New Covenant

On teaching a life of virtue

From HotAir, a reminder that we live in a new age,

Bare midriffs and piercings apparently haven’t made teenagers provocative enough to compete with celebrities for local attention. According to the University of Minnesota, teenage girls have begun using personal-networking technology to send nude pictures of themselves to their friends, emulating the sexualization they see in the national media.

...

Gee, I wonder where teenage girls get the idea that they have to shed their clothes for attention? It didn’t start with Miley Cyrus; Brooke Shields made an unforgettable commercial almost 30 years ago at the age of 15, saying, “You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.” The sexualization of teens and pre-teens continues today with the execrable Bratz Girls dolls and a national media that cannot let children have a childhood.

Several weeks ago I commented on a post at Virtue Alert, a blog maintained by author Vicki Courtney, which had to do with another case similar to that referenced above. While the post rightly addressed the issue of inappropriate photos being sent via cellphones, I thought the attitude Courtney expressed regarding teenage indiscretions was a bit too flippant. Reference the following excerpt from her post,

Now, take a minute to think back to your own days of youth... Maybe you were in the .00000001 percent of the population that made it to your 18th birthday without being exposed to a game or two of "Truth or Dare" or participating in a skinny-dipping session in your best friend's pool. Hats off to you if that's the case. Now, for the rest of us,...

In my comment I wrote,

Do you really believe that essentially 100% of the people out there, as teenagers, went skinny-dipping in their friend's pool? Maybe some research on how different personality types respond to peer pressure is in order. As for myself, I was (and still am) never the type to blindly follow whatever the crowd was doing, much less do whatever was "truth or dared" of me (and, no, I have never participated in that game, or skinny-dipped in a friend's pool).

Courtney responded, evidently thinking I was simply questioning the numerical value she had listed. Courtney's attitude was reiterated by another commenter who stated,

...I had to get a little kick out of Rusty's comment, bless his heart. I knew you were being tongue and cheek in saying things, however many of us (be honest girls...did the truth or dare or skinny dipping things when we were young, (Sorry Rusty.)... (emphasis added)

I wrote and submitted a response which, for reasons unknown, did not get published at Courtney's blog. Unfortunately, I did not copy the text I submitted, but the following is an approximation of my comment,

I wasn't picking nits with the actual decimal point value you stated - I realize that you were being tongue in cheek. What I take issue with is the notion, which I infer from your tongue in cheek remark, that most, if not all of us, have engaged in the types of acts exemplified by the playing of "truth or dare", or of skinny-dipping in a friend's pool. What I gather is that you're implying, "let's be real - we've all engaged in this behavior", and that seems to be further reinforced by Anonymous' comment, "Let's be honest, girls". So, if I'm to follow Anonymous' logic, were one of the "girls" out there to disagree with her, then said girl would be... dishonest? In other words, if any adult claims to not have engaged in the abovementioned activities, then said adult is being dishonest (i.e., lying). This is, in fact, the type of response I've sometimes received when I mention that I never got drunk in college (or in my life, for that matter - sorry Anonymous) despite the fact that I lived 200+ miles away from home while at university (thereby providing me with ample opportunity to "sow my oats" if I so desired). 

I think that rather than approach the topic of this post with a "we've all been there" so "let's be honest" mindset, perhaps it would be more prudent to teach humility, self-respect, dignity of action, abstinence (in multiple areas), integrity, self-control, and independence, to name just a few virtues. What type of impact do you think that would have on the next generation, and their children? Imagine the impact it would have on a child, upon asking her parents, to find out that they did not engage in foolish acts when young. Imagine actually taking the book of Proverbs seriously for what it is - a guidebook from God on how to live life.

While Courtney is to be commended for bringing such issues to light, I think we've really got to get beyond the Nobody's Perfect mentality, where we're all being honest and not being judgmental. How about being truly honest and righteously judgmental? Let's not only teach that virtuous actions are morally right and attainable, but that non-virtuous actions are... wrong.

The continuing feminization story

Bonnie has posted another installment in her feminization and the church series.

Why evolution can't win (v. 2)

Attempt to expel Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed from movie theaters because it used two lines from John Lennon's song Imagine.

Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too

Imagine.

