Psalm 121

The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Hat Tip:Chuck Colson Takes on a Philly Newspaper for Bashing Catholics

Christian commentator Chuck Colson points out the hypocrisy of a recent Philadelphia Inquirer cartoon which attacks the Catholic Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court. The cartoon seemed to attack these Justices because of their recent decision regarding partial-birth abortion. The article also mentions other abusive left-wing opinionists. Read Colson's Commentary.

Confronting the Homosexual Agenda while Loving Homosexuals

Christians concerned about the welfare, both physical and spiritual, of homosexual friends and family members must strike a balance between embracing and caring for gays and lesbians while still doing battle with homosexual activism in the public arena.

It is important for Christians to remember that homosexuality is not some unforgivable sin. God still loves and seeks fellowship with gays or lesbians, but homosexuality is still a sin. Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 1 Timothy 1:9-10 are examples of where and how the Bible condemns the practice. Furthermore, Christians are called to hate sin, and should, for the sake of the nation and of their children, combat the homosexual community’s leftist agenda in public and civil forums, but at the same time, Christians are called to love folks to Christ. So how can we, the collective evangelical Christian community, meet both of these requirements?

First, into the melee.

Christian leader Chuck Colson dishes out concise Christian philosophy in his business daily radio broadcasts called Breakpoint. In the April 24, 2007, installment of Breakpoint, Colson discussed a “fairy tale” read to Massachusetts first graders in the Lexington School District, about “a handsome young prince” who “when he grew up… began searching for a wife, but [this handsome prince] could not find a princess he wanted to marry. One day, he met another prince—and fell in love. The two men married and lived happily ever after,” Colson said. The “newly married ‘couple’” even kissed at the end of the story.

According to Colson, “two sets of parents sued the Lexington school district, claiming that district officials violated both state law and their civil rights by allowing a teacher to read to their 6-year-olds a book that normalizes homosexual love and marriage.

“Not surprisingly—this is Massachusetts, after all—federal judge Mark Wolf dismissed the lawsuit. Public schools, he wrote, are "entitled to teach anything that is reasonably related to the goals of preparing students to become engaged and productive citizens in our democracy."
“The real goal, of course,” Colson concluded, “is normalizing homosexuality.

Christians should not allow homosexuality or any other sin to be normalized in our society. Hey, the fact is that Christians have been complacent on other important issues like pornography, heterosexual adultery, abortion, etc. etc., so it is important that collectively Christians take on new challenges to civil unity while trying to win back ground on those other aforementioned issues, but that is an article of another time.

Here are some things to consider, first, civil law should be a reflection of natural law. There is a body of transcendent law which generally guides or even rules society and conscience (Russell Kirk, The Conservative Mind, Seventh Revised Edition, 1985 Washington D.C. page 8). This natural law can be seen in the success or failure of a nation. Look at those nations which set themselves up against the traditional moral standards of the Jewish and Christian faiths and you will find that in the process of tossing off the restraints of righteousness and honesty the have wrapped themselves in the chains of dishonesty and selfishness so as to have surrendered to the tyrant of self and of the “nanny” state which in order to protect one’s “right” to be depraved must crush, steamroll, and otherwise do away with all that we think of as traditional freedoms. This is seen in some current environmental rhetoric, like Sheryl Crows, half joking comment about toilet paper rationing to save the environment. And this can be seen in the homosexual movement.

According to the pro-gay group, Public Agenda, www.publicagenda.org, homosexual leaders are seeking “equality” on a number of issues, including “Protection against discrimination in employment, housing and immigration; an expansion of hate crime laws to specifically include sexual orientation; domestic partner benefits similar to those granted to married couples; the right to marry; the ability to serve in the military without hiding their sexuality.”
On the surface, these seem to be reasonable requests, but in fact that are not “rights” put usurpations of traditional freedom and natural law. Consider the second goal above, to expand “hate crime laws to specifically include sexual orientation.” While I am opposed to “gay bashing” and have written as much several times, I would not support the making it illegal to speak one’s mind about homosexuality. For example, would this article be considered hateful? What about if I wrote that heterosexual adultery undermined the moral fabric of our civil government –which it does- would that be hate speech? Why shouldn’t I be aloud to freely say that I believe homosexuality violates God’s law in the same way that I say unfaithfulness in marriage, or lying, etc. is a violation of God’s law? Would this proposed expansion of hate crime laws include the scriptures I referenced above?

