BusinessWeek has an interesting article on the state of alternative energy technology. I am a big fan of utilizing new science to generate energy...one of the challenges is developing sources that are sustainable economically. The article talks about the state of developing technologies and some of the companies looking to bring them forward.
POC Blog
The random technotheolosophical blogging of Reid S. Monaghan
On Michael Vick
Some of you know that I spent six years at Virginia Tech starting a ministry there with varsity athletes, a large portion of which were on the Hokie football team. I have been asked several questions over the years about Mike and have been somewhat hesitant to speak. For one, I do know Mike and spent some time with him at Tech before he went big time. Second, when someone has that much spotlight on him, is given that much money it is a little tough to know what affect that has on a person.
Some of you may have seen the press conference where Vick issued his apology. If not it is available here.
I guess the most frequently asked questions I have been asked about Mike are: 1) Do you think he did it (recently this has been asked over and over) 2) What do you think he thinks about God? The second question is of more interest to me. You see, I do pray for Mike and have since 1998 when I first met him. As he is likely to go off to jail in the near future my prayer remains what it was after our discussions about Jesus on the VT campus.
- That he would learn the gospel of grace proclaimed in the New Testament.
- That someone would have both the time and opportunity to teach him about life and godliness. Our few times were cut short by too much fame, way too quick.
Reading and artificial life
According this AP story, one out of four adults did not read a single book last year. Is there hope for us? Well, maybe these critters will read. Not likely.
I'll refer back to my protest in favor of books...continuing a crusade in favor of reading...not backing down one bit.
New "Jesus" is getting divorced
It seems this self-proclaimed Jesus Christ is getting divorced. If you are not familiar with this guy, he claims to be Jesus come back again. This time he doesn't believe in sin or hell - and instead of "having no place to lay his head" he rolls in luxury cars and rolex watches. Sad that this sort of deception continues today.
Here is a video from CNN
(HT - Garrett Kell)
Praise the Child, Spoil the Child
New York Magazine has an interesting study on the effects of "over-praising" your kids to the point where they are afraid to try anything, work hard, take risks...you can read it here.
I agree with most of it. For instance, this type of stuff is ridiculous:
Since the 1969 publication of The Psychology of Self-Esteem, in which Nathaniel Branden opined that self-esteem was the single most important facet of a person, the belief that one must do whatever he can to achieve positive self-esteem has become a movement with broad societal effects. Anything potentially damaging to kids’ self-esteem was axed. Competitions were frowned upon. Soccer coaches stopped counting goals and handed out trophies to everyone. Teachers threw out their red pencils. Criticism was replaced with ubiquitous, even undeserved, praise.
We know that esteeming the self, self-exaltation, etc. is nothing more than veiled pride. The soul's gaze need be turned outward not upon itself in order to find life. Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes by John Piper:
We are all starved for the Glory of God, not self. No one goes to the Grand Canyon to increase self-esteem. Why do we go? Because there is greater healing for the soul in beholding splendor than there is in beholding self. Indeed, what could be more ludicrous in a vast and glorious universe like this than a human being, on the speck called earth, standing in front of the mirror trying to find significance in his own self-image? It is a great sadness that this is the gospel of the modern world.
John Piper, Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ, (Wheaton:IL, Crossway books 2001) 21.
Self obsession is a particularly terrible form of idolatry...for in trying to think so highly of ourselves, we realize that we fall so short. When you think you suck and are trying to find self-esteem the stifling prison that forms is unbearable. We need to gospel to escape such self-inflicted straight jackets.
The article is not completely down on praising your children, but reminds that all praise is not equal. Vain and empty praise stultifies.
But all praise is not equal—and, as Dweck demonstrated, the effects of praise can vary significantly depending on the praise given. To be effective, researchers have found, praise needs to be specific. (The hockey players were specifically complimented on the number of times they checked an opponent.) Sincerity of praise is also crucial. Just as we can sniff out the true meaning of a backhanded compliment or a disingenuous apology, children, too, scrutinize praise for hidden agendas. Only young children—under the age of 7—take praise at face value: Older children are just as suspicious of it as adults.
One last quote about the value of persistence and perseverance.
