How I Spent My Christmas Vacation...So Far

My post on the Impudent Finger will explain where I've been for the last week.

Merry Belated Christmas
and Happy New Year!

Getting To Know Thou

Thinking Deeply is working on a 14 part series on the divine nature of God. It looks interesting. Go take your mind for a swim in the deep end of the philosophical pool.

Lost In Translation

Bill of Argghhh!!! pushes the "groan" envelope:

From one of my reactionary buddies who insists on calling Holiday carols *Christmas* carols...

I was passing through a small Southern town and saw a Nativity Scene in the town square. I was delighted to see that great skill and talent had gone into creating it.

One small feature bothered me.

The three wise men were wearing firemen's helmets.

I was completely at a loss to explain it, so I left. But I found a "Quick Stop" on the edge of town, so I asked the lady behind the counter about the helmets.

She exploded, "You damnYankees never do read the Bible!"

I assured her that I did, but it had been a while since I'd perused the Gospels and simply couldn't recall anything about firemen in Matthew, Mark, Luke or John.

She sniffed and jerked her Bible from behind the counter, ruffled through the pages and finally jabbed her finger at a passage.

She stuck the passage under my nose and said, "See? Plain as day, it says right here, 'The three wise man came from afar.' "

A comment posted by Fred adds the following:

Fred briefed on December 20, 2005 11:35 PM

"A pun does not commonly justify a blow in return. But if a blow were given for such cause, and death ensued, the jury would be judges both of the facts and of the pun, and might, if the latter were of an aggravated character, return a verdict of justifiable homicide." ~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table, 1858

Indeed.

Don't Let the Door Hit You On the Way Out

On Monday, a federal judge resigned from the court that oversees government surveillance in intelligence cases. US District Judge James Robertson gave no reason for his resignation, but that didn't prevent the Washington Post from "finding" a reason:

A federal judge has resigned from the court that oversees government surveillance in intelligence cases in protest of President Bush's secret authorization of a domestic spying program, according to two sources. [ed. - Emphasis mine]

Of course, the "sources" may be correct. Paul Mirengoff of Powerline has his own take on Judge Robertson who may have had a political reason to leave the panel so publicly.

Judge Robertson should be respected for his decision, which appears to have been an act of conscience. However, as the Post acknowledges near the end of its story, Robertson is a liberal judge (very liberal, if my my experience is any indication) who "who has often ruled against the Bush administration's assertions of broad powers in the terrorism fight, most notably in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld."

Read the rest of Paul's post and follow all the links. If you do, I think you'll agree that Judge Robertson's departure is a welcome one.

...Just Don't Question Evolution

The most erroneous stories are those we think we know best - and therefore never scrutinize or question.

Stephen Jay Gould
(1941 - 2002)
US author, naturalist, paleontologist, & popularizer of science

Yes, But I'm a Manly Prancer

You Are Prancer

You are the perfect reindeer, with perfect hooves and perfect flying form. Why You're Naughty: Because you're Santa's pet, and you won't let anyone show you up. Why You're Nice: You have the softest fur and the sweetest carrot breath.

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

[HT: Doug of BG]

Morgan Freeman Has a Dream

Doug of Bogus Gold expounds on a 60 Minutes interview with Morgan Freeman. Doug quotes the following from an AP article:

"You're going to relegate my history to a month?" the 68-year-old actor says in an interview on CBS' "60 Minutes" to air Sunday (7 p.m. EST). "I don't want a black history month. Black history is American history." ...

Freeman notes there is no "white history month," and says the only way to get rid of racism is to "stop talking about it."

The actor says he believes the labels "black" and "white" are an obstacle to beating racism.

"I am going to stop calling you a white man and I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man," Freeman says.

Read Doug's entire post regarding this color blind ideal that once was the centerpiece of the civil rights movement.

Go Vote at Time.com

Michael Yon's moving photograph of an American soldier cradling an Iraqi child who was fatally wounded by a homicide bomber is up for top viewer pick on Time's website. Go and vote for Michael's photo.

C.S. Lewis in Christian History

My favorite magazine, without question, is Christian History & Biography. The current issue #88 features C.S. Lewis. Although I have only just started reading this issue, I am comfortable recommending it to any fans of C.S. Lewis and his writings.

ID vs. Ego

Nancy Pearcey has an interesting article in Human Events in which she gives five reasons why Intelligent Design will eventually succeed. I recommend reading it. She starts her article by linking to articles by three normally thoughtful commentators who have been very critical of ID. George Will casually swipes at ID as he would a gnat (or should I say "gadfly"?). The closest he comes to an argument is his response to the idea that evolution is not a fact:

"But it is."

If only George had been at the Scopes Trial . . . On the other hand, Charles Krauthammer and John Derbyshire demonstrate that there are limits to any human being's intelligence by furiously constructing and squashing cliched evolutionist ID-strawmen. It seems to me that neither has bothered to learn anything about Intelligent Design, which is too bad. I would like to have read read some thoughtful criticism of ID by these gentlemen. Boiler plate criticism is beneath them.

My favorite quote regarding the WaPo dynamic duo's attitude toward ID comes from Plato's Stepchild [HT: Mondo]:

[Krauthammer and Will] "have now lashed Intelligent Design to the track, hoping to run it down with their train of thought."

Snidley Whiplash redux.

But I'm only a lonely, occaisional blogger. What do I know. Let's see what Father Richard John Neuhaus has to say in response to Will and Krauthammer:

Will and Krauthammer are upset by Pat Robertson, and Pat Robertson is frequently upsetting, but they do not mention the many science textbooks that more or less explicitly state that a scientific account of the origins of life precludes the necessity—some say the possibility—of a Creator. In short, they appear not to be upset that classrooms are being used for propagandizing, in the name of science, an atheistic and materialistic philosophy.

This is just a sample of Father Neuhaus' slapping down of Will and Krauthammer. Be sure to read the entire post by Father Neuhaus. (You will need to scroll about half way down the page.)

(Just Like) Starting Over

To honor the 25th anniversary of the death of erstwhile Beatle John Lennon, I have been observing a period of "blog-silence". Thank you for your patience and for believing this obviously lame reason for not blogging regularly.

Must Be From a New Version

The wages of sin are death, but by the time taxes are taken out,
it's just sort of a tired feeling.

~~ Paula Poundstone


From The Quotations Page.

Narnia Super Trailer Download!

If you are looking forward to The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, NarniaWeb has a NINE MINUTE super trailer which can be downloaded.

To download the super trailer as well as other previously released trailers, go HERE. If you have a dial-up connection, I recommend you either start downloading it before you go to bed or ask someone with a high speed connection to download it for you.

Enjoy!