Homeschool ignorance

Over at Phat Phree, this ignorantly imbecilic attempt at humor,

I cannot believe Harvard rejected my application! What does a home-schooled guy have to do? Show me another application so full of blessings from Jesus and I will show you lucky man. My mom tells me not to let it get me down, but I can't help but feel that this is somehow the fault of the homosexuals.

Dana effortlessly performs a smackdown.

Respect: earned, and obliged

A few nights ago our Senior Pastor had a meeting at church with the parents of teenage children, as well as those others interested, regarding the direction the youth ministry would be going. It seems that the current youth pastor, for various reasons, has decided to leave the church.

During a Q&A time, at the end of the meeting, the Senior Pastor fielded several comments from individuals who, evidently, were not pleased with the direction the church is going. One comment, in particular, struck me as odd. A twenty-something male stated, with regards to any individual intending to guide the youth,

You have to earn their respect!

The comment was echoed by at least one other person during the meeting.

Now, I don't disagree that anyone teaching and guiding a group of people, regardless of whether or not they are in an age-specific category, has the responsibility to extend respect to the group they are shepherding. But I was intrigued by the fact that no one offered up just what responsibilities the youth have with regards to those placed in leadership of them.

Respect is not a one-way street, and the fact that one is a teenager young-adult does not excuse them from having responsibilities of their own.

Man of Peace

He's a great humanitarian,
he's a great philanthropist,
He knows just where to touch you, honey,
and how you like to be kissed.

He'll put both his arms around you, You can feel the tender touch of the beast.
You know that sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace.

- Man of Peace, Bob Dylan

Cool Space Gallery Site

A cool space gallery site from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, CA.

Quick-Book-Review: State of Fear, by Michael Crichton

After writing essays and giving speeches on the reasons he disagrees with the "consensus" that human-induced global warming is a direct threat to our planet, Michael Crichton, evidently, decided to write the techno-thriller State of Fear (2004).

In State of Fear he essentially presents the same arguments he's made in his speeches, albeit in the context of a fictional story. The book follows the exploits of a lawyer, government security agent, and company, as they criss-cross the globe on the trail of eco-terrorists intent on causing massive catastrophes, all to further their cause (that being the universal acknowledgment of human-induced global warming of the doomsday variety). Unlike some of his other thrillers, Crichton notes that all references to real people, institutions, charts, and data, are documented (through his use of footnotes). Besides including a bibliography (for a work of fiction), he also includes a section titled Author's Message, as well as two appendices.

In the Author's Message, he clarifies his position on the topic of global warming, basically stating that we know very little about the complex process of climate change, that there is a variety of data on the subject, and that we do not have the knowledge or the ability to effectively manage the environment. Some have criticized Crichton for writing, in State of Fear, nothing more than a long op-ed piece. Yet, it's his book, so why shouldn't he write about what he wants?

In the first appendix, Crichton provides prose on why he considers politicized science to be dangerous. He gives an interesting history lesson on how a previous scientific theory predicting impending crisis, and was accepted as valid by the authorities of the time. The theory? Eugenics.

I found State of Fear to be an exciting page-turner of an adventure. There were a few slow points, mid-way through the book, as well as a few personality caricatures I thought to be too extreme. Note: There was also a fair bit of unnecessary sex, and quite a bit of R-rated language.

Recommendation:  I'd recommend reading the book if, for no other reason, than to get a glimpse of the data that is typically not found in the general media. Save your money though, and look for it at a used bookstore or at your local library bookstore (I picked up the hardback for $1.00 at our library bookstore).

The "Who cares?" award for the week

You can pick:

Barbara Walters: I had affair with U.S. senator

- or -

Did Mariah Carey get married?

Michelle Obama: the gift that keeps on giving (v. 5)

A "2-for...Friday" lineup:

Michelle Obama's noblesse oblige: "I'm willing to make the sacrifices"

- and -

The Michelle Obama-patented subject-changer

Role Model, Suckers

Read about it, here, here and here (if you've got absolutely nothing else to do today).

Why evolution can't win (v. 1)

Ben Stein's movie, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, has been in theaters for about two weeks. For those still unaware, the producers of the movie essentially posit that those within the halls of academia not only prevent the inclusion of Intelligent Design proponents, but will actively seek, and have sought, to destroy the careers of those who dare question natural process evolutionary theory.

