Andrew Klavan: the Extremists are coming!

(h-t Question the Culture)

Funny story, minor child-rearing "win" (re. spoilers)

So, because I'd heard good things about it, I'd scheduled tonight's Burger Night movie to be Where the Wild Things Are.

Turns out my Js had seen it, and both responded with horror, pleading with me not to show it.

Jonathan (11) followed me out to my office, got on his knees (he's very dramatic), and pled with me not to show it. It's bad, it's terrible, it's awful!

"Okay," I said, "Why? Give me five specific things about it that are bad."

"Well," my Jonathan responded, "...I don't want to spoil it."

Don't sleep in tonight

As far as I know, all my long life long the time has changed here in California before October 31. So dear wife and I were thinking we'd get more sleep tonight.

In case you were, too: uh-uh.

Next week.

Check it.

Be in church on time.

Cartoon: almost too true to be funny

(I think I've posted this before... but, oh well)

Hither and thither 10/29/10

Well children, I've often had to complain of busy, cramped weeks. Not this time. The pace was very unusually light and reasonable, giving me timely time to work on the blogs. I think I've a pretty good and full one for you, capping a good and full week at the blog, and heading us off into Reformation Day weekend, and the week of what I hope and pray is a positively pivotal vote in America.

Check back for  updates up until noon PT.

• I think I'll have some kind of make your predictions here post on Monday, so we can all be Charismatics for a day.
• It's not all bad news for Obama and the Dems, though. They do have one enthusiastic backer. That would be the head of the Communist Party in USA. Surprised? Me neither.
• If history repeats itself, Senatrix Barbara Boxer's campaign should release some terrible "revelation" about Carly Fiorina today. This is what they did when she campaigned against the vastly-superior Bruce Herschensohn in 1998. Worked with idiot voters then; why not today?
• So you want to advertise for a Christian roommate. In church. No problem, right? Yes problem — in Michigan, where a poor woman had The State come down on her for daring to exercise her freedom of religion and her freedom of association at the same time. Not in O-merica, sister!
• Evidently embracing and advocating sexual perversion is a real résumé-enhancer for the Obama administration. Go figure.
• Will it surprise you to learn that Obama is an evolutionist — particularly when it comes to relabeling the sexual-perversion du jour as "marriage"?

• Reader Susan made a very cool find. Steve Saint, son of martyred missionary Nate Saint, has actually invented an FAA-approved flying car, to benefit the tribe that murdered his father. Learn more about it (with a bit of a video) here, and see a further demonstration (you can turn the obnoxious music down and miss nothing) here.
• The Washington Examiner's David Freddoso is finally asking the question I've been asking: "Isn’t it amazing how we hear so much about Christine O’Donnell and so little about Alvin Greene?" Yep. And to think, there are still people who blink or roll their eyes when you talk about MSM bias.
• However, there may even be an "up" side to MSM bias. Think about it. R. Emmett Tyrell notes that the slavish MSM reporting and slanting and "cover" all just combines to make the liberals feel bullet-proof — so they just do more and more insane things, not realizing their limits, thus bringing on themselves backlashes such as we hope to see Tuesday.
• And, hokey smokes — could O'Donnell be catching up? She's far from the ideal candidate, but I would savor that victory.
• Saint's technology is better than certain aspects of his theology.
• Freddoso also notes a story that does my hart good. Yesterday I squawked about the Alaska Supreme Court's idiot decision to allow (in effect) Murkowski campaign material at the polls. Dozens of Alaskans responded by registering as write-ins. Go, Alaska!
• Given the perennial Democrat voter fraud, I always wonder why the GOP doesn't do something proactive. Well, apparently someone has at least tried:

• What does this mean? That "banana" should come before "orange"?

