So the Internet Monk introduced a new discussion panel a few days ago.  The panel consists of spiritual leaders from most of the major Christian denominations allowing for comparative discussion of spiritual topics.  Which is a pretty cool idea for anyone that likes to contemplate such significant matters. The credentials of “The Liturgical Gangstas” panel are listed at the beginning of the I Monk post.

The first question for the panel was the following:  A person comes to you and says “I want to grow significantly as a Christian in the next year.” What kind of guidance would you give this person? Be as specific as possible. I have summarized the panel responses below:

Father Ernesto/Orthodox:

• Read the Bible daily. (using a read the Bible in 2 years plan)
• Pray daily using an Anglican prescribed morning and evening prayer.
• Read about the lives of the saints.
• Confession.
• Church community.
• Serve others outside the church.

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A quick review for our friends over at liliputing.com. I just received my 12000mAh battery from DealExtreme and I thought a few pics and comments were in order:

UPDATE: We do not recommend this battery at this time!

As you can see in the pics the battery does add some significant bulk and lift to my 1000HA (standard mouse included for size reference), but it almost doubles the capacity of the standard 6 cell battery - impressive since many netbooks come with only a 3 cell battery standard and 6 cells are the “extended life” batteries.  Also at $62 this battery is a deal considering that similar long life batteries can approach $200.

My fairly accurate scale supports the manufacturer’s weight claims as the new battery upped my Eee PC from 3.2 lbs to 3.75 lbs.  This is still lighter than most ultra portable notebooks but hefty for a netbook.  However, this combo will give you the most battery bang for your netbook buck as you can own the 1000HA (with 6 cell bat) and the super extended battery for under $500, which until recent holiday deals started dropping was cheaper than several netbooks with a 3 cell battery.

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Peter Hitchens has a great piece from a Brit’s perspective on the Obama frenzy and the most likely outcome of the the upcoming “change”. Excerpts below:

Anyone would think we had just elected a hip, skinny and youthful replacement for God, with a plan to modernise Heaven and Hell – or that at the very least John Lennon had come back from the dead.

The swooning frenzy over the choice of Barack Obama as President of the United States must be one of the most absurd waves of self-deception and swirling fantasy ever to sweep through an advanced civilisation. At least Mandela-worship – its nearest equivalent – is focused on a man who actually did something.

I really don’t see how the Obama devotees can ever in future mock the Moonies, the Scientologists or people who claim to have been abducted in flying saucers. This is a cult like the one which grew up around Princess Diana, bereft of reason and hostile to facts…

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Csaba Csere had an excellent column back in July.  Unfortunately C&D is much slower posting their columns than their reviews online - and I am much too lazy busy to re-type it myself.  However it is now up for general viewing and is even more pertinant given the current Auto Industry problems being eyed for government intervention.

I always thought April Fools’ Day came on the first of that month and Earth Day on the 22nd, but apparently, this year those dates were swapped. How else to explain the proposal, on April 22, of Mary E. Peters, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, to accelerate by 25 percent the CAFE increases that Congress enacted last year?

With gasoline pushing four bucks a gallon, it’s not that I would mind seeing average fuel economy rise to 35.7 mpg for cars and 28.6 mpg for trucks by 2015, as Secretary Peters proposes. I’d also like to see a big, happy parade of Sunni, Shiites, and Kurds marching merrily together down Yafa Street in Baghdad. Plus, I’d like to see an eight-figure balance on my brokerage statement and Kelly Brook delivering UPS packages to our office. Sadly, none of these events is any more likely than Secretary Peters’s delusions about CAFE.

Now if you come away from this article dogging old G.W.’s administration (or even blanket Republicans) you are completely missing the bigger point.  This is not a W. is stupid problem - this is a general problem with allowing (trusting?) politicians to fix (meddle?) in problems that they truly know nothing about.  Government can give nudges here and there in attempting to direct the market.  BUT economic forces and moreso laws of physics can not be overcome by legislation - no matter how much you will it to happen, nor how pure your intentions.

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In the Dec 08 issue of Car & Driver, Franz Kafka attempts to answer a question about HHO with the help of an associate engineering prof.  The two end up completely off point and so butcher the response that a corrective response was required.  Both are below:

HO-HO-HHO
What would happen if you inject HHO (oxyhydrogen) into a gasoline-combustible engine? Oxyhydrogen is a mixture of hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (02) gases, typically in a 2:1 molar ratio, the same proportion as water. This gaseous mixture is used for torches for the processing of refractory materials. I have found numerous claims on the Internet (i.e., www.water4gas. com, www.watertogas.com, etc.) that allege mpg savings by installing an HHO injection kit on a common gasoline engine. Thank you for your help, and please consider us working-class schmucks who might buy into this stuff with gas at nearly $5 a gallon!
Brian Gong
Arroyo Grande, California

Sorry, Brian, those claims are bogus, and you need to stop cribbing from Wikipedia. Lest any reader doubt the indomitable authority of Car and Driver, Kafka asked Claus Borgnakke, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan. For starters, you won’t gain any energy by converting water to hydrogen and oxygen in the car–you’ll end up with less useful energy than you put in because both the disassociation of water into hydrogen and oxygen and the burning of hydrogen are less than 100 percent efficient in real-world conditions. Even if you did have a perfectly efficient process, there would be no energy left over to power the car. Starting with an oxyhydrogen mix in the car is a bad idea, too. According to Borgnakke, “Never try to store hydrogen and oxygen gas together. Hydrogen is much more dangerous than other fuels in that it burns at nearly all ratios with oxygen and has a very low threshold for ignition.” You could use an energy source such as solar power to make hydrogen from water, but that’s not cost effective, and you’re still left with the problem of storage. Kafka will leave the last word to our expert, who says, “Hydrogen is still too costly to store and transport compared with gasoline or diesel fuel.”

-Franz Kafka’s Garage

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