Victor Davis Hanson on Hiroshima

Victor Davis Hanson on National Review Online: "As it was, after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, General Tojo’s followers capitulated only through the intervention of the emperor. And it was not altogether clear even then that Japanese fanatics would not attack the Americans as they steamed into Tokyo Bay for the surrender ceremonies.

These are the debates that matured in the relative peace of the postwar era. But in August 1945 most Americans had a much different take on Hiroshima, a decision that cannot be fathomed without appreciation of the recently concluded Okinawa campaign (April 1-July 2) that had cost 50,000 American casualties and 200,000 Japanese and Okinawa dead. Okinawa saw the worst losses in the history of the U.S. Navy. Over 300 ships were damaged, more than 30 sunk, as about 5,000 sailors perished under a barrage of some 2,000 Kamikaze attacks.

And it was believed at least 10,000 more suicide planes were waiting on Kyushu and Honshu. Those who were asked to continue such fighting on the Japanese mainland — as we learn from the memoirs of Paul Fussell, William Manchester, and E. B. Sledge — were relieved at the idea of encountering a shell-shocked defeated enemy rather than a defiant Japanese nation in arms."

World War IV

I heard Mike Rosen on KOA a few weeks ago and he mentioned World War IV. I thought about that and it made a lot of sense.

World War III: The war between Soviet and Chinese Communism and the free World (The U.S., Western Europe).

Russia; China; Romania; East/West Germany; North and South Korea; North and South Vietnam; Indochina; Nicaragua; Cuba; Afghanistan.

World War III

World War IV: The War between Islamist Fascism and Israel and The Anglosphere (The U.S., The U.K., Australia and India).

Israel; New York; Yemen; Saudi Arabia; Washington D.C.; Afghanistan; Bali; Beslan; The Philippines; Sudan; Madrid; Iraq; London; Iran; Syria; Egypt; etc.

World War IV

Found: Biblical Pool of Siloam

DRUDGE REPORT FLASH 2004®: "Workers repairing a sewage pipe in the old city of Jerusalem have discovered the biblical Pool of Siloam, a freshwater reservoir that was a major gathering place for ancient Jews making religious pilgrimages to the city and the reputed site where Jesus cured a man blind from birth, the LOS ANGELES TIMES reports.

The pool was fed by the now famous Hezekiah's Tunnel and is ``a much grander affair'' than archeologists previously believed, with three tiers of stone stairs allowing easy access to the water, according to Hershel Shanks, editor of Biblical Archeology Review, which reported the find Monday.

``Scholars have said that there wasn't a Pool of Siloam and that John was using a religious conceit'' to illustrate a point, said New Testament scholar James H. Charlesworth of the Princeton Theological Seminary. ``Now we have found the Pool of Siloam ... exactly where John said it was.''"

Cool, huh.

Even some love for Princeton Seminary, eh Andy?

More on Enron, er, I mean the U.N.

Two U.N. officials accused of kickbacks, bribes - Yahoo! News: "UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The former head of the U.N. oil-for-food program, Benon Sevan, was accused on Monday of receiving nearly $150,000 in kickbacks, and another U.N. official was arrested on charges of pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars from U.N. contractors."

The Enron guys are in jail.

The U.N. just profited from Saddam's regime of murder and terrorist financing.

It's the zenith of irony that people say Bush went to Iraq for oil money.

The U.N. stayed out of Iraq for oil money.

Never mind those mass graves...

or the terrorists operating from Baghdad...

as long as I'm rich.

Oh, and Bush lied... blah, blah, blah.

Denver Mayor asks for Church Involvement

Rocky Mountain News: Local: "More than 1,000 religious congregations exist in metro Denver, and Mayor John Hickenlooper hopes that their involvement will make a huge dent in homelessness."

Paging Externally Focused Churches.

OnMovements

OnMovements is a blog by Jay Lorenzen.

If your in campus ministry. You need to be reading Jay's blog.

The Emergent Church (July / Aug 2005 Modern Reformation Magazine)

Faith a La Carte? The Emergent Church (July / Aug 2005 Modern Reformation Magazine): "FAITH A LA CARTE?

T H E E M E R G E N T C H U R C H"

Articles from Modern Ref about Emergent.

Frankly I think much of it is Remergent.

But what do I know.

McCain to America: "Do as I legislate, not as I, uh, violate the spirit of said legislation in an attempt to ready myself for another presidential run

Protein Wisdom: "It'’s one thing to co-author legislation that, when all is said and done, will do more to weaken the First Amendment than just about any piece of legislation ever signed into law; it is quite another, however, to insist everyone else'’s free speech be regulated while reserving for yourself special dispensation.

Unless of course "“maverick"” means "above the law." In which case, carry on, Senator. Fight the good fight. After all, if anybody knows what's best for us, it's the guy who doesn'’t trust us to speak freely."

I was at Arizona State when John McCain first rain for Congress. I respected his war record and thought well of him. I now think he will go down in history as one of the most damaging politicians in the history of the United States of America.

(But he took the money out of politics!)

Yeah right. Read the whole thing.

Bono's Confession of Christ

World Magazine - Weekly News | Christian Views: " The interviewer, Mr. Assayas, begins by asking Bono, Doesn't he think "appalling things" happen when people become religious? Bono counters, "It's a mind-blowing concept that the God who created the Universe might be looking for company, a real relationship with people, but the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between Grace and Karma."

The interviewer asks, What's that? "At the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics—in physical laws—every action is met by an equal or an opposite one," explains Bono. "And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that. . . . Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I've done a lot of stupid stuff."

The interviewer asks, Like what? "That's between me and God. But I'd be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge," says Bono. "It doesn't excuse my mistakes, but I'm holding out for Grace. I'm holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don't have to depend on my own religiosity."

Then the interviewer marvels, "The Son of God who takes away the sins of the world. I wish I could believe in that."

"The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death," replies Bono. "It's not our own good works that get us through the gates of Heaven."

The interviewer marvels some more: "That's a great idea, no denying it. Such great hope is wonderful, even though it's close to lunacy, in my view. Christ has His rank among the world's great thinkers. But Son of God, isn't that farfetched?"

Bono comes back, "Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: He was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn't allow you that. He doesn't let you off that hook. Christ says, No. I'm not saying I'm a teacher, don't call me teacher. I'm not saying I'm a prophet. I'm saying: 'I'm the Messiah.' I'm saying: 'I am God incarnate.' . . . So what you're left with is either Christ was who He said He was—the Messiah—or a complete nutcase. . . . The idea that the entire course of civilization for over half of the globe could have its fate changed and turned upside-down by a nutcase, for me that's farfetched."

NCAA Decision Banning Use Of Native American Symbols

It's always nice to see secular organizations shoving their beliefs down other people's throats. That way I have handy illustrations for those who say that Christians are the only ones who do such things.

Florida State President T.K. Wetherell has issued a statement following the NCAA's ruling.: "Florida State University is stunned at the complete lack of appreciation for cultural diversity shown by the National Collegiate Athletic Association's executive committee, which announced today a policy banning schools using Native American names and symbols from hosting NCAA championship events. That the NCAA would now label our close bond with the Seminole Tribe of Florida as culturally 'hostile and abusive' is both outrageous and insulting.

On June 17, the Tribal Council of the Seminole Tribe of Florida spoke unequivocally of its support for Florida State University in its use of the Seminole name and related symbols. Accordingly, I intend to pursue all legal avenues to ensure that this unacceptable decision is overturned, and that this university will forever be associated with the 'unconquered' spirit of the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

National surveys have shown in recent years that an overwhelming majority of Native Americans are not offended by the use of Native American names and symbols. In making its decision, the executive committee has been swayed by a strident minority of activists who claim to speak for all Native Americans. It is unconscionable that the Seminole Tribe of Florida has been ignored.

The rules as we understand them would have us cover the Seminole name and symbol as if we were embarrassed, and any committee that would think that is a proper and respectful treatment of Native Americans should be ashamed."

MIT engineers an anti-cancer smart bomb

MIT News Office: "Imagine a cancer drug that can burrow into a tumor, seal the exits and detonate a lethal dose of anti-cancer toxins, all while leaving healthy cells unscathed.

MIT researchers have designed a nanoparticle to do just that."

Update: Will it someday be said, that a graduate of the Northeast, a campus in Boston, discovered the cure for cancer?

Wired 13.08: The Blogs of War

Wired 13.08: The Blogs of War: "who call themselves milbloggers, as in military bloggers. Whether posting from inside Iraq on active duty, from noncombat bases around the world, or even from their neighborhoods back home after being discharged - where they can still follow events closely and deliver their often blunt opinions - milbloggers offer an unprecedented real-time real-life window on war and the people who wage it."

Remember Hersh - Honoring the Life of Brett Hershey

Remember Hersh - Honoring the Life of Brett Hershey: "Brett gave his life serving his country. Above anything else, he would have wanted you to know about someone, who like him, gave his life in service of others. That man was Jesus Christ. "

Brett Hershey died in Afghanistan fighting for the Afghan people and the American People. I posted on his death back in March.

