Standing amazed in the presence of evolution. Not. (updated)

This guy made an appearance this morning just outside my window (hatch).


My little 8-meg digital camera doesn't do the contours and subtle shadings of his/her feathers justice ... he was amazing to watch, even though he wasn't doing anything.

Update: "Bird Family Tree Gets Re-write"

June 26, 2008 -- A five-year project has revolutionized scientific thought on the evolution of birds and the results are so surprising that now even the textbooks will have to be rewritten, a study said Thursday.

"With this study, we learned two major things," said Sushma Reddy, lead author and a fellow at The Field Museum in Chicago, Ill.

"First, appearances can be deceiving. Birds that look or act similar are not necessarily related. Second, much of bird classification and conventional wisdom on the evolutionary relationships of birds is wrong."

The results of the largest ever study of bird genetics are so widespread that the names of dozens of birds will now have to be changed, says the study to be published in Science magazine.

-source

"Everything that money can buy and everything that Science knows"

Saw this ancient print ad yesterday and thought its perspective was worth sharing ...

what's wrong with my life?

It's not just spiraling gas prices or the unbearably hot weather or even the upcoming election that's on folks' minds. Sure seems like there's more than enough malaise to go around ...

I wish gas prices would go down.
I wish I made more money.
I wish I could find my perfect someone.
I wish I knew what to do about school.
I wish I had a nicer house ... a newer car ... a bigger boat.
I wish I had more friends/more people liked me.
I wish I was thinner/more muscular/better-looking.
I wish I was happier.
I wish I could take time out to breath.
I wish I knew where I'd be 5/10/20 years from now.
I wish I knew why I wasn't happy.

But not, I wish I could witness to more people about Christ ?

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
-2 Corinthians 4:6 (NIV)

not by might nor by power

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
- 2 Peter 3:9

-- --

So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty."
- Zechariah 4:6


But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
- 1 Corinthians 15:57

It's always hotter on the other side of the fence

One of the things I've craved & missed enjoying on Calypso was pizza.

Builders didn't install electric ovens on "weekender" boats back in 1985 when my tub first floated, so I made do with frozen "microwaveable pizza" (another oxymoron) whenever the urge struck.

That is, until yesterday ... when I installed this 120-volt Princess (why oh why couldn't it be called a Pirate instead?) range.


But remember what they say about the grass always looking greener ...

All I'm saying is, try running the oven for 45 minutes inside a boat- one that's no larger than a minivan- when it's 95 F degrees outside.

Pizza? Who needs it.
:-)

Have a Great Weekend!

My Favorite Song

Mighty to Save - Hillsong

Everyone needs compassion
Love that’s never failing
Let mercy fall on me
Everyone needs forgiveness
The kindness of a Saviour
The hope of nations

CHORUS:

Saviour
He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever
Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave

VERSE 2:

So take me as You find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender

BRIDGE:

Shine Your light and let the whole world see
We’re singing
For the glory of the risen King

The greatest news ever

"I believe the message of Jesus Christ exchanging places with me and paying for my sin is THE single greatest news on the planet–and I absolutely REFUSE to allow non passionate people to quench the fire God has placed inside of me." - Perry Noble

Ancient Salad Dressing

Shipwreck Yields World's Oldest Salad Dressing

"June 20, 2008 -- Olive oil infused with fragrant herbs has been identified in an ancient Greek ceramic transport jar ..." read more here


Don't tell me ... they're all outta Ranch?!

Go Joe!

My amazing friend Joe Sangl is featured on the cover of this month's Money magazine.

Here's part of their story at Money.com

Vile

If you're interested, you can read more about Westboro Baptist Church's latest protest here.

-- -- --

When a king sits on his throne to judge,
he winnows out all evil with his eyes.

Who can say, "I have kept my heart pure;
I am clean and without sin"?

Differing weights and differing measures—
the LORD detests them both.
- Proverbs 20: 8-10

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."
- John 8: 7


How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
- Luke 6: 42

License to Learn

I remember the Saturday morning I completed my oral exam and check ride and proudly showed Rob, the flying instructor, my brand new private pilot's license.