So, how do some of the most vociferous proponents of natural process evolutionary theory approach Ben Stein's efforts? Well, if you visit The Thumb, you will find a total of 61 posts (as of this writing) tagged under the category of "Expelled".* Skim through the posts and you'll find them laced with the notions that the producers of Expelled are liars, dishonest, disingenuous, etc.

Hear. Speak. See.

Okay, so let's ignore the obvious display of paranoia in which they overreact to an idea which they consider equivalent to that of believing in a flat-earth. Instead, let's ask: Why are they so intent on convincing you to NOT see the movie? What are they so afraid of?

Tell you what, why not do the typical American thing? When some group - any group - is so intent on getting you to not do something, then how about you go out AND DO IT?

Yeah, go see the movie.

* see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, blah, blah, blah.

What if we win? (v. 12)

From the Long War Journal, Taliban field commander killed in Helmand province

Afghan and NATO special operations forces have killed a senior Taliban commander during a joint raid in Helmand province, according to the Afghan Ministry of Defense. Mullah Abdul Bari, along with 29 Taliban fighters, were killed in a "five-hour coordinated attack on four targets" in the region between the Musa Qala and Kajaki districts of Helmand province, News.com.au reported.

Missile strike kills 20 in South Waziristan

A devastating explosion destroyed the fortress-like home of a tribal elder in South Waziristan on Sunday, killing up to 20 people and leaving five others injured today, state-run Pakistan Television announced. Foreign fighters and Taliban insurgents are believed to be among the dead.

From HotAir, US: Foreign fighters flee Iraq,

Foreign fighters have become disillusioned with jihad in Iraq and have begun to exit the theater, US military officials reported yesterday. These fighters comprise al-Qaeda in Iraq’s best resource for suicide bombers, and their loss gives them much less operational capability. AQI leadership has not yet given up the fight, but prospects for replacements look grim...

On fossil fuel dependence, new technology, and predicting the future

Technological Innovation is an interesting phenomenon (not to mention that it is mind-driven, and intelligence-based). It's through such innovation that we have been able to progress from crossing the country in a covered wagon, to using a jet airliner. Yet, what of our dependence on fossil fuels, and the implications of such dependence? Current alternatives render electricity as a viable power source, yet current technology limits the means with which we can provide ample electrical power.

Consider, if you will, a future in which powerful batteries are small, very long lasting, and essentially universal in application. Would such a technological environment spell the demise of the domination of fossil fuel technology?

Enter three very interesting posts at ScienceDaily. In Sweet Nanotech Batteries: Nanotechnology Could Solve Lithium Battery Charging Problems, we read,

Nanotechnology could improve the life of the lithium batteries used in portable devices, including laptop computers, mp3 players, and mobile phones. Research to be published in the Inderscience publication International Journal of Nanomanufacturing demonstrates that carbon nanotubes can prevent such batteries from losing their charge capacity over time.

And in New Nanowire Battery Holds 10 Times The Charge Of Existing Ones,

Stanford researchers have found a way to use silicon nanowires to reinvent the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power laptops, iPods, video cameras, cell phones, and countless other devices.

...The greatly expanded storage capacity could make Li-ion batteries attractive to electric car manufacturers. Cui suggested that they could also be used in homes or offices to store electricity generated by rooftop solar panels.

Finally, in Newly Discovered Fundamental State Of Matter, A Superinsulator, Has Been Created,

Scientists could eventually form superinsulators that would encapsulate superconducting wires, creating an optimally efficient electrical pathway with almost no energy lost as heat. A miniature version of these superinsulated superconducting wires could find their way into more efficient electrical circuits.

Imagine, powerful, small batteries, capable of holding large charges for long periods of time. Will there be a time when one buys a laptop computer never expecting to have to recharge the battery? Will there be a time when one makes their monthly stop at the local "filling" station to  exchange a standard battery pack for their electric powered vehicle?

Would people, in such a time, view the internal combustion engine as quaintly as we now view the covered wagon?

Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters (v. 2)

From my review of Meg Meeker's Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters, I wrote:

Because of our culture's decadence, you need to actively protect your daughter from its influence.

This type of behavior, by both you and your daughter, is not protecting her from the decadent influence of culture.

I hope no one fell for the Hannah Montana wholesome role-model nonsense.