His father Roger Hershey is a legendary Campus Crusade staff member. I have heard Roger speak several times and he has been a powerful and faithful servant of Jesus for all of his professional life.

His son had the same passion.

Click this link to learn more about Hersh and his life and impact.

Roger and his family spoke about their fallen son at our CCC staff conference.

He asked, through tears, for prayers that the enemy would not gain any leverage in this to cause them to doubt the goodness of God and that they would continue to trust Him.

Brett was engaged to be married when he died. His fiance is going back to Indiana University to continue to share the Gospel in the Greek houses where Brett was an active member.

Even the faithful, suffer tragedy and loss.

Maythe peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Brett is with Jesus right now.

Revelation 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Blessed indeed," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!"

Eric Swanson: Amish Honeymooners

Eric Swanson: Amish Honeymooners: "As we were standing in line purchasing our tickets we couldn't help but notice three young (late teens / early 20's) Amish couples all dressed as...well Amish--the girls in bonnets, aprons and long skirts and the boys w/ pants without back pockets, C. Everett Coop beards and Dutchboy haircuts."

And then they went racing.

This is the kind of thing that always seems to happen when Eric Swanson is around.

Faithful flock to church in China

This story is evidence of the amazing growth of the Church in China.

(Registration Required)
Faithful flock to church in China - World - theage.com.au: "Chinese Christians outnumber members of the Communist Party.

The beauty salon near Beijing Zoo gives its customers more than they bargain for: not just facials and manicures, but the Word of the Lord.

Its owner, Xun Jinzhen, sees beauty salons as a good place to transform souls as well as bodies.

"I introduced 40 people to the church last year," he said.

Mr Xun, and millions of other Chinese Christian converts like him, may well be living proof that God moves in a mysterious way.

During the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong's China turned on itself, torturing and killing hundreds of thousands of people. But the seeds were sown for an unexpected upsurge in Christianity.

In a social revolution that has prompted a heavy-handed response from the Government, religion is spreading through town and countryside and Chinese communities abroad.

Protestantism and Catholicism are among the approved faiths, the others being Buddhism, Taoism and Islam.


Buddhism and Taoism claim most worshippers but the state-sanctioned churches count up to 35 million followers. More significant are the underground or "house" churches, which are believed to have up to 100 million members, many more than are members of the Communist Party.

Visits to villages in rural provinces or to urban churches in Beijing, where even on weekdays the young and middle-aged gather to proclaim their faith, confirm the ease with which conversions can be won.

One woman told a gathering of hundreds at Kuanjie official protestant church in Beijing last week: "My brother's daughter had a virus which doctors had never seen before. She was on a ventilator and everyone had lost hope. But I prayed for her, and she recovered. Now her family follow Christ too."

The association of Christianity with healing powers may be embarrassing in the West, but in China it is one of conversion's driving forces, particularly in rural areas that lack health services."

Eric Swanson: The power of Ops and Systems

My new role as an Operations Director for Campus Crusade might seem like a far cry from traditional "missionary work" or "ministry".

This great post from Eric Swanson shows that Ops and ministry effectiveness are inseparable.

Eric Swanson: The power of Ops and Systems: "Operations?!? What's that all about? Let's think about it for a moment.

The power of capacity is found in operations even more than strategy. When the right systems are put in place they provide the back end operations that allow multiple strategies and tactics to be more effective. Remember Moses' dilemma in Exodus 18 that he reviews in Numbers 1. He was totally exhausted yet prayed that God would multiply the Israelites a thousand times. It was his Mideanite father-in-law that advised him correctly regarding the selection, training and empowerment of leaders. No amount of talent, drive and hard work can overcome a bad operational systems. Bad systems are those where even the best people are reduced to mediocrity. On the other hand good systems allow everybody to function at their maximum capacity and ability. Because Moses was freed up from much of his sun-up to sun-down responsibilities, he had time to do that which he needed to do...write the Pentatuch!

Now think about Acts 6, when the widows were being overlooked in the serving of the food. Rather than taking a behavioral approach, the church leaders took an operational approach by creating the office of diaconate--to oversea the physical needs of the church. Nearly two milennia later we are the benefits of their decision.

Good systems cause good things to happen even if no one is paying attention to them. If you have automatic withdrawal from your checking account to pay your regularly scheduled bills you understand the power of a good system. Operational systems wedge between your vision of what you want to see happen and what actually is happening. If the behaviors or outcomes are not aligned with the vision, the problem most likely lies in operational systems. Like an iceberg, the behavior is what you see on the surface but what's under the surface is what leaders need to pay attention to. Systems drive behavior. What do I mean?

Steve Douglas, president of Campus Crusdae has a "stand-up" desk. That is, there is no chair at this desk. Any desk work that he has to do, he does while standing. He has no other option. Now if you can't sit at a desk you probably only are able to stand for so long. Douglas determined that his was not a desk job. He had to be close to the field to really understand what is going on. So he put a system in place to help determine the outcomes he wanted. This frees him up to meet students weekly on campus in Orlando. Imagine that!

Steve Sellers, vice-president of the Americas for Crusade takes the system one step further. He doesn't have a desk at all! Visiting him in his cubicle there is a chair and a small loveseat and a small table with a lamp and family pictures. "I find that if I don't have a desk, people can't drop work off on my desk--'Steve, I put something on your desk I'd like you to take a look at.' 'Steve, I've written a draft and put it on your desk. Would you mind...'" Without a flat surface to set stuff on people just walk away.

The restructuring of the Campus Ministry in the 90's is another good example of how structures determined behaviors and ultimately growth of the ministry. By creating and staffing the Catalytic, WSN, and Ethnic Student Ministry, by definition, these created the strategies and tactics to win, build and send thousands more students. The ministry grew exponentially beyond anything we'd ever seen. The mindset that "ministry is where the students are, not just where the staff are" drove many innovations. In a good system the good get better and the beginners get braver.

St. Patrick had a system for evangelizing Ireland and he stuck to it. After attaining a critical mass of converts, Patrick left two of his leaders in the village and took two new converts with him. This way he always had an inexhaustible supply of leaders. In his 27 years of ministry he planted over 750 churches and ordained over a thousand priests!

Real leverage (getting better results with less effort) is always found in operations and systems...even more than tactics and strategies."

Seriously Protein Wisdom

Pound for pound, I think this might be the best blog post I've ever read.

Funny, on point, insightful.

No wonder newspapers are in trouble.

Enjoy Protein Wisdom:

"Jimmy Carter: Guantanamo 'is a disgrace to the USA'": "...Not that it matters, of course. Carter’s just a fringe element of the Democratic party anyway, and besides—who listens to ex-Presidents?

And do you honestly believe terrorists donÂ’t have more important things to do than pay attention to the partisan sniping of grandstanding western politicos? There are nail bombs to make, and buses and subway cars to blow up.

As to whether or not Carter’s comments provide rhetorical cover for the terrorists—of course not! Carter is simply voicing his dissent, and if a former US president can’t openly criticize his government—publicly, overseas, during wartime, and on the basis of a narrative of events that an investigative panel has already concluded simply does not represent the facts on the ground—well, then the terrorists have already won. After all, aiding the enemy in their propaganda war IS the highest form of patriotism, and nothing says “I love my country” more than “I love my country provided its run by people like me; otherwise, I don’t really much like it at all—or rather, I like it, I just don’t like all the stupid rubes who keep ruining it by voting for evil assholes.”

From aljazeera.COM:

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on Saturday blasted the U.S. detention center in Cuba, saying that Guantanamo Bay Naval base was an embarrassment to the United States.

Carter was speaking at the Baptist World Alliance’s centenary conference in Birmingham, central Englandcriticized also criticised the current American President’s decision to invade Iraq, describing the war as “unnecessary and unjust.”

“I think what’s going on in Guantanamo Bay and other places is a disgrace to the USA,” he told a news conference, adding that it was “the cause of terrorism.”

Carter went on to say that Gitmo “has given impetus and excuses to potential terrorists to lash out at our country and justify their despicable acts”—a statement that, robbed of context, is certainly factually correct (after all, as the Times Online pointed out last week, London bomber Shehzad Tanweer cited it as a reason for his turn to jihad), but one that is nonetheless repulsive for being “true,” in that Carter is not only describing terrorist reaction, he is implicitly validating it by explicitly corroborating its claims. So when the Moderate Voice argues that “It’s a separate issue as to whether the perception is correct,” and that “Guantanamo [...] has become a public relations disaster for the U.S.,” the editors miss the obvious point, which is that pronouncements like Carter’s are what created the public relations disaster in the first place.

Rhetoric matters. And no amount of defensive sneering will change that fact.

So, for my part, I’m going to continue saying so—in the most direct terms possible—until self-loathing terror apologists like Jimmy Carter are shamed into deferring their own self-righteous ego masturbations for the sake of waging war against those who truly do wish to destroy us. "

New York's New Hope

New York's New Hope - Christianity Today Magazine: "From inner-city gardens, to fine-art exhibitions, to political activism, street-smart churches are changing the culture of America's largest and most dynamic city."

