Here's a student (actually a number of them) blogging on how politically incorrect Campus Crusade's name is.
Foofadilly: "What kind of a name for an organization is that? Campus f---ing CRUSADE for Christ? I feel I should inform my Christian friends that a crusade is not a positive event. It's ethnic slaughter in the name of religion."
This is one reason why anyone in student ministry should be blogging. The conversation is going on on campus. It's just not face to face anymore.
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Campus Diversity
The Leadership Institute's Resources: Speeches: "American campuses are very different from the nation that surrounds them. The differences are especially profound when it comes to politics. The United States is closely divided between the two major parties. No such division exists on any major college campus.
Federal Election Commission records from 2004 show a wide disparity in donations to the two major presidential candidates from employees of colleges and universities.
Employees at Harvard University gave John Kerry $25 for every $1 they gave George W. Bush. At Duke University, the ratio stood at $8 to $1. At Princeton University, a $302 to $1 ratio prevails.
The Kerry/Bush split in the number of donations is even more extreme. John Kerry received 257 donations of $200 or more from Stanford, while his opponent got just 28. At Northwestern, Kerry received 100 contributions and Bush six. Georgetown University donations swung 132 to six in Kerry’s favor."
Read the whole thing. It's unbelievable. No, actually it's very typical, and something we all, if we're honest, know already. There's very little diversity in academia.
Federal Election Commission records from 2004 show a wide disparity in donations to the two major presidential candidates from employees of colleges and universities.
Employees at Harvard University gave John Kerry $25 for every $1 they gave George W. Bush. At Duke University, the ratio stood at $8 to $1. At Princeton University, a $302 to $1 ratio prevails.
The Kerry/Bush split in the number of donations is even more extreme. John Kerry received 257 donations of $200 or more from Stanford, while his opponent got just 28. At Northwestern, Kerry received 100 contributions and Bush six. Georgetown University donations swung 132 to six in Kerry’s favor."
Read the whole thing. It's unbelievable. No, actually it's very typical, and something we all, if we're honest, know already. There's very little diversity in academia.
University Of Iowa Offers Porn Class
TheIowaChannel.com - EDUCATION - University Of Iowa Offers Porn Class: "Some University of Iowa students may be able to get an 'A' in X-rated.
The school will be offering a class on porn in the fall semester.
All 20 student slots have been filled and there's a waiting list.
Grad student Jay Clarkson is teaching the course. But he cautioned that students looking for a cheap thrill will be disappointed. He said no films or other explicit material will be shown in class. Clarkson said the class will examine the impact of porno on mainstream culture."
Hmm. CU Boulder actually has a class that shows pornographic material. There is also a waiting list.
The school will be offering a class on porn in the fall semester.
All 20 student slots have been filled and there's a waiting list.
Grad student Jay Clarkson is teaching the course. But he cautioned that students looking for a cheap thrill will be disappointed. He said no films or other explicit material will be shown in class. Clarkson said the class will examine the impact of porno on mainstream culture."
Hmm. CU Boulder actually has a class that shows pornographic material. There is also a waiting list.
Worthy of Attention - The Uzbek Massacre
Quoted from a letter sent to Instapundit.com -: "As a concerned Muslim who wants to see democracy take root not just in Iraq but all across the Middle East and Central Asia, I despair of the stunning silence in the blogosphere regarding the terrible news from Uzbekistan, a massacre of civilians by the odious Karimov.
What is really depressing is that all the bloggers who made such a song and dance over the Iraqi elections cannot for the life of them be bothered to even MENTION this atrocity, not even in passing."
Read the whole post to find out more.
What is really depressing is that all the bloggers who made such a song and dance over the Iraqi elections cannot for the life of them be bothered to even MENTION this atrocity, not even in passing."
Read the whole post to find out more.
Star Wars fandom: DEFCON 1!
A Small Victory - Star Wars fandom: DEFCON 1!: "I'd say there's three levels of Star Wars fans. There's Level 1: the person who really enjoys the movies and can name all the main characters, but stops short of engaging in a discussion of whether or not Han shot first. A Level 2 fan (of which I would be one) has a more in-depth knowledge of the movie series; recognizes the Star Wars world as one of fantasy but often discusses aspects of it as if it were real; owns action figures, but realizes that Peter Mayhew is not really a Wookiee and wouldn't ask him to do a Wookiee yell if they ever met him. Then there's Level 3. That's the guy who will wait on line months in advance of the premeire of a new SW movie. At the wrong theater. And demand that Lucas show the film in the theater he's on line at. A Level 3 lives in a world inhabited by people who are one light saber duel away from never coming back to this side of reality. He or she is the person who dresses their dog in a Vader costume or names their son Luke Skywalker."
Which are you David Lewis?
Which are you David Lewis?
Newsweek Meets 21st Century War - Austin Bay
Newsweek Meets 21st Century War - On Point Commentary by Austin Bay StrategyPage.com: "We have enemies looking for 'operational opportunities' on a global scale. Al Qaeda has sympathizers who are cued to react to Western news reports that 'insult Islam.' The 'fifth-columnist' throws the first stone. If he can get a couple of bored teenage boys to throw a second and third stone, he's done his job. Al Qaeda gets another 'the Muslim street is angry' story and perhaps a bloodbath.
Is this a fanciful scenario? Indian military analyst Bahukutumbi Raman claimed the Afghan riot riots in the wake of the Newsweek phony story were incited by 'well-organized agents of the Hizb ut-Tahrir terror gang.'
Welcome, Newsweek, to the 21st century -- and 21st century war."
Is this a fanciful scenario? Indian military analyst Bahukutumbi Raman claimed the Afghan riot riots in the wake of the Newsweek phony story were incited by 'well-organized agents of the Hizb ut-Tahrir terror gang.'
Welcome, Newsweek, to the 21st century -- and 21st century war."
More Evidence of the Right War...
in the right place and the right time.
Instapundit.com -: "SIGNS OF PROGRESS IN SYRIA?
Beset by U.S. attempts to isolate his country and facing popular expectations of change, Syrian President Bashar Assad will move to begin legalizing political parties, purge the ruling Baath Party, sponsor free municipal elections in 2007 and formally endorse a market economy, according to officials, diplomats and analysts. . . .
Emboldened opposition leaders, many of whom openly support pressure by the United States even if they mistrust its intentions, said the measures were the last gasp of a government staggering after its hasty and embarrassing troop withdrawal last month from neighboring Lebanon.
The debate over the changes comes during a remarkable surge in what constitutes dissent in this country of 18 million. For the first time in years, opposition figures and even government allies are openly speculating on the fate of a party that, in some fashion, has ruled Syria since 1963 in the name of Arab nationalism, and today faces perhaps its greatest crisis.
As Jonah Goldberg notes, the rush of democratization has reached the point where the Post isn't even treating this as big news."
Instapundit.com -: "SIGNS OF PROGRESS IN SYRIA?
Beset by U.S. attempts to isolate his country and facing popular expectations of change, Syrian President Bashar Assad will move to begin legalizing political parties, purge the ruling Baath Party, sponsor free municipal elections in 2007 and formally endorse a market economy, according to officials, diplomats and analysts. . . .
Emboldened opposition leaders, many of whom openly support pressure by the United States even if they mistrust its intentions, said the measures were the last gasp of a government staggering after its hasty and embarrassing troop withdrawal last month from neighboring Lebanon.
The debate over the changes comes during a remarkable surge in what constitutes dissent in this country of 18 million. For the first time in years, opposition figures and even government allies are openly speculating on the fate of a party that, in some fashion, has ruled Syria since 1963 in the name of Arab nationalism, and today faces perhaps its greatest crisis.
As Jonah Goldberg notes, the rush of democratization has reached the point where the Post isn't even treating this as big news."
Froggy Ruminations: Why the Left Doesn't Get It
Froggy Ruminations: Why the Left Doesn't Get It: "In significant contrast to the media’s dismissal of this event, is their hyper-criticality of the U.S. Military. Over the last few years, we have gone through countless news cycles with the MSM doing backloops through its collective grommet to find some kind of dirt on American troops and often, in the process, becoming willing dupes of our enemies’ propaganda efforts. If they happen to catch it on film they will demonize the most junior soldier for using justifiable force against the terrorists trying to kill him, only playing enough footage so as to shed the worst light possible.
What did our troops do to the left and the MSM to deserve this treatment? Was it putting aside their families and careers in order to serve something larger than themselves? Was it cheering when the President of the United States declared unequivocally that terrorist were no longer going to murder Americans with impunity? Was it for having the spine to stand up for noble purposes like maintaining the security of our Nation and securing freedom for the oppressed? It was all of these things."
Well said.
What did our troops do to the left and the MSM to deserve this treatment? Was it putting aside their families and careers in order to serve something larger than themselves? Was it cheering when the President of the United States declared unequivocally that terrorist were no longer going to murder Americans with impunity? Was it for having the spine to stand up for noble purposes like maintaining the security of our Nation and securing freedom for the oppressed? It was all of these things."
Well said.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Blogs May Not Be as Influential as Some Think | Personal Democracy Forum
Blogs May Not Be as Influential as Some Think | Personal Democracy Forum: "Bloggers are often touted as influential instigators, feeding buzz-worthy topics to the mainstream media they so disdain, and even guiding discussion in other communication channels. Not so, says a new study analyzing the impact of political blogs on the national conversation leading up to the 2004 presidential election. Indeed, Buzz, Blogs, and Beyond: The Internet and the National Discourse in the Fall of 2004 concludes that, while a force to be reckoned with, blogs are merely cogs in the meme machine."
We'll see.
We'll see.
ScrappleFace: Newsweek Told Koran Flush Story Was 'Slam Dunk'
ScrappleFace: Newsweek Told Koran Flush Story Was 'Slam Dunk': "(2005-05-16) -- An unnamed former top government official told a Newsweek magazine reporter that his story, about a U.S. military guard at Guantanamo prison flushing a Koran down a toilet, was 'a slam dunk,' according to the latest apology from Newsweek editor Mark Whitaker.
The magazine's uncorroborated, single-source, hearsay report of the Koran desecration sparked riots in several Muslim countries, killing at least 15 and injuring perhaps 100."
The magazine's uncorroborated, single-source, hearsay report of the Koran desecration sparked riots in several Muslim countries, killing at least 15 and injuring perhaps 100."
Dennis Prager: Newsweek and the rioters
Dennis Prager: Newsweek and the rioters: "Did any Buddhists riot and murder when the Taliban Muslims blew up the irreplaceable giant Buddhist statues in Afghanistan?
Did any Christians riot and murder when an 'artist' produced 'Piss Christ' -- a crucifix immersed in a jar of the 'artist's' urine? When all Christian services and even the wearing of a cross were banned in Saudi Arabia? When Christians are murdered while at prayer in churches by Muslims in Pakistan?
Have any Jews rioted in all the years since it was revealed that Jordanian Muslims used Jewish tombstones in Old Jerusalem as latrines? Or after Palestinians destroyed Joseph's Tomb in 2000 and set fire to the rebuilt tomb in 2003?
It is quite remarkable that many Muslims believe that an American interrogator flushing pages of the Koran is worthy of rioting, but all the torture, slaughter, terror and mass murder done by Muslims in the name of the Koran are unworthy of even a peaceful protest."
Speaking of "Piss Christ", how come "transgressive" artists don't relish the opportunity to bath the Koran in their own urine. Maybe it's because they know what will happen.
Maybe "transgressive" only applies when your pretty confident you won't get the Salman Rushdie treatment.
Cowards.
Did any Christians riot and murder when an 'artist' produced 'Piss Christ' -- a crucifix immersed in a jar of the 'artist's' urine? When all Christian services and even the wearing of a cross were banned in Saudi Arabia? When Christians are murdered while at prayer in churches by Muslims in Pakistan?