He glanced down at my license and handed it right back to me. "Remember, it says Pilot License - but it's actually a Learner's License."

-- -- --
Having a Pilot's License doesn't mean you've got the experience to have learned all there is to know about flying. A license doesn't keep you from crashing or making mistakes. Having a license doesn't entitle you to sit back in the cockpit and watch the clouds drift by under your wings.

Having a license has little to do with excellence or decision-making skills; only time and experience builds good judgment.

A license merely means you've met the minimum requirements ... and the best way to stay alive in the air is by applying what little you've learned.

And never stop learning.

Now is NOT the time to give up

Come to think of it, there's never a good time to quit.

Much less let go ... and throw your hands up in the air.

Oye Como Va

Almost immediately after this morning's post I was walking across the HH parking lot when a minivan pulled up beside me.

The driver, a middle-aged man in his late 30s, opened his door and asked me, "Habla Espanol?" The woman in the passenger seat seemed distracted and paid no attention.

I looked back and shrugged, "Poquito." His face broadened into a smile of relief that hinted Ah, finally!

-- --
They were lost. He knew his destination, but insisted upon driving a specific road neither of us could find on the map.

My Spanish is only what's left over from grade school ... but what if I'd told him, "Mi hermano, pero todos los caminos va a su destino!" My brother, but every road goes to your destination!

He woulda thought I was crazy.

Claro.

You sinners see what I got? Look who I am - and be impressed

"Hey waitress! Don't you know who I are!?"


My heart is not proud, O LORD,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
-Psalm 131:1


Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
-Romans 12:16


The LORD detests all the proud of heart.
Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.
-Proverbs 16:5

The Georgia Guidestones

Since they are, after all, located in Georgia, the Georgia Guidestones need one more message for future generations:


You Can't Get There From Here.

haw haw, ya'll

Calypso's new helm

OK jk.

The photo is actually from a MTI Series 39.

Dead Letter Faith: no forwarding address

Dead Letter:

1. A law, ordinance, etc., that has lost its force but has not been formally repealed or abolished.

2. A letter that cannot reach the addressee or be returned to the sender, usually because of incorrect address, and that is sent to and handled in a special division or department (dead-letter office) of a general post office.

Snittering (updated)

"The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." -Archilochus
Maybe, but the ridgeback doesn't know what Archilochus is talking about.

-- ---

What's Snittering? Snittering would be a blog post consisting of news snippets.

Snittering occurs when a blogger lists several topics of relevance or interest, and presents them with a minimum of discussion or further detail.

-- -- Thursday's Snitters:

Oxymorons include Military Intelligence. Jumbo Shrimp. Legally Drunk. Exact Estimate. New York Culture. Rap Music.
Can we finally add "Safe Sex"" to the list, please?


-from today's "Death by Plastic" Department:
"WASHINGTON — The credit crisis triggered by bad home loans is spreading to other areas, forcing banks to tighten credit and probably extending the credit crisis that's dragging down the economy well into next year, and perhaps beyond.

""In fact, we believe that what lies ahead will be worse than what is behind us," Whitney and colleagues at Oppenheimer & Co. wrote in a lengthy report last month about threats faced by big national banks, including Bank of America, Wachovia and others." - source


-from todays "Gas is Still Cheap, I'm tellin' ya!" Department:
Just read this.


I think my CD player has a bug:


No idea what it is, but I found this guy riding one of the speaker grilles in the helm the other morning. Poor thing looks like he evolved from a cotton swab and a toothpick; Darwin said it could happen.

Bless his heart.

Is it Wednesday already?

Ok, time to smile. Again. It won't hurt, I promise.

"There is not enough time to do all the nothing we want to do." - Bill Watterson "

Uh, like getting up at 4 AM and watching Miami Vice?

Whatcha watching?