Here's some scoop on the Church in NYC.

Multiculturalism Watch

UK Telegraph: "Imams and their followers who fuel anti-western feeling among impressionable young French Muslims will be rounded up and returned to their countries of origin, most commonly in France's case to its former north African colonies."

I thought Lyotard, Camus, Sarte and the leading lights of French Intellectualism agreed that there is no truth and all truth statements are equally false.

I guess is France has been roused from a long slumber by the harsh light of Islamic terror reality.

But of course, rounding up Saddam Hussein and expelling him was totally wrong and groundless.

Go figure.

Nihil Fit: Porn Star Spirituality

Nihil Fit: Porn Star Spirituality: "Our faith should permeate every square inch of our lives. When I read the following story about porn star Mary Carey, it highlighted how desperately the church needs this kind of revolution."

This is a little embarrassing...

Guideposts Magazine - Table of Contents: " FINANCES 101
MAKING MARRIAGE WORK:
A GUIDEPOSTS SERIES
She overspent and he overreacted. Find out how they learned to prosper in all things.
BY ALEXANDRA MCREYNOLDS, SUPERIOR, COLORADO"






I'm afraid you'll have to subscribe to read the whole sordid story.

The Radio Equalizer: Federal Funds Diverted To Air America

The Radio Equalizer -Brian Maloney: Federal Funds Diverted To Air America: "What's the connection between Air America and Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club?

How has this stayed out of the papers for the last month, even when community activists have been aware of the Air America connection since early July?

And how has the liberal talk network managed to avoid even the slightest bit of public scrutiny over the matter?"

Sheesh. Maybe the media would pay more attention if Air America was run by former Enron guys.

Oh yeah, those guys are in jail.

I guess Air America can now take the title of "The Smartest Guys in the Room".

Compassion at Air America

Kerfuffles: "Stealing from the Poor
To Give to the RICH! And it's NOT Republicans who do it! But it is certainly their fault! Did the liberal radio station 'Air America' take money from poor kids and Alzheimer patients as was reported in the 'New York Daily News'?"

Click the link to follow the story and more.

Objective Journalism 101: Helen Thomas

DRUDGE REPORT FLASH 2005�: "
Veteran wire reporter Helen Thomas is vowing to 'kill herself' if Dick Cheney announces he is running for president.

The newspaper HILL first reported the startling claim on Thursday.

'The day Dick Cheney is going to run for president, I'll kill myself,' she told the HILL. 'All we need is one more liar.'"

FOXNews.com - Views - Straight Talk - Teen Sex and Media Hype

FOXNews.com - Views - Straight Talk - Teen Sex and Media Hype: "Once, teen-agers weren't a demographic: They were adults-in-training. They worked, did farm chores, watched children, and generally functioned in the real world. They got status and recognition for doing these things well, and they got shame and disapproval for doing them badly.

But since sometime in the mid-20th century, the role of teen-agers has been different, as a recent article by Thomas Hine in American Heritage magazine points out:

'Young people became teen-agers because we had nothing better for them to do. High schools became custodial institutions for the young. We stopped expecting young people to be productive members of the society and began to think of them as gullible consumers. We defined maturity primarily in terms of being permitted adult vices, and then were surprised when teen-agers drank, smoked, or had promiscuous sex.'

No longer adults-in-training, teen-agers became part of their own social class, on the one hand indulged and sheltered, on the other viewed as juvenile, oversexed and somehow dangerous. In fact, far fewer teen-agers were shouldering adult responsibilities. Instead, they had a new, increasingly cosseted role as high school students, social butterflies (and outcasts) and consumers.

Increased sexual activity, research indicated, was directly related to increased schooling and decreased responsibility. Teen-agers may be busy with teen activities, but not with adult responsibilities, and it shows.

Hine is right. We have infantilized teen-agers, and then we act surprised that they behave immaturely. "

This is why I would rather work with college students than High School Students: the first harsh rays of reality are breaking into the dark cocoon of modern youth culture during the college years.

Michael Barone put it like this:

"Because from the age of 6 to 18, our kids live mostly in what I call Soft America--the part of our society where there is little competition and accountability. In contrast, most Americans in the 12 years between ages 18 and 30 live mostly in Hard America--the part of American life subject to competition and accountability; the military trains under live fire. Soft America seeks to instill self-esteem. Hard America plays for keeps."

the evangelical outpost: Fads and Fixtures

the evangelical outpost: Fads and Fixtures

“Virtually all the people on Time magazine's list of 'The 25 Most Influential Evangelicals' share at least one glaringly significant trait,” says Phillip Johnson, “For the most part, these are the fadmakers.” Johnson goes on to list a number of “cheerleaders for whatever is fashionable”, including the usual suspects such as Rick Warren and Tim LaHaye, and explains why their programs are “fads”:

Not one of those movements or programs even existed 35 years ago. Most of them would not have been dreamed of by evangelicals merely a generation ago. And, frankly, most of them will not last another generation. Some will last a few short months (like the Jabez phenomenon did); others may seem to dominate for several years but then die lingering deaths (like Bill Gothard's movement is doing). But they will all eventually fade and fall from significance. And some poor wholesale distributor will be left with warehouses full of Jabez junk, Weigh-Down Workshop paraphernalia, "What Would Jesus Do?" bracelets, Purpose-Driven® merchandise, and stacks and stacks of "emerging church" resources.

Like Johnson, I'm concerned about the way in which evangelicals tend to embrace whatever trends and kitsch happen to be hot sellers at “Christian” bookstores. But while Johnson laments that most of the “stuff you are currently being told you must read and implement will soon seem as hopelessly out of date” I take comfort in knowing that most of this stuff is nothing more than a passing trend. It is not the dernier cri that will soon be gone that concerns me but the faddage that becomes a fixture. Fads still receive scrutiny while fixtures remain largely unquestioned."

Attention Campus Ministry Folk

My Way News: "CHICAGO (AP) - A new survey says that the Internet has all but saturated the youth market.

The report compiled for the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that nearly nine out of 10 young people, ages 12 through 17, have online access - up from about three-quarters of young people in 2000.

By comparison, about 66 percent of American adults now use the Internet."

And now for a little perspective...

As a Christian, I often hear that I am intolerant of homosexuals and "homophobic" because I don't believe the state should codify same-sex marriage in law.

Here's my definition of homophobic:

GayPatriot: "Now wait just a minute.... the Human Rights Campaign and National Gay & Lesbian Task Force have drilled it into my head that the biggest immediate threat to my safety and security is President Bush, Dick Cheney, Rick Santorum and the lack of gay marriage in the USA!!!

You mean they don't know that the Islamist terrorists are waging war against Western society? Why haven't they told me that Islamists hate gay people? What is their position on the War on Terror aside from marching with anti-American, anti-Western, anti-war groups like A.N.S.W.E.R.?

Oh... and has HRC and NGLTF heard about the hanging of two Iranian gay men earlier this week? Or are they too consumed with their pro-abortion agenda and opposition of Supreme Court nominee [INSERT NAME HERE]?"

Click the link to see pictures of the poor young men who were hanged.

If you call someone like me homophobic and intolerant, you cheapen the horror of real intolerance. Only in the peace and pluralism of modern America could someone like me be called intolerant because I don't want to extend Government sanction to same-sex marriage.

Variety.com - 'Apocalypto' now for Mel

Variety.com - 'Apocalypto' now for Mel: "Gibson will not star in 'Apocalypto' and may not use a star for the film, which is set in an ancient civilization some 3,000 years ago. The title is a Greek term which means 'an unveiling' or 'new beginning.' Consistent with such Gibson films as 'Braveheart' and 'Passion,' the script depicts abundant action and violence. Gibson has already begun pre-production; he is setting locations and has already begun casting.

Gibson had no qualms about self-financing his vision and while he is known to be collaborative, he has creative control.

Gibson had some cash laying around: 'The Passion of the Christ,' which cost Gibson $25 million to make, grossed just north of $600 million worldwide to become the most successful indie ever."

Staff Conference webcast

Click here to watch the conference that I'm attending.

Bloomberg Printer-Friendly Page

Bloomberg Printer-Friendly Page: "Many places in such states as Arizona, southern California, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico have reported temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) in the heat wave, which has been going on for 10 to 12 days. Las Vegas tied its all-time record of 117 degrees on July 19.

Denver, while a mile high in the Rocky Mountains, hit 105 degrees yesterday, tying a record set in 1878, the Denver Post reported. The highest temperature in the heat wave was 129 at Death Valley, California, Schmidt said. It wasn't a record for Death Valley, where the highest-ever reading is 134."

Morgan Spurlock Watch: Watch out for Big Food

Last year I was having a meeting with a group of teachers at my child's school. During a side conversation my wife mentioned to one of the teachers present that we had just come from McDonalds and that my youngest daughter loved the fries.

The teacher suddenly had an urgent and anxious look on her face and asked us in deadly serious tones, "Have you seen that movie, "Super-Size Me"? "You should really see that movie."