“A person who grows up getting too frequent rewards will not have persistence, because they’ll quit when the rewards disappear.”
Old School people simply called this “spoiling the kids”
From a worldview perspective the article falls way short of dealing with humans as humans. The worldview of the article is completely reductionistic when viewing people. It is almost like the parents view their kids as a computational, evolutionary pleasure seeking meat machines that you use different inputs in order to manipulate to the right outcomes. This is the overarching view of the article – whether to praise or not praise – their view of human beings is still pretty mechanistic.
Scripture teaches the value of perseverance, suffering, and challenge to the human soul. It teaches us to discipline kids, not spoil them. It teaches us to have them live for different treasure than the praise of men or the rewards they are given. A lot of my aversion to buying our kids so much stuff is that I fear them not seeing the struggle of life, not be broken and dependent on the gospel of grace and thereby losing their souls to this trivial American world of which we are a part.
Healthy?
Kairos Journal has a troubling article on the health of homosexuality. The link has several footnotes which add to the main text of the article...
Here is the link: How Healthy Is Homosexuality?
June 27-28 - Great Days to Desire God
For two days only, June 27-28, the Desiring God Online Store is offering all their
books for just 5 bucks. So if you have not purchased that John Piper book you have been eying - I would say tomorrow is the day.
Some people are getting hyped up about Friday's iPhone - I am pumped for Wed/Thur and getting a bunch of copies of Battling Unbelief to give to our people.
Koons moves over as well
Robert Koons, professor of philosophy at University of Texas at Austin, has also just converted to Roman Catholicism - See his post at Right Reason - It is interesting to see how the new perspective on Paul has contributed to many peoples "re-vision" of justification by faith alone.
Dr. Koons, like Beckwith, is a trained philosopher (a very good one as well) - I am sure many Protestant thinkers may point the finger wholesale at the discipline of philosophy - I hope this is not the case.
Imus, White People, and Frustration
By now most everyone has heard much about the recent remarks made by Talk radio and television host Don Imus. Imus hosts the popular syndicated show Imus in the Morning which is distributed by Westwood One and MSNBC. If you have not heard what went down on the Imus show a week or so ago, I'll catch you up on the story.
Basically, Don Imus and his producer were doing their show commenting on various items in the news etc. They began to discuss the recent NCAA Women's Basketball Championship game when they turned to the Rutgers women's team and rained out some terrible insults. Now Imus is one who has insulted people plenty in the past - a display of the lack of civility in our culture where the ad hominem reigns. An AP article on the incident records the following:
While Imus has used his show to spread insults around — once calling Colin Powell a "weasel" and other times referring to New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson as a "fat sissy" and former Colorado Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, an American Indian, as "the guy from `F Troop'"
The comments that followed have brought outrage across America from people from all walks of life. You can hear the comments at YouTube. In light of his misinformed perception of the ladies from Rutgers, he referred to their tatoos and called them "nappy-headed hos." Since then there has been a firestorm of media attention, Imus has offered his apology, has been suspended by the network for two weeks, and sponsors have dropped the show, and may be fired from his job. There is much talk going on about speech, racism, culture - and hopefully some good will come from all of this. In light of this I want to comment briefly on the situation as well.
The Remarks In Themselves
First of all, the remarks in themselves are deplorable and disgusting. This is the case from several angles which we don't want to overlook. The remarks were derogatory and racist. Nappy headed and hos were directed at the black women on the court - everyone knows this and this is a primary reason for the outrage. The remarks were made about women he did not know, are young college women, who did not deserve to be used to try and make a joke. As has been seen, these women on the Rutgers team, black and white, are women who are of high character and esteem. The comments of Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer are revealing:
Before you are valedictorians of their class, future doctors, musical prodigies, and yes, even Girl Scouts," she said. "They are young ladies of class, distinction, they are articulate, they are brilliant, they are gifted. They are God's representatives in every sense of the word."
The Rutgers women had just over achieved at the highest level of their sport. They had accomplished something very remarkable in the world of women's basketball, and some guys tried to have fun at their expense. One of the tests of human action is that people should not be treating as means to other ends. People have value due to what they are. I can only guess how the mothers and fathers heard Imus' remarks - I know how this father's heart would have felt.
