Hither and thither 2/26/10

Work on my Proverbs book continues apace. Honestly, the more I work on it, the more excited I get... yet at the same time, the more I work on it, the more there seems to be done. There's probably a mathemetical formula that explains this. Anyway... enjoy!

• Those of us still unhappy about the Terri Schiavo travesty will note the story of the 60 year old comatose farmer, whom doctors said might never recover or would be severely impaired — who has "come to" and is expected to make a full recovery. The happy news of his first grandchild's birth brought him out of it.
• So President Obama had a few Republicans over for his Admiral Ackbar Summit... er, Healthcare, whatever... thingie. At the sum, Obama basically insinuated threats that he and the Dems would ram it through no matter what. Big surprise there; I guess if they can change what "marriage" means, we can transform the etymology of "Democrat" from "people power" to "overpowering the people." 
• But anyway, the meeting was all about listening, the Pres had said. Indeed. As it turns out, "listening" meant Obama (Listener in Chief) talked for 119 minutes, the Dems for 114... and the Republicans for 110 minutes. 
• Only Obama could refer to the actual 2400-page bill as a "prop." Nonetheless, Rep. Ryan reportedly made devastating use of the time he had.
• Did you know we have a new penny? I didn't, but BSIL did.  We don't think much of it. (Interesting factoid: costs more than a penny to make a penny. Probably explains a lot, right there.)

• And for a BSIL double-header, he shares that he's partial to the raging beaver helmet.
• We have a Title of the Week, and it's a good one, if overloaded with exclamation-points:  Mom Finds Snake Head in Green Beans. Company Says She's Wrong, It's a Frogs [sic] Head!! Well, there y'go then! The subtitle is also comforting: Package Says "no Additives"! Indeed.
• Tony Woodlief in the WSJ takes the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts Handbook to go over its history, particularly its constants and changes.
• Reader Paula notes that Ken Blackwell doesn't find President Obama's abortion talk to match his walk. She wishes that he, and not Michael Steele, where RNC Chairman.
• Mmmm... Borg cupcakes.... must assimilate them!

• Reader Pastor John tries to lure us to this game. I avoid such games on principle: not because I'm a good man, but because a man's got to know his limitations. I'm quite hookable; so best not to start. Too many other things I need to do. (The good pastor also points us to an answer page, in case you give up.)
• And besides... I can't win that one.  :^P  And you'll be telling me you figured it out in 23 seconds, and I'll hate you a little bit.
• I'm pretty open-minded about meat. Not as open-minded, perhaps, as Phil Johnson. And not as open-minded as this:

• Reader NoLongerBlind points out a video I think I may have had up before -- but what the hey. Reportedly it's a couple who's been married 62 years, who walks into the Mayo Clinic and treats everyone to a delightful impromptu performance. I think they've managed to keep some fun in their marriage!
• Anyone else have a horrible, horrible tax surprise thanks to President Obama's tax tricks? And a darker financial future? You can put us down for a couple of "Missed Me Yet?" T-shirts, if not this April 15, then certainly the next.
• I think everyone in my family plays chess except me; unsure of DAOD. I knew how briefly around High School, then left it along with most board games. Anyway, young Jonathan (10) is turning out to be a worthy competitor, and Josiah is a master-strategist. Which is a clunky lead-in to ten cool and/or geeky chessboards. One of my beloved readers might be interested to know there's a Doctor Who chess board.

• Confirmed sourpuss Fred Butler grumblingly sent me a bunch of cute pictures titled "Who needs a babysitter?" Here are a few.

 

 

• Staying on the subject of Butler, the [snide epithets self-deleted] blog First Things featured some kid's proud, billowy tale of his defection from a Biblical view of creation. That's not noteworthy. What is noteworthy is Fred Butler's thorough fisking. Well done, Fred.
• I like my Hyundai Santa Fe very much. So it's with interest I note Hyundai's unveiling of a 78MPG diesel model.
• Heh. Pirate desk. Arrrh.

• So who would you figure to come off culturally more liberal: Mark Driscoll, or me? Yeah, I'd say Driscoll too. Yet I did a fairly mildly critical review... and Driscoll says that Avatar is "the most demonic, satanic film I've ever seen." Well... hunh.
• Perhaps you geeky types want to save more money with these 45+ free, open-source software applications.
• Oh, as an update: I'm still loving Chrome, haven't found anything significant it can't do.
• And finally, these.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can't tell me you don't know this feeling

No need to be a cat-lover, either.

