On the Silent Planet

More Stupidity from the Kennedy Family

2009-10-25T13:43:00.003-05:00

From America's first family of philandering, addicted and dysfunctional politicians, our good friend Patrick Kennedy from Rhode Island (yeah, the same driveling idiot who wrecked his car at the Capitol while under the influence and manged to avoid any legal consequences), has started criticizing the Catholic Church's opposition to abortion funding in healthcare legislation.

http://www.projo.com/news/content/kennedy_tobin_10-24-09_OPG76Q8_v14.38b4a95.html

Dude, why are you a Catholic? Leave. This is is a disgrace to your faith and the entire greater realm of Christianity. I really wish that the Bishops would start excommunicating pro-choice Catholics by the dozens, particularly moronic Kennedys who disparage the tenants of their own faith. If the Catholic Church actually wants to support a pro-life position, then they need to start showing the door to people like Patrick.

The abortion issue is a huge concern to those of us with a pro-life position when discussing health care. The idea of tax dollars being used to murder kids isn't something that we should just ignore or treat lightly. It's just time that the Bishops man up and start tossing people out the door.

Obama and the Peace Prize

2009-10-11T13:56:00.003-05:00

I woke up the other morning to hearing about Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize and I really thought it was a DJ prank of some sort. This is not a discussion about Obama's policies or political proclivities. I just wonder how the heck a first term president with essentially no major policies successes (to date) qualified for the prize?

Again, my differences with the administration aside - this just seems to be political patronage at its worst. Even some Obama supporters are not terribly pleased. For example, Nina Tannenwald, a professor at Brown University told the Providence Journal, “I don’t understand this at all. I’m a supporter of Obama, and I think this was a bad idea. I think this cheapens the Nobel Prize."

The London Times wrote in an Op-Ed piece, "Instead, the prize risks looking preposterous in its claims, patronising in its intentions and demeaning in its attempt to build up a man who has barely begun his period in office, let alone achieved any tangible outcome for peace."

Regardless of what one thinks of the President, he has not labored for decades in the slums of India (Mother Theresa), led the Civil Rights Movement in the United States (Martin Luther King, Jr.), nor did he spend decades in a South African prison (Nelson Mandela). I mean, Jimmy Carter was a fool in the White House, but at least he brokered the Camp David Accords, which were a major accomplishment in peaceful diplomacy.

Perhaps it is because Obama solved the Iranian nuclear issue? Oh, he hasn't. Better be careful there, as Israel will take care of business there if Obama can't.

Maybe he closed Gitmo? That's not done either.

He ended the war in Iraq? Still on the to do list.

Perhaps it is because he's fixing Afghanistan? That's not exactly getting better either.

Maybe North Korea? No progress there.

Anyhow, perhaps Obama will do something for peace. But, he hasn't yet and to give him this prize is an insult to those who labored for years to bring justice to the oppressed and peace to conflict.

Political Correctness Sillyness in Rhode Island

2009-07-11T10:17:00.002-05:00

Oh, my native state.....has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation, an oppressive tax structure that has produced a mass-exodus of employers from the state. (I just have to wonder if politicians who love taxation have ever taken a basic macroeconomics class....it ain't rocket science, kids. Taxes are a bit like osmosis, if you have more taxes at higher rates than other places, the jobs will migrate elsewhere.) RI has crumbling highways, terrible relations with public safety employees and the list goes on.....but.......

Anyhow, a clown in the legislature named Joseph S. Almeida wants to have a public referendum on removing "plantation" from Rhode Island's name. (The real name of Rhode Island is "Rhode Island and Providence Plantations). Apparently, this dufus thinks it has to do with slavery, which shows that he needs to spend a little time studying the state's history. Rhode Island was, er, the first state to ban the practice. Also, the plantation in the state's name has nothing to do with palatial southern estates with slaves picking cotton. It is pathetic that a state legislator is so out of touch with his state's history that he would go on record and public ally make an a-- out of himself. What's even worse is that some people in the state's populous, actually think it is a good idea as well....it really shows how frankly stupid some people area.

