What he said! Ya'know?

via the evangelical outpost

Schulz Smear

I came across this so-called news report via Yahoo: Peanuts creator Schulz led secret life of misery. It reports on a so-called biography (aka. a smear job) by David Michaelis. Disgusting. A quick Google of Mr. Michaelis along with a perusal of the reviews of his books on Amazon makes it clear to me that he is a charlatan who makes his living projecting his own insecurities into his psuedo-psychological scribblings and obsessions then claiming that that he has written so kind of deep analysis of his biographical subjects. His biography of N.C Wyeth is apparently similar. Avoid these books and anything else Mr. Michealis has written; they are all junk.

Experts Agree :)

From Northeastshooters.com by DoctorDrew:

No Bell PC Prize

Al Gore shares Nobel Peace Prize
What a crock. With this award the Nobel Foundation has jumped shark down the slippery slope into the cesspool of political correctness. The link between the false science, fear-mongering and hypocrisy of the Global Warming moonbats, Al Gore in particular, and the advancement of the cause of peace among mankind totally escapes me.

Football and Phones

Sorry that it's been over a week since my last post. Much has been going at home and work, and there's been little to catch my eye to blog about. Here are a few tidbits for today

Pro Football is tough sport: I use Yahoo as my preferred online news compilation source, including sports. Going to their sports news page, then to the NFL page I noticed the listed headlines were all about players expected to miss one or more games, mostly for injury reasons:

• Steelers WR Ward to miss another game
• Future of Broncos RB Henry uncertain
• Panthers QB Delhomme doubtful vs. Saints
• Redskins WR Moss misses practice again
• No practice again for Giants' Umenyiora
• Jets S Coleman doubtful for Giants game
• Bills WR Price likely to miss season
• 49ers' Jennings out for 'private matter'

Tough game.

Yet Another Reason Not to Vote for Rudy Giuliani: Found this Wall Street Journal report via the World Magazine blog;

The fact is that people inside the Giuliani campaign are appalled at the number of times their candidate has felt compelled to interrupt public appearances to take calls from his wife. The estimate from those in a position to know is that he has taken such calls more than 40 times in the middle of speeches, conferences and presentations to large donors.

So his stunt at the NRA convention was not a one-time deal. The article makes it sound like it's ignorance of good manners, but frankly it appears to happen too often for me to believe that. Personally, I think either he doesn't care that he's being rude, or it's an ongoing stunt to show how he's such a "family man." I don't care whether it's arrogance, ignorance, or performance it's yet another reason not to vote for him.

Humor for Today

From Oraculations:

Sermon on “ Horseback Riding"

It was Saturday night and the preacher still hadn't been able to think
of a sermon for the next morning.

About 9:00 p.m. he finally said to his wife, "Dear, I think I've come
upwith the perfect sermon! I'm going to give a sermon about horseback riding!

"She said, "Don't be silly! You can't give a sermon about horseback riding!"

He replied, "Well, it's going to have to do because I've preached on
just about every other subject I can think of.

"The next morning as they were driving to church, shesaid, "I can't
believe that you're insisting on doing this!

You know, if you're going to give that silly sermon on horseback riding,

I'm just going to stay in the car during the service."

He said, "OK, then, suit yourself!", so she stayed in the car!

Entering church before the service, the preacher had a sudden
inspiration and gave a hellfire and brimstone sermon on SEX that just had the congregation in awe.

As the congregation filed out of the church, some of the members saw
his wife sitting in the car and approached her window. One of them said,

"Wow! You just missed the best sermon your husband has ever given.

She said, "Yeah, right! What does he know about it! He talks big, but
he's only tried it twice in his life! "Once before we were married and
once after, and he fell off both times.

Fringe Candidates: Rudy Giuliani

During big speech, Giuliani answers the call of the wife

The call was not planned, said campaign spokesman Jeff Barker.

You mean this wasn't a set-up to show Rudy's "family side"? Riiiggghhhtt

Then there are his "stands" on the Second Amendment:

Red Sox Arrrrgh, Bad as Ron Paul

Daisuzaka disease is contagious; now Okajima-where-the-ball-go-whizzing-past-the-plate (sung to the tune of Oklahoma) and Pap have it too.

p.s. Ron Paul is still a fringe candidate

Ron Paul, Ron Paul, Ron Paul

I posted about Mr. Paul yesterday and got about 3 times the normal traffic, including a comment (WOW). Therefore, in a shameless bid to increase traffic I'll post something meaningless about Mr. Paul (as if his whole campaign wasn't meaningless enough to begin with) on days that I remember to and cannot think of anything else to post.

p.s. Go Fred!

Fringe Candidates: Ron Paul

I warned folks this topic could become a series.

In the spirit of bi-partisanship, and in order to get it out of the way so I could get back to the plethora of Democrat fringe candidates, I was planning to write a considered review of a Republican fringe candidate, Ron Paul. Joe over at the evangelical outpost beat me to it:

Paul's Adolescent Ideology:
The Problems with Ron Paul (and Libertarianism)

"...the main problem with Ron Paul and his supporters is that they are no longer children yet cling to childish ideas ... We live in serious times and needs serious citizens. If Paul and his libertarian supporters expect the rest of us to treat their views seriously they should some grown-up views on politics and governance."

What he said!

