Consensus? What consensus?
The much touted research that produced the "consensus" mantra of global warming adherents has been updated with somewhat surprising results.
In fact of
all papers published in this period (2004 to February 2007), only a single one makes any reference to climate change leading to catastrophic results.
Mother Teresa’s sadness
This is a fantastic piece by Fred Sanders called Why Was Mother Teresa Sad?. It’s well worth a read in the midst of the the Mother-Teresa-lost-her-faith talking point.
God’s Calling – Process and timing
Here’s my outline for this coming Sunday’s sermon. Any comments? Probably too long for most readers, but a few might like to parse it.
Diamonds as old as the earth – or older?
Scientists have unearthed diamonds in Australia that they believe to be 4B years old. The study, which will be published in the Aug. 23 issue of the journal Nature, should bring some interesting comments from creationists. In fact, AIG has already commented:
Old-earth, diamond-dating techniques are not known for accuracy, however; for a prime example, see Flaws in dating the earth as ancient, which reports on shoddy 1980s dating of diamonds from – where else? – the Jack Hills region [the same region in Australia where the new old diamonds were discovered]. The article also reports on the dating of diamonds in Zaire to six billion years old, a date thrown out as invalid merely because it was too large for the widely accepted age of the earth.
[NOTE: Here's a YEC prediction for you doubters:]
Also interesting would be if these recent diamonds had been subjected to Carbon-14 dating. As part of the RATE (Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth) project, geophysicist Dr. John Baumgardner detected 14C in diamonds – yet 14C is far too ‘short-lived’ to have survived for the eons diamonds are supposed to have experienced.
That last bit just means this – if there is any significant amount of C14 in those diamonds, the 4B year date would contradict the known half life of C14 – i.e. their dating methods are flawed – of course, they even admit it when a date like the previous 6B estimate doesn’t match their model. Sigh. So blind.
More Human Footprints to “surprise” evolutionists
As I have oft mentioned, every time a new discovery of human fossil remains is made, the headlines are the same – “evolutionists surprised by findings” and “this may require significant reworking of the phylogenetic trees.” But when a model so poorly incorporates data, and so poorly predicts anything of value, and must be significantly revised each time new data appears, perhaps it is time to admit that the model is bogus. So here’s a couple of recent discoveries to upset the fantasy of common descent.
Why did God create homosexuals?
On another blog, I have been discussing the biblical perspective on homosexuality, and have gotten some good questions. Here are my answers, familiar to all who read here regularly. But they bear repeating.
Castro’s dream ticket
Do you even have to guess who communist dictator Fidel Castro said would make an “unbeatable ticket.” But as unsurprising as that was, the most obvious was his admission who his favorite president was? Care to take a guess.
Expelled – Ben Stein takes on Scientism’s anti-ID Orthodoxy
Ben Stein doesn’t want to give you money right now. He wants to give you some truth. What truth is that? That “Big Science has expelled smart new ideas from the classroom,” and are suppressing dissent, especially when it comes to evolution and intelligent design. Coming February 2008. Check out the Expelled trailer. You can also read the press release:
What freedom-loving student wouldn’t be outraged to discover that his high school science teacher is teaching a theory as indisputable fact, and that university professors unmercifully crush any fellow scientists who dare question the prevailing system of belief? This isn’t the latest Hollywood comedy; it’s a disturbing new documentary that will shock anyone who thinks all scientists are free to follow the evidence wherever it may lead.
GUIDE: How to turn off annoying MS Word 2003 Features
UPDATE 08/28/2007
- Thanks to Jim for helping complete the turning off of “Show Markup.”
Here’s my list of things to turn off. Man, they are annoying. Enjoy.
Sabbath – Saturday or Sunday?
So, this past week, I received a free booklet in the mail from some cult that was trying to get me to request more information, and in the book, one of their pet doctrines was that we should be celebrating church on Saturday, rather than Sunday. One of my friends was worried by the booklet, and asked me what was right, and I wrote him the response below. He then responded in this fashion:
tx! whew. according to the booklet, anyone who didn’t see Saturday as the Sabbath was going to be dammed. he then provided many quotes which were heavily interspersed with his interpretations.
Helping Iraq one kid at a time
Here’s a chance to make a difference in the life of a little 5-year-old Iraqi boy, who was set on fire by Jihadist for no reason. A US charity is working to fly Youssif and his family over here and perform the surgery.
Having a 5-year-old myself, this really hit home to me. If you would like to donate to his fund at the Children’s Burn Foundation, go here and select “Youssif’s Fund” from the drop down bar under “Honor/Memorial Gift Information.”
Lessons Learned: Lunch with Thomas
Today, I had lunch with my favorite neofundamentalist pastor, Thomas. Over lunch, we discussed some things, and I wanted to record some topics and insights that came up.
Also, note that he and another Pastor are starting an online seminary called The Veritas School of Theology, which is just in it’s beginning stages. For this coming year, classes are free, so you might want to jump in. I’ll be taking the first class in Hermeneutics (HM101) (Tom has focused his studies on this, having purchased and perhaps even read almost 200 books on the topic).
Saying Grace In A Restaurant
Here’s the latest internet schmaltz that I thought worth publishing. But the message is worthy – God wants us to be happy, even if sourpusses say otherwise.
Ron Paul tries to YouTube Mike Huckabee
Now that Mike Huckabee has kinda, sorta, maybe broke out of the “second-tier” he has begun to take some heat from other candidates, including our very own “Savior of the Constitution and Republic” – Ron Paul (or at least some of his supporters.)
The politicization of science and transgender women
One of the reasons why "science" no longer holds the same weight now in this postmodern age as it did 50 years ago is the influence politics play on scientific discussions. From global warming to intelligent design, any science theory that dares to challenge the prevailing view is attacked as dangerous and "not science." One Northwestern University professor learned that lesson the hard way.
Heresy precedes the acceptance of homosexuality
Al Mohler, in his most recent post, Heresy Precedes Homosexuality, discusses openly gay Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson, and why he is the poster child for all that is wrong (if you are theologically conservative) or right (if you are theologically liberal) with the contemporary church.
The God of Modernism – Love without truth
ATP has a nice article entitled For the Love of God, in which he bemoans the modern simplistic view of "God is love" – it seems that moderns affirm this, but deny that God is any more than that. Well done, and he makes some interesting theological observations.
Should Bible-believing churches perform funerals for gays?
Recently, an Arlington, TX megachurch refused to perform a funeral ceremony for a military veteran who died from "an infection" because he was gay. This, even though his brother was a janitor at the church. The real problem, however, is that the church agreed to do the service before finding out that the man was gay, then changed their mind. The question is, should bible-believing churches do funeral ceremonies for the outwardly unbelieving or unrepentant?
Digital Photo Tampering – A Historical Survey
You’d think that falsifying photos is merely a feature of the photoshop generation, but tampering with photos has been done since photos were invented. Check out this very interesting post entitled Digital Tampering in the Media, Politics and Law.
The Redbook cover with Faith Hill is just plain depressing – she’s really pretty without making her thin enough to be pre-pubescent. And the cover of the UW magazine, where they photoshopped in a black guy to make the crowd look more diverse? Hilarious. Be sure to click through on the photos to see the before and after versions.
Real pirates share their links
The title for my latest link non-dump, is an homage* to my favorite guilty (and cancelled) TV pleasure: Veronica Mars. Man, I loved that show, but alas on to the links.
