Reformed + Missional = Reformissional
Well, it looks like I’m going to skip out on posting a Carnival of the Consumers edition this week. I spent a good portion of today at the hospital while my seven-months-pregnant wife suffered from the flu and dehydration (including the mandatory vomiting). I hope the kids don’t get sick. Should be a fun weekend. See you Monday.
Whether Google can retain it’s independent spirit and creative atmosphere as a public company remains to be seen. Sergey and Larry will do all they can to keep it that way. Their opening letter for the upcoming share auction reads like a revolutionary manifesto. Here’s my favorite quote:
A management team distracted by a series of short term targets is as pointless as a dieter stepping on a scale every half hour.
Full text: letter from Google’s founders
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The Carnival of the Consumers will be late this week. It will be up by tomorrow at noon PDT.
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So just how influential do you want your blog to be?
People in black trench coats might soon be chasing blogs…
Some analysts say U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials might be starting to track blogs for important bits of information. This interest is a sign of how far Web media such as blogs have come in reshaping the data-collection habits of intelligence professionals and others, even with the knowledge that the accuracy of what’s reported in some blogs is questionable.
Questionable? Well, maybe on some other blog. Bloggers who lie are doomed to either a short life-span or a small audience who likes the lies they hear.
Yahoo! News - Blog-Tracking May Gain Ground Among U.S. Intelligence Officials
Fellow Bear Flagger Justene Adamec over at Calblog has received a nasty petition from a Canadian company because of comments posted to her blog. This concens me because it could affect my website due to the nature of the Carnival of the Consumers. I need to protect myself from being held responsible for or being required to identify commenters to my blog. In light of this development, I’ve updated my comment policy to include some new language:
Any individual making a posting to this site agrees (by submitting the posting) to indemnify and hold Jeff Doolittle (”Jeff”) and the Jeff Doolittle dot com website (”JDDC”) harmless from any and all liability or injury that Jeff or JDDC may incur by reason of any posting.
By accessing this website you agree that any claims regarding speech presented herein are governed by California law, and consent to the exclusive juristiction and venue of state or federal courts sitting in Fresno, CA.
Furthermore, while all liability for comment content rests upon the commenter, Jeff and JDDC are unable to produce the identity of commenters and will under no circumstance be required to make any attempt to produce such information.
Thanks to Patterico for tipping me off.
I’m not a big Ann Coulter fan–she’s a bit edgy for my taste. However, sometimes she hits the nail on the head. Last month, Ann summarized why the media just don’t get The Passion of the Christ. It’s because liberals want to believe that the message of Christianity is simply “be nice to everyone.” However, what Jesus taught goes much deeper than this; loving your enemy goes far beyond simply “being nice.”
C.S. Lewis has an aptly titled chapter in his book, Mere Christianity. The chapter is called “Nice People or New Men.” The whole point is that Jesus doesn’t simply want to improve us. He wants us to be the best we can be. Trouble is, we cannot do it on our own effort or will. Here’s where Ann Coulter really sums it up right:
Jesus’ distinctive message was: People are sinful and need to be redeemed, and this is your lucky day because I’m here to redeem you even though you don’t deserve it, and I have to get the crap kicked out of me to do it. That is the reason He is called “Christ the Redeemer” rather than “Christ the Moron Driving Around in a Volvo With a ‘Be Nice to People’ Bumper Sticker on It.”
Sure, she’s crass and sarcastic; but she’s right. However, even this isn’t the entire story.
Let’s say Jesus had all these great teachings, but never did anything memorable. Suppose he just spouted moral platitudes, what we might call “self-help” today. There are many today who tell us that this is all there is to the “Jesus of History.” This type of thinking grows out of the “Jesus was a good moral teacher” wing of liberal Protestantism. Some (read: the Jesus Seminar) even want to remove everything from the Gospels except Jesus’ verbal teachings (and they even pick only a small selection of these). Talk about having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof (II Timothy 3:5)!
