Dimly Lit

The best satire is good because of that element of truth that makes it sting. This is pretty funny!

Let’s just go completely nuts with the links - League of Reformed Bloggers is now also added to the right. I’ll try to clean this stuff up later, possibly going to a 3-column format instead of just 2. Again, there’s some good stuff there, along with some repetition. Naturally I haven’t read all of these blogs, but the ones that I have clicked on are pretty solid. The Reformed world seems to be pretty active in Blog-land. Enjoy.

Well, I went and did it…I threw my little blog into the PCA Blogroller list that David Wayne over at JollyBlogger set up a few months ago. This sort of increases my commitment to try to keep up my posting - both quality and quantity. You’ll find the Blogroll links over on the right - be sure to check some of these folks out, there is a lot of good writing out there.

Now this is funny (of course it could just by my Norwegian heritage talking):

Decorah, IA - The debris-strewn streets of this remote Midwestern hamlet remain under a tense 24-hour curfew tonight, following weekend demonstrations by rock- and figurine-throwing Lutheran farm wives that left over 200 people injured and leveled the Whippy Dip dairy freeze. The rioting appeared to be prompted, in part, by a report in Newsweek magazine claiming military guards at Spirit Lake’s notorious Okoboji internment center had flushed lutefisk down prison toilets. Newsweek’s late announcement of a retraction seems to have done little to quell the inflamed passions of Lutheran insurgents in the region, as outbreaks of violent mailbox bashings and cow tippings have been reported from Bowbells, North Dakota to Pekin, Illinois.

Whether the violence was triggered by Newsweek’s report of lutefisk desecration or frustration over chronic shortages of Beanie Babies and Old Style, one thing seems certain – occupying U.S. troops face a steep road to reestablish trust in this tinderbox of ancient hatreds and delicious dairy products. Some analysts say the latest outbreak represents the most vexing challenge to US strategy since its invasion the region three years ago.

You gotta read the whole thing…

Sounds a little like some 50’s pop band doesn’t it? But no, this is James Lileks once again hitting the ball out of the park after indulging himself in juvenile pop-culture at the movies over the weekend by watching “Team America”, re-watching the second “Star Wars” in preparation for the Sith movie, and finally, “The Incredibles”. Here’s the paragraph that sums it all up:

Then, “The Incredibles.” Which was. Died, went to heaven, etc. Tron me up, let me live in that world; you’ll hear no complaints. More about that tomorrow; I bring it up just to compare it with the other bits of juvenile pop culture I sampled this weekend. “Team America” was made by 17 year old boys who cut class to smoke cigarettes. “Star Wars” was made by a sophomore who was bumped ahead to the senior class because of his smarts, but never fit in and spent lunch hour drawing rocketships in his notebook. “The Incredibles” was made by 30 year olds who remembered what it was like to be 16, but didn’t particularly care to revisit those days, because it’s so much better to be 30, with a spouse and a kid and a house and a sense that you’re tied to something. Not an attitude; not some animist mumbo jumbo, but something large enough to behold and small enough to do. “Duty” is a punchline in “Team America”; it’s a rote trope in Star Wars that has no more meaning than love or honor any other word that passes Lucas’ cardboard lips. But it meant something in “The Incredibles,” and all the more so because no one ever stopped to deliver a lecture on the subject. Best Pixar Movie Evar.

Be sure to read the whole thing, but that bit about being made “by 30 year olds who remembered what it was like to be 16, but didn’t particularly care to revisit those days, because it’s so much better to be 30, with a spouse and a kid and a house and a sense that you’re tied to something.” is just wonderful and dead on.

Dr. Bryan Chapell, President of Covenant Theological Seminary, has written what looks to be a very good summary of the New Perspective on Paul controversy. His own label for this summary is a “coffee-shop explanation”, and that seems to be a pretty appropriate descriptor.

This is one of those areas that is a pretty hot topic amongst the more theologically inclined in the PCA right now and, as Dr. Chapell points out, usually includes discussions of the Federal Vision proponents as well. I’ve only just skimmed this article, but it certainly appears to be very well thought through (as though I’m able to adequately critique Dr. Chapell!) and thorough. I’m looking forward to spending more time on it over the weekend.

Just in case anyone is actually noticing - I’ve updated and added links on the right. I’ll continue tinkering with the links, changing categories, adding new ones, etc. But that’s a start.

In more ways than one, the St. Louis Cardinals are hurting right now. The
Phillies seem to have our number having now taken 4 of the 6 games so far
this season. Larry Walker sat out last night, John Mabry is out with a sore
back, and several other players have been plagued in the early part of the
season with some sort of injury. Not only have players been hurt, but of
late the bullpen seems to be struggling to get in sync.

I’m not worried, it’s far too early for that and the Birds are still well
over 500 and in command of the NL Central. But I am hopeful that injuries
don’t become one of the major stories this year.

I’ll give a hat tip to Joel Keen for pointing this one out - Science has now shown Why Teens are Lousy at Chores.

I have a 12 year old daughter. Granted both my wife and I frequently look at each other and scratch our heads in puzzlement trying to figure out exactly what might be going on between those 12-year-old ears, but she is more than capable of making decisions and carrying out multiple instructions. In fact she does it all the time. Can she be forgetful? yes. Do we get frustrated and feel like we are always repeating ourselves? yes. But is she capable of fairly high level organizational thinking? Yes!

In fact, we find most of the time that the problems we have are a result of not giving her enough responsibility for her own actions. When we micro-manage and detail exactly how she should go about completing all of her chores, we often run into problems. When we simply give her a set of tasks and allow her the freedom to organize and complete her tasks in the order and method that most makes sense to her, she gets the job done very well. To me this indicates that strategic self-organized thinking that supposedly doesn’t develop until age 16 or 17.

Certainly there are cognitive development milestones during the teenage years, but say that teens are simply unable to do these things is pretty ridiculous.

Or my daughter is a genius.

Well I be…it appears that Dr. Ben Witherington has a blog.