America Alone (v. 5)

Mark Steyn's book, America Alone, isn't a call for more war, more bombing, or more killing, but for more will. Herein follows a series of posts either highlight Steyn quotes, or listing current events which, indeed, indicate that America is alone in her fight against Islamic terror.

Re: the West's rabid belief in pluralism and the fantasy of co-existence -

One Step Forward, Several Back, in Efforts to Define the Enemy, Counterterrorism Blog,

As my colleague Jeffrey Imm has recently noted, there has been a alarming few steps back in identifying the Salafist/jihadist threat we face in any way with a growing current of Islam.

The new threat assessment, the State of the Union, (as noted by Andrew Cochran here) both fail to mention Islamism by name.

Our government is not alone. The British government has has decided the Islamist radicals are now to be called criminals so Muslims won't be offended.

and a consequence,

Chad's Future Taliban enters capital while the West is asleep,

As Americans are debating who among their candidates for the primaries can best confront the Jihadists or at least preempt their offensives worldwide, future Jihadi forces have in one day invaded an African country (under European protection), a key location for the Darfur forthcoming Peace missions. In less than 12 hours the so-called armed opposition of Chad, crossed the entire country from its Eastern frontiers with Islamist-ruled Sudan to the capital N'Djamena across from Northern Nigeria. The latest reports mention fierce battles around the Presidential Palace and back and forth inside the city. But at this stage the geo-political consequences are crucial for the next stages locally, regionally and internationally. The bottom line is that in one day, what could become the future Taliban of Chad have scored a strategic victory not only against the Government of the country (which was supposed to back up the UN plans to save Darfur in Sudan) but also against the efforts by the African Union and European Union to contain the Sudanese regime and stop the Genocide.

The Long War (v. 5)

From the Belmont Club,

Al-Qaeda is mining Facebook to unearth personal details of coalition military personnel. "The MI5 analysts have seen that many thousands of servicemen and women had posted personal details on those websites and had included news of their careers, pictures of themselves in uniforms and details of past postings. “Those details in the hands of al-Qaida operatives offer invaluable information,” Evans warns."

From HotAir,

Islamist extremists have infiltrated Government and key public utilities to pass sensitive information to terrorists, the security services have warned…

The development is detailed in intelligence reports circulated to the Home Office, police and Whitehall officials.

The London Underground, Gatwick airport and BT are cited as examples of organisations which have been targeted by individuals linked to terrorists…

From Counterterrorism Blog,

The SITE Intelligence Group has released an announcement from Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb, in which it stipulates demands for the release of two Austrian tourists taken hostage this week. The demands provide three days for the Tunisian and Algerian governments to release prisoners... 

Earlier today, the NEFA Foundation translated the AQIM communique in which it first claimed the kidnapping. AQIM warned Austria against attempting any military action to free the hostages and warned Western tourists to stay away from Tunisia: "The hands of the mujahideen can reach you wherever you are in the country of Tunisia..."

Words, and their meanings

At The View from Her, Jan has an interesting post titled, WORDS HAVE MEANING(S) (HT: Intellectuelle). She makes the very good point that we, as Christians, must make the effort to insure that the words we communicate are being understood as intended (which is always a good thing when one is making an argument).

However, I was a bit bemused by a reference to what a New York Times reporter said, at the conference Jan had recently attended. From Jan's post,

The assumption is that because we're all speaking English, we're speaking the same language. Michael Luo, a reporter at the New York Times, and a believer, spoke at one of the sessions and inadvertently clarified one fundamental, doctrinal issue between the two camps. Asked if he had any advice for church people invited to comment on a situation by the news media, Michael said, "Well, be careful about using too much church language. Like... well 'sin' is a good example. That word doesn't mean what you think it means to people outside church. 'Sin' is actually, like... good." And everyone chuckled.

The word "sin" is one of the most divisive words in the heresy battle between the generations. The modernists rail that "sin" only has one meaning, and that the post-moderns don't like it because it makes them uncomfortable. The word "sin" is black and white. It has an absolute meaning in Christian doctrine.

...Except when it doesn't. If the world thinks "Sin" now stands for all the fun things people like to do that used to be forbidden, using that word is just a bad translation... like saying, "Jesus died for the good stuff." It fails to convey the correct meaning across cultural divides. Yes, words do still have specific meaning. But it's clear that we have to work harder, ask more questions, actively seek to understand, and define our terms to make sure we really understand what the other person is really saying.