Before I could respond the meeting was called to order but I was left with a disturbed feeling that one of my child's educators had been ignorantly duped into fearing McDonalds by Morgan Spurlock.

Morgan Spurlock Watch is a web site dedicated to helping folks like the teacher I mentioned to consider the source.

I first learned skepticism of Spurlock when I saw a spot on ABC Primetime where several people had eaten at McDonald for a month and actually lost weight and gotten healthier.

It turns out that Spurlock is a charlatan who peddles falsehoods to protect us all from Big Food.

Just as I suspected. It would have worked if it wasn't for those meddling kids.

Staff Conference

I've been all week at the bi-annual Campus Crusade staff conference in Ft. Collins. The highlights have included a sharp talk by John Piper regarding the importance of teaching truth to a generation that has lost it's biblical literacy.

Coming up this next week we will hear from Dr. Alice Mathews and Joe Stowell as well as the usual suspects on the staff of CCC.

All Rock, No Action - New York Times

All Rock, No Action: "Neither debt relief nor huge amounts of food aid nor an invasion of experts will change anything. Those will merely prop up the continent's dictators. It's up to each nation to liberate itself and to help itself. When there is a problem in the United States, in Britain, in France, the citizens vote to change their leaders. And those times when it wasn't possible to freely vote to change those leaders, the people revolted.

In Africa, our leaders have led us into misery, and we need to rid ourselves of these cancers. We would have preferred for the musicians in Philadelphia and London to have marched and sung for political revolution. Instead, they mourned a corpse while forgetting to denounce the murderer."

Wow.

Ex-Clinton Aide Charges Republicans 'Want to Kill Us' : from his mouth to your campus

Ex-Clinton Aide Charges Republicans 'Want to Kill Us' -- 07/15/2005: "Young liberals this week flocked to the nation's capital to hear, among other things, liberal television pundit and Democrat political strategist Paul Begala accuse Republicans of wanting to kill him and his children to preserve tax cuts for the rich.

Begala was featured at the first-ever Campus Progress National Student Conference, which was designed to provide campus liberals with the tools necessary to fight the conservative movement."

Sounds like a Campus Crusade for Liberalism. Fortunately they are too PC to call it that.

Neocon Prophecy

Captain's Quarters: "Osama bin Laden's standing has dropped significantly in some key Muslim countries, while support for suicide bombings and other acts of violence has 'declined dramatically,' according to a new survey released today.

In a striking finding, predominantly Muslim populations in a sampling of six North African, Middle East and Asian countries are also as alarmed as Western nations about Islamic extremism, which is now seen as a threat in their own nations too, the poll found. ...

Compared with previous surveys, the new poll also found growing majorities or pluralities of Muslims surveyed now say democracy can work in their countries and is not just a political system for the West. Support for democracy was in the 80 percent range in Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon and Morocco and the highest score at 43 percent in Pakistan and 48 percent in Turkey, where significant numbers were unsure.

'They are not just paying lip service. They are saying they specifically want a fair judiciary, freedom of expression and more than one party to participate in elections. It wasn't just a vague concept,' said Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center and director of the project. 'U.S. and Western ideas about democracy have been globalized and are in the Muslim world.'"

Darn those Neocons! The got another one right.

Technorati: A New Public Utility to follow the Global Conversation

Wired News: Technorati: A New Public Utility: "'"You really felt as if you were there," Powell said of the blog posts and Flickr photos he surveyed, "as opposed to watching CNN or reading MSNBC.com, which are fine for the facts but stale and bit removed."

Powell was far from the only one who turned to the blogosphere for perspectives on the London terror attacks. David Sifry, founder of Technorati, a real-time search engine for blog content, reports that traffic to the site in the hours after the attacks was so heavy that its servers had trouble handling the load, causing performance problems.

The number of posts on blogs tracked by Technorati increased 30 percent, from about 850,000 a day in July to 1.2 million on the day of the attacks. Nine of the 10 most popular search requests involved the unfolding tragedy in London.

If you think about it, Technorati has become a public utility on a global scale.

While Google didn't invent the internet, it made it easier to navigate by organizing billions of web pages. Today there are about 12 million blogs, with 10 new ones created every second. Since March, the number of posts has increased 40 percent a month, from about 350,000 a day to 850,000 a day.

At its essence, Technorati may be a search engine, but its approach is vastly different. Google, for instance, views the web as the world's largest reference library, where information is static. Instead of the Dewey Decimal System, Google employs its PageRank technology, which orders search results based on relevance. Google uses words like web page, catalogs and directory, which are more than just words: They convey an entire worldview.

In contrast, Technorati sees the internet as a stream of conversations. This makes it much more immediate. Google requires two to three weeks to input a site into its search engine. (Although it does post frequently updated content from news sites.)

For Technorati, it takes about seven minutes to index a post. Those who use complementary tools like LiveJournal, AOL Journals and Blogger can expect their posts to pop up on Technorati almost instantaneously.

"With Technorati, you know what is being said, when it is said, and who is saying it," Sifry said. You can track the metamorphosis of an idea, not only who commented on it last but who came up with it first."

A handy time saver...

Instapundit.com -: "CLAUDIA ROSETT has more on connections between Saddam and Al-Qaeda. I know it's an article of faith -- in the most literal sense -- of the antiwar crowd that no such connections exist, but assertions to that effect mostly serve as a time-saver, by making clear who doesn't know what they're talking about."

Who said it?

See if you can guess who said the following: "the United States should remain in Iraq until peace can be maintained by the Iraqi people, saying the mission was part of the 'long struggle against terrorism' by the U.S."

Is it:
a) George W. Bush
b) Karl Rove
c) Dick Cheney
d) Hillary Rodham Clinton

Click the link to find out.

Elite Graduate Schools Students: Israel is the problem.

Canadian Jewish News: "NEW YORK — A new survey of attitudes toward Israel among graduate students at top U.S. universities offers a disturbing if not frightening picture of increasing sympathy for the Palestinian cause and blame on the Jewish state for the lack of peace."

Looks like grad students at Harvard and Hamas have something in common.

NASA Calls Off Discovery Shuttle Launch

NASA Calls Off Discovery Shuttle Launch: "CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A faulty fuel-gauge reading forced NASA to call off Wednesday's launch of Discovery on the first shuttle flight since the Columbia disaster 2 1/2 years ago. The mission was put off until at least Saturday."

Bummer.

The End of Israel?

HughHewitt.com: "'It can be a temporary solution, for a maximum of 5 to 10 years. But in the end Palestine must return to become Muslim, and in the long term Israel will disappear from the face of the earth.'"

Wake up Western World!

Christopher Hitchens - WE CANNOT SURRENDER

Christopher Hitchens is pro-choice, liberal with regard to social and political issues. He is anti-religious in his personal life. He and I would disagree on any number of issues.

But he gets it. He understands that we are in a war, and who it is we are fighting against. I pray that the Democratic Party in the U.S. would begin to adopt the same understanding.

Read the whole column linked below.

Mirror.co.uk - News - WE CANNOT SURRENDER: "I remember living in London through the Provisional IRA bombing in the 70s. I saw the very first car-bomb explode against the Old Bailey in 1972. There was no warning that time, but after a while a certain etiquette developed.

And, even as I detested the people who might have just as soon have blown me up as anyone else, I was aware there were ancient disputes involved, and that there was a potential political solution.

Nothing of the sort applies in this case. We know very well what the "grievances" of the jihadists are.

The grievance of seeing unveiled women. The grievance of the existence, not of the State of Israel, but of the Jewish people. The grievance of the heresy of democracy, which impedes the imposition of sharia law. The grievance of a work of fiction written by an Indian living in London. The grievance of the existence of black African Muslim farmers, who won't abandon lands in Darfur. The grievance of the existence of homosexuals. The grievance of music, and of most representational art. The grievance of the existence of Hinduism. The grievance of East Timor's liberation from Indonesian rule. All of these have been proclaimed as a licence to kill infidels or apostates, or anyone who just gets in the way.

FOR a few moments yesterday, Londoners received a taste of what life is like for the people of Iraq and Afghanistan, whose Muslim faith does not protect them from slaughter at the hands of those who think they are not Muslim enough, or are the wrong Muslim.

It is a big mistake to believe this is an assault on "our" values or "our" way of life. It is, rather, an assault on all civilisation. I know perfectly well there are people thinking, and even saying, that Tony Blair brought this upon us by his alliance with George Bush.

A word of advice to them: try and keep it down, will you? Or wait at least until the funerals are over. And beware of the non-sequitur: you can be as opposed to the Iraq operation as much as you like, but you can't get from that "grievance" to the detonating of explosives at rush hour on London buses and tubes.

Don't even try to connect the two. By George Galloway's logic, British squaddies in Iraq are the root cause of dead bodies at home. How can anyone bear to be so wicked and stupid? How can anyone bear to act as a megaphone for psychotic killers?

The grievances I listed above are unappeasable, one of many reasons why the jihadists will lose.

They demand the impossible - the cessation of all life in favour of prostration before a totalitarian vision. Plainly, we cannot surrender. There is no one with whom to negotiate, let alone capitulate."