Imus is a White Man
I have read some commentaries which try to shift this conversation from what it is to a commentary on the nature of discourse in rap music and the black community. This sort of language is common in media, music, and popular views of women in the black community. I even watched some guy's video complaining of the "hypocrisy" of the black community. For some reason, we as white people fail to see at times that our words and actions carry different weight with black people because we are white. We forget that for hundreds of years white folk enslaved black folk. We forget that just a generation ago in the south, Jim Crowe still strutted down the streets. We forget that white people still have a sick supremacist view of their culture over others and that comments like those from Imus confirm many of our black brothers and sisters heartfelt suspicions. That this is just the way white people are. In listening to the Imus clip, you hear a guy trying to sound ghetto in talking about the Rutgers team, trying to be hip and funny. Are these remarks appropriate if they come from a black rapper? Of course not. Are they more loaded when they come from the mouths of white folks - absolutely. People fail to see this.
I sensed a similar frustration this week in reading a tragic commentary about the state of black men in American in the Tennessean. At the bottom of this passionate plea by a black man for more men to mentor and help guide the young brothers of the world were some of the most asinine comments I have read. You can read it all here. My conclusion sometimes is that people can be so culturally blinded that they don't give a rip about their neighbors. It is hard not to get frustrated with a white culture that hides from other people in the "the right neighborhoods" all the while looking down on a culture and people enslaved by our forefathers for centuries. When people say "why are they like that?" "Immigrants do better in life in just a few years in America...Why is that?" I just want to go nuts.
Moving Forward
I always believe that grace and forgiveness along with appropriate consequences is the way forward. Our racial conversation in America, with all its pain, awkwardness, ignorance, sin, and joys must continue. We need to get to know each other better, listen, repent, change, share, empower, pray, weep, and hope for a better day. I know the stupid stuff I have said to my black sisters and brothers; I know how many folks misjudge me. As the dominant culture in America, my plea to my white sisters and brothers is to care about people, hang out with folks, be willing to not "defend yourself" or dismiss what is said by others. We need to listen...no, we need to "HEAR" from our neighbors. We then need Jesus - to forgive our sins and move us forward to lay our lives and agendas down for one another in love.
If you are one of the conservative, white guys out there who thinks Imus is being made an example of, that folks are "overreacting", being hypocritical and you are privately angry about it...I do pray you may reconsider your views. This is not about being PC - it is about civility and respect for all who are created in the imago dei.
The Weed Cave...
Batman has the bat cave. Some folks in Middle Tennessee had the weed cave. A short description:
Law enforcement officers in Tennessee make the greatest underground discovery since Tutankhamen’s tomb was unearthed in the Valley of the Kings. Under this ordinary house is a marijuana grow-op unlike any you have ever seen. Within the caves of middle Tennessee, growers constructed a complex of offices, living quarters, restroom facilities, and a climate-controlled forest of over one thousand cannabis plants.
The design on this thing was pretty extensive...check out the pics here. It looks like some keen minds were being used for misguided purposes.
(HT - Challies)
New Feature - Fact of the Day
Tim Dees, a good friend of mine, puts together a daily e-mail he calls Fact of the Day. It is a random, but thoughtful foray into all manner of topics of interest. He sends these out to a growing list of friends and co-conspirators who like to engage the mind and have some fun as well.
I have decided, with Tim's permission, that from time to time we will run a "Fact of the Day" here at the POCBlog. The only criteria will be when the FotD is of particular interest to...well...me.
There will be a "Fact of the Day" coming soon. Many thanks Tim! As you will soon see, these are pretty engaging little nuggets of factology.
Something Strange About France
An interesting quote in a discussion on the New Republic
"Today, according to an amazing recent survey, only 51 percent of the French population identify themselves as Catholic, and only half of those Catholics believe in God. The implications for French society have been significant."
You think? Why someone would be Catholic yet not believe in God? I know incense and cathedrals are cool, but if you don't believe in God why on earth would someone claim to be Catholic? Strange.
(HT - Tim Dees)
Aqua Teen Terrorists?