On the one hand, I agree that we need to make sure our words - our terms - are understood. On the other hand, I think we need to make every effort to fight against the unwarranted hijacking of the definition of words by a lazy culture.

For example, the implication that Michael Luo seems to be making is that when the world thinks of the word "sin," they think of "good" (and, I suppose, "fun"). Yet, this is new? Hardly. The writer of the book of Hebrews wrote about the fleeting pleasures of sin (to which Steve Taylor wrote a CCM song, back in the 80s). And one can hardly get through the first section of the book of Proverbs without noticing that the admonitions to get wisdom are laced with the acknowledgment that sin has its pleasures.

Simply put: "sin" is "fun", and pretty much always has been.

Of course, now we need to define "fun"...

Saturday links, 4/26/08

What is the Language KOG?

...in the Language KOG I hope to remove some the mystery surrounding scientific language so that when a student reads a scientific work the language won’t confuse, bemuddle, or otherwise intimidate them out of having any interest in the subject they are reading.

So... words have meaning within the context of application?

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Virtual lives vs. Real lives

What does it mean to be human in a world in which we are increasingly connected by nothing more than zeros and ones, dots on a screen, projections of ourselves in a medium that has no real consequences for misbehavior? Where we can create our own identity and pass ourselves off as anything we want?

It means we not let go of our humanity.

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Tylenol, and how it interferes with public education

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iPods vs. a ride in the country

Giving your child an iPod simply because you would have loved one when you were a kid doesn’t really help them become a stronger person, but spending a week with them in the countryside of a foreign nation and exposing them to new cultures in a way you dreamed of as a child can change their world.

An Intellectuelle series on Feminization & the Church

Bonnie, over at Intellectuelle, has boldly begun a series on "Feminization and the church" (see here and here). In her intro, she states,

I hope to show that the case of the church's "feminization" is a house of cards, a practically hopeless confusion of over-generalization, stereotype, knee-jerk reaction, cultural influence, mis-assessment, incorrect representation of history, incorrect interpretation of Scripture, and misinterpreted statistics.

Wow! It will certainly be interesting to see how she parses out such an aggressive goal.

Another quote,

Well, as this series will hopefully show, I do intend to give a calm, reasoned response to many aspects of this movement. But for the moment, I will let my inner woman, my inner man, my inner sinner, my inner whatever out and confess that I am dismayed by the wrongheadedness of much of this movement. I am angered by its foolishness. I am grieved, on many levels.

My word.

Frankly, from what she's written so far, I think Bonnie is overreacting. But I'll have to wait and see the extent of what she has to say (of which I'm eagerly awaiting).

While I certainly don't know the exact methodology she'll be using to argue her point, I would like to comment on a few of the "thoughts" she left at the end of her introduction, part II.

She stated,

1) We must be careful how we assess the authority of any particular author or speaker who writes or speaks on any given topic. Though a dude (or a dame) writes a book (or a blog post) and a bunch of people, even good people, think all the references look good and the message "sounds right," these do not automatically make it right.

2) We must be careful how we decide what and whom we trust, and beware trusting anything or anyone fully.

3) People seem quick to jump on bandwagons.

4) It seems that people (including me) don't always truly appreciate the difficulties inherent in understanding movements, or history. Some perhaps do not realize, or care to take, the time and attention necessary to fully grasp a phenomenon. Perhaps some are brainwashed by the typical black-and-white, linear-statement "fact-list"-type history instruction they got in school or college, and the same type presentation of "facts" we commonly read in the newspaper. They fail to look for "the rest of the story" or accept that, more often than not, all the necessary facts are simply not available.

5) Just as a rumor spreads false information far and wide, so can the perpetuation of information not properly checked out falsely inform us. After enough seemingly reputable sources repeat it (and enough people want to believe it), it seems to become accepted as fact. (May I never do this!)

My comments, on her list:

1) Yes, and though some people may disagree with an authoritative commentary, or analysis, on a particular topic does not mean that said people are correct.

2) I fully agree. ;^)  Seriously, I'm not exactly sure where she intends to go with this statement. IF she means that those who fully agree with a person of authority must not have carefully thought through the issues, then I'd respectfully disagree with her. Whether or not one fully agrees with a particular idea (or authority) is not a measure of whether or not one has fully thought through the issue. Like I said, though, I'm not sure she's going there.