Pin the tail on the Islamofascist...

Bloomberg.com: Europe: "Van Gogh's Self-Confessed Killer Declines to Testify in Trial

July 11 (Bloomberg) -- Mohammed Bouyeri, the self-confessed murderer of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, declined to testify as prosecutors opened their case against him in Amsterdam today. He faces a maximum penalty of a life imprisonment.

Bouyeri, 27, is on trial in a specially secured courthouse called ``the bunker'' in Osdorp, a district in the southwest of Amsterdam. The case is scheduled to last, at most, until July 13. The court expects to give its verdict two weeks later.

At the trial's start, on Jan. 26, Bouyeri's lawyer Peter Plasman said his client took full responsibility for Van Gogh's killing, according to a the Web site of the public prosecutor. Bouyeri today refused to be defended and exercised his right to remain silent, prosecution spokesman Robert Meulenbroek said.

Van Gogh's mother and sisters testified in court today.

Van Gogh was stabbed and shot to death on Nov. 2, 2004, in an Amsterdam park. He had received death threats following the showing of his movie ``Submission,'' about the treatment of women in Islamic societies. He was 47 at the time of his murder.

The same day, police arrested Bouyeri, who has Dutch and Moroccan passports. Amsterdam District Attorney Frits van Straelen will put in his sentencing request tomorrow.

``Submission,'' a 10-minute film, features images of a Muslim woman wearing a transparent veil, which reveals her breasts. Koranic texts describing physical punishments for ``disobedient women'' are written on parts of her body."

If you can find the connection between this and the 7/7 Bombings in London, 9/11 and the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, then your smarter than many of the leading lights in the Democratic party.

Sigh.

Swiss Family Robinson (1960)

On the way back from New Mexico yesterday we put in the DVD player this classic Disney adventure movie: Swiss Family Robinson

The kids loved it. I had to listen to it since I was driving but the kids (Ages 11, 9, 6) in the rear view mirror were alternately riveted and laughing hysterically.

Where have you gone Walt Disney, the nation turns it's lonely eyes to you.

My Rating: Rentable

On the ranch...

I've been out of pocket for a few days. I spent this weekend at the V7 Ranch thanks to the generosity of the Van Sweden Family. I spoke at their church yesterday. Our kids had the time of their life riding horses, 4 wheelers and playing with the many Van Sweden grandchildren. It truly is God's country.

Report: Islamic group makes claim of responsibility

Report: Islamic group makes claim of responsibility: "CAIRO, Egypt-- A group calling itself 'The Secret Organization of al-Qaida in Europe' posted a claim of responsibility for Thursday's blasts in London, saying they were in retaliation for Britain's involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan."

If this is true it raises an important question: Why is it that the left-wing of the Democratic Party can't see the relationship between Iraq and Global Terrorism.

To me, this bombing is a sign that we are winning in Iraq and Afghanistan and the terrorist thugs are trying to shift focus in a desperate attempt to regain credibility.

Eric Swanson: My son stands watch tonight

Eric Swanson: My son stands watch tonight: "My son stands watch tonight as July 4th sees its final hours in Baghdad.
The fireworks he has seen today are not symbolic--they are the 'bombs bursting in air.' He has seen the 'rocket's red glare.'
The youthful days of backyard barbecues and sitting on a blanket at the golfcourse looking with other innocents into the Colorado sky have been replaced with the soldiers reality of peering into the Baghdad night.
Because he is awake we sleep in peace.

His celebration of freedom will have to wait. One day he will return again to warm summer evenings with his wife by his side and his children at his feet. They will lie on their backs gazing into the sky watching the fireworks. And perhaps his mind will think back to this July 4th in Iraq, when he was setting the captives free.
He stands watch tonight to protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness of people he will never meet and for their sons and daughters yet to be born.
He stands watch tonight for ideals too important to let die...so he puts his own life on the line to preserve and protect them.

My son stands watch tonight.
If I could I'd take this watch for you so you could be home for a few hours and lie on your trampoline with your wife in your back yard and talk about your dreams together. But for now all we can say is thanks...for standing watch tonight."

As my friend Cody Banks did last July 4, so this year the watch was kept by Jeff Swanson.

Thank you for your service. May your tribe increase.

Straight, Gay or Lying?

Straight, Gay or Lying? Bisexuality Revisited - New York Times: "The study, by a team of psychologists in Chicago and Toronto, lends support to those who have long been skeptical that bisexuality is a distinct and stable sexual orientation.

People who claim bisexuality, according to these critics, are usually homosexual, but are ambivalent about their homosexuality or simply closeted. 'You're either gay, straight or lying,' as some gay men have put it.

In the new study, a team of psychologists directly measured genital arousal patterns in response to images of men and women. The psychologists found that men who identified themselves as bisexual were in fact exclusively aroused by either one sex or the other, usually by other men.

The study is the largest of several small reports suggesting that the estimated 1.7 percent of men who identify themselves as bisexual show physical attraction patterns that differ substantially from their professed desires."

Pelosi Turns In Delinquent Reports for 3 Sponsor-Funded Trips

Pelosi Turns In Delinquent Reports for 3 Sponsor-Funded Trips: "House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) filed delinquent reports Friday for three trips she accepted from outside sponsors that were worth $8,580 and occurred as long as seven years ago, according to copies of the documents.

The filing is among hundreds of revisions from members of both parties who have amended missing or incomplete reports as scrutiny of lawmaker travel has intensified.

The most expensive trip was not reported on Pelosi's annual financial disclosure statement or on the travel disclosure form that is required within 30 days of a trip.

A more common violation among members filing corrections was to list a trip on the annual statement but not file the more detailed form about a specific trip. The House ethics committee plans to examine the tardy disclosures after being stalled since January in partisan disputes."

"Partisan disputes" means a witch hunt to single out Tom Delay. Looks like Nancy Pelosi is just as "corrupt" as Delay.

Do movies show Americans in decline?

Do movies show Americans in decline? - Glenn Reynolds - MSNBC.com: "So ask something of us, movie-makers. You don't need to demand as much as religion does, but at least challenge us to understand a little science along with the action. Neal Stephenson thinks that Americans are in decline because we've lost our interest in science and that movies simply reflect our decline. But maybe movies are in decline because they've underestimated us."

The comment above stems from the steady decline in movie sales over the last 17 or 18 weeks. Even Star Wars couldn't change this. I think the crucial flaw in the Star Wars movies is not a lack of science but a lack of religion and philosophy. In a nutshell: right action, without right thinking.

The return of the Jedi left me cold because it is so morally confused. The Jedi are to care about no one; but they sure seem to care a lot about the Republic. Why? The Jedi don't deal in absolutes; but they are absolutely sure that the dark side is bad (evil?). The Sith are the "bad" guys but at least they care if their spouse is going to die. Yoda, the ultimate Jedi, should care the least about anything right? Yet he looks awfully pained by all the Jedi who are murdered. Is he a hypocrite or is Jedi philosophy and steaming pile of incoherent nonsense.

I think the first Star Wars film in 1977 was so overwhelmingly popular because it had the advantage of being morally coherent. Good guys vs. Bad Guys. Ever since then it's been mostly cool special effects on top of a ridiculous moral universe.

I think movies have waned in popularity for other reasons as well. Video games and Tivo make movies less important. And let's face it: Movies are expensive. In the age of Netflix, I think more and more people evaluate movies on whether it's worth it to see it in the theatre. There used to be no choice.

What the #$*! Do We (K)now!? (2004)

What the #$*! Do We (K)now!? (2004)

I'm watching this right now and I'm wondering something:

Why is it that everyone in this film is white and upper class?

Could it be that Tsunami victims wouldn't think much of the idea that they have chosen their reality?

Tell the victims' families of the BTK killer that their anguish is just a reality they have chosen.

More later.

The Supreme Irony

Freestar Media, LLC: "Weare, New Hampshire (PRWEB) Could a hotel be built on the land owned by Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter? A new ruling by the Supreme Court which was supported by Justice Souter himself itself might allow it. A private developer is seeking to use this very law to build a hotel on Souter's land.

Justice Souter's vote in the 'Kelo vs. City of New London' decision allows city governments to take land from one private owner and give it to another if the government will generate greater tax revenue or other economic benefits when the land is developed by the new owner.

On Monday June 27, Logan Darrow Clements, faxed a request to Chip Meany the code enforcement officer of the Towne of Weare, New Hampshire seeking to start the application process to build a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road. This is the present location of Mr. Souter's home.

Clements, CEO of Freestar Media, LLC, points out that the City of Weare will certainly gain greater tax revenue and economic benefits with a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road than allowing Mr. Souter to own the land.

The proposed development, called 'The Lost Liberty Hotel' will feature the 'Just Desserts Cafe' and include a museum, open to the public, featuring a permanent exhibit on the loss of freedom in America. Instead of a Gideon's Bible each guest will receive a free copy of Ayn Rand's novel 'Atlas Shrugged.

Clements indicated that the hotel must be built on this particular piece of land because it is a unique site being the home of someone largely responsible for destroying property rights for all Americans.

