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Statistics |
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| Total Unique Visitors: 0 |
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| Gravatars |
| 2007-09-04 02:33:24 |
I’ve enabled the Gravatars2 plugin for comments. Now if you’re registered on gravatar.com your avatar will show beside your comment....
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| A martial arts fan’s dream come true |
| 2007-09-02 15:15:42 |
If you’re a fan of martial arts movies like I am, then you’ll be excited to learn that Jet Li and Jackie Chan are teaming up in a new movie called Forbidden Kingdom. I’m a big fan of both these guys. Personally, I think that if the fight were outside the ring, i.e. there were [...]...
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| Random, incoherent observation of the day |
| 2007-09-01 03:37:49 |
Yesterday a mosquito reminded me of something that I find inexplicable: why are we able to discover medicines? Cortisone stops the itch of a mosquito bite almost instantaneously. I understand why mosquito bites itch. I also understand how cortisone stops the itch. What I don’t understand is why does cortisone exist? What is the evolutionary [...]...
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| Fred’s in…finally |
| 2007-08-31 02:42:12 |
Fred Thompson is going to announce his bid for the presidency on September 6. Will he be able to meet the high expectations people (including myself) have of him? We’ll soon find out. Mike Huckabee doesn’t think so, but I’m starting to have some doubts about Huckabee, too, with his tax-and-spend record and nanny state [...]...
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| I’ve joined the “dofollow” movement |
| 2007-08-30 05:48:52 |
Today I removed the “nofollow” attribute from links in comments using the Nofollow Case by Case plugin. So now if you comment on my blog you’ll get a backlink (provided you enter one in the URL field). Note that I still moderate all comments due to all the spam I get , so please [...]...
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| Who were the sons of God and the Nephilim? |
| 2007-08-28 13:42:11 |
Who are the “sons of God” and the Nephilim in Genesis 6:4? I was taught that the “sons of God” were fallen angels (possibly possessing the bodies of men) and that the Nephilim were the hybrid human-angel offspring. I always had a problem with this interpretation, mainly because I could not fathom the Bible referring [...]...
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| What is a right? |
| 2007-08-25 05:00:53 |
I was recently listening to Dr. Walter E. Williams, and he made a few comments that I had never considered before. He pointed out that we have to recognize that government has no resources of its very own. The money being spent by politicians doesn’t represent them reaching into their own pockets. Neither does it [...]...
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| Speaking in tongues |
| 2007-08-23 04:11:59 |
Today it really would not be that strange to ask someone, “What is your mother tongue?” Of course, you would be asking the person what their native language was. Despite the fact that we use this terminology even to this day, Pentecostal churches teach that speaking in tongues refers to speaking in gibberish that only [...]...
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| It’s not illegal if you walk backwards when you step across the border |
| 2007-08-22 17:32:28 |
An appeals court in Kansas has recently concluded that just being in the country illegally doesn’t necessarily violate the law, so “…a judge cannot deny probation and require a jail sentence for a convicted drug dealer who is an illegal alien.” Hmmm. So you can be doing something that is illegal, but that doesn’t necessarily [...]...
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| “Beneficial” mutations? |
| 2007-08-21 06:00:39 |
Evolutionists like to cite “beneficial” mutations as the source of the creative power of evolution. There’s just one problem: all the so-called “beneficial” mutations that have been observed involve a degradation of information. Biochemist Michael Behe recently pointed this out, and I can’t do any better than the post at Uncommon Descent at describing the [...]...
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| Mike Huckabee could win the Republican nomination |
| 2007-08-12 16:12:13 |
It appears as though Mike Huckabee is rising in popularity. He made a strong showing in the Ames straw poll in Iowa. I’d definitely rather see his name on the ballot than Romney, McCain or Giuliani. My dream ticket would be Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee.
My friend Bob Hayton has a link to a [...]...
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| Jesus = Jehovah |
| 2007-08-12 08:09:15 |
It is a fundamental doctrine of Christianity that the God of the Bible is a triune God, i.e. that he exists as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It seems to me, however, that there are many Christians that overlook the implications of this truth. If Jesus is God, then that means that it was Jesus [...]...