3) Yes, people do (and some people avoid jumping on them simply because they perceive them as bandwagons). Yet, what bandwagon is she talking about? Feminization and the church? I, for one, don't consider it a bandwagon.

4) Yes, and sometimes people over-analyze issues. Sometimes issues really are linearly black-and-white. And while further analysis will shed additional light on any given issue, the gist may also certainly remain.

5) Of course. And with a topic as ambiguous as Feminization and the Church, one would expect there to be nuances.  Let's make sure to divide between nuance and false information.

I look forward to reading Bonnie's opinion on the matter which will, no doubt, expand upon the 5 thoughts she left us with.

Quick-Book-Review: Logged On and Tuned Out, by Vicki Courtney

The subtitle to Logged On and Tuned Out, by Vicki Courtney, states "a nontechie's guide to parenting a tech-savvy generation." That is pretty much the gist of what her book is about. It's written for parents who are not quite up to speed with the technological state of affairs that our children find all too comfortable.

An acquaintance of mine, who is about my age, has a difficult time managing the mundane task of e-mailing. She is, no doubt, unaware that she is at least two steps behind her 6th grade daughter in that her daughter considers e-mail to be a thing of the past. Enter the world of constant cellphone communication, IM'ing, texting, digital photo and video uploads, and the social networks such as MySpace and Facebook.

Courtney presents a concise primer on the way such technology works, as well as outlining the potential hazards awaiting a young, immature generation. Be forewarned, however, that her writing style is geared for the extroverted female reader, who probably spends time with "the girls" at the mall (e.g., I am so-not into that).

Recommendation: If you have tweens or teens, and are not tech-savvy, I'd recommend you read Courtney's book. If you already have a good handle of the communication technology out there waiting for your children, then a cursory inspection of the book, at the library or bookstore, should suffice.

Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters (v. 1)

From my review of Meg Meeker's Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters, I wrote:

Teach her that modesty is simply another form of self-respect, that it honors her integrity. Set up a dress code. 

Listening to the Laura Ingraham radio show, on Friday, I heard of the website for Pure Fashion. Pure Fashion, per it's "about" page, states,

Pure Fashion is an international faith based program designed for girls 14-18 to help young women re-discover and re-affirm their innate value and authentic femininity.

Pure Fashion is a character formation program that enhances not only a young woman's external appearance, but more importantly, her interior beauty and balanced self confidence.

Our goal is to emphasize a young woman's inherent dignity and therefore create in her a desire to dress and act in accordance with that dignity. We understand that many young women today are losing their sense of innocence at a very young age, and Pure Fashion aims to reverse this trend by offering a fun, exciting and effective virtue formation program that can impress the hearts and minds of young girls at a very critical stage in their lives.

In an age when even Christian teenage girls are wearing more revealing and revealing clothes, it's refreshing to see the approach that Pure Fashion is taking.

Congrats to Mike Murdock

Congratulations to blogger Mike Murdock (Rev. Mike) for becoming Dr. Mike Murdock.

"Mindless-Process" Design: on being students without a teacher (v. 3)

Natural Process Evolution (aka Neo-Darwinism, Naturalism, etc.) rests on the Blind Watchmaker argument in which mindless processes, via the natural realm, are responsible for the diversity of life on planet earth (indeed, responsible for the very cosmos we exist in).

We are told that we, as humans, have evolved to the point where we have minds that think, that reason, that design and, that engineer. Yet, if this is the case, how is it that we now seem to take our mind-driven cues, as shown below, from the alleged products of a completely mindless process? Common sense, from our evolved minds, should tell us that if we see a well designed and engineered product, then it is reasonable to conclude that it, in fact, came from a mind.

Therefore, I'd like to present a series of examples that we find in nature, of so-called MD (i.e., Mindless-process Design) and how, in doing so, we acknowledge the inescapable conclusion that there is design / engineering in what we behold:

Over at the Thumb, in a post titled, Eppur si muove!, we read,

The Harvard multimedia team that put together that pretty video of the Inner Life of the Cell has a whole collection of videos online (including Inner Life with a good narration.) Go watch the one titled F1-F0 ATPase; it's a beautiful example of a highly efficient molecular motor, and it's the kind of thing the creationists go ga-ga over. It's complex, and it does the same rotary motion that the bacterial flagellum does; it has a little turbine in the membrane, a stream of protons drives rotation of an axle, and the movement of that axle drives conformation changes in the surrounding protein that promote the synthesis of ATP. It's a molecular machine all right. Makes a fellow wonder if possibly it's "irreducible", doesn't it?

