Hither and thither 12/9/11

Fun week, but busy! Look for lots of updates through the day, once again.

• We'll begin with some motion that just might have my dear wife re-thinking that whole no-dogs thing.

• Plus, cats are a lot of trouble... like around Christmas.
• Then comes Matt Kleinhans with this story of a Labrador who saved the lives of a couple of kittens. (Warning: a bit of verbal gruesomeness, thanks to the criminal stupidity of some jerk.)
• Other-type creatures are getting their Christmas spirit on, though.
• Now, a serious BibChr Safety Reminder: turn off your Christmas tree lights when you go to bed. If I lose readers, I don't ever want it to be like that.
• Kristina Nunez has a Christmas gift suggestion for you: bacon of the month club! (After all, we all know what bacon is [thx Kerry Allen].)
• Oh good heavens. Sonja found us — and it apparently is not a joke — a 700-pound, 10000-watt, 8-foot-wide, $30K boom-box for iPods and the like.
• Say, speaking of Christmas gift ideas...
• I've realized what The World-Tilting Gospel needs. More celebrity endorsements!

• (Thanks to reader Kerry Allen for that creation)
• This is as good a place as any for a little (serious) book-news, then. No, I don't have an Osteen endorsement to link to. That would actually worry me. I received an email from a brother spending some time in the Congo and claiming (probably accurately) to be the first in that country to be reading and enjoying God's Wisdom in Proverbs. Our own Trogdor (Nathan Machel) gave his first take on that book, and how God is using it to help him understand Proverbs. Then Heather did a delightful review of The World-Tilting Gospel. I continue to get emails from pastors and others who are using it in their churches, and buying extra copies to give away. For all of that, I'm very grateful.
• America: the Home of the... A student was suspended. For sexual harassment.  Because he said a teacher was "cute." To another student. And was overheard. A nine-year-old student.
• Gotta say: if these standards had been in place when I was an unsaved student... I'd not have made it out of grammar school. Nor would most of my buddies.
• But in further development: that principal resigned, a development greeted (not very kindly) by John Podhoretz thus: "Dumbest man in the universe quits job as school principal, collective building IQ goes up 22 points."
• Rock stars still enjoy such a glamorous image in the eyes of some. Kerry Allen reminds us of seventeen who died at 27, often as a result of their dissolute lifestyle.
• Taking Nutella love too far? I think my ladies (Valerie and DAOD) would say "No."

• Some perspective on how the MSM handles Cain and Obama differently. As to the Cain situation, I remind you that I offered my thoughts here. On balance, I am glad that he has left the race, but not why he left the race. My concern was more that Cain simply did not seem to have a thought-out comprehensive philosophy that he could  articulate. I do not care if a candidate can name the vice-wazir of Beki-beki-bekistan, but I do expect him to be able to articulate what his objectives and operating philosophy would  be in dealing with it and other foreign powers. To say nothing of the whole abortion disaster.
• Plus, I agree with Rich Lowry about how Cain left the race; plus, I would add that I think it low-class knowingly to allow good folks to go out and give "Herman-Cain-for-President!" speeches, knowing that he was about to withdraw his name. Pay all the bills, then either refund or (if legal, etc.) donate to another candidate. Something.
• Aside: this week's BibChr Unmarketable Skill Alert:

• His prospects — and perhaps a chart to show your gamer kids:

• Back to politics. Russ Douthat makes the case that Gingrich is about the last fella the Christian right should get behind.
• Me? Today? I think our best hope is Romney running for president, with a really good vice-presidential choice. That's just my thought, not my happy thought. Ask me again in five minutes.

