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Thank You Frank for the Lovely Picture

April 24, 2013 | Category: It's My Life

The whole table. Bishop Phil Whipple is at the other end of the table. Sorry about the lighting.

Bishop Phil Whipple ordered what was called a Bento Box, which had a variety of interesting things to eat.

That would be our esteemed Global Ministries director on the left, and our esteemed bishop on the right. And that would be me striking a magnificent pose in the middle. A big thank-you to my colleague, Frank.

Today was our Administrative Professionals day, and we went to the Naked Tschopstix at the Village of Coventry. An uninformed reader may initially think that sounds like some kind of strip club, but said uninformed reader would be wrong. It’s an Asian place with various kinds of Asian food–Thai, Korean, Chinese, etc. I had a rice bowl with Bulgoki beef, a thinly sliced beef with a sweet marinade. It was quite delicious, but not terribly adventurous.

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Who’s Afraid of This Antichrist?

April 23, 2013 | Category: This or That

I’m amused that some people think Barack Obama is the antiChrist. Quite a lot of people, apparently. And they like to produce graphics about the President being the antiChrist. I compiled a number of such photos above.

Let’s think about this. Obama has a relatively low popularity rating and has been ineffective in pursuing his agenda. Not a president you would consider particularly successful.

What kind of an antiChrist is that?

Is that the best Satan can do?

Is this the prophesied monster of Revelation that we’re all supposed to be afraid of? Seriously?

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Chinese Exceptionalism?

April 20, 2013 | Category: This or That

Interesting tidbit from a New Yorker article about China. Two behavioral scientists studied Chinese and American attitudes toward financial risk. Most Chinese investors viewed themselves as more cautious than Americans, and the Americans agreed.

But….

We Americans, of course, view ourselves as rugged individualists, boldly embracing risk. We are exceptional, better than everyone else.

But when the researchers ran tests on the two groups, they discovered that the Chinese took substantially greater risks than the Americans did.

I don’t know what the implications are; the article didn’t draw any conclusions. But clearly, stereotypes–about ourselves, and about others–should be questioned. As Romans 12:3 tells us, “Do not think of yourselves more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgement.”

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About the Barrel

April 19, 2013 | Category: Movies

Freddy_Got_Fingered

The late and incomparable Robert Ebert on the movie “Freddy Got Fingered”: “This movie doesn’t scrape the bottom of the barrel. This movie isn’t the bottom of the barrel. This movie isn’t below the bottom of the barrel. This movie doesn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence with barrels.”

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The Reality Show Parallel Universe

April 19, 2013 | Category: TV

jersey-shore-final-episode-recap-lead

From Buzzfeed, about TV reality shows: “If the cameras weren’t turned on, these would be lives we’d run away from.”

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Dan Coats: Goodbye

April 18, 2013 | Category: Current Issues

Here’s what I sent to Indiana Senator Dan Coats this morning;

I’m an evangelical, and a gun owner with a concealed carry permit. I’ve also voted for Dan Coats in every election over the years (and Dan Quayle before him).

Because of your vote yesterday against the background checks bill, I will no longer vote for you or support you. I’m done. You have shown that you care more about the NRA than the will of the majority of the people who elected you. You do not represent me.

I’m done with you. And that saddens me.

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Misunderstanding the Arab Spring

April 18, 2013 | Category: World Events

A while back, while heading home from work, I listened to “The Five” on FoxNews Radio. It’s always entertaining watching the only liberal, Bob Beckel, fend off the four lightweight conservatives who try to storm his battlements.

At the end of this particular broadcast, during which they focused on the embassy attacks in Egypt and Libya, one of the women sarcastically remarked, “That whole Arab Spring thing is going real well, isn’t it?”

I guess she thought she was really sticking it to the Obama administration, and would get brownie points from Roger Ailes. Since she wasn’t one of the multitudinous FoxNews blondes, she had to try harder.

I’ve heard lots of similar junk from conservatives. It’s as if the Arab Spring was an initiative of the Obama administration, and Republicans want to make sure it gets discredited. But Obama had nothing to do with launching the Arab Spring, any more than the French were responsible for starting the American Revolution.

The Arab Spring started with a Tunisian who set himself on fire, resulting ultimately in the toppling of the Tunisian government. This rampant Arab discontent spread to other countries under dictatorial rule, not unlike a viral Youtube video. I’m sure there were some behind-the-scenes persons pulling strings, but ultimately, it was a grassroots movement which swept across borders.

This was NOT an American program. We had nothing to do with starting the Arab Spring, and probably nothing to do with spreading it. In fact, a lot of American voices, including liberal ones, were calling for caution, since we didn’t know what kind of governments would replace these dictators–maybe radical Islamic governments.

Anyway, I can do without the sarcasm, FoxNews Lady.

Let’s applaude these Arab people who courageously rose up against ruthless dictators and claimed their freedom. They may or may not get the new leadership they wanted or deserve, but at least they risked their lives to bring about change. That, after all, is a very American thing to do. And we should give them a standing ovation…not snide mockery on cable TV.

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Wouldn’t it Be Amazing to Live Here?

April 18, 2013 | Category: This or That

Welcome to Flam Valley, Norway. Wow.

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Run Run Run

April 15, 2013 | Category: Sports

runningbulls580

How far do athletes in various sports run during competition? According to Gizmodo, there is a technology called SportVU which can track individual athletes. It found:

Basketball. Seems like a lot of running. But in 2012, the player with the highest mileage was Luol Deng of the Chicago Bulls–just 2.72 miles per game. Of course, we’re talking about a lot of sprinting.

Football. Only 11 minutes per NFL game involve actual movement. Cornerbacks and wide receivers do the most running–about 1.25 miles per game. The typical lineman: probably not so much.

Tennis. During a five-set match, tennis players run 3-5 miles, much of it very quick movements in a very small area. During 7 matches at the 2012 Australian Open, SportVU showed Novak Djokovic running 15.79 miles.

Soccer. Players easily average 7 miles per game, some as much as 9.5 miles in a single game. Except goalies, of course.

Baseball. Nobody has bothered training SportVU on pro baseball players. It’s doubtful that they run more than a few hundred yards during a game. But then, their uniforms look like pajamas, so what do you expect?

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Over-Rating Our Roots

April 14, 2013 | Category: Politics

founders

Let’s get back to the principles on which our country was founded!

Back in the days when our nation was founded, only white men who owned land could vote. That means rich white men with money controlled the political system, calling all the shots. Okay, that part hasn’t changed.

In our first presidential election in 1788, the only people the Founders decided could vote were…well, they were NOT women, NOT blacks, NOT poor white men, and in many states, NOT Catholics or Jews.

But then we got on a slippery slope away from the principles on which our country was founded.

Over time, some states abandoned the landowning requirement, thus enabling poor white men to vote. Religious restrictions were also lifted, thereby bringing Catholics and Jews to the voting booth.

When the 15th Amendment was ratified in 1870, black Americans finally won the right to vote. Fortunately, in order to stick to our founding principles, True Patriots invented poll taxes, literacy laws, and other measures to keep black voters away. But it was only a matter of time before liberal judges undermined these well-intentioned efforts and cleared away any impediments to black men voting.

Four amendments later (19th), we gave women the right to vote. We had slid most of the way down the slope. Now all that remained was to give voting rights to pets, farm animals, and corporations.

When people romanticize the beliefs and practices of our Founding Fathers, and how we need to get back to our roots, I tend to groan. America evolves, mostly in good ways. The Founders got us off to a fabulous start, but they were fallible men locked in a particular period of time with its own peculiar sensibilities. Going back to our roots is, in many ways, going…well, BACKwards.

So thank you, guys, for launching the USS America. But I have no desire to return to the America of 1776. We’ve come a long way, mostly in the right direction. And somehow, I think you’d all agree.

I suspect that the Founders themselves would NOT want to return to those roots.

Besides, they wore wigs and stockings. Who wants to do that?

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Thank You Frank for the Lovely Picture

Who’s Afraid of This Antichrist?

Chinese Exceptionalism?

About the Barrel

The Reality Show Parallel Universe

Dan Coats: Goodbye

Misunderstanding the Arab Spring

Wouldn’t it Be Amazing to Live Here?

Run Run Run

Over-Rating Our Roots

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