Friday, October 12, 2012

Hither and thither 10/12/2012

It's been a busy, good week. Another thing that sucks about you not living in Houston is that you can't take your honeywife on a study date to Lanier Theological Library, like I did. Absolutely amazing place.

(BTW, before you mock, she was the main one studying. I envy the ladies at the Bible study she'll be leading.)

If you enjoy, let me know, leave a comment.
  • I hated dodgeball. If the kids in my day had known about this, I'd've hated it even more.

  • Well, I imagine many of you saw the Biden-Ryan "debate" last night. Josiah and I watched every. Painful. Minute.
  • The best brief summary I've seen was Bethany Ramsey's tweet of Proverbs 29:9 -- " If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet."
  • As to content and on points, I'd say my fear was justified. Amid the juvenile behavior, Biden scored many blows that Ryan did not answer very forcefully, if at all.
  • As to demeanor, though, it was shocking. I said Biden was acting like a twelve-year-old; Josiah said I was insulting twelve-year-olds. Ryan was presidential, Biden was shameful, as many observers noted. Plus the moderator joined in the attack.
  • The giveaway to the latter was the times the moderator would attack Ryan, and Biden would say "Yeah," and lean in to watch. She was doing Biden's job. And when Biden would interrupt and talk over Ryan (which he did frequently), the moderator rewarded him by letting him talk more, without allowing  Ryan a response. Ryan was debating two obvious opponents.
  • That's because Biden was out to make up for Obama's failure to attack Romney enough, and the moderator was out to make up for Jim Lehrer's failure to do the same. He for the Dems, she for the MSM... which is the same thing.
  • Three words: Vice President Beavis. (h-t Instapundit)
  • Mollie Hemingway argues that, whatever he gained during the debate, Biden loses women and the post-debate.
  • Biden saying that he means everything he says is a gift to the Romney campaign.
  • The WSJ called it "The Bully vs. the Wonk," and said "By unofficial media counts, Mr. Biden interrupted the Republican some 80 to 100 times." Also: "On nearly every specific issue on which Mr. Biden attacked, he was demonstrably wrong."
  • Final thought: Biden's performance revealed how liberals and the MSM see Republicans and conservatives. He treated Ryan as if he were one part stupid, and one part insane, and no other parts. This is how they see us. Will the MSM like his being so obvious about it? Will voters reward him for being a bully? We'll see.
  • In other news...
  • Priorities. Yep, that's why the Founding Fathers instituted the court system. To keep public schools safe from people offering Bibles to kids. (h-t Squirrel)
  • Irrefutable truth via Randy Talley:
  • When is a surge not a surge, and momentum not momentum? When the candidate's GOP. Duh.
  • Because, from what I read (or don't read), I gather the Obama administration's really doing a pretty good job. Nothing really horrible, like Watergate.
  • ...and even when 0 messes up, it isn't really his fault.

  • It probably means I'm a bad person, but this one cracks me up the most:
  • Of course, what infuriates the MSM is that America got to see Romney without their narrative filter. We know what we saw.
  • Of course, some hearts were broken.

