On July 7, there's going to be a grand opening of an interesting but controversial attraction in Northern Kentucky. An Australian named Ken Ham runs a ministry called Answers in Genesis and has already built one attraction called the Creation Museum in the same region. The new site is called the Ark Encounter.
Some people oppose these types of endeavors mainly because they don't believe in God. That's understandable. I mean, if you don't believe in God, there are many things in life you don't have to worry about. For example, if there's no God, there aren't any consequences for sin. In fact, if there's no God, there's nobody to say what sin is.
That's got to be a great way to live your life... do whatever you want and not have to worry about any repercussions. However, if someone comes across evidence that demonstrates the reality of God's existence, you'd have to completely change not just your worldview but your entire lifestyle. That'd be a bummer!
However, not everybody opposed to what Ken Ham is doing are atheists. Some people who believe in God say that the message this project seeks to spread is antithetical to science. They say that stuff like this makes all Christians look stupid.
But I have a question for those people; if the word "science" means knowledge, (and it does - I looked it up) shouldn't these projects be considered "science" museums? I know they might be presenting conclusions about the evidence that may not conform with what you believe but the evidence is still real.
Science is supposed to be about seeking knowledge, no matter what conclusions we find. If studying the evidence leads to a conclusion that contradicts our presuppositions, what's the most likely reason; a bad conclusion or a bad presupposition?
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
God bless ISIS
I wonder if I should be concerned. I realize that some of my recent posts have been dealing with what might be considered controversial topics. Heck, if someone reading doesn't know me personally and my sense of "snark." they might even consider them inflammatory.
I've noticed that in the past few weeks, some of my page views have been coming from places in Europe. Am I now on one of ISIS's watch lists? If so, I just want to take the opportunity to say a few words to that potential audience.
You claim to be followers of the Prophet. He recorded, "If you were in doubt as to what We revealed unto you, then ask those who have been reading the Book from before you: the Truth has indeed come to you from your Lord: so be in no wise of those of doubt." Surah 10:94
If you are true followers, you know the Book to which he refers is the book I know as the Bible. Of it, the Prophet also recorded, "We have, without doubt, sent down the Message, and We will assuredly guard it from corruption." Surah 15:9
So, according to the Prophet, what is recorded about Isa (Jesus) in my Bible should be an accurate representation of the things he did and said while he was on Earth two millennia ago. One of the things he taught was that we should love ore enemies, bless those that curse us, do good to those who hate us, and pray for those who persecute us.
I don't know how you feel about my previous posts but if they enraged you and you're seeking to avenge the Prophet for something I've said, just know that I love you and will pray for you and may God bless you.
I've noticed that in the past few weeks, some of my page views have been coming from places in Europe. Am I now on one of ISIS's watch lists? If so, I just want to take the opportunity to say a few words to that potential audience.
You claim to be followers of the Prophet. He recorded, "If you were in doubt as to what We revealed unto you, then ask those who have been reading the Book from before you: the Truth has indeed come to you from your Lord: so be in no wise of those of doubt." Surah 10:94
If you are true followers, you know the Book to which he refers is the book I know as the Bible. Of it, the Prophet also recorded, "We have, without doubt, sent down the Message, and We will assuredly guard it from corruption." Surah 15:9
So, according to the Prophet, what is recorded about Isa (Jesus) in my Bible should be an accurate representation of the things he did and said while he was on Earth two millennia ago. One of the things he taught was that we should love ore enemies, bless those that curse us, do good to those who hate us, and pray for those who persecute us.
I don't know how you feel about my previous posts but if they enraged you and you're seeking to avenge the Prophet for something I've said, just know that I love you and will pray for you and may God bless you.
Monday, June 20, 2016
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
"But this was merely a piece of furtive knowledge which he happened to possess because his memory was not satisfactorily under control." -1984, G. Orwell
The "he" in that quote is the protagonist from 1984, "Winston." The context is that he's in the middle of considering the world stage at the moment. Of the three world powers, his homeland, Oceania, was presently at war with Eurasia and allied with Eastasia. Everyone else had been brainwashed into believing that this was the way it had always been but Winston remembered that not long before, it had been the other way around.
Winston worked at the Ministry of Truth and it was his job to monitor the news and make sure that all reports and records conformed to what was considered to be the official record provided by Big Brother. If something came in that went against that, it was rewritten to align with whatever the official propaganda was and then all traces of the actual story were destroyed.
The ultimate result of this was to effectively erase people's memories of the event. However, Winston consistently had access to the truth, so his mind wasn't so easily duped.
Orwell's work was sci-fi about the 80's written in the 40's so it's pure fancy, right? Well, consider this story about how 60% of Democrats don't think the Orlando shooting had anything to do with Islam. Right before our very eyes we see the Orwellian nature of the current administration. Even worse, they don't need a Minitrue to scrub the news for them... the press is doing it for them without coercion! What's more, we've got our own Miniplenty telling us the unemployment rate is under 5%.
Ultimately though, the ones to watch for are the Ministry of Love and the Thought Police.
The "he" in that quote is the protagonist from 1984, "Winston." The context is that he's in the middle of considering the world stage at the moment. Of the three world powers, his homeland, Oceania, was presently at war with Eurasia and allied with Eastasia. Everyone else had been brainwashed into believing that this was the way it had always been but Winston remembered that not long before, it had been the other way around.
Winston worked at the Ministry of Truth and it was his job to monitor the news and make sure that all reports and records conformed to what was considered to be the official record provided by Big Brother. If something came in that went against that, it was rewritten to align with whatever the official propaganda was and then all traces of the actual story were destroyed.
The ultimate result of this was to effectively erase people's memories of the event. However, Winston consistently had access to the truth, so his mind wasn't so easily duped.
Orwell's work was sci-fi about the 80's written in the 40's so it's pure fancy, right? Well, consider this story about how 60% of Democrats don't think the Orlando shooting had anything to do with Islam. Right before our very eyes we see the Orwellian nature of the current administration. Even worse, they don't need a Minitrue to scrub the news for them... the press is doing it for them without coercion! What's more, we've got our own Miniplenty telling us the unemployment rate is under 5%.
Ultimately though, the ones to watch for are the Ministry of Love and the Thought Police.
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Wanna mess with the IRS?
You know all those tax forms you fill out when you start a new job? Like the one called W-4? You know what that's for, right? That's where you instruct your new employer just how much of your paycheck you'd like them to send to the IRS each pay period.
Well, did you know you can fill out a new one at any time and your employer will adjust that amount? The system is set up like that in case you ever have any changes. Maybe you had a baby and you need to change your number of dependents. Maybe a child grows up and starts to claim himself as a dependent.
Whatever the case, the amount you have withheld isn't written in stone. Some people like the feeling of getting a big refund so they set it up to have a little extra withheld each week. That's kind of stupid because it's like loaning your money to the feds, interest free. But hey, it takes all kinds to make the world go 'round. Do whatever floats your boat. Personally, I try to set it so they take just the right amount so that when I do my taxes at the end of the year, I don't get a refund.
Anyway, that same system actually allows you to reduce your withholding to zero. You could set your dependents so high, they don't take anything out. Now you'd still have to set that money aside to be able to pay your taxes when they're actually due on April 15th but imagine what that would do to the federal government if everyone did that.
You see, they spend that money as soon as they get it. How shocked would they be if they didn't get any for an entire year?
Friday, June 17, 2016
On orchestrations and overtures
George Lucas said, "Music is the magic dust of movies."
If you're like me, you missed the TNT broadcast the other night of the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award honoring John Williams. Fortunately, I knew I wouldn't be able watch it live so I watched it today on the DVR.
As I watched, my recurrent thought was, "Who's going to take his place when he's gone?" But then I kept thinking, "Who came before him?"
At the end, when Williams gave his acceptance speech, he shared a story about Steven Spielberg and the first time Spielberg showed him Schindler's List. Williams recounted how much the movie, without music, had impacted him and how he had to go outside to gather his emotions. When he came back, he told Spielberg that this movie needed a better composer. Spielberg replied, "I know but they're all dead."
I realized at that moment how fortunate we all are to be living at this time. Sure, it would have been amazing to live in the age of the greats like Bach, Beethoven, Mozart. It's like composers grew on trees up until about 150 years ago but then the industrial revolution came along and the Renaissance died.
At least the music hasn't died. We might only have one great composer in our time but he's left his mark on our culture. It was overwhelming hearing them roll through the clips of so many familiar themes... E.T., Jaws, Superman, Close Encounters, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, Star Wars. It's just incredible to think one man could create so many different sounds that are recognizable the instant we hear them.
Of course, the one that's probably the most recognizable in the world is timeless and it's my personal favorite, Williams's 1984 composition, Olympic Fanfare and Theme.
If you're like me, you missed the TNT broadcast the other night of the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award honoring John Williams. Fortunately, I knew I wouldn't be able watch it live so I watched it today on the DVR.
As I watched, my recurrent thought was, "Who's going to take his place when he's gone?" But then I kept thinking, "Who came before him?"
At the end, when Williams gave his acceptance speech, he shared a story about Steven Spielberg and the first time Spielberg showed him Schindler's List. Williams recounted how much the movie, without music, had impacted him and how he had to go outside to gather his emotions. When he came back, he told Spielberg that this movie needed a better composer. Spielberg replied, "I know but they're all dead."
I realized at that moment how fortunate we all are to be living at this time. Sure, it would have been amazing to live in the age of the greats like Bach, Beethoven, Mozart. It's like composers grew on trees up until about 150 years ago but then the industrial revolution came along and the Renaissance died.
At least the music hasn't died. We might only have one great composer in our time but he's left his mark on our culture. It was overwhelming hearing them roll through the clips of so many familiar themes... E.T., Jaws, Superman, Close Encounters, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, Star Wars. It's just incredible to think one man could create so many different sounds that are recognizable the instant we hear them.
Of course, the one that's probably the most recognizable in the world is timeless and it's my personal favorite, Williams's 1984 composition, Olympic Fanfare and Theme.
Thursday, June 16, 2016
"That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections."
A few posts back, I linked to a clip from The American President. That movie is packed full of blog ideas so let me do one now.
In that same clip, President Shepherd (Michael Douglas), in reference to his reelection opponent, Bob Rumson (Richard Dreyfuss), says, "Bob's problem isn't that he doesn't get it. Bob's problem is that he can't sell it." He then goes into a spiel about Bob, a Republican, not being interested in solving problems but rather, making voters afraid of something and getting people to vote for him.
The movie speech is definitely inspiring. Heck, in the edit room, I'm sure someone could make Hillary Clinton look inspiring. But in reality, Bill Clinton was naturally good at this kind of speech. On teleprompter, Barrack Obama's also good at it.
But the irony is, when they do it, they themselves are guilty of the very thing Shepherd accuses Rumson of doing. Shepherd is making people "afraid" of Rumson by accusing Rumson of making people "afraid." There's some liberal logic for you. And in the movie speech, Shepherd goes on to make people "afraid" of global warming and guns.
In real life, Obama does the same thing. He keeps trying to make Americans "afraid" of global warming, guns, the rich, free speech, you name it. Obama's career would have never gotten started without finding and exploiting the fears of his constituency. Hillary's trying to do it, too, but she just doesn't have the flair for it. For one thing, she's so robotic in her delivery but her biggest problem is that she just doesn't have a shred of credibility.
Anyway, they all get their tricks from "Rules For Radicals" by Saul Alinsky. I wanted to introduce him to the continuum of my blog to write about him occasionally.
In that same clip, President Shepherd (Michael Douglas), in reference to his reelection opponent, Bob Rumson (Richard Dreyfuss), says, "Bob's problem isn't that he doesn't get it. Bob's problem is that he can't sell it." He then goes into a spiel about Bob, a Republican, not being interested in solving problems but rather, making voters afraid of something and getting people to vote for him.
The movie speech is definitely inspiring. Heck, in the edit room, I'm sure someone could make Hillary Clinton look inspiring. But in reality, Bill Clinton was naturally good at this kind of speech. On teleprompter, Barrack Obama's also good at it.
But the irony is, when they do it, they themselves are guilty of the very thing Shepherd accuses Rumson of doing. Shepherd is making people "afraid" of Rumson by accusing Rumson of making people "afraid." There's some liberal logic for you. And in the movie speech, Shepherd goes on to make people "afraid" of global warming and guns.
In real life, Obama does the same thing. He keeps trying to make Americans "afraid" of global warming, guns, the rich, free speech, you name it. Obama's career would have never gotten started without finding and exploiting the fears of his constituency. Hillary's trying to do it, too, but she just doesn't have the flair for it. For one thing, she's so robotic in her delivery but her biggest problem is that she just doesn't have a shred of credibility.
Anyway, they all get their tricks from "Rules For Radicals" by Saul Alinsky. I wanted to introduce him to the continuum of my blog to write about him occasionally.
You majored in what?!?
I want to come at the Stanford rape story from a different angle. I wrote about it here but I also made a provocative post about it on my facebook wall. That started a conversation with a female friend who called me out on poor timing. A few days later, I also had a male friend do the same thing privately. What I found ironic is the number of women who privately applauded me.
In case you're in the dark, I took the opportunity to address the problems with rampant alcohol consumption on college campuses. Without excusing the rapist, I was pointing out that if the woman wasn't drunk to the point of passing out or if she had a sober chaperone, the incident wouldn't have happened.
The point here is that, inappropriate timing or not, nobody told me I was wrong. So why is booze such a big deal in our centers of higher learning? I'm not asking that rhetorically. I didn't go to college and I don't drink... I never have and at this stage in my life, it's likely I never will. So I honestly can't answer the question myself.
Also, it's apparent sex plays a large role in the lives of college students. That I can verify from some of the conversations I hear from my collegiate Uber passengers. Sometimes, I feel I'm invisible when I hear how openly they talk about it with each other... guys and girls.
All of this leads me to wonder about the nature of these institutions these days. Are our colleges and universities really about education or have they simply become the most expensive brothels in history? Wouldn't it be cheaper and safer to just let kids lay around and get drunk at home for four years?
In case you're in the dark, I took the opportunity to address the problems with rampant alcohol consumption on college campuses. Without excusing the rapist, I was pointing out that if the woman wasn't drunk to the point of passing out or if she had a sober chaperone, the incident wouldn't have happened.
The point here is that, inappropriate timing or not, nobody told me I was wrong. So why is booze such a big deal in our centers of higher learning? I'm not asking that rhetorically. I didn't go to college and I don't drink... I never have and at this stage in my life, it's likely I never will. So I honestly can't answer the question myself.
Also, it's apparent sex plays a large role in the lives of college students. That I can verify from some of the conversations I hear from my collegiate Uber passengers. Sometimes, I feel I'm invisible when I hear how openly they talk about it with each other... guys and girls.
All of this leads me to wonder about the nature of these institutions these days. Are our colleges and universities really about education or have they simply become the most expensive brothels in history? Wouldn't it be cheaper and safer to just let kids lay around and get drunk at home for four years?
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