Amazing new free wireless broadband technology!

Check out this free service from Google.  Read all about it by following the links within the site.

I think that “potty humor” must be among the universal human languages.  Not sure whether that’s good or bad, but it seems to be true nonetheless.

HT:  Frank Aragon

The irony of this is RICH.

One of the most notible modern atheists, or as he likes to describe himself an “anti-theist”, looks like one of the world’s most well known theologians.

Christopher Hitchens Totally Looks Like Martin Luther

from Totally Looks Like… Famous People and Celeb Look-A-Likes by Cheezburger Network

Happy Birthday, U.S.A.!

The original “Too Late to Apologize” by Timbaland…

And one that has some 4th of July awesomeness…

Happy, happy Earth Day.

Today is one of the most significant days of any year, at least for some folks.  They are not the people I hang with.  But before you jump to the conclusion that I do not hold April 22nd in high regard, I do.  It is my mother-in-law’s birthday.  Happy Birthday, Connie.  I love you.  

Apart from the birthday we celebrate in our family,  April 22nd is also the day when some people cast all caution to the wind and worship the created, in this case the planet Earth, often, I am afraid, with indifference to the ONE who created it.  And they have been doing so for 40 years, believe it or not.  This insanity is nothing new.   At best, some of these folks who go all out on Earth Day, do so because they think that the Creator is “in” everything, but theologians would call that pantheism, and boiled down to its essence, that is just idolatry.  C. Michael Patton has a great quote to help straighten out this confusion:

 “God is everywhere” gets dangerously close to pantheism that says God is present everywhere and in everything. God is transcendent to His creation, yet actively and relationally engaged.  Better to say “everywhere is in God’s immediate presence.”

Last year, I published a couple of posts dealing with Earth Day.  One dealt with things I did NOT do on Earth Day, the other was, well, a confession of those things that I did do that frankly had a deleterious impact on Earth.  This year, while the day is not over, and there is still time to do something of great harm to the planet, I have to say that I did do something nice for the Earth.

Today, I applied fertilizer to our yard.  AND I used a 100% organic granular product, that must surely be both NOT harmful to the planet, but also quite good for it.  At least that is what the “organic only” types would have us believe.   My usual preference is to use a chemical fertilizer because they are cheaper, they work just fine, and at the end of the day are made from naturally occurring elements.  You might be familiar with some of these.  Ever heard of nitrogen, or sulfur?  I digress.

I admit I am a bit conflicted by my “service” to the planet.  On the one hand I am feeling really good about my contribution to preserving my little corner of the globe.  But, every time you step outside, and every time the dogs come in the house from being in the yard, it smells like poultry crap, which is what the fertilizer was made from according to the bag it came in.  It is really a pretty awful smell.  The guys at the feed store where I bought it had a bit of a discussion about who was going to have to load it in the car.  And after applying it, the smell is stuck in my nose even when I am in the house.  A small price to pay, I suppose, for saving the planet.

You, your children, and  your children’s children are welcome.

Great Question

HT: My Dad

Excellent advice!

HT: Tammy Weber

Who can?

Even Norman might get a laugh out of this.

This painting was used as the artwork for the cover of the February 13, 1960 issue of the Saturday Evening Post.  The oil on canvas hangs in the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA.   It is titled, for reasons that should be obvious, “Triple Self-Portrait.”

Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) is one of my favorite American artists.  Some might call him more of an illustrator than artist.  He drew and painted stuff.  That makes him an artist to me.  Not surprising, many contemporary art critics pan his work and diminish it for being overly sweet or too sentimental and idealized.  Nevertheless, I like his work because it really did capture a slice of American history and the values that we held as a nation when he was living.  We could use a dose of those values today.  Besides, a lot of his work captured life when I was a child, and frankly, I can relate to much of what is depicted in his paintings.

This spoof on Rockwell’s “Triple Self-Portrait” is simply hilarious.  No commentary is necessary.  Like real Norman Rockwell art, this one has a  message that speaks very clearly for itself.

 

HT:  Dan Phillips by way of Stan McCullars for the Obama spoof.

Trouble brewing?

First there was this “incident.”

And then there is this guy’s explanation.

Looks like we might be witnessing a little tension between these two.  But fear not, they’ll get their differences ironed out.

Update at 4:40pm CDT.  Further explanation from TOTUS.

An Earth Day Confession

Yesterday, I posted an article, wherein I discussed all the things I did NOT do on Earth Day.  As I noted, all of these were evidence of my attempt to “tread lightly” on our planet. 

While I stand by each and every one of those examples, I have simply been wracked with guilt at how prideful those claims were.  While they were all true, I confess that I DID do some things that Al Gore, and others, would say will serve to shorten the lifespan of our dear planet Earth. 

Scripture tells us to confess our sins to one another (James 5: 16), so I hope that this medium will serve that purpose.  Here goes.  On Earth Day, I did the following:

• I had to attend a meeting that was held about 50 miles from where I live.  I decided that participating via conference call was really not practical since it was a lunch meeting.  Maybe someone in the future will figure out how to do a telecommuting lunch, but for now, it seems like it won’t work.  I know that this will sound like I am making excuses, but I live in the country, so there is no public transportation.  And truthfully, I really never gave much thought to either walking or bicycling the 100 miles round-trip.  (I know, selfish.)  So, I concluded that driving was my best, (I know it was not a good one, but it was the best) option.  If it is any consolation, I did take my wife’s hybrid automobile instead of my gigantic environment destroying pick-up truck.
• During the afternoon of Earth Day, I began to sense that sometime before the end of the day, my wife and I would get hungry.  You know where this is going, so I’ll just get right to the point.  I prepared a meal that required, sorry, the use of energy.  The meal that I prepared included ingredients that people generally regard as not healthy when eaten raw, so I cooked them, using both, (I feel terrible about this) propane gas and electricity.
• On Wednesday evening, I’m going to guess it was around 8:30 or so, it got dark.  In fact, it was dark enough that we really could not see very well without the use of (yikes) electric lights.  So, I turned a few on.  Okay, maybe it was more than a few.  But I promise, our house could probably not be seen from outer space like the Las Vegas Strip or anything.  Besides, I was finding that reading in the dark was really not very productive, but I am willing to learn how this can be accomplished if anyone knows a trick that might help.
• Perhaps this one is THE most scandalous.  I turned on the television because I HAD to find out who the two contestants were that were eliminated from American Idol.  In the event you were more respectful of The Earth and did not have your television turned on, those eliminated were Lil and Anoop.
• Finally (okay there are probably more offenses, but this will be all for now) of all the days this week, I thoughtlessly, no, I’ll correct that and say it was done with a callous indifference, I picked Earth Day to re-charge my cell phone.  It was low on charge, and without even a second thought, I plugged it in.  I know you will be relieved that I unplugged the charger when it was not in use because I hear that the polar ice caps are melting because people leave their chargers plugged in when not in use.  If this shameful practice describes YOU, repent and unplug!  For the record, because I DO unplug, I did NOT cause what is seen in that picture above.  So there!