Have any Jews rioted in all the years since it was revealed that Jordanian Muslims used Jewish tombstones in Old Jerusalem as latrines? Or after Palestinians destroyed Joseph's Tomb in 2000 and set fire to the rebuilt tomb in 2003?
It is quite remarkable that many Muslims believe that an American interrogator flushing pages of the Koran is worthy of rioting, but all the torture, slaughter, terror and mass murder done by Muslims in the name of the Koran are unworthy of even a peaceful protest."
Speaking of "Piss Christ", how come "transgressive" artists don't relish the opportunity to bath the Koran in their own urine. Maybe it's because they know what will happen.
Maybe "transgressive" only applies when your pretty confident you won't get the Salman Rushdie treatment.
Cowards.
MSM: Behold the double standard...
HughHewitt.com: "When American corporations screw up, the American media whales on them day after day, week after week, and year after year. Think the Exxon Valdez, Union Carbide and Bhopal, The Ford Pinto, Enron.
Now an American media company has committed a huge and grave error leading to widespread unrest and the loss of life. Will the Washington Post Company, Newsweek's owner, suffer similar fallout as those examples listed above? Probably not. The club will protect one of its own."
The similarities to the University should be obvious: Plenty of blame for those outside of the institution, little self-criticism or real debate inside.
The press limits it's own freedom with the blinders of idealogy. That's why new media has arrived.
Now an American media company has committed a huge and grave error leading to widespread unrest and the loss of life. Will the Washington Post Company, Newsweek's owner, suffer similar fallout as those examples listed above? Probably not. The club will protect one of its own."
The similarities to the University should be obvious: Plenty of blame for those outside of the institution, little self-criticism or real debate inside.
The press limits it's own freedom with the blinders of idealogy. That's why new media has arrived.
Monday, May 16, 2005
Education and the Bible
Bible Illiteracy in America: "A REPORT JUST ISSUED BY the Bible Literacy Project (more on this later) suggests that young Americans know very little about the Bible. The report is important, but first things first: A fair number of Americans don't see why teenagers should know anything at all about the Bible.
Scripture begins with God creating the world, but there is something these verses don't tell you: The Bible has itself created worlds. Wherever you stand on the spectrum from devout to atheist, you must acknowledge that the Bible has been a creative force without parallel in history."
An educated person, religious or not, knows the Bible well.
Scripture begins with God creating the world, but there is something these verses don't tell you: The Bible has itself created worlds. Wherever you stand on the spectrum from devout to atheist, you must acknowledge that the Bible has been a creative force without parallel in history."
An educated person, religious or not, knows the Bible well.
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Shocking Revelation of the Decade...
New Survey Finds Huge Gap Between Press and Public on Many Issues: "Asked who they voted for in the past election, the journalists reported picking Kerry over Bush by 68% to 25%. In this sample of 300 journalists, from both newspapers and TV, Democrats outnumbered Republicans by 3 to 1--but about half claim to be Independent. As in previous polls, a majority (53%) called their political orientation “moderate,” versus 28% liberal and 10% conservative."
Fair and balanced? We report, you decide.
Fair and balanced? We report, you decide.
University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire Wages Campaign Against Student Viewpoints
FIRE - University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire Wages Campaign Against Student Viewpoints:
"EAU CLAIRE, Wis., April 27, 2005—The University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire (UWEC) Student Senate has amended its rules to forbid any student-organized activity that promotes a “particular ideological, religious, or partisan viewpoint” from receiving student-fee funding. This new policy directly contradicts the university’s First Amendment obligation to distribute student funds regardless of viewpoint and violates the rights of all UWEC students."
I tell people all the time that the one place in the world where free and open debate is not permitted is the local college campus.
"EAU CLAIRE, Wis., April 27, 2005—The University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire (UWEC) Student Senate has amended its rules to forbid any student-organized activity that promotes a “particular ideological, religious, or partisan viewpoint” from receiving student-fee funding. This new policy directly contradicts the university’s First Amendment obligation to distribute student funds regardless of viewpoint and violates the rights of all UWEC students."
I tell people all the time that the one place in the world where free and open debate is not permitted is the local college campus.
Saturday, May 14, 2005
Interesting Politics of Base Closing
HughHewitt.com: "Want your favorite base to stay open? Then call your senator and talk to their staff about the crucial senate votes looming next week. 202-225-3121."
Read his whole theory.
Read his whole theory.
Friday, May 13, 2005
From Corona to Ventura?
Press-Telegram - PM Updates: "With a proposed net loss of more than 1,500 jobs, Naval Base Ventura County stands to be the biggest loser in California, followed by 1,200 jobs proposed to be transferred out of San Diego County.
``The base remains open and if you count 1,500 jobs out of 18,000, I think we came out of the whole thing very well, but I'd have to say 1,500 jobs lost is 1,500 people,'' Ventura County Supervisor John Flynn said.
Flynn was told that 2,300 Ventura County jobs will transfer to Naval Air Weapons Center China Lake in the Kern County desert, but that 850 will be added from a Navy installation in Corona in Riverside County."
It looks like my Brother in Law may be moving to Ventura. I'm blogging this stuff so that my Sister can get some good intel on these changes until my Brother in Law gets off of an airplane.
Update: Here's the official list of closures from the Defense Dept.
``The base remains open and if you count 1,500 jobs out of 18,000, I think we came out of the whole thing very well, but I'd have to say 1,500 jobs lost is 1,500 people,'' Ventura County Supervisor John Flynn said.
Flynn was told that 2,300 Ventura County jobs will transfer to Naval Air Weapons Center China Lake in the Kern County desert, but that 850 will be added from a Navy installation in Corona in Riverside County."
It looks like my Brother in Law may be moving to Ventura. I'm blogging this stuff so that my Sister can get some good intel on these changes until my Brother in Law gets off of an airplane.
Update: Here's the official list of closures from the Defense Dept.
CA Base Closures
bakersfield.com | Breaking News: "Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has said the closures would save $48.8 billion over 20 years while reshaping the military for America's expected 21st century adversaries.
Rumsfeld's plan calls for a massive shift of U.S. forces that would result in a net loss of 29,005 military and civilian jobs at domestic installations. Overall, he proposes pulling 218,570 military and civilian positions out of some U.S. bases while adding 189,565 positions to others, according to documents obtained by The AP.
The closures and downsizings would occur over six years starting in 2006.
Before closures or downsizings can take effect, the Defense Department's proposal must be approved or changed by a federal base closing commission, and then agreed to by Congress and President Bush, in a process that will run into the fall. In four previous rounds of closures starting in 1988, commissions have accepted 85 percent of bases the Pentagon recommended for closure or consolidation.
Among the major closures Rumsfeld seeks is Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, home to 29 B-1B bombers, half the nation's fleet of the aircraft, and the state's second largest employer. That would deal a potential political setback to Republican freshman Sen. John Thune, who had claimed he could protect the base if elected during his campaign to defeat former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle.
Rumsfeld also recommended closing the Naval Station in Pascagoula, Miss., which barely survived previous base closure rounds. The decision was a blow to Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., who had fought the 1995 round of closures. At stake are 844 military jobs and 112 civilian jobs.
The list of California bases recommended for closure is:
--Armed Forces Reserve Center, Bell
--Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Oakland
--Defense Finance and Accounting Service, San Bernardino
--Defense Finance and Accounting Service, San Diego
--Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Seaside
--Naval Support Activity, Corona
--Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, Detachment Concord
--Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center, Encino
--Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center, Los Angeles
--Onizuka Air Force Station
--Riverbank Army Ammunition Plant"
My Brother in Law works at the base highlighted above. This might mean that his family will have to move. I'm sure these changes will affect many people.
Rumsfeld's plan calls for a massive shift of U.S. forces that would result in a net loss of 29,005 military and civilian jobs at domestic installations. Overall, he proposes pulling 218,570 military and civilian positions out of some U.S. bases while adding 189,565 positions to others, according to documents obtained by The AP.
The closures and downsizings would occur over six years starting in 2006.
Before closures or downsizings can take effect, the Defense Department's proposal must be approved or changed by a federal base closing commission, and then agreed to by Congress and President Bush, in a process that will run into the fall. In four previous rounds of closures starting in 1988, commissions have accepted 85 percent of bases the Pentagon recommended for closure or consolidation.
Among the major closures Rumsfeld seeks is Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, home to 29 B-1B bombers, half the nation's fleet of the aircraft, and the state's second largest employer. That would deal a potential political setback to Republican freshman Sen. John Thune, who had claimed he could protect the base if elected during his campaign to defeat former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle.
Rumsfeld also recommended closing the Naval Station in Pascagoula, Miss., which barely survived previous base closure rounds. The decision was a blow to Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., who had fought the 1995 round of closures. At stake are 844 military jobs and 112 civilian jobs.
The list of California bases recommended for closure is:
--Armed Forces Reserve Center, Bell
--Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Oakland
--Defense Finance and Accounting Service, San Bernardino
--Defense Finance and Accounting Service, San Diego
--Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Seaside
--Naval Support Activity, Corona
--Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, Detachment Concord
--Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center, Encino
--Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center, Los Angeles
--Onizuka Air Force Station
--Riverbank Army Ammunition Plant"
My Brother in Law works at the base highlighted above. This might mean that his family will have to move. I'm sure these changes will affect many people.
View From a Height- Review of Kingdom of Heaven
View From a Height: "In any hands other than Scott's, this movie would have come out as disdain for religious belief. In Scott's hands, it merely warns of the need to rely on God, but keep military necessities in mind, too. It's not critical of religious belief as such, or even as the motivation for action. But it does seem to put a little too much of the blame on the Christians: Guy and Reynaud may have lit the match, but the wood had been drying out for a while. And Saladin really did want the city.
To the extent that the film fails in its big ideas, it's in the conflation of tolerance with truce. Historically, both sides were forced by the other to tolerate. (The Third Crusade, usually presented as a failure, did restore the rights of Christian pilgrims in Jerusalem.) But both sides were also willing to kill and die in large numbers to be the tolerators rather than the tolerated."
I want to see it.
To the extent that the film fails in its big ideas, it's in the conflation of tolerance with truce. Historically, both sides were forced by the other to tolerate. (The Third Crusade, usually presented as a failure, did restore the rights of Christian pilgrims in Jerusalem.) But both sides were also willing to kill and die in large numbers to be the tolerators rather than the tolerated."
I want to see it.
The Campuses, they may be changin'
Hugh Hewitt:
"The message the Robinson-Zywicki election sends is simple, and I think of much wider applicability than just Dartmouth: Colleges and universities are out of touch with large segments of their alums, and those alums do not like the policies and practices they read about at their alma maters."
Maybe there's hope for CU Boulder.
"The message the Robinson-Zywicki election sends is simple, and I think of much wider applicability than just Dartmouth: Colleges and universities are out of touch with large segments of their alums, and those alums do not like the policies and practices they read about at their alma maters."
Maybe there's hope for CU Boulder.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Dennis Prager: The case for Judeo-Christian values: Part V
Dennis Prager: The case for Judeo-Christian values: Part V: " Judeo-Christian values combine the two religions' strengths -- the Jewish emphasis on moral works in this world with the Christian emphasis on keeping God at the center of one's values and works."
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Cheating is "realistic"...
The Corner on National Review Online:
"And so let's shoot down marriage as a realistic option for a happy life, too, early on, with 'CNN in the Classroom,' where a story on infidelity tells high-schoolers: 'the increasing incidence of adultery has some people asking whether fidelity is even a realistic expectation for marriage today.' "
And the increasing incidence of cheating by high schoolers has some people asking whether academic integrity is even a realistic expectation for students today.