Never Forget

Update: Make that a 1 Pitch Wonder

I've revised my prior assessment:

Baltimore 11, Boston 5 (from Yahoo)
Staked with a three-run cushion, Daisuke Matsuzaka was poised to earn his 15th victory and deliver another win for the Boston Red Sox against the Baltimore Orioles.

The rookie never made it out of the third inning, and after yielding eight runs in an 11-5 loss Saturday night, the only thing Matsuzaka delivered was an apology.

Pull the plug, either to the DL or AAA, give his spot on the playoff roster to someone who can help the team, and get a refund.

The Real Candidate

Go Fred Go

The Fringe Candidates: Bill Richardson

I suspect this will turn into a series:

One of the things that makes presidential elections so interesting sometimes is the fringe candidates. I found this from the World Magazine blog: "Richardson: God wants Iowa first"

"Iowa, for good reason, for constitutional reasons, for reasons related to the Lord, should be the first caucus and primary,"

His statement makes perfect sense if one defines "lord" properly. Clearly he is not speaking of God, at least as defined by any reasonable Christian. He apparently never defined his terms and so appears to be pandering to Christians. It's so transparent that it is back-firing from both sides. Most amusing.

This Really Inspires Confidence In Their Judgement

Today's a two-fer:

From Yahoo and AP: France's Sarkozy draws praise from U.S. presidential candidates

Let's look at Mr. Sarkozy's admirers; Romney, McCain, Giuliani, and Gingrich. Even Obama and Clinton are "intrigued". Sarkozy may be conservative by French standards, but by US standards he'd be, at best, a moderate Democrat with fascist leanings. You can tell a lot about a person by their friends and heros.

Even more-so, why the heck should I care what these RINOs and socialists think of the President of France? We live in the U.S.A, not the France Republic. These milquetoasts are running for the President of the United States of America not the Vichy Vice Presidency.

I'm With Fred!

Daisuzaka Should be Diced for $Ks

The Red Sox got gypped with Daisuke Matsuzaka. Granted, sometimes he's not gotten a lot of run support from his teammates, but even when he does the opposing batters clearly get his number by the third time around. He was supposed to be the heir-apparent for Schilling, but right now he's a 2-pitch-wonder without the ability to fool any batter more than twice or pitch himself out of jam.

Refund Theo, Refund!

White House Press Secretary Job Application

Go over to Kim's place and read his application for White House Press Secretary. It's a hoot!
...

• Post-briefing fistfights in the corridor would be a common occurrence.
• CBS: Commie Broadcasting System; NBC: Nothing But Commies; ABC: All Bloody Commies—‘nuff said.

...

Hokie Spin

Recently the Virginia Tech Review Panel released their report on the Cho mass murder tragedy at VT. The AP also has a news article summary of that same report.

Looking through the actual report and then the AP news summary it is quite clear that the news summary is, shall we say, rife with factual errors. Many (most?) of the so called findings and recommendations in the news article are, at best, loose paraphrases of what the report actually says. In some cases, like their "ban guns on all campus grounds" recommendation, are flat made up. Yet another example of MSM B.S., bias and incompetence.

Thoughts on the Good Samaritan

There was a recent thread on a discussion board that I frequent. It started with someone recounting a past event where they stopped to help a motorist in need. One person posted that they would never stop to help a stranger because it was too dangerous. Needless to say the discussion took off from there. This person was roundly, but not universally, criticized. His response was that it is a cold, hard world and he does what he needs to do to survive. He clearly was in the minority, although not a minority of one.

My initial response was one of pity. How could some be so hard and heartless to not help ones fellow man if it was reasonably possible. Such a mode of survival, selfishness to the extreme, sounds very dreary and depressing. Not much of a survival if you ask me.

Furthermore, would one not want someone to stop and help them, or a loved one, if they were in need? If one expects help then it seems only reasonable to be willing to do the same. Yes, there may be some danger in doing so but that is where being prepared comes into play.

As a Christian the story of the Good Samaritan is not just a story; it is an example to be followed to the best of our abilities. I'll be the first to admit that I don't always execute this as well as I could. However, that is very different from rejecting the whole concept as this person has apparently done.

In the end I concluded that there is no way for me to understand this person's perspective. His view of the world is so different from mine that it it makes interaction difficult on anything beyond a superficial level. In the end I decided not to engage directly with the heartless one and posted this to the original poster:

Bravo ...! As the good book says "as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me".

It also says "as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me". People make their own choices. If they can live, or not, with the consequences then so be it.

Weekend Tidbits

What's going on in Utah is a real tragedy. I have this depressing sense that the missing miners' families are going to be getting a deal on burial costs because they'll never be able to go in safely and get them.

On a related subject, unions are despicable, particularly the United Mine Workers for trying to blame the tragedy on the fact that the mine is not unionized:
"Were union miners kicked out of the rescue effort? Mine owner rejects allegations; union team is called 'best'". They are worse than ambulance-chasing lawyers.

Terry Francona has never been quick on the uptake; if a reliever already has a history of blowing games for your team PULL HIM OUT as soon as there's any sign of trouble. Eric Gagne needs to go down to Pawtucket NOW. Maybe if he fixes whatever is wrong, tears up the AAA for a month or so, and is willing and able to do spot duty behind the proven relievers they might call him up for the stretch and playoffs.

Venomous Kate over at Electric Venom is running another link-fest. IMNSHO her Caption Contests are some of the best on the net.

