Francis Collins, head of the US National Human Genome Research Institute, and one of the leaders who helped "crack" the human genome code, says there is a rational basis for belief in a creator. He sees it in the complexity of DNA.
“When you have for the first time in front of you this 3.1 billion-letter instruction book that conveys all kinds of information and all kinds of mystery about humankind, you can’t survey that going through page after page without a sense of awe."
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Friday, June 23, 2006
This Is Disgraceful
According to a new "American Weddings" study conducted by The Fairchild Bridal Group, the average couple walks down the aisle dragging a $26,327 price tag. To put things in perspective, the U.S. wedding industry generated $125 billion in 2005, about the same amount as Ireland's GDP.
With all of the need around us, is this the best we can do?
With all of the need around us, is this the best we can do?
And There's More
COLUMBUS, OHIO (6/21/06)-While addressing a morning Eucharist at the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church, Presiding Bishop-elect Katharine Jefferts Schori declared, "Our mother Jesus gives birth to a new creation. And you and I are His children."
What the *^%&?
What the *^%&?
Nice
From an interview with the next Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church USA:
Interviewer: So what happens after I die?
SCHORI: What happens after you die?.. uhh– I would ask you that question.. but what’s important about your life; what is it that has made you a unique individual.. what is the passion that has kept you getting up every morning and engaging the world..uh.. there are hints within that about what it is that continues after you die.
Interviewer: So what happens after I die?
SCHORI: What happens after you die?.. uhh– I would ask you that question.. but what’s important about your life; what is it that has made you a unique individual.. what is the passion that has kept you getting up every morning and engaging the world..uh.. there are hints within that about what it is that continues after you die.
Why Soccer Will Never Be Accepted In America?
But there is one obstacle to soccer acceptance that seems insurmountable: the flop-'n'-bawl.
Turn on a World Cup game, and within 15 minutes you'll see a grown man fall to the ground, clutch his leg and writhe in agony after being tapped on the shoulder by an opposing player. Soccer players do this routinely in an attempt to get the referees to call foul. If the ref doesn't immediately bite, the player gets up and moves along.
Making a show of your physical vulnerability runs counter to every impulse in American sports. And pretending to be hurt simply compounds the outrage. Basketball has floppers, but the players who do it--like Bill Laimbeer, whose flopping skills helped the Detroit Pistons win two NBA championships--are widely vilified and, in any case, they're pretending to be fouled; they never pretend to be injured. When baseball players are hit by a pitch, the code of conduct dictates that they can walk it off, if they must, but by no means may they rub the point of impact. And pretending you're hurt? There's not even a rule against that--every red-blooded American baseball cheater knows nobody would ever do that.
Turn on a World Cup game, and within 15 minutes you'll see a grown man fall to the ground, clutch his leg and writhe in agony after being tapped on the shoulder by an opposing player. Soccer players do this routinely in an attempt to get the referees to call foul. If the ref doesn't immediately bite, the player gets up and moves along.
Making a show of your physical vulnerability runs counter to every impulse in American sports. And pretending to be hurt simply compounds the outrage. Basketball has floppers, but the players who do it--like Bill Laimbeer, whose flopping skills helped the Detroit Pistons win two NBA championships--are widely vilified and, in any case, they're pretending to be fouled; they never pretend to be injured. When baseball players are hit by a pitch, the code of conduct dictates that they can walk it off, if they must, but by no means may they rub the point of impact. And pretending you're hurt? There's not even a rule against that--every red-blooded American baseball cheater knows nobody would ever do that.
Quote of the Day
The press can both simulate public opinion and miseducate it. Thus we may see terrorists heroized, or secret matters, pertaining to one's nation's defense, publicly revealed, or we may witness shameless intrusion on the privacy of well-known people under the slogan: 'everyone is entitled to know everything.' But this is a false slogan, characteristic of a false era: people also have the right not to know, and it is a much more valuable one. The right not to have their divine souls stuffed with gossip, nonsense, vain talk. A person who works and leads a meaningful life does not need this excessive burdening flow of information.
Hastiness and superficiality are the psychic disease of the 20th century and more than anywhere else this disease is reflected in the press. In-depth analysis of a problem is anathema to the press. It stops at sensational formulas. Such as it is, however, the press has become the greatest power within the Western countries, more powerful than the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. One would then like to ask: by what law has it been elected and to whom is it responsible? -- Alexander Solzhenitsyn, from a speech at Harvard in 1978
Hastiness and superficiality are the psychic disease of the 20th century and more than anywhere else this disease is reflected in the press. In-depth analysis of a problem is anathema to the press. It stops at sensational formulas. Such as it is, however, the press has become the greatest power within the Western countries, more powerful than the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. One would then like to ask: by what law has it been elected and to whom is it responsible? -- Alexander Solzhenitsyn, from a speech at Harvard in 1978
Divided Loyalties
Homer Bailey Update
Reds minor league prodigy Homer Baily made his AA debut last night:
6 innings
5 hits
0 runs
0 walks
7 k's
Fastball hitting 95-96
Curveball 76
6 innings
5 hits
0 runs
0 walks
7 k's
Fastball hitting 95-96
Curveball 76
Yet Another Pathetic Newsroom
The story from the LA Times is about pitcher ace pitcher Luke Hochevar of the University of Tennessee and his professional agent Scott Boras. Here is the original passage in the story:
Being selected No. 1 overall affirmed that his decision to shun the Dodgers had been the right move, Hochevar said.
