A Dead Sea Scroll On A Stone

Archaeologists have discovered a large stone tablet that is causing some controversy, because it may have predicted a messiah who will be raised from the dead after three days.

(Actually, "discovered" isn't the correct word, since the tablet has been in the collection of an Israeli/Swiss antiquities dealer for about ten years.)

The New York Times has called it a "Dead Sea Scroll on stone".

Here's more from the Times: If such a messianic description really is there, it will contribute to a developing re-evaluation of both popular and scholarly views of Jesus, since it suggests that the story of his death and resurrection was not unique but part of a recognized Jewish tradition at the time.

I've posted the entire Times article here, for future reference. If you're wondering "What are The Dead Sea Scrolls?", they're the only known Biblical writings from earlier than the first century B.C. They were discovered in the late 1940's in the caves of Qumran, near the Dead Sea. Hence the name.

This particular "Dead Sea Scroll on stone" lends a bit of credence to the theory that various prophetic statements were projected onto the life of Jesus after his death. On the other hand, many Christians will see the inscription on this tablet as one more prophecy that Jesus fulfilled.

Academic papers will soon be published. Then books will be written. Sermons will be preached. Theories will be formulated and denounced. Blog posts will be commented upon.

Regardless of what the original stonemason intended, we'll all find a way to absorb this latest archaeological find and make it fit what we already believe.

Addition from Sunday morning, July 6th,

Click around the net and you'll see that the atheists, agnostics, and skeptics are pointing to this tablet as proof that the death, burial, and resurrection stories were out there before Jesus was born.

Christian sites see the tablet as proof of fulfilled prophecy.

I believe we could travel back in time to Jerusalem 33 A.D., and shoot a video of the resurrection or the non-resurrection. Regardless of what was on the tape, people would see what they wanted to see. Changing your mind on a big issue is too painful.

Mark Twain on the cover of Time magazine

Mark Twain, one of my literary heroes, has made the cover of Time magazine approximately 98 years after his death.

Roy Blount wrote the main article, and it's worth reading from beginning to end. Blount's "good old boy, gone up North" schtick can wear thin sometimes, but there's not a hint of it in this piece.

Stephen Carter wrote the inevitable piece on Twain and race. See "Getting Past Black and White".

They've got a piece on Twain's travel writing. Check out the map of his travels and lecture tours here.



And if you're interested, look at this collection of portraits.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July !

And belated thanks to everyone who risked his "life, fortune, and sacred honor" 130 years ago so that we could freely express ourselves, disagree with each other, throw stones from glass houses, and generally engage in Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Happiness.

Even though some of you people are just wrong, wrong, wrong.

100 Munchkins and A Giant

Around the middle of June, I did a post about some University of Chicago faculty who signed a petition protesting the name of the $200 million dollar Milton Friedman Institute, to be located on the UofC campus. Naomi Klein brought it to the world's attention in an article for The Guardian.

Milton Friedman is probably the most vindicated economist of the 20th century. Is there anyone whose fundamental worldview has been proven more accurate? When you get a chance, check out Free To Choose and Capitalism And Freedom. In that order.

Perhaps the faculty would've been happier with "The Nostradamus Institute"? Or "The Prophet Habbakuk Institute?" How about "The Karl Marx Institute And Shelter For Political Theorists Who've Never Really Worked, And Let Their Families Go Hungry And Got Their Housekeepers Pregnant"?

Anyway, for the longest time I couldn't find any references online to the faculty petition that weren't based on the Naomi Klein/Guardian article. I wondered if the petition even existed. Then I wondered "Can anyone let me know which members of the French, Mythology, Womyn's Studies, Physical Education and Anthropology Departments signed this thing?"

Thanks to my new friend Chris, I have the list of petitioners. It's as bad as I thought.

Phys Ed is poorly represented, but music and religion show up.

I don't believe you have to have a doctorate in a particular field to be knowledgeable of that field. But couldn't they talk anyone from the Economics department into signing up? Anyone from the business school? Anyone who teaches about life in the untenured wasteland? (Every one of the teachers listed below probably does a few classes that I would love to take, BTW.)

To get to the point: The faculty members who signed the petition are almost all from the disciplines that I predicted, fields that are developing reputations for stifling P.C. orthodoxy. Here's the list:

Hussein Agrama, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology
Muzaffar Alam, Carl Darling Buck Professor, Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations and the College
Yali Amit, Professor, Departments of Statistics and Computer ScienceClifford Ando, Professor of Classics
Leora Auslander, Professor, Department of History, Committee on the History of Culture, Committee on Jewish Studies, and the College
Ralph Austen, Professor Emeritus of History Lauren Berlant,
George M. Pullman Professor, Department of English
Michael Bourdaghs, Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations
Mark Bradley, Associate Professor of History
Bill Brown, Edward Carson Waller Distinguished Service Professor, Departments of English and Visual Arts; Committee on the History of Culture
Dipesh Chakrabarty, Lawrence A. Kimpton Distinguished Service Professor, Departments of South Asian Languages and Civilizations and History
Tamara Chin, Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature
Kyeong-Hee Choi, Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations Cathy J. Cohen, David and Mary Winton Green Professor of Political Science
Jennifer Cole, Associate Professor, Dept of Comparative Human Development
Jean Comaroff, Bernard E. & Ellen C. Sunny Distinguished Service Professor of Anthropology and of Social Sciences
John Comaroff, Harold H. Swift Distinguished Service Professor in Anthropology and the College
Ral Coronado, Assistant Professor, Department of English
Bruce Cumings, Gustavus F. and Ann M. Swift Distinguished Service Professor in History and the College Michael C. Dawson, John D. MacArthur Professor of Political Science and the College
Hilary Parsons Dick, Postodoctoral Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, Center for Latin American Studies Michael Dietler, Associate Professor of Anthropology Fred Donner, Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
Prasenjit Duara, Professor of History and East Asian Languages & Civilizations Darby English, Associate Professor of Art History Jacob Eyferth, Assistant Professor, Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations
Christopher Faraone, Frank Curtis Springer and Gertrude Melcher Springer Professor of Classics James Fernandez, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology
Pedro Felzenszwalb, Department of Computer Science Norma Field,
Robert S. Ingersoll Professor of Japanese Studies Cornell H. Fleischer,
Kanuni Suleyman Professor of Ottoman and Modern Turkish Studies
Richard Fox, Assistant Professor of History of Religions
Rachel Fulton, Department of History and the College Susan Gal, Mae and Sidney G. Mead Distinguished Service Professor of Anthropology and Linguistics
Leela Gandhi, Professor of English
Michael Geyer, Samuel N. Harper Professor of German and European HistoryMcGuire Gibson, Professor of Mesopotamian Archaeology, NELC, Oriental Institute
W. Clark Gilpin, Margaret E. Burton Professor of History of Christianity
Andreas Glaeser, Associate Professor of Sociology and of the Social Sciences in the College
Jan Goldstein, Norman and Edna Freehling Professor of History
Robert Gooding-Williams, Ralph and Mary Otis Isham Professor, Department of Political Science and the College
Ramn A. Gutirrez, The Preston and Sterling Morton Distinguished Service Professor of History
Susan Gzesh, Lecturer in Law, Director, University of Chicago Human Rights Program
Elaine Hadley, Associate Professor, Department of English
Miriam Hansen, Ferdinand Schevill Distinguished Service Professor in the Humanities, Department of English / Committee on Cinema and Media Studies
Donald Harper, Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations
Neil Harris, Preston and Sterling Morton Professor Emeritus, Departments of History, Art History
Elizabeth Helsinger, John Matthews Manly Distinguished Service Professor, Departments of English and Art History
Thomas Holt, James Westfall Thompson Distinguished Service Professor of History
Paola Iovene, Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations
Travis A. Jackson, Associate Professor of Music and the Humanities
Fredrik Albritton Jonsson, Assistant Professor of British History
Matthew Kapstein, Numata Visiting Professor of the Philosophy of Religion and the History of Religions in the Divinity School
John Kelly, Professor, Department of Anthropology
Robert L. Kendrick, Professor of Music James Ketelaar, Professor of History and East Asian Languages & Civilizations
Emilio Kour, Associate Professor of History, Director, Katz Center for Mexican Studies
Loren Kruger, Professor, Departments of Comparative and English Literatures, African Studies, Theatre and Performance Studies
Laura Letinsky, Professor, Department of Visual Arts
Bruce Lincoln, Caroline E. Haskell Professor of the History of Religions
John A. Lucy, Department of Comparative Human Development
Agnes Lugo-Ortiz, Associate Professor, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures and Center for Latin American Studies
Amanda Macdonald, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of English
Patchen Markell, Associate Professor, Political Science Franoise Meltzer,
Mabel Greene Myers Professor of Comparative Literature, Romance Languages, and Divinity Janel Mueller,
William Rainey Harper Distinguished Service Professor Emerita of English
Matam P. Murthy, Professor Emeritus, Department of Mathematics and the College Joseph Masco, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology
William Mazzarella, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology and the College.
John P. McCormick, Professor, Department of Political Science
Bernard McGinn, Naomi Shenstone Donnelly Professor Emeritus of Theology, History of Christianity, and Medieval Studies
Omar M. McRoberts, Associate Professor of Sociology Jason Merchant, Associate Professor, Department of Linguistics
Stuart Michaels, Associate Director, Center for Gender StudiesW.J.T. Mitchell, Gaylord Donnelley Distinguished Service Professor, Departments of English and Art History
Nancy D. Munn, Professor Emeritus, Anthropology
Deborah Nelson, Associate Professor, Department of English; Chair, Center for Gender Studies
David E. Orlinsky, Professor, Department of Comparative Human Development and Social Sciences Collegiate Division
Stephan Palmi, Associate Professor of Anthropology
Moishe Postone, Professor of History
Francois G. Richard, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology
Seth Richardson, Assistant Professor of Ancient Near Eastern History
Mel Rothenberg, Professor Emeritus, Dept of Math
Danilyn Rutherford, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology and Chicago Center for Contemporary Theory
Marshall Sahlins, Charles F. Grey Distinguished Service Professor of Anthropology Emeritus
Mario Santana, Associate Professor, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures
Julie Saville, Associate Professor of History
William Sewell, The Frank P. Hixon Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science and History Emeritus
Bart Schultz, Director of the Civic Knowledge Project and Senior Lecturer in the Humanities
William Schweiker, Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor of Theological Ethics
Dan Slater, Associate Professor, Department of Political ScienceJoel Snyder, Professor of Art History, Visual Arts, and the College
Amy Dru Stanley, Associate Professor of History
Richard A. Strier, Frank L. Sulzberger Distinguished Service Professor Katherine Fischer Taylor, Associate Professor of Art History
Russell H. Tuttle, Professor in Anthropology, Committee on Evolutionary Biology, Morris Fishbein Center for the History of Biology and Medicine, and the College
Theo van den Hout, Professor in the Oriental Institute and Dept. of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations
Candace Vogler, Professor, Department of Philosophy
Kenneth W. Warren, Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor, Department of English
Lisa Wedeen, Professor of Political Science
Christian Wedemeyer, Assistant Professor of History of Religions
Anthony C. Yu, Carl Darling Buck Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in Humanities
Tara Zahra, Assistant Professor of History
Rebecca Zorach, Associate Professor, Department of Art History

