Kellen’s first steps at 9 months!
Senator Mark Hatfield Dies at 89
My kids generation isn’t really going to know much about this man, but when I was their age, he was an important figure in our political system, in the evangelical Christian movement in the US, and in my life as a young man struggling with my position on war (Viet Nam).
A former senator and governor (Oregon), and Navy officer, Mark was among the first Americans to view the destruction at Hiroshima at the end of WW2. This experience shaped much of his later critical positions on the Viet Nam and Iraq wars and his leanings toward pacifism, while maintaining a conservative Republican Party political leadership position.
Mark was also a devout and outspoken evangelical Christian who defied many of the popular perceptions and categories associated with this conservative religious worldview.
I did not and still do not agree with him on many of his positions, but I do admire that he was a man of his convictions, who did not waiver from them because of changes in culture and politics or political pressure. We need more leaders like him.
The Ride Around Lake Michigan
On July 1, 2011, I met two friends (David Dillon and Joel Hamernick) at the McDonald’s restaurant on the Chicago Skyway. The sky was overcast and rain predicted, and dangerous heat warnings issued for later in the day. We set off and soon ran into some real rain which was rather heavy at times and lasted until we got well into Michigan. We got wet.
Here is a map of our route.
Things cleared up past Holland, and we eventually dried out. Our fist night/destination was Petosky, Michigan. The second day we rode over the Mackinaw Bidge into the UP, and ended up at Munising, MI. for the second night. The third day we rode through the UP into Northern Wisconsin, and ended up at Green Bay for the night. The final day was an easy ride back into Chicago.
We found some wonderful roads in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Here is a photo taken by Joel (while riding) of Me and David riding through Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Park… on the Best Road Ever!
The Machine!
On Manning-Up!
Recently, I received some communication that painted a specific picture of what it looked like to “Man Up” as a leader. It was a very inharmonious image. It was very divisive, derogatory (“girlie-men”) and VERY negative. So negative that I wouldn’t quote it here.
I reject the view put forth in that communication. I find the following view to be much closer to the truth and to describing the kind of leader I want to be:
Harmony
The word harmony carries some serious baggage. Soft, namby-pamby, liberal, weak. Men who value harmony aren’t considered macho. Women who value harmony are considered stereotypical. Success is typically defined with words like hard (sell, line, ass). Successful people are lauded for being argumentative, self-interested, disruptive. But those assumptions are the dregs of a culture that celebrates the lone hero who leads with singular ambition all the while damning the sheep who follow him in harmonious ignorance.
No.
Harmony is a springboard. Harmony supports teamwork. And teamwork creates energy. An energy that fuels creativity.
When focusing on harmony, success becomes defined by different terms. Contribution. Dedication. Cooperation.
Harmony takes bravery, an open heart. It takes lying awake at night when one of your co-workers is having a rough patch and dreaming up ways to help.
In the true sense of karma, to achieve harmony, you must always do the right thing with no eye on a reward. The reward will come because there is trust on the other side.
Harmony creates a workplace where you and all the people around you love to be.
- Jack Covert is the head honcho at 800ceoread. Sally Haldorson is the company’s resident wordsmith.
NOTE: Thanks to Seth Grodin for including this nugget in “What Matters Now”
Step by step how to report a violation of the Gmail Terms of Use policy
Chances are pretty good that:
- If you receive a personal email from someone with a Gmail account who used the BCC feature of Gmail to send a bulk email to a LOT of people at once…
- If the email contains 10 or more pages of uncivil ranting using words like: ungentle, indictments, infidelity, lawlessness, lies, apostasy, inquisitional, repent, rebuke, adulterous, defamatory, inflammatory, slanderous, libelous, torture, abuse, girlie-man, man-up, effeminate, wimpy, navel-gazing, kick-tail, mindlessly, impetuous, marital cheater, guilty, recalcitrant error, fallible, misled, sin-prone, and many more words like it (too many to count)…
…You might be receiving an email that violates the Google Gmail Terms of Use policy – (Click the link to read Section 3 of the policy and judge for yourself)!
