Stuff about me.
Handbook of Catholic Apologetics: Reasoned Answers to Questions of Faith by Peter Kreeft
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Excellent treatise on the fundamental doctrines of the Catholic faith. A good book to reference for reasoned explanations on the beliefs of the Catholic Church.
1. Jennifer at Conversion Diary posted picture of her ring in her Quick Takes today. This is mine.
I intended never to take it off after the wedding. Turns out that I can’t wear it more than a day or so without my finger breaking out. I’ve done all the remedies but they didn’t help.
The diamond is from my mother’s wedding set.
2. Last night, I met my wife and daughter for dinner at Sonic. My wife ordered a milkshake. Bailey got to drink some and kept asking for more “shake-milk.” I love having a 3-year old.
3. Although I have a master’s degree, I firmly believe that advanced degrees are not proof of critical thinking skills. An example of why comes from this law professor’s blog:
The President should make clear to the public that the situation in the Senate has reached crisis proportions, and point to Senator Shelby’s latest escapade as a perfect example of the selfishness and insanity that now overwhelms the Senate. Senator Shelby needs to be called out and shamed repeatedly as an example of how a rational legislative process should not work.
Then the Vice-President, as President of the Senate, needs to use his authority as chair of the Senate to insist that the Senate rewrite its rules, or the President of the Senate will begin making rulings from the chair designed to change how the Senate operates in practice.
The writer has no concept that there may well be consequences much more harmful than the “cure” he promotes. The branches of government zealously protect their independence.
If you want to see a constitutional crisis, just have Biden butt in to Senate procedures. That move would be unprecedented. Obama is not that stupid.
4. UFC 109 is tomorrow. My friend and I put out or predictions in our podcast this week.
5. My current favorite indie music group is Pomplamoose. Watch their latest video on You Tube. They’re catchy.
6. Count me as another person who thinks Harry Knox should not be on President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
7. Remove a stripped screw-head with a rubber band.
Honeybun bought me guitar lessons for Christmas. I had my first class on Monday night.
Turns out that today is the 50th anniversary of the Day the Music Died. I was practicing a bit in our basement today. Judging from Honeybun’s response, I can’t say the music is really dead, but I seem to be doing my best at killing it by torture.
1. Creativity and Resistance
Last night I listened to Merlin Mann’s interview of Seth Godin. Godin says there is not a creativity problem. Everyone is creative. There is a wealth of creative ideas. The problem people have is a “shipping” problem, meaning that people do finish the ideas they have.
The barrier to shipping is caused by our “lizard brains”. The lizard brain is the part of our brain that is concerned about survival. Basically, our fears (e.g. “they will laugh at me” or “my idea is not good enough”) keep us from completing our creative projects.
Watch Seth Godin’s video and listen to Merlin’s interview. You may want to buy the book after that.
2. Podcasting
The previous point has convinced me I need to work on more of my creative ideas. I’m still doing a podcast on MMA with a friend ,and now I’m working on putting together another podcast on election politics in the vein of a Hannity and Colmes style show. Obviously, I’ll be the conservative.
Maybe I can even squeeze a third project in. Time is a consideration though (and that isn’t a lizard brain rationalization). Basically, I have a couple of options and I’m going to pick the one that has the most promise with the time I have.
3. Faith and reason
I’ve been seeing a lot about the idea that faith and reason are mutually exclusive. I have long rejected that view. Coincidentally, I checked out The Handbook of Catholic Apologetics from a library a couple days ago. The authors Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli dedicate chapter 2 to the idea that “there can never be any contradiction between faith and reason, between Christian revelation and true philosophy or true science.”
4. Archdiocese of Denver
Have you ever been in Colorado and wondered if you are near a Catholic church? Well I have, so I created a Google map that shows where they are.
5. Crush the Castle
Looking to pass some time? Need a game with simple controls that allows you to vicariously conquer the world? Then Crush the Castle is just the thing.
6. Usability
Technical communicators should love this week’s Net@Night podcast where Leo and Amber interview usability guru Jakob Nielsen.
7. Crusades
Rodney Stark makes the Case for the Crusades. I’ve read another of Stark’s books “For the Glory of God“. What I like about Stark’s writing is that while he makes the case that Christianity is a positive influence on the world, he does not shy away from the negative acts that have been done in it’s name.
Michelle Malkin asks why President Obama did not acknowledge the two officers who stopped the Fort Hood terrorist shooter even though they were sitting next to the First Lady during the State of the Union address.
That one is easy. The “shout-out” wasn’t on the teleprompter.
So I did a recording for Librivox. I am no Don Lafontaine, but here is my first submission.
