I can't stand intolerant people.

Phoenix has climbed on the speed camera bandwagon in a big way, and it's spreading to the freeways across the state. Right now we have 20 stationary cameras on Metro Phoenix freeways and several mobile cameras attached to DPS trucks. By February they plan to have 60 fixed cameras and 40 mobile units. These things aren't cheap to install, and to each $165 speeding ticket another $40 or so is added that goes to the private firm that maintains and operates them. So the whole operation involves some big bucks.
How big? Over the last two months 40,400 tickets have gone out through the mail from speeding violations caught on those cameras. Take out the $40 that goes to that private firm and the income to local government agencies still hits $6.6 million! Imagine what it will be when they jump from about 30 cameras to 100 of the things.
Not surprisingly, a movement of drivers opposed to the cameras is gaining momentum. Unknown vigilantes have been pulling up underneath the poles on which these things are mounted and using Silly String to obscure the lens.
Question: are the cameras a valid way to enforce the law? Or are they a way for politicians to increase income for government agencies? If they are viewed as the latter it puts the govt. in the awkward position of depending upon, perhaps desiring lawlessness to balance the budget. Hmmm.

Luke 1:36. Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, is described as a relative of Mary, mother of Jesus. Earlier in the chapter both Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah are said to be from the tribe of Levi, and we know that Mary & Joseph were from the tribe of Judah. So, how can Elizabeth and Mary be relatives?
Discuss

If you watched the video of the chicken here's a follow-up. I have no idea who this guy is but he seems to know his stuff.
Bird Head

Stick with me on this one.
I thought of my dad this morning as I was hanging up the towel after my shower. That simple activity, done at least once a day, often makes me think about him - specifically an incident that happened when I was somewhere around 12 years old.
Dad always came in to listen to our prayers and say goodnight shortly after we'd climbed into bed. On Saturday nights that came after a bath (we didn't have a shower).
One Saturday night he came into my room and told me to return to the bathroom with him. He pointed out my bath towel, folded in thirds and laying over the bar just like I'd left it.
"What is that about?" (Think calm but stern Scottish voice.)
I knew immediately what he meant. Yes, I had folded the towel in thirds and placed it neatly over the bar, but the white label tag was on the outside, glaring at me like a 100w bulb. He watched as I re-folded the towel, label inside and on the back half, and went back to bed.
To this day I am incapable of hanging up a bath towel with the label visible.

I'm curious about your reaction as you read that. Was it overbearing for my dad to get me out of bed because the label on a bath towel was on the outside? Majoring in minors? Military-like?

As it turns out, every time hanging up a towel takes me back to that incident, as it did this morning, it generates a very positive response within me. It reminds me why I have such great respect for my dad and the job he did at being a father.

We had been taught the correct way to hang up a bath towel. If you think folding a towel, or wash cloth for that matter, into neat thirds with the label inside and in back, then laying it over the bar is excessively anal, so be it. But that was the well-known standard at our house. And as it turns out I like the neatness it helps bring to a bathroom.
The point, however, and the part that engendered my lasting respect for dad, is that he held us accountable to the standard. We knew what to do. Expectations were never unreasonable or unfair. Which is why holding us to those standards was fair and reasonable. If I had gone into the bathroom Sunday morning before church and seen that improperly hung towel, and known in one way or another that my dad had seen it, I would a) have had less respect for him because of his failure to follow through on what we both knew was the proper way to do it, and b) been emboldened to ignore that and other reasonable and fair expectations for my behavior.
Dad could not have enjoyed hauling me out of bed for that. Hassle. He's tired, is ready for the peace and quiet of kids finally in bed, and just wants to get down to watch Ted Mack's Amateur Hour. But being a good father required following through, even when, especially when it's inconvenient.
Consistency.

A child's view of God - his or her Heavenly Father - is shaped in large measure by the character and actions of their earthly father.

Thanks, Dad. I love you.