• You know, there have been bullies forever. There were bullies when you were a kid, there were bullies when I was a kid, back in the Ice Age. Kids were bullied because they were too short, too tall, too thin, too fat, too smart, too dumb. As a rule, they (we) survived. But now, because the government wants to hallow the embrace and pursuit of a particular sexual perversion, suddenly bullying is a federal offense. Good heavens... is there nothing that the Obama administration doesn't think is the federal government's business?
• Oh, wait, right — one thing: protecting babies from being butchered or poisoned to death for being imperfect or inconvenient or ill-fathered. That one is above O's pay-grade.
• One poll, happily, identifies says that Americans want to fire Obama in 2012 by a 56-38 margin. As always, I'm not comfortable until that figure is in three digits. At least.
• So, to Britain. Is there any way of coloring this little factoid as good news?
• Homeschoolers (and anyone else) will thank reader Julie for this remarkable animation attempting to show scale in a universal perspective.
• Tangentially relatedly: I'll get excited about this [link removed] only if J. J. Abrams or J. Michael Straczynski helms it. or, for that matter, the guy who does my car at Jiffy Lube. [Update: I removed the link — the rumor's been denied.]
• Not one of my math papers... but, lamentably, could have been:

• As Christmas approaches, maybe you want to go to E-Bay with your hardcore Star Trek geek in mind, looking for one of these choice items.
• If you can, without using helps or references, tell how this is the alphabet in Star Wars characters — you are too much geek!
• On which subject: Fred Butler found us a chart tracing the evolution of the geek.
• Fred is also concerned that we might not have noted the Yoda backpack in the past. I'm not sure... so here you go.
• Well, except for the A one. That just means you're a longtime BibChr reader.
• American Thinker traces the loss of freedom to an overweening nanny state government in Maryland. Warning, restaurateurs: your legal recipes may be illegal! 
• My J's will love this.
• Looks like more of a statement of fact than a warning or prohibition:

• Which political party would you guess is a Representative who deliberately leaves out "under God" when leading the Pledge of Allegiance? Or one who says that al-Qaeda is "no longer a threat" to the US? Hint: same party. Hint: same person. Give up? Sure you do.
• Similarly, readers Elizabeth Miller and John noted a time the League of Women Voters unsuccessfully tried to omit the Pledge.
• I don't think this Discover article means it the way reader Kerry Garrett is taking it... but I'm with him.

• Reader Greg Long notes that pastors are souring on Obama's job performance. Nice, but to me any disapproval numbers in less than three digits are still shameful.
• Beloved longtime reader Carlo thinks Science may have identified liberalism as a genetic defect. (He notes it may also mean a tendency to ADHD.)
• BTW, if you can get it in time, you might spice up your Diet of Worms cake this Sunday with the world's largest Gummi worm.

• The following picture — my family could tell you a related story in which FedEx does not come off well.

• Sad story of some Britons losing their freedom to nummy-bacon-hating Muslims.
• What's wrong with this sentence? "Personal experience aside, which surfaces a concern about the potential adversarial affect of textbooks to students learning, let;s return to the essential question of learning and how it is best achieved." You say, "The spelling and grammar, that's what's wrong with it." Yes, right — that and the fact that it was written by a school's principal.
• But... what's it keeping closed?

 

• Reader RBeyers noted that you can get your own brand-new 1966-style Batmobile, complete with working jet booster... for a cool $149,999. Line forms at right.
• Faithful long-time readers with mad memory skilz will know that, two years ago, I really struggled for nice things to say about John McCain. Well, now I've got one, seriously. He is campaigning today for Sharron Angle — and his support really may make a positive difference.
• I think I'd have liked this guy (thanks Paula):

• I hate it when this happens:

• Then again, there's this.

Cool Batman!

If you must carve a pumpkin...

...here's a different way.

Now, that's what I call "gun control."

Voddie and Bridget Baucham's hearts must be singing

Check out this essay by their homeschooled daughter, Jasmine.

Does anything give a Christian parent greater joy than to see a child take the Word and the Gospel to heart, in faith and love?