"This is not a prank" said Clements, "The Towne of Weare has five people on the Board of Selectmen. If three of them vote to use the power of eminent domain to take this land from Mr. Souter we can begin our hotel development."

Clements' plan is to raise investment capital from wealthy pro-liberty investors and draw up architectural plans. These plans would then be used to raise investment capital for the project. Clements hopes that regular customers of the hotel might include supporters of the Institute For Justice and participants in the Free State Project among others.'"

Live free or Die.

Cinderella Man (2005)

I just watched Cinderella Man.

It's easily the best movie I've seen in a theatre in a long time.

The depiction of Depression era poverty is haunting for anyone with children I would think.

Do not miss it on the big screen.

My Rating: Own It.

The title reminds me of one of my favorite trivia questions: What was Cinderella's real name.



Answer: Ella

...of whom the world is not worthy...

Pastor Hamid Pourmand of Iran Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison for failing to Disclose he was a Christian while serving in Iran military: "Pourmand was arrested September 9, 2004, together with 85 other participants of the annual general conference of denomination. The other Christians were released within the next three days, but pastor Pourmand was charged with hiding his conversion from his superiors. According to Iranian law only Muslims can be officers in the army.

The Middle East Concern spokesperson went on to say, 'On Saturday May 28th an Islamic judge in Bandar-I Bushehr, on Iran's Gulf coast, acquitted pastor Pourmand of charges of apostasy and proselytizing Muslims. Christian news agency Compass Direct has been told that the judge reportedly stated 'I don't know who you are, but the rest-of-the-world does,' a clear reference to the international attention that this case has attracted.''

Pastor Pourmand was formally charged with apostasy from Islam and proselytizing Muslims in early April. Starting on April 13th He appeared before an Islamic court in Tehran every two or three days. He was repeatedly pressed to return to Islam. These hearings stopped after two weeks. He was transferred to his home town of Bandar-i Bushehr on the 16th May.

'On February 16th 2005 pastor Pourmand was found guilty of this charge despite presenting documents in court that proved his superior were aware he was a Christian before he was promoted to the officer ranks. He was sentenced to three years imprisonment and dishonorably discharged from the army with lost of his income, pension and housing for his family. However, the local authorities delayed evicting his wife and two teenage sons from their army provided housing until the end of the school year.'

The spokesperson concluded by revealing that in the last 16 years three Iranian church leaders have been charged with apostasy.

"All were convicted and sentenced to death," they said. "Pastor Hussein Soodman was hanged in 1989. Deacon Maher had a noose round his neck when he signaled his willingness to recant and was released after signing a paper to that effect in 1992. Pastor Mehdi Dibaj was condemned to death in December 1993. He was released three weeks later after a strong international outcry; only to be found murdered six months later."

This is a friend of a friend.

The Genogram

The Genogram: "A genogram resembles a family tree however it includes additional relationships among individuals. The genogram (pronounced: jen-uh-gram) permit the therapist and the patient to quickly identify and understand patterns in family history. The genogram map out relationships and traits that may otherwise be missed on a pedigree chart."

My wife and I are going to be doing this during this week to better understand our family history and how it affects our marriage and emotional life.

A Genogram is a really interesting excercise for an engaged couple to do to understand the family history they will bring into marriage.

Radio (2003)

Last night I did something I've wanted to do for almost two years. I sat down with my 9 year old son and watched the movie Radio.

Radio is an important movie for me because it shows a very strong, masculine man who is compassionate. Often the two are set at odds, so much so that the term macho is synonymous with a lack of compassion. Yet this film shows an icon of traditional machismo (a southern football coach) who has compassion on a mentally disabled boy in his community.

My son enjoyed the movie in part because there's a lot of hard-hitting football in it. That's the genius of the story as a teaching tool for boys. It shows that it's possible to thrive in a man's world of toughness and competition, and still be compassionate.

I showed it to my son because the film portrays the kind of man that I want him to be; the kind of man I want to be.

The Book of Virtues taught me that stories are among the best ways to teach what virtue looks like; far better than rules. Rules fall far short of training in virtue. Stories like Radio can help teach boys and men about the virtue of compassion. They also can teach the vice of evil. My son could see the cruelty of some of the characters depicted in Radio and be appropriately reviled.

I commend the film to you.

My Rating: Own It.

Incidentally, if you search for the word "movie" in the search box on my blog, you can read my past movie reviews.

Proverbs on Leadership

From the Message:

The mark of a good leader is loyal followers; leadership is nothing without a following. 14:28

A good leader motivates, doesn't mislead, doesn't exploit. 16:10

Good leaders abhor wrongdoing of all kinds; sound leadership has a moral foundation. 16:12

Good leaders cultivate honest speech; they love advisors who tell them the truth. 16:13

An intemperate leader wreaks havoc in lives; you're smart to stay clear of someone like that. 16:14

Good tempered leaders invigorate lives; they're like spring rain and sunshine. 16:15

Bionic Man Moves Artificial Arm With Brain

Finally, "we can rebuild him, make him better than before. Better, stronger, faster." It's the 6 Million Dollar Man.

local6.com - News - Bionic Man Moves Artificial Arm With Brain: "By the time it's perfected, the cost of manufacturing the bionic arm is expected to be about $6 million, according to the report."

Dennis Prager: Choose life: The case for Judeo-Christian values: IX

Dennis Prager: Choose life: The case for Judeo-Christian values: IX: "Egyptian civilization was steeped in death. Its bible was the Book of the Dead, and its greatest monuments, its very symbols, the pyramids, were gigantic tombs. One of the Torah's first tasks was to destroy the connection between civilization (and, of course, religion) and death. That is the reason, I am convinced, for the absence of overt mention of the afterlife in the Old Testament -- it was greatly concerned with getting humanity preoccupied with life. With a few noble exceptions, preoccupation with the afterlife has led to denigration of life. The Islamic terrorists and the cultures that support them are only the most recent examples.

One of the greatest insights of Sigmund Freud, who, his atheism notwithstanding, was perhaps the greatest mind of the 20th century, was that human beings have a Death Instinct, a death wish that is as strong as the Life Instinct. He wrote this decades before Nazism and the Communist genocides of the 20th century proved his point.

Yet, he was only saying in psychoanalytical terminology what Moses had said in Deuteronomy thousands of years earlier."

Much of what we assume about love of life today has been underwritten by the Judeo-Christian tradition (cf. The Romans, Vikings, Mayans, etc.).

Jackson's Junction: But But But But........there are no WMDs!

Jackson's Junction: But But But But........there are no WMDs!: "How is it the Left Lunatic Libs keep crying about no WMDs an yet these stories (and other WMD related stories) are reportedeveryday. I am confused, but not nearly as confused as the MSM."

Sleep long and sound MSM. Your days of credibility are gone.

David Harsanyi: ACLU Hypocrisy

DenverPost.com - David Harsanyi: "We'll see if the ACLU, which selectively fights for freedom, has a problem with the concept of 'impermissible expression of beliefs.'

After all, I'm sure they were mortified when an AFA coach hung a banner that read, 'I am a member of Team Jesus Christ.'

They had every reason to be.

Problem is, if that banner had read, 'I am a member of Team Bin Laden,' the ACLU would have a lawyer shielding his First Amendment rights before you could say, 'Who would Jesus bomb?'

And that's hypocrisy."

I am regularly impressed by Harsanyi's perspective.

Eric Swanson: Evangelistic Apparel

Eric Swanson: Evangelistic Apparel: "I think how different it may have been had I worn a t-shirt with 'His Pain, Your Gain' or a hat that said 'WWJD.' Most likely it would have been hard to get someone to look me in the eye. So which type of clothing is more evangelistic? Which kind of apparel draws people to you? I think I'll wear my 2005 College World Series hat that I picked up this week at the Series in Omaha today...just to see what happens. Who knows who I might meet..."

This is how you do evangelism in Boulder and places like it. Maybe it's how you connect with people anywhere. I've often wondered how much of Christian apparel and paraphernalia is a defense mechanism against feeling judged by others. I suppose it depends on the person.

Read the whole thing. In fact read Eric's whole blog. It's new and chock full of rich bloggy goodness.

More on Men on Campus

jobetodd said regarding this post:

Ryan

I'd like to know more about you're take on why this is. Certainly time viewing porn, playing video games, and playing sports are taking their time and energy, but aren't there deeper cultural things going on? The feminist fearing institutions of our country have played a part in driving men into passivity, haven't they? A man with a vision for anything other than leftist ideology doesn't have a place, and is usually run off of the university campus. What do you think?

I'm sure there's plenty of blame to go around. However I've seen guys with great parents and upbringing, spend far more time playing video games than in class while at college. It's a little like a drug. It's entertainment. It's good but if you dont' watch out it will crowd out what is important.

Red-on-Red

Anyone who implies that we are losing the war in Iraq is just not paying attention.

