Does anybody know what's actually going on in Honduras? The UN, USA, and a few other large world players have denounced the coup, but I can't help but feel sympathy for the new regime. first off, they obviously have enough support from the people to overthrow the government. Oppression isn't anything new in Honduras, one of the leading banana exporters of the world. I know that US companies like Chiquita and Doll have major stakes in the Honduran economy, and in past coups have supported the old government to get stability back as quick as possible (coups are not good for business). There's also been a lot of press on these companies mistreatment of their workers. Ties to drug cartels have been linked to the old leader, and I wonder if the US is supporting him because we believe in democracy or if we stand to loose a lot of money due to fair rites for the country and their workers?

Sorry i havn't been posting very much. I've been busy with school and bike riding. the triple is 2 weekends from now! I'm feeling strong, and overall pretty confident about the ride. thats all for now. peace.
-mike

Lunch time musings

How often it seems we take some blessing God has given to us out of his goodness and turn it into some sort of pat on the back for ourselves?

its like saying "surely because I've got this blessing, I've done something right and God is rewarding, and those that don't have it must have done something wrong, and are being punished"

I seem to see this attitude in myself and my friends all the time. Some examples are:

• Our friends (community)
• Our health/athleticism
• The place we live, earths beauty
  
• Our possessions
  

It seems that this posture seems to reflect our worship for ourselves, and our constant feeble attempts to cover our sinful nature with our good acts. How much more an act of worship to realize how little we deserve any of our blessings, but are given them in abundance anyways?\

I guess this is important because it determines the way we use our blessings. If we assume our wealth is a blessing to us, without our earning, than we will be more likely to use it to bless others. on a less noticeable note, if we assume we are in great community because we have done something right, our community will soon turn inwardly focused and will not represent the outwardly focused church in the new testament.

My first You-Tube video

I started making this one day when i checked the weather and saw a stunning mid-latitude cyclone over much of the US. I wrote a little script to grab the current viable water vapor image off the net, and stitch them together in a video.

These large scale vortices are common around the globe, and match (in structure) a lot of the smaller scale vortices I study in the lab.

2009 Big Bike Trip

Last year we road the blue ridge parkway to fulfill my nastolgia for Appalachia. We had a great time on a perfect trip that can will never be re-created.

However, my love riding my bike remains, and Today a dream was born for this summer: a trek through the beautiful Rockies from Boulder to Crested Butte, stopping along the way in destinations such as Estes Park, Winter Park, Frisco, and Buena Vista.


The trip will either happen in late June or early August. Here's links to maps of individual days:

Day 1: Boulder->Estes Park 64 miles, 6483 ft climbing, 3763 decent
http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/co/boulder/75712398313061540

Day 2: Estes Park->Winter Park 68 miles, 5630 ft climbing, 5052 decent
http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/co/-estes-park/561123983182788124

Day 3: Winter Park->Frisco 72 Miles, 2310 ft climbing, 2251 ft decent
http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/us/co/tabernash/982123983356526213

Day 4: Frisco->Buena Vista 68 Miles, 3310 ft climbing, 4396 decent
http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/us/co/boulder/225123983402330303

Day 5: Buena Vista->Crested Butte (This is up for debate, the route i have on the map above might be dirt roads...)

If any of my buds that are reading this want to join in, let me know!

Peace.
mike

From one of my favorite bands

"Ultimately, every revolutionary act is an act of love - it's about love for people. And so I think every song I've ever written has been a love song." - zach de la rocha

Beef, its what's for dinner (not anymore)

So i've been reading this book "rich Christians in an age of hunger" and I've been thinking a lot about the choices I make every day.

I blogged a little bit ago about gas, and if buying gas from certian companies has certian environmental or humanitarian effects. Well, this can spread to all sorts of things, clothing, food etc. A really usefull website a friend showed me is www.betterworldshopper.com On better world shopper, they rank companies on a variety of issues from 'A' to 'F'. It's not a perfect website, they don't really tell you how they got their data, but it's a start to making wiser choices.

I've also made the decision to stop buying beef. I'll still eat it if its being served to me, but the social and environmental implications in cattle raising seems to hard to justify without more knowledge. I'm not going to rant on this too much, or look down on people who still eat beef, but there are a couple of reasons:

1. With rising food prices and a global food shortage, its important to concsider how much the world can sustain, and what our crops are being used for. it takes 16 lbs of grains to produce 1 lb of edible beef.
2. With global warming, more intesnse storms and harsher droughts, water is beggining to be an issue for a lot of the united states. It is estimated more than half the water used in the united states is used to grow grains for beef consupmtion or in beef proccessing.
3. Finally, a recent study shows that producing 1 kG of beef produces the same amount of Co2 that is made driving a car for 3 hours while leaving all the lights on in your house.

so thats that!
peace.

Can you still see goodness in my heart?

Yesterday I was walking home from school around 9pm when I realize a man is following closely behind. Soon he is right next to me, just an inch from my elbow. This brief dialog followed:

"Excuse me." He says
"Yes?" I reply
"Can you still see goodness in my heart?" He asks
the question caught me a little off guard.
"What?" I asked.
"Can you still see goodness in my heart?" He repeated.
still a little woozy from a day in front of the computer i replied:
"yeah, i guess so..."

and with that he grinned, and ran off across Broadway.


The man haunted me all night. What did he mean? Then i sat down this morning to read the news.

Children in Africa are still being abducted as soldiers.

Can I still see the the goodness in their hearts?




Angry militants in Gaza continue to fire rockets at neighboring Israel, as Israel continues it's blockade and air strikes of the area.

Can I still see the the goodness in their hearts?



The news continues, war, oppression, corruption, greed. Sin. We are a fallen people, can I still see the goodness in our hearts? Yeah, i guess so. We are image bearers of God. Because He is good, i can't help but see good in all people. Despite the fall, I can still see goodness in our hearts.

I guess this means I have hope for humanity, but that hope can only prevail if the evil in our hearts is redeemed. Then goodness, our true image, will prevail. That's why I have to trust Christ. Without Him, there is no hope. there is no redemption. In him, there is hope. In him, there is peace.

Peace.
mike