“Scott had a plan in this, and his master plan definitely worked,” Hochevar said. “It was tough through it — you go through it and you fight it — but when it all comes down to it, Scott has a plan for you, and he definitely worked a miracle in my case.”
Now, to most normal people the "Scott had a plan" and "Scott has a plan" talk probably sounds a bit weird. Well, that's because it's not what he said.
An article in Sports on June 7 quoted pitcher Luke Hochevar, drafted by the Kansas City Royals, as referring to “Scott” — Scott Boras, his agent — when in fact he used the word “God.” Here is the correct quote: “God had a plan in this, and his master plan definitely worked. It was tough through it — you go through it and you fight it — but when it all comes down to it, God has a plan for you, and he definitely worked a miracle in my case.”
Huh? I don't think the reporter could have mistaken the sound of the word "Scott" for "God"...that's a stretch. Could it be the reporter had NEVER heard someone speak about God in this way? Bingo. It's time for the newsroom types to get out of the office and expand their cocooned, small lives.
Being selected No. 1 overall affirmed that his decision to shun the Dodgers had been the right move, Hochevar said.
“Scott had a plan in this, and his master plan definitely worked,” Hochevar said. “It was tough through it — you go through it and you fight it — but when it all comes down to it, Scott has a plan for you, and he definitely worked a miracle in my case.”
Now, to most normal people the "Scott had a plan" and "Scott has a plan" talk probably sounds a bit weird. Well, that's because it's not what he said.
An article in Sports on June 7 quoted pitcher Luke Hochevar, drafted by the Kansas City Royals, as referring to “Scott” — Scott Boras, his agent — when in fact he used the word “God.” Here is the correct quote: “God had a plan in this, and his master plan definitely worked. It was tough through it — you go through it and you fight it — but when it all comes down to it, God has a plan for you, and he definitely worked a miracle in my case.”
Huh? I don't think the reporter could have mistaken the sound of the word "Scott" for "God"...that's a stretch. Could it be the reporter had NEVER heard someone speak about God in this way? Bingo. It's time for the newsroom types to get out of the office and expand their cocooned, small lives.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
NBA Trivia
There are two NBA teams with no foreign-born players on their roster. One is the world champion Miami Heat. Can you name the other? It will surprise you.
World Cup Update: Ghana 2, USA 1
No offense to Ghana, but if we can't beat freakin' Ghana (or anybody else for that matter), it's time to hang up the cleats.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
The Best Interview in Sports
On Tuesday to reporters, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen referred to Chicago Sun-Times columnist and Around the Horn contributor Jay Mariotti as a derogatory name for a homosexual.
Angry with a recent column by Mariotti critical of Guillen's handling of recently demoted relief pitcher Sean Tracey and upset with Mariotti with columns of the past, Guillen said to reporters when referring to Mariotti before Tuesday's game with the Cardinals, "What a piece of [expletive] he is, [expletive] fag."
"I don't have anything against those people. In my country, you call someone something like that and it is not the same as it is in this country."
Ozzie Guillen
Mariotti was covering the NBA Finals Tuesday night and was not present to hear what Guillen said.
Columnist Greg Couch of the Sun-Times wrote a column Wednesday in response, calling for commissioner Bud Selig to suspend Guillen for his use of a "hurtful homophobic" term.
Before writing the column, Couch asked Guillen for an explanation. Guillen defended his use of the term "fag" by saying this about homosexuals and the use of the word in question: "I don't have anything against those people. In my country, you call someone something like that and it is not the same as it is in this country.''
Guillen said that in his native Venezuela, that word is not a reference to a person's sexuality, but to his courage. He said he was saying that Mariotti is "not man enough to meet me and talk about [things before writing].''
Guillen also told Couch that he has gay friends, attends WNBA games, went to a Madonna concert and plans to go to the Gay Games in Chicago.
"I called that of this man [Mariotti],'' he told Couch. "I'm not trying to hurt anybody [else]."
Scott Reifert, the White Sox's vice president of communications, offered to apologize on behalf of the organization when approached by Couch.
"To anybody who was insulted or hurt by that comment ... as an organization, we'll certainly apologize," Reifert told Couch.