If you want to report this misuse of Gmail to Google, you can and you should by following the Next 3 Steps.
Step 1
Go to this page titled: I would like to report a Gmail user who has sent messages that violate the Gmail Program Policies and/or Terms of Use. At the top of this screen Google states their appreciation of your report:
We appreciate reports concerning users who violate Gmail’s Program Policies and/or Terms of Use. Please fill out this form to report an incident to the Gmail Team. We’ll use the information you provide to conduct an investigation, and if we need more details, we’ll contact you.
Step 2
Fill out the form fields:
- Add an email address we can use to contact you: Enter a valid email address for yourself: I have a number of valid addresses to use and entered one of them.
- Your Gmail username (if you have one): my personal Gmail address is rbirkey@gmail.com, so I would enter “rbirkey”
- Full Gmail username of the person involved in the incident: In my case I would enter the 6 characters (SXBXEX) before “@gmail.com” of the person I am reporting
- Email headers of the questionable message: This is a bit harder. Most email software is not set to display the full headers of email by default. You have to go into your email software and find the menu item where it says essentially “display full headers,” or “display long headers.” In the case of Apple Mail, the menu command is found at: “View > Message > Long Headers” If you are using Gmail, the “Show Original” command is found in a drop down menu in the right top corner of the email message window. See yellow highlight in image below or follow the help that Gmail offers on this page at: “To see headers in Gmail, click ‘More options,’ and then click ‘Show original.’ For instructions on how to view headers in other webmail providers, please visit: http://www.spamcop.com/help_with_headers/.”
When you select this option on the email you are reporting, a separate browser window or tab will most likely open displaying the raw code of the email. Copy everything from the top down to where the body content begins. Your long headers should look something like this:
Delivered-To: username@domain.com
Received: by 10.68.56.234 with SMTP id d10cs152150pbq;
Sun, 19 Jun 2011 02:38:37 -0700 (PDT)
Received: by 10.101.167.36 with SMTP id u36mr2805790ano.125.1308476316788;
Sun, 19 Jun 2011 02:38:36 -0700 (PDT)
Return-Path:
Received: from we.epuv.net (79-101-157-161.dynrfbkamic.ighsp.telekovbm.rs [79.101.157.161])
by mx.google.com with ESMTP id j18si8341745ann.35.2011.06.19.02.38.34;
Sun, 19 Jun 2011 02:38:35 -0700 (PDT)
Received-SPF: neutral (google.com: 79.101.157.161 is neither permitted nor denied by best guess record for domain of dshedghk@qosrwedfb.net) client-ip=79.101.157.161;
Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; spf=neutral (google.com: 79.101.157.161 is neither permitted nor denied by best guess record for domain of dshkredf@qosrvbn.net) smtp.mail=dshkredf@qosrvb.net
Received: from [121.172.146.183] ([151.136.197.128] helo=localhost.localdomain)
by smtp1.wjdzwdeerg.com (envelope-from )
(ecelerity 3.0.22.936492 r(31834)) with ESMTP
id 03eE-630-9492e887Y3; Sun, 19 Jun 2011 11:34:41 +0100
To: username@domain.com
Message-Id: <201106190938.PYG462@fjgc.net>
Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2011 11:33:12 +0100
Sender: dshk@qosr.net
From: “Gucci Louis.Vuitton”
Mime-Version: 1.0
Subject: Replica-SHOP : Luxury Watches, Bags, Shoes gcm
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset=”us-ascii”
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
The reason for this step is that this information reveals to Gmail exactly where the email came from, and what path it took to arrive in your email inbox. The reason this is important is that email spammers and mis-users like to try to “spoof” or hide where their emails are coming from. The “long headers” make that a much harder thing to do. They are used to verify that the email did in fact come from the source you think it came from.