  • Kerry Allen found what at first may look like our coming robot overlords at play. However, at about 1:25, picture that they and the net are much, much larger. This is our future: they will indeed play... and we will be the toy!
  • Meanwhile, they try to lull us into vulnerability by shows of humor.
  • Nothing says "I love you" like a rose made of duct tape.
  • Liberals are funny. As you may know, I'm preaching through Titus. Titus is one of the Pastoral Epistles, which liberals started claiming to be non-Pauline back in the 1800s. They argue that Paul couldn't have written Titus, because he wouldn't have had to explain all this stuff to a longtime associate. They also argue that Paul couldn't have written Titus, because he doesn't go on and on about the same doctrines he focuses on in other epistles.
  • Think about it. Light-bulb flash on yet?
  • It's a little like 1 and 2 Peter. Some liberals argued that Peter couldn't have written 1 Peter because the Greek is too good. And he couldn't have written 2 Peter...
  • ...wait for it...
  • ...because the Greek is too bad.
  • Charismatics are also funny. Robert brings us a charismatic word:
  • The Commenter Formerly Known As "Scooter" tells me he's really jazzed about the Leap (see also here).
  • ...and that tells me that he's a slacker. I mean, seriously... how's that going to help me with BibleWorks or Logos or anything productive?!
  • Wut?!
  • Yep. That was just one of the amazing sites at Lanier Theological Library, here in the it-just-gets-better-and-better Houston area.
  • No, Frank; didn't look any bigger on the inside.
  • Words To Remember when you luck into awesomeness: I Meant To Do That.
  • You had one job. ONE JOB!
  • Randy also figures the fellow in the next picture will be alone forever... or Obama's the one.
  • Either way...yikes.
  • Why Frank Turk likes dogs:
  • Here's the only "dog" my boys might want:
  • Turk, by the way, sowed a series of posts at Pyro — today! — about the election.
  • One great Turk sally: ''Doing nothing and calling it a moral victory is cowardly. It may actually be evil. But if it is nothing else, it is certainly this: failing to do as much as possible to make a difference toward the improvement of those things which you can effect and can make better." And: "It's moral malpractice to say that seeking to reduce the number of abortions by 80% is the same as saying 100% of all abortions are politically and morally OK."
  • Another: "In their world, they have drafted Reagan, Ron Paul, Barry Goldwater, Rushdooney [sic], Captain America and Abe Lincoln to their fantasy league roster, and they are thereafter absorbed by debates which are the adult equivalent of, 'who would win in a fight -- Spiderman or Daredevil?'"
  • Readers: "All this Turk-love — does Turk know you've written on some of this, too?" Seriously? Turk doesn't even know I have a blog!
  • Thought: how weird a time is this? It's so weird that Christian leaders who try to make a case for not participating in arguably the most consequential election in many decades are celebrated and lauded as deep, thoughtful, nuanced and otherwise brilliantly wonderful.
  • Related? (fr Kerry Allen)

  • And then...













15 comments:

The Squirrel said...

Ah, Friday :-)

Thomas Louw said...

When I first heard of Dan Phillips, I said Oh.
When I heard his friend with Phil Johnson, I said OK.
When I read what he writes. I said Nice.
When I heard what he preached I said, Stellar.
When I heard he was called to full time ministry(by a church), I said Amazing.
When I read he stays near that LIBERARY I was, I wish I could be like Dan Phillips, what more do you want.

But, then I remembered the cats.

Tom Chantry said...

"Well, I imagine many of you saw the Biden-Ryan "debate" last night. Josiah and I watched every. Painful. Minute."

Dan, tell me how you got through that sentence without the Vice President interrupting you six times!

DJP said...

LOL. I read earlier that there was this knock-knock on Twitter:

Knock-knock.
Who's...
Joe Biden!!

Scot said...

Today's H&T is a lesson in envy, mainly about Dan's life. A TARDIS and a theological in the same place?

Dogs can have fun with anything, it's that their destructive power is equal to the square of their size.

I'm still convinced the only thing necessary in a robot uprising is the ability to run to the end of an extension cord.

Someday when you dazzle your audience by flapping your arms and take them on a virtual tour of the Exodus, you'll thank me. That or laugh when RBPs can finally add a Nuanced Gesture(TM) to their blogs.

Doug Hibbard said...

Wait, the Library has the TARDIS?

Stay out of the shadows, then.

And I think I may return to my continuationist leanings and say that I am being "told" to find a pastorate in Houston.

rockstarkp said...

i don't how i lived before H&T.

DJP said...

Thank you, the six of you. Glad you enjoyed.

Beginning to wonder whether this is worth the time it takes to assemble, though, candidly.

Mizz Harpy said...

Oh wow thanks for the link on available silent movies. I love silent films. Hulu has Metropolis posted for free for now but they may start charging. Take the time to watch Nosferatu. The soundtrack is weird but it serves a purpose in illustrating the plot.

I know I'll vote Republican even though I'm Independent. I feel really, really nervous about the whole thing and bad for my friends from predominantly Muslim countries and still/former Communist countries who successfully applied for U.S. citizenship back in the '80s and '90s. Isn't Obama the biggest rip-off in history? I never voted for him and am confounded by the people willing to reelect him.

Dorothy said...

I would have commented sooner, but I was busy watching the cat.
Next time I go to Ikea, I'm going to look for the entrance to Narnia. If I find it, you'll have to admit that Ikea isn't all bad.
When I was writing a paper on 2 Peter, many of the books I read claimed that it couldn't have been written by Peter because it wasn't enough like 1 Peter, and when it was like 1 Peter it was proof that it was written by one of his disciples who had been influenced by Peter. I almost gave up then.
Between you and Frank, I think I'm ready for this election. Too bad they won't let me vote...something about me being a Canadian.