Miami Vice (2006)



The HD-DVD version (not the theatrical release) from NetFlix came last week; I've probably watched the entire movie 8 times in the past 5 days. Here's someone else's review from epinions:

"Despite the snazzy previews and hottie stars Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx, Miami Vice turned out to be heavy-handed, pretentious, and generally no fun. By taking itself too seriously, Miami Vice ruined a perfectly good series of action scenes. Cheesy lines of dialogue abound. Think: “Why do I get the feeling everyone knows we're here 15 blocks out?” “'Cause everyone knows we're here 15 blocks out.” The “love scenes” feel like low-budget porn or bad music videos. Mr_chelledun and I actually laughed out loud several times at the corniness and absurdity of it all."

Maybe the author was expecting either a corny send-off to the 80s TV show, or a fast & furious shoot-'em-up action film, which Miami Vice is definitely not. Unless lack of use has caused your brain to atrophy to the size of a wart, movies should be more than fun and a perfectly good series of action scenes.

So why have I watched so many times?

I had to watch Miami Vice four times just to start getting a handle on what was going on. Seriously. And each time I watched, I saw & learned things I'd totally missed the last time around. Things that, added together, made for a BIGGER picture. Subtleties that leave an impression you can still feel the morning after.

I'm just not a big fan of movies that show like a slap in the face & shout, "Here I am, sport. What you see is all there is ... take it or leave it."

The kind of movie you've forgotten before you leave the theater.



-- -- --
Best lines from Miami Vice, imho:

Isabella: Would you find me?
Det. James 'Sonny' Crockett: Yes, I would.


Det. James 'Sonny' Crockett: Hola, chica.
Isabella: Hola, chico.

Oh yeah, it's "THEIR GOD" again (updated)

Must be a fad; seems like hardly a week goes by without someone telling me that "Their God" is different. Meaning, "Their God" is better. Or that "Their God" is new and improved.

I think what they're trying to say is that "Their God" is custom-made ... with a new model coming out each fall of every year.

--
See, "Their God" is cooler than the old God because "Their God" approves of and smiles down on everything they (and their friends) do in their lives. Without any promise or hint of consequences.

"Their God" tells them it's OK to lie, cheat, steal, fornicate, lose their temper, get fall-down drunk, consult astrologers, commit adultery, smoke pot, curse, hate, watch porn ... the list of approved behavior is as large as "Their God" has the imagination to make it.

People who worship "Their God" believe "Their God" is all about feeling comfy and having fun, because "Their God" only wants them to be happy. That's why "Their God" exists, after all.

Folks who've discovered "Their God" never tire of explaining that believing in the old God wouldn't let them do all the things they really, really wanted in their lives.

Now, I don't doubt that one for a minute.

-- -- --
One day, maybe, someone will explain to me how they came to know so much about "Their God." Maybe their knowledge about "Their God" came from Oprah, Dr. Phil or the latest book on the New York Times Best Sellers List.

Maybe Uncle Rusty has a talking dog that reveals things to them in their dreams.

But one thing's certain and absolute: "Their God" sure doesn't have much at all to do with how God describes himself in scripture.

Tom Harpur: blindly falling

You can find out who Tom Harpur is somewhere else.

But I'll paraphrase one of Tom Harpur's critical points; you decide the merits of his argument for yourself.

"Look at all the things recorded in the gospels following Christ's crucifixion that are never mentioned in secular sources from the same period.

"Like, the temple curtain was allegedly ripped open. A solar eclipse took place. There was an earthquake that opened tombs, and dead people were walking around. Those should all be obvious things, yet somehow none of that is recorded or mentioned during those times anywhere outside of the gospels."

Ok, so the Isis/Horace myth allegedly pre-dates Christ's resurrection by 2500 years. That should be an obvious thing, yet somehow none of those well-known 2500-year old "similarities to Christ" were recorded or mentioned during that period by the Romans or the temple leaders, who woulda loved any excuse to discredit the thousands of pesky new Christians running around the countryside proclaiming "HE IS RISEN."

Just saying ... and neither could the Romans or the temple priests produce Christ's body to contradict the gospel accounts.

Too hard to handle

This morning I went shopping for a shirt & started thinking about how the material wealth American believers enjoy compares to what folks living in Third World countries can expect.