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| Government is not the solution to our problems… |
| 2007-08-09 01:33:09 |
There are so many Christians out there that think it is government’s responsibility to provide for the poor. Somehow this is seen as following Jesus’ teachings. Nothing could be further from the truth. As the old adage goes, “Give a man a fish and feed him for a day; teach him to fish and feed [...]...
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| Giving tithes ensures a believer will be rich? |
| 2007-08-06 06:24:51 |
I was reading a Japanese Christian forum the other day, and a certain individual stated that he made a mistake at work and yet it ended up benefiting the company. Then he had car troubles, but his company paid for the repairs. Later, his car stopped on the railroad tracks and caused the trains to [...]...
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| America’s strongest ally |
| 2007-08-04 10:14:19 |
Whenever the issue comes up of who America’s strongest ally is, England and Israel most often make it to the top of the list. Militarily, England is almost certainly our strongest ally, although popular support for the US in England seems to be on the decline. In the United Nations, Israel votes with the US [...]...
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| World-renowned philosopher pleads, “Do as I say, not as I do” |
| 2007-08-04 02:11:39 |
Sean Penn, loving husband and committed pacifist, wants the United States to embrace the principles of pacifism he personally holds so dear, engaging in friendly talks with totalitarian leaders like Hugo Chavez and ignoring when other dictators such as Saddam Hussein violate terms of surrender. I suppose the exercise of force should only be put [...]...
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| Rwanda prohibits death penalty for perpetrators of genocide |
| 2007-08-02 05:52:41 |
Joseph Farah writes of his frustration in an article entitled, Help me Rwanda! He is such an eloquent writer that I really have nothing to add. I highly recommend the article. Some excerpts follow:
Some 13 years after the government of Rwanda sparked the genocide of some 800,000 mostly Christian ethnic Tutsis, a new government had, [...]...
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| Trip to the Creation Museum |
| 2007-08-01 10:46:09 |
While visiting family in the States, I was able to take a trip to the “controversial” Creation Museum in Florence, KY (near Cincinnati). It was extremely crowded. We waited in line for 45 minutes to get in after a very long drive, but it was well worth the wait! We started off our tour with [...]...
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| Power of Schmooze Award |
| 2007-07-31 12:21:32 |
Ladies and gentlemen, I have been selected to receive the Power of Schmooze Award! This honor is only given by others who have received it, and passed on to other deserving recipients. The Power of Schmooze award was created by Mike at Ordinary Folk and Danielle at Pink Reviews to help “recognize those people that [...]...
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| Praying for bin Laden |
| 2007-07-11 12:39:41 |
Brother Andrew, founder of the persecuted-church ministry Open Doors, is asking Christians whether they have prayed for Osama bin Laden today. The man is obviously a good evangelist, but he is clueless when it comes to national security.
He says,
They have a very strong belief, and they act upon it, that in the end times in [...]...
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| Tiny tablet provides proof for Old Testament |
| 2007-07-11 06:32:11 |
A professor from Vienna makes an important archaelogical discovery, and a British museum expert provides another example of the double standard applied to the Bible:
Michael Jursa, a visiting professor from Vienna…made what has been called the most important find in Biblical archaeology for 100 years, a discovery that supports the view that the historical books of the Old Testament are based on fact.
Searching for Babylonian financial accounts among the tablets, Prof Jursa suddenly came across a name he half remembered - Nabu-sharrussu-ukin, described there in a hand 2,500 years old, as “the chief eunuch” of Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon.
Prof Jursa, an Assyriologist, checked the Old Testament and there in chapter 39 of the Book of Jeremiah, he found, spelled differently, the same name - Nebo-Sarsekim.
Nebo-Sarsekim, according to Jeremiah, was Nebuchadnezzar II’s “chief officer” and was with him at the siege of Jerusalem in 587 BC, when the Bab...