Another Clergy Member in the Wrong Religion

Catholic Bishop Wants Everyone to Call God 'Allah'
Allah is not God; on this I think both Muslims and Christians agree. Tiny Muskins needs to join Ann Redding over with the Unitarian Universalists. His pantheistic beliefs would fit right in.

Darned If You Do, Darned If You Don't

I'm no fan of the flip-flopping RINO Mitt Romney, but I heard a report on the radio this morning about the stocks in his blind trust. Here's one report: Romney stock includes oil company in Sudan

The radio report was attempting to cast aspersions on Mitt for having investments in areas contrary to his stated positions. The radio report mentioned biomedical and stem cell research. Another example from the above article is:

Mitt Romney divested from companies doing business in Iran but still holds stock in an oil company that does business in Sudan, where the government is accused of sponsoring genocide...

The problem is this attempted smear does not bear up under scrutiny. His portfolio was placed in a blind trust to avoid conflict of interest as an elected official. The whole point of it is that Mitt has no say in the management of his stock portfolio. He is not supposed to be able to tell the manager of the trust what to, and not to, invest in. To attempt to smear him because he's not directed his investments to match his policy stands is a biased and false accusation rooted in political and class hatred.

One also wonders whether the Democratic candidates' portfolios have, or will be, subjected to the same form of scrutiny and attack: I'm not holding my breath.

Ends and Means Mismatch

or

The Goldman's Money-Grubbing Ways

I heard the report on the radio this morning that the Goldman family had reached a deal to get OJ's book published: Beaufort Books to publish OJ Simpson book.

This is utterly disgusting, and I am not talking about O.J., that's a given. This time it is the Goldman family. They have called the book "disgusting" and "morally reprehensible" yet when the opportunity arises to make some money off of it they jump on the chance to make profit from the death of their son.

Publishing the book does nothing to punish O.J. He is already a pariah. The money to be made by publishing this book is not coming out of his pocket. It won't reduce his current income at all, nor will it affect his life in any noticeable way.

Give it up. Take the high road. The money to be made will not bring Ron back. It will not punish his murderer. All it does is tarnish the memory of your son. Take the manuscript and burn it as an offering at the grave of your son. That's all it's good for.

It's Linux's Fault

From an info-rag I get:

"Linux adoption among corporations is increasing, in turn, so are the security implications. Unprotected Linux-based systems may host hidden Windows viruses that can spread across the organization when the two systems interact."

Besides the sexual innuendos in this message, I also find it interesting that Linux is being blamed for Windows proclivity to viral infection.

Another Church Bites The Dust

Another denominations follows The Episcopal Church down the wide way of societally-determined theology: Lutherans to allow pastors in gay relationships. Martin Luther must be spinning in his grave.

I Never Did Like Hockey

The fabled world-wide temperature rise graph known as "the hockey stick" has been invalidated, again: Blogger Finds Y2K Bug in NASA Climate Data

"NASA has now silently released corrected figures, and the changes are truly astounding. The warmest year on record is now 1934. 1998 (long trumpeted by the media as record-breaking) moves to second place. 1921 takes third. In fact, 5 of the 10 warmest years on record now all occur before World War II. Anthony Watts has put the new data in chart form, along with a more detailed summary of the events.

The effect of the correction on global temperatures is minor (some 1-2% less warming than originally thought), but the effect on the U.S. global warming propaganda machine could be huge."

Check out the links for the actual data and Anthony Watts' summary. Michael Asher has a number of blog entries that make interesting and informative reading for those interested in the truth about "global warming" and "global climate change".

Predictable Democrats

From AP article "Democrats take sharp questions on gay rights" via Yahoo:

"All of the Democratic candidates support a federal ban on anti-gay job discrimination, want to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy barring gays from serving openly in the military and support civil unions that would extend marriage-like rights to same-sex couples."

If this is what you want then you have plenty to choose from on the Democrat side. If not, your choices are there on the Republican side, although they are less clear due to the many RINOs and flip-floppers.

Interestingly I did note that the topic of the event was gay issues, yet the title of the article turned the issues into rights. Bias creeps into reporting in the insidious ways.

It's the Sun's Fault

This is one of the best treatises I've read debunking the "global warming" and "climate change" hystericists by one of my favorite authors, Orson Scott Card: All in a Good Cause

Read and heed.

Lazy, Hazy Friday

I'm on the downside of really hectic week culminating a crazy 6 weeks. Our demo went very well Wednesday; so well that the talking head management brought in with 2 weeks to go even got a hug from the deputy director.

Maybe next week I'll have a bit more time, and material, to blog.

Weekly Round-up

Wow, a whole week gone and nothing posted. I've been real busy at work (see my Friday the 13th post) and not had the time. Some quick thoughts on events of the week:

• Michael Vick: Tarred and feathered already. Did he ever play lacrosse at Duke?
• Harry Potter: Who? If it ain't Tolkien, I ain't interested.
• Tour de France: Without Lance it's just a long bike race.

That's all for this week. Move along, nothing to see here.

Sometimes Work is Not Very Fun

Arrrrrghhh.

I wish I could figure out how our upper management thinks. Not that I would want to think like most of them, but just so I could have some clue what to expect.

I've been spending the last 3 weeks pulling together a killer demonstration for a "really important event", coordinating the efforts of 2 different contractors, and polishing the briefing with much "help" from management while listening to them whine incessantly about the risk because it wasn't done weeks before I was told about the demonstration. That's the kind of stuff I get paid to do from time to time for the last dozen years, so I'm pretty darn good at it.