Winds of Change.NET: Red-on-Red: "The brutal acts of violence directed at civilians and Iraqi police is losing favor among some of the members of the Iraqi insurgency. During Operation Matador, we saw examples of the local tribes, some of whom are sympathetic or even participating in the insurgency, rise up to fight the foreign jihadis after their attempts to impose a Taliban-like rule of law in Western Anbar. Today’s New York Times reports further cases of ‘red-on-red’, AKA the enemy fighting amongst themselves. The Marines gladly watched as insurgents duked it out along the Syrian border."

"There is a rift," said the official, who requested anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the talks he had held. "I'm certain that the nationalist Iraqi part of the insurgency is very much fed up with the Jihadists grabbing the headlines and carrying out the sort of violence that they don't want against innocent civilians."

Gee, I wonder where those Jihadists would be killing innocent civilians if it wasn't in Iraq. Hmm.

Missing: Males on College Campuses

FOXNews.com - Missing: Males on College Campuses: "Kleinfeld, author of 'The Myth That Schools Shortchange Girls', states, 'In my own college classes, I see a sea change in the behavior of young men. In the 1980s, the young men talked in my classes about the same as young women. I know because each semester I measured male and female talk. Now so many young men are disengaged that the more articulate, ambitious women dominate the classroom ....and my office hours.'

Kleinfeld tried to trace the problem backward by interviewing high school students on plans for their future. She states, 'The young women almost always have a clear, realistic plan, go to college, have a career, often directed toward an idealistic goals about improving the environment.'

This clarity of vision and was generally absent in young men."

I believe this is because most of the waking hours of young men are spent on video games, pornography and sports in that order.

AFI List of Top 100 Quotes From U.S. Films

The AFI has put out a list of the top 100 quotes in movie history. My favorite didn't make the list but Casablanca did have a bunch on there. My favorite quote is from Casablanca when Louie says, "I'm shocked, shocked to find gambling going on in this establishment." Of course this is followed up by a pit boss offering, "here are your winnings, sir."

Classic.

Here's another one.

AFI List of Top 100 Quotes From U.S. Films - Yahoo! News: "32. 'Round up the usual suspects,' 'Casablanca,' 1942."

I climbed this...

I few years ago my good friend Eric Heistand took me out for my second climb ever. We climbed this: The Third Flatiron (brought to you by Google Maps).

My first repel was the 300 foot drop of the back of this giant granite finger. As I prepared to swing my weight into the repel and trust the rope for the first time, I thought to myself, "It probably wouldn't do to just burst into tears right now." I was a little scared. But with Eric's encouragement, I did it.

Climbing with Eric helped prepare me for moving to Boston. Sometimes you just have to move out, even when your scared.

Who can stop the rise and rise of China? The communists, of course

Telegraph | Opinion | Who can stop the rise and rise of China? The communists, of course: "China hasn't invented or discovered anything of significance in half a millennium, but the careless assumption that intellectual property is something to be stolen rather than protected shows why. If you're a resource-poor nation (as China is), long-term prosperity comes from liberating the creative energies of your people - and Beijing still has no interest in that. If a blogger attempts to use the words 'freedom' or 'democracy' or 'Taiwan independence' on Microsoft's new Chinese internet portal, he gets the message: 'This item contains forbidden speech. Please delete the forbidden speech.' How pathetic is that? Not just for the Microsoft-spined Corporation, which should be ashamed of itself, but for the Chinese government, which pretends to be a world power but is terrified of words."

Run! It's Intelligent Design! Iiiiiiieeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaah...

WN: Wired News: "Seeking to quell a growing movement to teach creationism in U.S. schools, the National Academies has unveiled a new section of its website dedicated to teachers' resources on evolution.

'The theory of evolution is one of science's most robust theories, and the National Academies has long supported the position that evolution be taught as a central element in any science education program,' said a statement released by the organization Thursday.

The site was designed 'to confront advocates of intelligent design, which is not a science,' according to National Academies spokesman Bill Kearney."

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. I hope I can find information on this site that will explain why racism is wrong if evolution is true, not to mention a working model for the evolution of a microbiological machine like the flagellum.

x3blog..OFF TO EROTICA LA

This post may shock you a little but since porn is the single greatest barrier (IMHO) between men on college campuses enjoying a relationship with the God that made them, I felt it appropriate.

The guys at XXXChurch went to a porn festival last week to try to bring truth and grace to a place filled with lies and judgment (porn is about false intimacy earned through performance = lies and judgement).

This is evangelism at it's edge. Here's my favorite passage from their memoirs of the event:

x3blog...the ramblings of mike and craig: OFF TO EROTICA LA: "From JR (My top 10 porn show moments)

It?s funny? I found myself answering the critics in my head before I started writing this. Then it occurred to me. The critics of XXXchurch.com were not at a porn show over the weekend. If you don?t get that, You?re probably a critic.

1. Sonny, the 25 year old x-professional skater now porn star, who told me ?All I want is fame, money and God is ok with how I?m doing it.? 2. James, a paraplegic who said, 'If you want to help me don?t pray for me, give me money so I can buy a prostitute to touch me? no one will touch me.? 3. The hundreds of people who told me I can?t get enough porn. 4. The guy in the red shirt who just got out of rehab for booze and was filling his bag with porn until he came to our booth. We talked and prayed, I?m pretty sure I ruined his porn show. 5. The guy in the blue shirt who told me he?s so addicted to porn he has no friends. 6. Donna who works for the LA convention center who thanks God she is no longer in the porn business. 7. Craig and Mike?s push to see healing and recovery in the name of Christ. 8. The 213 people who took the Wally Porn Free Challenge. 9. The young porn producer who admitted his industry is destroying people, after he told me XXXchurch is stupid. 10. My walk back to the hotel on Saturday night? I took an 8 block look at my life given the days events. I felt remorse, joy, disappointment, sorrow and peace. God wants us in the trenches. I will no longer be comfortable sitting in a pew, and if you don?t get that? your probably a critic. Thanks Craig, thanks Mike for getting it."

Chuck Colson: Is sexual identity malleable?

Chuck Colson: Is sexual identity malleable?: "McHugh then turned to the practice of sex-reassignment surgery for baby boys with ambiguous genitals. For years doctors had told parents that that their child’s sexual identity would conform to environmental conditioning: They would happily grow up as girls.

But a study found exactly the opposite. These re-engineered boys endured “prolonged distress and misery.” When they discovered their true genetic heritage, most of them began to live as males.

Given that there’s no evidence that sex reassignment surgery helps either adults or children, why did doctors recommend it in the first place? The answer is that psychiatrists were enamored of the feminist theory that sexual identity was determined, not by biology, but by cultural conditioning. Psychiatrists went along with this, despite the fact that animal research had long shown that male sexual behavior is directly derived from exposure to testosterone in utero. And so, today, the transgendered movement is firmly protected by rigid codes of political correctness. You’re a “bigot” if you say that a person is made a certain way and can’t change his gender.

Well, thanks to this research, Johns Hopkins no longer performs sex-reassignment surgeries."

Hat tip: Dad's Love

Iraqis Found in Torture House Tell of Brutality of Insurgents - New York Times

Iraqis Found in Torture House Tell of Brutality of Insurgents - New York Times: "KARABILA, Iraq, Sunday, June 19 - Marines on an operation to eliminate insurgents that began Friday broke through the outside wall of a building in this small rural village to find a torture center equipped with electric wires, a noose, handcuffs, a 574-page jihad manual - and four beaten and shackled Iraqis.

The American military has found torture houses after invading towns heavily populated by insurgents - like Falluja, where the anti-insurgent assault last fall uncovered almost 20 such sites. But rarely have they come across victims who have lived to tell the tale."

"They kill somebody every day," said Mr. Fathil, whose hands were so swollen he could not open a can of Coke offered to him by a marine. "They've killed a lot of people."

...and at Guantanamo...

Compare and contrast. Good for the NY Times.

Senator Disgrace

HughHewitt.com: "Dick Durbin is a disgrace, a low, dishonorable weasel, and the country knows it. He is also the Dems' #2 in the Senate. He can issue new statement after new statement, but the verdict is in: Durbin is no friend of the American military. Durbin has harmed the country and the military, greatly. He should resign. Democrats should call on him to do so. They will not. Political advantage means more than standing up for the troops.

The Perils of Post/Modern Leadership

Here are some spicy comments about the "emergent church" with regard to the appointment of a "national director". It's so hard to be post-modern. How am I not myself?

emergent-us: Report From Emergent Summit - Part 1 of 4:

"as a total plebian out-side of any denomination realm. Someone from the margins, a stranger in the emergent kingdom, A NATIONAL DIRECTOR!! So the emergent movement is now officially anglo-white-western. I was once banned for saying that gen-x, pomo, emergent conventions institutionalize was going to become like the Promise Keeper once was. Well...

*my emergent god can beat up your traditional god, I read it on a blog.*"

Another one:

"EC has come out as the egalitarian and inclusive movement when it comes to its direction and theology, but is now starting to present itself as more complementarian and exclusive when it comes to certain things.
As you can also read from the posts, there is a love of chaos by the emergings that is being lost. There is a love for confusion, which authority starts to destroy. It sort of reminds me of the evil villains in movies and tv talking about how beautiful destruction is and chaos is. (Is God a God of chaos/confusion now?) But this move begins to put an end to it because authority means order."

