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.

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The Venomous Linkfest

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