Hither and thither 12/31/10

Thanks, faithful readers, for joining me in this weekly Eclectathon. It's been fun to do. Now let's close the year with a bang - and let me know you're there! (The constants apply.)

• As New Year's Eve approaches, I point you to a little video produced by AT&T underscoring the (should-be) commonsense message: DO NOT text and drive.
• Mph. Rough day for everyone down in the hockey rink. Clang!

• Logos is gradually endearing itself to me. At present, I'm actually liking their iPhone app better than the brand-new Olive Tree app, which I had greatly preferred. But now they have put up a web page for Chrome users, giving access to your Logos library. Very cool.
• Ah, but now having written that, I just got a note from reader Jack Wickwire putting me onto this helpful review of BibleReader 5.0 from Olive Tree. It's sorting out some of the problems I'd had, so... maybe Olive Tree's coming back!
• Next year is the 400th anniversary of the KJV. I'm glad to have read it, glad to know it, but also glad not to be chained to it. The Washington Times did a good article on its making and impact. Among the things I learned: the KJV was based on the Great Bible, and "because the 'Great Bible' drew on Tyndale's translations, the 16th-century 'thee' and 'thou' entered into the King James Version, even though they were long departed from common usage." I did not know that latter fact.
• Very cool: Justin Taylor links to Max McLean's full performance of the Gospel of Mark. It is dramatized with some sounds and music, and supplemented with maps.
• And, at the risk of being called a "fanboy," I point you to Justin again for a terrific collection of Bible-reading plans. Timely!
• Say, let's make it three: Francis Schaeffer admirers will appreciate Justin Taylor's collection of links to online talks.
• Um... chewy. With loads of fiber.

• Reader Berry Davis found us a few quirky tax laws, from bagels to buckles to haunted houses.
• Berry also found a thief who brought forth fruits in keeping with repentance.
• Raleigh, North Carolina. The Bible belt? Not so much. Their Council of Churches chapter just elected as president a man who openly yields himself to vile perversion. But I don't know how shocking that is; the membership includes Roman Catholics, so it isn't a specifically Christian organization.
• Did you know that Rush Limbaugh had a brother who's a real-live Christian? Yeppers; David Limbaugh writes a regular column, and used this occasion to bear a full-on testimony to the truth of Christ according to the Word. (I actually briefly corresponded with David in the dim past; very nice guy.)
• Very cool variations on Star Wars helmets.
• A full-length version of Dickens A Christmas Carol — in Klingon! Yes, but why? Why??
• End of the year always means lists! Here's Paul B. Skousen's list of The Top 10 Violations of the Constitution by Obama and the 111th Congress. I'll bet you can add some.

• We could give a graphic sumup of Obama's second year thus:

• Or:

• Reader Paula wrote me, "FINALLY, the MSM is done fawning over Obama!!! Wait...what? Oh, never mind. False alarm. " Indeed.
• I would add this bit of fan-fic to that same pile, and observe that Obama has been letting his actual faith show with crystal-clarity right from the start.
• Reader Mike Westfall has telling evidence that O-bots aren't so sure their guy can win without a lot of help.
• Perfect illustration of the liberal mindset. In New York City, "a new restaurant may have to contend with as many as 11 city agencies, often with conflicting requirements; secure 30 permits, registrations, licenses and certificates; and pass 23 inspections." Obviously, this is calculated to murder entrepreneurship, initiative, and the creation of new businesses (and jobs). So, what to do? "Well," you might think, "howsabout you kill some or all of those agencies and some or all of those regulations?" That makes sense. You sound like a Founding Father! But this does not even show up on a liberal's radar screen. To him — if he admits that there is any problem at all — there can only be one solution: create ANOTHER bureaucracy... to guide the serfs through the existing bureaucracies! (Heard about this from Mark Steyn, subbing for Limbaugh.)
• Paula found another perfect illustration of the liberal mindset, whether theological or political. Backdrop: the GOP Congress will do something unprecedented at the start of the next session. They're going to read the Constitution completely. Novel! So, HSAT, evidently Ezra Klein is what passes for a "wonk" at MSNBC, and he snorts in disdain at the idea? Why? Because — not only Klein, but — NOBODY can understand the text of the Constitution! Riiiight. But we can understand the laws that liberals pass, right? Like listening to a Roman Catholic (no one can interpret the Bible, but the teaching of the Magisterium is pellucid). Oh, and we're sure it guarantees the right to kill unborn babies. But otherwise? Total mystery.
• Um... wait, what?

• Back to lists. Colin Hansen lists what he thinks were the top ten theology and church stories of 2010.   Then Christianity Today does the same. The latter is, as one would anticipate, obnoxious. The funny bit is their apparent fretting about the November election as cutting in half the number of pro-life Democrats in Congress. So, what, now it's 1? Could there be a more useless creature than a pro-life Democrat politician, in today's Democratic Party?
• For those who try to argue that elections (and presidents — who appoint SC justices) don't have an impact on abortion, check out the cries of alarm in this article.
• In other news: Pretty sure I've had worse service.
• But not this good — or, at least, not this skilled:

• Now, here's something different, and dizzying. Guys taped a camera onto the end of a sword. Results: a view you've never seen.
• Lego pinhole camera. Need I say more?
• So what does bold, unrepentant, public pursuit of sexual perversion get you? You might think, "Threat of deadly disease, dissolution of psyche and character, and God's eternal wrath." Well, yeah... but in England, it can also get you an MBE — which is to say, a Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, which is an award for chivalry. (Thanks to our friend across the pond, Pastor Anthony Forsyth, for that tip.)
• Are you in any sense a Dean Koontz fan? Noticed how different his perspective is from virtually everyone writing in his genres? Here's an in-depth interview from a couple of years ago that will explain how and why.
• Scientists Are Baffled! Turns out the first humans may not have come out of Africa, after all... but Israel. Well, give or take a few hundred-thousand years...
• Some of you geek-types will like this chart of science in sci fi movies.

• Surely not OUR squirrel!
• Pat Robertson. Need I say more? Oh... I do? Well, you know that thing he keeps doing? The thing with his mouth? That thing where he opens it, and stupidity bubbles forth? He did it again. (Thanks to Gil Sebenste for the link.)
• AT-AT (Gingerbread) Walker:

• Relatedly, Fred Butler found someone having a singular blizzard experience:

• Leading to...