Anyhow, the Providence Journal ran an op-ed piece by Keith Stokes giving the history of the State's name. The plantation theme found in colonial literature actually comes from some of Cotton Mather's sermon. Of course, the fact it came from a sermon will certainly give some ACLU weenie the shakes and twitches. Mather referred to those moving to the new world for religious freedom, as those being planted in the "promised land." The state charter refers to the State as the land that: "where, by the good Providence of God, from whom the Plantations have taken their name, upon their labor and industry, they have not only been preserved to admiration, but have increased and prospered, and are seized and possessed, by purchase and consent of the said natives, to their full content, of such lands, islands, rivers, harbors and roads, as are very convenient both for plantations and also for building of ships, supply of pipestaves, and other merchandise.”

Stokes continues: "The historic use of the word plantation does not simply refer to early farms or settlements. It was specifically crafted and applied by our founding settlers as a means to express their newly achieved experience of religious liberty and expression." Lastly, "For me, it is profoundly ironic that the name Plantations in Rhode Island would be reviled as a symbol of oppression, when in historical truth the name should be synonymous with civil liberty and rights, not African slavery. "

Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, was a bit like many modern Christians - denomination shopping for the perfect fit. He was briefly a Baptist and founded the first Baptist church in America....but eventually ended up giving up on organized Christianity because he saw church tradition and hierarchy as a bad thing. (Obviously, he was missing the fact that we are called to live our faith in a church. Yep, a church filled with imperfect people and leaders who will offend you, sin against you and make bad choices sometimes.) Williams wrote, towards the end of his life: "There is no regularly constituted church of Christ on earth, nor any person qualified to administer any church ordinances; nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the Great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seeking."

Williams, along with other religious dissenters left Massachusetts and founded Rhode Island as a bastion of religious liberty. However, it is very funny, although sad, that some people would be this misinformed about history to suggest something as inane as this. This isn't the confederate flag over the capitol, kids. This name has nothing to do with slavery. Nothing. But, the political correctness police are always looking for a new thing to whine about.

A Classic Car Review

2009-05-20T17:32:00.002-05:00

This has to be one of the funniest car reviews I have ever read.

I've picked on hybrid cars in the past as an exquisite example of feel good environmentalism. A circumstance where one feels like they are doing something environmentally "conscious," but without much of any real environmental benefit. But, heck, they're raising "awareness" right?

Enjoy.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/jeremy_clarkson/article6294116.ece

Some Stupid Worship Music...

2009-05-02T14:42:00.002-05:00

I can't really say much more about this....other than: wow, this is really stupid. It's about as theologically rich as a Brittany Spears song.

Some thoughts for Easter...

2009-04-10T13:12:00.000-05:00

Also posted on my FB account:

I recently came across some excellent observations by the German theologian Bonhoeffer in an excerpt from his book "Ethics."

"The figure of the reconciler, of the divine human Jesus Christ, steps into the middle between God and world, into the center of all that happens. Through this figure, the mystery of the world is disclosed, just as in the same figure the mystery of God is revealed. No abyss of evil can hide from him through whom the world is reconciled with God. But the abyss of God's love encompasses even the most abysmal godlessness of the world. In the an incomprehensible reversal of all righteous and pious thinking, God declares God's guilt towards the world and in so doing extinguishes the guilt of the world. God sets out upon the humiliating path of reconciliation and thereby pronounces the world free. God wills to be guilty of our sin, and takes over the punishment and suffering sin has brought upon us. God answers for godlessness, love for hatred, the saint for the sinner. Now, there is no godlessness, no hatred, no sin which God has not carried, suffered and atoned. Now there is no reality, no world that is not reconciled and in peace with God. God did this in his beloved Son Jesus Christ. Ecco homo!"

Ecce homo - behold the human being, judged by God, a form of misery and pain. This is what the reconciler of the world looks like. The guilt of humanity has fallen upon him; it pushes him into disgrace and death under God's judgment. This is how costly reconciliation with the world is to God. Only by God executing judgment upon God can peace be established between God and ht world be between human being and human being. The mystery of this judgment, however, of this suffering and dying, is God's love for the world, for human beings. Only as someone judged by God can a human being live before God; only the crucified human being is at peace with God. In the form of the crucified we recognize and find ourselves. Accepted by God, judged and reconciled in the cross: That is the reality of humankind."

