A must read before you vote

In light of the $700 billion bailout, I recently picked up the book by Thomas Sowell entitled, Basic Economics. If you have never studied economics and want an easy to understand analysis of basic economic principles and laws, this is the book for you. After just 3 chapters of reading, I am more convinced than ever that the election of Barak Obama will represent a significant step in the movement of this country toward socialism. With his desire to "share the wealth", Obama embraces the same ideology espoused by Karl Marx and Fredrick Engels in the Communist Manifesto...read it!

Socialism has been tried numerous times and has been proven to be an ineffective means get scarce resources to the people who need them. Just look at socialized medicine in Canada for example. Are you ready to stand in line or even be denied for a routine medical procedure such as a mammogram? If people are given "free healthcare", more people will flood doctors' offices and demand will exceed supply. We all like something for nothing right?

The United States of America has always stood for the principle that financial security is derived through hardwork and effort. The people who make this country work are not the people who sit around and wait for the government to pay for their healthcare, their heating bills, or anything else. They are the people who get up every day and do whatever it takes to provide for themselves and for their families. This is the attitude that has made the US economy the greatest in the world.

Something to think about as you enter the polling place on November 4.

Parents...time to say no to the celebrity culture

If you are a parent who allows your children to become enchanted by the celebrity culture, you've been disappointed once again. While I am no fan of Hannah Montana or Miley Cyrus, one can't help but see in the news the controversy resulting from the recent image of Miley that has become public. What kind of a world do we live in when a 15 year old girl can be used in this way? The question really is...where are her parents?

The broader point that I want to make is that it's time for Christian parents to just say no to to the celebrity culture so that we may say YES to what's much more important. Parents, why don't we set godly role models before our kids? Why don't we teach them to read about the heroes of the faith instead of spending hours watching the banal happenings on cable television? We are so often like the lemmings who just follow one another right off the cliff into moral chaos. Where are the parents who will have the courage to give their children something better? Where are the parents who will teach their children that beauty is less about the outward and more about the inner person?

Goodbye Edward Lorenz

I wanted to salute mathematician and meteorologist Edward Lorenz (1917-2008) who died recently. Known as the father of "chaos theory" and a Professor Emeritus at MIT, this man contributed immensely to our understanding of complex nonlinear dynamic systems. Well-known for the fabled "Butterfly Effect", he aided us in our understanding about the predictability of the output of complex systems and showed that many systems are extremely sensitive to the initial conditions. In other words, the flapping wings of a butterfly in Brazil may result in a devastating tornado in Texas at some future time. The importance of his work cannot be overestimated and he has been compared to Isaac Newton with regard to how his work changed our understanding of reality. I have included my own rendition of the Lorenz Attractor.

Goodbye Professor Lorenz!

To the loser go the spoils?

I learned something important this summer playing softball on our church team. Our team went 1 & 13 I think over the course of the summer. It occurred to me that losing teaches us more about character than winning ever can. Perhaps it's something I already knew, but I had never thought about it in quite that way before. Losing takes strength and fortitude and if we don't have that, we either learn to acquire it or we run off with our tail between our legs.

I've had other reasons to think about this recently which I won't go into, but think about a time when you've lost something or failed at something or become discouraged that things didn't go a certain way. Purpose to make that a time to grow and learn in your life and find the spoils in...losing.

To the Loser go the Spoils!

"God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise."

Another semester...

Well, there goes another semester, come and now gone. It seems that as teachers our lives are marked by the continual rhythm of new semesters, vacations, and students coming and going. There is, however, a certain comfort in this repeatable pattern I suppose.

Now comes the time to spend time with friends, settle down a little bit and catch our breath for another push. Let's take time to reflect over these few weeks and to consider what the really important things in life are.

Let's not forget

While many Americans may forget, today is the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor...the Day that will live in Infamy. It should be a reminder that no matter how prepared we think we are, our individual lives and the life of our nation can be changed in a couple of hours time. The attack on our soil was unprovoked and flagrant and we should never forget the men and women who died that day defending this great nation.

Even today, we are faced with dangers around the world not the least of which is the dictator in Iran. Will we wait until it is too late and we or one of our allies faces the fury of the atom? Or will we have the fortitude to believe that freedom is worth preserving in the face of tyranny and take the action needed to avoid more Pearl Harbors?

Finally, will America turn to God for help or will we continue to wander around in the wasteland of relativism and hubris? Once again this week we have seen the fruit of our embrace of meaninglessness as the gunman took the lives of 8 of our own in one of our own malls here at Christmas time. Perhaps we may not see another Pearl Harbor, but we may just rot from the inside and implode.