Whether you are a Christian or not, we should all agree that if Jesus didn’t back up his teachings with something more substantial, there would be little reason to put any kind of faith in him. Even Ghandi lent credibility to his teachings by protesting and gaining widespread notoriety. Mohammed fought many battles in spreading his beliefs, building his image as a leader. Moses performed great miracles to demonstrate his divinely appointed leadership. What does this small sampling show? It demonstrates that the great icons of belief back up their claims with actions. This is a vital key in all faith traditions.
Fortunately for Christians, such substantive demonstration of power was given to us by Jesus Christ. Not only did he perform miraculous healings and display power over nature; he died and rose again. This is the entire basis for the Christian faith. Without the Ressurection, there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to adhere to a single teaching of Christ.
“If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith” (1 Corinthians 15:13-14).
This is the reason why orthodox Christianity (whether Greek, Roman Catholic or Protestant) focuses so strongly on the Resurrection. Without it, we should all pack our bags and go worship some other god. Gutting out Christianty by turning it into a philosophical system with no evidentiary backing is an exercise in futility. Liberal christianity leads to a practical dead-end. It exalts the teachings while diminishing the teacher, thereby removing the whole motivation for obedience to the tenets of the faith.
Reference:
Ann Coulter: The Passion of the Liberal
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While you’re here, be sure to read my ‘critically acclaimed’ blog entry: Why Liberals Don’t Get The Passion
It looks like liberal environmentalists are going to rally around the “Day After” movie the way Christians rallied around “The Passion of the Christ.” Tells you a bit of something about people’s priorities…
DEMS TO RALLY BEHIND ‘DAY AFTER’; GORE PLANS SPEECH AT ‘GLOBAL WARMING’ PREMIERE
Tue Apr 27 2004 21:49:37 ETFOX’s global warming thriller THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW is turning into a political lightening rod.
A rally featuring former VP and environmental advocate Al Gore will be held a couple of blocks away from the pic’s May 24 preem in Gotham and hosted by MoveOn.org, DAILY VARIETY is reporting on Wednesday.
Helmed by director Roland Emmerich, DAY follows the onset of a new Ice Age just three days after the polar ice caps melt. With Emmerich’s penchant for onscreen destruction, the pic includes catastrophic tornadoes touching down in Los Angeles, giant hail in Tokyo and the flooding and freezing of New York.
VARIETY reporter Gabriel Snyder is planning to quote Gore: “THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW presents us with a great opportunity to talk about the scientific realities of climate change. Millions of people will be coming out of theaters on Memorial Day weekend asking the question, ‘Could this really happen?’ I think we need to answer that question.”
FOX spokeswoman Florence Grace said the pic “is meant to entertain audiences with a mix of spectacle and emotion. If it also increases awareness and inspires audiences to take an interest in some of the issues raised in the film, then all the better.”
Developing…
From Drudge (Warning: his links are volatile so this link may not work for long).
It looks like Pennsylvanians have chosen to stick with the incumbent “moderate” rather than take a chance on a true conservative. By a thread.
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Uh-oh. Looks like John is waffling again–this time on his website for the whole world to see!
Power Line Blog: Get me rewrite!
Hat Tip: Matt Margolis
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The writing is on the wall and even the Democrats know it. Kerry is a losing candidate and his own are turning against him. James Ridgeway from The Village Voice writes:
With the air gushing out of John Kerry’s balloon, it may be only a matter of time until political insiders in Washington face the dread reality that the junior senator from Massachusetts doesn’t have what it takes to win and has got to go.
The Village Voice: Nation: Mondo Washington: John Kerry Must Go by James Ridgeway
Hat Tip: Dale Franks
(Update)
Here’s more on the issue from eTalkingHead:
“A Giant Sucking Sound” 2004 Edition
The headlines are filled with stories about how Fallujah is now being overwhelmed by American AC-130 gunships. Being the curious sort, I had to find out more about these aircraft. I was amazed to behold four propellers–no jets. There is more to this plane than meets the eye and this “old” technology packs a huge punch.
I found an article from October of 2001 by Charles E. Miller, a retired Air Force colonel. The colonel provides a great overview of the capabilities of this aircraft and how it was used in the Afghanistan war.
Low, Slow & Deadly: Behold the AC-130 gunship.