[podcast]http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-39575/TS-311131.mp3[/podcast]
I was unusually accurate in my 2009 predictions. I claim wins for predictions 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 9. That’s over 50%. I’m especially thankful that the zombie attack was repelled but saddened over mainstream media’s refusal to follow the story.
On to my predictions for 2010:
1. The turtleneck mu mu will be the hottest women’s summer fashion.
2. Health care will continue not to be free even if Obama-care “reform” gets passed. Political supporters will express shock.
3. Mel Gibson will make his comeback when he takes on his most challenging role ever as the lead character in the screen adaptation of “Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret.”
4. Democratic senators will be ashamed of the practice of taking mega-bribes to pass legislation. They will then climb onto their personal flying pigs for their return flights to their home states.
5. Sick of losing to Facebook, MySpace will launch a redesign in order to become the leading “anti-social” media presence.
6. Milk boxes will start carrying pictures of the missing “millions of saved jobs” credited to the 2009 stimulus package.
7. The publishing industry will suffer from a shortage of books to publish as the Obama administration increases it’s employment of fiction writers to create speeches about the President’s accomplishments.
8. The NFL will consider converting measurements to the metric system in a bid to expand the sport’s global appeal but reject the idea after owners realize they would not understand what “1st and 9.144 meters” means.
9. Cyanide in drinking water will be promoted as being environmentally friendly in an attempt to capitalize on the similar strategies of using bamboo fiber in clothing and mercury in compact fluorescent bulbs.
10. Walking will be the new driving – except for the hundreds of millions of Americans who refuse to quit driving.
In a post on men, the “Why I am Catholic blog” asks a good question and makes an observation:
Question: Has an open discussion of homosexuality made it easier or more difficult for heterosexual men to talk intimately? Here’s a provocative statement on the matter:
I think the whole gay discussion has been a huge detriment to men (not bashing homosexual men, just noticing how it affects everyone). A couple decades ago, nobody cared, but now we have to almost prove we’re not gay. We can’t even say homosexual, we have to say gay. Why?…
My answer: Our culture is so over-sexed that society has come to view all relationships through a sexual lens.
I recently saw the movie Old Dogs starring John Travolta and Robin Williams. I remember thinking how unusual the movie was because the plot centered on the relationship between the two main characters who had been friends since high-school. A joke used a few times in the movie was that other characters would look at the two friends as if they were homosexual lovers while the friends seemed oblivious to the suggestion.
There was no sexual tension between the men. They were entirely heterosexual men, each pursuing a woman he desired. Each man had strengths that complimented their friendship and made them successful business partners. Each knew the other’s hopes and fears.
I admit I do not have that type of friendship now. I did have that once with a friend I met while I was in elementary school. Darin and I were especially close throughout high school and into college. People saw us as a duo “Jason and Darin.” I still know him, but I now live in another state and distance has created, well, distance. When we get together, we can take up right where we left off but it isn’t quite the same only because we do not have the opportunity to see each other often.
There are guys who I enjoy spending time with but I wouldn’t say that I’m especially close with them. I thought it was family life, work, and (before last May) grad school that kept me from being better friends. I’m not so sure now. So yes, I think the “gay” issue has made it a problem for men to be close friends.
To be sure, that is not the only problem. My friendship with Darin was built on years of shared experiences. Our transient culture – where people frequently change jobs, find new churches, or move to different states – means that we do not get the years needed to build those relationships.
Between not getting enough time to build friendships and viewing close friendships with other men as being inappropriate, we find ourselves without the friendships that all people benefit from having. And we are worse off for it.
I normally make annual predictions on December 31. This one is a real one though.
In less than a year in office, President Obama has went from an approval rating of about 65% approved/15% disapproved to about 47% approve/47% unapproved depending on the poll. Most polls indicated more people disapprove.
The health care issue has seen the same decline:
Democrats are sacrificing their future in a bid to push through government control of our lives. Election campaigns for November 2010 will be in full force starting at the beginning of January. The pundits I have seen expect Republicans to make significant gains but not enough to take over the house.
I’ll go even better than that. The Democrats are too eager for to pass healthcare mandates that favor lawyers and penalize taxpayers while reducing benefits and oppressive “cap and trade” energy controls that will increase energy costs while the economy is trying to recover. In addition, unemployment continues to climb while the Democrats focus on issues that Americans see as less urgent.
The Democrats are creating a perfect storm. My prediction: Republicans will regain the House of Representatives in 2010. Well, one can always hope.
Happy anniversary Honeybun.
Thank you for 12 great years.