There can be no expansion of “gay rights” without the contraction of some already established freedom which may even be based on natural law and, therefore, the natural order of the universe.

This is to say nothing of the homosexual marriage issues which has been such a hot topic in recent years. The so-called gay agenda openly seeks to create a law forcing states, nations, and even the world to recognize to union of two men or two women. Homosexual marriage would radically change the nature of the institution and fundamentally change what it means to be married.

“For more than 40 years,” wrote Focus on the Family’s Dr. James Dobson in a one of the organization’s monthly newsletters (quoted on April 24, 2007). “The homosexual activist movement has sought to implement a master plan that has had as its centerpiece the utter destruction of the family. The institution of marriage, along with an often weakened and impotent Church, is all that stands in the way of its achievement of every coveted aspiration. Those goals include universal acceptance of the gay lifestyle, discrediting of Scriptures that condemn homosexuality, muzzling of the clergy and Christian media, granting of special privileges and rights in the law, overturning laws prohibiting pedophilia, indoctrinating children and future generations through public education, and securing all the legal benefits of marriage for any two or more people who claim to have homosexual tendencies. These objectives that seemed unthinkable just a few years ago have largely been achieved or are now within reach. All that remains is for the movement and its friends in the media, the entertainment industry, the professions, the government and the military, to deliver the coup de grace to a beleaguered institution that was given to humanity by the Creator in the Garden of Eden. We in North America and Europe are not simply "slouching towards Gomorrah," as Judge Robert Bork warned in his best-selling book1; we are hurtling toward it.”

Christians must respond to any attack on natural law, on any attempt to muzzle the church, and on any attempt to indoctrinate Christian youth in the public schools. Christians must be willing to speak in public forums, openly speak about what they believe when asked at work, and they must demand action from their representatives, or become representatives themselves.
Christians must love homosexuals too.

But Christians must love homosexuals too. “Just because someone is a homosexual does not mean that we cannot love him (or her) or pray for him (her),” as the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry web site puts it (quoted on April 24, 2007). “Homosexuality is a sin and like any other sin, it needs to be dealt with in the only way possible. It needs to be laid at the cross, repented of, and never done again.

“As a Christian, you should pray for the salvation of the homosexual the same you would any other person in sin. The homosexual is still made in the image of God -- even though he is in grave sin. Therefore, you should show him same dignity as anyone else you come in contact with. However, this does not mean that you are to approve of their sin. Don't compromise your witness for a socially acceptable opinion that is void of godliness.”

The bottom line is that one of the best ways to combat the homosexual agenda is to seek to say homosexuals. I want to be careful to add that I believe there are saved, in a Biblical sense saved, and born again homosexuals. In fact, I believe that I have a relative that is in that very situation. God, as near as I can tell, does his best to actively purge each and every one of us of sin. But I have rarely seen him do that all at once. He takes on a lot of the big public sins first and then works on our conscience to gradually make us more like Christ. For some folks the lessons are learned fast and dramatic changes, power changes take place. But other sins seem to linger. I could confess no less than a dozen ugly sins which still haunt me nearly six years after I accepted Christ.

Everyday, I struggle to break those pet sins and I no doubt sin without even know it in other areas of my life. I have written (or said if you like) all of this so that I can point out that Christians should not be too quick to judge homosexuals. There are certainly saved gays and lesbians, and there are certainly those which are seeking God and seeking some safety and security in their lives.

I fully believe that God wants homosexuals to come to know Christ and that through their relationship with Christ find the fulfillment they need.

In closing, I know that a lot of folks are going to disagree with what I have written here. I welcome any civil discussion on these points any encourage any reader to post comments.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

The Right to Own a Weapon

"The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been consideredas the palladium of the liberties of a republic..." ---Justice Joseph Story

The Atheist Arrives in Hell, Two demons attend

"The fool says in his heart, 'there is no God.'" Psalm 14:1 New International Version.

Okay, so I have never been accused of being an artist, but I had been looking at several illustrations this weekend and ended up drawing this scene of hell. I drew it with a HB4 pencil, then inked it with a very fine tipped sharpie and a black pen that I had from work. I then scanned the image and colored it in Photoshop.