Also, I can only think of this excerpt from Dostoevsky's book "The Brother's Karamazov":

"Fear nothing and never be afraid: and don't fret. If only your penitence fail not, God will forgive all. There is no sin, and there can be no sin on all the earth, which the Lord will not forgive to the truly repentant. Man cannot commit a sin so great as to exhaust the infinite love of God. Can there be a sin which could exceed the love of God? Think only of repentance, continual repentance, but dismiss fear all together. Believe that God loves you as you cannot conceive: that He loves you with your sin, in your sin. It has been said of old that over one repentant sinner there is more joy in heaven that over ten righteous men. Go and fear not. Be not bitter against men. Be not angry if you are wronged......all things are atoned for, all things are saved by love. If I, a sinner, even as you are, am tender with you and have pity on you, how much more will God?"

Then, there is one of my favorite Flannery O'Connor stories..."Revelation", where a self-righteous woman who sees herself as good and is thankful that she isn't a minority, poor, or unattractive has a shocking view of heaven. (A common theme in O'Connor's work is parodying the often shallow and pharisaic "bible belt" culture found in the American South.)

"A visionary light settled in her eyes. She saw the streak as a vast swinging bridge extending upward from the earth through a field of living fire. Upon it vast horde of souls were rumbling toward heaven. There were whole companies of white trash, clean for the first time in their lives, and bands of black [the "n" word] in white robes, and battalions of freaks and lunatics shouting and clapping and leaping like frogs. And bringing up the end of the procession was a tribe of people who she recognized at once as those, like herself and Claud, had always a little of everything and the God-given wit to use it right. She leaned forward to watch them closer. They were marching behind the others with great dignity, accountable as they had always been for good order and common sense and respectable behavior. They alone were on key. Yet she could see by their shocked and altered faces that even their virtues were being burned away."

I have to think about Romans 3 (as paraphrased in the NLT):

Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin. As the Scriptures say,

“No one is righteous—
not even one.
No one is truly wise;
no one is seeking God.
All have turned away;
all have become useless.
No one does good,
not a single one.”
Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.
Their tongues are filled with lies.”
“Snake venom drips from their lips."
“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness."
“They rush to commit murder.
"Destruction and misery always follow them.
"They don’t know where to find peace.”
"They have no fear of God at all.”

Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are

But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law."

As I consider Easter, the hymn by Stuart Townend comes to mind:

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

Breaking News from Philadelphia

2009-03-12T19:36:00.003-05:00

A classic messup by one of America's finest airlines:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090311/ap_on_fe_st/odd_pet_store_human_corpse

I apologize for the lack of activity here...school has pretty much sucked the life out of me (perhaps I may end up at a pet shop too). Life here is going well, work is going great and my grades are good although I'm looking forward to getting done with school.

Batman Arrested in Tampa

2009-01-25T14:50:00.001-05:00

Another one of those only in Florida stories...

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/jan/23/holy-legal-defense-batman-fighting-arrest-court/news-metro/

Obama Working to Reduce Number of Abortions...

2009-01-23T23:59:00.003-05:00

Well, guess he lied about that one (big surprise there). We're not even a week into his presidency and Obama's already started using my money to pay for killing kids. But, heck, he cares and gives a good speech. Hope and change and all that crap. At least we can have warm fuzzies that we're closing Gitmo....of course, millions died there, right?

Can't wait to see how else Obama plans to futher "reduce" abortions.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090124/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_abortion_ban

Then again, perhaps Obama never really lied. He told us he intended to support murdering children - and more. But Obama gave us a "let's work to reduce abortions" line, just like Clinton, Mondale, Dukakias and other baby butchers before who wanted to soften their tone to win over a few pro-lifers. But this time, people took the bait.

I'm sure this is just the start.

AWE 1549 Radar Track

2009-01-15T18:12:00.002-05:00

US Airways 1549 from LGA to CLT apparently took multiple bird strikes and ditched in the Hudson River shortly after takeoff. Thankfully, everyone apparently got off the aircraft.

I was able to pull the flight track of AWE 1549 off the Port Authority's public flight tracking website. It is the red aircraft graphic in the middle, which passes directly over the George Washington Bridge at about 1,400 feet.

