Stand by for a Ninja rant. So about three years ago, Microsoft (M$$, Microcrap, Microdooshbag) created this thing called the Xbox 360. A great console, I was 100% behind it, "well done Microsoft" I said. They made a very powerful, beautiful looking machine, and some excellent games. Around two months ago, I heard of some problem with these "red rings of death", or three flashing red lights indicating a hardware failure. A lot of people were experiencing this, but not anything worth screaming about. Time went by, and it got worse and worse, until Microsoft extended the standard one-year warranty to three years, for three flashing red lights. So it was obviously a big problem, attracting attention despite M$$ attempts to quell the raging masses. Well about a week ago, my Xbox 360 started having bad graphical errors, bars across the screen and such. A day later, one red ring was flashing and I was getting an error message on the screen. So I called Microdooshbag and asked them about it, and was told by Tom from Kentucky (with a heavy Indian accent...) that my Xbox was not covered by warranty and I would be charged $100 to have it fixed... WHAT?!?!?! So I start doing some research and discover that more than half of the 360s that I know of have broken in some way to make them unplayable, but only a fraction are covered by the extended warranty. Thanks a lot, Microcrap. So now my Xbox Live account, my games, and my console have been turned into a stack of paperweights, useless pieces of plastic. It's time to stop bashing Sony for not having games, at least their freaking console works...

On an unrelated note, does anyone know how to make a 360 flash three red lights?

It's interesting how fast time passes. This summer I went to the Philippines for around a month. The objective of the trip was to work with kids living on the street and in 3 group homes that my church supports. When you go over and meet the people, ask a young girl on the street what her name is and her age, it makes it personal. It's changed my life in some very vivid ways.

I'm excited to hear about all the good games coming out this fall, there are some really sweet titles due for release, unfortunately my Xbox 360 died. It's 1 ring of death instead of 3, so it's not covered under warranty, thanks M$$soft. Been playing some World of Warcraft though.

I saw Transformers the other night, 9 out of 10, it was so good. Completely comic book action and story, but that made it really cool. I also saw Pirates 3 (wow) and Live Free or Die Hard (blew my mind). Unfortunately I'm now completely out of money...

I also watched shooter, it was really great, and it had some interesting political themes in it as well. I really hope we are going to get out of Iraq soon, I've got a buddy over there. Lift up Justin Thacker in your prayers. He's deployed in the Marine Corps.

What has happened to the youth of today? What are we focused on? We are treated like children, our minds continue to think like children. We are focused on pleasure, our day to day activities revolve around the next piece of fun. We are cared for like children, so important responsibility and work skills are not developed until college or after. We measure everything by our first reactions, not bothering to analyze or critically examine anything. There is a critical breakdown of maturity and growth in today's youth.

In the early 1700s the Great Awakening was led by Ministers such as Jonathan Edwards, who believed that a revival would be led by the youth. I am convinced that we are in need of another revival. I've got to respect and support efforts like 7/22, and the growing youth groups in this area. Hopefully, we can awaken our generation.

What symbol defines you? What visual mark represents your life experiences and beliefs? The thing that affects your life the most.



The Cross.

I watched a movie called The Road to Guantanamo last night. The movie is very moving. The stories of these men, and the descriptions and reports are very powerful. While hundreds of people are being held there, only 10 have been charged, and none have been found guilty of a crime, I have to ask, how can we continue our actions without justification that meets our own beliefs and laws? I'm all for intelligence and defence of our country, but I can't see that we are doing it right.

The President's State of the Union Address was somewhat weak last week... " In Afghanistan, we helped liberate an oppressed people." Unfortunately, Afghanistan is still very much in turmoil. A lot of the country is back in the control of the Taliban! They are rebuilding schools to convince the citizens to side with them, schools that they blew up just a few months ago...
The president also commented on other countries developing nuclear and biological weapons. I don't condone these countries, many of them are very oppressive and persecutive towards their citizens. How long will we insist on being the only superpower with advanced weapons? How long can we be trusted to use them wisely?
Find the entire address here.

A kidnapping mystery was recently solved in Kirkwood, Missouri. Michael Devlin, 41, abducted an eleven year old boy in 2002. The boy was kept at Devlin's apartment four years, he had access to the internet, phones, and was allowed to go outside during this time. Jan 8th Devlin kidnapped another eleven year old boy and was caught this Friday. Read this story. Devlin is said to be entering a not guilty plea on Thursday due to lack of evidence. I lived in Kirkwood Missouri for several years during my early childhood.

Rest assured, if someone did this to one of my brothers, they would be much safer going to prison than walking out.