I wanted to name the picture something, and started to think about hell, and got the idea to describe it as "The Atheist Arrives." I think that the shock of what hell is has lost some of its impact on the modern society. I see all sorts of articles which say something like, "atheists are not bad people," or "atheists are entitled to..." I agree with both of these statements. Atheists can be good people (in terms of how modern human thought defines good) and they are entitled to their beliefs. I just want to make sure that they understand that they are betting there is no God, and that if they are wrong there may (will) be a price to pay for their beliefs.

Okay, so now for the commericalism. Not knowing what else to do with the image, I made it into a tee shirt on the AERo Stuff Store.

• The Atheist Arrives Dark Tee Shirt (T-Shirt)


• The Atheist Arrives White Ringer Tee Shirt (T-Shirt)


• The Atheist Arrives Womens Dark Tee Shirt (T-Shirt)

A list of blog links

I just wanted to toss together a list of links (many for blogs) that I either have something to do with or that I generally like.

The Toy Blog, http://www.aeroggio.com/toy-blog.html, features posts about toys, the toy industry, and toy trends. It is also a good blog for folks that might be looking for a gift for their child or grandchild.

The Cowboy Stuff Blog, http://cowboystuff.blogspot.com/, is full of blog posts from the cowboy interested for the cowboy interested. It tries to list cowboy and western events, cowboy poetry, and useful cowboy items. This blog is also looking for cowboys to contribute as members, so if you would like to write about cowboy topics, this blog might be one outlet.

The General Issues Blog, http://www.aeroggio.com/blog.html, tries to communicate about interesting stuff from around the web and around the globe. The General Issue blog on aeroggio.com is just one guy's way of keeping track of what is cool, interesting, socially important, or politicially incorrect.

The Products & Tips Blog, http://www.aeroggio.com/othersproducts.html, features interesting posts about useful products which make life easier or about new products for better or worse.

Automotive Blog, http://vehicular.aeroggio.com/, offers this, automobiles are vital to the American economy and typify the nations independent spirit. This Blog posts about new cars and trucks, automotive business, automotive electronics and gadgets, automotive repair, and generally anything automobile related.

Pro Deo Et Patria- An Army Chaplain, http://armychaplain.blogspot.com/, includes posts from U.S. Army Chaplain, Chris Magnell. I know Chris personally and enjoy reading his posts. Currently he is deployed in Iraqi.

Joel Rosenberg's Blog, http://www.joelrosenberg.blogspot.com/, Joel Rosenberg is an author who has written extensively about the end of the world. According to Joel it will not be easy. Rosenberg is also the founder of the Joshua Fund.

Wisdom to Live by..in the Investor's Business Daily

One of America's finest business publications, the Investor's Business Daily, has a regular section called "Wisdom to Live By." This section features quotes from some of the world's best leaders and success heroes. Recently, the IBD had this quote from Dr. Seuss.

Seuss on Authenticity
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.
Dr. Seuss, author

I find Dr. Seuss' words encouraging in a world that often values political correctness over honesty. Anyone who hopes ever to run for office or hold a high profile position, must not speak his mind for fear of offending some vocal minority, special interest, or individual. Rather than say anything great or bold or inspiring, would be leaders speak in bland nonsense.

China has passed the United States in exports

When I was a kid, I generally believed that the United States was the greatest country on God's green earth.

I remember my father, who was very proud of his Italian heritage, telling me that we were blessed to have been born the freest, strongest, and best country in the world. He told me so many times that we lived in the most perfect human society men had ever been able to construct. And Dad told me that the United States should be the best at everything in the world and that America's people, through their right actions, could assure as much.

But America has a weakness. We are too good, too fair, and too trusting.

According to a World Trade Organization report, China, a communist nation, which regularly suppresses freedom, has pasted the United States as the world's second largest exporter. This is a blow to freedom, a blow to American pride, and American people through their right actions should do something about it.

This first appeared in the General Issues Blog.

Would You Pay for Embryos to Die

Would you pay for embryos to die? Well, you might have to if the U.S. Congress has its way.

CitizenLink is reported that the U.S. Senate will vote on Tuesday to fund embryonic stem cell research, which many Christians consider to be the equivalent of murder.