Why the hypocritical effort by teachers to block cheating when, according to CNN, cheating in marriage is not a "realistic expectation".
Sheesh.
"We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst." - C.S. Lewis from The Abolition of Man.
"And so let's shoot down marriage as a realistic option for a happy life, too, early on, with 'CNN in the Classroom,' where a story on infidelity tells high-schoolers: 'the increasing incidence of adultery has some people asking whether fidelity is even a realistic expectation for marriage today.' "
And the increasing incidence of cheating by high schoolers has some people asking whether academic integrity is even a realistic expectation for students today.
Why the hypocritical effort by teachers to block cheating when, according to CNN, cheating in marriage is not a "realistic expectation".
Sheesh.
"We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst." - C.S. Lewis from The Abolition of Man.
All the news that's fit to blog...
Sam Jaffe proves (again) why blogs rule: "Four Under-Reported Stories"
There really isn't a slow news day, only slow news people.
There really isn't a slow news day, only slow news people.
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
How do you spell Blogger?
Ironically, the spell check feature on Blogger.com does not include some basic words in it's dictionary. Words like blog, blogger and blogs. How about a little self-respect?
Blogging for dummies
John Hawkins has a list of wisdom for bloggers:
"23) Avoid blogging angry. It may save you a lot of grief.
24) Everybody on the net with an opinion gets hate mail. Don't sweat it.
25) Given that there are plenty of people who've been fired or disciplined at work either for blogging on the job or for something they said on their blog, the fewer people at your job who know about your blog, the better. "
I can tell that I'm not a "big time" blogger because I don't get hate mail. Send me an expletive filled missive so that I can feel better about myself.
"23) Avoid blogging angry. It may save you a lot of grief.
24) Everybody on the net with an opinion gets hate mail. Don't sweat it.
25) Given that there are plenty of people who've been fired or disciplined at work either for blogging on the job or for something they said on their blog, the fewer people at your job who know about your blog, the better. "
I can tell that I'm not a "big time" blogger because I don't get hate mail. Send me an expletive filled missive so that I can feel better about myself.
But I thought Dick Cheney was Evil?
The Corner on National Review Online:
"What the U.S. Court of Appeals today decided is that the Sierra Club and Judicial Watch (plus the entire MSM) were simply wrong to suggest that the President and Vice President had any obligation to disclose the inner workings of the National Energy Policy Development Group. In its decision today in In re Cheney, the entire D.C. Circuit concluded that "severe separation-of-powers" problems prevented the court from applying the Federal Advisory Committee Act to require the Vice President to disclose the details of his meetings within and without the government in formulating the President's 2001 National Energy Policy (still not enacted into law, by the way)."
Emphasis mine.
No one from Wyoming could be evil? Right?
"What the U.S. Court of Appeals today decided is that the Sierra Club and Judicial Watch (plus the entire MSM) were simply wrong to suggest that the President and Vice President had any obligation to disclose the inner workings of the National Energy Policy Development Group. In its decision today in In re Cheney, the entire D.C. Circuit concluded that "severe separation-of-powers" problems prevented the court from applying the Federal Advisory Committee Act to require the Vice President to disclose the details of his meetings within and without the government in formulating the President's 2001 National Energy Policy (still not enacted into law, by the way)."
Emphasis mine.
No one from Wyoming could be evil? Right?
No more thwap on the morning driveway.
Paulding.com FASTREAD could be the future of your local newspaper.
The energetic among us will create such sites and in 20 years this will be how you keep up on local news (maybe).
I'm moving to Reading MA which I'm sure will have a local paper. I wonder how long it will take for that news to move online.
The energetic among us will create such sites and in 20 years this will be how you keep up on local news (maybe).
I'm moving to Reading MA which I'm sure will have a local paper. I wonder how long it will take for that news to move online.
Dennis Prager: The case for Judeo-Christian values: Part IV
Dennis Prager: The case for Judeo-Christian values: Part IV: "That is why people estranged from Judeo-Christian values (including some Christians) support programs such as 'Holocaust on Your Plate,' the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) campaign that teaches that there is no difference between the slaughtering of chickens and the slaughtering of the Jews in the Holocaust. A human and a chicken are of equal worth."
I've been falling behind on these.
I've been falling behind on these.
and those with good grades will go to college...
bestdestiny: "A majority of high school students in the USA spend three hours or less a week preparing for classes yet still manage to get good grades, according to a study being released today by researchers who surveyed more than 90,000 high school students in 26 states.
Is it that students are lazy? Not Particularly. More like undisciplined.
Researchers also found that a higher proportion of students are likely to spend four or more hours a week doing personal reading online than doing assigned reading for their classes."
Is it that students are lazy? Not Particularly. More like undisciplined.
Researchers also found that a higher proportion of students are likely to spend four or more hours a week doing personal reading online than doing assigned reading for their classes."
Austin Bay Blog � James Campbell on Bill Cosby
Austin Bay Blog � James Campbell on Bill Cosby: "Since last year, Cosby has been traveling around the country on his own dime with the fire of a revival preacher holding what he terms “call-outs” that are free and open to the public. He mostly wants to talk to parents, particularly low-income and single parents, to show them examples of people like them who are overcoming their condition. He also wants to point out community-based organizations that are in the trenches trying to make a difference."
I respect this.
I respect this.
Monday, May 09, 2005
Make it easier to read on your computer...
The I.T. Workshop - Tech Tips: "Turn on ClearType Font-Rendering TechnologyThis is really a great tip. However you must click the Display control panel in order to find the Appearance tab and implement this setting (at least on my machine running XP).
Get that extra text clarity you've always wanted. The incredible Microsoft ClearType® technology can be enabled in Windows XP to smooth all fonts at all sizes, making the whole system so much easier to read. I don't know how I lived without it! To turn on ClearType: Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Appearance and Themes. Click the Display icon, click the Appearance tab, and then click Effects. Click the Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts check box to select it, and select ClearType from the list. Click OK, and then click OK again. Happy reading."
Happy reading.
New Tool to Battle Spyware
I talked with my old friend Darren Patoni who is an IT professional and he let me know that Spybot - Search and Destroy is not enough.
I've had my Spyware pants down.
I ran the Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta software tool on my home computer last night and found 17 spybots that my other tool had missed.
Don't get caught with your pants down.
I've had my Spyware pants down.
I ran the Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta software tool on my home computer last night and found 17 spybots that my other tool had missed.
Don't get caught with your pants down.
Earth's air is cleaner, but this may worsen the greenhouse effect.
news @ nature.com - Clear skies end global dimming - Earth's air is cleaner, but this may worsen the greenhouse effect.:
A few weeks ago I had a discussion with a friend about how a Christian should care for the environment. The main thrust of my opinion was that I find it difficult to trust the claims of Environmentalists because they are so often proven wrong.
And stories like this one make it difficult to even discern what is morally upright behavior with regard to the environement.
I think care for the environment is important, but far less important that care for those suffering genocide, hunger, disaster and other human tragedy. I guess that's just the Judeo-Christian ethics talking.
"Our planet's air has cleared up in the past decade or two, allowing more sunshine to reach the ground, say two studies in Science this week.
Reductions in industrial emissions in many countries, along with the use of particulate filters for car exhausts and smoke stacks, seem to have reduced the amount of dirt in the atmosphere and made the sky more transparent.
That sounds like very good news. But the researchers say that more solar energy arriving on the ground will also make the surface warmer, and this may add to the problems of global warming. More sunlight will also have knock-on effects on cloud cover, winds, rainfall and air temperature that are difficult to predict.
The results suggest that a downward trend in the amount of sunlight reaching the surface, which has been observed since measurements began in the late 1950s, is now over.
The researchers argue that this trend, commonly called 'global dimming', reversed more than a decade ago, probably following the collapse of communist economies and the consequent decrease in industrial pollutants."
A few weeks ago I had a discussion with a friend about how a Christian should care for the environment. The main thrust of my opinion was that I find it difficult to trust the claims of Environmentalists because they are so often proven wrong.
And stories like this one make it difficult to even discern what is morally upright behavior with regard to the environement.
I think care for the environment is important, but far less important that care for those suffering genocide, hunger, disaster and other human tragedy. I guess that's just the Judeo-Christian ethics talking.
What about the Crusades?
Variety.com - Bound for 'Heaven'?:
I wonder?
"But the film has also been dogged in recent months by accusations that it short-shrifts real history. Jonathon Riley-Smith, one of Britain's leading authorities on the Crusades, labeled it 'Osama Bin Laden's version of history' and said, 'It will fuel the Islamic fundamentalists.' Islamic professor Khaled Abu Fadl of the U. of California accused the film of 'teaching people to hate Muslims.'"I posted an article on the Crusades here. I wonder why Ridley Scott isn't being attacked for defaming Christians the way Mel Gibson was attacked for doing so to Jews with The Passion of the Christ.
More on the Force...
The Kerry Spot on National Review Online: "judging from the e-mail response and links around the web, I shouldn’t be writing about U.K. politics right now, or Turkish politics, or even U.S. politics. I should be writing about the Palpatine/Vader 2005 campaign, the swing planet of Alderaan, the “red and blue” divide on Naboo..."
So much for the Force...
The Kerry Spot on National Review Online:
"Let me get this straight. With villains in Attack of the Clones that consisted of the “Trade Federation”, “Commerce Guild”, “Techno Union” and “Intergalactic Banking Clan”, etc., I’m being warned about the dangers of capitalism from a man who made perhaps more money from merchandising than any other man in history. I’m getting lectured about the dangers of greed from man who authorized, “C-3POs” breakfast cereal, “The Star Wars Christmas Special” featuring Bea Arthur’s musical number, and not one but two Ewoks made-for-TV movies.
I’m being warned about the dangers of technology, and the glory of primitive cultures like the Ewoks, who are able to defeat the ‘technological terror’ of the Empire, in what is supposedly an allegory of Vietnam. Technology is bad, soulless, dangerous, and dehumanizing. Mmm-hmm. This from a man who replaced a tall man in a hairy suit, a projecting the human-eyed loyalty and sadness of Chewbacca, with the CGI cinematic war crime that is Jar-Jar Binks. A man who tossed aside the Yoda puppet, the spaceship models, the stop-motion animation of the Imperial walkers to go all-computer-animation-and-green-screen, all-the-time.
I’m being warned about the dangers of a “you’re either with me or against me” attitude, and the viewing of the world in a black and white morality, from a filmmaker who has his villain dress entirely in black, choke the life out of helpless pilots, and blows up entire planets. This from a man whose nuanced moral view required an edit to make Greedo shoot first."
From the people who brought you cigarette taxes...
My Way News: "Other cities and states have special taxes on prepared food, and some have tried 'snack taxes.' In New York, Assemblyman Felix Ortiz has proposed a 1 percent tax on junk food, video games and TV commercials to fund anti-obesity programs."
Friday, May 06, 2005
Purpose Driven to Purpose Driven to...
This is classic.
LarkNews.com: "'I'm on my 400th day of purpose and I still feel invigorated,' says Wendy Sotter, 44, a 'proud purp' from Omaha. 'My purpose in life is to find my purpose."
LarkNews.com: "'I'm on my 400th day of purpose and I still feel invigorated,' says Wendy Sotter, 44, a 'proud purp' from Omaha. 'My purpose in life is to find my purpose."
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Hey Mom or Dad, need a back rub?
Some friends of mine started a company with gift idea for parents that is, well, adorable.
Check outKoala-T Time Products and Toys and see if your kids can "drive" you to relaxation.
Check outKoala-T Time Products and Toys and see if your kids can "drive" you to relaxation.