Well, it's not. It can be broken down further and it still retain that rotary motion. (emphasis added)

Let's ignore the fact that simply retaining its rotary motion does not equate to retaining its function. Instead, let's focus on the use of the words: "motor", "turbine", "axle", and "machine". You got that? Motor, turbine, axle, machine. Repeat after me - motor, turbine, axle, machine.

Now, let's apply the oxymoron of Mindless-process Design as the means by which we get a... motor, turbine, axle, machine.

Still... it's designed.

America Alone (v. 4)

Mark Steyn's book, America Alone, isn't a call for more war, more bombing, or more killing, but for more will (see my review here). Herein follows a series of posts either highlight Steyn quotes, or listing current events which, indeed, indicate that America is alone in her fight against Islamic terror.

Re: The Anything They'll Believe In: Church vs. state; the post-Christian aspect of much of Western culture.

An[t]i-war protesters attack Catholic parishioners in Chicago, via HotAir

A group of anti-war protesters interrupted an Easter Mass in Chicago yesterday, stunning parishioners with their shouts during Cardinal Francis George’s homily. They then squirted stage blood on the congregation, leading to their arrest and an angry confrontation in the gathering space outside the hall.

As Ed Morrissey asks, imagine what would have happened had such a demonstration taken place at a mosque.

On the differences between boys and girls

From ScienceDaily, Boys' And Girls' Brains Are Different: Gender Differences In Language Appear Biological,

Although researchers have long agreed that girls have superior language abilities than boys, until now no one has clearly provided a biological basis that may account for their differences.

For the first time -- and in unambiguous findings -- researchers from Northwestern University and the University of Haifa show both that areas of the brain associated with language work harder in girls than in boys during language tasks, and that boys and girls rely on different parts of the brain when performing these tasks.

Is it possible that the biological differences, which not only establish the physical differences between boys and girls, are also responsible for cognitive processes (note: not cognitive levels)?

If so, then what other physiological differences might we discover?

Book review: Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters by Meg Meeker

In Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters, Meg Meeker, M.D., lays out her argument as to why a young girl's father is the most important person in her life. Building on over twenty years of medical practice, including counseling girls, Meeker has come to the conclusion that the father is primarily the one who shapes the path of his female children. The subtitle for the book is, 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know, and Meeker outlines each secret in the book's 10 chapters. Yet, in reading her book I discovered that, while some of Meeker's claims may run counter to what our culture tells us, most of the methodologies she posits are very intuitive, demonstrating a common sense approach towards the task of fatherhood. Was it, then, a waste of time to read the book? Certainly not! While the points Meeker explains should be common knowledge, in my opinion, I fear that our culture has denigrated the decidedly male role of father to nothing more than that of breadwinner. I also fear that too many men have been derelict in their responsibility of being their children's, and in this context, their daughter's fathers. What Meeker does, so elegantly, is lay out the very real and very important influence that fathers have on their daughters.

That said, here is my review of Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters.

Spring Break, debauchery, and the degradation of our women

Via Crunchy Con, an op-ed from the L.A. Times, regarding the female degrading debauchery which happens at Spring Break. In Raunch is rebranded as 'confidence', Meghan Daum writes,

A few years ago, I went to Cancun during spring break to research a magazine article. I was hoping to arrive at some grand psychological and existential reason as to why many of today's college women (who, after all, were presumably pursuing higher education because they wanted to be more than sex objects) seem so happy to let men lick tequila shots off their body parts.

I didn't exactly succeed. But after a week of talking to people in various states of undress and intoxication, I can tell you this much: What's happening on spring break beaches isn't just boys being boys and girls going wild. It's young people, women especially, deciding that the way to measure their readiness for the adult world is not in terms of education or emotional maturity but sexual desirability.

Is this what the feminist movement has delivered to the young women of the 21st century? What have we done to our children, particularly girls, that they now grow up believing themselves to not be worthy unless said worthiness is tied to sexual desire?

