One Hundred Words (35)

09/30/2008, 1:55 pm -- by | No Comments

With the financial meltdown and $700B ridiculousness eating up the media\’s “Foam at the mouth about how wonderful Obama is” time, illegal immigrants aren\’t in the forefront of our collective psyche.

Illegals “do the jobs Americans won\’t,” like landscaping, housekeeping, bussing tables, and picking fruits and vegetables. Why won\’t Americans ”˜do\’ these jobs? They don\’t pay well enough and they\’re dangerous, so illegals do them for less than Americans are willing to.

Get rid of the aliens, and hotels/commercial farms will have to provide safer environments and higher wages for LEGAL immigrants to work.

A living wage without government interference!

–JJM

Quote of the Day, 9/29/08

09/29/2008, 7:00 am -- by | No Comments

“Tolerance is only another name for indifference.” — W.S. Maugham

Spam Subject Line of the Day…

09/28/2008, 9:26 pm -- by | No Comments

“Your chemist wants to know if you are interested in bad health”

Adventures in Puppyhood!

09/28/2008, 10:12 am -- by | 3 Comments

Meet Reagan!  (And Gorby the duck)

Meet Reagan! (And Gorby the duck)

Official Wife Karen is a glutton for punishment. Whenever we would visit the mall, she would always make sure we stopped at the pet store to look at the puppies. I like dogs, so naturally I agreed to LOOK at the $1,000+ puppies in the mall, but never, ever, ever, ever, ever in a million years would we buy one there.

As much as I love her, Official Wife Karen is what you could call impulsive. So seeing puppies in the mall made her want them, checking account balance notwithstanding. Combine her impulsiveness with her gluttony for punishment and you have a recipe for disaster. I want that puppy, I want it now, and if you loved me you wouldn’t show me puppies we can’t afford.

We had been looking through ads in the newspaper to see the prices for different puppies for sale and had decided that we wanted a chocolate lab puppy named Albert Q. Einstein and a beagle puppy named Sir Isaac Newton. And of course, since we live in an apartment with a no-pet lease, we’d get them once we bought a house.

Yesterday morning, she wanted to look at puppies at the SPCA. LOOK at puppies. Look at puppies. Look, look, look, look, look.

Look, not buy. Continued here!

Saved As Through Fire, By a Chick Tract

09/28/2008, 12:29 am -- by | No Comments

What are the guys burning down tonight?



 
If you picked “An old, abandoned warehouse,” you’re a winner!!

Yes or no, turkey?!

©1984-2008 Chick Publications, Inc. Reprinted without permission as fair use (parody).

A Faithful Witness

09/26/2008, 4:52 pm -- by | 1 Comment

“Poetry too is a little incarnation . . .”
C.S. Lewis

Anything that I have ever written, if it was written well, seemed to me not something I created, but rather something I uncovered. Anything possessing real beauty or wisdom is surely an absolute, which existed long before I penned the words or captured the thoughts to put on display. So it is imperative when I write to be faithful to recreate what I feel or see in my mind. It can\’t be written to appeal to a certain person or demographic. I can\’t alter what I see or feel: I can only write and re-write until it comes as close as possible to what I saw or felt.

To illustrate this point, I have always intended to write a short story, about a boy who lives by the sea and discovers a shipwreck, filled with immeasurable treasures, too heavy to bring to the surface. At first all he can do is dive down and glimpse them, but in time, he trains himself to hold his breath for a longer time, until he can stay long enough to memorize their appearance. Eventually he is able to reproduce the wondrous treasures in pictures to show the village.

The crisis would come when people begin to buy the pictures, and he is tempted to listen to suggestions for improving the appeal of the pictures for others. Through the struggle, he would ultimately come to understand that he must stay faithful to what he sees — although no one else had developed their lungs and braved the depths to view the treasures, at some point they might, and he would be found to be a liar. He would be found to have been false to what he saw; false to himself.

And that is why and how I write.

Quote of the Day, 9/26/08

09/26/2008, 7:00 am -- by | No Comments

“In the world to come, I shall not be asked, ‘Why were you not Moses?’ I shall be asked, ‘Why were you not Zusya?'” — Rabbi Zusya

What Does It Take to Get Fired?

09/25/2008, 8:17 pm -- by | No Comments

Today everyone in my department was required to attend a multi-hour sexual harassment prevention session. I was already in a combative mood, and once the facilitator steamrolled through our discussion, then made it clear that we were staying an extra half hour, my body language (I am told) began to betray my disgust and impatience. Don’t waste my time, man. Not today.

