Friday, June 29, 2012

Hither and Thither 6/29/12

Note: something weird's been happening in Blogger, hence the sporadic white-space. It's in the HTML, and very complex, interwoven. I simply don't have the time to fix it, so just keep calm and carry on.

Of course John Roberts' rather astonishing vote was disappointing news (at best) yesterday. But even worse was the news that we won't even be able to beat our coming robot overlords at rock, paper, scissors.

  • But first, as to that whole Obamacare debacle: Michael Graham has what I think are some very good and encouraging thoughts for President Pyrrhus, including this: "So Obama gets to spend the next four months explaining why he lied about the mandate, why he raised taxes on the middle class, and why we should trust him not to raise them in the future . . . and this is a win? "
  • Oh dear. You'll never touch this motel-room item again. Sorry.
  • Pyro today is featuring one of Pyromaniac Emeritus Phil Johnson's classical bunker-buster arguments against  unicorns  leprechauns  fairies  conservative Democrats "Cessationists."
  • Turns out the Millennium Falcon crashed. In the Baltic Sea.
  • Ooh, very very cool: a Death Star carved out of a ping-pong ball.
  • The effect of these Spider Man covers on me? Makes me think of how richer I could have been if I'd cared for and kept the dozens and dozens of comic books I started buying in the '60s.
  • Now that I'm a Dr. Who fan, I get all sorts of Dr. Who stuff, like this from Randy Talley:
  • Chris Carney found us a Frenchman who showed some mad survival skilz.
  • Irony alert in three... two... one....
  • My dear wife had a rough time Tuesday returning from the TGC Woman's Conference, with a delayed (and then cancelled) flight. But it could have been worse.
  • Fred Butler has a good link roundup and sharp observations about an incident of Muslim violence in Dearborn, Michigan.
  • You know... it's good to have dreams.
  • Ever wonder why California is broke? You're welcome.
  • I'd also add that liberal (i.e. Democrat) lawmakers forget that one of the most portable things in the world is money. Tax and regulate, tax and regulate, and tax and regulate, and the money will walk. Somewhere friendly.
  • Hi from Texas! (waving)
  • Oh good heavens. Only watch the video linked here if you have about 20 IQ points to spare. (I didn't, and so shouldn't've, but did. It hurt. It hurt a lot, and I had trouble unslacking my jaw.)
  • (ht Chris Rosebrough)
  • You know how the scientific community works, right? A scientist advances independent thinking, breaking off from the pack, and makes a reasoned case. His colleagues applaud his independence, support his fearless pursuit of truth, and revise their positions accordingly. Right?
  • Bwahh hahaha, just kidding. What happens is they fire you! (Chris Carney)
  • I'm sure many of you, like me, read Goodnight Moon to your yowwens. Did you know that there's a gentle parody for sci-fi parents called Goodnight Dune?
  • Finally... duck!
  • OK ok ok, ducks
  • Leaving us with:















21 comments:

Puritan Physicist said...

The only way I could listen to that "sermon" (in actuality, the ultimate proof that Ed Young is the fool of Proverbs) was by listening to James White's playing and refuting it. The good doctor rather made T-ball seem difficult by comparison, but it was still useful and entertaining.

As you are now a Whovian and a fan of Eleven, does this mean on Sunday you'll be wearing a bowtie and tweed to preach?

Mizz Harpy said...

Yeah Oklahoma cowboys...I refuse to watch the Ed Young video because he's creepy...Sad the prof was fired, it's OSU they hug trees out there....DUCKS...I hold my coffee mug like royalty?

Andrea said...

The closing graphics especially had me in stitches, and I really needed that this morning!

Thanks so much for taking the time, especially as we know the ultimate importance of your full-time gig. The Master is to be thanked and praised for seeing to it that you had the time.

And as for the gift left by yourself, Turk, and the "founder and benefactor" at TeamPyro, really, really, really thank you. For Unpaid and Overworked, you sure manage to feed multitudes with such fish and bread as you are given.

Marla said...

What is there left to say after Andrea's comment? Here, here! Thanks Dan!

FX Turk said...

I'm just glad that H/T still makes the occasional appearance. There really are some things the internet cannot do without.

Mike Westfall said...

I see someone leaked one our top secret work flowcharts from the nuclear weapons lab where I work.

CleanFlea said...

I disregarded then warning and watched the Ed Young video. I think you underestimated the potential IQ drop.

The bed-space schematic is sadly accurate.

CR said...

This was an awful ruling by the Chief Justice. I've lost a lot of respect for him. I would have seriously disagreed with him if he voted to uphold Obamacare on the Commerce Clause. But political decisions are left to Congress not to the Supreme Courts and Congress and the President made it clear this was not a tax (you can't tax non-behavior, you can penalize it, but not tax it).

Instead, Roberts decided to employ judicial activism to re-write this as a tax clause argument.

Why is it that democrats are so much better in vetting their liberal judges than Republicans are better in vetting theirs?

Mike Westfall said...

Well, I think the court construed it as a tax on everyone (not just those who don't buy the insurance), combined with a tax credit for those who do buy the insurance. Just like a lot of other things Americans get tax credits for.