Poor kitty.

(See, when I have a Big Heavy Post at Pyro, I get to be lighter here.)

(c:

Isn't evolution wonderful? — 14 (mind-controlling plants)

In the past, we have often marveled at little beasties who, with (literally) incredibly foresight and ingenuity, designed chemical and physical changes to themselves that defy belief.

Today, it's a plant.

The tropical acacia plant exudes a drug that controls the minds of the ants that live on it. The drug both motivates the ants aggressively to attack anything — from spider to giraffe — hapless enough to try to feed on it. Then, when it serves the plant's purposes (?), it also drives the ants away from its flowers.

If we believe that all is nothing but matter in motion, purposeless and blind... what a lucky plant.

Otherwise, just imagine the countless generations of veggi-scientists, luring species after species of ant, running chemical and behavioral diagnoses, then hitting the lab for innumerable chemical combinations and experiments, looking for that perfect mixture of elements. And of course, the vast generatiosn of acacia plants dying without the ants' protection.

Clever herb, eh?

Not really.

Palin unelectable, "relentlessly simple-minded," would be slaughtered

Well, here's the word, and it's pretty ominous:

For several decades, it has been an article of faith among politicians and political analysts that no candidate can win a U.S. presidential election unless he can dominate the broad center of the spectrum, that all candidates on the edges of the left or right are doomed. Barry Goldwater's "extremism . . . is no vice" campaign of 1964 provides the classic evidence, reinforced by George McGovern's 1972 defeat in 49 out of 50 states. And since G.O.P. Front Runner Sarah Palin relies upon a base of support that is on the far right wing of the Republican Party, some experts have long declared that if she wins the nomination, the G.O.P. would simply be repeating the suicidal Goldwater campaign. (...) National opinion polls continue to show Obama leading Palin by an apparently comfortable margin of about 25%. They also show that more moderate Republicans like Romney would run better against the President. This suggests that Palin is not the strongest G.O.P. choice for the 2012 election and that she clearly faces an uphill battle. (...) If popular unhappiness with domestic and world problems finally comes to rest at Obama's doorstep, voters may begin to see all sorts of previously invisible virtues in Sarah Palin. (...) Palin cannot hope to win, however, unless she moves beyond the hard-line conservative base that has sustained her since she first appeared on the national political scene as a spokesman for McCain himself. She has no experience in Washington politics or foreign affairs. Both Congress and the federal bureaucracy are as unfathomable to her as they were to Obama. Indeed one of Palin's major supporters in the Senate notes that the Alaskan is uncomfortable even visiting Washington. (...) Worse perhaps than the verbal gaffe is Palin's relentlessly simple-minded discussion of complex problems.

Surprised Justin Taylor didn't already post this? It does seem like a natural in the ongoing series. Pretty ominous-sounding and heavyweight. I didn't even put up the part about Palin's idiotic bibble-babble about drilling for oil and becoming self-sufficient.

Yeah, except... it wasn't really about Sarah Palin.

It was about Ronald Reagan, and the sonorous warnings were from Time magazine, thirty years ago.

I saw the original myself here, and was going to do just such a send up — until I saw that Joshua Livestro had already done it.

While you're at it, you might check out I Am Sarah Palin's Brain.

The instant response of the elitists would be: Sarah Palin is no Ronald Reagan.

But, as those of us who were actually there at the time remember: neither was Ronald Reagan, when he posed a political threat to the Establishment.

They're only admitting the truth about him now that he's dead.

Monday Music: two very different treats with Michala Petri

Reader Jack W thought we could use a nice palate-cleanser after last Monday's strangeness, and I agree. So he pointed me to this stunning performance by Michala "And-you-thought-the-recorder-was-a-kid's-instrument" Petri.

That little number was called Devil's Trill Sonata, and both the story behind its composition (and thus the composer) are pretty messed-up.

Now as an extra treat, the same lady in a very different mood, with the incomparable Victor Borga. This is a favorite of Phil Johnson's, which is how I came to know of it.

