Letter Never Sent

I was watching Equilibrium and had to come home to refresh my memory of what the tetragrammaton refers to. The use and importance of language is an important theme of the bible. Think about the words of creation ‘Let there be light’, Adam’s naming of the animals, the tower of Babel story, the divine logos of the New Testament (in the beginning was the word), I am the alpha and omega (the first and last letters of the alphabet), etc.

From Yahweh, New Life Assembly:

The covenantal name of Creator in the Hebrew Bible is written with the four consonants: Yodh He Waw He. This name is known as the Tetragrammaton (Greek for “the four letters”). Although the Tetragrammaton was pronounced freely at the time the Torah and Prophets were written, its holiness in Judaism is such that it is no longer pronounced, except under very rare circumstances. Many religious Jews are offended if one should pronounce or misuse this name.

Many religious Jews have stringent rules that apply to writing any of the names of the Creator. For example, once Yahweh’s name is written it is to be neither erased nor discarded. It must be stored. This is why you see circumlocutions like “G-d,” which do not need to be kept. (Recent rulings indicate that use in computer files or displays does not constitute erasing.)
Most English translations of the Bible represent the Tetragrammaton with “LORD” or “GOD” in all capital letters.

Related:

I don’t know why I list these. Actually, I do know why. It’s a paranoid compulsion.

10 Dec, Tue, 07:42:28 buyercling152.ncsc.mil Netscape 4 Windows NT

NCSC.mil belongs to the NSA´s National Computer Security Center. They got to my site from a google search on “feinstein mi-5” which maybe refers to comments Senator Feinstein made regarding the creation of an MI-5 type domestic spying organization. Although, maybe it’s one of the NSA’s webcrawling bots. I have no idea what ‘buyercling’ refers to in their host name.

No referrer.

09 Dec, Mon, 15:22:34 WCS1-SCOTT.NIPR.MIL Netscape 3 Other
09 Dec, Mon, 15:22:34 WCS2-SCOTT.NIPR.MIL Netscape 3 Other

Or, maybe one of those giant machines like what kept Darth Vader alive? Could also be a really swanky S&M dungeon or his personal entrance to Hell to consult with his political advisor.

Cheney’s Home Sending Bad Vibrations: Construction Blasts Have D.C. Folks Shuddering, Speculating:

Navy spokeswoman Cate Mueller described the work as “infrastructure and utility upgrades.” She said that officials are continually monitoring the project and have not discovered any physical damage to buildings on observatory grounds. The vibrations from the blasts are below regulatory standards for construction in the city, she added.

“If people came to us with damage, we would work with them on the claim,” Mueller said. “Some neighbors are concerned. We take that seriously. We’re doing what we can to make things better.”

Longtime residents said they have never heard such sounds coming from the Naval Observatory. Because they live in the nation’s capital, however, many say they are resigned to living in a secretive world.

“Yeah, I’d like to know more,” said Carol Hindle, who lives on Davis Street. “But I do not trust that what I hear would be the whole truth. This is Washington, after all.

NY Times: Lawmakers Want Cabinet Post for an Intelligence Director:

The leaders stopped short of endorsing one of the most contentious ideas for intelligence change being widely debated in Washington — the creation of an additional domestic intelligence agency like the British MI-5 — even as they recognized the F.B.I.’s weaknesses in conducting domestic counterterrorism operations. But they said they were open to further study of such proposals.

The idea of creating an American version of MI-5 has gained support as the Bush administration, Congress and outside experts have all tried to grapple with the difficulties of tracking terrorists once they are inside the United States. Widespread criticism of the F.B.I.’s performance before Sept. 11 raised questions about whether counterterrorism operations should be stripped from the bureau and turned over to an independent agency. Still, deep concerns over civil liberties and other constitutional issues have made both the administration and Congress reluctant to endorse the idea.

The proposal to create a director of national intelligence closely mirrors legislation introduced last summer by Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California. Ms. Feinstein said in June that a director of national intelligence was necessary to “coordinate our intelligence and antiterrorism efforts” and to make certain that “the sort of communication problems that prevented the various elements of our intelligence community from working together effectively before Sept. 11 never happen again.”

Old South Goes With the Wind: Entrepreneur and His Workers Reflect Region’s Racial Transformation

Indians now own 60 of the 208 Dairy Queens in Georgia. Half of Riz’s workforce is Indian. “Forget the white kids with the studs in the tongue,” Riz says. “Indians are gonna work for you. At the beginning, they work for minimum wage. Then little raise, little raise, slowly, slowly. Everyone live together; they are saving money, six people in household working, they bank 80 percent of their money and use 20 percent for expenses. They don’t drink, no clubs, no fancy clothes. Suddenly, they have $60,000 in the bank. Then they will buy the Subway or the Blimpie.”

But Riz worries about the second generation. No vision. Where’s the next young entrepreneur ready to climb out of the low-wage landscape? “These people just want to be the Riz,” says Riz with concern. “You can’t copy the Riz. You must build your own entity. The second generation wants the short cut.”