Something worth getting angry about

2009-01-11T15:53:00.002-05:00

The new Eurotrash owners of Anheuser-Busch have decided to shut down the Hospitality Houses at Busch Gardens. Talk about no respect for tradition. As a BG passholder for almost ten years, this is the type of corporate stupidity that irritates the crap out of me. Sort of like airlines charging for water and Coke.

Breaking News from the North Pole

2008-12-24T21:43:00.000-05:00

A Prius car review...

2008-12-20T12:15:00.002-05:00

In reference to my earlier email where I poked fun at the supposed environmental benefit of driving a hybrid (i.e. it's environmental showmanship with little real benefit). A friend sent this video to me and I found it quite amusing.

A Christmas Story and other Christmas shows.

2008-12-20T00:37:00.004-05:00

Many of you may have seen the 1983 classic film, The Christmas Story - the one with Ralphie, et al.

Ironically, I've only seen the movie once..and I was totally high through the entire thing. Oh, yes, there were the drug days...or should I say drug day. I watched The Christmas Story in December of 2002.....several hours after having my wisdom teeth out.

I had never been under general anesthesia before, so didn't know what to expect. I (no joke here) told the doctor I planned to drive home after my surgery. He told me I couldn't, so despite my rigid self-reliance, I asked my brother to drive me home. It was a good thing, as I could hardly find my way out of the dentist office, never mind much else. The odd thing was, for the rest of the day, my time perception was all messed up. All that was needed was some of the Beatles' Sargent Pepper to provide the soundtrack.

So, my brother and I watched The Christmas Story. I remember there was Ralphie, something about a bb gun. There was an evil Santa. That's about all I remember and I don't recall when what happened in the plot, it's all random events that occured. Maybe we should have watched Donnie Darko or some other movie that is enhanced by mind altering substances? Nothing like some Scooby Snacks to bring a whole new level to the arts. (Anyone else not suprised that a bunch of 1960s hippies living in a van partake in an unnamed "snack" and then see monsters.)

So, there is my Christmas stoner story. Dan, have you seen my Iona CD? (Inside joke, there.)

As for other Christmas shows. I think the one I hate the most is the claymation Rudolph. If they had included Mr. Bill, it might have had some redeeming value. I especially can't stand Hermey, the misfit elf. I hate to say it, but Hermey was probably clutching a poodle, wearing women's clothing and screeching, "Put the lotion on itself!" They left that out, but perhaps the sequel will feature Hermey and his collection of body part momentos in the freezer - dentist....yeah, right. Psychotic sadist and creepy future serial killer, quite likely.

In closing, I think the best Christmas show was Charlie Brown's Christmas. It is simple, has great dance moves (heck, even I can dance like that), an incredible jazz score and actually, well, talks about Christmas. Also, I'm pretty much Charlie Brown in real life....so I can totally relate.

Merry Christmas to all...if I don't get around to writing before then.

It's alive!

2008-12-07T16:47:00.002-05:00

Yes, I am alive. I apologize about the lack of blogging. Between school work and life, I haven't had much time for blogging. I guess that's what happens sometimes :). A few random thoughts:

1. I think Obama has been doing a good job with the economic transition. After all, he could just let it go to heck and then play partisan politics with it. The reality is, the mess we're in has a lot of factors - some political (with a lot of blame to be spread across the political spectrum), some things that are not in our control....so it is good to see that Obama has been picking a decent team. I hope that the Bush administration does not pull a repeat of the Clinton staff....where they trashed the White House and vandalized computers, etc - just to be jerks.

Nothing new on Obama's love affair with murdering kids. We'll have to watch if his talk about reducing abortions was just a line to win over some pro-lifers, or if he is prepared to pump money into the baby butcher shops and pass crap like the Freedom of Choice Act. While I don't believe a word of Obama's "reducing abortion" stuff, as it is a line the baby killers have been using for years....I would like to give him the benefit of the doubt.

The auto bailout. We're screwed either way. Part of the problem with the American system is that we keep rewarding dumb decisions by rescuing companies that do stupid things. So, when times are good, those companies make money - and when the decisions fail, the tax payers pick up the tab. For capitalism to work well, you need a real fear of failure to keep risk in check. So, you aren't writing loans to families that can't realistically repay them, or to speculators flipping condos that aren't built yet. However, because the pensions are Federally guaranteed, if the Big 3 fail, we're on the hook for a lot of money. Also, we have all those people moving onto unemployment and other government services. So, although I hate the idea, the best option may be a government loan. The government did make a profit off the Chrysler loans of the 1970s and the Airline loans of the 2000s. I'm not part of the "hate the American automakers" crowd, although I think they have something to learn from the foreign automakers that are making good products, at low costs, and largely without the UAW.

It is a bit silly to say that the Big 3 are in their situation because they didn't make enough hybrids, etc. It largely comes down to top-heavy pensions, big labor and a perception of poor quality (which I don't think is entirely accurate, except for the bottom rung of their product lines). The lower end GMs I've driven were absolute trash, but I rented a Ford 500 last year and really liked it (although a bit out of my price range).

Even the foreign manufacturers were gearing up and pushing the SUV craze. Besides, hybrids are largely environmental showmanship...a Corolla gets just about as good mileage as a hybrid, but without the heavy metal batteries that are an environmental nightmare. But if you have a Prius, you get to prove you're environmentally conscious to the rest of your beatnik friends (and enjoy spending too much for a car for that privilege). Maybe slap some stupid anti-Bush cliches on the back bumper to further prove how enlightened you are. Hopefully the batteries don't leak into your drinking water - or maybe they already did.

Well, there's some catching up rants. I have homework to do.

Jon C.

Obama

2008-11-05T17:17:00.003-05:00

When I have time, I'll write a more substantive bit about the election results, both good and bad. Sometimes I listen to talk radio at work (usually when NPR is begging for donations for a week straight), but I avoided it like the plague today - as the nuttiest variety of right-wing whackdom was going to come out in droves. Just like how the dumbest among us said they were going to move out of the US when Bush was elected, I think there were some Lush Rimbaugh devotees that would be saying the same thing. My above photoshop job is for them - I'm sure it would make a great t-shirt, but someone else already probably thought of it.

I think Obama's abortion policies are going to be awful, but he isn't president yet and we can give him the benefit of the doubt and see if he actually will work to reduce the number of abortions. Given his huge ideological and financial support from the baby murdering industry, I kind of doubt it. If he signs the Freedom of Choice Act, it will be a human tragedy of momentous proportions - as any state restrictions on abortion, such as parental notification or requirement for ultrasounds would be lifted and our tax dollars would be used to subsidize the murder of kids - so much for working to reduce the number of abortions. But, most Americans didn't see that as an issue this time around. However, regardless of who you voted for, anyone who is pro-life must be ready to make a strong and vocal stand against that vile legislation if it is introduced.

Election Night Drinking Game

2008-11-03T17:17:00.002-05:00

Okay, thankfully this election is over and I can finally hear commercials by screaming auto dealers and furniture stores again come Wednesday.

However, I suggest a new way to entertain yourselves tomorrow night. Get yourself two bottles of booze (well, probably two or three). For the most fun, be creative with what you pick out - perhaps some Schlitz for McCain and Thunderbird for Obama. For each electoral vote each one wins, take a shot. In the end, just like America, you're screwed either way. If Ralph Nader wins the election, you need to drink both bottles immediately and take a bottle of sleeping pills too.

Of course, you should sneak into your local Masonic temple, because there, the Illuminati and their shadow government shape-shifting reptilian cronies will be really determining our fate. Just ask David Icke.

(This drinking game suggestion was entirely for entertainment purposes only and no one should really try it - well, save for the Presidential candidates themselves.)

Sports, Philly Style

2008-10-28T21:29:00.002-05:00

Glad to see that Philadelphia is living up to it's reputation of the City of Brotherly Shove:

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/baseball/rays/article873330.ece

Would we expect any less?

I did see a marquee on a bar and grill on the way home from church on Sunday. It said, "Do it for Steve Irwin, beat the Rays." I thought that was kind of funny....I still think they need to do a Steve Irwin Night at the Trop, complete with impaled Steve dolls in Yankees uniforms. Crikey!

Perhaps there is a good reason why I don't work in marketing and promotions.

