Music soothes the savage beast...unless it's polka.

The British pluralize "torques."
FAIL

Pam called from work this afternoon to say the computers are down throughout the hospital and that they expect the problem to last into tomorrow. Everything has to be done by hand on paper, and that's a whole lot of forms.

I feel like I should apologize, or at least issue a disavowal on behalf of all intelligent life in Maricopa County, especially because it made the national news.
County Sheriff Joe Arpaio assigned one of his volunteer posse groups to investigate the President's birth certificate. They concluded, and Sheriff Joe announced today, that there is probably cause to believe the President's long form birth certificate has been forged, and fraud has been committed.

A group of amateurs working for a 79-year old sheriff who has a serious love affair going with himself and is under investigation by two federal agencies (a federal grand jury and the Justice Dept.) have uncovered what even The Donald couldn't find.

We're embarrassed and await eagerly the next election. We'll take care of it. Promise. Until then, our sincere apologies.

During my time at the college I wanted a summer adventure as an escape from the intensity of the course overload I was assigned every semester. Eventually I got a motorcycle and went on 10-14 day solo camping trips. Before that I did bicycle trips, sans the camping part.

One year I drove down to Goshen, IN with my bike in the back, got a cheap motel room, and spent the next five days riding the country roads in that part of the state. I picked Goshen because it's surrounded by several Amish communities, and I hoped for opportunities to interact with them. Interesting trip!

The rural roads are beautiful by themselves, but I several times I came across an Amish buggy with a family inside. I'd ride up alongside and engage them in conversation. In one case I got invited to their farm where I was served cold lemonade and given a tour of the barn. Loved it! And I learned a lot about Amish life, including the 3-week summer classes all the children are required to attend so that they can learn the Old German used exclusively in Amish services.

Going into that trip I saw the Amish as quaint and admirable. They turn their back on contemporary culture in order to maintain a simple, godly life. They work hard, place a high value on family, and care for their own without help from the government. They are principled, committed, and live out the meaning of community.

Last night we watched a PBS documentary on the Amish and some of the challenges facing their lifestyle. It touched briefly on some of the things I learned on that bicycling trip, but only lightly.

Behind all the hard work and inter-dependence is a religion that punishes any member of the community for offenses as minor as violating the strict dress code or the wrong hair style, and dozens of other offenses. The offender is shunned, excluded from community interaction and meetings until they adequately repent.
And a hypocrisy that doesn't allow driving a car but allows one to pay an "Englishman" (their name for someone outside the Amish community) to drive them wherever they want to go.
A hypocrisy that doesn't allow the use of electricity but allows them to ride in the Englishman's car to a factory where they use electric machines and tools to build RV's.

Englishmen are outside the faith, reprobate. Their worship isn't acceptable because it takes place in English, not Old German. Their men shave. Their women wear dresses that show legs and arms. And they have adopted modern ways that draw people into sin (zippers).

That bicycle trip opened my eyes to see more than a hardworking, close-knit community of people who rely on each other. I also saw a legalistic community that bullies each other into a random (non-biblical) list of rules and regulations applied inconsistently, but which, when broken, are met with cruel punishment. They all treated me with graciousness, a kindness that masked their judgment.

FWIW