A majority of Americans expect a job with a 40-hour work week, a new car every 3 years, the chance to buy and own a house, safe food, prompt health care, a comfortable pension for retirement and a life expectancy approaching almost 80 years.

Third World Citizens work whatever job they can get, have never seen a new car or made a telephone call.

Seems hard to understand why we were born into so much, while believers in the Third World were born into so little.

Maybe we shrug and think, "Wow that's gotta be pretty hard, living with so little."

With so many blessings it's sometimes easy to forget where our wealth came from ... and what about the suggestion that we keep God's commandments and honor him with our offerings?

Naaaah that's just too hard, living with so much.

Isn't there one thing we can all agree on?

There are a few things we can all agree are true.

The sun is yellow.
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
The sun is directly overhead at noon.
The moon comes out at night.
The North Star is the brightest star in the nighttime sky.
A compass needle points north.
Heavy objects fall faster than light objects.
The shortest distance between two points is always a straight line.
Days get shorter in winter and longer in summer.
There is no gravity in outer space.


But all of those things are FALSE, so we'll have to agree on something else.

Blithering

What's Blithering? Blithering means "Blogging on Friday."

I'm still a big Gator fan ...
The SC Department of Natural Resources will issue 1000 alligator hunting permits for this year's Sept 13- Oct 11 season. Hunters will be allowed to kill just one gator, which must be more than 4 feet in length.
www.dnrsc.gov

Wow. Wish that could be incorporated into Fox's new Lake Hartwell reality TV show.


Pitcher this
Analogies are illustrations. Analogies are not postulates, facts or truths. Finding fault with an analogy only dismisses the analogy, not the point:

Let's say you're trying to explain the concept of "water pitcher" to a visitor from another planet. Since you're having trouble communicating in Xkrueg, it seems like a good idea to draw a picture of a water pitcher and suggest, "A water pitcher looks like this."

Then an earthly critic comes along and shrugs, "But YOUR picture doesn't hold water."

Moral: You can't prove (or disprove) a point using analogies. Duh.

Super Bowl Insider
You know the scenario: It's fourth and goal on the One with :06 left on the Super Bowl clock and your team is trailing by 5. So you grab your ball cap because twisting it around backward virtually guarantees victory.

Or you cross and un-cross your legs six times during the final time-out (because your team needs six points to win). Come on, we all do it. Don't we?

In the meantime, ever wondered what the QB is saying in the huddle? Probably something like this:

"OK guys, we trained in the off-season, sacrificed during spring training, played hard during the season and fought our hearts out during the play-offs to finally get to this point.

"Now let's all give 110% ... and just hope our lucky slob sitting in his recliner in Des Moines is watching and remembers to rub his belly counter-clockwise 3 times so we can take this one to the bank. OK on three, break."

I'm quite sure.

Any point asking why?
I woke up around 1:30 AM the other night and couldn't get back to sleep. So I turned on the TV and surfed through the satellite sky until I found a documentary that caught my attention.

In a nutshell, the show's premise was that Christ was a fictional creation and never actually existed: that everything we know about Christ from the gospels was "borrowed" directly from Egyptian myths (some dude named Horace) that have been traced back to 2500 BC.

Is it me, or does it seem like suddenly there's tons of documentaries and "scholarship" coming out to "prove" that either the gospels are fiction, or worse, that Christ himself was a liar.

Wonder why I haven't been seeing as much attention and "scholarship" devoted to Muhammad, Buddha, Confucius, Krishna, Joseph Smith, L. Ron Hubbard or the Dali Lama.

the largest number in the universe

-from Wiki:

"Graham's number, named after Ronald Graham, is a large number often described as the largest finite number that has ever been seriously used in a mathematical proof.

"Guinness World Records even listed Graham's number as the World Champion largest number. Graham's number is much larger than other well known large numbers such as a googol and a googolplex, and even larger than Skewes' number and Moser's number, other well-known large numbers.

"Indeed, there is no concise way to write Graham's number, or any reasonable approximation using conventional mathematical operators. Even power towers (of the form ) are useless for this purpose. It can be most easily notated by recursive means using Knuth's up-arrow notation or the Hyper operator.