Trying Chrome for awhile

My beloved Firefox has been getting increasingly gummy on me. Now that Chrome has extensions (such as mouse-gestures), it's becoming a more attractive alternative.

Plus it doesn't seem to ruin post-composition in Blogger as it used to do.

What are y'all using, these days, and why?

Hither and thither 2/19/10

Busy week at work, with that particular assignment that makes HT gathering harder. Plus I'm really going hammer-and-tongs at my book on Proverbs. I'm loving it; I really like that book.It's a thorough reworking of material I prepared for seminars some time back. Gosh, I used to be smart. Sigh. Uh... where were we? Oh, yeah — here:

• Title That Eats Itself Alert. I came across an article titled How to Think for Yourself. So here's my question. If you're not the sort of person who thinks for yourself, and you see this article, you say "Okey doke, sounds good to me!", and you do its six steps — are you now a person who thinks for himself? Because you did what the article told you to do?
• My dear wife and I love John Wayne's The Quiet Man. This might be fun — but I wonder what it's going to be, exactly. And Roger Moore? Hunh.
• On the far-opposite poll of the cultural spectrum: is there a way to make American Idol consistently appalling? Turns out yes.
• DAOD points out: we're #17! Woo hoo! (See if yours rates.) This calls to mind tangentially the recent story in our local DNC house-organ, The Sacramento Bee, lamenting all the closing businesses. This would be The Bee, which itself has always sneeringly promoted just exactly those politicians and policies which have ruined California's economy. Sadder, glance at the comments and you see The Insanity Rule in effect: if it doesn't work, do it harder!
• So you've got to wonder: did this guy listen to Steve Brown's course on "grace," and take seriously Brown's counsel to pastors to do what their conscience tells them not to do? (Thanks to reader Fred Butler for the link; he says a pastor in Arkansas did something similar... another Brown devotee?)
• Oh, fine. Now they tell me.

• We have taken note of Benny Hinn's wife before.  Now Mrs. Hinn has filed for divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences." I think it's sad. It's tempting to make a crack, but that's kind of like when a two-year challenges you to a fight. If you took him up on it,  you'd just look like a jerk.
• You will find, however, that FReepers are not so reluctant.
• I don't know what Tiger Woods is going to say today. But Mark DeMoss has an idea of what he should say.
• What birthday is complete without a Jabba the Hut cake?

  

• Uh... okay, it makes a sort of sense. Reader Enoch Stevenson points out an atheist's service attempting to take advantage of Christians by offering to take care of pets left ownerless after the Rapture. Because you know you can trust an atheist.
• Reader Jonathan Vowell has the solution for a businesses suffering the bad economy: print your own money.
• Uh, okay... good to know....

• Not comforting. The motto of the Obama administration seemingly remains "Islamic terrorism? What Islamic terrorism?"
• OTOH, Sarah Palin correctly dubs global warming a snow job. Palin continues to irritate elitists all over the map, which delights me no end. Prissy elitist pet-conservative George Will sees if yet one more sniff of disdain will take her down. I'm thinking no. But here's the mystery: a truly good guy like Justin Taylor is all aglow over folks like Will and Noonan and Brooks, resolutely not seeing what Douglas Wilson, Mark Steyn, and many others have seen right from the start. Go figure.
• Mike Potemra over at National Review's The Corner has some responses to the elitists, as well.
• Some of you will want to know how to get a piece of this action.

• It may not be a title of the week, but I like it: True Weight App review.  Maybe I should have a "write your own article" feature, just riffing off the title. In this case, I picture the versatile iPhone in yet another "there's an app for that" adventure. I think the catch is actually standing on the little phone, to get the "true weight" reading....
• Om nom nom.

• My kids have heard me say, "It's a poor craftsman who blames his tools." Now comes a man who rather illustrates my point. Wonder whether he'll see any Proverbs 22:29 come out of it... unless Proverbs 23:20-21 or 13:23 get in the way.

 

  

  

  

Fast food fantasies vs. realities

Nothing will get me to "turn" on fast food... but these are interesting.

First, one curious soul bought and compared advertised fast food vs. the reality. Check out the results.

Second, a "food make-up artist" explains how she makes those advertised burgers look so darned scrumptious.

Obama repents

Well... he just told me he did.