"Embryonic stem-cell research is legal, but now Congress wants to use even more of your tax dollars to fund it. On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate will begin debating S. 5, which would destroy human life and put a premium on human cloning. A vote is set for Wednesday. President Bush has said he will veto the bill," wrote Jennifer Mesko, associate editor, in the CitizenLink article.

“The passage of this bill would send the message that the U.S. Senate is willing to sacrifice the weakest and most vulnerable,” said Dawn Vargo, associate bioethics analyst for Focus on the Family Action. “An affirmative vote would say that senators care more about some scientists and special-interest groups who would like to see unproven research funded with federal dollars.”

CitizenLink encouraged its readers to contact their Senators and urge them to vote against using tax dollars for this research.

The bill in question, S. 5, is titled, "A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for human embryonic stem cell research" and is sponsored by Harry Reid of Nevada and 39 co-cosponsors, including would-be presidential candidates Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois.

The bill is related to House bill H.R.3 and Senate bill S.997.

Pelosi's Visit to Syria raises questions about an opposition party's role in foreign affairs

U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's visit to Syria this week raises questions about an opposition party's role in foreign affairs.

During her Syrian tours, "Pelosi (news, bio, voting record from Yahoo) toured the old city of Damascus," "mingled with Syrians in a market and made the sign of the cross at a Christian tomb," (Associated Press via theday.com), and "visited Saudi Arabia's unelected advisory council, the closest thing in the kingdom to a legislature, and tried out her counterpart's chair — a seat no Saudi woman can have because women cannot be lawmakers" (the L.A. Times). And all this in an apparent effort to bolster peace talks, fight global terrorism, and frustrate the Bush Administration.

Pelosi actions have sparked a variety of reactions. "President Bush criticized the trip, saying it sends mixed signals to the Syrian leadership," according to the April 4, 2007 issue of Investor's Business Daily. Pelosi's team have argued that it is a representative's right to visit foreign countries and generally tried to deflect the President's concerns by pointing out that Republicans had recently visited Syria (although one might assume that Republicans would be sending a message similar to a Republican president). Bush haters have praised the trip and hailed to opportunity for more reasonable relations with Syria.

All of this aside, Pelosi's trip leads me to ask several questions about what exactly is an opposition leaders responsibility or role where foreign affairs are concerned. Here is some of what I am thinking.

Should an opposition leader ever visit a foreign nation and potential support programs, relations, or ideas which differ from the dominate party's position? Well, some might say "yes." I even thought as much at first. Ah, but what about when the foreign nation in question is an enemy? Again, some, even many would be inclined to say yes. For an example, if, God forbid, some future U.S. President considered Israel to be our enemy, and I were the leader of the political party opposing that president (or even a member of that President's own party), I would certainly go straight away to Israel and do my best to insure them that not all Americans saw them as hostile. So one could argue that I must then be inclined to say that what Pelosi has done is, in fact, reasonable in the sense that she is doing what any opposition leader might or even should do, or is it?

Is my example, Israel, really the moral or political equivalent to Syria. Well no. Israel is a free country, with a government for the people, by the people, etc. and Syria is a terrorist supporting dictatorship which violates human rights like a fat lady eats Krispy Kremes. So that I would agrue that it is not so much of an issue that an opposition leader visit a foreign nation or even that an opposition leader express, when opposing positions when in that nation, but where the line between expressing a different worldview ends and granting aid and comfort to an enemy government begins.

Pelosi, visited the advisory cancel, the folks which help to rule one of the world's most productive terrorist training grounds, namely Syria. "Washington estimates that up to 90 percent of suicide bombers in Iraq enter the country via Syria, which has not acted to stop this flow of attackers" (Reuters via IOL.co.za via the Vary Blog on IndyStar.com).

Related blog posts:
President Pelosi?
Nancy Pelosi Submits to Islam in Syria
Nancy Pelosi's Terrorist-palooza Tour

God Tube: early favorites Ergun Caner

Earlier I posted about the new video sharing site, GodTube. I wanted to share with you some of the interesting videos I have found so far on the site.

This video is Dr. Ergun Caner's conversion story. Caner is the dean of Liberty Theological Seminary in Virginia and is a former Muslim of Turkish heritage.

According to the Liberty web site, Caner "was born in Stockholm, Sweden to Turkish parents and in 1979 immigrated to the United States with his parents, grandmother, and two brothers. Ergun became an American citizen in 1984 and currently resides in Lynchburg, VA with his wife and two sons.