Chicago Tribune | `Smiling preacher' packs the pews, but message gives his critics pause
Chicago Tribune | `Smiling preacher' packs the pews, but message gives his critics pause: "In his book, as well as his sermons, Osteen preaches about how being positive will result in blessings from God. Osteen writes: 'Let me encourage you to raise your expectations; start seeing yourself receiving good things. Expect the favor of God.'
Michael Horton, a professor of apologetics and theology at Westminster Seminary California, said Osteen trivializes the Christian faith by viewing God as a being who exists solely for our personal happiness. Osteen is part of a growing 'prosperity gospel' movement, he said, where followers are instructed to pray to God for health, wealth and happiness.
'In this religion, God is not worshiped. He is used,' said Horton, a minister in the United Reformed Churches of North America.
'Joel Osteen uses the Bible each week like it's a collection of fortune cookies that can be opened to suit any of your needs or goals in life. The Bible is a story about the redemption of Christ, not a timeless set of principles for success.'
Osteen said such criticism unfairly fails to look at his message as a whole.
'When I talk about prosperity and better things, I'm not just talking about financial success,' he said. 'I'm talking about prosperity in your marriage, prosperity in your health, and with your kids. I don't think God wants us to be at the bottom of the totem pole. He wants us to have a better life than our parents did.'"
A lot of people have been recommending Osteen's book to me. I must say I'm very skeptical.
And my former seminary prof Mike Horton gets some love from the Chi Trib.
Michael Horton, a professor of apologetics and theology at Westminster Seminary California, said Osteen trivializes the Christian faith by viewing God as a being who exists solely for our personal happiness. Osteen is part of a growing 'prosperity gospel' movement, he said, where followers are instructed to pray to God for health, wealth and happiness.
'In this religion, God is not worshiped. He is used,' said Horton, a minister in the United Reformed Churches of North America.
'Joel Osteen uses the Bible each week like it's a collection of fortune cookies that can be opened to suit any of your needs or goals in life. The Bible is a story about the redemption of Christ, not a timeless set of principles for success.'
Osteen said such criticism unfairly fails to look at his message as a whole.
'When I talk about prosperity and better things, I'm not just talking about financial success,' he said. 'I'm talking about prosperity in your marriage, prosperity in your health, and with your kids. I don't think God wants us to be at the bottom of the totem pole. He wants us to have a better life than our parents did.'"
A lot of people have been recommending Osteen's book to me. I must say I'm very skeptical.
And my former seminary prof Mike Horton gets some love from the Chi Trib.
Saturday, April 30, 2005
More Dead Iraqis
Iraq on Yahoo! News Photos: "In this image provided by the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights, unidentified pathologist and archaeologist examines human remains found in a mass grave near Samawa in the Muthanna Province in Iraq April 21, 2005."
Friday, April 29, 2005
Blogger Smells Better
In light of my earlier critical post on the usability of Blogger.com, to be fair I must give an update.
Blogger has been working great this week. Nary a problem. And it's still free!
Way to go gang. Keep it up.
Blogger has been working great this week. Nary a problem. And it's still free!
Way to go gang. Keep it up.
Blogging with Kids
Here's the reality. I really like blogging, but at this stage of my life I don't have time to sit in front of my computer screen reading news and blogging.
Most of the blogs I read consistently are the ones that have a PDA version that works with my Treo 600. Powerline and Instapundit have this. This way I can read blogs while I'm waiting at a stoplight or in a doctor's office. It's handy. One day all blogs will be read on my phone. And the Glory of the Lord will be revealed. (no blasphemy intended).
I need to be spending time with my wife and kids.
These days when my kids are young are passing quickly, never to return. So I'm out playing catch with my son, or working on my daughters science project or letting my other daughter ride on my back.
Someday I'll blog like a leaky faucet. But for now it's blog as catch can. I shoot for at least one post a day.
Thank you, gentle reader, for your attention.
Most of the blogs I read consistently are the ones that have a PDA version that works with my Treo 600. Powerline and Instapundit have this. This way I can read blogs while I'm waiting at a stoplight or in a doctor's office. It's handy. One day all blogs will be read on my phone. And the Glory of the Lord will be revealed. (no blasphemy intended).
I need to be spending time with my wife and kids.
These days when my kids are young are passing quickly, never to return. So I'm out playing catch with my son, or working on my daughters science project or letting my other daughter ride on my back.
Someday I'll blog like a leaky faucet. But for now it's blog as catch can. I shoot for at least one post a day.
Thank you, gentle reader, for your attention.
A satisfied Wordpress user...
When Blogger was struggling a few weeks ago, Wordpress was recommended as an alternative for the serious blogger.
It made an impression.
Notes From The Exile: "I hate to castigate Blogger, especially since I am using their platform to write this entry, but the features of Wordpress and benefits of not sharing the server are wonderful. If you have any PHP/MySQL experience I recommend giving it a try. I might even purchase some basic hosting from Brinkster and get an official URL, because you can host more that one blog on the same server as well."
It made an impression.
Notes From The Exile: "I hate to castigate Blogger, especially since I am using their platform to write this entry, but the features of Wordpress and benefits of not sharing the server are wonderful. If you have any PHP/MySQL experience I recommend giving it a try. I might even purchase some basic hosting from Brinkster and get an official URL, because you can host more that one blog on the same server as well."
Finding Wisdom in 2006
This is what passes for moral education in today's teen world.
Instapundit.com -: "Just this morning, the Insta-Daughter mentioned an angle (learned from The Sims) that the essay omits: 'When you marry a maid, you get someone with excellent cooking and cleaning skills.' These are highly valued in the Sims world, where their absence is made extremely apparent. She also reported that one of her married Sims is having an affair, and that it's working out badly for all concerned."
Heh, not bad. I assume Sims get VD too, unlike the show Friends.
Talk about Art imitating life. If you can call a video game art.
Instapundit.com -: "Just this morning, the Insta-Daughter mentioned an angle (learned from The Sims) that the essay omits: 'When you marry a maid, you get someone with excellent cooking and cleaning skills.' These are highly valued in the Sims world, where their absence is made extremely apparent. She also reported that one of her married Sims is having an affair, and that it's working out badly for all concerned."
Heh, not bad. I assume Sims get VD too, unlike the show Friends.
Talk about Art imitating life. If you can call a video game art.
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Job Security for New Media
Instapundit.com has a round up of all the lies fit to print in the New York Times.
And people wonder why I read blogs.
And people wonder why I read blogs.
Monday, April 25, 2005
Warning: Cheap Shot
News: "LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A group backed by the U.S. food and restaurant industries on Monday launched an advertising campaign aimed at dismissing as hype concerns about the large number of obese Americans.
The full-page ads in major U.S. newspapers were inspired by new government data questioning government assertions that obesity causes nearly as many deaths as smoking, according to the Center for Consumer Freedom, which paid for the ads.
The group, based in Washington, does not disclose names of its donors, though spokesman Mike Burita said casual dining restaurant chains 'are predominant sources of funding for us.'
A spokesman for Darden Restaurants Inc., the nation's largest casual dining company and owner of the Red Lobster and Olive Garden chains, could not say whether Darden was among contributors to the group.
Applebee's International Inc., another major casual dining chain, also could not say whether it contributes to the group, a spokeswoman said.
The group spent about $600,000 on the ads, which appeared on Monday in the New York Times, Washington Post, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, USA Today and the Chicago Tribune. Ads are also to run in Newsweek magazine and on billboards in the Washington-area metro system. "
I'll bet Michael Moore won't be doing any hard hitting documentaries on the group behind this effort.
I told you it was a cheap shot. Forgive me.
The full-page ads in major U.S. newspapers were inspired by new government data questioning government assertions that obesity causes nearly as many deaths as smoking, according to the Center for Consumer Freedom, which paid for the ads.
The group, based in Washington, does not disclose names of its donors, though spokesman Mike Burita said casual dining restaurant chains 'are predominant sources of funding for us.'
A spokesman for Darden Restaurants Inc., the nation's largest casual dining company and owner of the Red Lobster and Olive Garden chains, could not say whether Darden was among contributors to the group.
Applebee's International Inc., another major casual dining chain, also could not say whether it contributes to the group, a spokeswoman said.
The group spent about $600,000 on the ads, which appeared on Monday in the New York Times, Washington Post, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, USA Today and the Chicago Tribune. Ads are also to run in Newsweek magazine and on billboards in the Washington-area metro system. "
I'll bet Michael Moore won't be doing any hard hitting documentaries on the group behind this effort.
I told you it was a cheap shot. Forgive me.
Coming to a College Campus near you...
USA WEEKEND Magazine: "MISCONCEPTION: Kids are becoming more violent and risk-prone. FACT: Over the past 10 years, serious violent crime by teenagers has fallen by 70%. Teen pregnancy is down by 33% (to the lowest level ever measured). High school sexual activity is down by 14%. Rates of teenage alcohol and tobacco consumption have fallen to all-time lows.
MISCONCEPTION: Kids are messed up emotionally. FACT: Teen suicide rates have been declining for the past 10 years. Nine of 10 teens describe themselves as 'usually happy.'
MISCONCEPTION: Kids are beyond the control of their parents. FACT: More than 90% of teens now say they 'get along' with their parents, and nearly 80% say they get along 'very well' or 'extremely well.' One survey found 82% of teens reporting 'no problems' with any family member vs. just 48% who said that back in 1974, when parents and teens were far more likely to argue over basic values.
MISCONCEPTION: Kids are having trouble in school. FACT: Eight in 10 teens now say it's 'cool to be smart,' and the average SAT score is the highest it's been in 30 years.
Adults who work directly with today's teens know about these new trends, especially the growing attachment to parents and teamwork. College admissions counselors now talk about the prevalence of 'helicopter parents' who 'hover.' So do military recruiters. And the military brass have noticed something else: 'We're seeing a huge cultural shift away from the word 'I' to the word 'we' in this new generation of young people coming in,' U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James Jones, head of U.S. forces in Europe, observed in a speech at the U.S. Naval Academy."
There's no I in team.
MISCONCEPTION: Kids are messed up emotionally. FACT: Teen suicide rates have been declining for the past 10 years. Nine of 10 teens describe themselves as 'usually happy.'
MISCONCEPTION: Kids are beyond the control of their parents. FACT: More than 90% of teens now say they 'get along' with their parents, and nearly 80% say they get along 'very well' or 'extremely well.' One survey found 82% of teens reporting 'no problems' with any family member vs. just 48% who said that back in 1974, when parents and teens were far more likely to argue over basic values.
MISCONCEPTION: Kids are having trouble in school. FACT: Eight in 10 teens now say it's 'cool to be smart,' and the average SAT score is the highest it's been in 30 years.
Adults who work directly with today's teens know about these new trends, especially the growing attachment to parents and teamwork. College admissions counselors now talk about the prevalence of 'helicopter parents' who 'hover.' So do military recruiters. And the military brass have noticed something else: 'We're seeing a huge cultural shift away from the word 'I' to the word 'we' in this new generation of young people coming in,' U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James Jones, head of U.S. forces in Europe, observed in a speech at the U.S. Naval Academy."
There's no I in team.
Sunday, April 24, 2005
The Pope We Never Knew - Campus Crusade and John Paul II
I've posted a fair bit regarding the newly chosen Pope, but here's some little known history about the last Pope that helps explain why he is so popular with Evangelicals.
The Pope We Never Knew - Christianity Today Magazine has this untold and fascinating account of the long developing partnership between a Roman Catholic renewal movement in Poland and Campus Crusade for Christ. This was typical of the connections between the late Pope John Paul II and Protestant Evangelicals.
Whatever you and I might make of the theology or long term effects of this alliance, it is at the very least historic and profound.