What does all this mean? We report, you decide.

Lies and Statistics from Krugman

A while back I noted this about NY Times "economist" Paul Krugman. The other day Krugman tried to claim that the middle class has not benefited from the last 30 years of economic growth, mainly because evil Republicans have given all the money to the rich. The response below puts this foolish notion in bold relief.

Power Line:

This, in turn, reminds me of my deconstruction of a silly article in the New York Times by one of our premier Chicken Littles, Paul Krugman, and the response I received from Dafydd ab Hugh, who pointed out that I had not articulated anything like the real scale of the improved standard of living over the past thirty years:

I think you missed an even more basic critique of the Krugman opinion piece.

You wrote that "the Census Bureau data show that for the category "Married-Couple Families," median income went from $46,723 in 1973 to $62,281 in 2003. (All numbers are in constant 2003 dollars.) That's a hefty 33% increase in real income."

With all due respect, Hindrocket, that's bullpuckey. The increase in "real income" would be hundreds of times that 33%, once you take into account the value of what you can now buy. Riddle me this:

* In 1973, how many households could afford a desktop computer with hundreds of megabytes of RAM? Ans: none.

* How many could afford a portable telephone that fits in a pocket? Or for that matter, how about a portable computer terminal? Ans: none.

* How many could afford to have genetic diseases in their children repaired by gene therapy? Ans: none.

* How many childless couples could afford in-vitro fertilization? Ans: none.

* How many could afford to have diseases diagnosed with Positron Emission Tomography or treated by laser surgery? How many could afford to have Lasik corrective eye surgery? How many could afford to have depression or anxiety cured or controlled by selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Luvox or Celexa? How many could afford to have their teeth repaired by composite resin fillings? How many could afford laser microsurgery, radio-telemetry surgery, foetal-abnormality surgery, minimally-invasive surgery, robotic surgery, or "beating heart" cardiac surgery? Ans: none.

* How many could afford to start their own "magazines" that could be read by tens or hundreds of thousands of people each week without even being distributed? Ans: none.

* How many could afford a luxury family vehicle suitable for offroading adventures? Ans: none.

* How many breadwinners could afford to telecommute? Ans: none.

* How many could afford a Mint Mocha Chip Frappuccino? How many could buy fat-free potato chips? How many could afford NutraSweet? How about lactose-free milk? How many could afford to go out routinely for Pad Thai, Japanese sushi, Armenian khorovatz, Ethiopian aleecha, Chorizo Argentino, Lebanese hummus and shawarma, or even a nice, simple blueberry bagel? Ans: none.

The point should be clear: it is impossible to legitimately compare buying power in 1973 with buying power today, for the simple reason that a huge proportion of what we buy today simply did not even exist thirty years ago. This is more obvious when you try to compare today's economy with the economy of the Middle Ages: the strides in technology and society are so staggering, they swamp any attempted calculation of monetary value: how many emperors in A.D. 750 could afford antibiotics?

Claiming that "working families have seen little if any progress over the past 30 years," as Krugman claimed, is so manifestly preposterous -- even before taking economics into account -- that I don't question his veracity so much as his sanity. Is he mentally ill?

On the last question: no comment.

Debunking Looney Moral Equivalency: Priceless

Power Line: "Just for the record (as if that matters to the left) Rowan Scarborough in the Washington Times reminds us of the following:

Adolf Hitler - About 9 million dead
Soviet gulags - About 2.7 million dead
Pol Pot - About 1.7 million dead
Gitmo - zero dead
Gitmo - five instances of Koran abuse by prison guards
Gitmo-15 instances of Koran abuse by prisoners.

The big lie is nothing new in politics. Hitler and Stalin were master practicioners. What's unusual about Durbin's lie is that it slanders his own country. Normally that kind of slander is uttered only by revolutionaries seeking the violent overthrow of the government. Yet Durbin purports to be part of a loyal opposition.

What possessed Durbin to do it? How, after harping constantly on the importance of our image to winning the war on terrorism, could he cast the U.S. in such a false light?"

The Dutch-Muslim Culture War

The Dutch-Muslim Culture War - Yahoo! News: "Seven months ago, Hirsi Ali's implacable campaign against what she views as Islam's oppression of women prompted a Muslim fanatic to ritually slaughter Theo van Gogh, her Dutch collaborator on the film Submission. The murderer used his knife to affix a five-page letter to the corpse promising the same treatment for Hirsi Ali and another Dutch politician who has criticized Islam. The murder sent Dutch society into paroxysms of rage and fear, sparking dozens of attacks on mosques and schools. But it didn't seem to faze Hirsi Ali. In a series of defiant interviews, the former refugee refused to be intimidated. When a group of Muslims tried to block her from making a sequel to Submission, she fought back in court and won. Like a dark avenging angel, she seemed to loom over Holland's wintry Dutch, her ubiquitous media presence a virtual guarantee of further conflict."

"In the United States, where few people have had the chance to read or see her critiques of Islam, the 35-year-old Hirsi Ali has been almost exclusively portrayed as a champion of free speech and women's rights. In the Netherlands, however, she remains the subject of intense controversy. Well before van Gogh's murder, she had become a major hate figure among Dutch Muslims, who accuse her of stirring up Islamophobia on behalf of a cabal of right-wing politicians and columnists. Since the murder, a surprising number of native-born Dutch intellectuals have come around to the Muslim point of view..."

"In what appears to be a Europe-wide pattern, some feminists are aligning themselves with the anti-immigrant right against their former multiculturalist allies on the left. Joining them in this exodus to the right are gay activists, who blame Muslim immigrants for the rising number of attacks on gay couples."

Educational.

Peter Jackson: The new kids on the blog

calendarlive.com: The new kids on the blog: "While it is hardly surprising that cyberspace can be fertile soil for misinformation, Jackson's ruse underscores a newer phenomenon: the rapid evolution of weblogs — or blogs — as movie marketing tools.

Costing almost nothing to maintain, the vast majority of blogs are mental clearinghouses for their authors, lo-fi Web confessionals or bully pulpits that vary from current events to niche pastimes to sex. Directors' blogs, by contrast, are slickly engineered to virally market their movies — to stoke fan ardor.

Some observers say this approach allows studios to put a spin on moviemaking — and, by playing to fan interest, head off potential controversies. Movie marketers say the sites allow blogger-directors to reach out to fans in an up-close-and-personal way."

Camera of Sean Penn, Journalist, Confiscated in Iran

Camera of Sean Penn, Journalist, Confiscated in Iran: "NEW YORK Iran was rocked by bombings on Sunday, killing at least nine and wounding more than 30, as dozens of journalists from around the world gathered in advance of the presidential election this Friday. One of those journalists, actor Sean Penn--covering the events for the San Francisco Chronicle--was involved in a separate incident, and had his video camera confiscated for a time."

I don't understand. If there are bombings in Iran then it's a quagmire right. How can Sean Penn blame Bush for the quagmire if he hasn't attacked Iran yet.

He'll figure it out. He's documenting the lovely state of life there so that if Bush does attack Penn can talk about how peaceful and free things were before the "invasion":

"Several hundred women at a sit-in outside the entrance to Tehran University demanded rights revoked after the 1979 Islamic revolution. As chants and taunts arose, police and plainclothesmen surrounded the demonstrators, pushing away those trying to join the group. Officials also cut off cell phone service in the area, and challenged reporters nearby."

"In the process, they briefly seized the video camera of Penn, 44, who arrived in Iran as a reporter for his friend Phil Bronstein, editor of the San Francisco Chronicle."

I'll bet this whole incident was a Karl Rove operation. Right Sean? Let's ask Howard Dean.

Don't tell me about Gulags...

The American Spectator: "Prof. Bass, the perfect modern academic, obviously greatly admires this man, spent days with him, and has not one bad word to say about An's bosses, who, again, killed civilians without remorse by the thousands, who even sent An to be 're-educated' after the war because he had so much contact with Western ideas.

I am not sure how many mothers or fathers or children or widows of Vietnam war casualties read the New Yorker. I am not sure if anyone who edited the piece -- and it is edited well, although utterly without moral input -- had friends or family who fought there (such as my late father in law, Col. Dale Denman, Jr.). But how insulting, how insulting must an article like this be to them. How insulting it is to us all: to lavish praise on a man who helped kill our fellow Americans, to describe him in endearing terms, to try to make him seem like a kindly uncle.

If the New Yorker is one of the flagships of the Mainstream Media fleet, they are sailing in maddeningly disloyal, contemptuous waters and obviously have been for a while. Small wonder the media gloried in Mark Felt and Watergate last week. In those days, Americans actually trusted the Mainstream Media. The New Yorker piece by Prof. Bass makes it clear how wrong we were. He's a fine writer but a man whose piece lacks any moral compass at all. And what of the fellow journalists in Saigon cheering him on? Now we know a bit more about why the war turned out as it did."

Hmm. A Professor, the MSM, lack of moral compass: what a surprise. Sigh.