Don't miss these: 10/28/10

• Who knew? Turns out Joy Behar (foul-mouthed liberal fool who evidently believes that illegals have the right to vote) is a terrific fund-raiser for Sharron Angle! Keep it up, Joy.
• Perhaps we shouldn't be too hard on Joy. Apparently she's just following President "I Will Bring Us Together" Obama's orders.
• In (what is hopefully) another death-knell for today's radical Dems, independents are breaking hard for the GOP.
• And Obama? Appearing on a friendly comedian's TV show... and not doing that well with it.
• Is it too much to hope that the facts will forever put to rest the notion that President Obama is anything other than the most deliberately, intentionally divisive president we've ever had?
• Yeah, probably too much to hope. Sigh.
• Meanwhile, in what strikes me as a political decision, the Alaska Supreme Court shows (to my mind) that it does not grasp the concept of "write-in candidate"...
• ...unless they're planning on handing all voters an Alaska phone book.
• Who said it? “If you want small government you should support the Democrats because we know how to do it.” Seriously, a public person actually said that. Hint: she or he would have to be completely without shame or conscience. That should give it away. Give up? Click. (HT The Corner.)
• You know things are bad when one hundred billion dollars sounds low to me. Should be ninety-nine dekazillion.
• And now, with almost giddy optimism, we have Human Events' political editor John Gizzi predicting that the Republicans will take the Senate. That is optimistic. But I personally factor in that I let my Human Events subscription lapse in the eighties/nineties, because I found them so relentlessly pessimistic. So, maybe....

Preventing Demageddon 3: cheer up, Dems! Cower, GOP! Dem spending is up!

Expected reports of last-minute Dem surging. Waiting on reports of GOP disunity and faltering; I'll keep you posted.

Don't miss these: 10/27/10

• Harold Camping may not be the only one expecting the end of the world. Michael Barone says that some polls in particular, showing GOP ascendency in "safe" districts, may have Dem leaders feeling the same way.
• Update on yesterday's Liberal Love Alert: I do like Sharron Angle. Classy, and funny.
• I mean, when even disgraced, impeached ex-President The Nameless One can't raise a crowd in Detroit, you know it's bad.
• If you can't win honestly.... (Check your ballots carefully, folks.)
• Dem candidates across the nation don't want you to hear this — but Obama says this election is a referendum on him and his policies. Sweet! Pass it on.
• Meanwhile, Obama is all about your feelings. He knows you're angry, frustrated, scared, anxious, uncertain, nervous, discouraged and shaken up. But he wants you to choose hope. The one thing that's inconceivable to him is that you understand perfectly well what he's trying to do, and are intelligently, rationally, convincedly and adamantly opposed to it, for good reason.

So, what are you (and/or your church) doing for Reformation Day?

This year, October 31 falls on a Sunday, presenting a wonderful opportunity to preach a Reformation-themed sermon. I had that joy four years ago — or, well, I reached for it, since 29 is pretty close to 31. The sermon was called Five "Alones" That Changed Everything, taken from Romans 1:17.

For some 20 or so years, we've had a yearly family tradition. We....

Oh, first, I should say: we don't "do" Halloween. When I was a Dodgers fan, I probably wouldn't have gone to a victory party for the evil Giants. Even more, I just don't see the sense in a Christian joining in a party thrown by the other side. Your mileage may vary.

So anyway, what we do is the kids gather in the front room with a fire going and the lights down, and... so far every year, Dr. Martin Luther has appeared, told about his experience in thunderstorm, his misery as a monk, and the freedom he came to find through the truth of Romans 1:17. Then, so the klein kinder will remember the sweetness of the Gospel, he gives them some chocolate.

It's pretty neat, I guess. But, sadly, I always seem to miss him!

We have opened our house on some years to our church family, hosting a variety of Reformation-themed activities and games. The Presbyterian church we attended and served in for about six years came to embrace it as well, as we brought them our traditions of roasting the Papal bull" (tri-tips), singing The Reformation Polka, and various instructive activities.

You can see posts I've done on Reformation Day (always overlooked by raised-pinkie bloggers, for some reason):

Here
Here
Here
Here
Here
Here
Here

So, there's ours. What's yours?

Think this kid has a future in music - and two bonuses

Thanks to a recommendation from Julie, here's three-year-old Jonathan conducting the fourth movement of Beethoven's fifth.

Dude conducts with all four limbs! (Needs to bring a hankie to the stand, next time.)

But note: Jonathan is not just an admirer. He's a budding performer.

Not sure what the sib in the background is playing.

If he keeps this up, I've no doubt that by age seven he'd be able to give the likes of the next little fellow a run for his (parents') money.

Anyone getting not-from-me email...

...from my filops@yahoo.com account?

