Monday, July 31, 2006

Prager Podcast Power

Talk Radio Online::Show: "The Language of God With Dennis Prager
Prager H2: Guest: Francis Collins, head of the Human Genome Project and one of the world's leading scientists. His book is The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief."

Now leave before I taunt you a second time...

OpinionJournal - Best of the Web Today: "'Tour de France winner Floyd Landis denied on Thursday taking performance-enhancing drugs during the race and said he would fight to clear his name after testing positive for the male sex hormone testosterone,' Reuters reports.

Only the French would consider the presence of testosterone in a man's system suspicious."

Oh No!

The Onion - America's Finest News Source: "Report: Not Even Green Tea Can Help You Now"


Maybe the red wine will compensate.

Disaster

Rocky Mountain News: Local: "The Big Thompson flood in 1976 is the deadliest natural disaster in Colorado history.

On July 31, 1976, a four-hour super storm dumped 12 inches of rain into the mountains west of Drake, beginning about 6:30 p.m.

A wall of water barreled down more than 20 miles of the Big Thompson Canyon, killing 144 people and causing $35.5 million in property damage.

By best estimates, as many as 3,000 residents and vacationers were in the canyon that Saturday night.

For many, the weekend was to stretch into Monday for a three-day celebration of the 100th anniversary of Colorado statehood.

Today, people will gather in the canyon to remember those who died in the flood."

A group of Campus Crusade Staff women, hiking during a break in their summer assignment at CSU, were among those killed. This was, to my knowledge, the deadliest disaster in CCC history.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

The Achilles Heel of Theology

OpinionJournal - Best of the Web Today: "The Detroit News goes out for a drink with a visitor from the east:

U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who was in town Sunday to help Gov. Jennifer Granholm campaign for her re-election bid, took time to take a jab at the Bush administration for its lack of leadership in the Israeli-Lebanon conflict.

'If I was president, this wouldn't have happened,' said Kerry during a noon stop at Honest John's bar and grill in Detroit's Cass Corridor.

Now, our first thought when we read this was: Yeah, if Kerry were president, he wouldn't spend his days moping around some bar in Detroit. But then we realized that's not what he meant. He meant that if he were president, Hezbollah wouldn't be waging war on Israel. Just like, as John Edwards said in 2004, 'we will stop juvenile diabetes, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and other debilitating diseases. . . . People like Chris Reeve will get out of their wheelchairs and walk again.'

If Kedwards have the power to eliminate war and disease, why don't they use it? This is the age-old problem of evil:

Why does [John Kerry] allow evil? If He is all powerful, then He should be able to prevent it. If He is omnipotent and does nothing about evil, then we suspect that there are limits to His goodness, that there is something wrong with Him, that He is not all good. Perhaps He has an evil streak, or is truly malicious and we are merely His toys--expendable and counting for nothing.

Or perhaps, like Al Gore, he doesn't exist."

I heard for years (from Bono, TV and other megaphones of pop culture) that only televangelists made outrageous claims like this. I guess the impulse to claim "savior" in return for personal gain is strong for all sides of the culture. Huh.

Of course it is much worse to make wild claims in the name of God than making wild claims and acting like you are God. "Thou shall not carry the name of God in a worthless manner, for the Lord will not hold guiltless the one who carries his name in a worthless manner." Exodus 20:1

[Shudder]

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Hoist the mainsail!

Posted by Picasa

A New Champion Pie


Today I was caught up to the third heaven and given a foretaste of the wedding feast of the Lamb. This means of pie grace was the three berry served at a cafe on Charles St. here in Boston. I cannot mention the name of the establishment due to national security concerns. Suffice to say it could easily be used to induce truth telling by the most hardened fiend.

The filling was a kin to sweet preserves. The top crust like unto a flaky croissant. The end crust was startling, calling to mind Danish butter cookies. I trembled.

I had this piece of pie for lunch today with a lovely beverage. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Posted by Picasa

Behold the power...


...of this FULLY OPERATIONAL riding mower!

In the long run I'll save a lot of money and time with this. And I had know idea how much fun it would be. I'm the king of the Whirled!! Posted by Picasa

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Quality Education Today

AP Wire | 07/20/2006 | 61 lawmakers demand UW fire instructor over Sept. 11 theory: "Barrett is active in a group of scholars who believe the twin towers were blown up by U.S. government operatives to spark war in the Middle East. His remarks drew intense criticism from politicians who questioned whether he was fit to teach.

After a 10-day review, Farrell said Barrett is a qualified instructor, has good plans for his class and can present his unconventional views as one perspective on the attacks. Farrell stood by his conclusion on Thursday.

'I still have every expectation this will be a very positive educational experience for our students,' he said. 'Some are upset about Mr. Barrett's viewpoints on 9/11 and don't want to pay much attention to what makes for a quality educational experience.'"

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

More money for Govt...by cutting taxes.

From the Wall Street Journal:
Remember the folks who said the tax cuts would "blow a hole in the deficit?" Well, revenues as a share of the economy are now expected to rise this year to 18.3%, slightly above the modern historical average of 18.2%. The remaining budget deficit of a little under $300 billion will be about 2.3% of GDP, which is smaller than in 17 of the previous 25 years. Throw in the surpluses rolling into the states, and the overall U.S. "fiscal deficit" is now economically trivial.

NYT Downsizing

NYT to cut paper size and close plant | Reuters.com: "NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Times Co. (NYT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) plans to narrow the size of its flagship newspaper and close a printing plant, resulting in the loss of 250 jobs, the company said in a story posted on its Web site late on Monday."

I'm sure they will blame the Bush Administration for this cruel maneuver to protect corporate profits.

Interesting Stuff