The Flood That Hasn't Happened Yet

Katharine Mieszkowski has a post on Salon.com called "A Deluge Waiting To Happen".

She explains how the Army Corps of Engineers has constricted the flow of the Mississippi River, and this constriction has caused the recent flooding in Iowa. (Missing from the discussion is an acknowledgement that The River used to flood every year. And as a former Mississippian, I insist that The River be spelled with capital letters.) The flooding situation in the Mississippi Delta was once an annual event.

At the time, no one lived there. But every drop of water that hits the ground between Pennsylvania and Denver has to go somewhere, and we're trying to make it flow through this little amusement park flume ride of levees, channels, dykes, and detours.

Back when the river flooded every year, the leftover silt and sludge created some of the most fertile farmland in the world. (Check out Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Big Daddy's references to his plantation as "28,000 acres of the richest land this side of the Valley Nile".) The levee system makes these farms possible, for better or worse.

The best book I've ever read on this is "Rising Tide" by John Barry. Barry explains the huge amount of water that goes past New Orleans every day, and how we've tried to control it. His explanations of local, state, and national political battles are fascinating. His analysis of how the Mississippi River flood of 1927 changed our political map is the best I've ever read. Sales of the book went through the roof after Hurrican Katrina, since Barry was one of the expert Talking Heads featured on television.

Have you ever wondered why the Republican Party, the party of Lincoln and the abolitionist states, was abandoned by African-Americans? John Barry explains why.

Good stuff.

Based on the law of averages, Barry predicts that one year we'll have a rapid spring thaw in the Denver/Upper Midwest, combined with heavy rain in the currently flooded Iowa/Missouri area. No one, not even Al Gore, can tell us which year it will be.

But you don't want to be in New Orleans when this happens.

Why I'm A Liberal (heh heh heh heh heh....)

I'm a liberal.

I can say this because I don't believe that our government should interfere with trade.

Since I have a dislike of Socialism in almost all of its forms, that makes me a liberal.

I'm a liberal because I'm against price supports, minimum wages, and most other government interference with market pricing.

Here's an interesting post on how the word "liberal" has gone even further from its original meaning. Here's a Samizdata post entitled "An American Liberal Becomes A Real One".

It's funny how the meaning of words can change.

Caption This

I need a caption for this picture:

How To Kill A Religion (Hint: Darwin has nothing to do with it.)

Slate.com has an interview with the author of "Saving Darwin: How to Be a Christian and Believe in Evolution," - Karl Giberson. Mr. Giberson, a physics professor at Eastern Nazarene College, is also the director of the "Forum on Faith and Science" at Gordon College.

I've looked through the book a few times at Border's or B&N, but haven't purchased it.

The book looks interesting, and the author interview is top notch.

But here's the really really really good part of the Slate.com interview:

Evolution is taught in American high schools and yet many still don't believe in it. How can that be counteracted?
Well, if you could figure that one out, someone would be interviewing you, not you interviewing me. You're absolutely right. That's a challenging problem and it's a problem that the Europeans are just shaking their heads over.

Why is that?
Because Europe doesn't have a robust fundamentalist subculture like America has had since the early parts of the 20th century. American religion has been characterized by an entrepreneurial spirit. In Europe, many of the great religious traditions wasted away because they were supported by government. They didn't need to be popular and have lots of people coming to worship on Sunday to continue. So they atrophied and people lost interest.
In America, without that kind of governmental support, religious leaders had to be entrepreneurial. So a charismatic evangelist can come up with a brand-new approach to faith and touch some chord contemporary with people's needs.

I'm going to buy that book this weekend.
Any author who can slide an anti-government subsidy, pro-Free Market, ultra-libertarian concept like that one into a Slate.com interview deserves my support.

And check out the interview in the link above when you get a chance. Good stuff.

Happy Birthday, blah blah blah

I just changed the "About Me" section to your right. I turn 47 on July 1.

My mother gave me a card that said "Happy Birthday to the one I count on to be as obnoxious as I am". We both laughed really hard at it, partly because it's true, and partly because she was so sincere about it.

If you come here regularly for the anti-government rants, that's me channeling my father.
If you're here for the attitude I bring to it, that's my mother.

I've had a fun year talking to you folks.

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends, Left Wing Edition

Here are a few noteworthy posts from the left side of the spectrum....

I LOVE, LOVE, love, love, love The Electronic Village. Love it. Even when I think The Villager is dead wrong, he expresses himself well. His posts are usually short and straight to the point. The EV is a combination aggregator/bulleting board/comment field gold mine for African American bloggers and the African American point of view. Here's a list of The Top Ten Black Blogs of 2008. How do we know they're the Top Ten? Because The Villager said so, and it's his site. If you came of age in the '70s and miss the music, check out Old School Fridays (every Friday). And sometimes The Villager tells you things you already knew, but provides more evidence for your opinion.

Jobsanger has a good post about imperfect Presidential candidates, called "Obama's Not Perfect, But He's Our Candidate". That's the state of mind I'm trying to achieve with Bob Barr. He also provides a left-wing rationale for the recent Supreme Court decision striking down gun control laws.

Left Is Right has posted too many bells and whistles on his site, and it takes too long to download. He's usually pretty good. I wish him a speedy recovery.

Lotus - Surviving A Dark Time - is shocked, shocked, I say...when he discovers that the Bureau of Land Management is in bed with some corporate interests. Or maybe we really do need to wait a half decade while they do Environmental Impact Studies before they put up solar panels in the middle of nowhere. You decide. Mr. Lotus is a good guy, and we emailed back and forth a bit when we did some reciprocal linkage. He's someone you'd like to have for a neighbor.

Tbogg has been going at it online since 2002, and the posts are getting further and further apart. He was great when angry. He was great when he was happy. Hope he gets the fire back in his belly.

I got acquainted with The Revolution Script through Soobdujour. This guy has amazing collections of Revolutionary posters, guerilla warfare training manuals, and the like. He's also the only Marxist gun nut I've ever encountered. I love the internet.

Turning Left gets worked up over Dr. James Dobson misinterpreting Barack Obama's speech at the Call To Renewal meeting. And they have a cool picture of Dobson in front of a flag. Heh heh heh heh heh....

I don't have nearly enough Lefties on the blogroll, and I'm open to suggestions.

What Was Samuel Clemens' Birthplace?

Some game show has apparently asked the question "What was Samuel Clemens' Birthplace?"
People are being sent here from various search engines, due to a fluke in Google's algorithms.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in Florida, Missouri on November 30, 1835. The family moved to Hannibal, Missouri a few years later. Hannibal is the town that Clemens made famous, so I'm assuming they're using this as a trick question.

Here's a pre-emptive strike..... "How did Samuel Clemens get the name Mark Twain?" And "What does the name Mark Twain mean?"

The "marks" were the strips woven into a depth sounding device used on steamboats. "Mark One" meant approximately six feet deep. "Mark Twain", twain meaning "two", meant twelve feet or "safe water". Click here for a full listing of the divisions of marks. Anyone who rode on a steamboat would've heard these terms shouted to the pilot throughout a river trip, so when Clemens needed a pen name, Mark Twain seemed like a natural choice.

Those who love psychobabble have wasted a lot of ink on Clemens picking a pseudonym that means safe but not too deep.

Now, back to our regular scheduled programming. I apologize for whoring for hits. And I would appreciate it if someone could comment on why people suddenly want to know where Sam Clemens was born.

The Victim Disarmament Laws have been overturned ! ! !

The Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of extending 2nd Amendment rights to almost all Americans. This makes sense, because we don't have a "well-armed militia" patrolling the streets of East Fort Worth.

I honestly haven't read that much about the legal aspects of gun ownership. Most of my research has been along the line of surveys showing that residents of gated enclaves don't see what the fuss is about, while those living in high crime areas tend to want a gun.

The New York Times recently ran an editorial lamenting the court's decision to overturn our nation's Victim Disarmament Laws. You can click here for an excellent Fisking of that editorial.

So let's take it to the next level, shall we? My new friend Robert Harrison, from the Tarrant County Libertarian Party, just sent me a link to an online petition which asks Governor Rick Perry to add Texas to the list of "open carry" states. In other words, your handgun doesn't have to be concealed.

Bad guys don't like it. Good guys packing heat in public are a great equalizer.

An armed society is a polite society.

Addition from July 4th. This was filmed in Dallas on June 29th, the day I wrote this post.

Cal Thomas thinks 70% of you are heretics

A few weeks ago I dissected a Cal Thomas editorial where he stated that Barack Obama is not a Christian.

The comment field now has 47 entries. That's not a lot for Salon.com, but for this site? It's like a Russian novel. My friend Dr. Ralph has requested that a bound, gold-leaf copy be printed for each contributor. Go there. Read. Marvel. We are an opinionated tribe, aren't we?

Thomas's argument was that there is only one way to interpret Christianity: His way.

As best I can tell, Obama's religious beliefs about religious inclusiveness can be summarized as follows: If there is such a thing as a just and loving Creator, this Creator didn't restrict his revelation to a small tribe in the Middle East, and then damn everyone else to eternal torture.

There was a brief internet flare-up about Cal Thomas's editorial, and that was the end of it. (I can promise you that as we approached November the Republicans were planning to trot out every theological statement Obama's ever made.)

But not so fast..... The Times, They Are A' Changing. Look at the latest finding that Thomas has unearthed. This is from the Fox News website.

June 24th, 2008 12:44 PM Eastern
Do They Think Jesus Was a Liar?

By Cal ThomasSyndicated Columnist/FOX News Contributor
I am shocked and appalled over a newly published survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. It finds most Americans believe there are many ways to salvation besides their own faith. Most disturbing of all is the majority of self-identified evangelical Christians who believe this.

I was shocked also. Much like I was shocked the first time I got a winning lottery ticket.
But appalled? Nope. Not even close. Downright giddy would describe me after I read it.

Here's how the survey worked, according Jonathan Morris, another Fox contributor : Americans of assorted religious affiliation were asked to choose one of the following two sentences as coming closer to representing their views:

1) My religion is the one, true faith leading to eternal life,
2) OR: many religions can lead to eternal life.

Seventy percent of all responders chose answer #2, including fifty-seven percent of Evangelicals, Eighty-five percent of Mainline Protestants, and Seventy-five percent of Catholics.

Granted, there's a lot of "slop" in a survey like this one. Are Baptists and Methodists two different religions? How about Roman Catholicism vs. Eastern Orthodox?
Here's Cal again:

Apparently they must think Jesus was a liar, or mistaken, when he said: “I am the way, the truth and the life; no man comes to the Father but by me.” Look it up. This theological ignorance is a product of several things. It is surely a product of biblical illiteracy by people who don’t read, or selectively read scripture. It is also fallout from the political correctness vice that says you are intolerant if you believe anything to be true, because people who have another truth, or no truth, might feel bad and experience rejection.

It's not that they don't read, or selectively read scripture. It's that they take it seriously enough to read some things besides scripture. They read about the origins of scripture. They read about the old battles regarding what is and what isn't scripture. Some of them get downright obsessed with it, and discover that scripture changed and evolved over the years.

And they might have a few friends who grew up in a different place with different traditions, yet know them to be pretty good people all the same. Perhaps they're even better people than Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker and Ted Haggard and unhhh me.

People aren't as geographically isolated as they once were. This makes it harder to eternally condemn those who were born elsewhere.

If they feel rejection now, wait until they hear “away from me, I never knew you.”
Tolerance is a good thing. People should tolerate and respect people of different faiths, or no faith. But watering down your own set of professed doctrines in order to appeal to the lowest spiritual common denominator is akin to Peter denying Christ three times.

But Cal, sometimes you learn a few things.

The Presbyterian church used to be identified with the loathsome concept of Infant Damnation. Mark Twain once quipped that a Presbyterian without that particular doctrine would be like "a dog on the train that couldn't be identified because it had lost its tag." There were some in the fundamentalist camp who opposed this "watering down of professed doctrines" but Twain sarcastically suggested "that they give up the comforts of Infant Damnation, and try to bear it as best they can."

(BTW, you could still hear the doctrine professed and taught at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary as recently as 1984. Dr. Boyd Hunt. Systematic Theology.)

If there are many paths to heaven, Jesus suffered and died for nothing.

I believe that Jesus suffered and died because he stood up to the government. Read more about that opinion by clicking here.

He could have stayed in heaven, sent down a book of sayings and avoided crucifixion.

And if God/Jesus wanted to "save" the world the way that Cal Thomas believes he wants it saved? That's probably what he would've done.

Orthodox Christians have always believed – and their Bible teaches them — there is only one path to heaven and it is through Jesus Christ and him alone.

But orthodoxy, whether it's in theology, military strategy, computer code, or piano technique, is something that develops over a long, long culling process. Things are tried. Things fail. Votes are taken. Motions are defeated. And whether Cal Thomas knows about it or not, that's exactly how his "orthodox" Christian views were developed.

One can believe whatever one wishes, but you can’t be considered a Christian without believing in this fundamental doctrine.

I've got to disagree with that. So does 70% of the religiously affiliated United States.

Christian churches have a lot of work to do in addressing biblical illiteracy, ignorance and, yes, heresy, in their midst.

I agree. A good starting point would be to read the best book ever on Biblical literacy, Biblical origins, and Biblical reliability: The Five Gospels, written by the infamous Jesus Seminar.

They might want to pay more attention to fixing what’s gone wrong among their members before expending too much energy on politics and politicians.

Yeah. The members aren't as easy to manipulate as they used to be. Wonder why?

It's because 70% of us are now Biblically literate.

From The Jihadist Safety Consultant

To: All Employees
Fr: Rickle Abu-Noir, Jihadist Safety Consultant
Re: Recent Accidents

As many of you know, we have had a series of preventable accidents in the last few days. Both situations were due to employees failing to follow established procedure.
We have security video of the first mishap.
In this accident, a group of employees are attempting to bury an IED near a well-travelled highway.
Note that the employees are not wearing their safety glasses. The camels in the background are not properly equipped with seat belts, nor are there any chocks nearby to keep the camels from sliding forward. And is anyone in this video wearing his back brace? I don't think so.
All of these regulations were covered during orientation, and the training records are part of each employee's personnel file.

Accidents like this one are the primary cause of skyrocketing insurance premiums. And turbans. (That's what passes for humor in the Safety Consultant field.)
If any employees believe that Allah will reward these accident victims with 72 virgins, they are mistaken.
Touching the red wire to the red wire is not martyrdom, but suicide.
Folks, it's not martyrdom unless you take an Infidel with you.

Please reset your "This Shop Has Worked ____ Days Without A Lost Time Accident" calendars back to zero.

The next accident was clearly caused by using the wrong tool for the job.
No matter how many photographers are nearby, no matter how patiently you've waited for CNN to get the lighting right, you should always wear your protective heat shields when burning an American flag. And policy 35-3-C-057-(b) specifically states that American flags should not be lit by using table matches, cigarette lighters, or any other improvised ignition systems.
The policy clearly states that only blowtorches are to be used.

People, the point of the exercise is to burn the flag, not to look good doing it. Get the job done, and move on to the next project.

Many of our employees apparently believe that the point of flag burning is to be seen and admired by co-workers. In the photo below, try to calculate the number of man-hours lost to this one operation:

Then ask yourself, where are everyone's I.D. badges? Where is Mahmoud's safety helmet? And who said it was ok to have that kid in the workplace?

In this picture, taken a few seconds later, the flames have spread to Mahmoud's shoulder. This led to yet another disappointment. None of the factory inspections were up-to-date; therefore the only fire extinguisher was in the nearest village, eight miles away. My subsequent investigation revealed that it was last serviced and recharged in 1987.

In the final photograph, the flames are engulfing Mahmoud's face.

His co-workers eventually put out the fire with a combination of dirt, sand, camel manure, and blankets. When I visited the hospital to complete the Accident Reports (which, BTW, were turned in before noon the next day), he was resting comfortably.

Please allow me to be blunt here. Mahmoud has been horribly disfigured, and unless he can figure out a way to die while killing infidels, he's had his last virgin. The man needs to wear a burkha.

The last few days have been a disappointment. Please remember the primary goal of our organization: Martyrdom, Martyrdom, Martyrdom.

But how will we ever succesfully kill ourselves if we keep having all of these preventable accidents?

Let's hope July is a better month.

Sincerely,

Rickle Abu-Noir

Jihadist Safety Consultant

I Can't Believe People Still Fall For This, Part 2

Don't bother reading these unless you're here as the result of a key word search you got from an email. Seriously. Don't read any further. You're wasting your time.

I post these because they're good for a couple of hundred key word search hits per week.

These are the scam letters I've received since the last time I posted the scam letters I had received.

I see you're still reading. Go away, unless you're here from a key word search. Leave. You're going to be disappointed.

They're variations on a con artist stunt called "The Spanish Prisoner". (Playwright David Mamet once worked it into the plot of a good Steve Martin movie.) Wikipedia has the most concise explanation of how the scam works.
In most of these, they want access to your checking account, so they can transfer the money into the U.S.
First, a dribble of cash will enter your account. Then all of your money will disappear.

*********************************************************************

Here's the first one. Note that she's at risk, and doesn't want to go against the Bible by "having a child outside her matrimonial home". Everything is done for the widows and orphans....

From Mrs Jenifer BruceN[38 Rue Des Martyrs Cocody Abidjan,Cote d'Ivoire
ATTN:DEAREST ONE OF GOD

I am the above named person from Kuwait. I am married to Mr.Abram Bruce, who worked with Kuwait embassy in Ivory Coast for nine years before he died in the year 2004. We were married for eleven years without a child. He died after a brief illness that lasted for only four days.
Before his death we were both born again Christian. Since his death I decided not to remarry or get a child outside my matrimonial home which the Bible is against. When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of $2. 5 Million (Two Million Five Hundred U.S. Dollars) in the bank here in Abidjan in suspense account.
Presently, the fund is still with the bank. Recently, my Doctor told me that i have serious sickness which is cancer problem. The one that disturbs me most is my stroke sickness. Having known my condition I decided to donate this fund to a church or individual that will utilize this money the way I am going to instruct herein. I want a church that will use this fund for orphanages, widows, propagating the word of God and to endeavour that the house of God is maintained.
The Bible made us to understand that blessed is the hand that giveth. I took this decision because I don’t have any child that will inherit this money and my husband relatives are not Christians and I don’t want my husband’s efforts to be used by unbelievers. I don’t want a situation where this money will be used in an ungodly way. This is why I am taking this decision. I am not afraid of death hence i know where I am going. I know that I am going to be in the bosom of the Lord. Exodus 14 VS 14 says that the Lord will fight my case and I shall hold my peace.
I don’t need any telephone communication in this regard because of my health hence the presence of my husband’s relatives is around me always I don't want them to know about this development. With God all things are possible. As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the bank here in Abidjan. I want you and the church to always pray for me because the Lord is my shepherd. My happiness is that I lived a life of a worthy Christian. Whoever that wants to serve the Lord must serve him in spirit and Truth. Please always be prayerful all through your life.
Contact me on the above e-mail address for more information’s, any delay in your reply will give me room in sourcing another church or individual for this same purpose. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I Stated herein.
Hoping to receive your reply.
Remain blessed in the Lord. Yours in Christ,
Mrs Jenifer Bruce

*********************************************************************
Here's the same thing, but different name, different place, different Bible verses, and different grammar....

From Mrs Susan Morgan

N�[38 Rue Des Martyrs Cocody Abidjan,Cote d'Ivoire

ATTNDEAREST ONE OF GOD I am the above named person from Kuwait. I am married to Mr.Abram Morgan, who worked with Kuwait embassy in Ivory Coast for nine years before he died in the year 2004. We were married for eleven years without a child. He died after a brief illness that lasted for only four days. Before his death we were both born again Christian. Since his death I decided not to remarry or get a child outside my matrimonial home which the Bible is against. When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of $2. 5 Million (Two Million Five Hundred U.S. Dollars) in the bank here in Abidjan in suspense account. Presently, the fund is still with the bank. Recently, my Doctor told me that i have serious sickness which is cancer problem. The one that disturbs me most is my stroke sickness. Having known my condition I decided to donate this fund to a church or individual that will utilize this money the way I am going to instruct herein. I want a church that will use this fund for orphanages, widows, propagating the word of God and to endeavour that the house of God is maintained. The Bible made us to understand that blessed is the hand that giveth. I took this decision because I don’t have any child that will inherit this money and my husband relatives are not Christians and I don’t want my husband’s efforts to be used by unbelievers. I don’t want a situation where this money will be used in an ungodly way. This is why I am taking this decision. I am not afraid of death hence i know where I am going. I know that I am going to be in the bosom of the Lord. Exodus 14 VS 14 says that the Lord will fight my case and I shall hold my peace. I don’t need any telephone communication in this regard because of my health hence the presence of my husband’s relatives is around me always I don't want them to know about this development. With God all things are possible. As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the bank here in Abidjan. I want you and the church to always pray for me because the Lord is my shepherd. My happiness is that I lived a life of a worthy Christian. Whoever that wants to serve the Lord must serve him in spirit and Truth. Please always be prayerful all through your life. Contact me on the above e-mail address for more information’s, any delay in your reply will give me room in sourcing another church or individual for this same purpose. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I Stated herein.

Hoping to receive yourreply.

Remain blessed in the Lord.

Yours in Christ,

Mrs susan morgan

***********************************************************
This one wants you to get worked up over the gross sexism and unfairness of life in the 3rd world.

With Due respect Dear,
I humbly write to solicit for your partnership and assistance in the transfer and investment of my inheritance fund USD$17.5M from my late father who died mysteriously last Dec. It was very evident that he was poisoned to death. In my culture, when a man dies, if he does not have a male child, the brothers shares his property leaving both the wife and the daughters empty handed including the house they live in. This is the exact case with me as I am the only daughter of my father. I lost my mother when I was barely a year old and my father refused to re-marry another wife because he felt solely responsible for my mother's death. This is so because he concentrated much on his businesses that he rarely pays attention to domestic affairs. He was always travelling taking care of his businesses that he did not notice when my mother took ill. He thought it was a minor illness and was ignorant of this. My mother on her own resorted to self-medication. It was not until the illness degenerated that my father took my mother to hospital where she was diagnosed to find out that hypatitis had eaten deep into her blood stream. She didn't last long before she died. This happened when I was barely a year old. Based on this, my father could not forgive himself easily because of it and said he was responsible for her death as he could have saved her if only he had paid attention to the things at home rather than concentrating much on his businesses. Despite all entreaties by friends and relatives, he refused to remarry but ensured that I had everything that I wanted. It was as a result of this that he made me the next of kin to his fund deposit with the bank and stated that in the event of any eventuality, I should have a direct access to the fund only when I am 24 years of age otherwise, I should have a guardian/partner intercede on my behalf for the release of the funds to me. Unfortunately, he died late last year and I am 21 years of age currently. This is why I have contacted you to serve as a guardian to me and as my foreign partner for the transfer and investment of the fund overseas My uncles does not know about the fund because they had already taken my father's houses and other properties because I am a girl and they said I do not have rights for any property. They have requested to have my father's bank papers but I simply told them that I do not know where he kept them. The younger brother took the house in the village while the houses in the town were sold out they shared the proceed they got from the sale. Right now, I am with a friend of mine and do sincerely want to travel out of my country. This can only happen when I have secured the release and transfer of the funds in the bank. This why it is important that we have a plan on the type of lucrative business that we can invest the funds on. I had at various times had discussions with the director of international remittance unit of the bank where my father deposited the funds and I was assured that once, I have someone who would be willing to receive the funds on my behalf, they shall commence all proceedings to effect the release and transfer of the funds into the person's designated account. Now, that you have signified your interest to partner with me, it would only be very necessary if you contact the bank and request for the release and transfer of my inheritance fund into your nominated account for the purpose of investment and to further have me come over to your country to continue with my studies. I shall be giving you the bank's contact details as soon as I hear back from you so that you will go ahead and contact the bank.
Your urgent response will be appreciated,
Pls contact me with my yahoo email address for security reason(m.abdullah88@yahoo.fr)
Talk to you the more.
Sincerely,
Mariam abdullah

******************************************************************'
And I received this one after this email was published.....

COMMONWEALTH OFFICE
DEBT REDEMPTION VETTING DEPARTMENT
SW1A 2AH LONDON , UNITED KINGDOM .
PHONE: 44-792-402-3825
FAX: 44-700-609-6491
EMAIL: cwealthlon@hotmail.com
FROM: MR. FREDDIE JOHN
RE: SUCCESSFUL RELEASE OF YOUR APPROVED FUNDS
The Commonwealth Office is particularly surprised by constant petitions from
many beneficiaries in various countries complaining long-delays on their
payments. And, that they wasted much money in the pursuit of their
entitlement/Fund. Also, there are cases whereby two or three people are applying
for the same Funds.
Therefore, we have resolved and instructed that all Funds shall be released
through maximum supervision of the Commonwealth Audits and Financial Management
Authority (CAFMA). We will forward the required information to you a soon as
your reply is received by this office.
Congratulations in Advance.
Yours faithfully,
MR.FREDDIE JOHN

I caught this one in my spambox on 7-14-08.

THIS IS FOR YOUR ATTENTION.
We wish to notify you again that you were listed as a beneficiary to the total
sum of(Ten Million Six Hundred Thousand British Pounds) in the codicil and last
testament of the deceased.(Name now withheld since this is our second letter to
you). We contacted you because you bear the surname identity and therefore can
present you as the beneficiary to the inheritance.
We therefore reckoned that you could receive these funds as you are qualified by
your name identity. All the legal papers will be processed in your acceptance.
In your acceptance of this deal, we request that you kindly forward to us your
letter of acceptance; your current telephone and fax numbers and a forwarding
address to enable us file necessary documents at our high court probate division
for the release of this sum of money.
Please contact me via my private email: so that we can get this done
immediately.
Please send the details and call me to discuss more.
Yours Faithfully,
John Maxwell.
Telephone +447 0319 52662.
Cowley Road,
Cambridge, CB4 0WS
United Kingdom.

Ok, here's one from July 18th, 2008:


Dearest One, With Due Respect And Humanity, I was compelled to write to you under a humanitarian ground. My name is Mrs Lizy Joseph. I was born in Hawall?Kuwait. I am married to Mr Jerry Joseph who worked with Kuwait embassy in Ivory Coast for nine years before he died in the year 2003.We were married for eleven years without a child. He died after a brief illness that lasted for only four days Before his death we were both born again Christian. Since his death I decided not to remarry or get a child outside my matrimonial home which the Bible is against. When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of $3.6 Million in a Bank here in Abidjan. And Recently, My Doctor told me that I would not last for the next six months due to my cancer problem (cancer of the lever and stroke). Presently this money is still in the Bank. Having known my condition I am in need of a HONEST Hearted Individual Christian or Church that i will utilize this fund the way I am going to instruct herein. I want somebody that will use this fund according to the desire of my late.husband to help Lessprivilaged people, orphanages,widows and propagating the word of God. I took this decision because I don抰 have any child that will inherit this fund, And I don抰 want in away where this money will be used in an unGodly way. This is why I am taking this decision to hand you over this Fund. I am not afraid of death hence I know where I am going.I want you to always remember me in your daily prayers because of my up coming Cancer Surgery. Write back to me as soon as possible because any delay in your reply will give me room in sourcing another person for this same purpose, Hoping to read from you soon. With God all things are possible. As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the Bank in Abidjan. I will also issue you an authorisation letter that will prove you the present beneficiary of this fund.

God bless you as you listing to the voice of reasoning, May God Bless You,Mrs Lizy Joseph.

From July 26, 2008
Good Day. With the hope that you are okay and doing fine, this message could be strange but is real if you pay some attention to it. My name is Mr.John kwame Ivory coast national. I inherited the sum of $9,000,000.00 USD (Nine Million us dollar) from my late parents.But l am faced with a problem.on the banks documents for the next of kin, my late father appended a clause stating that:I the next of kin, must attain the age of 35 years, before taking full control of the bank account; But, in the event of war and natural disasters in Ivory Coast, the bank should honour a transfer request from me which must be for the safety of the funds; And in this case, I must have an investment manager outside Africa, and the money should not be transferred to any African country. I am not yet 35 years, but Ivory Coast is not a safe country at this time because of the war.We have since relocated to Ghana a neighbouring country.I want the bank to transfer my money out of Ivory Coast, but the bank is insisting that l fulfill the conditions put down by my late father. Since I have established ownership of the fund, the bank has transfered the fund to Ghana upon my request and insistence, but still refused to released the money to me.This is actually the main reason why l am looking for an investment manager. I would like you to be my investment manager. When you become my investment manager, l would instruct the bank to transfer my money to the country of my investment manager, so that you would be able to help me invest the money wisely. If you would be my investment manager or you receive the deposit on my behalf and help me to providing a reliable genuine trade or company in your country where I can invest this fund immediately to save for the future of my family. please write me as soon as possible. percentage is negotiable upon your reply.Please be mindful that the fund is of no criminal origin. The transfer and investment is necessitated due to war and natural disasters in Ivory Coast, Please let me know by returned phone number/fax if we could be of some help in financing this project. My regards, Mr.John kwame

Here's one from August 4th,

Mrs Esther PrakashP.O.Box: 20581, Safat 13066 Safat Kuwait
Dearest in Christ, Greetings in the Name above all names, Jesus Christ our Lord and saviour, I am Mrs Esther Prakash. I am married to Mr.Prakash Anderson who worked with Kuwait embassy in Ivory Coast for many years before he died in the year 2005.We were married without a child. He died after a brief illness that lasted for only four days. Before his death we were both born again Christian. When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of (($2.600.000.00) Two million six hundred thousand dollar in a Bank in Ivory Coast . Presently, this money is still in bank. Recently, my Doctor told me that I would not last for the next Eight months due to cancer problem. The one that disturbs me most is my stroke sickness. Having known my condition I decided to donate this fund to a charity organization or individual that will utilize this money the way I am going to instruct herein. I want an organization/person that will use this fund for orphanages, school and church, widows, propagating the word of God and to endeavour that the house of God is maintained, Isaiah 56:7 For my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations. I took this decision because I don't have any child that will inherit this money and my husband relatives are not Christians and I don't want my husband's efforts to be used by unbelievers. I don't want a situation where this money will be used in an ungodly way. This is why I am taking this decision. I am not afraid of death hence I know where I am going. I know that I am going to be in the bosom of the Lord. Exodus 14 VS 14 says that "the lord will fight my case and I shall hold my peace". I don't need any telephone communication in this regard because of my health hence and the presence of my husband's relatives are around me always. I don't want them to know about this development. With God all things are possible. As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the Bank. I await your soonest response with your full information, example.Your full name.......................Address.....................................Age...........................................A copy of your int'l passport or ID card............. I will use the above information to obtain an authority letter that will prove you the new beneficiary of this fund from the Royal Court of Kuwait.I want you to always pray for me because the lord is my shepherd. My happiness is that I lived a life of a worthy Christian. Any delay in your reply will give me room searching another church or individual for this same purpose. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I Stated herein. Hoping to receive your reply with the above information. Remain blessed in the Lord Take care,
Yours Sister in Christ
Mrs Esther Prakash

And a slightly more sophisticated one from August 13, 2008

James Thomson & Associates.
14 Queens Drive South West London
England
United Kigdom.
Dear Sir/Madam
We have our presence in all major cities in London.
However, we are writing you on the strength of a directive from one of
our clients, a 56-year-old widow,who desires to invest twenty eight
million united states dollars (US$28,000,000.00) overseas preferably
in asia or america.
She has dircted us to look fo a viable investment portfolio
(opportunity), partnership or an individual who can be trusted to
invest or oversee the investment of her twenty eight million united
states dollars(US$28,000,000.00) in america or asia. it is important
you note the source of this fund legitimate as our client has provided
sufficient evidnce to support this claim.
Since our operations are limited to europe and our experience in the
investment portfolios(opportunity) in america and asia is shallow, as
we are not conversant with the law in america and asia concerning such
a huge investment.
in our quest to find a valid and viable investment portfolio in
america and asia inlinewith our client's directive, we decided to
contact you, we got your companies contact information from the
internet, however you will be expected to provide us with a background
information concerning your self and your companies to enable us make
an evaluation and advice our client on which line of action to take.
Our client has proposed a commission/percentage of the
investment(US$28,000,000,00) for your services, however the said
percentage is negotiable.
We look forward to your immediate response,
Yours Faithfully
For:- James Thomson & Associate
James Thomson

What's In Your Anti-Library?

My friends that I've never met, Soob and Munzenberg over at Soobdujour, did an interesting post a few months back. It was called "What's In Your Anti-Library?"

I have waaaay too many books in my house. Mrs. Whited Sepulchre occasionally insists on a periodic weeding and pruning of them, both for aesthetic reasons and to avoid potential problems with the foundation shifting. I have some valuable stuff. There are some first edition Twains and Faulkners, lots of other signed copies from my previous career in Literary Retail, and I've got a loaner Geneva Bible that's probably worth upwards of $50,000.00

But those aren't the most valuable books that I own. The true value lies in the books that I haven't read. These are called the Anti-Library.

Here's the point of an Anti-Library, according to Soob and Munzenberg:

Zenpundit mentions in his comments section a great passage from 'The Black Swan':

"The writer Umberto Eco belongs to that small class of scholars who are encyclopedic, insightful, and nondull. He is the owner of a large personal library (containing thirty thousand books), and separates vistors into two categories: those who react with ‘Wow! Signore professore dottore Eco, what a library you have! How many of these books have you read?’ and others - a very small minority- who get the point that a private library is not an ego boosting appendage but a research tool.

Read books are far less valuable than unread ones. The library should contain as much of what you do not know as (you can possibly afford to) put there. You will accumulate more knowledge and more books as you grow older, and the growing number of unread books on the shelves will look at you menacingly.

Indeed, the more you know, the larger the rows of unread books. Let us call the collection of unread books an antilibrary."

So, dear faithful readers, my question for you is this.... What are the unread books in your library? Why are they unread? And what do you hope to one day learn from them? Here are some of the books in my Anti-Library.

1) The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories. Edited by Robert B. Strassler, translated by Andrea L. Purvis.
This thing is so densely mapped, illustrated, cross-referenced and footnoted that it's not really meant to be read straight through. I'll never finish it, and I love it as much as anything I own. There are hundreds of incidents in this book that are just waiting to be given the same cinematic treatment given to Battle of Thermopylae in the recent animated film "The 300". Despite being written 1700 years ago, you can still hear a distinct voice coming through the years and the translation. Amazing. Reading it straight through would be like too much candy.

2) Mark Twain's "The Gilded Age" and "The American Claimant". These two are about a larger than life, get-rich-quick Twain character named Colonel Sellers. I'm a Twain fanatic and own several 1st editions, as stated above, plus I have all the reference works, biographies, etc. I've probably read every book the man wrote at least twice. But I'm saving these two for my old age, especially if I come down with a severe illness - the idea being that I won't let go of life without finishing all of Twain's books.
Here's one of the reviews from Amazon, by someone named Kerry Walters: "I recently went back to reread "The Gilded Age". The more things change, the more they stay the same! Twain's dissection of unscrupulous tycoons wanting to get richer, corrupt senators jumping in bed with the tycoons by cutting them sweet political deals, and get-rich crazy middle class types who kiss up for their cut of the pie could've all been taken from last night's news."
On second thought, I might start reading these tonight.

3) "Pylon" by William Faulkner. About 20 years ago, I purchased a copy of Joseph Blotner's two-volume Faulkner biography. While reading the biography, every time I got to a Faulkner letter, short story, novel, or screenplay in the biography, I read the letter, short story, novel, or screenplay in question all the way through before continuing any further with the biography. It was a two-year project. But I didn't read Pylon, and I can't remember why. Perhaps it's because I hate closure. (When I finished reading all that Faulkner, it took me almsot two years to re-learn how to speak English.)

4) The "Left Behind" series, by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. Just joking.

5) HTML 4 for Dummies. Not joking. Any time you see something on this site besides straight unpunctuated typing, it's because of this book. You can't imagine the pride I felt when, for the first time, I was able to post a YouTube video. I've actually changed the size of some pictures. And that Blockquote thing I did for the Black Swan quote up there?.... pretty impressive, huh?
This isn't the kind of book you finish. It's the kind of book you throw across the room when you forget to properly close off a set of H2 parameters, and you realize that you've posted an entire Blog Carnival in headline sized type. Scares the crap out of the weiner dogs.

So I'd like to ask the following people for their favorite volumes in their Anti-Libraries. Some of you don't have a blog, so please respond in the comment field below. (For a good sampling, look at the comment field in Soobdujour.) If you have your own site, and feel that this idea is worth a post, please do so and link back to this site. Or you can blow the thing off.

I'd really like to hear from:

Dr. Liz at Zbeth Journall Dr. Liz is in a class with me at our church. She finishes one mystery novel per day, and reviews it at her blog.

Pete at Cowtown Chronicles Pete, you're expected to be memorable, please don't disappoint.

I must include Dr. Ralph. BTW, Dr. Ralph, I saw your spousal companion at a meeting tonight, and she says you look at this site before you even speak to her in the mornings. I...don't...really know....what to say....to that.

How about DG at TCU. DG doesn't have a site, but is now formally invited to type away in the comment field below. Ditto for JG from BBC.

GW at Wolf Howling should be interesting.

Whatever Her Name is at GrEaT sAtAn'S gIrLfRiEnD. When you get a chance, look at the "Favorite Books" section of her user profile. I just want to see if there's anything she hasn't read.

TomG, wherever and whoever you are, please comment below.

Durango Texas, you're invited. Haven't heard from you in a while, but I'm sure that will change during football season.

"Literal Anonymous", "Angry Anonymous", and "Hospital Anonymous", please write something to act as a counterbalance to Pete.

Francis at Food & Fort Worth, Suzette at Morning Coffee, Evening Wine, and all the other Eastsiders.... the world would like to hear from you.

Everyone else, what books have you bought but not opened? And why?

Caption This

I need a caption for this picture.

James Dobson, Barack Obama, and the latest heresy hunt

Dr. James Dobson, of "Focus On The Family", has grown weary of living outside the political limelight, so he's going to be attacking Barack Obama sometime Tuesday. He'll be claiming that Barack Obama has distorted the Bible, and if elected, will distort the Constitution.

The basis of this attack will be a speech that Obama made in 2006 to a liberal Christian group named "Call To Renewal".

According to the link above, Dr. Dobson will claim that Obama, a former constitutional law professor, has a "fruitcake" view of the constitution.

For anyone interested, I've posted Obama's entire speech here. It's a good one.

If the Dobson response to it goes online in a timely manner, I'll link it also.

Just for grins and giggles, here's a link to a previous Dobson jihad against Spongebob Squarepants, who Dr. Dobson thought favored a pro-homosexual, pro - gay and lesbian, pro -diversity worldview. (After all, Spongebob is often seen holding hands with Patrick the starfish.)

Many people will give Obama's religious views as much (if not more) scrutiny than his views on the economy, healthcare, Iraq, or Social Security.
Talk Radio junkies will hear and read about this all day Tuesday. I promise.
Just wanted to get ahead of the curve on this one.

Update from Tuesday, June 24th 7:00 p.m. Here is a link to the audio broadcast. I sat down with good intentions. I was going to type out the Internet's first transcript of this discussion between Dr. James Dobson and his right hand man, Tom Minnery.

My fingers wouldn't do it. They went on strike. They refused to type some of those sentences. And I don't think it'll ever be done. You couldn't outsource this horrific task to Burmese typhoon orphans. They'd turn up their noses and walk away, since they still have their pride. Lord have mercy, what a mess.

First, Dobson tries to get offended by Obama's statement about " if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools? Would we go with James Dobson's, or Al Sharpton's?"

They try to infer that Obama was equating Dr. James Dobson and Rev. Al Sharpton.

Well, he wasn't equating them, you dogmatic twits...

He was contrasting the two, portraying them as being on opposite ends of a very wide continuum.

Then they attack his percentages, and his statement that 70% of Americans identify with an organized religion. Their point is that Obama coulda said "Christian religion" instead of "organized religion". That was enough to send them running for the Smelling Salts.

It goes on from there. Mostly downhill. They get into why the Hebrew scriptures (also known as The Holy Word of God that is without error) don't apply in certain times and situations like....here and now. They talk constitutional law. They talk about religion vs. morality.

These guys are done. Finished. They and their ilk have had a shot at fixing things in government since the Reagan era, and they've been weighed in the balance and found wanting (to pull a quote from the Book of Daniel). The glory has departed (to yank a verse out of 2nd Samuel).

If anyone can email me a link to a transcript of this thing for future reference, I'll send $10 to the charity of your choice.

I don't think Barack Obama is ready to be President of The United States. If he were to enforce his stated economic policies, it would be disastrous. I think he's lived in an academic/government bubble for too long (read the article about Mr. Obama's Neighborhood in The Weekly Standard).

But on Church and State issues? General religion issues? Obama's my man. That speech he gave to the Call To Renewal group is borderline brilliant, and he probably had no idea it would eventually be broadcast all over the world.

The Republicans really need to think twice before they send out any more Witch Doctors of James Dobson's ilk to attack Obama.

That era is over.

Carnival Of The Libertarians, 10th Edition

Welcome to the June 22, 2008 edition of carnival of the libertarians.

Every time I host a blog carnival, I get a smattering of submissions that are too off-topic, or poorly written, or not worth sending you folks out to read. But long-time readers of this blog know that there's a special place in my heart for bizarre religious practices and beliefs. To the person raised in tradition "A", everything that goes on in traditions B,C,D,E etc through Z is a bizarre religious practice or belief.

James D. Brausch didn't reference a particular post when he gave us this one posted at FLDS View. Mr. Brausch is an insider/defender of the FLDS Church, the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints outfit that was recently in the news when the YFZ (Yearning For Zion) Ranch was raided. If you a Sociological/Anthropological interest in religion, this site is a gold mine. I suggest you start with the June 17 post about "A Communist Dictator", and wander around from there.

Obscure church elders are referenced as if they were Thomas Jefferson or James Madison. Church power struggles involving less than a few hundred people are chronicled in a manner worthy of Wagnerian heroes. Spend 30 minutes on that site, and you'll see that no matter how horrific the abuse at that ranch, it can be justified by church traditions and LDS scriptures. Amazing stuff.

Ok, let's get down to the business at hand....

Ian Bowman presents Default V: action posted at If It Feels Good Do It. Ian believes that regardless of how you feel about the concept of "No Blood For Oil", putting that particular sentiment on your Toyota's bumpersticker is a contradiction.

Archvillain presents Police State posted at A Dark and Sinister Force for Good, saying, "Does the Constitution still matter anymore?" Archvillain's post is about the idea currently floated around Washington D.C. where the entire district would be blocked off like airport security. (They're getting a bit tired of the crime rate there.) A simpler solution would be to stop electing corrupt mayors, city councils, etc., from one particular political party. Lordy, what a mess. Archvillain also uses a picture from the dustjacket of one of my favorite novels, "Jennifer Government".

Speaking of Democrats, Leslie Carbone presents Democrats' One-Half Compromise posted at Leslie Carbone. It's a post about how the Democrats are allocating the delegates in Michigan and Florida, which has become a non-issue since the Clintons decided not to take up arms against the Obama supporters. So let me pick another of Leslie's excellent postings that might be more timely. This is one about the seventeen girls, ALL UNDER THE AGE OF 16, who formed a "pregnancy pact" at Gloucester High School in Massachusetts. Not only should contraception be available without parental concent, contraception should be passed out as the free prize in McDonald's Happy Meals. (Those are my opinions, not Leslie's.)

Adam presents Net Neutrality and its Discontents posted at Sophistpundit. This is the best thing I've read on the subject. If someone provides a service through their property, whether the property if physical or online, they should be able to dictate the terms of that service.

Michael Snyder presents The Picture Of The Hindu God That Barack Obama Carries For Good Luck posted at Shattered Paradigm. Michael tries to get really upset because Barack Obama calls himself a Christian, but carries around a Hindu luck charm. I have no idea what that has to do with libertarians. But Michael, since you brought up the subject, I don't think there's any place in our political discourse for theological discussions. There's no way to "prove" who is right and who is wrong, so the electorate gets distracted and manipulated by the inquisitions of Heresy Hunters. If anyone is interested in an earlier butt-kicking that I gave another Heresy Hunter who didn't think Obama was the "right" kind of Christian, click here.

Dana presents Homeschooling without credentials leads to educational anarchy posted at Principled Discovery, saying, "It Comes with a nifty button you can use to display your educational opinions." Dana goes on to explain that the NEA is lobbying to outlaw uncredentialed Home Schooling in California. (California, of course, is the state that recently gave us school riots like this one.) The NEA hates competitors.

Praveen presents My Simple Trading System: Freedom vs. Equality posted at My Simple Trading System. He provides us with a great Will/Ariel Durant quote...."Freedom and equality," wrote Will and Ariel Durant, "are sworn and everlasting enemies, and when one prevails the other dies.''

kevin colby presents Iowans more self sufficient than the people of New Orleans posted at Kevin Colby: Libertarian Political News Blogger, saying, "Somehow the people of Iowa have managed to get through this without all the bitching that came from and is still coming from the citizens of New Orleans after Katrina."

constitution

Michael Bass presents I’m Voting Republican: My Response posted at Debt Prison, saying, "The video I have posted below is a perfect example of the naive and misdirected ideology perpetuated by these obtuse liberals in their relentless pursuit of ever expanding government and micro-management of the daily affairs of each and every citizen. Below this video is my response."

free markets

Alan K Rudi presents Society, World Change, Globalization, and Business posted at Successful Business Leadership. I believe that Alan is worth reading. Regularly.

Phil B. presents Inheritance is Not Capitalism « Phil for Humanity posted at Phil for Humanity, saying, "Yesterday, I had an epiphany. Simply put, inheritance is anti-capitalism." Phil is a serial Carnival submitter who I generally agree with. On this one, though, I have to part company with him. If it's your money, house, or business, you should be able to do what you want with it, give it to whoever you please, etc. Most people work harder not for themselves, but for their children.

APH presents Rent Control Part 1: Microeconomics Lesson & Hoarding Market Urbanism posted at Market Urbanism, saying, "A four part series on the consequences of rent control, concluding with some solutions." This is one of Dr. Thomas Sowell's favorite topics. APH also does quite a number on it. If you restrict the price of an item to an artificially low level, less of that item will be brought to market. It ain't very complicated. Truly a beautiful political scam.

Libertarian Party

Holly Ord presents The Message is Simple posted at Menstrual Poetry. In this case, the message is that Mike Gravel woulda been a much better Libertarian Presidential Candidate than Bob Barr.

libertarianism

Phil B. presents A Plan to Destroy All Weapons of Mass Destruction posted at Phil for Humanity, saying, "No leader and therefore no country can be trusted enough to control weapons of mass destruction." I agree. We've also shown that no country can be trusted to control missiles, airliners, armies, handguns, slingshots, or box knives. So I think mutual assured destruction is the best way to go. Sadly, I have to disagree with Phil again.

limited government

Nick Pardini presents The Era of Bad Feelings: A Return to One Party Politics Common Sense Magazine posted at Common Sense Magazine, saying, "How the Republicans and Democrats have become a united in statism and the need for small government and trust in the individual"

Nick also gave us Teaching a Man How to Fish: The Reality of Entitlements Common Sense Magazine posted at Common Sense Magazine, saying, "It is not the government's job to give out free handouts. We need to make Americans self sufficient by eliminating entitlement benefits (besides we cannot afford them anyway)." This post runs parallel to one I did about what happens if you teach someone to fish, but never leave them alone.

Collin Williams presents Assumptions of Competence posted at RejectSociety.com. Collin gets close to the heart of the matter. It might be time to bail out on both sides of our current party system.

Kevin Colby presents Democrats want to nationalize a hurricane tax posted at Kevin Colby: Libertarian Political News Blogger. Why not? We've already nationalized hurricane insurance for all the condos up and down the Atlantic coast, and done it for rates that no sane private company would provide.

Other

Charles H. Green presents What Malpractice Suits Teach Us About Trust posted at Trusted Advisor Associates, saying, "Even when it comes to something like a doctor saying sorry for messing up, politics, and laws, are involved." I've long believed that we don't have a healthcare crisis. We have a legal and insurance industry crisis. Is there anyone who doubts that healthcare costs could be cut in half if those two groups were kicked out of the room?

Livingalmostlarge presents Same Sex Rights? LivingAlmostLarge posted at LivingAlmostLarge, saying, "Why does the government get to decide who gets married? Why not separate state and religion? Make marriage religious and civil unions just a government issue mandate?" Yeah, but LAL, you don't understand.... This is a hot-button wedge issue that really effects no one except gays and lesbians, who already vote for Democrats. Therefore, it's a useful distraction, and a handy fund-raising tool for Republicans.

U.S. Politics

Doug Ragan presents My Presidential Campaign ? Oil and the Environment posted at I'm A Pundit Too, saying, "I am putting together a series of posts regarding my Presidential Campaign Platform. I am not actually running for President of the US for a few reasons. One reason is that I am 33. Another reason is that I have no political experience. And lastly, I am a very reasonable person who does not enjoy lying, therefore no one would ever vote for me. The first part of this series will be the issue of oil and the environment." But just in case things start getting really stupid in October and November, please remember Doug as a possible write-in candidate.

Holly Ord presents John McCain Doesn’t Support the Troops posted at Menstrual Poetry. This is true, Holly. However, I link to your posts in these carnivals all the time, but you still haven't added me to your blogroll. What's up with that?

Jeffrey Stingerstein presents » Oh No! John McCain Is Trying to Lose My Vote! Disillusioned Words: atheism, art and politics posted at Disillusioned Words. I don't think that McCain had a chance at Jeffrey's vote anyway.

kevin colby presents To much government spending has killed New Jersey posted at Kevin Colby: Libertarian Political News Blogger, saying, "The state is $32 billion in debt and a revenue shortfall forecast at close to $3 billion, the third worst in the nation after California and New York." And yet, these three states have to carry the weight of more intellectuals per square foot than any others. Coincidence? I think not.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
carnival of the libertarians using our carnival submission form.
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It's been real, folks.

Next time, the Carnival Of The Libertarians will be hosted in Australia by Chris and Nick at CountingCats.

The Creation According To Saint Albert

The Creation According to Saint Albert

Genesis, Chapter One

1:1 In the beginning Saint Albert, The Goracle of Music City, created The Book.

1:2 And The Book was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the Book. And the editors of the Book moved upon the pages of it, to give it form and substance.

1:3 And The New York Times said, "Let there be sales:" and there were sales of The Book.

1:4 And Saint Albert saw the sales, and that they were good: and he said "There could be profit and sustenance in this, both for me and all my descendants, and all the tribes of lobbyists." For he had grown weary of being the Junior Senator in the land of the Tennesseeans.

1:5 For Saint Albert called The Book "Earth In The Balance", and before his book there was nothing, and without it, we would all be destroyed. And this was the end of the first day.

1:6 And Saint Albert said, "Let there be a Powerpoint in the midst of my laptop, and let it terrify those who follow me and obey my commandments."

1:7 And Saint Albert made the Powerpoint, and divided the facts which were obvious from the facts which were inconvenient for his argument: and it was so.

1:8 And Saint Albert called the Powerpoint a Rough Draft For A Screenplay. And this evening and morning were the second day.

1:9 And Saint Albert said, "Let the Screenplay be filmed, and let my my visage be imposed upon the face of the Powerpoint for all who follow me to see and witness:" and it was so.

1:10 And Saint Albert called the Screenplay a Documentary; and he named his documentary "An Inconvenient Truth": and those who stood to profit thereby called it good.

1:11 And Saint Albert said, "Let the Documentary bring forth awards, the same awards which go to all Democrats, who, by being nominated, are always assured of victory:" and it was so. But those whose hearts had hardened against him declared these awards to be an everlasting stench in the nostrils of the righteous and an unholy thing in the temple of Reason.

1:12 And the Documentary brought forth profits, the creeping financial kind, and the flying political kind, and the consultant kind; and Saint Albert saw that these profits would be mandated by Congress and the rulers of this world, and that they would be very, very good.

1:13 And the evening and the morning were the third day. And there was fear and trembling throughout the earth, for all this time Saint Albert had merely been warming up.

1:14 And Saint Albert said, "Let there be a timeline, and a sense of urgency, and a panic; for I grow old, and wish to fully profit from my creation; so let all warming be a sign of Global Warming, and let all cooling be a sign of Global Warming also . And those who deny that cooling is warming, let them take their place with The Holocaust Deniers.

1:15 "And let us no longer speak the words 'Global Warming', for the current cooling will confuse the sheep of our pastures, causing them to look upon their thermometers for verification. Let us now speak of 'Climate Change', for by doing so, all bets will be covered:" and it was so.

1:16 And Saint Albert created for himself a house; and it was as great as any earthly habitation; and the carbon footprint of his house was compared to that of The Concorde; the carbon footprint of his house was likened to that of a Ukrainian Steel Mill, and the emissions of Interstate 35 on the Fourth of July weekend; and his house was likened unto the dwelling of a Republican who does not recycle.

1:17 And the sheep of his pastures cried out to him, saying "Albert, Albert, why do you preach salvation, but practice destruction? And Saint Albert grew weary of their moanings, and he gave his habitation solar panels, and new windows, and ductwork.

1:18 And Saint Albert declared that it was good. But his enemies declared his improvements to be a vain and foolish thing, for they had unconfessed sin in their hearts, and their deeds were evil, and they were not the sheep of his pastures. For they had looked upon his electric bills, both before and after, and they mocked him and made merriment while posting Saint Albert's electric bills on the Internet (which Saint Albert had created).

1:19 For the Tennesseeans are a stubborn and ungrateful people, and they would not vote for him in 2000, for prophets are without honor in their home country. And this evening and morning were the fourth day.

1:20 And Saint Albert said, "Let the people of the earth sing praises unto my name forever, for I am great and mighty. Am I not as heroic as Parsifal? Am I not more worthy than Don Giovanni? For Tipper and I are as Tristan and Isolde, and we shall be glorified in the heavens and in the earth, and at La Scala in Italy. Bring forth an opera, so that my works and my name shall be sung and praised throughout the nations."

1:21 And the sheep of his pastures brought forth the sounding brass and tinkling cymbal and the tenors and one soprano; and the libretto of that which began as a Book and grew to a Powerpoint which begat a screenplay which begat a documentary which begat a Nobel then begat an opera: and Saint Albert saw that it was good.

1:22 And Saint Albert blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and create more wondrous markers of remembrance to my name."

1:23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

1:24 And Saint Albert said, "Bring forth a musical, so that my praises may be sung on Broadway by those who love show tunes. For what profiteth a man to win a Grammy and Nobel, but have no Tony?"

1:25 And the sheep of his pastures brought forth a Musical, so that the philistine cattle who do not enjoy opera may glorify Saint Albert also, each in his own way: and Saint Albert saw that it was good, for it had productions numbers, great sets, a torch song, and some real toe-tappers.

1:26 And Saint Albert said, "Let us make more graven, written, and spoken monuments to mine own image, after my likeness: and give me dominion over the fish of your seas, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, for only I can save them. And give me dominion over your thermostats and your fuel economy, and your CO2 emissions, and your carbon footprints. Give me dominion over your congressional spending and your tax breaks. For I am a jealous God, and I want it all."

1:27 Thus man created Saint Albert in God's own image, in the image of God created we him.

1:28 And Saint Albert saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. But he had not yet brought forth the Earth In The Balance videogame, or the Climate Change lunchbox, or Carbon Footprint running shoes, or An Inconvenient Truth - the animated series. We have no Global Warming thermos, or Tipper The Iceberg beer coolers.

1:29 Because on the seventh day, he rested. I hope.