The Pope We Never Knew - Christianity Today Magazine has this untold and fascinating account of the long developing partnership between a Roman Catholic renewal movement in Poland and Campus Crusade for Christ. This was typical of the connections between the late Pope John Paul II and Protestant Evangelicals.
Whatever you and I might make of the theology or long term effects of this alliance, it is at the very least historic and profound.
Digging in China - Christian History: Who knew?
My Pastor is in China this week and he emailed a personal account of this interesting discovery:
Digging in China - Christian History: "In about 1625 some Chinese digging the foundations of a house near Xian, China's ancient capital, chanced upon a black marble monument. The Chinese characters inscribed at the top said, 'The Monument Commemorating the Propagation of the Ta-ch'in Luminous Religion in the Middle Kingdom.' Syriac characters on the stone described the arrival of a missionary, Olopen (or Alopen), in 635. The text also named Chinese emperors who had supported this religion and listed the religion's leaders, including one bishop, 28 presbyters, and 38 others, likely monks."
Turns out that Christian Missionaries in China date back much further than Hudson Taylor.
See this link for more.
Digging in China - Christian History: "In about 1625 some Chinese digging the foundations of a house near Xian, China's ancient capital, chanced upon a black marble monument. The Chinese characters inscribed at the top said, 'The Monument Commemorating the Propagation of the Ta-ch'in Luminous Religion in the Middle Kingdom.' Syriac characters on the stone described the arrival of a missionary, Olopen (or Alopen), in 635. The text also named Chinese emperors who had supported this religion and listed the religion's leaders, including one bishop, 28 presbyters, and 38 others, likely monks."
Turns out that Christian Missionaries in China date back much further than Hudson Taylor.
See this link for more.
Friday, April 22, 2005
What the fat?
TCS: Tech Central Station - Whoppers and the End of an Epidemic: "Apart from this huge downward revision in the numbers of people supposedly dying from fat, there are several things in this study which signal the end of any legitimate linkage between obesity and premature death. First, for the merely overweight with BMI's from 25-30 there is no excess mortality. In fact, being overweight was 'associated with a slight reduction in mortality relative to the normal weight category.' Being overweight not only does not lead to premature death, something that dozens of other studies from around the world have been saying for the last 30 years, but it also carries less risk from premature death than being 'normal' weight. In other words the overweight=early death 'fact' proclaimed by the public health community is simply not true.
Second, for individuals aged 25-59 the risks of premature death from being underweight are substantially greater than those of being overweight and they are also slightly greater than those of being obese. For those aged 60-69 the risk of dying from being underweight is much higher than from being even significantly obese, that is with a BMI > 35. Again, the total number of premature deaths due to obesity is 25, 814, while the mortality attributable to being underweight is 37, 746. If anything this points to an epidemic of not fat but thin caused death."
Now would be a good time to buy Krispy Kreme stock.
Soon scientists will have the credibility of politicians if they keep making false claims like this. Maybe it's politics that's driving the science anyway (see here)
Second, for individuals aged 25-59 the risks of premature death from being underweight are substantially greater than those of being overweight and they are also slightly greater than those of being obese. For those aged 60-69 the risk of dying from being underweight is much higher than from being even significantly obese, that is with a BMI > 35. Again, the total number of premature deaths due to obesity is 25, 814, while the mortality attributable to being underweight is 37, 746. If anything this points to an epidemic of not fat but thin caused death."
Now would be a good time to buy Krispy Kreme stock.
Soon scientists will have the credibility of politicians if they keep making false claims like this. Maybe it's politics that's driving the science anyway (see here)
Evil in God's name
BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Iraq militants show 'crash video': "The cameraman focuses on two bodies. One appears to be dead and is badly charred.
The second person, wearing a blue flight suit, is alive but badly hurt.
The cameraman orders him to stand up, but the survivor says he has a broken leg and asks for help.
The militants appear to help him up, and tell him to run away.
Then they shoot him at point blank range and he collapses.
They continue to shoot the body, shouting 'Allahu Akbar' (God is Great)."
This summer I led a learning activity which portrayed this kind of evil in God's name. I thought then that the students who participated probably doubted whether things like this happen in the real world because they don't happen in the U.S.
They do happen.
The second person, wearing a blue flight suit, is alive but badly hurt.
The cameraman orders him to stand up, but the survivor says he has a broken leg and asks for help.
The militants appear to help him up, and tell him to run away.
Then they shoot him at point blank range and he collapses.
They continue to shoot the body, shouting 'Allahu Akbar' (God is Great)."
This summer I led a learning activity which portrayed this kind of evil in God's name. I thought then that the students who participated probably doubted whether things like this happen in the real world because they don't happen in the U.S.
They do happen.
Some relief for Anxiety
From Psalm 25:
In you I trust, O my God
Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me
No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame.
In you I trust, O my God
Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me
No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame.
Who is Ratzinger? from Michael Novak
Michael Novak on Cardinal Ratzinger on National Review Online: "In his most formative years, Ratzinger heard Nazi propaganda shouting that there is no truth, no justice, there is only the will of the people (enunciated by its leader). As its necessary precondition, Nazism depended on the debunking of objective truth and objective morality. Truth had to be derided as irrelevant, and naked will had to be exalted.
To anybody who said: “But that’s false!” the Nazi shouted, “That’s just your opinion, and who are you, compared to Der Fuehrer?”
To anybody who said, “But what you are doing is unjust!” the Nazi shouted louder, “Says you, swine.”
Relativism means this: Power trumps."
Read the whole thing.
To anybody who said: “But that’s false!” the Nazi shouted, “That’s just your opinion, and who are you, compared to Der Fuehrer?”
To anybody who said, “But what you are doing is unjust!” the Nazi shouted louder, “Says you, swine.”
Relativism means this: Power trumps."
Read the whole thing.
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Who is Ratzinger?
This is an interesting, and intimate anecdote from a former professor of mine at Seminary.
Who is Ratzinger? Here is my personal testimony, for what it is worth. This very powerful ecclesiastical figure, even then the No. 2 in the Vatican hierarchy, warmly received us, an unimpressive group of French orthodox Protestant/Reformed theologians, for two hours. In the first hour, in fluent French, he gave a magnificent overview of the state of theology and of the dangers of German liberal theology in particular. His critique of Bultmann was superb. We Protestants then took an hour to present the case for orthodox Protestant theology. Cardinal Ratzinger listened with rapt attention. Our time together was not a casual, nor perfunctory “audience,” but a genuine theological exchange. I was impressed by his intellect, by his linguistic ability (fluency in at least five languages), by his theological wisdom and by his openness to biblical theology. As we left, we gave him a bound copy of Calvin’s Institutes, and he graciously accepted my article on the apostle Paul as the last apostle (see photo). Clearly my article did not change his mind about the papacy, but I have it on good authority that he has been reading the copy of Calvin’s Institutes.
So that was that, I thought. However, the next day while sight-seeing in Rome I happened to meet his secretary, a French priest. “How did the Cardinal enjoy our visit?” I asked. Without hesitation he replied: “The Cardinal said he wished there was a seminary like that in the Catholic Church.”
I have rarely thought about that moment, until today. As the presiding Cardinal announced in Latin: “Habemus papam….Josephus…,” I knew it was Ratzinger and I stared at the photo I have had on my study wall for many years, drawn strangely in to an event of global proportions.
I began to put things together.
When Ratzinger said in his homily at a pre-conclave Mass in St. Peter's, denouncing the essence of paganism: "We are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as definitive and has as its highest value one's own ego and one's own desires";
When, in his first address from the Vatican balcony he spoke of the “joy in the risen Lord, trusting in his permanent help”;
When, in his first papal homily in the Sistine Chapel, addressing all Christian churches, he said: I take this opportunity to send all of them my most cordial greetings in Christ, the only Lord of all”;
I did think: “That’s the same Ratzinger I met for those two hours seventeen years ago.”How do Protestants respond, seeing that Rome often masks the pure Gospel of grace and sometimes places Christ behind Mary and even the Pope? The massive glistening white marble statue of Mary on a hill dominates the city of Santiago, Chile, with the head of the Serpent under her feet, while a small figure of Christ on a little cross below, to the left, is hardly visible.
How do we respond? This morning, Robert Godfrey, historian and President of Westminster Seminary in California (where I am adjunct professor and scholar in residence), ended our daily chapel by announcing the name of the new pope. He then did something few Protestants do. He prayed that the Spirit might lead Benedict XVI into a deeper and fuller understanding of Scripture and the Gospel.
Knowing what I learned about this man in that short but meaningful encounter, surely this prayer is not in vain.
Peter Jones
Christian Witness to a Pagan Planet
ProfessorBainbridge.com: Judicial Independence
ProfessorBainbridge.com: Judicial Independence: "The idea that Supreme Court justices or any other judges should be immune from political criticism - or even political retribution - is absurd given the extent to which those same judges have intruded themselves into the political domain by Constitutionalizing the culture wars. So if Sunstein wants to fetishize judicial independence from politics, let him lead the charge to get judges out of politics. Personally, I won't be holding my breath, however."
Well said. I have realized recently that I tend to think of judges as monarchs: those with trancendant authority, removed from democratic politics, and above criticism.
Well I think that's wrong. Monarchy is what Americans left when they left Europe. It's interesting to compare the way judges are portrayed in popular culture as opposed to CEO's or other executives. Judges are portrayed like royalty: with some foibles but above the rest of us, particulary in matters of wisdom. CEO's are routinely portrayed as corrupt and selfish.
Given human nature, surely the truth is in between. But what causes this melodramatic streak in pop culture. Perhaps we all need to have a priesthood over us. Secular people look to judges to represent them regarding the deep things of life. Religious people look to Pope, Pastor, Guru or Shaman for the same.
I've long seen secularism as equivalent to a religion. If other "religious" leaders can be criticized for being too political, does this mean only secular priests can speak to political issues? Perhaps this is already true in the minds of many.
Well said. I have realized recently that I tend to think of judges as monarchs: those with trancendant authority, removed from democratic politics, and above criticism.
Well I think that's wrong. Monarchy is what Americans left when they left Europe. It's interesting to compare the way judges are portrayed in popular culture as opposed to CEO's or other executives. Judges are portrayed like royalty: with some foibles but above the rest of us, particulary in matters of wisdom. CEO's are routinely portrayed as corrupt and selfish.
Given human nature, surely the truth is in between. But what causes this melodramatic streak in pop culture. Perhaps we all need to have a priesthood over us. Secular people look to judges to represent them regarding the deep things of life. Religious people look to Pope, Pastor, Guru or Shaman for the same.
I've long seen secularism as equivalent to a religion. If other "religious" leaders can be criticized for being too political, does this mean only secular priests can speak to political issues? Perhaps this is already true in the minds of many.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
TallSkinnyKiwi: CCC Theoblogian Makes Wired
TallSkinnyKiwi: CCC Theoblogian Makes Wired: "Try this at home: Type 'blogger stinks' into Google search engine and see McRyanMac's 15 minutes of fame."
Thanks for the link and the pub Andrew. I love the Theoblogian term as well. I've enjoyed getting to know your blog as well.
Yeah it noticed last week that I was getting a lot more traffic than normal on my blog. It wasn't an avalanche. More like the ice water that get's dumped on a coach after winning a game.
I noticed that most of the referral pages were from Wired News and lo and behold, there, my blog was quoted.
I'm such an amateur that I could just as easily have missed the whole thing.
Campus Crusade is slowly growing in it's web presence with sites like www.everystudent.com and others.
Blogging is still an unfamiliar term to most CCC staff however. I think this might be primarily due to the fact that most staff interact with students directly or with email. And most student blogs are simple diaries that end up orphaned over the long haul.