- Enter the Original subject line of the questionable message: In my example case the Email subject line is: “Replica-SHOP : Luxury Watches, Bags, Shoes gcm”
- Enter the Content of the questionable message *(Please paste the entire body of the message in the provided space above.): In my example case it would be: “Super Replicas – Luxury Watches, Bags, Jewelry, Phones, Shoes – Unbelievable Pricing! Watch shows your status! Girls love cool watch! wio”
- Additional information: Provide any additional information about your experience that is pertinent: In my case I might say… “I believe sxbxex@gmail.com is violating your Terms of Use Policy and making a bad name for the Google and Gmail brand names. The sender refuses to remove people from his BCC List and sends offensive and untruthful information in an uncivil tone and manner including slander, libel and abusiveness.”
- Check “Yes” or “No” to “Did the message appear to be from someone impersonating Google?”: In my personal case the sender was using their real Gmail address and not trying to spoof or hide it, so I checked “No.”
Step 3
Review your answers and information for completeness and accuracy and then press “Submit”
That’s it! However, I suggest you repeat this process for every email you receive that is of this nature.
What to do about offensive personal bulk email?
I have recently experienced how offensive it is to receive regular bulk private emails from a person you know, filled with their misguided rants and abusive and defamatory charges about other people you also know. There is no doubt that these types of fraudulent, misguided, objectionable and harassing emails reveal much about the perverse character and narcissistic motives of the person sending the email messages (it’s all about THEM!). You soon grow weary of the virtual yelling and abuse blasted out to you and your friends and you just don’t want to see it any more.
In such a case, a very polite and civil person might try to respond to the offensive sender asking to be removed from “the list.” You may either receive no reply, or a response to the effect that they “cannot” remove you from their list for a variety of excuses like: lack of time, money, other resources, etc. Either response actually means that they choose to continue offending you and others on “the list” and simply will not honor your request.
Many people in this situation will simply take a final step and treat the email like commercial email SPAM (which is illegal), and use the built-in features of their email software to create an email rule or filter to automatically block or trash future emails from the offensive source, and be done with it.
However, there is an additional step that you should consider taking, given the over-the-top offensive and abusive nature of this kind of behavior!
Most, if not all Internet service providers (Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, etc.) require an email account holder to agree to a “Terms of Use” policy in order to receive an account to use their email services. This is definitely true of Google’s Gmail.
Gmail’s Terms of Use states in Section 3:
“You shall not, shall not agree to, and shall not authorize or encourage any third party to: (i) use the Service to upload, transmit or otherwise distribute any content that is unlawful, defamatory, harassing, abusive, fraudulent, obscene, contains viruses, or is otherwise objectionable as reasonably determined by Google.”
First, if you feel that you are in danger, we suggest contacting your local authorities. For nuisance emails, we suggest setting up a filter in Gmail to send mail from the sender directly to your trash. If you have a Gmail address, please read How do I set up filters? for instructions.
Because message headers and senders can be spoofed using a variety of means, we’re unable to take action on any user without further verification. In accordance with state and federal law, it is Google’s policy only to provide information about a specific Gmail user pursuant to a valid third party subpoena or other appropriate legal process. You can report a Gmail user who is violating Gmail policies here.
We apologize for any inconvenience, and we’re sorry that you’re receiving such messages.
People who misuse technology services in this way should be reported for a number of very good reasons:
- They are revealing a lack of personal integrity (infidelity) by first agreeing to a Terms of Use policy in order to receive their email account, and then by ignoring it in practice.
- They reveal a lack of maturity and understanding about the moral foundations of a civil society. We can’t have a civil society if people don’t act with civility.
- They degrade the name of the company or brand that is providing the email service to them (Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.)
- They add to the overall need for increasing controls and laws governing technology, which takes away from an open Internet and the degree of freedom we all enjoy.
- They need to feel the consequences for their personal actions and choices.
- It’s the right thing to do.
I hope that this information proves to be helpful to you if you ever find yourself in this unfortunate situation.
- Yahoo! Terms of Use Policy
- Hotmail Terms of Use Policy
- Apple Email Terms of Use
- Google Gmail Terms of Use
- FTC on SPAM
- FCC on CAN-SPAM
- CAN-SPAM Act of 2003
Top 10 – SPAM Producing Countries (2010):
- USA : 15.6%
- Brazil : 11.2%
- India : 5.6%
- Venezuela : 4.4%
- Rep. of Korea : 3.8%
- Ukraine : 3.7%
- Poland : 3.6%
- Romania : 3.3%
- Germany : 2.9%
- Russia : 2.4%
Global Spam Volumes and SPAM as a Percentage of all Email
An Educational Video about SPAM from Google Gmail
Weekend at Road America
My staff at Headstand Media gave me tickets to the AHRMA Vintage Motorcycle Races at Road America held this past weekend. I rode up to the event on Friday, June 10 with friends Dale Craft, Dale Stoffer and brother-in-law Stan Guillaume. Here are some photos and captions from the weekend.
LINKS:
Thoughts on Sin on a Sunday Morning
An important exerpt from The Great Sin, a chapter from Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis.
The Christians are right: it is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began. Other vices may sometimes bring people together: you may find good fellowship and jokes and friendliness among drunken people or unchaste people. But pride always means enmity – it is enmity. And not only enmity between man and man, but enmity to God.
In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that – and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison – you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.
That raises a terrible question. How is it that people who are quite obviously eaten up with Pride can say they believe in God and appear to themselves very religious? I am afraid it means they are worshipping an imaginary God. They theoretically admit themselves to be nothing in the presence of this phantom God, but are really all the time imagining how He approves of them and thinks them far better than ordinary people: that is, they pay a pennyworth of imaginary humility to Him and get out of it a pound’s worth of Pride towards their fellow-men. I suppose it was of those people Christ was thinking when He said that some would preach about Him and cast out devils in His name, only to be told at the end of the world that He had never known them. And any of us may at any moment be in this death-trap. Luckily, we have a test. Whenever we find that our religious life is making us feel that we are good – above all, that we are better than someone else – I think we may be sure that we are being acted on, not by God, but by the devil. The real test of being in the presence of God is, that you either forget about yourself altogether or see yourself as a small, dirty object. It is better to forget about yourself altogether.
(Emphasis, mine!)
Thoughts on moral performance based faith
“… those who understand the gospel cannot possibly look down on anyone, since they were saved by sheer grace, not by their perfect doctrine or strong moral character.”
“Another mark of the moral-performance narrative is a constant need to find fault, win arguments, and prove that all opponents are not just mistaken but dishonest sellouts. However, when the gospel is deeply grasped, our need to win arguments is removed, and our language becomes gracious. We don’t have to ridicule our opponents, but instead we can engage them respectfully.”
“People who live in the moral-performance narrative use sarcastic, self-righteous putdown humor, or have no sense of humor at all. Lewis speaks of “the unsmiling concentration upon Self, which is the mark of hell.” The gospel, however, creates a gentle sense of irony. We find a lot to laugh at, starting with our own weaknesses. They don’t threaten us anymore because our ultimate worth is not based on our record or performance.”
– Tim Keller: The Prodigal God, and The Gospel Creates a Gentle Sense of Irony
I resonate with these thoughts as I reflect on my own spiritual journey and process of transformation. – Randy
Thoughts on Pharisaism
“It is in Jesus’ meeting with the Pharisees that the old and the new are most clearly contrasted. The correct understanding of this meeting is of the greatest significance for the understanding of the gospel as a whole.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. Their very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be ‘cured’ against one’s will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.”
– C. S. Lewis, God in the Dock
“There is nothing more ugly than an orthodoxy without understanding or compassion.” — Francis Schaeffer
It is also interesting to me to note how much more Christ talked about the sin of the Pharisees, than just about any other sin. I have learned from my own life and through the shared experiences of others to never underestimate the capacity of the human psyche for self-deception and self-idolization.