See, for some reason — someone's little joke, I think — I'm on the mailing list for White House Press Releases. At least the religious ones. Funny, eh? Life's funny. Someone should sell tickets.

So, here it is, emphases added:

---

From: White House Media Affairs Office
To: filops@yahoo.com
Sent: Wed, February 17, 2010 7:05:19 AM
Subject: Statement by the President on Ash Wednesday

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 17, 2010

Statement by the President on Ash Wednesday

Michelle and I join Christians here in America and around the world in observing Ash Wednesday. We mark this solemn day of repentance and promise, knowing that Lent is a time for millions to renew faith and also deepen a commitment to loving and serving one another.

###

---

So.

There y'go.

We'll all be watching for those fruits (Matthew 3:8).

Reuters: subtle like a dropped anvil

Two recent O-photos from objective, professional mainstream news service Reuters:

(Source)

Oops... how'd that get in there?

So, do you hate the lamestream media yet?

What amazes and dismays me is that there are people who still think of them — al-Reuters, Associated Press, etc. — as news sources rather than what they are: advocacy organizations.

UPDATE: the foreign press is not being as kind.

Good news, bad news

Senator Bayh becomes the latest Democrat to announce he won't be seeking re-election. His case is a bit more surprising than others who've recently leapt over the railing, in that Bayh looked to be headed into a successful campaign. Regardless, this fuels hope that the GOP will take back control of the Senate.

I have a few thoughts.

1. Ironically, it could be the best thing to happen to the Obama administration. Arguably, the Republican takeover of Congress led to Clinton's re-election, since it drove him back towards the center and prevented him from some of the more liberal things he might have attempted. If a Republican Senate or Congress has that effect on The One, it may well assure his re-election.
2. Irony can be pretty ironic, eh?
3. But seriously, Obama is so genuinely and deeply arrogant, ideological, and spoiled, that it may not have that effect, and he may end up steamrolling himself out of office. Clinton was (among many other dank and repulsive things) a consummate politician and something of a pragmatist; Obama is neither.
4. If the GOP resumes control — what will they do with it? I can understand readers thinking I'm an enthusiastic Republican, because I am so relentlessly critical of Dems. I am not. I am a Republican by default. What evidence is there that the GOP leadership as a whole has any more clue about what needs to be done than they had when they actually enjoyed a comfortable grip on the legislative branch?

Monday Music: scariest music video I've ever posted

You have been warned.

Now look, I mean it. This is... okay, to remind myself why I titled it thus when I picked it, I re-watched the first ten seconds, then had to bail. This guy is a big hit, I gather. And boy, will you feel as if you've been hit.

I appreciate loyalty, but please, don't feel as if you have to watch the whole thing for me. Really. Bail anytime. Though I will say you will only appreciate the full horror if you watch it all.

Then, when you're done, click the tag and cleanse your palate with one of our more pleasant Monday Music offerings.

Okay. Braced? Here y'go.

...and yet, believe it or not, that one is not nearly as scary as this. As if you haven't had enough. But I have my limits.

Perfect example: Spurgeon, enabled to speak to the lowly

I have often said on both blogs that among the reasons I love Spurgeon so is that he is able to speak right to me, where I am. Other pastors, who can't imagine being seriously and well-nigh intractably low or despondent, can make very fine theoreticians, but they aren't so good at applying the balm.

Read Spurgeon's autobiography (or any good biography) and you'll see that a difficult course of conviction led to his conversion, and that his adult years were marked by frightful bouts of depression and despair. It hurt him but, I am convinced, it deepened and broadened his ministry.

It is the principle of 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 —

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

HSAT, today's devotion from Spurgeon is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. Another pastor might not have had the personal drive to find such comfort in the text as Spurgeon did. You don't need to be in the grips of depression (as, thank God, I'm not) to appreciate the bracing, heartening comfort in this meditation.

---

"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God."—1 John 3:1,2.