Still I think blogging is here to stay and will be an increasingly important part of campus life. Check out the Carnival of Education blog if you don't believe me.
Thanks for the link and the pub Andrew. I love the Theoblogian term as well. I've enjoyed getting to know your blog as well.
Yeah it noticed last week that I was getting a lot more traffic than normal on my blog. It wasn't an avalanche. More like the ice water that get's dumped on a coach after winning a game.
I noticed that most of the referral pages were from Wired News and lo and behold, there, my blog was quoted.
I'm such an amateur that I could just as easily have missed the whole thing.
Campus Crusade is slowly growing in it's web presence with sites like www.everystudent.com and others.
Blogging is still an unfamiliar term to most CCC staff however. I think this might be primarily due to the fact that most staff interact with students directly or with email. And most student blogs are simple diaries that end up orphaned over the long haul.
Still I think blogging is here to stay and will be an increasingly important part of campus life. Check out the Carnival of Education blog if you don't believe me.
EPIC 2014 Is this what we wanted?
EPIC 2014 is a rather dark look at a possible future that combines Google, Amazon, Blogger and just about everything else on the web.
It's interesting the parallels between this dire prediction and the predictions of chaos that preceeded the Protestant Reformation. There was much chaos in Europe, but it was a good thing in the end I believe.
Time will tell.
It is also interesting to think of the parallels between "Epic" and the Tower of Babel from the Hebrew Bible. That didn't end quite as well.
Will you be "on the grid" or will you hide cash under your matress?
Time will tell.
It's interesting the parallels between this dire prediction and the predictions of chaos that preceeded the Protestant Reformation. There was much chaos in Europe, but it was a good thing in the end I believe.
Time will tell.
It is also interesting to think of the parallels between "Epic" and the Tower of Babel from the Hebrew Bible. That didn't end quite as well.
Will you be "on the grid" or will you hide cash under your matress?
Time will tell.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Ratzinger in Christianity Today magazine
Books: Inside the Vatican - ChristianityTodayLibrary.com on Cardinal Ratzinger: "He is not, of course, a 'minimalist' theologian who is inclined to tailor Catholic teaching to fit Protestant tastes. But he has intimate understanding and appreciation of the religious and theological genius of figures such as Luther. He believes that what is true in the Protestant critique can and should be embraced by what he calls 'the structure of faith.' At the same time, he does not seem to expect too much in the healing of the breach between Rome and the Reformation. Speaking of the prospects for Christian unity, he says at one point that perhaps the most we should hope for is that there will be no new schisms."
OpinionJournal - Best of the Web Today
OpinionJournal - Best of the Web Today: "Ratzinger yesterday addressed fellow cardinals before they began their pope-picking conclave. As Dionne reports:
'We are moving,' he declared, toward 'a dictatorship of relativism . . . that recognizes nothing definite and leaves only one's own ego and one's own desires as the final measure.'
The modern world, Ratzinger insisted, has jumped 'from one extreme to the other: from Marxism to liberalism, up to libertinism; from collectivism to radical individualism; from atheism to a vague religious mysticism; from agnosticism to syncretism and on and on.'"
I think this analysis is on the mark.
'We are moving,' he declared, toward 'a dictatorship of relativism . . . that recognizes nothing definite and leaves only one's own ego and one's own desires as the final measure.'
The modern world, Ratzinger insisted, has jumped 'from one extreme to the other: from Marxism to liberalism, up to libertinism; from collectivism to radical individualism; from atheism to a vague religious mysticism; from agnosticism to syncretism and on and on.'"
I think this analysis is on the mark.
Comments on the Northeast
From the comments posted to KnoxNews: No Silence Here: "It amazes me sometimes that people don't ask the obvious questions sometimes. Obviously, a lot of people prefer to live in the North for climate reasons, family, or maybe they were just raised there. However, how come a family of four earning $50,000 is solidly middle class in the South, yet considered unbelievably poor in NYC? I can't tell you how many friends have remarked that to live in NYC on under $30,000 as a single person, you are just scraping by and can't have any fun at all. If I could have made $30,000 starting out in the South (where I grew up), I would have had more fun than I can imagine.
This doesn't have to be a political blue state/red state issue - although there are obviously some important geographical implications here for the parties. But when are people going to realize the skewed nature of the costs of living in these states?
Sooner or later, real estate prices in the Northeast have to start going down. People just aren't going to be willing or able to pay $450,000 for a closet.
And the same goes for California, incidentally. I have a friend with a house less than 1/2 the size of mine in California. And his is no where NEAR downtown, and is still going for over half a million. Mine is twice as big, lot 3 times as big, much nicer, 40 years newer - and is around $200,000. And my commute is less than his.
Location, location, location."
This doesn't have to be a political blue state/red state issue - although there are obviously some important geographical implications here for the parties. But when are people going to realize the skewed nature of the costs of living in these states?
Sooner or later, real estate prices in the Northeast have to start going down. People just aren't going to be willing or able to pay $450,000 for a closet.
And the same goes for California, incidentally. I have a friend with a house less than 1/2 the size of mine in California. And his is no where NEAR downtown, and is still going for over half a million. Mine is twice as big, lot 3 times as big, much nicer, 40 years newer - and is around $200,000. And my commute is less than his.
Location, location, location."
Monday, April 18, 2005
Students seek Spirituality
USATODAY.com - Youthful seekers try to find: "Two studies released this week document the extent to which teens and young adults are teeming with spiritual curiosity, tolerance for religious differences and willingness to tap multiple sources for wisdom and guidance.
One study, released Wednesday, is the most comprehensive ever done on the subject. Researchers from the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA base their conclusions on survey responses from 112,232 freshmen at 236 diverse colleges and universities.
A complex picture emerges. On the one hand, students show a hearty interest in spiritual matters: 79% say they believe in God, 69% say they pray, and 76% say they are searching for purpose or meaning.
On the other hand, respondents confided some uncertainty and discomfort. Fewer than half reported feeling 'secure' in their current views on spiritual and religious matters. And students strongly committed to doing acts of charity and living by an ethic of caring showed higher levels of psychological distress than their less socially concerned peers."
"They are searching for answers to big questions: What is the meaning of life? What is my purpose in life? What will happen to me? Will I leave my mark in this world?" says Helen Astin, co-principal investigator of the study with her husband, Alexander Astin. "No one, including ourselves, ever thought of that as being an important aspect of student life. I hope we'll get to know the students better and look at them in a more holistic way."
Very Interesting.
Diversity in Churches
I and many others have been very critical of the lack of diversity on college campuses. Well here's an excerpt from an interesting Christianity Today Magazine article: "If the statistics in the book bear out, it means that less than 6 percent of American churches are multiethnic, given what I think are the authors' fairly generous guidelines of 80 percent of one ethnic group and 20 percent of another. Those are pretty wide guidelines, and still less than 6 percent of American churches approach that.
If we were to hear of any other institution in the United States that had those kinds of statistics, we would be outraged. If less than 6 percent of universities or government institutions were integrated, we would say there is something seriously wrong."
I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that there is more intellectual diversity in American Churches than in American universities.
Still, the fact that most churches remain generally monoracial is an embarrassment to those who attend them.
If we were to hear of any other institution in the United States that had those kinds of statistics, we would be outraged. If less than 6 percent of universities or government institutions were integrated, we would say there is something seriously wrong."
I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that there is more intellectual diversity in American Churches than in American universities.
Still, the fact that most churches remain generally monoracial is an embarrassment to those who attend them.
Saturday, April 16, 2005
Dartmouth and Diversity or lack thereof
Brain-Terminal.com � The Campus Political Establishment: "Exactly how a political film about a news network relates to the mission of the Women's Resource Center has yet to be explained to the parents, students and alumni who ultimately paid for it."
Friday, April 15, 2005
Who said anything about Freedom? Well, Bush
Read this. It explains so much about the difference between left and right in our current political world.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
The Becker-Posner Blog
The Becker-Posner Blog: "I believe they can largely be explained in economic terms."
Yeah there's no soul in human beings to worry about with regard to sexual behavior. We're just grown up apes and amoebas.
Yeah there's no soul in human beings to worry about with regard to sexual behavior. We're just grown up apes and amoebas.
Friday, April 08, 2005
The Swamp is Draining
And now for some politics. War politics no less.
The Belmont Club: "I believe that historians in retrospect will understand the Iraqi insurgency was not something spontaneously ignited by outbreaks of looting in Baghdad in the aftermath of OIF, but a meeting engagement between two prepared forces. Iraq, as Princeton's Michael Doran observed, was intended to be the graveyard of America's counteroffensive against terror. Instead the enemy dug the grave for themselves. What we are seeing now is not simply the rout of a few armed men, but terror's greatest defeat in modern times."
How's that for a meme. In the months and months and months and months that crawled by while George Bush "rushed" to war, trying to gain the support of a corrupt UN and morally bankrupt Europe, terrorists gathered en masse in Iraq because they understood it as the front line of the war between Islamist terror and Western Civilization. Isn't it interesting that terrorists have a more accurate handle on geopolitical realities than some American Presidential candidates. I guess that's why they remained candidates.
I remember when the Bush administration started talking about the need to "drain the swamp" of terrorism by attacking states that harbored and promoted terrorists. Afghanistan was first, Iraq was second. This seemed to me to make a lot of sense from the very beginning.
I don't know if the Bush administration had any idea how successful they might be in this policy. It seems now that all the bugs gathered in the swamp of Iraq and our brave fighting men and women have pulled the plug and the scum has drained considerably, not just in Iraq but in the whole region.
The free peoples of this earth are safer as a result.
If you want to see someone get it wrong, read this:
Well, we did.
The Belmont Club: "I believe that historians in retrospect will understand the Iraqi insurgency was not something spontaneously ignited by outbreaks of looting in Baghdad in the aftermath of OIF, but a meeting engagement between two prepared forces. Iraq, as Princeton's Michael Doran observed, was intended to be the graveyard of America's counteroffensive against terror. Instead the enemy dug the grave for themselves. What we are seeing now is not simply the rout of a few armed men, but terror's greatest defeat in modern times."
How's that for a meme. In the months and months and months and months that crawled by while George Bush "rushed" to war, trying to gain the support of a corrupt UN and morally bankrupt Europe, terrorists gathered en masse in Iraq because they understood it as the front line of the war between Islamist terror and Western Civilization. Isn't it interesting that terrorists have a more accurate handle on geopolitical realities than some American Presidential candidates. I guess that's why they remained candidates.
I remember when the Bush administration started talking about the need to "drain the swamp" of terrorism by attacking states that harbored and promoted terrorists. Afghanistan was first, Iraq was second. This seemed to me to make a lot of sense from the very beginning.
I don't know if the Bush administration had any idea how successful they might be in this policy. It seems now that all the bugs gathered in the swamp of Iraq and our brave fighting men and women have pulled the plug and the scum has drained considerably, not just in Iraq but in the whole region.
The free peoples of this earth are safer as a result.
If you want to see someone get it wrong, read this:
"Progress and peace in the Middle East? We should only live so long."
Well, we did.
Bloggers Pitch Fits Over Glitches
It turns out I'm not alone in my frustration with Blogger.com.
I'm trying to post something directly on blogger instead of using the awesome "Blogthis" feature in Firefox, and it's not working!
I'm tempted to take the suggestion of Franki.
I'm trying to post something directly on blogger instead of using the awesome "Blogthis" feature in Firefox, and it's not working!
I'm tempted to take the suggestion of Franki.
Using Gmail as a Spam Filter - And a back up
iBLOGthere4iM links to this smart way to use gmail as a spam filter.
I use gmail as a quick and dirty offsite backup. I have a critical database that I weekly save in a gmail draft email. It is saved online so if my house burns down I can still retrieve my dbase.
