Awaiting 2003

Me go out on New Year's Eve? Nah...I prefer a quiet evening at home. So...

(Cool glow effect found via Lynn Sislo.)

Something "Nu"

Welcome to the new URL and MT setup for LilacRose! It was a lot of work getting the templates the way I wanted them, but I finally got finished -- just in time for the new year. There's a few little things I need to fix, but for the most part, it's finished.

Although the Blogger archives have been updating properly the past couple of weeks, I decided to go ahead and move to my own domain with MT. Why? I just wanted to. It's an opportunity to learn new things.

I have comments capabilities with this new setup, but I don't think I'll use them very often. I'll open up comments for this post, though.

Blogging News

Bene Diction has a new home!

Coming Soon...

I'm going to be making a major change to this blog. This will happen within the next few days. Just a little hint...the change is something "nu".

Great News!

Anne Wilson is back!

Merry Christmas!

I will not be posting again until after Christmas, so I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

Recommended Reading

I’ve seen this awesome column posted in various places the past few weeks:

Frank Schaeffer: My Heart on the Line

It’s a beautiful tribute from a father to his son, who has chosen to serve his country in the Marines.

Incidentally, I could be mistaken, but I think this Frank Schaeffer is the same guy who wrote Addicted to Mediocrity as Franky Schaeffer.

Defending Mary’s Honor

I heard about this BBC program about the Virgin Mary a few days ago. Bene Diction posted about it today, which brought it to mind again. I’ve heard most of these attempts to refute the virgin birth before. Particularly this (from the BBC article):

Each [Gospel] was written to advance a particular theological understanding of Jesus. The virgin birth tradition derives at least partly from a passage in the book attributed to the prophet Isaiah: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son... "

Other belief systems current in the Middle East at the time of Christ's birth also speak of a miraculous birth of a leader to a virgin.

And the word translated as "virgin" in our Bibles, scholars say, may well have meant no more in the original Aramaic than "young girl" or "maiden".

Today in church, the Gospel reading was from Luke 1:26-38. Here’s an excerpt of this reading:

"...You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

Now, I’m no theologian or scholar – I’m just a regular Christian who still has a lot to learn. But if the word “virgin” really meant “young girl” or “maiden,” wouldn’t that last question by Mary be kind of silly? Basically, she would be asking: “How can I have a baby? I’m a young woman.” For her question to make any sense, the word “virgin” would have to mean what we understand it to mean.

Bizarre Things Seen on the Web Lately

• There's no way in the world I could eat this cake. (Via Nealz Nuze.)
• I'm all for cancer awareness, and I'm sure that this is a great learning tool. It's still bizarre, though. (Via Mark Shea.)

Silly Quiz Time

what band member are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

(Via laughin).

Miscellaneous Fun

I’ve had a rather crappy past few days, but I’m feeling a little more cheerful this evening. So, I’m going to post a few fun things.

• The kittens are back!


• Elf Bowling 3 is here. It’s an acquired taste, but fun when you get the hang of it.


• Galleries of bad art! (Via et cetera.)


• The Dullest Blog in the World – and yes, it’s even duller than this blog. (Via blogs4God.)

A Good Cause

Excedrin will donate $1.00 to the Marine Corps' Toys For Tots for every click on the Toys for Tots logo on their website.

The Obligatory Trent Lott Post

Okay, it seems like just about everyone has commented on this, so here’s what I think. Lott’s a bonehead. I doubt that he’s actually a racist who thinks segregation is a great idea. He was just being a bonehead yet again. He’s been a very ineffectual Senate Majority Leader and should be replaced with someone more competent.

The only other comment on Lott I can make is that I think his rug hair looks like plastic Devo hair.

That’s all.

Boortz on Abortion

I enjoy Neal Boortz’s show and I agree with a lot of the things he says. Other times I find him to be very offensive. This is particularly the case in the rare instances when he talks about abortion. Usually this is the "forbidden subject"...he doesn’t take calls about it and he refuses to read emails about it. He seems to be talking about it more than usual lately. What I'd like to address is this part of his program notes for today:

THIS IS WHY REPUBLICANS LOSE

We have a true zealot … a religious zealot … serving in the Georgia General Assembly. His name is Bobby Franklin and, of course, he’s a Republican. They should list him in the legislative directory as Rep. Bobby Franklin, RZ-Marietta.