DJP said...

Rats.

Of course, if you wanted to vote Democrat, that (or having a pulse) wouldn't be an issue.

Colloquist said...

Would you put an end to H&T if fifty commenters said they love it every Friday?

...forty?

...thirty?

:)

Hands down, best pic this week is you at the TARDIS. My kids were all "NO WAY!" and then they were all "Is that the REAL TARDIS?" and then they went all "WOW" and "I want to go therrrrrre!" and then I thought, hm, wonder if I've been letting them watch too much Dr. Who???

HSAT (<--see, it rubs off), sir, you have a much more important job than *this* bit of very entertaining fluff. If H&T has to go on hiatus while you feed your sheep, believe me, we get it. :)

trogdor said...

Someday when people look back on what once was America, they may identify the horrid abuse of the court system as a main factor of our collapse. What should be a system for ensuring justice is instead a battlefield for legal jihad. The atheists and muslims take the same approach - carpet-bombing the system with ridiculous lawsuits until the good guys run out of money or the will to fight, or until they hit a judge stupid enough to surrender. They're like the aliens in Independence Day highjacking our satellites, using our own good system to bring about our destruction.

The Benghazi debacle is going to keep growing. So far, we've had American embassies invaded on 9/11 and an ambassador and bodyguards killed, and the official response was to apologize, blame it on a video nobody had ever seen, attack the first amendment, and send stormtroopers to arrest an American citizen over the lie. Now over the weekend, muslims rioted at a Google office over this video, and threatened to bring this chaos worldwide. And how could the administration respond? They've already repeatedly told this same lie and insinuated that the attacks were somehow justified (though inappropriate, of course). How can they blame them for rioting about it now after repeatedly fanning the flames? And when these protests turn violent - and that's when, not if - will they continue to pretend this video is the cause, and not just a pretense?

I didn't watch the debate - did the Obama hot mic slip to Medvedev come up at all? That hasn't killed anyone yet, so it's not yet as bad as Benghazi, but it's potentially worse in scope. What exactly does the president need 'flexibility' to do on such an important international issue, why can't he do it before the election, and why would the Russians be willing to cooperate with him on it - I'd think that would be somewhat important for a 'foreign policy' debate, right?

Did Ryan point out that the dems budget time as well as they budget the money they take from us?

Didn't get a chance to comment on Frank's excellent posts, so I'll just make the most important point here - Spiderman would totally mop the floor with Daredevil.

That article about fighting homosexuality was tremendous. I think you could plug in any sin and it would be similar - never give up the fight, fight harder, use every possible resource to put the sin to death. Which just makes it all the more baffling when homosexuality is identified as the one sin that people should just give in to and not even try to fight.

trogdor said...

So yeah - Big Bird. A few comments there.

First thing - is public broadcasting even legal? Isn't it a first amendment violation for the government to establish its own press agencies? It's telling that liberals are so aghast at even the slightest mention of God as a first amendment violation - imagine if Congress proposed starting the National Public Christian Church! - but can't see a problem with the government running press organizations.

Stupid liberal argument: there would be no more Sesame Street! Yeah, sure. Say PBS and NPR lost public funding immediately. How long do you think it would take for a production company or network to make an offer to Sesame Street - 1 second? 1/10000000 of a second? Or is that too long? Shows like Sesame Street would clearly survive - but maybe those shows that can't draw an audience would die. And you know what? If they can't draw an audience, maybe they're not worth producing, and they're certainly not worth wasting our money on. They can start drawing enough audience to pay for themselves, they can get patrons like artists of olde, or they can die. But why are we subsidizing shows nobody watches again?

Seriously, multiple times a week I get ads from satellite or cable TV outlets promoting their 1400-channel packages. Is it really a colossal loss if we stop wasting tax money on this, one channel disappears, and the other 1399 immediately grab any programming worth paying for?

The liberal response I've seen most is that it's such a small fraction of the budget, what difference does it make? To which I suppose we could say, if we're not willing to cut something that is so utterly insignificant and completely unnecessary, is there anything that can ever be cut? And when they can only decide to cut the military, it will be even more obvious that they are the problem.

Susan said...

I don't go to Ikea to look for Narnia...never knew I could find it there. No. I go to Ikea for the food!!