I use gmail as a quick and dirty offsite backup. I have a critical database that I weekly save in a gmail draft email. It is saved online so if my house burns down I can still retrieve my dbase.
Bush: "No doubt" about Christ
Yahoo! News - Bush, Clinton Disagree on Pope's Legacy: "'I knew the ceremony today would be majestic but I didn't realize how moved I would be by the service itself,' the president said. 'Today's ceremony, I bet you, was a reaffirmation for millions.'
That was true for him, Bush said.
'No doubt in my mind the Lord Christ was sent by the Almighty,' Bush said. 'No doubt.'"
I'm sure the elites will love this. It's like George Washington or Lincoln was talking or something.
That was true for him, Bush said.
'No doubt in my mind the Lord Christ was sent by the Almighty,' Bush said. 'No doubt.'"
I'm sure the elites will love this. It's like George Washington or Lincoln was talking or something.
Thursday, April 07, 2005
Christian News - CCC Students to Deliver 5,040 ‘Holiday Care Boxes’ During Christmas Conferences
Christian News - The Christian Post | CCC Students to Deliver 5,040 ‘Holiday Care Boxes’ During Christmas Conferences: "
“Students are putting their faith into action by helping meet the physical needs of the less fortunate by delivering the HolidayCare Boxes,” said Ryan McReynolds, director of the Denver Christmas Conference. "
Check this out. Who knew! I was ego surfing Google and lo and behold!
“Students are putting their faith into action by helping meet the physical needs of the less fortunate by delivering the HolidayCare Boxes,” said Ryan McReynolds, director of the Denver Christmas Conference. "
Check this out. Who knew! I was ego surfing Google and lo and behold!
If you can read this post... your an influencer!
Random Culture: Dueling Blog Surveys?: "Blogads has just released its second annual blog reader survey, and the overriding sentiment that many are taking out of it is the following: Blog readers are influencers."
This is why anyone who "works" in "influence" (e.g., Ministry, Politics, Education, Marketing, Parenting, ;-) should take Blogs very seriously.
This is why anyone who "works" in "influence" (e.g., Ministry, Politics, Education, Marketing, Parenting, ;-) should take Blogs very seriously.
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Weblog: 'Antichrist' No More: Evangelicals Praise Pope - Christianity Today Magazine
This summary is an interesting look at Evangelical reaction to the Pope and his passing.
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Less Men, More Women on Campus
Instapundit.com -: "Note that, even though in this case the photographer is female, women still dominate the scenes. Why? Because that's who goes to college, these days. . . .
No, really."
This is not just because men are in crisis in society. There's also fewer men out of doors because they are inside playing Halo and looking at porn. I know from experience that young men are increasingly uncomfortable dealing with real people and prefer digital "people" who are far more "user friendly". This is not healthy.
No, really."
This is not just because men are in crisis in society. There's also fewer men out of doors because they are inside playing Halo and looking at porn. I know from experience that young men are increasingly uncomfortable dealing with real people and prefer digital "people" who are far more "user friendly". This is not healthy.
USNews.com: John Leo: End of the Schiavo affair (4/11/05)
John Leo has his usual sober and even handed commentary on the whole Schiavo issue.
Monday, April 04, 2005
I want my young TV
Al Gore and Joel Hyatt Unveil Current ...: "The first national network created by, for and with an 18-34 year-old audience, Current will offer 24 hours of programming in a unique, short-form content format when it premieres August 1. Current will invite audiences to move beyond their roles as viewers to become active collaborators, encouraging them to help shape the network's content and fulfill its mission -- to serve as a TV platform where the voices of young adults can be heard."
This should be interesting.
This should be interesting.
Power Line: Thanks for helping me know I'm not insane!!
For two weeks I've been thinking I must be crazy.
Poll after poll supposedly proves that most Americans agreed with removing Terri Schiavo's feeding tube.
I kept thinking that couldn't be right. People must misunderstand the issues or the questions are not clear enough.
Well I'm not crazy.
This, finally, is a Zogby poll via Power Line: "'If a disabled person is not terminally ill, not in a coma, and not being kept alive on life support, and they have no written directive, should or should they not be denied food and water,' the poll asked.
A whopping 79 percent said the patient should not have food and water taken away while just 9 percent said yes."
I didn't think I was crazy. When my common sense disagrees with "polls", I stick with common sense. Apparently it really is "common" sense.
Poll after poll supposedly proves that most Americans agreed with removing Terri Schiavo's feeding tube.
I kept thinking that couldn't be right. People must misunderstand the issues or the questions are not clear enough.
Well I'm not crazy.
This, finally, is a Zogby poll via Power Line: "'If a disabled person is not terminally ill, not in a coma, and not being kept alive on life support, and they have no written directive, should or should they not be denied food and water,' the poll asked.
A whopping 79 percent said the patient should not have food and water taken away while just 9 percent said yes."
I didn't think I was crazy. When my common sense disagrees with "polls", I stick with common sense. Apparently it really is "common" sense.
John Piper on the ESV
From Adrian Warnock's UK Evangelical Blog:
"Not only am I not on board. I would be happy to see the NIV sail into the sunset if it could be replaced by the ESV as the standard preaching, reading, memorizing Bible of the English-speaking church."
-John Piper
"Not only am I not on board. I would be happy to see the NIV sail into the sunset if it could be replaced by the ESV as the standard preaching, reading, memorizing Bible of the English-speaking church."
-John Piper
Adrian Warnock's UK Evangelical Blog: Is an ESV wave sweeping the blogosphere
Uber God Blogger Adrian Warnock has this post cataloging positive reviews of the ESV Bible translation by a host of bloggers.
TNIV or ESV? I need to buy some new bibles!
TNIV or ESV? I need to buy some new bibles!
Sunday, April 03, 2005
Dennis Prager: Judeo-Christian values: part III
Dennis Prager: Judeo-Christian values: part III: "There are four primary problems with reason divorced from God as a guide to morality.
The first is that reason is amoral. Reason is only a tool and, therefore, can just as easily argue for evil as for good. If you want to achieve good, reason is immensely helpful; if you want to do evil, reason is immensely helpful. But reason alone cannot determine which you choose. It is sometimes rational to do what is wrong and sometimes rational to do what is right."
To comment on Dennis' article: A friend recently told me about how pigs act. Pigs are smart but they are ruthlessly selfish. They are smarter than horses or dogs but are, well, pigs because they use their intelligence strictly for selfish wants.
It is interesting that in the Hebrew Bible, the OT, Pigs are "unclean". It's as if God is saying, "don't be like this, I've made you for something greater." God knows that reason is not enough.
Read the whole thing.
The first is that reason is amoral. Reason is only a tool and, therefore, can just as easily argue for evil as for good. If you want to achieve good, reason is immensely helpful; if you want to do evil, reason is immensely helpful. But reason alone cannot determine which you choose. It is sometimes rational to do what is wrong and sometimes rational to do what is right."
To comment on Dennis' article: A friend recently told me about how pigs act. Pigs are smart but they are ruthlessly selfish. They are smarter than horses or dogs but are, well, pigs because they use their intelligence strictly for selfish wants.
It is interesting that in the Hebrew Bible, the OT, Pigs are "unclean". It's as if God is saying, "don't be like this, I've made you for something greater." God knows that reason is not enough.
Read the whole thing.
Saturday, April 02, 2005
More Job Security: Shadow VS The Crusaders
tashadow: Shadow VS The Crusaders: "Now despite my jesting in this paragraph I must say that I really enjoyed it. It was cool to hear what other people had to say. To be honest, this is more like how I imagined university to be, open debate about all kinds of issues."
It's interesting to me that this student had to talk with Campus Crusade students to find the kind of intellectual "diversity" he thought college would be about.
I'm proud to say that I train students in just such "open debate about all kinds of issues".
It's interesting to me that this student had to talk with Campus Crusade students to find the kind of intellectual "diversity" he thought college would be about.
I'm proud to say that I train students in just such "open debate about all kinds of issues".
Friday, April 01, 2005
Return of the Mac
Return of the Mac: "And open and good is what Macs are again, finally. The intervening years have created a situation that is, as far as I know, without precedent: Apple is popular at the low end and the high end, but not in the middle. My seventy year old mother has a Mac laptop. My friends with PhDs in computer science have Mac laptops. [2] And yet Apple's overall market share is still small."The most interesting part of this article is that hackers are using Mac's again and that means that we all will be using them in the future.
Hmm. I've always been a Mac guy at heart. It's not McRyanMac for nuthin ya know. Maybe my next laptop will be a Mac.
We report, you decide.
More: How Liberalism Failed Terri Schiavo
I think this will have political implications that matter to the religious and the disabled:
How Liberalism Failed Terri Schiavo:
Just like you don't want to be a political party that is seen as being soft on terrorism.
How Liberalism Failed Terri Schiavo:
"A true adherence to procedural liberalism--respecting a person's clear wishes when they can be discovered, erring on the side of life when they cannot--would have led to a much better outcome in this case. It would have led the court to preserve Terri Schiavo's life and deny Michael Schiavo's request to let her die. But as we have learned, the descent from procedural liberalism's respect for a person's wishes to ideological liberalism's lack of respect for incapacitated persons is relatively swift. Treating autonomy as an absolute makes a person's dignity turn entirely on his or her capacity to act autonomously. It leads to the view that only those with the ability to express their will possess any dignity at all--everyone else is 'life unworthy of life.'You don't want to be a political party that is seen as killing the weak and infirm.
This is what ideological liberalism now seems to believe--whether in regard to early human embryos, or late-stage dementia patients, or fetuses with Down syndrome. And in the end, the Schiavo case is just one more act in modern liberalism's betrayal of the vulnerable people it once claimed to speak for. Instead of sympathizing with Terri Schiavo--a disabled woman, abandoned by her husband, seen by many as a burden on society--modern liberalism now sympathizes with Michael Schiavo, a healthy man seeking freedom from the burden of his disabled wife and self-fulfillment in the arms of another. And while one would think that divorce was the obvious solution, this was more than Michael Schiavo apparently could bear, since it would require a definitive act of betrayal instead of a supposed demonstration of loyalty to Terri's wishes."
Just like you don't want to be a political party that is seen as being soft on terrorism.
How Liberalism Failed Terri Schiavo
How Liberalism Failed Terri Schiavo:
If you are secular, then God's will does not exist. What else is there but the will of the individual to give the individual life meaning. So when the will of the individual is compromised, so is the dignity of the life.
That's why the Schiavo case is related to abortion and euthanasia and the great moral debates of our age, because it is rooted in our worldview of what gives dignity to humanity: God's will or human will?
In abortion, the will of the mother trumps the will of the fetus. In Euthanasia the will of the individual to end their own life trumps the will of God to say that life should be preserved even if it means suffering. In the more sinister possibilities of Euthanasia the will of the surviving "loved ones" or "society" trumps the will of the individual being killed if the individual can no longer express their "dignity" in a way that satisfies those left with the power to decide life or death.
I think this suicide is the modern emblem of secular dignity in death as Earnest Hemingway's suicide was a forerunner. Now Terri Schiavo's death is "peaceful" and "beautiful" because someone decided to kill her, because she decided that she would want to be killed (or so they say).
It is troubling to me that in my own heart I want the right to disregard whatever God's will may be to make my own decisions. This is where all of us start in relation to God. The reality is that my decisions invariably skew selfish, and hurt others. That is why guidance from the Bible about God's will has become so important to me to keep me from selfishly hurting others.
Secular people and skeptics say that the Bible can't be trusted to let us know the will of God and only fools would submit their will to the illusory will of religious God.