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| Texas State Lawmaker Opposing Deadly Force Bill Shoots Would-Be Thief |
| 2007-07-10 14:33:03 |
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I hate guns. I think people have a right to defend themselves, though, and especially when someone breaks into their home. Why is it that liberals and liberal lawmakers that support tighter gun control laws often carry concealed weapons themselves or have bodyguards that do? I’ve seen two stories recently of this kind of hypocrisy, but this one takes the cake.
A state lawmaker [Democrat] who opposed a bill giving Texans stronger right to defend themselves with deadly force pulled a gun and shot a man he says was trying to steal copper wiring from a construction site, police said Monday.
So this guy doesn’t think his constituents should be allowed to defend themselves without retreating in their own homes, but he should be allowed to shoot people who attempt to steal his property. I don’t know about shooting thieves at a construction site, but if someone breaks into your home you should not have to ask them what...
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| PageRank updates |
| 2007-07-01 13:22:12 |
I’m not a professional blogger, nor do I desire to be, but I’ve been trying to improve my Google PageRank for the past several months, so I’ve been looking into how it works a bit. Just today I found a very convenient page for estimating when the next PageRank update will be:
Page Rank Export List History - PageRank - PR...
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| Japan should defend U.S. from ICBM attacks: panel |
| 2007-06-30 08:45:34 |
For those of you who don’t know, Japan’s constitution prevents them from taking aggressive action. It is so strict that when a North Korean ship attacked the Japanese Self-Defense Forces a few years back, the JSDF were apparently not allowed to fire back because the North Koreans were not using enough fire power to sink the ship. It is ridiculous how much red tape they have to go through when incidents like that occur. Japan has a huge self-defense force, but even in the event of an all out war, they could probably never use them until it was too late.
Anyway, the previous prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, set them on course to amending their constitution when he sent peacekeeping troops to Iraq. His successor, Shinzo Abe, seems to be following in his footsteps and preparing Japan to exercise more leadership in international affairs. A 13-member panel has been meeting to formulate policy for Prime Minister Abe on how far the Self-Defense Forces should be allowed to go to h...
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| Americans give record $295 billion to charities in 2006 |
| 2007-06-29 09:28:09 |
Okay, let’s get rid of this stereotype that Americans are stingy. It’s about time that self-righteous hollywood stars and irrelevant has-beens like Jimmy Carter quit saying things like rich states “don’t give a damn” about people in poor countries.
The ABC report notes that the governments of “many other countries, such as Norway, Portugal and Japan, give a larger share of their wealth to needy countries.” Yet, as a percentage of GDP, Americans give more than any other nation on the planet. We could certainly give more, but let’s have some perspective. We don’t need our government to steal from the rich to give to the poor, because we give of our own accord. Jimmy Carter wants to create a larger government, so he focuses on government giving while ignoring private giving.
Americans gave nearly $300 billion to charitable causes last year according to an annual report released Monday by the Giving USA Foundation at Indiana University&...
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| Double standards |
| 2007-06-27 02:37:53 |
I don’t recall the AP ever running a story about Bill Maher saying that he wished Dick Cheney had been killed while he was in Afghanistan because “people wouldn’t be dying needlessly” (I couldn’t find one in their archives, either). Yet they see fit to run a story on Ann Coulter mocking Bill Maher and the mainstream media and saying that she wished John Edwards had been killed in a terrorist attack. The story begins without even mentioning Bill Maher and making it look like Coulter was being serious. Only when you get to the very end of the story do you find out that her comments were made in jest. I have no intention of defending Coulter, she’s perfectly capable of doing that herself, but it is so interesting to me that liberals refuse to see the bias i...
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| Who loves you, baby? |
| 2007-06-22 08:47:08 |
Liberals claim that the only thing conservatives care about is making more money. I’m sure many of you saw the stories about the research that proves exactly the opposite last year, but it was before my blog was started, so I want to share it with you just in case you missed it.
The book, entitled Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth about Compassionate Conservatism, reveals that conservatives who practice religion, live in traditional nuclear families and reject the idea that the government should redistribute hard-earned income are the most generous Americans, any way you look at it.
On the other hand, secular liberals who push for government entitlement programs give much less to charity. They want to use tax money to support charitable causes, and most of the time they don’t write checks to support those causes, even when the government does not provide them with enough money.
So the author says, “For too long, liberals have been claiming they are the most virtu...
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| The Politically Incorrect Americanism of Alba, Pacino, and Arnold |
| 2007-06-20 04:15:43 |
Mary Katharine Ham, the managing editor for Townhall.com, has an excellent piece on assimilation. She quotes pro-American comments by Jessica Alba, Al Pacino and Arnold Schwarzenegger and then the reactions from the anti-American, anti-melting pot, hate-filled, leftist, illegal immigration supporters....
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| Father of scientific climatology calls man-made global warming theory ‘hooey’ |
| 2007-06-18 17:47:22 |
The “father of scientific climatology” says that talk about man-made global warming is a bunch of hooey. When are people going to wake up and realize that we’re all being had by people trying to make money?
Reid Bryson, known as the father of scientific climatology, considers global warming a bunch of hooey.
The UW-Madison professor emeritus, who stands against the scientific consensus on this issue, is referred to as a global warming skeptic. But he is not skeptical that global warming exists, he is just doubtful that humans are the cause of it.
There is no question the earth has been warming. It is coming out of the “Little Ice Age,” he said in an interview this week.
“However, there is no credible evidence that it is due to mankind and carbon dioxide. We’ve been coming out of a Little Ice Age for 300 years. We have not been making very much carbon dioxide for 300 years. It’s been warming up for a long time,” Bryson said.
The Li...
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| Why put the animal down? |
| 2007-06-17 14:43:57 |
In February this year, a jaguar killed a zookeeper. The other zookeepers put the animal down. Rush Limbaugh made the following comment on his radio show:
Even if it hadn’t attacked the other rescuers, and it didn’t say attack, it said it was “approaching.” They couldn’t take any chances. In this case, I understand it. But there are times where the animal is put down anyway, whether it’s threatening anybody else or not, and I’ve never understood that. It’s just being what it is. You know, a jaguar is a jaguar. A tiger is a tiger. When they do what they do — and these are not trained animals. These are not circus animals. They are not performing out there. This is a zoo, and I never understood what is the reason why you automatically kill a predator animal when it kills a human being, when that’s what predator animals do. There’s a part of me that understands it, but not totally.
The reason I bring this up now is because I...
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| Near-death experiences |
| 2007-06-17 14:28:32 |
Today’s sermon was about the rich man and Lazarus. The guest speaker today made some interesting observations about the passage, but he mentioned near-death experiences in passing and how so many people see a “bright light.” I don’t know what today’s speaker thinks about near-death experiences, because he didn’t elaborate, but I am skeptical. If Christianity is true, then people who have rejected Christ should not be seeing the same thing that Christians do…and yet they do.
Secular researchers have suggested that it may just be a chemical reaction in the brain, and I tend to believe that it probably is. I don’t think these people are actually coming back from the afterlife. These people may have been pronounced dead, but did their souls actually leave their bodies? I don’t think so. We can see from the passage above that once someone dies there is no coming back. The rich man obviously would have done anything to go back and warn h...
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| Studies say death penalty deters crime |
| 2007-06-16 08:03:15 |
It’s certainly surprising to see a story like this on AP, but here it is. Some interesting highlights:
The reports have horrified death penalty opponents and several scientists, who vigorously question the data and its implications.
…”Science does really draw a conclusion. It did. There is no question about it,” said Naci Mocan, an economics professor at the University of Colorado at Denver. “The conclusion is there is a deterrent effect.”
…Statistical studies like his are among a dozen papers since 2001 that capital punishment has deterrent effects. They all explore the same basic theory — if the cost of something (be it the purchase of an apple or the act of killing someone) becomes too high, people will change their behavior (forego apples or shy from murder).