Mourning the loss of D. James Kennedy

Today we as Christians mourn the loss of a great Christian leader in Dr. D. James Kennedy. Known for his ability to apply a Christ-centered worldview to all of life, Dr. Kennedy preached passionately for Christians to be light and salt in this world. I pray that God will raise up more young men to fill these LARGE shoes, men that have a passion for God and compassion for people.

Look and live

Oh, what a rat-race we live. Ever flitting here and there and everywhere and hardly ever taking time to raise our gaze upon the one who stooped down to take pity on us miserable sinners.

Are any of you bitten by the viper of sin?
Look to the cross and live!

Are any of you gasping for air about to drown in your own despair?
Look to the cross and live!

Are any of you at the end of yourself?
Look to the cross and live!

As William Ogden once wrote in a forgotten hymn,

“Look and live,” my brother, live,
Look to Jesus now, and live;
’Tis recorded in His word, hallelujah!
It is only that you “look and live.”

"Unless you repent..."

This morning as I learned about the terrible bridge collapse in Minnesota I was struck by how quickly calamity can intersect with the seemingly calm world of iPods, celebrity madness, sporting events, and the general living of life. Is it possible that from time to time God wants to get our attention to remind us of the ultimate futility of our technological progress and our endless comings and goings? I want to be careful that I do not ascribe the working of evil to our God, but I do know that God is sovereign and not one bridge can collapse without His being well aware of the exact bolt that failed.

Will we see the bigger picture? Will we run to God? Or will we simply utter more humanistic platitudes about how well we can come together in the face of tragedy or about the triumph of the human spirit? Let's face the questions and let these kinds of tragic events work in us to change our perspective and our priorities.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of the Twin Cities.

So let me get this straight...

So let me get this straight...Officials in Canton, Ohio are going to charge the suspect in the death of the pregnant mother and her unborn fetus with 2 counts of murder. How can this be? I thought that the slaying of unborn fetuses in Ohio was allowed? We have several places right here in Dayton where one can have that done if one wants. Shouldn't this be merely one count of murder and one count of late-term abortion?
OK, OK, maybe I figured it out. It's only murder when the mom didn't want the fetus to die, but if the mom wants the fetus to die, it's just abortion...So moms are empowered to define what is murder and what's not. Or maybe it's the location. If it happens in a home or a field it's illegal, but if it happens at Planned Parenthood it's legal. Does that make your head spin? Once again we seem to have, as Francis Schaeffer once said, "Both feet planted firmly in mid-air".
What a tangled web we weave.
Can we please have some consistency here?
It's hard to be consistent, liberals, isn't it?

Amazing Human Intelligence

Having just returned from another excursion to the Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition with our student team, I am reminded again how amazing is the human mind. We attempt to design intelligent machines and pour unending effort into the task only to find that it is exceedingly difficult to describe even rudimentary intelligence in C++.

Does this tell us something?

The human mind is fearfully and wonderfully made and our reasoning abilities will never be mimicked even by our best computers.

Goodbye C. U. Senior EEs

For professors and teachers, this is always a nostalgic time of year. It is a great time to review the accomplishments of our students and think about the ways they have changed us. On the other hand, it is time for us to say goodbye to them and wish them well and Godspeed as they embark on their life's journey.
I wish all of our C. U. graduates the best, but I especially want to say goodbye to my EE students and advisees. You have been a special blessing to me this year and I thank you for it. I know that this year started rough for all of us with the loss of J.T. from your class. I know that if he could see you all today and tomorrow and all that you've accomplished, he would be proud.
Take care friends, and come back and visit us.

A god complex?

As more information comes out about the shooter in the Virginia Tech massacre, one thing has become clear to me: Mr. Cho thought very HIGHLY of himself.

No doubt we will hear from the media that this man was down-trodden by society. No doubt we will hear that he had low self esteem and that if only he had been affirmed, this would not have happened. This will probably be twisted somehow to be portrayed as being the fault of successful people who have ignored those who have not achieved.

On the contrary, it seems that Mr. Cho thought highly enough of himself to take upon himself the right to choose who would live or die...a choice reserved for God Himself. Only a hyper-arrogant person chooses to take the lives of people he has never met for grievances they never committed. Only extreme hubris causes a man to take upon himself the right to carry out "justice" for the perceived trespasses of others when the God of the Bible says, "Vengeance is mine".

Don't be fooled by the liberal media's take on this man. This killer was taking the serpent's lie "You shall be as gods" to its logical conclusion. This was no man with a damaged ego. He follows in a whole line of others who have had a "god-complex"...Cain, Lamech, Nero, Hitler, Stalin, Harris and Klebold (Columbine shooters), etc.

When will it end?

Our hearts go out today to the Virginia Tech family as we witness this horrific act perpetrated on their campus. It is hard for most people to imagine what would drive someone to commit an act like this. One can only guess that the perpetrator was filled with rage and hatred as well as a probable sense of the meaninglessness of life.