Well, with 1 week to go one of "them" decides that somebody else, who has significantly less experience and has not been part of the preparations, should do the presentation just because they are in a different group. How this reduces risk and improves the demonstration I will never know. I'm still responsible, so it will get done, but someone else will get the satisfaction of actually doing the presentation before the audience.

Update: Just had to add this cartoon from Tank McNamara. It seemed quite apropos:

Ann Redding is in The Wrong Relgion, Both Ways

"I am both Muslim and Christian"

By her own words in response to questions from readers of the original article she rejects one of the most basic tenets of Christianity:

Q: Do you believe in the divinity of Christ? And if you don't believe in original sin, is there any significance at all to Christ's crucification? Your educational background and career notwithstanding, what beliefs do you hold that qualify you as a Christian?

Sun, Jun 17, 2007 4:04 pm

Matt

Woodinville

A:I believe that Jesus is divine in the same way in which all humans are related to God as children of God. Jesus is different in degree, not kind

Read the rest of her responses. Not only does she reject the divinity of Christ and His atoning sacrifice on the cross, but she believes Allah and God are one and same (" First of all, there is only One God; calling God Allah does not change that reality for me"). This makes her neither Muslim nor Christian. She is an pantheist who would fit in well with the Unitarian Universalists.

Running Scared of Fred

Someone must be getting very worried about Fred Thompson for the MSM lapdogs to be digging up 30 year old hearsay and innuendo "Fred Thompson Aided Nixon on Watergate", and non-stories, "Thompson Lobbied for Abortion Rights". If that's the best they can do, bring it on.

Today's A Trifecta

I used to read a lot of science fiction; mostly traditional and hard sci-fi, but some fantasy, if it compared favorably to Tolkien. Found this survey via Electric Venom. I watch so little TV that the references mean little to me, but it is interesting:

You scored as Babylon 5 (Babylon 5), The universe is erupting into war and your government picks the wrong side. How much worse could things get? It doesn't matter, because no matter what you have your friends and you'll do the right thing. In the end that will be all that matters. Now if only the Psi Cops would leave you alone.

Babylon 5 (Babylon 5)		100%
Moya (Farscape)		88%
Nebuchadnezzar (The Matrix)		75%
SG-1 (Stargate)		75%
Serenity (Firefly)		75%
Millennium Falcon (Star Wars)		75%
Deep Space Nine (Star Trek)		75%
Heart of Gold (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)		63%
Galactica (Battlestar: Galactica)		50%
Enterprise D (Star Trek)		50%
Andromeda Ascendant (Andromeda)		38%
Bebop (Cowboy Bebop)		38%
FBI's X-Files Division (The X-Files)		25%

Which sci-fi crew would you best fit in with? (pics)
created with QuizFarm.com

Randomness

More random odd tidbits courtesy of Yahoo News:

• With China's recent ascendancy to air pollution supremacy one wonders what kind of sewage system their new 1,000 stall restroom connects to
• Parenting in action: Girl, 4, Called 911 Nearly 300 Times
• Demon rum will make people do the strangest things: Firefighter in bikini accepts plea deal
• And last but not least, sometimes pennies (or euros) do fall from heaven: Money falls from sky

Have a good weekend all.

Observations of the Week

Wow, it's been a whole week and nothing much to post about. That's the way I find blogging to be: There'll be a day or two where a bunch of things catch my fancy then several days where nothing floats my boat. So what's happened this week worth commenting on:

• The Scooter Libby commutation: In the spirit of Leviticus 16 it was the right thing to do, to spare the scapegoat:

  10 "But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.
  ...
  21 "Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness.
  22 "The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. (from BibleGateway.com)

• I burned out the +40 year old motor on my table saw ripping fresh 2" pine into battens for my son's turkey coop. I ordered a replacement from Grizzley tools. It should show up soon.
• The best caption contest this week at Curmudgeonly & Skeptical
  
• Had an interesting exchange on Christian music with Cheryl D. over at the World Magazine blog. Too many people confuse their preferences (e.g., opinions) with objective reality.

That's all folks.

Link Me, Link Me, Link Me

The Venomous Linkfest

Tag, you're it :)

Arrogance in Action

As most folks know by now the MA state legislature, acting in constitution convention, voted to kill a proposed homosexual marriage ban last week. This proposed constitutional amendment was brought forward by petition IAW state laws and certified as a valid petition by the state AG. The next step would have been for a state-wide public referendum on the proposed amendment.

What the legislature did was legal, according to the laws of the state, however that does not make it acceptable or conscionable. The arrogance in attitude that came through, "We know best what's good for you", was disgusting.

Many of the politicians that voted against this said they voted their conscience: Good for them that they got a chance to do so, too bad their conscience did not include the concept of have the people vote democratically on this issue. It was imposed upon us by an appointed court and we should have our say.

Personally I think it would have failed at the ballot box, but the point is that we the people did not get to vote. For something this important we should have that right.

p.s. Voting is a real right; unlike marriage, be it homsexual or hetrosexual.