Don't miss these: 10/26/10

Of note:

• John Podhoretz writes about the possible enormity of the coming GOP victory: "...Democrats are hoping for a thumpin', probably now expecting a batterin', fearing a slaughterin' -- and can't bear to contemplate an evisceratin'."
• Want a study in MSM media bias? Check out how the Associated Press campaigns for Dem senator Russ Feingold, masquerading as journalism.
• Can anyone feign surprise when the President of the United States encourages Latino voters to view some Americans as their "enemies"?
• Love That Liberal Love Alert. I remember the idiot schoolteacher who I saw wearing a T-shirt proclaiming "Love is what separates us from the Republicans." I guess Joy Behar didn't get that memo (caution: nasty liberal language).

Preventing Demageddon 2: GOP hopelessly divided, leaders under GOP fire (1)

I'm making this #(1) because it's a perennial, and I expect to see it again and again, until I grow bored of it. Which won't take long, since I'm starting out bored of it.

This is like Rome's criticism of Christians: there are 28397124378 denominations, so you should let yourselves be assimilated to The One And Only Really-Really True And Totally Unified Church! Then you ask, "Which RCC would this be? Mother Teresa's, Ted Kennedy's, Nancy Pelosi's...?" But you're not supposed to ask that.

Ditto The Church of Darwin. Talking amongst themselves, there are many uncertainties and divisions. But once a critic draws near, doncha know they're all totally united and free from all doubt.

So the Dems. You know they're divided in many ways, and their support is divided.

But a favorite tactic of the MSM/Dems is to focus on anyone who criticizes any effective GOP leader or policy.

Bringing us to the current case.

Karl Rove. What do liberals think of Rove? They hate him. He's evil. He's the antichrist's evil twin. He's despicable and a horrible liar.

Well, until he criticizes some effective conservative leader.

Now, this case is particularly funny. The headline says it all: Karl Rove Refuses to Say That Sarah Palin Would Be a Good President.

Yep, ol' Karl lashed out and... didn't say Palin would make a good president.

Why does that matter? It matters to Dems because Palin is Obama's most effective critic, because she is associated with the Tea Party movement, and because it is that movement which is part of (hopefully) next week's Demageddon.

October 31, 1517 — in Legos?

Just... oh, my.

NEW (temporary) FEATURE: ways the Dems/MSM try to prevent Demageddon

First: if you didn't check the blog over the weekend, then (A) tsk!, and (B) please at least give it a glance. I discuss some temporary program-changes.. and then do them.

Here's another:

---

It is increasingly obvious (to me) that the Democratic Party and its media outreach wing (the MSM) anticipates devastating results on Election Day. For weeks, I've seen stories clearly designed to do anything and everything they can to contain or minimize the damage.

So up until the election, I'll post them as I see them, or as I get good tips on such articles. Here's the first.

Vice-President Joe Biden, "second-in-line" works with the most partisan and implacably ideological president ever, suddenly says that the White House is willing to work with the GOP on tax cuts.

I'm sure this is news to the GOP, who has found Obama pretty much immovable as to his radical agenda.

So what's the message here? What do they hope dopey voters take from Talkin' Joe? Here it is:

Okay, okay you knuckleheads! We hear you, we get the message, 10-4 and all that. We maybe won't raise taxes all over the place and further deep-six the economy by letting the Bush tax cuts die next year.

That means you can stop scaring us by threatening to vote in more conservatives! We're okay now, we're listening, the walkie-talkies are on and the volume-dials are on "ten," heh-heh-heh.

So... just let us retain the House and the Senate? 'Kay?

So far, voters aren't buying. Hope they're smarter than they were two years ago.

Monday music: "Hoedown," by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones (and friends)

What could be more fun than a little Bela Fleck? A lot more Bela Fleck, in a very tight and very fun arrangement of Aaron Copeland's "Hoedown."

Bela Fleck came to my attention, because I (twice?) saw him open for Chicago, playing with The Flecktones.

By the way, if you don't know this band: looking for the drummer? It's the guy in black with the turquoise headgear, holding the weird-looking "guitar." He's "Future Man," he's the drummer — and he's a little weird.