Terri Schiavo is dead. From where I sit those who believe the Bible are doing a better job fighting for others lives than the secular. It seems that even the secular are beginning to agree.
"Imagine, for example, that the Schindlers had agreed with Michael Schiavo that Terri's time had come, that she would never have wanted to live like this, that the feeding tube keeping her alive needed to come out. Chances are, there would have been no federal case, no national story, no political controversy. Terri Schiavo would have been buried long ago, mourned by the family that decided on her behalf that death was preferable to life in her incapacitated state. Under law, such an outcome would have been unproblematic and uneventful, so long as no one had claimed that Terri Schiavo's previous wishes were being violated. But morally, the deepest problem would remain: What do we owe those who are not dead or dying but profoundly disabled and permanently dependent? And even if such individuals made their desires clearly known while they were still competent, is it always right to follow their instructions--to be the executors of their living wills--even if it means being their willing executioners?This is the fundamental difference: if you are religious, you tend to think of life as a gift and the dignity of that life is not dependent on you ability to exert your individual will, it is dependent on the will of God.
For some, it is an article of faith that individuals should decide for themselves how to be cared for in such cases. And no doubt one response to the Schiavo case will be a renewed call for living wills and advance directives--as if the tragedy here were that Michael Schiavo did not have written proof of Terri's desires. But the real lesson of the Schiavo case is not that we all need living wills; it is that our dignity does not reside in our will alone, and that it is foolish to believe that the competent person I am now can establish, in advance, how I should be cared for if I become incapacitated and incompetent. The real lesson is that we are not mere creatures of the will: We still possess dignity and rights even when our capacity to make free choices is gone; and we do not possess the right to demand that others treat us as less worthy of care than we really are."
If you are secular, then God's will does not exist. What else is there but the will of the individual to give the individual life meaning. So when the will of the individual is compromised, so is the dignity of the life.
That's why the Schiavo case is related to abortion and euthanasia and the great moral debates of our age, because it is rooted in our worldview of what gives dignity to humanity: God's will or human will?
In abortion, the will of the mother trumps the will of the fetus. In Euthanasia the will of the individual to end their own life trumps the will of God to say that life should be preserved even if it means suffering. In the more sinister possibilities of Euthanasia the will of the surviving "loved ones" or "society" trumps the will of the individual being killed if the individual can no longer express their "dignity" in a way that satisfies those left with the power to decide life or death.
I think this suicide is the modern emblem of secular dignity in death as Earnest Hemingway's suicide was a forerunner. Now Terri Schiavo's death is "peaceful" and "beautiful" because someone decided to kill her, because she decided that she would want to be killed (or so they say).
It is troubling to me that in my own heart I want the right to disregard whatever God's will may be to make my own decisions. This is where all of us start in relation to God. The reality is that my decisions invariably skew selfish, and hurt others. That is why guidance from the Bible about God's will has become so important to me to keep me from selfishly hurting others.
Secular people and skeptics say that the Bible can't be trusted to let us know the will of God and only fools would submit their will to the illusory will of religious God.
Terri Schiavo is dead. From where I sit those who believe the Bible are doing a better job fighting for others lives than the secular. It seems that even the secular are beginning to agree.
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Way to Lead
Rusty and Lisa Akers are good friends of ours and started a new church on Easter. They raised $1000 to give to a needy family that lost their home in a fire.
Way to go guys!
Easter Sunday marks Community of Hopes inaugural service
Way to go guys!
Easter Sunday marks Community of Hopes inaugural service
In a related story...
Hoosiers react to monument vandalism: "'It's really an indication of how morally bankrupt people are who were involved in this,' said State Police Officer Dave Bursten."
CCC family mourns fallen son
Roger and Roxanne Hershey have both served with the U.S. Campus Ministry of Campus Crusade for more than 30 years.
Their son Brett was killed by a land mine while serving our country in Afghanistan.
We mourn their loss and rejoice in their son's love of God and others. I am grateful for Brett's service.
Hoosiers mourn fallen sons: "said his brother 'loved people very well, and he loved them because his first love was Jesus. He was funny, witty and passionate about just sucking the marrow out of life."
Their son Brett was killed by a land mine while serving our country in Afghanistan.
We mourn their loss and rejoice in their son's love of God and others. I am grateful for Brett's service.
Hoosiers mourn fallen sons: "said his brother 'loved people very well, and he loved them because his first love was Jesus. He was funny, witty and passionate about just sucking the marrow out of life."
Campus Values: Anything Goes! (except religous values)
Dennis Prager - Tapes of The Show:
This is among the most riveting hours of conversation that I have ever heard. I subscribe to Prager's web site and can download these for free. I'd put in on the web but that would be cheating Dennis.
Ms. Montrose is an upperclasswoman at McGill College, among the most prestigious campuses in Canada. This conversation makes painfully obvious the moral and intellectual vacuum that students experience at college. The most stunning moment was when Ms. Montrose admits that incest is not wrong and really no ones business as long as it's between consenting adults. She's was willing to conclude this rather than affirming that society has a right to encourage some kinds of sexuality and discourage others.
If you want to hear firsthand the dominant thinking of the university, this is it. You will likely be shocked and discouraged.
"Thursday, March 17, 2005 Radio Show
Hour 1:
Newly Bi-Sexual
Dennis
talks to Anna Montrose, a Canadian student who wrote an article in her college
newspaper describing her sexual transformation from rigid heterosexual to
bi-sexual."
This is among the most riveting hours of conversation that I have ever heard. I subscribe to Prager's web site and can download these for free. I'd put in on the web but that would be cheating Dennis.
Ms. Montrose is an upperclasswoman at McGill College, among the most prestigious campuses in Canada. This conversation makes painfully obvious the moral and intellectual vacuum that students experience at college. The most stunning moment was when Ms. Montrose admits that incest is not wrong and really no ones business as long as it's between consenting adults. She's was willing to conclude this rather than affirming that society has a right to encourage some kinds of sexuality and discourage others.
If you want to hear firsthand the dominant thinking of the university, this is it. You will likely be shocked and discouraged.
Blogger stinks
I'm getting really tired of all the glitches and hiccups of Blogger. You may have noticed double posts at times on this blog. That's because you never know whether clicking something on Blogger will actually accomplish what is intended. Lately it seems like clicking does nothing but bring up a "document contains no data." Maddening.
Update: Welcome Wired News Readers. Thanks for the link. At least I didn't use the word sucks. That would have been unoriginal apparently.
Update: Welcome Wired News Readers. Thanks for the link. At least I didn't use the word sucks. That would have been unoriginal apparently.
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
TNIV Perspectives
I got an email from a friend on staff with CCC yesterday who told me The New International Version of the Bible by Zondervan was being proposed for use by Campus Crusade for Christ. Each fall CCC gives away a free gift to freshman called a Freshman Survival Kit with various things that will help a student with their first year of college life. Included in the kit may be the TNIV.
My friend has heard controversy over this translation (as have I) and I decided to look into it just a bit. Here's what I found quickly (with more to follow):
Point by Mark D Roberts: http://www.markdroberts.com/htmfiles/resources/tniv.htm
On the Debate: Supporters of the TNIV include many of the heavyweights of evangelicalism: Bill Hybels, Lee Strobel, Erwin McManus, Darrell Bock, Philip Yancey, John R. W. Stott, Ted Haggard, Craig Blomberg, Roger Nicole, Timothy George, Dan Kimball, Diane Komp, John Kohlenberger III, Tremper Longman, Jim Cymbala, and Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.
His street cred: If a mature Christian is looking for a study Bible, I recommend The Reformation Study Bible (formerly New Geneva Study Bible) which as of this date comes only in the NKJV. It will soon be released in the ESV, however, which should improve readability and accuracy. This Study Bible comes with the best notes of any Bible of which I am aware, though Christians who are not Reformed theologically won’t appreciate it as much as I do.
Counterpoint by Vern Poythress in this article: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/living/11258508.htm
I personally swear by the Reformation Study Bible.
Campus Ministry Job Security Update
For any of you in Campus Ministry, fear not for diversity rests on your shoulders.
This study shows again today why Campus Ministry is needed on most campuses:
Yet because students are attracted to the subversive, campus ministry remains strong. Christianity is the subversive ideology on today's campuses in the face of the dominant secular overlords. It is an honor to be a representative of real diversity in an otherwise monochrome world of ideas.
Of course I will soon be on campus in the Northeast:
This study shows again today why Campus Ministry is needed on most campuses:
"By their own description, 72 percent of those teaching at American universities and colleges are liberal and 15 percent are conservative, says the study being published this week."In general, my experience on campus has taught me that liberal is a synonym for secular in the vast majority of cases.
"Religious services take a back seat for many faculty members, with 51 percent saying they rarely or never attend church or synagogue and 31 percent calling themselves regular churchgoers."So two thirds of those with grading power over your academic career are by their own admission out of step with those who regularly observe religious services. In my experience religious views are treated with ridicule and dismissal by those in power on college campuses. Yet the monolithic cloud of secularism that dominates campus life gives rise to weakness in the the arguments against religious belief. Apparently the views of those in power on campus are dismissed by many students:
"It's hard to see that these liberal views cut very deeply into the education of students. In fact, a number of studies show the core values that students bring into the university are not very much altered by being in college."This is true and not true. Many students retain a religious perspective but become ashamed to admit it in public, fearing ridicule and marginalization which they experienced on campus. Some reject their faith outright under such pressure but others subvert it in shame. It is difficult to maintain a vibrant faith that is hidden.
Yet because students are attracted to the subversive, campus ministry remains strong. Christianity is the subversive ideology on today's campuses in the face of the dominant secular overlords. It is an honor to be a representative of real diversity in an otherwise monochrome world of ideas.
Of course I will soon be on campus in the Northeast:
"The researchers say that liberals, men and non-regular churchgoers are more likely to be teaching at top schools, while conservatives, women and more religious faculty are more likely to be relegated to lower-tier colleges and universities."It will be an honor to bring diversity to some of the top campuses in the country in and around the Boston area.
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Finding Neverland
Once upon a time I used this blog to review movies. Well I'm at it again. I've watched many movies over the past week and months and tis time to get busy again.
Finding Neverland is a subtle, sweet and wonderful movie. It recalls the joy and innocence of childhood to quickly lost to adult concerns. It is a picture of a man who grew up too fast and spend his days trying to regain his lost childhood. Johnny Depp is as good as it gets, another fine performance. This film is a bit to complex for children but only because of the depth of character portrayed.
My rating: Suprisingly it's Big Screen. This film is so subtle that the Big Screen is necessary to fully experience it's emotional power.
Finding Neverland is a subtle, sweet and wonderful movie. It recalls the joy and innocence of childhood to quickly lost to adult concerns. It is a picture of a man who grew up too fast and spend his days trying to regain his lost childhood. Johnny Depp is as good as it gets, another fine performance. This film is a bit to complex for children but only because of the depth of character portrayed.
My rating: Suprisingly it's Big Screen. This film is so subtle that the Big Screen is necessary to fully experience it's emotional power.
Monday, March 28, 2005
No Joke!
Yahoo! News - Latest casualties in Iraq: Ethnic jokes: "'Now if you tell a joke about a Sunni or a Kurd, you wonder whether you're hurting their feelings,' said Joudi, 42, who's a Shiite. 'People are just not relaxed about that stuff anymore.'"
You know what they say, "If you aint Muslim, you aint Shiite."
No offense of course.
You know what they say, "If you aint Muslim, you aint Shiite."
No offense of course.
CCC Blogging
Mad props to Berger for showing me that like so many other things, students in Campus Crusade are on the leading edge of blogging.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Retreat
I'm headed to the mountains with my wife for a time of west and wewaxation (as Elmer Fudd would say). I'll post as possible.
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