Kellogg Co. Goes Fruity

More political correctness craziness from the Food Nazis:
"Kellogg to raise nutrition of kids' food".
Here some random quotes to illustrate the nanny-state, sue-happy, blackmail-oriented mindset of the Food Nazis and the French-like corporate reaction:

The Threat (note the assist from the democracy-loving MA politicos):

"Jacobson's nutrition advocacy group, along with two Massachusetts parents and the Boston-based Campaign For A Commercial-Free Childhood, had served notice in January 2006 of intent to sue Kellogg and the Nickelodeon cable TV network under a Massachusetts law to stop them from marketing junk food to kids."

The Offer:

"Center spokesman Jeff Cronin said Kellogg contacted the plaintiffs shortly thereafter and began negotiating the new standards, so the lawsuit was not filed and will not be filed."

and The Payoff

"The Battle Creek, Mich., company avoided a lawsuit threatened by parents and nutrition advocacy groups worried about increasing child obesity."

Now That's Interesting

Via Captain's Quarters: CAIR membership plummets (Wash. Post). They are down to less than 1,700 from a high of 29,000 in 2000. Most of there money comes from about 24 "individual donors". Hmmm, AQIA,?

There is a God - Part 2

Paris Hilton Ordered Back to Jail
Judge Sauer strikes a blow against "celebrity (in)justice". Way to go your honor!

"Coupe" Deval on Education

Optimistic Patriot over at New England Republican has put together a nice succinct review of King Cadillac Coupe Deval Free 'Em All Patrick's education "reform" proposal; "Governor Patrick, vision without funding is hallucination". Read and heed.

My only addition would be to point out that the 2 hour increase in school day part is clearly a salary for teachers increase not a kids education reform proposal; in other words a real stinker.

It's About Time!

"Feds say La. congressman to be indicted"
I wonder what they were waiting for, the start of hurricane season?

Morning Commute Rants

It was raining this morning driving to work. It seemed to bring out the crazies.

• To 25% of the drivers: It's raining, turn on your lights. The idiot that gets seen before they get hit may be you.
  
• To the woman in the Mazda: I don't mind you using your cell phone, just keep driving, or move over into the right hand lane.
• To the lady in the white Infinity: Smooth move, ex-lax, cutting across traffic to get into the left hand turn lane.
• To the guy in white work van: Thank you for cutting me off when the right hand lane was wide open; it let me swerve around you on the right. Hint: There was nobody behind me; If you had stayed over in the right lane for, say 5 seconds, you could have easily moved over and saved us both some blood pressure points.
• To the truck drivers at the entrance to the base: Don't try to come through the barriers until the inspection area is open. You just end up blocking the whole entrance for everyone.
• To the rent-a-cops in the inspection area: Your job is to inspect the trucks, then get them moving, not chat up the driver then walk around it kicking the tires like you're on a used car lot.
  

[rant off]

Thoughts on the Emerging/Emergent Church

This post over at the World Magazine Blog got me thinking (and researching and writing). The premise of the post was that the Christianity Today magazine has moved from an evangelical perspective to a Emerging Church perspective. Personally I've always considered Christianity Today to be pretty liberal to the point that I would not really have called it an evangelical magazine. To see it more further in that direction would not be a surprise. But this is not the real subject of my post here.

I would like to give my take on what I've found out about the Emerging Church movement. (And yes I will call it a "movement" because that is what it is, contrary to their claims.) For this I'll use the outline of the basic characteristics from the Emerging Church entry in Wikipedia. I researched a variety of sources, but this one is as good a list as I found elsewhere. I'll not define their terms in depth, go read the article for that, but I will give my take on each aspect.

• Postmodern worldview: The existence of the Postmodern worldview is a reality, however it is not a valid basis for defining Christian belief. Neither is Modernism or any other previous worldviews. Christianity is it's own worldview. I can see Evangelicalism as an expression of how to relate the Christian worldview to a modern world, but contrary to claims from the Emerging Church, Evangelicalism is not "based on" a Modern worldview.
  
• Narrative theology: Storytelling can be a good technique for conveying the gospel message, but it is not how the gospel is defined. The gospel is defined in God's Word.
  
• Generous orthodoxy: This smack of relativism and the rejection of the truth of God's Word as the definition of the gospel message. There are absolutes in the Christian faith which means it is possible to be outside them and therefore not Christian. I fear that the Emerging Church is throwing out the baby in the bath water in their rush to be relevant.
  
• Postmodern Hermeneutics: Look up the term. In short it is the rejection of knowable, absolute truth. Dangerous, see above.
  
• Authenticity: There is some good in this area, in learning how to apply Christ in all areas of one's life, but again it smacks of emotionalism and legalism. "I feel saved, I act saved, therefore I am saved".
  
• Conversation/dialog: Again, a good technique for relating to people and sharing the gospel: It does not replace the gospel.
  
• Missional living: The way one lives should reflect one's beliefs, not be the determinant of them.
  
• "Fluid" ecclesiology or "deep" ecclesiology: See above, Postmoderm Hermeneutics.
  
• Creative spirituality: See above, Generous Orthodoxy.
  
• "Non-Legalistic" conduct: Sounds good, but is actually contradictory in practice with the definition of Authenticity above.
  
• Use of new technologies: Using new technologies to share the gospel and relate with people is fine, as long as the technology does not become the object of worship.
  
• Postmodern terminology: Using the terminology is fine, as long as Christian terms and more importantly Christian beliefs are not redefined as well.
  
• Justice: Social justice is a good thing, but again it is not the primary purpose of the gospel. The "social gospel" path practiced by many mainline denominations has been shown to ultimately be contradictory to Christ.