Some of the things we learned in those first two hours included:
— If an enormous man decides he identifies as “female,” his new status immediately applies in the restroom
— If someone complains about how much skin is displayed in a picture of my baby, I will be asked to remove it from my desk
— The word “manpower” is offensive and wrong

Somewhere around hour 3, slide 34, our trainer told us a story about two court librarians who, while on the clock at work, snuck back to the superseded stacks and, shall we say, commenced an interlibrary loan aboard a table. Everything was captured by security cameras. The tale ended, unbelievably: “They got called in and asked if it was them on the tape, and they admitted it. And, by the way, they still work in the court system today.”

Wait, what?? A lady two seats down said what we were all(?) thinking. “How were they not fired?”

“Wow, you guys are tough!” our trainer answered. “You really think they should have been fired for that? They were transferred and sanctioned…don’t you think it matters that they told the truth?”

I couldn’t resist.

“No! No, it doesn’t matter at all! Of course they should have been fired! They were caught on video, on the clock, having sex on a table — in our library!”

The trainer frowned at me. “Well, maybe you should know that this sort of thing has happened more than once, and–”

I interrupted. “Well, maybe if they’d fired the first people, it wouldn’t keep happening!!”

Lesson learned, though: I can do whatever I want, wherever I want, whenever I want, as whatever gender I want, as long as I don’t lie about it when it’s caught on tape — and as long as it doesn’t involve any baby pictures on my desk.

Best of Bweinh! — Is Belief Offensive?

09/25/2008, 11:00 am -- by | No Comments

Originally published March 29, 2007.

This week on my campus, the several Christian groups have all participated in a campaign called “I Agree With Craig.” Junior Craig Jones printed a statement of faith as an ad in the campus paper on Monday, hundreds of signs were posted, Christian students wore “I Agree With Craig” T-shirts all week, more ads were taken out where students, faculty, and staff said why they agreed with Craig, and several events have been, or will be, held — including a praise celebration, Craig’s public testimony, and a forum discussion on Christianity.

This campaign has unified the Christians on campus, many of whom were not aware how large their numbers were, or who else in their classes believed as they did. But naturally, the campaign has also caused a bit of controversy. Today’s “point-counterpoint” section of the newspaper concerned the campaign, and the featured columnist argued — well, I’ll let you see just what he argued. Go ahead, check it out. I’ll wait.

 

*twiddles thumbs*

 

Wow, huh? Pretty stunned? So was I!

Let’s go through this guy’s argument. First of all, public displays of personal faith — apparently ranging from street preachers to written testimonies to unobtrusive clothing — make him “anxious,” much like you might squirm at the sight of face-sucking on the bus. Fair enough so far. But what’s his solution? Well, it’s not to get a thicker skin, or to engage the actual ideas involved — no, this brave and brilliant gentleman has a problem with something far more fundamental — the very right of others to express what they believe in a public place, provided it has anything to do with the “binary” message of right and wrong. A full-blooded assault on at least two of the First Amendment’s underlying themes!

In Ben Peskin’s world, any statement you make, any belief you have that someone might reasonably disagree with, is best saved for your bedroom, late at night, behind closed doors, maybe even under your covers with a flashlight — and even then you ought to whisper it, because there’s a chance he might overhear and get a little uneasy down in his tummy. I’d love to see him teach a math class. “Class! Everyone got an A again, unless, of course, you don’t think that particular symbol represents an A, in which case you got whatever grade you want! Yes, 3 times 3 equals whatever you want it to, provided of course you don’t arrogantly stand up for your answer as right!”

Metaphysics and religion are different from mathematics, but closely examine Ben’s argument. He’s not arguing Craig is wrong; he has no interest in even considering Craig’s beliefs. His problem is strictly with the fact that Craig, and thousands of other Christians, stood up and shared them. Apparently in Ben’s world, it’s better to actively silence any messy discussion of religion, morals, diet soda or (one would imagine) politics, than allow such conversations to be shared publicly — through any means. Just think of all the Pepto-Bismol Ben would need if people were allowed to argue! It’s much better to just stay home and stay quiet, Christians, rather than “rolling around nude on the quad making out” with your four-word T-shirts. For Ben’s sake. Please.

Is it arrogant to share your beliefs, as Ben suggests, especially if they imply that others are wrong? I don’t think so. But if it is, then lo and behold, Ben is the most arrogant — after all, he’s the only one with both the courage to take a hard position and the intellectual confusion to order his opponents to just shut up and obey.

Joke of the Day, 9/25/08

09/25/2008, 7:00 am -- by | No Comments

Why was astrology invented?

To make economics seem scientific.

A Fiery Chick Tract

09/25/2008, 12:25 am -- by | 1 Comment

 

©1984-2008 Chick Publications, Inc. Reprinted without permission as fair use (parody).

{democracy:299}

Battle of the Bands LXXI

09/24/2008, 2:00 pm -- by | No Comments

The next group from Acts is below — and Caesarean Summons advances!