Here’s more on the AC-130:
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/ac-130.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1602000.stm
http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/central/10/16/ret.ac130.profile/
Back in February, I put out a plug for the Mozilla Firefox browser. If you haven’t tried it out yet, it’s time you did so. This web browser makes Internet Explorer look like an old Datsun hatchback compared to an Infiniti G-35.
For even more reasons why you should test-drive Firebird, read 13 Reasons To Use Firefox Over IE. This article puts the last nail in the IE coffin.
Thanks to j0n for the link.
Update: Ben helps me with my spelling and provides the following great photo. What an amazing coincidence that I made that G-35 comparison!
Note: “XUL” stands for XML-based User interface Language. It is a standards based language developed by mozilla.org to create cross-platform user interfaces for Mozilla-based products such as the browser (like Firefox). It’s pronounced “zool.”
Back in March I shared my gratitude to you all for the greatly increasing amount of traffic coming to my website. During that month, I spent a good deal of time writing entries to be included in the various blogger carnivals (Vanities, Bush Bloggers, Capitalists, etc). These efforts paid off in a tremendous increase in traffic.
For the month of April I switched gears a bit and decided to focus more effort on the fledgling Carnival of the Consumers. While traffic coming to the Carnival has been flowing, I’m not getting the large amount of quality submissions I had hoped for. The Carnival is still young, so I’m going to keep promoting it–with a little help from my friends (this means you!).
If you haven’t yet joined the Carnival of the Consumers mailing list group on Yahoo! then go do it. This is a very light mailing list that will not clutter up your in-box. You will simply be informed weekly when the Carnival of the Consumers is posted and you may receive an occasional e-mail requesting your assistance in promoting the Carnival.
You can also use a nice handy tool from Yahoo! to invite a bunch of people to join the Carnival of the Consumers mailing list. Just go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cotconsumers/subs_invite and put in up to 50 e-mail addresses. What a great way to spread the word!
You may be asking, “What’s in it for me?” As this Carnival grows, there will be tremendous potential for you to increase traffic to your blog by hosting a weekly edition. Those who actively promote the Carnival and can demonstrate the fruits of their labor will be given high priority for hosting. What can you do? Invite friends to join the mailing list and voraciously promote the Carnival on your blog. This Carnival has the potential to not just bring traffic to your site, but to create a nice repository of searchable information that will be useful to all.
It looks like 5,000 visitors in April is going to happen, but how about 10,000 in May? Only time will tell.
P.S. My Google Page Rank jumped from 4 to 5 this month. Woohoo!
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At NRO, Victor Davis Hanson offers up a superb analysis of some of the pervading myths regarding America’s involvement in Iraq.
So, we can either press ahead in the face of occasionally bad news from Iraq (though it will never be of the magnitude that once came from Sugar Loaf Hill or the icy plains near the Yalu that did not faze a prior generation’s resolve) — or we can withdraw. Then watch the entire three-year process of real improvement start to accelerate in reverse.
Victor Davis Hanson on Iraq on National Review Online
Be sure to also check out Victor’s personal website.
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The deadline for Carnival of the Consumers entries is Thursday at 8:00AM PDT. To find out how you can submit your favorite blog entry, visit the Carnival of the Consumers Index Page.
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Welcome to the third edition of the Carnival of the Consumers! If you want to know more about the Carnival or submit a blog entry for inclusion in the next edition, visit the Carnival of the Consumers Explained page.
Inluminent cancels his Netflix subscription (Cancelled Netflix Tonight).
Brand Autopsy analyzes the process and necessity of rising prices (The Case for Higher Prices).
O’Reilly decries all the whining about Google’s up-and-coming Gmail service (The Fuss About Gmail and Privacy).
SeedWiki has some great tips on ways to make money with your blog (Making Blogs Make Money).
The CS Monitor opines about the rising expenses of fixing newer cars (New cars are getting too expensive to fix).
That’s it for this week. If you are interested in hosting the Carnival of the Consumers or in submitting a link for the next edition, visit the Carnival of the Consumers Explained page. The Carnival is published every Thursday.