The Barney Shuffle - a Sean Bielat campaign ad

For the first time in a long while, miserable congressman Barney Frank is actually having to fight to retain his office. Marine (and former Democrat) Sean Bielat has Frank running scared, bitter and nasty. Bielat may not be "pure" ideologically, but he would make a vast improvement over Frank.

Here's one of Bielat's ads.

Ad taking on Senatrix Barbara "Don't Call Me Ma'am" Boxer

David Zucker is rightly embarrassed that he supported California's shame, Senatrix Barbara Boxer, in the '90s, and he has apologized.

What's more, he's created this:

Call Me Senator from RightChange on Vimeo.

As the 2010 US election looms...

...look for more posts, including more political posts.



Remember, this blog is about... well, you know what it's about.

When the 2008 election loomed (and Pyro was dark), I posted a lot on the issues at hand. I expect to ramp it up a bit in the coming week-plus as well. Some of the news will be too timely to keep for Friday's HTs, so I'll share them as I see them.

Many Christian bloggers will remain aloof, and I think that's just fine. This is my choice. Your choices is whether you read them or not. If they harsh your mellow too much, or just don't interest you, you have my hearty permission to skip. There may well be a lot of them, short ones, mixed with the posts you normally prefer to read.

Just thought I'd give you a heads up.

So now... you know that!

Hither and thither 10/22/10

Well ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages: I've got a full plate for you. As usual, click on images to enlarge (usually), and check back for updates until noon PT.

• Did you know that tomorrow is Christian Store Day? Well, it is.
• I've found a graphic way of expressing how I, and many voters, feel about the Obama/Reid/Pelosi agenda:

• If I give you the headline Former U. S. Surgeon General calls for marijuana legalization, whose name comes to mind? If I add "the most ludicrously incompetent in memory," does that help? How about if I add the memorable lines, "I love Eric Clappner [for Clapton]," and, best of all, "All of us are goin' to die of somethin', eventually"? Of course. It could only be Jocelyn Elders. Which just goes to re-prove...
• Democratic presidents leave a stink for years and years and years to come.
• DAOD notes that, in addition to being delicious, artichokes are nutritious, and have more antioxidants than red wine or chocolate. (She's not saying anyone should give up either, though.)
• BTW, however wonderful he may be in other ways, don't go to Alton Brown to learn how to prepare and eat artichokes. On that subject, he's off.
• I just never, never, never get this sort of thing. Why would an institution want to call itself Evangelical or Lutheran, let alone Evangelical Lutheran, while featuring this sort of thing? (Thanks to reader Robert Sakovich for the tip.)
• To turn the phrase: if you build it... Obama will probably take credit for it.
• Meanwhile, the President continues to blame Bush and Boehner, when he's not blaming stupid, scared voters.. goodness, what a spoiled child. How long has his party held Congress? Do you remember him saying any of this during the campaign? "Though my party has controlled the budget for years, I won't be able to do much unless everybody does everything exactly my way — and even then, no promises"?
• And before we move on: are you a woman? Then Obama thinks you should say, "Thank you, Mr. President, for helping me," and go vote Democrat.

• And again I say: some pictures, you don't want explained.

• Playing games with the military — it's The Obama Way™.
• Yeah, this is pretty much the move I'd have made too. If, you know, I had a different body and everything.

• Where are you? You're in a place where it's not okay to say offensive things about some kinds of sexual perverts, but it is okay to wish a slow, painful death to Rush Limbaugh. Where? Facebook.
• Reader Aaron found indisputable evidence that they have 'wayyy too much time on their hands in Colorado.
• I don't think he's surprised, but Aaron also notes that when director James Cameron says "We're going to have to live with less," he actually pretty much means just you. Not him.
• Dear wife will love this (click to enlarge):

• Or, more often:

• Berry Davis found a site that will calculate your odds of winning various prizes in McDonald's Monopoly game — and what it would cost you (financially and dietarily) to do it.
• Now, this is a burger!