G = g₆₄ where ,

-- --- --

Hmmm. Thought I'd seen several church covenants that tacked on enough man-made rules and legalisms to make Graham's Number pale in comparison.

Blittering?

Has anybody already come up with the idea of "Blittering"?

Blittering would be limiting blog posts to 140 words or less. Instead of 140 paragraphs (or pages) per post; guilty.

There, I did it in thirty-six. (104 remaining)

"... and Lord, please help all those other people, too."

"Lord, before I forget, please help all the Christians living in those poor other countries. Please help them not to die of diseases or starve to death or be killed in wars.

"Please help them have clothes and be strong in their suffering. And if it's your will, let please let their children be OK but if they get sick, please don't let them suffer too much before they die.

"Lord I know they don't speak English or look like I do, but that's not their fault. That doesn't make any difference to me so if you get a chance, please do what you can. It wouldn't take very much.

"I guess that's all I can think of for now. Amen.

"Oh PS. You already know this but please get our pastor straightened out. Make sure he keeps both feet on the ground and quits getting the church fathers riled up. Maybe it'd help if the deacons knocked him down a peg or two so he can see how we've always done things, I dunno.

"OK, that's it for me. Amen."

Likeable Quote

Jacob Bronowski - "The world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation."

What is an Optimist?

-from today's Take Time to Laugh Department:

An optimist is someone who, regardless of their situation or circumstances, can't help but smile and announce to the world, "So far so good."

:-) Enjoy .....

Are you a Southern Baptist, or what?

My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ."

Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? - 1 Corinthians 1:11-13

What's wrong with kids now days?

John King was the world's youngest pirate.

According to Wiki, King "joined the crew of Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamy while still a juvenile, and is the youngest known pirate on record.

"On November 9, 1716, Bellamy and his crew, sailing the sloop Mary Anne (or Marianne), attacked and captured the Antiguan sloop Bonetta, which was then en route from Antigua to Jamaica. John King, then aged between eight and eleven, was a passenger on the Bonetta. According to Abijah Savage, the Bonetta's commander, the pirates looted the ship for 15 days, during which time King demanded to join Bellamy's crew. "(F)ar from being forced or compelled (to join)," Savage wrote in his report, "he declared he would kill himself if he was restrained, and even threatened his Mother, who was then on board as a passenger."

Related:
Remains Identified as a boy pirate - Boston.com
The Littlest Pirate - unmuseum.org

On Woooooo! Tube

-from Reuters.com

Underground Drinks Party Ends in Mayhem

By Paul Majendie

LONDON (Reuters) - Police arrested 17 people and had to close six London Underground stations after a party involving thousands of revelers to mark the last day of drinking alcohol on the tube turned ugly.

Six assaults were reported on underground rail staff and police. Several damaged trains had to be withdrawn from service on a night of mayhem that had been dubbed "Last Round on the Underground" by revelers.

The festivities were at first good-natured with partygoers wearing fancy dress as they swigged beer and wine, dancing and singing in the railway carriages.

But police moved in when the mood turned sour and fighting erupted, spoiling what officers had called "a fun event."

The London transport ban on alcohol is designed to make buses, tubes and trains safer for the public but unions fear staff could be put in greater danger when they have to confront those breaking the ban.

tvitter

I tried twittering, really I did, but never managed to quite get a "feel" for what the essence of twittering is all about. (But then I felt supremely confident that HD DVD was gonna triumph all over Blu-Ray, and we see how that turned out. So there.)

-- -- --
But ... but when no one's twittering, don't you wonder what all your friends are watching- at that instant- on TV? See that's what we need tvitter for.

Here's my week at a glance:

Keen Eddie Today 2:30PM 307 SLTH
Faces of Earth Mon 6/2 8:00PM 284 SCI
Extreme Marksmen Mon 6/2 9:00PM 269 HIST
Ancient Asteroid Mon 6/2 11:00PM 276 NGC
Manual Tune Wed 6/4 9:00 PM 269 HIST




If tvitter really existed, I'd likely call mine Notes from the Blue Screen.