Randy Alcorn's Open Letter to Donald Miller

2008-10-16T17:57:00.002-05:00

This is one of the best items I've come across discussing the election and abortion. It is an open letter that Randy Alcorn sent to his friend Donald Miller (the author of Blue Like Jazz). This is a hot issue and can tend to bring out arrogance on people of all political views, but I think Alcorn has done a fantastic job of being up front about abortion, but not reducing himself to the Obama is a commie/McCain is a warmonger stereotypes. It is well worth the read:

http://randyalcorn.blogspot.com/2008/10/not-cool-obamas-pro-abortion-stance.htm l

Obama and Abortion

2008-10-15T18:51:00.002-05:00

A brief outtake from a thought-provoking piece by Robert George of Princeton:

"[Obama's pro-life and evangelical apologists] typically do not deny the facts [his strong pro-choice record] I have reported. They could not; each one is a matter of public record. But despite Obama's injustices against the most vulnerable human beings, and despite the extraordinary support he receives from the industry that profits from killing the unborn (which should be a good indicator of where he stands), some Obama supporters insist that he is the better candidate from the pro-life point of view.

They say that his economic and social policies would so diminish the demand for abortion that the overall number would actually go down-despite the federal subsidizing of abortion and the elimination of hundreds of pro-life laws. The way to save lots of unborn babies, they say, is to vote for the pro-abortion-oops! ''pro-choice''-candidate. They tell us not to worry that Obama opposes the Hyde Amendment, the Mexico City Policy (against funding abortion abroad), parental consent and notification laws, conscience protections, and the funding of alternatives to embryo-destructive research. They ask us to look past his support for Roe v. Wade, the Freedom of Choice Act, partial-birth abortion, and human cloning and embryo-killing. An Obama presidency, they insist, means less killing of the unborn."

Read the rest here:

Recently Sighted

2008-10-11T21:36:00.003-05:00

Since Obama thinks that sitting down with half-baked world leaders is a smart move (well, it worked out quite nicely for Neville Chamberlin, right?)....it seems likely that Osama would also started drinking the Obama world-peace kool-aid. If we just have more understanding towards the radical Islamists, world peace can't be far away.

Anyhow, I think I might start selling election signs on the Afghan/Pakistani border:

Considering...

2008-10-08T19:29:00.003-05:00

O to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee
Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above

Mars Hill Church (the Driscoll one, not the other one) has a rather good rendition of this old hymn Come Thou Fount: http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/2008/03/09/20080309_come-thou-fount_audio.mp3?download (free download).

It's been one of the weeks where I'm prone to wander. There's just so much going on in the world, some of it somewhat serious - such as the economy and election, some of it less so - baseball playoffs and a lot in between. But I find myself just so easily losing site of what really is the most important and then wonder why I end up rather frustrated, depressed or just aimless. I forget the great gift of grace and the freedom to be found in that.

An interesting project....

2008-10-08T17:58:00.003-05:00

I heard about this on NPR today. A group of indie musicians have worked on a concept album about all the U.S. Presidents. Reminds me a bit of something Sufjan Stevens would work on.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95509966

http://ofgreatandmortalmen.wordpress.com/

Take Karl Marx Out to the Ball Game?

2008-10-06T18:29:00.003-05:00

As I've been watching the Rays/White Sox games in Chicago yesterday and today, I noticed there is a guy who sits behind homeplate on the left side (batter's right).....who looks like Karl Marx, complete with the beard. It's kind of creepy...

Unfortunately, all the home plate photos I found focus on the players and the fans are fuzzy in the background.

Since Chicago is famous for having dead people vote for Democratic candidates...who knows, maybe old Karl's in town to vote for Obama and do a few fundraising appearances? JFK will likely be around to pull the lever a time or two; just as a thank you to the Daley family for all the hard work of getting the dead to the polls back in 1960.

Tampa Bay Rays

2008-10-04T13:43:00.003-05:00

There is still something really odd with watching baseball playoffs and seeing Rays there. It's also odd to see the Trop actually full. For those readers not familiar with Tampa Bay, the Rays have historically been so bad that the games were rarely even half full. You could walk up to the ticket window an hour before a Red Sox game and get tickets for under $10.

But, here I was last night...watching the playoffs and seeing the Rays play at the Trop. Talk about hell freezing over...I thought they would do a little better this year with improved pitching, but getting to the playoffs...huh?

There were also some good aerial shots of the city before and after the commercials :).