I never thought of this before, but just read in a newspaper that the earth is moving with an orbital speed of 67,000 mph / approx 19 miles per second (108,000 km/h or 30 km/s).
Wow!
Are you still with me? Fasten your safety belts!
Just like everybody else I hear about the recent natural disasters in Burma and China. Both countries are far away from where I live, so even if the news is shocking, it is possible to ignore it on this side of the globe. It is possible, but it makes me feel guilty. It's hard to imagine what our fellow human beings are going through in these terrible times and circumstances. The gigantic numbers of people killed and wounded, the cities, villages, houses that are destructed... the ruined lives... there's just no way we can ignore this. Just one picture on the BBC website sums it all up for me. I feel awful about all the human suffering in the world and I feel powerless too, to be honest. Lord have mercy on us all.
News update from the BBC: The official death toll for Burma's cyclone disaster has jumped to almost 78,000 people, with nearly 56,000 missing, according to state TV.
Previously, Burma was giving a toll of 43,000 dead and 28,000 missing while the Red Cross and United Nations had estimated a death toll above 100,000.
From an e-mail message that I received today:
Your blog PAUL'S PHOTO BLOG caught our attention. I'm the founder of a recently launched startup for bloggers. We are searching the internet for the world's blogs by geography, and we found yours for the Netherlands. I would like to invite you to our site which plots the content of the internet on an interactive map of the world. VerveEarth is an entirely new way to surf the net. It shows spatial and geographic connections that a blog search engine could never reveal.
So... I decided to participate. Have a look here
From Wikipedia: In 1856, the first windmill in the Haarlemmermeer was built in the centre of Hoofddorp by Dirk David van Dijk. It was called "De Eersteling" (The first). Due to increased building around the mill, it wasn't able to operate for a long time, but in 1977 the mill was moved to another location near fort Hoofddorp. It was operated regularly from that moment, and is open to the public.
Taken without flash light... More pics from my visit to Friesland will appear on my photo blog soon. This one is taken in the church tower from a small village called Tzum (in Dutch) and Tsjom (in Frisian).
Today we went to Friesland for a fun day with my colleagues from the publishing house. I will upload some pics later on this blog and on my photo blog, but first I want to show you around on the Afsluitdijk (Closure Dike) connecting Holland and Friesland. Check out my second 360° video clip above (first one here) and have a look at this location on Google maps here and watch a satelite pic here.
Today is a beautiful Spring day in the Netherlands. Actually, it is the first day with Summer-like temperatures this year (check this Dutch meteorological web site - in Google translate). This week I made this pic of the swans and their new ducklings in the ditch in front of our house. The same swans as last year, the same nest, but with eight new sons or daughters! And yes, the moorhens are back too - again nesting close to their big swan neighbours. Funny. Have a look at my photoblog for some more Spring impressions from the Netherlands. See these April and May 2007 blog entries about these swans and / or click on the labels below.
Searchme is new search visualization which lets you see the webpage before you surf there. This search engine is still in it's beta phase, but I like the idea. The website has an Apple-like 'look and feel' and will only be helpful as long as you know what your are looking for... The visual approach has some limitations, but if the developers do their homework, this might very well be the way to go. Similar idea here; and here you can read more about a better visual interface for search.
Source: Supergans.
We can't cross that bridge until we come to it, but I always like to lay down a pontoon ahead of time. Bernard Baruch
Always do one thing less than you think you can do. Bernard Baruch
This is my first 360° video clip - showing a view from the pier in IJmuiden. This clip was filmed during a walk with my son Robin on Sunday April 20, 2008. I want to upload more 360° clips on this blog, so that I can share some of the landscapes, interiors, surroundings, panoramic views and my favorite spots with the rest of the world.
So here goes: welcome to my brand new blog posting series called Let's show you around!
I am using a Sony Ericsson cell phone to make these clips. If you think this is a fun idea, please make your own 360° video clips and leave a comment here because I do want to see the locations that you like to visit in the place where you live on this beautiful globe.
Pic left: Google earth pic pier IJmuiden (red dot is the place where I made the video clip). Find this location on Google maps here. By the way, the IJmuiden pier is not a walkway with piles or pillars, but a breakwater with a solid foundation. As you can see in the pic left (click to enlarge) there are two piers in IJmuiden - they give some protection against the sea when ships enter the North Sea Canal, but I think that they are also constructed to keep the sea sand away from the port. It's nice to walk on these piers, but when the weather is bad, it can be very dangerous and you are not allowed to go there during a storm, of course. These piers are favorite spots for anglers too. See some pics on my photo blog.
Read more about piers and please do leave a comment here to tell me what you think!