The guys who were responsible for this, decided to speak, well, uh, sort of, speak to the media about their involvement in a publicity stunt for a cartoon network show that mobilized counter terrorism efforts in Boston.
I would love your opinion on this. Do you think this is harmless fun? Wise guys who need to be slapped around? Guys that crossed lines and ought to be prosecuted as criminals?
We are much smarter now...
I am sure there will be many lists flying around during the last days of 2006, but I thought this one from the Tampa Tribune was interesting. It contains 50 things we know now that we did not know last year. Read on...you should feel smarter now?
No warp drive or worm hole travel so I guess we will have to wait to explore the galaxy.
Some do affect me though. I will try to have some red wine here and again, drink more chocolate milk after workouts and try not to sleep in on weekends. Oh, wait a second, I have kids...I don't ever sleep in on weekends and we all love chocolate milk.
Great piece on CBS News
There is a great CBS News piece online featuring the spirituality of today's college students. Specifically, the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ is highlighted in the story. Kasey and I served on staff with Crusade for 8 years so it was a blessing to see the continued fruit on the campus. Additionally, I came to faith in Jesus through the athletic ministry of Crusade, so my heart certainly beats for those sharing the gospel with the half drunk (or fully drunk) knuckleheads on campus.
Here is the video (I believe you need to have RealPlayer installed to view it)
HT - Jarrod Lynn
Skywalking...
People will soon be able to walk out "over" the Grand Canyon according to this National Geographic Article. The 1,500-member Hualapai indian tribe will soon open this attraction to generate revenues for the reservation. Not sure how much the walk out into the sky will run you, but it certainly looks cool. A large rendition of the project is available here.
I wonder what the length of the walkway is out from the cliff? The engineers I am sure worked to balance the load, strength and weight of materials to get you as far out there as possible.
How much would you pay for a ticket to do this? $0, $10, $15, $20?
Deceived...
The New York Times is running an article based on a survey designed to estimate the number of married households as a percentage of the population. For the first time the data they have shows married households making up less than a majority of American households.
The interesting thing in the piece was the typical blah, blah, blah about the marriage "test drive" known as cohabitation. The end of the article reads:
“Even cohabiting young adults tell us that they are doing so because it would be unwise to marry without first living together in a society marked by high levels of divorce,” Ms. Smock said.
A number of couples interviewed agreed that cohabiting was akin to taking a test drive and, given the scarcity of affordable apartments and homes, also a matter of convenience. Some said that pregnancy was the only thing that would prompt them to make a legal commitment soon. Others said they never intended to marry. A few of those couples said they were inspired by solidarity with gay and lesbian couples who cannot legally marry in most states.
Jennifer Lynch, a 28-year-old stage manager in New York, said she had lived on the Lower East Side with her boyfriend, who is 37 and divorced, for most of the five years they have been a couple.
“Cohabitating is our choice, and we have no intention to be married,” Ms. Lynch said. “There is little difference between what we do and what married people do. We love each other, exist together, all of our decisions are based upon each other. Everyone we care about knows this.”
If anything, she added, “not having the false security of wedding rings makes us work even a little harder.”
When this is stacked up next to the reality that cohabiting couples seem to separate at a higher rate than those who did not shack up, you can see a sad deception being perpetuated today (See Rutger's Univ Study on Marriage and Cohabitation). Unfortunately the people ravaged by such popular "try before you buy" mythologies are the women who give it all up to some knucklehead guy without any commitment. And when the boy will not grow up, commit, be a good dad...she is puzzled. She should know better and find a real man.
Listen up young folks...
For all those young folks out there who have been through the crazy world of marriage, divorce and troubled lives...and who do not want to walk that path yourself. There are some good findings you need be aware of over at Rutger's University's National Marriage Project
Ten Important Research Findings on Marriage & Choosing A Marriage Partner
Specifically, all those who think "you gotta try before you buy" are just plain spinning nonsense to themselves. Cohabiting does not make for a better marriage - it is hazardous to future matrimonial success.