EHOLD, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us. Consider who we were, and what we feel ourselves to be even now when corruption is powerful in us, and you will wonder at our adoption. Yet we are called "the sons of God." What a high relationship is that of a son, and what privileges it brings! What care and tenderness the son expects from his father, and what love the father feels towards the son! But all that, and more than that, we now have through Christ. As for the temporary drawback of suffering with the elder brother, this we accept as an honour: "Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not." We are content to be unknown with Him in His humiliation, for we are to be exalted with Him. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God." That is easy to read, but it is not so easy to feel. How is it with your heart this morning? Are you in the lowest depths of sorrow? Does corruption rise within your spirit, and grace seem like a poor spark trampled under foot? Does your faith almost fail you? Fear not, it is neither your graces nor feelings on which you are to live: you must live simply by faith on Christ. With all these things against us, now—in the very depths of our sorrow, wherever we may be—now, as much in the valley as on the mountain, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God." "Ah, but," you say, "see how I am arrayed! my graces are not bright; my righteousness does not shine with apparent glory." But read the next: "It doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him." The Holy Spirit shall purify our minds, and divine power shall refine our bodies, then shall we see Him as He is.

Hither and thither 2/12/10

Howdy! And now, HSAT....

• Well, who knew? Turns out my blogging is a public health service! Think I can get a grant for Hither and Thither?
• Evidently, if you really want to experience Avatar — see it in Korea. 
• Reader (and — did you know? — John Piper fan) Mike Riccardi gives us the scoop on a certain billboard.

• On that question, Mike says "Yes." I say, "Relative to 0, oh  yeah." Michelle Malkin says "Not entirely."
• Malkin points to what I agree would be a better billboard:

• One reminder: remember Candidate Obama pledging no tax-hikes on the middle class? One question: did you believe him? One word: chump.
• Going to the Roseville Galleria in California anytime soon? Better watch what you discuss with who, unless you have a permit. Otherwise the security guards might bust you, and get you arrested. Kidding? Ha. This is California. I don't have to make this stuff up.
• Further on the subject of this being California, you know that the populace has twice voted solidly that you can't just call any anything you like "marriage," simply because you want to and it makes you feel bad that you can't. And you remember threats and violence by those model citizens on the losing sides of that vote. Well. Of course it's back in court, again. What you lose at the poll, win in court, is the liberal motto. And of course who's the judge? Of all the judges sitting in all the courts? Some homosexual guy. This could explain some of the really bizarre twists and turns of the trial.
• Now to balance the scales, a refreshingly sane court decision: Immigration Judge Lawrence O. Burman granted political asylum to a homeschooling family persecuted by the German government. Interesting read.  (Thanks to reader Mesa Mike for the link.)
• President (I first thought to write "Professor," and not as a compliment) Obama says he'd listen to GOP ideas of economists approved them. Leaving aside the question of whether that's an accurate insinuation, perhaps he should stop listening to economists (who talk about money and business) and start listening to entrepreneurs who explain why they won't create jobs under his presidency — like this guy.
• Reader Berry Davis shows us that more can be done with Parisian subway tickets than we might have thought.

• Don't really watch sports. Didn't watch the Super Bowl. Haven't seen many of the commercials. But this one cracks me up EVERY TIME. 
• Hunh. Never really tried it like this. 
• [Part one] I mentioned undeserved credit a bit in a post over at Pyro. How Democrats ever got and retained a reputation for favoring (Constitutionally-defined) civil rights (such as free speech) boggles the mind. [Part two] Goodness, some pressure might have befallen the Dem demagogue. He reversed his decision. Well, yay.
• I'll be cycling through some Star Trek LOLcats for awhile, thanks to reader Tim Bertolet. Here's the first installment:

• The Title of the Week comes from our sallow-skin, gaunt, hollow-eyed, sunken-cheek friends the Vegans. Ready? Nothing in your mouth? Here goes: Vegan Spinach Pie, or How To Turn Your Urine into an Ideal Hydroponic Solution for Plants! Om nom nom! Where do I get mine?
• Here's a runner-up: How to Lessen the Strong Taste of Brussels Sprouts. Which is to say, how to make them taste better. Which is to say, how to make them not taste like Brussels sprouts.
• I have my own recipe for that, in case you'd like to know. Get pen and paper ready. First, you cook up the Brussels sprouts with butter, diced garlic cloves, and some Mrs. Dash, the tomato and basil version. Put them all on a plate, with a sprig of parsley. Then empty the plate into the trash, and replace with a dozen pieces of extra-crispy fried chicken. Voila!
• People I respect deeply have been known to diss James Dobson. Not me, ever. I refer you to this appreciation by Pastor Tim Bayly.
• Finally: