Barton: To What End?

The other day, a friend of mine posted on Facebook about a group whose Bible study was shut down, and its leader arrested. The whole story was written to inspire upset about the injustice behind policing of religious expression:

Bible study leader Michael Salman is sitting in jail today after his home was raided earlier this week by more than a dozen Phoenix, Ariz. police officers and city officials. His offense? The city says people aren’t allowed to hold private Bible studies on their own property.

However, there's a lot to the story that didn't get told in that rendition. Huffington Post talks about a few of the other issues and the controversy surrounding Michael Salman's story:

The battle between Salman and his neighbors and the city of Phoenix has been years in the making, but his current jail term stems from how he used a 2,000 square-foot building on his property. According to the city, his church, the Harvest Christian Fellowship Community Church, received a permit to build a "game room" there in 2008. The permit prohibited using the building as a church, business or assembly. Nevertheless, the city cited Salman for holding worship services there in 2009 and 2010.

  According to the city, Salman regularly had gatherings of as many as 80 people, and the noise and traffic from the gatherings prompted regular complaints from neighbors.

So, there's a lot more to the story than the original article led me to believe.

I'm sick of being handed half of a story in an attempt to circumvent all reason, rally me to your cause. Which is why I was excited to see that David Barton, author of "The Jefferson Lies" taken to task by honest evangelical scholars:

     Barton's book, The Jefferson Lies, was withdrawn Thursday by Thomas Nelson, the world's largest    
    Christian publisher. It's rare enough for a publisher to withdraw a book that has already been printed;
     rarer still if the book has been on The New York Times bestseller list. Thomas Nelson spokesman Casey 
    Francis Harrell announced that the publisher had received a number of complaints that the book is 
    inaccurate. "Because of these deficiencies, we decided that it was in the best interest of our readers to 
    cease its publication and distribution," Harrell said.

At times, I have been frustrated by the Church's tendency to ignore actual scholarship, in favor of anecdotal evidence. So even if it's small, this is a nice move toward honesty and thought. Not by Barton, himself but, you get the idea. 

I Think I should Drop Off the Grid

So, I accept the idea that security is important. But, the idea of getting information of your communication monitored in a wrong place wrong time situation, is beyond the pale of safety.

It's been quoted, and quoted, and quoted, but it bears repeating,

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759

Flying Bugs: or The Phantom Menace

Flying Bugs: One More Thing That Grinds My Gears!

gif credit: arrioch

There are a lot of things which seem to aggravate our universal sense of justice and order. Drivers who cruise ten miles down the road with their turn signal flashing, the shopper in the aisle whose cart is situated in the perfect place to make it impossible to get around without that awkward collision/ interaction, and the people who stand/ walk in the middle of the street while you’re driving through town, are just a few of the things which leave us agape...or furious.  Among the myriad things which grind our collective gears will always be “line jumpers.” When someone takes a spot in the queue which obviously wasn’t earned, the hairs on the back of our common neck stand on end. Line jumping is just one of the many reasons I hate, with a deep and burning passion, bugs that fly.

If an ant wakes up one morning and decided, “Today is a great day to crawl around Morris’s face.” That ant must then slough through the laborious task of climbing up my foot, my leg or pants, my shirt, and my neck before making it to my face or head. As I tend to have a very low tolerance for things crawling up my body, most bugs don’t make it past the ankle. Victory for me. Flying bugs don’t have the decency to make the honest trek. They’re like a person who takes a helicopter to the summit, then brags that they climbed a mountain. One second, I’m standing comfortably. The next, I’m being strafed by flies, gnats, and other winged creatures with six legs. Just because you have a pair of wings, doesn’t mean you can pass all the other hard working bugs headed toward my face.

What makes the assaults of the airborne menace so vile, is the multifaceted nature of their attacks. The bugs play havoc at the corners of your periphery. Almost a figment of your imagination, but they’re just real enough to keep you on edge. Then there’s the buzzing. It’s almost like they can teleport from ear to ear. At a distance the buzz is quiet, like a hum. But as they dive bomb the side of your face, it’s like a helicopter is about to crash into your head. Then, of course, there’s the actual attack.

It’s not enough that the bugs go soviet psy-ops on you with sight and sound. But, they take their mental war games to the next level. They land on you. Skitter around on you. And then they bite, or sting; the vicious beasts. And, despite everything your dad says, sometimes, even  if you stand very still, the stupid things take a shot at you. So, because of the misdeeds of their stinging brethren, you give every flying bug the stink eye. But it starts to get out of control and you flinch when shirt fabric touches you the wrong way. Then, you realize they really are after you. It’s a coordinated effort. And even the ones which don’t sting, bite, or otherwise induce pain directly, employ sabotage techniques, turning your own defenses against you. Craftily, the spies buzz near your eyes, causing a violent spasmodic swing which hooks your glasses, flinging them across the room. Then, while you’re distracted by the sudden loss of the gift of sight, the bug swoops in for an encore at your cheek. The resultant swat at the bug not only fails to kill it, but calls to mind, childhood tormentors. Over the throbbing of your cheek, you’d almost swear, you heard the saboteur saying, “Why are you hitting yourself?”

Flying bugs suck!
gif credit:arrioch

Riddle me This: The Undead

The "zombie apocalypse" is a favorite subject of cinema, novels, short stories, and even jokes.

(Have you heard the chant from the zombie protest: 

  Leader: What do we want?!?

Zombies: Braaaaaiiiiin...

  Leader: When do we it?!?

Zombies: Braaaaaiiiiin...)

Not the highest functioning mob in the area. But they have a knack for conversion. So, when your late neighbor shows up to pick your brain, It's open season, right? 

So, here's the question. Are your zombie assailants self-aware? When you shoot out the rotted flesh, Are they angry? Scared? Hurt? What's their level of cognitive engagement? Can a zombie choose to starve, in the face of eating a person? What are zombie ethics?

Let's start with self-aware: Yes? or No?

Photo Credit: captainmyotis

Down with Socialism?

Jon Stewart of The Daily Show, has a hilarious way of letting public figures choke on their own words.
In his May 29th episode, he's on fire. He lets everyone have it. I recommend the whole episode, on http://www.thedailyshow.com/ . But for now, enjoy the clip, addressing the auto bailout, "Obamacare," and the NFL:

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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Better Boyfriend 101: Like a Sir

Better Boyfriend 101: Like a Sir

Photo Credit: PiXimus

Hello class,
Do you remember how awesome it was when the teacher had the TV sitting in front of the room when you walked in? It was like Christmas. Well today we’re going to keep the lecture short and just watch a film. We might circle around and revisit the subject in a later session. But, for today, enjoy.

As a lifelong advocate of universal respect, knowledge, and bein’ classy, it was with no small amount of humor and joy, that I was recently introduced to the meme, “Like a Sir.”  The best way to describe it, so far*, is the application of sophistication to the everyday. Sometimes “Like a Sir,” gets thrown into the most bizarre situations, like hot tubbing in a tuxedo. At others, it’s just remembering to be thoughtful and respectful in the little things, with a little extra class thrown in. So this lecture is mostly theoretical, the application part is up to you. Please take a second to share with the class how you or your significant other behaves “like a sir.” Better Boyfriend. It’s not a finish line. It’s a journey. Knowing that it's a meandering trek, the trip will probably be a little better if you make it "like a sir."

Class is adjourned...like a sir!

*As with any semiotic sign, the signified is subject to change over time.

Say, "Almost Cheese!"

So, my brother was in a hurry, and made an innocent mistake. He grabbed a pack of cheese. We were in a hurry and he wasn't really looking. Later that day, we discovered that, much like, "All that glitters is not gold," "All that is shredded and white, is not cheese." We were hanging out later that day, and he wanted to make cheese toast... the joke was on him. 

After sitting on the hot skillet the butter crackeled and the bread browned... but the shreds remained the same. They didn't melt, and they didn't brown. We turned up the heat. Then, we put the toast in the microwave. The shreds did not melt. After that, we just wanted to see what it would take. We turned up the heat, and let it ride. Nothing happened. We looked at the package, and... well I'll let you see for yourself. 

There's nothing on the package about cheese. There's nothing even on the package about dairy. And when we looked at the ingredients, there wasn't even anything about milk.  It was just a little bit un-nerving. Everything should change after that long in a microwave. But not the Italian Shreds. Aparently, there are a few more constants in the world... and we found one of them.

The listed ingredients are scarily as follows: Water, Food Starch, Partially Hydrongenated Soybean Oil, Whey, Salt, Casein and/or Caseinate, Sodium Phosphate, Sorbic Acid (as a preservative), Carrageen, Natural Flavor, Lactic Acid, Artificial Color, Powdered Cellulose to prevent caking

Even if you're not a health nut. it pays to read the label.