As if we weren’t sick enough of her already…
Proving that popularity isn’t everything, show villain Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth has reportedly scored a potential shampoo endorsement with Clairol and was being screen-tested this week to measure her ability to star in Herbal Essences commercials.
I don’t know if I can tolerate Ms. “Manigault-Stallworth” (blech!) touting a totally organic experience without blowing some serious chunks.
Yahoo! News - Apprentice Bill’s Gig Uncertain?
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Governor Schwarzenegger is on to something with his idea for a part-time legislature. John Fund has a great article on the subject. What’s hilarious is the reaction of some of our current dhimmicratic legislators:
[Some] violently disagree with…Mr. Schwarzenegger’s sudden interest in a part-time legislature. “While I’m working my a** off, he’s pontificating from Hawaii?” snarled Senate President Pro Tem John Burton of San Francisco. Assemblyman Joe Canciamilla, a moderate Democrat, warned that “if you make [the Legislature] part-time, I think you will get a group of people that are even less focused on real public policy.”
Maybe they just don’t get it. We’re tired of them “working” so much. The whole point is to give them less time to muck things up. Instead of so much focus on “real public policy,” what we really need is less public policy.
For more on the Hamas/Palestinian issue, I spent my lunch hour today searching and reading on the subject. In the process, I found out that today would have been Adolf Hitler’s 115th birthday. In “honor” of that occasion, a couple of websites expose the link between militant palestinian terrorism and the Third Reich.
Davids Medienkritik: Fuehrer’s Birthday
Aaron’s Rantblog: Before Hamas. Before Arafat. Before Israel. Before the Final Solution–The Mufti of Jerusalem
Probably the most hypocritical statements made by Hamas are the ones where they compare “Zionism” to Naziism. The sickening irony is apparent here as it was the Jews, today’s Israelis, who suffered the holocaust at the hands of Hitler. Read the Hamas Charter for more of these ridiculous comparisons of Jews to Nazis (Article 20, for example).
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I grow weary of those who say we need to broker peace with Hamas and other palestinian terrorist organizations. Unless they repudiate their charter and begin saying the same things in English and in Arabic, what other choice does Israel have but to eradicate the leadership of this dangerous organization? Here are some excerpts from the Hamas Charter so you can see for yourself that this is no humanitarian group.
The deadline for Carnival of the Consumers entries is Thursday at 8:00AM PDT. To find out how you can submit your favorite blog entry, visit the Carnival of the Consumers Index Page.
Welcome to the second edition of the Carnival of the Consumers! If you want to know more about the Carnival or submit a blog entry for inclusion in the next edition, visit the Carnival of the Consumers Explained page.
XRLQ considers the effects of price disputes on his satellite television service (Dish Customers Brace for Another Disappearing Act).
Marginal Revolution discusses the economics of why cable channels must be purchased in batches and not individually (Why can’t you choose your cable channels?).
Doc Searls shares a few quibbles he has with his new Nikon Coolpix 5700 digital camera (Coolpix and pans).
Josh Cohen at www.d-42.com shares the results of The Great Gum Experiment of 2004 (with a special emphasis on what’s wrong with the new Eclipse gum flavors).
Finally, if you haven’t heard about the new product from 3M, they have come up with a modern miracle: Transparent Duct Tape! What more could a consumer ask for?
Again, if you are interested in hosting the Carnival of the Consumers or in submitting a link for the next edition, visit the Carnival of the Consumers Explained page. The Carnival is published every Thursday (sorry it was late this week!).
The WB network is casting for a new show in the Star Search/American Idol tradition. The show will be called Superstar USA.
What’s funny is that there may be more to this show than meets the eye. According to Relevant Magazine:
The WB is in the midst of developing Superstar USA, a spoof on American Idol, that promotes truly terrible singers who are clueless about the show’s double-faced agenda. Competitors will be clued in to the joke after the final episode. Basically, a reality show on the Will Hung experience…
The best part of American Idol is seeing people audition who think they can sing, but have absolutely zero talent. It’s even better when they try to argue about just how talented they think they are. Looks like this show is going to take those best parts of American Idol and make a whole series out of them. Could this be the WB’s chance to make it into the big time?