What I will say is that we in our country are reaping the whirlwind. We have propagated the lie that human beings are nothing but the product of blind random chance. We have shown a cavalier disregard for human life by continued aborting of thousands of babies daily. We have been set adrift morally claiming that we cannot be certain about truth. We are reaping the results of moral relativism.

Do we really think that we can teach people that they are nothing more than the products of time and chance and think that they will retain their hope? Do we really think that we can continue killing unborn babies and expect people to think that they have intrinsic value? Can we sever the ties to any objective moral code (i.e. the Ten Commandments) and expect that people will act with justice toward one another? Certainly this criminal is solely responsible for his/her own actions. However, it is time we wake up to the fact that we are raising up a whole generation of hopeless young people and we need to reverse course.

These events should serve as a wake-up call to America. Ideas have consequences! Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. There is no hope except in Him! Wake Up America!

We are praying for Virginia Tech. Today, all Americans are Hokies.

What is to be done about Iran?

Well, it seems to me that we are entering dangerous waters with the regime in Iran. Now that they have illegally captured 15 British soldiers, what ought we to do? It seems high time that the U.S. and allies start pressuring Iran militarily. We ought to begin a blockade on goods and particularly gasoline. Talking to the Iranians isn't going to help this situation any more than talking with Hitler stopped the death and destruction in Europe.
The only language that these kind of people understand is force. It is high time that we stop wringing our hands and start rattling our own sabres...LOUDLY.

Incompleteness

I finished reading the book Incompleteness: The Proof and Paradox of Kurt Godel over the weekend...a great read for those of us interested in mathematics and philosophy. The gist of what Godel did was to prove that every mathematical system has unprovable axioms...that is, truths that must be taken without proof.

It seems to me that Godel's theorems have immense epistemological implications. If we grant that they have implications for philosophy and epistemology, then it seems that everyone must have as the basis of their worldview a set of presuppositions to which they hold...like it or not. Mankind in its pride has wanted to live in a closed system where man is "the measure of all things." It seems as if Godel's work illustrates the fact that we don't know it all. I will say more on this later.

Will they meet again?

Michigan came up short against Ohio State on Saturday, but it could be that the two rivals will face each other in January. Only time and a couple of other games between now and then will tell.

I picked up an interesting book Sunday about Kurt Godel and his famous incompleteness theorem. I'm sure I'll have more to say about this in the coming days based on the fact that I've already been spell-bound by what I've read. I know all you engineers are wondering why an engineer (read "applied mathematician") such as myself would be reading about a pure mathematician. I will leave you to wonder about that...

On the Eve of the Biggest Big Game

On the eve of this biggest of big games between U of M and OSU and as an electrical engineer, I wanted to pay tribute to Claude Elwood Shannon...the greatest Wolverine of all time and a Michigan graduate of 1936. While Shannon did not make a name for himself on the football field, he did so with his intellect and by ushering in the digital age in which we now live. His work has special importance for all of us whose job it is to get bits and bytes from one place in the universe to another and for those of us who teach students the foundations of communications theory. He has certainly made his alma mater and the great state of Michigan proud! Hail to the greatest Wolverine and...

It is also with sadness that I acknowledge on this day the passing of another great Wolverine.
Bo Schembechler died today at age 77. All of us who love Michigan football mourn his death.

GO BLUE!

What's Wrong Ohio?

Two days after the elections and I'm still wondering how a state that elected George W. Bush two years ago could elect a US senator that supports the barbaric practice of partial birth abortion. In addition, our new Senator - elect voted as far as I can tell, three times against the USA Patriot Act which seeks to protect our country from terrorists. He also voted against National Missile Defense which would defend our nation against missile launches from such countries as North Korea and Iran. All I can say is...

WHAT'S WRONG OHIO?

On Marriage

Yesterday I heard a great comment on the Puritans and their view of marriage. It went something like this. "Today we marry because we 'fall in love'. In those days, they 'fell in love' because they got married.

In our time marriage is all about me and what I can get from life in general and from marriage in particular. Marriage is about me and if I stop getting I leave the marriage. I have seen this on several occasions, yea even recently.

Yes, Mr. T. "fell in love" prior to marrying, but I will say that I didn't know what love meant then like I do now. Next week marks my 4 year wedding anniversary and I must say that God has used my marriage to change me a little more from that selfish man I once was into someone that is a little more like Christ. Marriage has a way of doing that as two sinful people find themselves sharing their lives in the most intimate ways.

So for those of you looking to marry, be wary of the whole "falling in love" thing. Rather choose to love the person that God brings you and you will find the joy that you'll never receive by living for yourself.

Mr. T.