The overwhelming sense I got from researching the Emerging Church movement was one of fuzziness and anti-definition. It is not clear exactly what many in the movement do believe, although there is much that they apparently do not.

The bottom line is that I think there are things to be learned from the Emerging Church movement about how to relate and share the gospel message to people with a postmodern worldview. It could become the next Evangelicalism, but the gospel message cannot be redefined in order to relate it to people and still be called "Christian." Evangelicalism did not redefine the gospel message and neither should the Emerging Church.

There is a God

From MArooned:

Train Kills Man Trying to Kill Woman

LOS ANGELES - A man trying to kill his girlfriend by stopping a car in front of an approaching train was himself killed Monday when the train hit the vehicle and launched it into him as he tried to flee, police said.

The girlfriend survived.

Back on Hiatus

Sorry, I do not expect to have much time to post for the next month or so because of new responsibilities at work, town finance committee activities as part of the run-up to annual town meeting, and the usual slate of home-life events.

I WILL be back.

Recent Events in Global Warming

Sorry it's been almost 2 weeks since the last update. Life and liberty has had me rather busy.

Here are some recent tidbits on the "global warming" silliness:

1. BBC Video "The Great Global Warming Swindle". The original on Google is gone (surprise, surprise surprise), but here is a 2 minute preview, and another source for the full video courtesy of Curmudgeonly & Skeptical.
2. This delightful bit of irony also came from Curmudgeonly & Skeptical, "Frostbite ends Bancroft-Arnesen trek". The quote at the end of the report is delicious:
   

   "They were experiencing temperatures that weren't expected with global warming"

3. Kim Du Toit's observations on the global warming models are insightful. They can be summed up by this quote:

   "'The global warming models have some disturbing characteristics. For example, their output doesn’t depend on their inputs'"

4. Also interesting is his take on carbon offsets:

   “'Carbon offsets' (2007) = 'Papal indulgences' (1517)
   

   Seriously. It’s just payola to a different absolutionist."

5. Seems to me Al Gore is running some kind of Ponzi scheme (or maybe a check kiting ring) with his "carbon offsets". From "Signal 94: Global Warning is Gore's Retirement Plan"
   

   Gore's carbon footprint may be the size of Godzilla's, but he eases his conscience with 'carbon offsets.' He buys them from himself. And every time someone else buys them, Big Al gets richer.

Enjoy.

Double Standards Again in the MSM

"‘That’s so gay’ prompts a lawsuit" From the article:

When a few classmates razzed Rebekah Rice about her Mormon upbringing with questions such as, "Do you have 10 moms?" she shot back: "That's so gay."

For that she was sued, yet nothing appears to have been done to the thugs that subjected Rebekah to religious hate speech. What is good for the goose should be good for the gander. Of particular note is the total lack of coverage of of this double standard in the article.

Don't Ya Just Love It

"The Rev. Al Sharpton said he wants a DNA test to determine whether he is related to former segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond through his great-grandfather, a slave owned by an ancestor of the late senator. "

Be careful when throwing rocks, the tree you hit may be your own.

"It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all..."

More Political Correctness

I've blogged about this before, but the University of Illinois has finally decided to cave in to the NCAA's political correctness blackmail. Sadly, it appears that the chairman of UI values the dollar over their principals. What a educational statement to their students.

Two students do not appear to have learned that lesson very well: They are suing to keep Chief Illiniwek. Good for them. If you can, donate to their legal fund at Chief Legal Fund, Box 11472, Champaign, Ill., 61826.

It is good to see that there is hope for some of our young people.

Really, Really Bad Music

Here's my list of what I consider to be the worst pop songs ever:

• Feelings by Englebert Humperdinck
  
• MacArthur Park by Donna Summer
  
• You Light Up My Life by Debbie Boone
• Copacobana by Barry Manilow
• Muskrat Love by Captain and Tennille
• Ebony and Ivory by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder
• Tonight's The Night by Rod Stewart
• Sailing by Christopher Cross
• Daydream Believer by The Monkees
• Call Me by Blondie
  
• Hit Me With Your Best Shot by Pat Benatar
  
• Song Sung Blue by Neil Diamond
• Play That Funky Music by Wild Cherry
• You've Lost That Loving Feeling by Isley Brothers
  

This list has been running through my head for the last 2 days; don't ask me why. Maybe it will go away now. Feel free to add to the list via comments.

Kim du Toit Takes on The "S" Word

"Socialization" that is. For those of us in the homeschooling community "socialization" is the most frequent issue that gets thrown at us as a counter argument. Mr. du Toit has written a very effective critique of this so-called argument. For example:

"High school kids, unsupervised, are the most feral little beasts on the planet, and we saw no reason why we should subject our kids to that ordeal."

Personally I view the socialization gambit as a "t-ball" pitch to be hit outa-da-park. Socialization as exhibited in the public, and even most private, schools is the most artificial and harmful type of social behavior I can imagine. We do not, and will not inflict that upon our children. We care too much for them.

Romney Runs to the Right

Mitt Romney is a member of the NRA, but only since August.

Does he not realize how transparent this is. He supported gun control while governor of Massacusetts, and reportedly while in Utah and running the Olympics as well. This is clearly a temporary swing to win the primary, then he will be back to is two-timing RINO ways for the general election.