Semantics, I know. I think the Feds oughta just get outta the business of giving subsidies and tax credits altogether. Like that'll happen.

Sonja said...

Is there nothing the robot overlords are not superior in? Good to know that our kitties can and will defeat them. After their naps of course.

Herding ducks!

Paula Bolyard said...

I've been watching that horrible show "Hotel Impossible' which means I may never be able to stay in one again. I've always thrown the bedspreads on the floor immediately upon entering a room. Turns out, so does almost everyone else, which means that they spend most of the time on the icky floor. And...they are only washed a few times a year. EWWWW!!! And yes, the black light thingy confirms that the TV remote is the germiest part of the room. Blech!!

Regarding the flight attendants...is it my imagination or are all the ones who flip out males? Not to be all politically incorrect or anything, but maybe we need to go back to stewardESSES?

Doug Hibbard said...

Bed Cartography graphic left out where the Supreme Emperor gets to sleep...I'm typically left with "uncharted territory" at claw-point.

JG said...

Bed Cartography = truth. Since *someone* doesn't take their allotted purple space, the puppy has started claiming it. And he's not a small puppy.

I'm stealing that last graphic, fyi.

Aaron said...

CR:

Who knows. Remember what Ike said about Warren? Something like it was the biggest D### mistake he every made or something like that?

The solution to our problem, however, remains the same: make disciples.

JackW said...

I hope that "Dear Wife" had a great time and I'm wondering if she would agree with me now that the Getty's are the best in Christian music on the planet.

Rebecca Stark said...

I thought ping pong balls were hollow....?

Kirby said...

For some reason the cell phone/data humor made me cry from laughing so hard.

Being Born and Raised in California, and having since, in God's Providence, found myself in another state, I do have some interest in the affairs there. But if I still lived in CA I would definitely look into working at the following agencies:
California Opinion Unit
California Bureau of State Audits
California Fiscal Services
California Smart Growth Caucus

Together they seem ironic. But I know in reality, they are just money pits.

Thanks for the hithery thithery fun.

trogdor said...

May I hop on my soapbox for a minute? Fine. Let's do this.

Ephesians 4:17ff is one of my favorite passages, largely because it was so instrumental in destroying my self-delusions and bringing me to faith. We are called to renounce our former ways of our futile minds, and "to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." See also Romans 12:2.

Then Paul lays out specific behaviors - more than that, attitudes and desires - that must change. Falsehood is replaced with truth. Theft - and the greed that motivates it - must be replaced with generosity. Bitterness and wrath and anger are replaced with kindhearted forgiveness. Covetousness and (pay attention to these) sexual immorality and impurity are replaced with thanksgiving.

We could go on. All through scripture, we are commanded not merely to restrain our behaviors, but to have the underlying desires transformed. Lest there be any doubt about how deeply we are to be changed, Jesus makes this clear about even perverted sexual desires.

So why is it that homosexuality gets a pass on this?

I'm not talking about the stupid Oreo thing, although that's what brought this to mind. No, I'm talking about the seemingly pervasive attitude even within the church that homosexual desire is somehow beyond the need for repentance. Just as long as it's not acted upon, it's OK. Stay celibate if you can, but we can't really expect you to change such a deeply-ingrained desire, can we?

Of course we can. The examples cited above show that such change is demanded of us in numerous other areas - including sexuality!

Can you imagine counseling someone that it's OK for him to be greedy and covetous, just so long as he doesn't actually steal or defraud? It's fine for you to nurse your hatred and seethe with rage - I mean, you were born with a temper, you can't change that, right? - but please don't punch anyone. It's OK if you lust after every woman you see, just don't actually cheat on me, please?

Yet how often do we hear the same kind of advice with this one particular sin? We know you can't help who you're sexually attracted to, just keep it under control and that's all anyone can ask. It's sickening - as if every other sinful desire known to man can be redeemed by Christ, but this particular one is somehow too strong for him!

Deliverance is needed, and it is available. The power of salvation in the gospel is greater than any sin, no matter how personal or deeply ingrained.

OK, I'm done.

Kirby said...

For some reason the cell phone/data humor made me cry from laughing so hard.

Being Born and Raised in California, and having since, in God's Providence, found myself in another state, I do have some interest in the affairs there. But if I still lived in CA I would definitely look into working at the following agencies:
California Opinion Unit
California Bureau of State Audits
California Fiscal Services
California Smart Growth Caucus

Together they seem ironic. But I know in reality, they are just money pits.

Thanks for the hithery thithery fun.

trogdor said...

Since comments are closed on the Emeritus post, I'll have to say it here: Great post, Phil!

That is one of the first arguments I read from Phil, and it's a great example of what makes him so tremendous - it makes you think "Whoa, that's deep" and "Well yeah, why didn't I think of that?" at the same time.

There are no continuationists. There are cessationists who believe da gifts were replaced with something superior (scripture), and cessationists who believe they were replaced with inferior versions of themselves (fallible prophecy, words of maybe-truth, insights that might or might not be from God, etc). But none of you can name anyone who believes da gifts actually continue.

Larry Geiger said...

You saw "Ed Young..." and you did not immediately run. Run far and fast. I am beginning to doubt your discernment.