• Occasional reader and FRiend Elliot, who is a lawyer (but I like him anyway), found an interesting article approaching The Lord of the Rings as a study in property law.
• Reader Dave Sloan noticed the headline End of the Earth Postponed, but observed, "Nope, still right on schedule...Matthew 24:36." Correct.
• How R2-D2 should have looked in the prequels:

• Reader Matt Gumm notes that Google maps found Batman's house.
• I have come to love cats, but I must freely admit: no cat can do all of this. (Tweeted by Phil.)
• How many blogs today link you to an article speculating as to what a Tyrannosaurus Rex would taste like? Thanks to Berry Davis, at least one.
• Hawk, by the way.
• Reader Al Sends found a machine made of Legos that makes things... out of Legos.
• Hey! Wait up!

• Just interesting: Virginia Thomas, wive of Justice Clarence Thomas, made a little phone call to Anita Hill. Why? To suggest that Hill pray, think, and offer an apology to her husband. Props to Mrs. Thomas for seeking to clear her husband's name. Unsurprisingly (if disappointingly), Ms. Hill declined to retract the one and only reason for which her name is known beyond a very small circle. (Tim Bayly offers a few more thoughts.)
• I followed those hearings, and remember them well. I remember that the only people testifying in Hill's defense knew only her, while those who knew both Hill and Thomas testified in Justice Thomas' behalf.
• This also gives me an opportunity to do two things:
• First, to quote Justice Thomas' dead-on words, spoken during the hearings, from that article: "From my standpoint as a black American, as far as I'm concerned, it is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas, and it is a message that unless you kowtow to an old order, this is what will happen to you." Things haven't changed much since then (read: at all).
• Second: to remind you that I wrote Justice Thomas, and he wrote me back. So, nee-nee-nee.
• And now, relatedly....
• Surprise! Turns out Obama's choice of Sonia Sotomayor was a really bad pick! Yessir, this last election's bills will be coming due for years and years and years.
• Proverbs 22:29 picture of the day:

• Unions want women in Nevada to know that Sharron Angle would be bad for women. Because, you know, women's most-cherished value in life is the right to kill inconvenient, imperfect, or ill-fathered children. (Thanks to reader Robert Sakovich for the tip.)
• I definitely know at least a couple out there who will thank Matt Gumm for pointing out The Death of Jar-Jar Binks — in glorious ASCIImation.
• Some of my Pyro readers may want to get me this for Christmas:

• One of the most incompetent, embarrasing senatrixes ever to serve — I speak, of course, of Barbara "What-there-are-other-issues-besides-the-sacred-act-of-abortion?" Boxer — touted her endorsement by the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars). What? Was that an oversight? Nope; the PAC for the VFW endorsed her, along with some of the worst, most rancid liberal extremists in both houses. When word got out, and it caught the attention of VFW national Commander Richard L. Eubank, he acted quickly and sacked the entire PAC board. Go, Cmdr. Eubank!
• Not a happy story, but it is nice to know that there is at least one parent in the world who doesn't enable his child's violent lawbreaking, and try to turn the blame on victims, police and society.
• Just a healthy reminder that doctors are neither God nor infallible.
• Old white politician reportedly hits young black candidate. Quick! Name the policital parties!
• Wrong. 
• Hunh. Who knew? Turns out you can't work for NPR if Muslims on an airplane make you nervous — or, at any rate, if you admit it in public. (You can read their explanation, and see if it passes the giggle-test.) In that case, the NPR CEO might fire you and hint that you're crazy. Of course, more often than not, Juan Williams is crazy; but not this time. Just candid... and non-pc.
• ...and (surprise!) turns out NPR's claim of opposition to its analysts expressing opinions is, at best, selectively enforced.
• And now, a clip from my week in the Sierra with my younger sons. Good times.

• OK, not exactly.
• Hobbit news: the project has finally been "green-lit." And now we even have casting news. (More, with more pix.)
• Paula found a better-than-average Page Not Found page.
• Good news. Paula also found a "healthy" donut sandwich.

• Yet another... well, what shall we call it? A Wahh! Alert, or a Gosh, I Had No Idea What the Boy Scouts' Policy About Homosexuals Was! Alert? Regardless, this poor lost soul demands truckloads of sympathy, deserves none — not for this. His poor kid, though.
• Sigh. In related news, reader Robert Sakovich points us to another Proverbs 29:18 moment, thanks to a man who thinks certain men should be able to compete athletically as women. But presumably only sexually perverted men. 
• Leading, in no logical way, to these: