what would rhesus do?
posted on June 7, 2008
filed under musings, religion | 1 comment
This… this.. just, this….
Indian School names monkey god chairman
If you felt good about outsourcing to the subcontinent before, now you can feel totally confident. It used to be a Bengal Tiger, but the board meetings got WAY out of hand. Besides, the tiger’s Ph.D. was from a diploma-mill.
My next question; how soon before Liberty University or Bob Jones University (direct quote from their website: “The University is accreditated through TRACS.”) are electing Jesus to their chairmanships?
Sphere: Related Contentone-upmanship
posted on May 22, 2008
filed under health, musings | leave a comment
Here is a link to an article that speaks to the possible effect of losing even one night’s sleep: link
In reading it, I looked back in my mind to moments where I had conversations about sleep, and I recall that there is an almost “hero-worship” for people who fail to get enough sleep.
“Oh, I couldn’t go to sleep until four last night, and I get up at six…” “Wow, you’re hardcore…”
“No sleep for me tonight, I’ve got to work a double.”
How is it that the people who do it WRONG are the ones who are admired? The ones who fail to do it right are the ones who get credit for being special? The water cooler becomes one person’s personal trophy case of sleepless nights, and all those well-rested people whose brain functions aren’t sleep-deprived suddenly become fawning toadies who wish they could “get by” on no sleep. I suppose the race is always on, and he who dies first, wins.
Sphere: Related Contenthandbaskets and heresies
posted on May 16, 2008
filed under opinion, religion | 2 comments
I don’t know why I do it. And anymore, I don’t know why it makes me so angry.
For a peculiar reason, I was Googling the terms “Dungeons and Dragons” and “Cultural Phenomenon.” I didn’t really expect it, but I found a link to one of the original purveyors of anti-D&D vitriol, Bill Schnoebelen. The link itself is to a followup article in 2001, published by some glorified tract company. I got to reading it, and even though it is rife with inconsistency and logical fallacy, even though none of it has ever borne true either in research or the media, and even though I am not even a Christian anymore (though that fact could be viewed as suspect), it started me simmering and just made me madder as I read it. I was getting as angry as I did when I cornered an anti-D&D youth minister many, many years ago at Youth In Action (who backed down when confronted, by the way - had I been Baptist or Assembly of God, I’m sure I would have had a much bigger fight on my hands). Nevertheless, as I am in command of both a much stronger vocabulary and a much broader knowledge of all things “scriptural,” I was preparing to do a bit of research and fire off an email to this hack of a holy man. Fortunately, I am in command of a much stronger sense of reason, albeit often ill-timed.
I know I don’t have to tell my readers about the silliness of linking D&D with Satanism, or whatever nefarious malevolence conjurable in one bored pastor’s mind. I suppose even when I was sixteen and dealing with parents of friends who wanted their children to have nothing to do with D&D, the overwhelming feeling I had was that these people were lording their power over people - young people, especially - with nothing resembling reason or scripture to back them up. Smug prooftexting ran rampant, and no amount of “you’re taking that out of context!” would suffice to get a mind hooked on the single meme of Satanism to relent and concede they might be a bit off-base, given their utter lack of knowledge of the topic. Indeed, the notion that the commandments of Christ himself were secondary to this opposition of D&D was stunning. What follows is a quote from the author’s above-linked article:
I am frequently told to “get a life” or write about something more important than D&D, like social justice or world hunger. The devil would sure like that.
If you, as a Christian, can get behind the notion that opposing D&D - or any social phenomenon - is more important than “love your neighbor as yourself,” then I suppose (if I may) you have your reward.
Sphere: Related Contenta sennight past
posted on May 12, 2008
filed under food, health | 2 comments
I realized when I started this post that I never posted the results of my bout with South Beach Phase One in January. I was able to lose almost four inches around my waist. That was then. I’m doing SBP1 again (notice my level of familiarity with the program, that I can confidently sling about the acronym as if I invented the thing), and I’m a week into it. And I have lost almost two inches at this point. An important note here is that I did not gain any since January. No, 2007 was the year that I wrecked all the progress I made in 2006. As I have said before, 2007 was not my year. But, if the trend (and indeed, my history of losing roughly two inches per week on SBP1) continues, I will be able to again fit into the closetful of clothes I bought in ‘06 when I was - dare I say - en fuego. But this year is different. This year, by the time I rest, there will be pronounced ripples across my midsection, instead of the parabolic curve of the past.
Someone asked me why I was doing this, and then offered up a quick explanation of “mid-life crisis.” I will neither stipulate to that nor deny it. However, when you’ve seen half of the years in your species’ expected lifespan, and you know that the decisions you make at that point are going to affect the second “half,” you need to be confirming that you’re making the right decisions, otherwise that “half” is going to be short and pathetic.
If you’re thinking about the South Beach Diet (distinctly different than the Diet of Worms), which I clearly recommend, you have to do two things. One is you have to give up fast food. The corollary to this is that you can get a grilled chicken salad almost anywhere. The second thing is you have to be intimately familiar with nutrition if you go to restaurants. They usually have no idea what South Beach is all about (it is important to know that it is very different than Atkins or the Zone), and thus make very few dishes compatible with it. Typically, however, if you remember: no bread, no pasta, no rice, no sugar, no fruit, no sweet vegetables, you’re ninety percent there. My two typical restaurant meals on SBP1 are the aforementioned grilled chicken salad, and fajitas, sans tortillas.
So you’ve all heard it - two more inches by this time next week. That’s my goal. Let’s see what happens.
Sphere: Related Contentlet’s do lunch
posted on April 24, 2008
filed under food, health | leave a comment
Here is an open challenge - find me a better meal for you than this one.
The Chick-fil-a Chargrilled Chicken Sandwich - Here’s the skinny (pun intended). Boneless chicken breast, marinated in some sort of yummy-sauce, on a wheat bun with lettuce, tomato, and pickle. It comes with Honey Roasted BBQ sauce, and in the combo, is accompanied by waffle-cut fries and a drink.
How to make it good for you: substitute the fruit cup for the fries; it’s more expensive, but you’re buying better health and an insulin-crash-free afternoon (with help from the non-processed-flour bun). If you don’t drink Diet Coke or an equivalent, get water. Lose the sauce packet. The thing is tasty enough by itself. Don’t supersize it; you’re not really that hungry. Especially not if you’re eating like you should - healthy snacks in-between meals.
The results? 320 calories, 3.5g of fat (only one gram saturated), 43g carbs (none of it processed), and 28g of protein (which you need, because you’re working out regularly, right? RIGHT?). And you will be full. To reiterate my challenge: find me a better meal for you that you can get without making it yourself or spending over seven bucks.
Sphere: Related Contentbad miss
posted on April 23, 2008
filed under uncategorized | leave a comment
On the whole, I think television is a tool of the devil (or would be, if, you know). There isn’t much I want to watch. Unfortunately, I watch it anyway. However, there have been a few shows that simply rock. My love for Monty Python’s Flying Circus is well-known. There haven’t been a lot of BBC-produced shows I’ve enjoyed (Young Ones, Vicar of Dibley) since, but the latest is cracking me up. You must see That Mitchell and Webb Look - it’s classic British comedy; don’t laugh, there isn’t time. Since the truly silly is what gets me the most - it’s time for Numberwang!
Sphere: Related Contentand what we have left undone
posted on April 21, 2008
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Quoting famous people to make your point is powerful. Equally important, however, is what you leave out.
With savages, the weak in body or mind are soon eliminated; and those that survive commonly exhibit a vigorous state of health. We civilized men, on the other hand, do our utmost to check the process of elimination. We build asylums for the imbecile, the maimed and the sick; we institute poor-laws; and our medical men exert their utmost skill to save the life of every one to the last moment. There is reason to believe that vaccination has preserved thousands, who from a weak constitution would formerly have succumbed to small-pox. Thus the weak members of civilized societies propagate their kind. No one who has attended to the breeding of domestic animals will doubt that this must be highly injurious to the race of man. It is surprising how soon a want of care, or care wrongly directed, leads to the degeneration of a domestic race; but excepting in the case of man himself, hardly anyone is so ignorant as to allow his worst animals to breed.
(Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man)
Now if you really want to misquote someone, leave the next bit out:
The aid which we feel impelled to give to the helpless is mainly an incidental result of the instinct of sympathy, which was originally acquired as part of the social instincts, but subsequently rendered, in the manner previously indicated, more tender and more widely diffused. Nor could we check our sympathy, even at the urging of hard reason, without deterioration in the noblest part of our nature. The surgeon may harden himself whilst performing an operation, for he knows that he is acting for the good of his patient; but if we were intentionally to neglect the weak and helpless, it could only be for a contingent benefit, with an overwhelming present evil.
(ibid.)
If you want to make a point that isn’t based on the truth, using a Michael Moore-style approach is a good way to do it.
(Scientific American article that inspired the above) (how evolution fits)
Sphere: Related Contentgod and/or guns?
posted on April 16, 2008
filed under uncategorized | leave a comment
And it’s not surprising then (that) they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.
– Barack Obama
This is an interesting “give a man a fish” statement. Yes, the bitterness is “not surprising.” Little should surprise anyone anymore. “The devil made me do it,” as it were. And I suppose there are things that I could blame my frustrations on. At the end of the day (perhaps it should be the beginning of the day), however, what I should say to myself is “what am I going to do going forward?” Will I sit and stew over my predicament? Will I find my way into drug abuse, alcoholism, or violence? Will I become another welfare recipient? Will I expect God, the police, the government, the church, etc to come and save me?
Or will I get over myself, realize that I am responsible for not only the vast majority of my problems, but 100% of what I’m going to do to fix things, and make it happen?
Is there a way that our government can bring about this mindset, rather than just ultimately paying everyone off for their votes and their silence?
Sphere: Related Content
soy un perdedor
posted on April 16, 2008
filed under uncategorized | leave a comment
I have misspeled. I have put apostrophe’s where they do not belong. I have used words where there homonyms should go.
I am truly sorry and I humbly repent.
(is it sad that I have these lyrics memorized?)
Sphere: Related Contentyou’re only as old as you feel
posted on April 15, 2008
filed under uncategorized | 8 comments
Oh, this is rich. Yes, I may be a nontheist now, but even as a believer the thought of the world NOT being billions of years old was a non-issue. Lately, the Young Earth Creationists have come back into view for me (for various reasons). I could go on AT LENGTH about these people, but that is best left for those still within the Christian tradition to deal with. But to state the Bible is true and literal, and ANYTHING else you see that says otherwise is false… I’m not sure what clinical mental disorder that is, but it probably has a name.
So as long as we’re taking the entire Bible literally, I think a page from Landover Baptist’s theology is appropriate:
If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
Deuteronomy 21:18-21
Two-year-old tantrum in the store? Teenage angst? College boy too big for his britches? There’s always an answer.
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