Some people are saying that we should get behind Romney (or one of the the other leading RINOs like Giuliani or McCain) now because they're most likely to be able to defeat the Democrats. Pox on their house I say. I'm not supporting a RINO until I have to. Until then, let's take the fight to the liberal, regardless of their party, and get a real conservative nominated.

Thus, with apologies to Lesly Gore, I give you the following fight song:

It's my party and I'll trash who I want to
Trash who I want to, trash who I want to
You'd trash them too if it happened to you

Nobody knows where my party has gone
But Rudy and Mitt left the same time
Why was he holding her hand
When the GOP's supposed to be mine

It's my party and I'll trash who I want to
Trash who I want to, trash who I want to
You'd trash them too if it happened to you

Then all my records keep dancing all night
But leave me alone for a while
'Till my party is back on track
I've got no reason to smile

It's my party and I'll trash who I want to
Trash who I want to, trash who I want to
You'd trash them too if it happened to you

Rudy and Mitt just walked thru the door
Like a queen with the king
Oh what a birthday surprise
The're both a pair in the ring

It's my party and I'll trash who I want to
Trash who I want to, trash who I want to
You'd trash them too if it happened to you

Emerging Trend?

Hal Lindsey has a most interesting editorial on WorldNetDaily. In it he identifies two interesting trends over the last 4 years. One is a pattern of terrorist attacks by individuals of Muslim persuasion in the US, and more disturbingly a corresponding pattern on the part of law enforcement and the media to ignore this religious terrorist connection. Read it and think.

Oh the Irony of It All

HOUSE HEARING ON 'WARMING OF THE PLANET' CANCELED AFTER ICE STORM
Bwahahahaha.

Now I have to go plow another 6" of "global warming" off my driveway.

Global Warming, Bah Humbug

Warming, schwarming. Come spend this week up here and tell me there's a warming trend:
Seriously, I'm sure everyone has heard about the latest global warming report. While there is a fair consensus that a climatic warming trend is likely occurring, blaming human civilization for said trend is not quite the consensus that the MSM and the authors of this report would have you believe.

Here is one study that contradicts the so-called report:

The Physical Evidence of Earth's Unstoppable 1,500-Year Climate Cycle

Read it and make up your own mind

If you want a more readable take on the subject check out Michael Crichton's State of Fear. It's a fiction story, but the science behind it is real. Check the references and footnotes for the facts that support this novel.

Some diligent searching will find other sources that cast credible doubt on the whole global warming, climatic catastrophe, mankind is at fault hoopla. Go forth and read with an open mind.

Update: And for a more humorous take on the subject, check out Penn and Teller's B....... Environmental Hysteria (warning: mild profanity). There are also lower bandwidth and 2 minute summary versions.
Courtesy of Curmudgeonly & Skeptical

Boston LIte-Brite Bomb Scare Thoughs

I'm sure everyone has heard about the bomb scare in Boston several days ago. It's amazing to me how reactions are split so widely. People either think it was a big over-reaction, or that it was perfectly justified. Few if any people I've met fall in the middle. Part of the problem is hindsight is 20-20 on both sides. So what is my opinion: Personally I think putting up the devices as they were was a really, really dumb idea.

First, I'm sure laws were broken in putting them up and there should be punishment for it. Piddly laws I'm sure having to do with unlawful placement of advertising, but broken none the less. Charge the youths (e.g., the scapegoats) who put them up with the appropriate misdemeanors, then go after TBS in a big way.

Second, TBS should have realized that these devices could be mistaken for bombs. Nothing I've read has indicated that there was anything on them that identifying them as coming from TBS. I think a simple "Property of Turner Broadcasting System" would have gone a long way to preventing an over-reaction. For this TBS should cover the state and city expenses for the bomb scare plus a penalty for idiocy. It was their design of the devices, their directions to place them, and their silence in notifying authorities before hand and slowness in doing so afterwards that caused the panic. I consider TBS to be at fault more than anyone else.

Third, we've come a long way from 9/11. There may have been some over-reaction on the part of Boston authorities but frankly I'd rather see that than no response. The division of opinion and the lack of response in any other city indicates that we generally have become complacent and lazy about security and terrorism. I'm disappointed there was not a more vigorous response elsewhere, or that there was any sharing of information between cities.

I predict that we will at some point regret this incident because of the hesitation in reaction that it will cause. I don't think it is a stretch to predict that some terrorist will someday create terror devices resembling some kind of guerrilla advertising device and we will miss them because we've been "burned" once. That's the saddest part of this fiasco, and that's the reason TBS needs to get hammered.

Stupidity kills.

I May Start Flying AirTran

Normally I avoid low-cost airlines like AirTran on business travel. I may change that policy in the future for AirTran.

Girl kicked off plane after tantrum

The mother complained "We weren't giving an opportunity to hold her, console her or anything". Horsefeathers! They had at least 40 minutes on the plane to get control of their child, not even counting prep time in the gate area. Remember, the plane was already 15 minutes late. Boarding usually starts 25 to 30 minutes before departure and families with small children get to board first. Add all that up and they had plenty of time to get their bratty child under control.

Bravo AirTran

Bible Study on Love: Colossians 3:14

Here is a Bible study outline on Love:

Col 3:14

14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

God’s Love for us

John 15:13

13 " Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends

Rom 5:8

8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

John 17:26

26 and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

Rom 5:5

5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

We are to be rooted and grounded in love, greater than knowledge

Eph 3:14-19

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,

15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,

16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,

17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

We cannot be separated from God’s love

Rom 8:38-39

38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,

39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We are commanded to love our brethren

Eph 5:1-2

1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;

2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

1 Cor 16:14

14 Let all that you do be done in love.

2 Cor 5:14

14a For the love of Christ controls us,

John 13:35

35 " By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

Love allays fear, Christ loved us, we are to love brethren

1 John 4:18-21

18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.

