Scamps — unscrupulous and often mischievous people; rascals; rogues; scalawags

Schemingly — making sly, underhanded, crafty plans

School — to educate; teach; train

Scurrilous — characterized by or using low buffoonery; coarsely jocular or derisive

Skunks — thoroughly contemptible people

And now you’ve had your delightfully delicious daily dictionary dose.

I suppose you thought this would be a politically proclived post pertaining to one or more or all of the following:

• The Benghazi attack and cover-up
• The IRS abuse of power and cover-up
• The we-won’t-read-it-just-pass-it approach to federal legislating
• The stab-in-the-back, look-ma-no-warrant email tapping foisted on the AP
• The meet-my-fiancée shameless brazenness of that married Christian leader
• The formerly-against-illegal-immigration about-face of that Tea Party favorite
• The cheerful I-will-lie-now-and-apologize-after-damaging-my-opponent politicking
• Veteran politicians corrupting the freshmen

Too bad.

Then again, maybe you had something else in mind. Please use the comment section below to fess up.

Maybe you thought I was trying to say that our school has been targeted by defamatory Mephitis mephitis.

PS: I made up that last definition for scandalous. Seems sensible enough to me.

So I say, “Three cheers for Officer James of the Portland Police Bureau!”

Now three more cheers for Mr. Mark James.

And a whole bunch of quacks, honks, chirps, tweets, and cheeps.

Thank you, sir! And thank you for your service as well.

(And a note to the speeder: Dropping the ducks out to cover your tracks was good as a one-time trick. Slow down now!)

So do grace and love.

“Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Romans 5:20).

“Love covereth all sins” (Proverbs 10:12).

Sin, repented of and properly dealt with, needs no further review and regurgitation.

When we insist on consequences over grace and love, we sow for a bitter harvest.

I don’t wish that harvest on anyone. Especially on myself.

So which will matter most to me in my relationships with those who fail?

Let me allow grace and love to triumph in my heart!

“Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7).

CAPTURED!!! The hunt is over. The search is done. The terror is over. And justice has won. Suspect in custody.

— Boston Police Dept. (@Boston_Police) April 20, 2013

Following an intense manhunt that caused chaos in Massachusetts and riveted the rest of the nation, law enforcement finally captured the second Boston Marathon bombing suspect on Friday night.

Following a short standoff in the backyard of a residence in a Watertown neighborhood, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was taken into custody and arrested by Boston Police.

CBS New York

Praise God, the authorities have the young Tsarnaev! (Yes, young; he’s only six months older than my youngest!)

This afternoon I prayed for Dzhokar a bit. (And for others involved.) I prayed he would be captured alive and with no further deaths and mayhem. (Yes, yes — of course he deserves to die. That’s not the point of this post, OK?)

I prayed for this young fellow because The Authority — the King of Kings — still seeks for him. (Apparently, Allah presently has this alleged terrorist, aka Boston Bomber #2.)

The Good Shepherd looks for a lost lamb for whom He gave His life!

How many followers of Jesus will pray for this young man’s redemption?

If you are a Christian, will you pray for his salvation?

This post applies to you…even if you do not use WordPress!

I’m here with a message for you…not about WordPress…but about practicing safe passwords.

Four years ago I wrote about Pitching Pitiful Passwords.

This morning I was reminded of a simpler, yet more effective, password tactic:

Long, simple passwords are better, more effective, and easier to remember!

Disclaimer: I cannot personally vouch for the accuracy or effectiveness of the information conveyed in the above cartoon.

Can you?

It’s about your readers — you’d better listen up.

Pamela Wilson, in her blog post 8 Incredibly Simple Ways to Get More People to Read Your Content, notes:

Well, a quick Googling of Amazon led me two to books I’d like to read too:

• How to Start a Blog That People Will Read (ebook)
• Breathe Life into Your Story (paperback)

This is all stuff I need to remember here at Ain’t Complicated. And at Anabaptists and Panting Hart.

Are you a writer? What practices do you have that help you engage readers?

Are you a reader? (You must be…) What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s) or on the first screen to decide whether to read on or move along?