6. Living together before marriage has not proved useful as a "trial marriage." People who have multiple cohabiting relationships before marriage are more likely to experience marital conflict, marital unhappiness and eventual divorce than people who do not cohabit before marriage. Researchers attribute some but not all of these differences to the differing characteristics of people who cohabit, the so-called "selection effect," rather than to the experience of cohabiting itself. It has been hypothesized that the negative effects of cohabitation on future marital success may diminish as living together becomes a common experience among today's young adults. However, according to one recent study of couples who were married between 1981 and 1997, the negative effects persist among younger cohorts, supporting the view that the cohabitation experience itself contributes to problems in marriage.
So kick out that nappy head boyfriend of yours and drop that week shackin up schmack! Men who take all the benefits with no commitment are little boys masquerading as men...get rid out that kind of chump. Men, get your game together, get a job, serve someone else through the church so that you will be worth marrying some day. I have hope for you guys.
Interesting Read on Addiction...
There is an interesting article on addiction from the Wall Street Journal by Theodore Dalrymple - Article | Poppycock
I found the following quote to be quite witty...
And in China, millions of Chinese addicts gave up with only minimal help: Mao Tse-Tung's credible offer to shoot them if they did not. There is thus no question that Mao was the greatest drug-addiction therapist in history.(HT - Al Mohler)
US Men's Soccer
Over the years I have had several born again Soccer experiences. Beginning "Dead in My Soccer Sins" I was raised by my Dad thinking that Soccer was for sissies and communists. It just was not a manly, American sport in my eyes. What a small closed minded American sportsmen I was!
My first conversion happened as a Freshman at UNC Chapel Hill. First, the women's soccer team was so ridiculously good that you could not help but be a fan. They were fun to watch, dominant, and many of them were smoking good looking (like my wife Kasey for instance - we met at UNC where she was on the soccer team). So I became a rabind "women's" soccer fan. At this point in my life soccer was good for "women, sissies, and communists." I married that soccer player and became a big fan of hers for life.
My next step in Soccer Sanctification happened in our first ministry assignment with Athletes in Action. Kasey and I were sent to the University of Kentucky to work with athletes and complete a two year period of ministry training. My first team to work with was...you guessed it "MEN's Soccer" - now at this time I thought these two words together formed an immediate contradiction...for their could be no "soccer" for "MEN" - boy was I wrong. I had so much fun ministering with these young men. We saw half the team come to Jesus and I ended up having about 12 dudes from this team in my house for Bible studies. These guys were raw, not typical church boys. Hungry to grow, with huge questions, all the rough edges you could imagine - just fun. And I began to go to their games and realized how intense, athletic, and yes...well, yes...even tough these guys were. Now, they could never whip wrestlers and they still look silly bouncing balls on their heads, but these were men, yes dudes, tough guys.
The final and complete step of my growth as a soccer fan took place spending summers in the Czech Republic during major soccer competitions (namely the 2000 Euro Cup and the 2002 World Cup). To watch beautiful play, with knowledgeable fans is a sure treat...which brings me to a quandry about last nights warm up game in Nashville between the US Men's side and the Moroccans.
- Short story - we lost...and Morocco is not good
- Longer story - we held out our best guys for much of the play and the game, from what I have read, was not pretty to watch.
I think these are great opportunities to showcase Soccer to the American public, good PR games, etc. But when the stars are not playing full out, the game suffers, and we loose to lesser opponents. What to do? I know we must focus on the World Cup Games - but it would be good to see more of the best we offer on our soil.
Anyway, the US men are currently ranked 5th in the world, made it to the 2002 World Cup Quarterfinals loosing a close (we got ripped off) match to the Germans. US Men's Soccer is on the rise. Our women, well they have been good for a long time.
Chear for our American Footballers this year in the World Cup - they open next month agains the Czech Republic - the nation where my final roots as a football fan were sunk deep. I pray we bring our A game as our initial pool is pretty tough. We need to win the first one as the Italians will be next.
Long live the dudes that bounce the ball off of their heads. But in honesty, I pray my two girls are All American Soccer players...but I hope my son puts on the Helmet and pads and grabs some pig skin. Or even learns from his pop how to grab a hold of somebody, sling em down and pin em.
For we know that real men are wrestlers...but soccer is for men as well...just perhaps softer, pretty boy men who like to use products in their hair.
Out