To explore the question, they look at executions and homicides, by year and by state or county, trying to tease out the impact of the death penalty on homicides by accounting for o...
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| Two-week break |
| 2007-06-07 02:34:14 |
Due to circumstances at work I’ll be taking a two-week break from the blog. Comments are disabled until I get back. Thanks for reading!...
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| Why do liberals blame the US for the Iraqi death toll? |
| 2007-06-06 04:02:31 |
Why is it that liberals like to place banners on their websites showing the Iraqi death toll? Obviously, it is because they believe that the US is to blame for the casualties. Victor Davis Hanson notes on National Review:
Somehow “thousands have been killed” is never qualified as those mostly butchered and blown up by insurgents–since the loose use of the passive voice lends a general sense that somehow Americans are directly involved in, or responsible for, the killing.
I don’t see how the death toll has anything to do with whether the US was right in going to Iraq or not. What is the number of casualties that would have been acceptable? Sure, the death toll is depressingly high. But most of the casualties are caused by terrorists blowing up fellow Muslims. How can the US be blamed for that? If a police officer arrests a woman’s abusive husband and the neighbor kills her, is the police officer to blame? It doesn’t make any sense to blame the US for the acti...
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| Evolutionists fear other ideas |
| 2007-06-05 07:49:52 |
As you may know, Answers in Genesis has opened a huge Creation Museum in Kentucky. On Ken Ham’s blog, he gives some responses by people at the University of Cincinnati.
“What I have a problem with is how the Answers in Genesis movement twists science — repeatedly taking facts out of context — in order to misrepresent what we scientists do and say. I doubt they do it with deliberate intent to mislead, but leading creation scientists do it unambiguously and quite assiduously in newsletters, blogs and even books. And given the importance of education in general — critical thinking and handling of complex information in a changing world — creation scientists cannot have a directly positive effect on folks’ understanding of science or their skill in handling and critiquing information and messages coming from various sources of authority, whether its the science lab or the pulpit.” (emphasis mine)
Isn’t this telling? If Answers in Genesis is taking facts &ldquo...
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| Violent crime up again, more murders, robberies |
| 2007-06-05 02:47:36 |
There’s a story on Yahoo that reports that the murder rate in the US is going up.
The FBI reported that the number of violent crimes nationwide went up by 1.3 percent last year, following a 2.3 percent increase in 2005. That had been the first rise in four years and the biggest percentage gain in 15 years.
The report showed that murders in big cities jumped last year by 6.7 percent. Robberies, an important indicator of crime trends, increased 6 percent nationwide.
Most of us would think this is a bad thing, but I read an opinion article by someone who probably thinks it’s a good thing:
Humans are presently acting upon this body in the same manner as an invasive virus with the result that we are eroding the ecological immune system.
A virus kills its host and that is exactly what we are doing with our planet’s life support system. We are killing our host the planet Earth.
I was once severely criticized for describing human beings as being the “AIDS of the Earth.” I ma...
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| Seafood imports from China raised in untreated sewage |
| 2007-06-04 16:55:07 |
Okay, now this is scary. Red meat: bad for you. Fish: tainted with feces?
China, the leading exporter of seafood to the U.S., is raising most of its fish products in water contaminated with raw sewage and compensating by using dangerous drugs and chemicals, many of which are banned by the Food and Drug Administration.
…In China, No. 1 in aquaculture in the world, 3.7 billion tons of sewage is discharged into rivers, lakes and coastal water – some of which are used by the industry. Only 45 percent of China has any sewage-treatment facilities, putting the country behind the rest of Asia......
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| Registration no longer required for comments |
| 2007-06-02 13:50:32 |
As per a suggestion received on Blog Catalog, I’m going to try turning off the requirement for registration for a while. If there are a lot of spam comments I’ll have to turn it back on....
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| Why listen to country music? |
| 2007-06-02 05:05:14 |
I’m not a fan of country music, but I wish the things Jeff Foxworthy says about it here could be said about the genres I do listen to like R&B and rock....
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