• Think of history as settled? Not to some. Kerry Garrett notes a coming colloquium discussing how America started the war with Japan. Dang, turns out we really are the focus of all evil.
• Sonja noted a cute cat video that has me thinking of times I've tried to make clothes fit that just... don't... quite... fit.
• Andy Dollahite found us fifty pretty amazing animal pix, a few of which are a bit disturbing, though most are beautiful and/or cute.
• Meanwhile, Mark Steyn makes some observations about our equally expansive legalism and shrinking morality, observations so on-target and eloquent that all I can say is: please, read, and re-read.
• More Steyn: I'm sorry, but I'm about to overuse a superlative. In another brilliant essay (but be warned: it makes for unpleasant reading), brilliantly titled No Man's Land, Steyn brilliantly underscores the difference between increased regulation and specification and increased morality. Steyn observes, "A land of hyper-legalisms is not the same as a land of law." Further, and again (sorry) brilliantly: When people get used to complying with micro-regulation, it’s but a small step to confusing regulatory compliance with the right thing to do — and then arguing that, in the absence of regulatory guidelines, there is no “right thing to do.”
• The only think Steyn is missing — though I do pray he knows it, himself — is the Biblical analysis and the Biblical prescription, as I discuss in relation to the London riots, here.
• One last cleverly-named Steyn post, worth reading if only for this line: "surely one reason Muslims don’t keep dogs is because so many infidels are eager to be their poodles."
• A recent from Twitter discovery for me is Church Curmudgeon. I went to his page, and noticed this, which some of you will think is pretty funny:

• On the subject of Twitter, if you're not following me, you may have missed these:
• "Atheists, by and large, confuse complaining with arguing, and whining with reasoning."
• "People tell me I'm quite a wit. They're half-right."
• "Sometimes a well-aimed question is far more productive than a statement or a defense."
• "If the MSM had trumpeted and pursued 1/2 as much truth about 0bama as they did allegations about Cain, we'd be in a v diff place."
• CNN clearly wants us all to shut up about Obama and his beliefs, since he "deliver[ed] a very Christian message" at the Christmas tree lighting. Yes, CNN, that fabled authority on things Christian. Their idea of a very Christian message includes lauding of Jesus as "a manifestation of God’s love for us." Further, Jesus grew up to teach us "that we should love God, and love our neighbor as ourselves." What God is that?, one wonders; and how does one express that love? And "love our neighbor" — except for the little defenseless unborn ones that can't vote yet, Mr. President? Yet with no apparent sense of irony, the President said we should "keep Christ’s words not only in our thoughts, but also in our deeds," presumably with the exception of His words about covetousness, theft, sexual morality, personal responsibility and all that.
• Yeah, I get hot when cynical pols twist Jesus' words. Or anyone. (link from Robert Sakovich)
• Oh, and then remember that President 0 wants to impose his own moral chaos on the world, and think about it. Okay, I'm done now.
• Except, relatedly: the Bayly bros publish a remarkably good article by a remarkable teen on the misery that is homosexuality. Clear, articulate, loving, Christ-centered... and absolutely infuriating to the God-hating forces of censorship and intolerance, as you will see.
• For our Star Wars fix: edible Ewok village:

• And a Christmas idea?

• Hmm... would this make me preach with James Earl Jones' voice? WIN.
• From ____ Wars to ____ Trek: thirteen gifts for hardcores (I spotted one bad [though it's in the KJV] word) — and then there's this pretty hysterical Star Trek Mattress-store ad.
• Kerry Allen sends in this week's candidate for Perfect Food:

• Perfect food? Dunno, but I'd eat it.

• Persis' cousin unveils Angry Birds cakes and other yummies.
• Steve Hays pointed me to an article from February, lamenting a wave of anti-Semitism, emanating not from expected quarters such as Nazis and large segments of the Democratic Party, but from Ron Paul supporters.
• In Oregon a man overcame and injured two armed police officers, was unaffected by a taser, broke into a local home, and was stopped by the homeowner. How? The latter made a more persuasive argument than the police had done.
• You know what they say: when seconds count, the police are only minutes away. In this case, they weren't even that.
• Don't tell my family this. Even if true, congregants doing it during a sermon definitely retards at least one pastor's performance.
• Meanwhile, scientists are obligingly teaching our coming robot overlords how to scatter when they come under fire (video).
• People who coherently acknowledge transcendent values do not trust those who can coherently acknowledge none. Breaking news? Hardly... unless the latter are atheists, who aggressively competing  with homosexuals for Most Favored Minority status.
• Interesting poll about who among voters does and does not believe that people should be allowed (?!) to display Nativity scenes on their front lawn.
• Darned well about time: 24 - The Movie may finally be getting underway.
• Macy's fires an employee for not letting a man into a woman's dressing room. The man claimed to be sexually perverted, and felt this earned him an exception. The employee was a Christian, and felt it didn't. Macy's fired the Christian.
• I leave you with thoughts of poor Humpty:

• Finally, these:

THE USUALS WILL BE OBSERVED