"Ergun (Caner) became a Christian in 1982 and since then has pastored at churches in Kentucky, North Carolina, Indiana, Colorado and Texas. In 1999, Ergun became a professor of Historical Theology at The Criswell College until 2003 when he moved to Lynchburg to teach Theology and Church History at Liberty University. Ergun is now the President of Liberty Theological Seminary and travels extensively throughout the world as a leading voice for Frontline Apologetics."

Caner has his own ministry in apologetics at www.erguncaner.com, and that site's biographical section adds a bit more detail about Caner.

"Ergun Caner is the President of Liberty Theological Seminary at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. When Caner was named to the position in 2005, he became the first former Muslim to become the leader of an evangelical seminary. Along with his brother Emir, Caner has become a leading voice for evangelicalism on the national stage. He has been a guest on such networks as FOX News, MSNBC, CNBC, the BBC, and TBN.

"Caner has debated Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Bah’ai over sixty times at universities and colleges. He has written fourteen books, including When Worldviews Collide (LifeWay 2005), on the subject of Global Apologetics and defending the Christian faith."

God Tube and the video revolution

If pop-culture is your thing, think of it as YouTube for Christians. GodTube is a new video sharing, web 2.0 (user content) web site which is supposed to feature God-focused video.

Chris Wyatt, who is now a student at Dallas Theological Seminary, reportedly founded the site, the idea being to utilize "Web based technology to connect Christians for the purpose of encouraging and advancing the Gospel worldwide."

The site goes so far as to discuss exactly what its administrators believe about the nature and person of God and other key Christian issues (http://www.godtube.com/about.php).

This godly website has been earning a far amount of public attention some positive, some negative (see spin.com) as an example. But the real proof of whether or not GodTube will be successful or not will depend on the quality of videos the site attracts and how many folks view the videos.

Check out GodTube at http://www.godtube.com/.

Making Hobson's Choice again

It has been more than six months since I last posted to Making Hobson's Choice. In fact, I thought I had lost all of the files when I allowed my hosting account to expire. I had also lost heart for the blog. It had stopped being my social commentary on conservative thought, on my Christain faith, on my view of the world, and on those topics which interest me. It had become a chore of sorts.

But now having recovered many of the files, and having gotten a new URL, I am going to again try my hand at blogging. I am going to again try to help myself understand the world by writing or expressing what I see and hear of that world here. (Some of the files are lost for good as are many of the images and it may take some time to get the tamplate back in place, but...)

I also want to explain what it means to make Hobson's choice. It is the idea that there is really only one choice, that really there are no options, only one right way.

New Site

I have a new site at www.aeroggio.com Please take a look.

The View From my Cube

Ross is moving. He used to be about four rows over in our fourth floor cube farm. But he is moving. Dan is getting a new direct report (this should make his complaints about the weather fresh again) and he needed the space. So now Ross is just across from me.

I wanted to welcome Ross to the neighborhood, you know, sort of like when you used to move into a neighborhood and some thoughtful folks would bring you a baked good. I remember once when I was a kid we moved into a new house in Ohio. This lady came over with some kind of baked brick which she was trying to pass off as a cake. While I could never prove it, I suspected that she had plans to kill everyone in the neighborhood and turn the place into a strip mall.

Anyway, I want to welcome Ross to the neighborhood so I make a sign for him. It read, "New Home of the Civil War-era Guy."

Porn for all?

Pornography is as addictive as any drug. Just ask anyone who sneaks to the computer at midnight to view nude pictures or sex acts. This is all the worse when children are involved.

Citizen Link had this report.

U.S. Attorney General Proposes Changes in Child-Porn Laws
by Pete Winn, associate editor

Alberto Gonzales wants Internet service providers to report violations.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is proposing major changes in child-exploitation laws -- changes that family advocates say are long overdue.

At a speech Thursday at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the attorney general said Internet service providers (ISPs) are not doing enough to help the government fight child pornography. They must take the issue seriously.

"For starters, let's be clear," Gonzales said, "it is not a victimless crime. Most images of child pornography depict actual sexual abuse of real children. Each image literally documents a crime scene."

Pat Trueman, who headed the Justice Department's war against pornography in the early 1990s, when President Bush's father was in office, said it's a step in the right direction.

"The most important thing the attorney general did," Trueman said, "was to offer legislation that will correct a previous law that will require Internet service providers -- like Google and Yahoo -- to report incidences of child pornography or child sex abuse that they know of online."

If Gonzales' suggestion becomes law, ISPs would be required to provide that information to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which would pass it on to the Justice Department.

The attorney general also wants a law which would require pornographic Web sites to include warning statements and ratings.

"A mandatory rating system would prevent people from inadvertently stumbling across pornographic images on the Internet," Gonzales said.

Daniel Weiss, senior analyst, media and sexuality at Focus on the Family Action, applauded Gonzales for highlighting the dangers.

"He's definitely right to alert parents and the community on how to go about protecting kids," Weiss said. "But on the other hand, the attorney general is talking tough on this issue, just like he talked tough on the issue of obscenity.

"Unfortunately, he's done nothing about obscenity. He said prosecuting obscenity was a chief goal of his term. But we've not seen vigorous obscenity prosecution. Instead, we might call the effort anemic or even pathetic. I wonder if he's proposing new laws that he has no intention of enforcing."

Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values, agreed the Justice Department has long needed to crack down on hardcore pornography.

"I was very disappointed with what he didn't say," he said. "The fact still remains that hardcore, so-called 'adult' pornography, is the leading problem in this country. More children are harmed from hardcore adult pornography than from child pornography. You cannot separate the two. You can't talk about child pornography without talking about hardcore pornography, which is available at many of our hotels. It's available on cable. It's available in video stores. It's running rampant and the Department of Justice is doing nothing about it."

Burress said addiction to pornography generally doesn't start with child pornography.

"They start off with hardcore, sexually explicit adult pornography and they grow into it," he told CitizenLink.

Burress said there are five stages: exposure, addiction, desensitization, escalation and acting out.

"What they do is, they start out with hardcore adult pornography and then their fetish turns to children, and then they start using and producing child pornography, so you cannot separate the two."

Burress said the reason the Justice Department has not engaged in a major crackdown is because of the man who heads the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Justice Department, Drew Oosterbaan.

"We met with him five years ago. He's a hold-over from the Clinton administration," Burress said. "There lies the problem. We, meaning the pro-family movement, complained about this inaction all the way up to then-Attorney General John Ashcroft. We've objected to it every year, because nothing is going to be done by a man who, even under the Clinton administration, refused to enforce the laws against hardcore pornography."

Burress has called for Oosterbaan's replacement with someone who would prosecute obscenity.

Mortgage a Bikini

I just saw this interesting ad on a Yahoo news page. I am trying to figure out what the gal in the bikini top has to do with mortgages.

Building the Tower of Babel or Working in Corporate America

In Genesis' 11th chapter the Bible records what might have been humanities most ambishious construction project ever. I will let the Bible set the stage.

As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, "Come, Let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." they used the brink instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth." (New International Version)

Wow. Impressive. Imaging trying to build a tower all the way to heaven. Now imaging doing it with out a crane or any other piece of modern heavey equipment. Okay, so that has the Tower of Babel got to do with anything? Well two things this week made me think about this famed tower. I will start with the second one first.

Nantucket Votes to Ban Chain Stores

I saw this great article from the AP on Yahoo.

Nantucket joined several other historic tourist towns across the country in approving a measure that would ban chain stores from the island's downtown, a move endorsed by more than 480 residents at a town meeting.

The rule would bar any new chains with more than 14 outlets that have standardized menus, trademarks, uniforms or other homogeneous decor from opening downtown. The ban would not affect gas stations, grocery stores, banks and other service providers.

"I'm extremely gratified," said independent book seller Wendy Hudson, who proposed the ban. "I guess it feels validating ... people saw the balance and need to protect our character rather than this amendment just being another new regulation."

The other thing that made me think of Babel was my new job. I am not working for a very large corportation and what is more I am working at the headquarters. I was walking through one of the company's many large rooms surrounded by co-workers.

I will let you draw your own conclusions, but that was what I was thinking.

I am working like a crazy guy.

I miss my blog. Do you miss me? I took a new job last month and the pace has been crazy. So I am going to try and get in here about once per week. I just wanted to let my readers (yes both of you) know that I am still alive and I will be blogging when I can.

In the meantime, have you had a chance to check out the latest issue of Make?