I haven't been blogging too much lately - there were just too many other things to do! Last Saturday we finished the alpha in prison course. This course started in January and although the work was time and energy consuming, it was also very rewarding to be involved in this. The Good News still has the power to change lives and in a prison setting words like sin, guilt, forgiveness and grace are not just church lingo. I trust that this course was only the start of this work and I believe that both prisoners and volunteers have learned a lot. God will continue the good work which he has begun!
Inevitably, of course, not only those of us who do science, but all of us, have to choose the presuppositions with which we start. There are not many options – essentially just two. Either human intelligence ultimately owes its origin to mindless matter; or there is a Creator. It is strange that some people claim that it is their intelligence that leads them to prefer the first to the second.
John Lennox, God’s Undertaker – Has Science Buried God? - Lion Hudson, Oxford 2008 - p. 179
I enjoyed reading this book, but it is not an easy read! John Lennox is a Reader (Professor) in Mathematics and Fellow of Green College, University of Oxford. He recently debated Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion - check this and listen to this debate here). If you want to find out more about the rationality of faith in a Creator God, this is a book that I can highly recommend.
Visit to the Community of Aidan and Hilda on Lindisfarne, December 2007, impressions of a new Way - I have done a retreate with CAH on Lindisdfarne in December 2007 and decided to become an Explorer with the Community. To be an Explorer means to write a Way of Life for oneself with guidance of a Soul Friend. This are two basic, elements of the Celtic spirituality as practised at CAH: pilgrimage and Soulfriendship. This brought a great challenge to my life, and which resulted already in a better balance, and that is bringing out the full richness of life much more. Basically it comes down to Contemplation-in-Action, which is all about living a contemplative life in the midst of our own sometimes turbulent daily lifes. We don't need monastries for doing just that, do we?
I am looking for like-minded people that are interested in this kind of spirituality. If you are interested don't hesitate to get in touch and contact me at my email (jcborger at cs dot com) or by leaving a comment here. Lets bring Lindisfarne just a bit closer to the continent! Johannes Borger in The Hague
Johannes, thanks for commenting and maybe you will find linkeminded travelers, seekers and soulmates here! Blessings!
We've traded in our good old red Mazda 626 for a newer Citroen Picasso. The Mazda looked so good after going through the car wash, I have to admit that I had some second thoughts... Until I saw how happy Pascalle was with our new car! Yeah - our new Citroen Picasso is so much cooler - now I totally agree.
We are celebrating Lydia's 29th birthday for the 14th time! Yes, she still looks young - must be because of our kids. Happy birthday Lydia - we all love you very, very much!
What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you'll have it all—life healed and whole.
(From 1 Peter 1 - The Message)
"You can have all kind of 'deep' discussions about God and the past and the future, but I think that it is amazing that we are able to think and discuss these things at all! Isn't it funny that we exist? Many people seem to take this for granted, but I am still amazed and excited about the fact that I am able to breath, walk, enjoy, think, sleep, dream, write, love and live!" (me @ Cori's blog)
Cori had some interesting questions for me about my country, my faith and about myself. She kindly permitted me to fill half her blog with my lengthy answers (sorry, Cori...) so that I have some space left here for this picture of me enjoying my existence. If you want to read this Q&A - have a look here. And please, do leave a comment!
Dutch soul singer Alain Clark and his dad Dane singing "Father and Friend". Turn your speakers on, watch, listen and enjoy!
Go over to John's blog if you want to see something that's really worth checking out. I am talking about his blog, but also about the old lady that ministered to a guy who tried to rob her of her cash... Go and watch the video! (And feel free to come back here - anytime).
Since they didn't bother to acknowledge God, God quit bothering them and let them run loose. And then all hell broke loose: rampant evil, grabbing and grasping, vicious backstabbing. They made life hell on earth with their envy, wanton killing, bickering, and cheating. Look at them: mean-spirited, venomous, fork-tongued God-bashers. Bullies, swaggerers, insufferable windbags! They keep inventing new ways of wrecking lives. They ditch their parents when they get in the way. Stupid, slimy, cruel, cold-blooded. And it's not as if they don't know better. They know perfectly well they're spitting in God's face. And they don't care—worse, they hand out prizes to those who do the worst things best! Source
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (1 Timothy 6:12 )
Dear player,
During the last competition I paid close attention to your activities on and off the playing field. As you know, I’m not the shouting and screaming kind of coach, but at the end of this season I want to give you my honest opinion about your participation in the games.
I just called you 'dear player', but that doesn't mean that I am happy with your performance. All other team members will also receive a personal letter from me, but these letters will be very different in tone.
I noticed that you always left the field without any injuries and with a clean football jersey. That came as no surprise, considering the fact that you barely participated in the game. You were happy just being out there on the pitch, but most of the time you were standing in an offside position or yelling at your fellow team members. But still, every time you left the field you had a confident smile on your face. Sometimes this happened after a victory, but - to my amazement - I noticed the same grin after undecided matches or losses. I don't understand or appreciate your attitude, since your self-absorption was totally misplaced. How many times did you step aside when a fierce battle was needed? How often did I have to call you from the field because you didn't play your part in the match? What have you done with all your talents? Why did you settle for a passive role in the field, and why weren’t you bothered when I substituted you during the game? Why did you ignore my directions? Why did you only play when it was for your own glory? Our team has successfully completed this competition, not because of you, but in spite of you. I am very unhappy with your performance.
The Coach
Dear player,
I have to tell you that you did a good job on the field last season. Of course I’m not the jumping and cheering kind of coach, but now that this season is finally over, I want to give you my opinion about you and your role on our team. I called you ‘dear player’ at the beginning of this letter; please take this very literally. Maybe you will be surprised by these words, but you really deserve my appreciation.
I noticed that you ended every game with bruises and a torn and muddy football jersey. Sometimes you had to miss a match due to injuries, but at the training sessions I noticed that you always want to give 100% to your task. Of course, you did make some faults every now and then, and I even remember you scoring a few own goals, but these mistakes are generously forgiven. Your faults are nothing compared to the attacks from our opponents that you helped to stop, the goals you scored and the useful assists for which you are so well known. Sometimes you came off the field with a face full of pain. But I also saw how you tried to ignore the hurt and how you smiled triumphantly each time we won a difficult game. If you only knew how much pleasure you brought me with these little smiles! And – it may sound a bit odd – I was also proud to watch you leave the pitch after an undecided match or, even, a lost game. I knew what you were thinking. It’s not about just one game; it’s about the whole competition. How often you fought courageously – even against bigger and stronger opponents! How often did I have to substitute or bench you to protect you from your own ambitions? Maybe you didn’t understand all my decisions, but I just wanted to be careful with a player of such quality and skill. Thanks to your willingness to accept leadership and to encourage your fellow team members, our common goal has been achieved. Thank you for your commitment - I am very proud of you!
The Coach
Dear Father,
It is nog because of our efforts, but only because of your son Jesus that the final victory is won. Still, you call us to fight the good fight of the faith and we want to do just that. Please help us to be disciplined and courageous members on your team. When this game is over, we want you to be very proud of us. In Jesus' name, amen!
(Thanks to Carol for editing this text!)
"Perhaps a simple illustration will help convince us that science is limited. Let us imagine that my Aunt Matilda had baked a beautiful cake and we take it along to be analyzed by a group of the world's top scientists. I, as master of ceremonies, ask them for an explanation of the cake and they go to work. The nutrition scientists will tell us about the number of calories in the cake an its nutritional effect; the biochemists will inform us about the structure of the proteins, fats etc. in the cake; the chemists, about the elements involved and their bonding; the physicists will be able to analyze the cake in terms of fundamental particles; and the mathematicians will no doubt offer us a set of elegant equations to describe the behaviour of those particles.
Now that these experts, each in terms of his or her scientific discipline have given us an exhaustive description of the cake, can we say that the cake is completely explained? We have certainly been given a description of how the cake was made and how its various constituent elements relate to each other, but suppose I now ask the assembled group of experts a final question: Why was the cake made? The grin on Aunt Matilda's face shows she knows the answer, for she made the cake, and she made it for a purpose. But all the nutrition scientists, biochemists, chemists, physicists and mathematicians in the world will not be able to answer the question - and it is no insult to their disciplines to state their incapacity to answer it. Their disciplines, which can cope with questions about the nature and structure of the cake, that is, anwering the 'how' questions, cannot answer the 'why' questions connected with the purpose for which the cake was made. In fact, the only way we shall ever get an answer is if Aunt Matilda reveals it to us. But if she does not disclose the answer to us, the plain fact is that no amount of scientific analysis will enlighten us." (From John Lennox, God's Undertaker - Has science burried God? - p. 40,41)
If you have 1 hour and 40 minutes to spare, use this time to watch this debate between Professor Richard Dawkins (best known for his book The God Delusion) and Dr. John C. Lennox (author of the before mentioned book, Reader in Mathematics at the University of Oxford and Fellow in Mathematics Philosophy of Science at Green College.)
John Lennox's book God's Undertaker is not an easy read, but I can highly recommend it to you if you are interested in science and religion.
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