{democracy:298}

Bible Discussion — Acts 11-12

09/24/2008, 12:00 pm -- by | 1 Comment

This week, Bweinh.com tackles the next two chapters of Acts.

PREVIOUS DISCUSSIONS:
Genesis: 1-4 | 5-9 | 10-14 | 15-18 | 19-22 | 23-26
27-29 | 30-32 | 33-36 | 37-39 | 40-43 | 44-46 | 47-50
Exodus: 1-4 | 5-8 | 9-11 | 12-14 | 15-18
19-22 | 23-26 | 27-30 | 31-34 | 35-40
Romans: Ch. 1 | Ch. 2 | Ch. 3 | Ch. 4 | Ch. 5 | Ch. 6 | Ch. 7 | Ch. 8 (I)
Ch. 8 (II) | Ch. 9 | Ch. 10 | Ch. 11 | Ch. 12 | Ch. 13 | Ch. 14 | Ch. 15-16
Luke: 1:1-38 | 1:39-2:40 | 2:41-3:38 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
11 | 12 | 13 | 14-15 | 16-17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24
Esther: 1-2 | 3-5 | 6-8 | 9-10
Acts: 1 | 2 | 3-4 | 5 | 6-7 | 8 | 9-10

 
INTRODUCTION:
David:
One important thing here is the evolution of church leadership. It changes from “the Apostles” or “the 11,” and becomes “the apostles and brethren,” drawing in the other mature church members. This group emerges as an entity and has no problem asking Peter to explain his actions in Joppa. Peter was not at all offended, and seemed perfectly willing to have his authority questioned. Some first Pope.

Connie:
The church continues to grow. Peter successfully defended his Gentile tour, and Barnabas and Saul continued theirs, but Herod thought it was time to put a stop to all this nonsense.

Who will win? Never bet against God’s House.

 
SOMETHING YOU’D NEVER NOTICED BEFORE:
Connie:
God waited until the night before to save Peter from James’s fate: death. That’s what the guards got for letting him escape.

And Peter was so confident in whatever the next day held for him that he was sound asleep. The angel practically had to dress him verbally: “Tie your belt, lace your shoes. Come on, get your coat, for Pete’s sake!” Peter didn’t fully wake up until he was in the streets and the angel was gone; now that’s the peace that passes understanding.

David:
The last verse of chapter 12 tells us that Paul was in Jerusalem during the murder of James and the imprisonment of Peter.

Steve:
It must have been Peter’s “angel” at the door? What was that supposed to mean?

 
BEST BAND NAME FROM THE PASSAGE:
Connie: Four Squads
Steve: Blastus
Josh: Herod and the Worms

Continued here!

Quote of the Day, 9/24/08

09/24/2008, 7:00 am -- by | No Comments

“If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story.” — O. Welles

Why We Believe: Vol. 10

09/23/2008, 1:00 pm -- by | No Comments

At long last, on this, his 30th birthday — we present Josh’s testimony, the latest in our testimony series.

Of all the things for which I have to be thankful in this life, there is one unparalleled: the faith of my parents. What would prove to be the very foundation of my own life, my earliest understanding of God, that He is and who He is, was rooted not in the fact that my parents told me about Him (although they certainly did that), but in that they live their lives as though He is an absolute certainty.

Not that I never doubted. I distinctly remember when I was about four years old, wondering if the whole thing was a conspiracy. Those books in the back of the pew could be made up, and my parents could be in on it. Even my childish mind soon came to the conclusion that the thought that God does not exist is far more preposterous than the thought that He does.

Not that I fully understood. I was told that church was God\’s house, but I wasn\’t sure where He was, since I\’d been all over that building and never once run into Him. I finally figured He must spend most of His time in my mother\’s office, the one room I wasn\’t allowed to enter. I passed by the door with great reverence.

But I knew that God could make His dwelling in my heart, if I accepted the gift of His Son. And so, as a little boy, I said the sinner\’s prayer, and that little boy received salvation.

Of course, that little boy isn\’t here anymore. He\’s been gone for some time now.

I was 16 the first time I realized that I took my faith for granted, that the God of salvation accepted by a young boy would have to be accepted by a young man. As my understanding increased, as my person matured, as my life changed altogether, I would have to decide anew for whom that life was going to be lived.

The Lord continued to place people in my life to give me the love, encouragement, and instruction I needed to point me to Him, to keep growing, to keep surrendering. The fellowship of believers has reflected Him to me, and I am privileged to be a part of that fellowship, to reflect Him to others.

And so I seek after the Lord, and I find Him faithful. I seek His will, and He directs me, He sustains me, He supplies my needs. I stumble, and He restores me. I walk with Him today, and by His grace I will walk with Him tomorrow.

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