further she actually physically assaulted Danielle and ripped out clumps of her hair. How immature! Ashley also is living in sin with her boyfriend so she needs to stop fornicating and worrying about Danielle.

Danielle was right about Theresa and her husband Joe having financial problems, in 2009 the filled for bankruptcy and were $11 million in debt, this is public record.

Theresa also verbally attacked Danielle in front of Danielle's children. They have a clear vendetta against her and it's really evil what they did. Caroline admitted to spreading unflattering information about Danielle's past all around town. Everyone make mistakes. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone, Jesus said. This show demonstrates that for all their money, material possessions and in spite of their chronological age these women who have conspired together to attack Danielle repeatedly are behaving like spoiled children. They clearly have mental disorders. Just shows what petty and mean spirited shrews they are.

Danielle left the show after season 2 so it was no surprise to see in Season 3 that Caroline had found a new enemy, Theresa, her former ally! I think Caroline gets some sort of passive aggressive satisfaction from conflict and feeds off of it. Isn't it convenient that this innocent and righteous Manzo family has a seemingly endless stream of enemies out to destroy them! What a joke.

Caroline, Theresa and Jacqueline's self-righteous pomposity, cruel gossiping and constant denigration of others show them to be very disturbed women who are absolutely not living for Christ. They would do well to heed these words from Scripture:

"Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." - Matt. 7:5

SOPA/PIPA defeated!

SOPA/PIPA has been defeated! But we must not rest on our laurels. The greedy, amoral media companies will not stop until the law itself stops them for good. Sadly there is no short supply of corrupt politicians in Congress who put their own selfish interests ahead of the rights of We the People!

If SOPA/PIPA has passed it would have meant the end of the open and free Internet a we know it. The media companies and any copyright holder would not have even needed any proof to shut down a site, to have a person charged and facing 5 years in prison. All they would have to do is file a complaint and claim a rights infringement and your website/blog could be shut down.

The dirty little secret is that the media companies themselves are behind many file sharing networks. Further these companies like Sony, Viacom, Time-Warner engage in illegal activity. They use malware, aggressive port scanning, denial of service attacks, viruses and packet inspection to gain access to users computers and see what files they have.

By treating consumers as hardened criminals these media companies have alienated several generations against them. Not the best business model. The RIAA, MPAA will be stopped, they will finally be forced, by the law and by the market dynamics, that they cannot conduct business like this and will find a profitable and fair business model for digital consumption.

"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance." - Thomas Jefferson

Here's a good article by Dr.  Michael Ham on how SOPA/PIPA could have been used to arbitrarily take down websites, stifle business competition and silence scientific debate.

Ipod Touch

Using the Blogger app!

formspring.me

Ask me questions about Movies http://www.formspring.me/netrek