19 We love, because He first loved us.

20 If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.

21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

Love includes keeping God’s commands

John 15:9-10

9 "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.

10 " If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.

Love is to treat neighbor well, is not in contradiction to the law

Rom 13:10

10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Gal 5:22-23

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Love commands us to serve one another

Gal 5:13

13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

Love builds up

1 Cor 8:1

1 Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies.

Love is the evidence of faith

Gal 5:6

6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.

Love helps us to achieve unity

Eph 4:1-3

1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,

2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,

3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace

Unity

“Unity” has concept of perfection or completeness

Christ as perfect example of unity and perfection

Heb 12:2

2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

God desires us to be in unity

John 17:20-23

20 "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;

21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

22 "The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;

23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.

Unity of faith, everyone working together, not everyone identical

Eph 4:11-16

11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,

12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;

13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;

15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,

16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love

We are to dwell in unity

Ps 133:1

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is

For brothers to dwell together in unity!

In closing reflect on the fullness of love from 1st Corinthians chapter 13

1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,

5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,

6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;

7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.

9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part;

10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.

11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.

12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.

13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

All quotations from the New American Standard Bible courtesy of PC Study Bible

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I did. If you're reading what I've been writing you should too.

The Land of Coincidences

This year is the Chinese Year of the Boar (or pig), and
Hillary Clinton launches White House bid.
I leave it as an exercise for the reader to identify the parallels. :)

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire, Part Three

From Dread Pundit Bluto: "Reyes Does 180 in Order to Oppose President":

"New House Intelligence Committe chairman Silvestre Reyes was for the troop surge before he was against it."

And, from World Magazine Blog: "Do Them Dogs Hunt?":

"on four of five issues during the first week of the new Congress, the 45-member coalition of self-proclaimed donkey moderates voted in lockstep with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi."

Honesty and integrity appear to be in short supply with our new Congressional leaders. Party and politics before principle is poor performance.

Now That's A Gun

I recently joined the nation of riflemen with one of these. Now I see this "A Missile Punch at bullet Prices":

The range for 5-inch guns now on Navy ships is less than 15 nautical miles, Garnett said.

He said the railgun will extend that range to more than 200 nautical miles and strike a target that far away in six minutes. A Tomahawk missile covers that same distance in eight minutes.

I want one :)

Liar, Liar Pants on Fire, Part Two

This appears to be the beginning of a continuing series.

I leave it up to the reader to find the contradiction in these two reports:
"Presidential Hopeful Touts Gun Rights"
"Mitt Romney on Gun Control"

Mitt Romney is a pandering hypocrite and thus a liar. Those of us who have resided under his "care" in the state of Massachusetts have had more than enough of his two-faced ways on gun control, abortion, tax relief and other conservative issues. I consider integrity to be a key characteristic of whomever I vote for. I also think it tends to be a conservative trait, although not exclusively. Mr. Romney lacks it. For this reason, and because of the liberal positions displayed by his actions (versus his words), I formally pronounce Mitt Romney a liberal RINO scum-bag politician unworthy of the Republican nomination.

Why I Support the Death Penalty

"Two missing boys, one since 2002, found in Missouri". I believe in the existence of true evil, and truly evil people, in this world. Very few people qualify. In my opinion killers and kidnappers of children do.

Such people should, to borrow a line, be "decently tried, decently convicted and decently executed". Mr Devlin is one of these people. He should get no plea bargains, no insanity defenses and no delaying appeals. If he wants to be spared a trial then he can plead guilty, but he should get punished the same: Death.

I don't care how he's executed; fried, hung, shot or medicated: I consider Mr Devlins presence in this world forfeit.

Liar, Liar Pants on Fire

Deval Patrick made many promises running for governor of Massachusetts, most of them involved the government doing more for people. That means spending even more money than our socialist, welfare state spends now, and we don't have it.

One of the first things Deval did was restore $383.6 million dollars in cuts that his predecessor, Mitt Romney, had made. He claimed that state revenues were up in November and December enough to cover this spending.

Now he's claiming there will be a $1 billion dollar deficit next year. This is just bad financial management. You don't go spending extra money if you expect to run out next year. You save what you can to try to cover the expected shortfall, not spend money like a drunken sailor.

Personally, I think that he is also a liar and a fraud who is deliberately creating this so-called crisis so he can "convince" the legislature to raise taxes. Last week the state senate president indicated that there was no intent to raise taxes. I suspect that position will be gone before very long.

Hold onto you wallets, we're in for a rough 4 years.

New Look

Courtesy of the new Blogger. I still haven't got all the old functionality re-implemented. Hopefully I'll be able to get trackbacks reimplemented. Until then this should be close enough for government work. Regular posting, at least for me, will resume shortly.
Update: Got trackbacks via Haloscan reinstalled. Now I have no excuses for not resuming blogging.

On Hiatus

I'm putting this blog into hiatus until January. Life continues to be very busy, and with my disappointment in the November election results, I've not had the time or motivation to write. Hopefully I'll be able to make and keep a New Years resolution to start writing again.