I guess the next time I'm accused of being homophobic, I'll tell of my experiences at WNBA games and Madonna concerts.
Angry with a recent column by Mariotti critical of Guillen's handling of recently demoted relief pitcher Sean Tracey and upset with Mariotti with columns of the past, Guillen said to reporters when referring to Mariotti before Tuesday's game with the Cardinals, "What a piece of [expletive] he is, [expletive] fag."
"I don't have anything against those people. In my country, you call someone something like that and it is not the same as it is in this country."
Ozzie Guillen
Mariotti was covering the NBA Finals Tuesday night and was not present to hear what Guillen said.
Columnist Greg Couch of the Sun-Times wrote a column Wednesday in response, calling for commissioner Bud Selig to suspend Guillen for his use of a "hurtful homophobic" term.
Before writing the column, Couch asked Guillen for an explanation. Guillen defended his use of the term "fag" by saying this about homosexuals and the use of the word in question: "I don't have anything against those people. In my country, you call someone something like that and it is not the same as it is in this country.''
Guillen said that in his native Venezuela, that word is not a reference to a person's sexuality, but to his courage. He said he was saying that Mariotti is "not man enough to meet me and talk about [things before writing].''
Guillen also told Couch that he has gay friends, attends WNBA games, went to a Madonna concert and plans to go to the Gay Games in Chicago.
"I called that of this man [Mariotti],'' he told Couch. "I'm not trying to hurt anybody [else]."
Scott Reifert, the White Sox's vice president of communications, offered to apologize on behalf of the organization when approached by Couch.
"To anybody who was insulted or hurt by that comment ... as an organization, we'll certainly apologize," Reifert told Couch.
I guess the next time I'm accused of being homophobic, I'll tell of my experiences at WNBA games and Madonna concerts.
I'm Going to Sell My "Air Rights"
A crunch on open space in many rejuvenated cities has developers courting churches with multimillion-dollar offers to buy the air above them.
"In an urban area, air rights are just as much an asset as a piece of property," said the Rev. John Buchanan, pastor of Fourth Presbyterian on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. The church is working on a deal that could bring in $25 million.
From New York to Seattle, downtown congregations are striking deals worth tens of millions of dollars. Those willing to sell are often mainline Protestant churches saddled with aging buildings, growing deficits, and shrinking memberships.
A church that doesn't reach the maximum height allowed by zoning laws can sell the unused space to a developer, who can transfer that space to an adjacent building, and thus add stories to it. Churches can make millions off a "vertical asset" that would otherwise go unused.
On Manhattan's tony Park Avenue, the Byzantine-style Christ Church United Methodist is dwarfed by high-rise apartment buildings on the corner of East 60th Street. Christ Church negotiated a selling price of $430 a square foot-twice the going rate in New York's cutthroat real-estate market-for their 70,000 square feet of unused vertical space. The November deal generated $30 million for the church.
The church's pastor, the Rev. Stephen Bauman, said the money will fund ministry programs, including a public school in the South Bronx that has been "adopted" by the church.
The members of West-Park Presbyterian Church on New York's Upper West Side were offered $40 million for their crumbling building on Amsterdam Avenue, but decided to sell air rights for about $15 million. The money will fund repairs to the church.
"We wanted something more creative than finding a developer and selling [the building] to the highest bidder" and walking away, said West-Park's pastor, the Rev. Bob Brashear.
"In an urban area, air rights are just as much an asset as a piece of property," said the Rev. John Buchanan, pastor of Fourth Presbyterian on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. The church is working on a deal that could bring in $25 million.
From New York to Seattle, downtown congregations are striking deals worth tens of millions of dollars. Those willing to sell are often mainline Protestant churches saddled with aging buildings, growing deficits, and shrinking memberships.
A church that doesn't reach the maximum height allowed by zoning laws can sell the unused space to a developer, who can transfer that space to an adjacent building, and thus add stories to it. Churches can make millions off a "vertical asset" that would otherwise go unused.
On Manhattan's tony Park Avenue, the Byzantine-style Christ Church United Methodist is dwarfed by high-rise apartment buildings on the corner of East 60th Street. Christ Church negotiated a selling price of $430 a square foot-twice the going rate in New York's cutthroat real-estate market-for their 70,000 square feet of unused vertical space. The November deal generated $30 million for the church.
The church's pastor, the Rev. Stephen Bauman, said the money will fund ministry programs, including a public school in the South Bronx that has been "adopted" by the church.
The members of West-Park Presbyterian Church on New York's Upper West Side were offered $40 million for their crumbling building on Amsterdam Avenue, but decided to sell air rights for about $15 million. The money will fund repairs to the church.
"We wanted something more creative than finding a developer and selling [the building] to the highest bidder" and walking away, said West-Park's pastor, the Rev. Bob Brashear.
Quote of the Day
"Just because you're a Republican doesn't mean you don't care about children." -- Actress Angelina Jolie
Whew, as a Republican father of three, that's good to know.
Whew, as a Republican father of three, that's good to know.
I'm Sick of I-Me-My-Mine Worship
This is good:
I wonder if the more recent emphasis on self in worship is one more way of expressing our autonomy and self-importance.
It runs like this: "God, I am going to worship you. I consider you worthy of my worship. God, this is your lucky day. I, this self-sufficient, independent human being, around whom all of life centers, I am going to give you some of my time. I am going to declare you worthy of my worship."
So how do we go about correcting this misunderstanding? Only by understanding that worship focuses on God and God's mission to rescue the world through Jesus Christ. In words, signs, and gestures we sing, proclaim, and enact God's mission.
Worshipping is about...Well, God. It's not about me. Someone needs to tell my worship leader.
I wonder if the more recent emphasis on self in worship is one more way of expressing our autonomy and self-importance.
It runs like this: "God, I am going to worship you. I consider you worthy of my worship. God, this is your lucky day. I, this self-sufficient, independent human being, around whom all of life centers, I am going to give you some of my time. I am going to declare you worthy of my worship."
So how do we go about correcting this misunderstanding? Only by understanding that worship focuses on God and God's mission to rescue the world through Jesus Christ. In words, signs, and gestures we sing, proclaim, and enact God's mission.
Worshipping is about...Well, God. It's not about me. Someone needs to tell my worship leader.
Monday, June 19, 2006
From "Knights" to "Champs"
Yeah, it's tough to win titles when you're recruiting kids from 62 different counties. But then again, I shouldn't complain, that would be whining. I'll put my head back in the sand.
Lexington Catholic could change its nickname from "Knights" to "Champs," and it'd be hard to argue.
Having already celebrated state titles in football and girls' basketball this school year, Lexington Catholic won the state baseball championship last night.
The Knights beat Beechwood 6-4 in the finals of the Fifth Third State Tournament in front of 2,596 fans at Applebee's Park.
"We knew in the pre-season we had a lot of work to do, but by mid-season we could tell we had the hitting, pitching and defense to win it all," said junior center fielder Ben Revere, the tournament MVP.
"It feels great to have it all come together like this."
Lexington Catholic became the third city team in four years to take home the trophy. Lexington Christian Academy won it last year and Paul Dunbar in 2003.
Lexington Catholic could change its nickname from "Knights" to "Champs," and it'd be hard to argue.
Having already celebrated state titles in football and girls' basketball this school year, Lexington Catholic won the state baseball championship last night.
The Knights beat Beechwood 6-4 in the finals of the Fifth Third State Tournament in front of 2,596 fans at Applebee's Park.
"We knew in the pre-season we had a lot of work to do, but by mid-season we could tell we had the hitting, pitching and defense to win it all," said junior center fielder Ben Revere, the tournament MVP.
"It feels great to have it all come together like this."
Lexington Catholic became the third city team in four years to take home the trophy. Lexington Christian Academy won it last year and Paul Dunbar in 2003.
Picture of the Day
Ghana's John Pantsil who plays professionally for Hapoel Tel Aviv, keeps his pre-World-Cup promise, waving an Israeli flag after his team's second goal against the Czech Republic.
"God Creates Us With Different Gifts"
This is interesting:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Newly elected leader of the U.S. Episcopal Church Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said on Monday she believed homosexuality was no sin and homosexuals were created by God to love people of the same gender.
Jefferts Schori, bishop of the Diocese of Nevada, was elected on Sunday as the first woman leader of the 2.3 million-member Episcopal Church. the U.S. branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion. She will formally take office later this year.
Interviewed on CNN, Jefferts Schori was asked if it was a sin to be homosexual.
"I don't believe so. I believe that God creates us with different gifts. Each one of us comes into this world with a different collection of things that challenge us and things that give us joy and allow us to bless the world around us," she said.
"Some people come into this world with affections ordered toward other people of the same gender and some people come into this world with affections directed at people of the other gender."
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Newly elected leader of the U.S. Episcopal Church Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said on Monday she believed homosexuality was no sin and homosexuals were created by God to love people of the same gender.
Jefferts Schori, bishop of the Diocese of Nevada, was elected on Sunday as the first woman leader of the 2.3 million-member Episcopal Church. the U.S. branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion. She will formally take office later this year.
Interviewed on CNN, Jefferts Schori was asked if it was a sin to be homosexual.
"I don't believe so. I believe that God creates us with different gifts. Each one of us comes into this world with a different collection of things that challenge us and things that give us joy and allow us to bless the world around us," she said.
"Some people come into this world with affections ordered toward other people of the same gender and some people come into this world with affections directed at people of the other gender."
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