The raunchy contests and general debauchery were something that these women had prepared for, almost as though for a final exam. They'd logged hours at the gym, in tanning booths and at body wax salons. They'd save up money for breast implants and then timed the surgery so they'd be healed by spring break. Some seemed to have practiced drinking, experimenting with different alcohol combinations to see what afforded the fastest buzz with the least amount of calories and dollars spent.

One word I heard again and again, oddly, was "confidence." As they psyched themselves up for wet T-shirt contests or debated whether a given guy was worth flirting with, a lot of women told me that they saw spring break as the proving ground for their attractiveness. "If I can be considered hot here, I'll be hot anywhere," a rather morose woman sitting on a bar stool in a bikini and high heels told me. "I'm here to get confident."

While Islamic terrorism threatens our very existence, our culture writhes in the throes of self-gratification, thinking itself in ecstasy.

The woman Folly is loud; she is seductive and knows nothing. She sits at the door of her house; she takes a seat on the highest places of the town, calling to those who pass by, who are going straight on their way, “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” And to him who lacks sense she says, “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol. - Proverbs 9:13-18

The words remain true.

Saturday links

It's only taken about 40 years, but it looks like we've progressed from the entertaining Pirates of the Caribbean animatronics, to the ability to rent female robots, ostensibly for product demonstration. From Kokoro, the company responsible,

Absolutely looks like a real human! The "Actroid" humanoid, developed with a cutting-edge technology attract you with its human look-alike appearance and astonishing high expression ability.

Freaky. Can anyone say... Westworld?

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I wasn't aware of this, but the late architect Phillip Johnson evidently had quite the fascist tendencies in the 1930s. Ed Driscoll has made a ten-minute video highlighting Johnson's escapades, and the apparent manner such activities were later swept under the rug. Driscoll reports that Johnson, upon being allowed to accompany the Nazis into Poland, in 1939, wrote to a friend,

We saw Warsaw burn and Modlin being bombed. It was a stirring spectacle.

A short list of Johnson's buildings includes:

• The Glass House
• The Seagram Building
• The AT&T Building (now the Sony Building)

Oh, another one of his buildings is... The Crystal Cathedral, in southern California.

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It seems that the University of Texas at San Antonio decided to create a code of honor for its students, in order to encourage them not to cheat or plagiarize. Unfortunately, a significant portion of the code was copied from the honor code at BYU. Said Daniel Wueste, director of the Rutland Center for Ethics at Clemson University in South Carolina,

Young people today have a different understanding of what in the way of ideas and words is property that can be taken without authorization...

That, and the obscenely easy task it is to now cut and paste large blocks of text.

Evolution happens, because we know it happens (v. 2)

From ScienceDaily, Evolution Of New Species Slows Down As Number Of Competitors Increases, (and note the irony),

The rate at which new species are formed in a group of closely related animals decreases as the total number of different species in that group goes up, according to new research.

The research team believes these findings suggest that new species appear less and less as the number of species in a region approaches the maximum number that it can support.

Wow. Just like one would expect to find in a complex system, optimally designed to work at an efficient level.

Further,

In order for new species to thrive, they need to evolve to occupy their own niche in the ecosystem, relying on certain foods and habitats for survival that are sufficiently different from those of other closely related species.

Competition between closely related species for food and habitat becomes more intense the more species there are, and researchers believe this could be the reason for the drop-off in the appearance of new species over time.

So, in order for new species to thrive, they need to evolve. Yet, doesn't the survival of an ecosystem depend on the complex interactions within its members? Since when does an ecosystem have time to spare to allow new species the opportunity to occupy their niche? And if they have time to spare, how much time do they have?

"Okay, guys? You've got 1 million years to get up to speed or else - it's curtains!"

You see, when evolution is the only game in town, then the only reasonable conclusion is to state that evolution speeds up when there are less species walking around, and slows down when there are more. And, since we're dealing with natural selection, environmental constraints, genetic mutations, and such, it's gotta boil down to the competition factor, right?

Yet, consider that nowhere do we see the actual evidence that evolution is the mechanism which accomplishes speciation, much less the means with which the mechanism speeds up and slows down. It's nothing more than imposing an idea on the data. So, when we see, after major extinction events, a quick recovery of new species, it must be due to a quickened evolutionary pace brought abo