Bobby Franklin is now in the process of demonstrating just why women will go to extreme lengths to avoid voting for a Republican candidate. He is going to introduce a bill in the Georgia General Assembly which will require a pregnant woman to obtain a “death warrant” before she can have an abortion. The actual abortion will be referred to as an “execution.” The bill will call for a trial where the mother will be required to testify in open court as to why the “execution” should take place. Both sides, the rapidly growing cell mass and the mother, will have the right to appeal. A doctor who is found to have performed an “execution” without a “death warrant” having been signed will be jailed for five years and will lose his medical license.

Here is a lesson in political reality for you Republicans out there:

1. There are many women who are voting for Democrat candidates who are far more aligned with the Republican philosophy than the Democratic, but won’t vote for Republicans because of people like Bobby Franklin.

2. There are virtually NO women who would otherwise vote for Democrats, but who instead vote Republican because of people like Bobby Franklin.

3. Abortion is legal, and it's going to remain legal. Period.

So … thank you Bobby Franklin, and a big thanks to all of your religious fanatic-zealot friends, for chasing even more women into the open arms of the Democratic Socialist party. You are serving the cause of freedom so well.

I agree with some of what he’s said here, but I absolutely disagree with other parts. First I'll address where I agree with him.

Franklin's bill is ridiculous. It's ham-fisted, mean-spirited and exactly the wrong way to present the pro-life point of view. Attacking women who seek abortions is not going to help people to be open to the idea that there’s another human life involved and that that life has a rights. I also agree that when Republicans come on too strong with this issue, they drive voters away. I do not think that pro-life Republicans should abandon the issue. Rather, I think they should work quietly and incrementally toward their goal.

I strongly disagree with Boortz’s statement that the baby is just a "rapidly growing cell mass." It's not a blob of tissue. It's a developing human life. I also take issue with his general hostility toward pro-lifers.

I don't know if I agree that abortion will never be illegal. I'm inclined to think that people have hardened their hearts to the point that they think a baby is only a person if they want it. If they don't, then it's just a blob of cells. This attitude is, of course, illogical, but it helps our society rationalize killing some babies while going to great lengths to save others. But I still hope that maybe someday, most people will realize what a great moral evil abortion is.

Socialism = Endless Meetings

If that doesn’t motivate you to oppose socialism, nothing will. Andrea Harris has a brilliant takedown of this model for a socialist society. One of the points of the article is that a good socialist workplace would have weekly meetings with “endless debates.” **shudder** Andrea responds:

Well, that sounds like paradise right there -- endless meetings, endless hours in an underheated concrete-walled cavern feeling your ass grow numb in your seat while some ratchet-jaw with iron lungs blathers on and on about some nitpicky detail of office politics. I call this the "Nightmare of the Folding Chairs," the interminable lifetime of meetings to which these people want to reduce our lives. Outside the grass may be growing and the sun might be shining, but we won't know it because it's Meeting Day.

Other plans for a socialist paradise include everyone earning the same pay and job sharing. That is, if you have more valuable skills, you would still earn the same pay as an unskilled worker, because, darn it, that’s nicer. As for job sharing, never mind that people are individuals who have different interests and different skills. In the workers’ paradise, you’re just another warm body to fill a billet.

The article asserts that this proposed utopia would not be a dictatorship. However, it would take the police power of the government to get people to accept such a sorry arrangement.

Christian Political Correctness

To see a good example of this, check out some of the comments to this post by Jordon Cooper. Apparently, some people think he's a bad Christian because he links to Andrew Sullivan.

Of course, we must only link to those who totally agree with us on every issue. Sure, that will end up meaning that we won't link to anyone, but if that's what it takes to keep us safe in our ghetto, so be it. [/sarcasm]

I'm going to be updating my blogroll in the next day or two. When I do, I think I'll add Jordon Cooper.

(Via Bene Diction.)

P0rn Majority?

If that's the case, then count me out, please. I don't have much to add except -- what Susanna Cornett said.

If you think she's wrong, think again.

Smallpox – A Potential Apocalypse

I’ve been reading some disturbing articles and blog posts about the looming threat of smallpox being used as a biological weapon. William Quick over at Daily Pundit has an analysis of some recent news that Iraq may have an extremely virulent strain of the virus that our vaccines may be useless against. What he has to say is alarming, but it makes a lot of sense. Feces Flinging Monkey also has this post about what a smallpox plague would mean for the whole world. (WARNING! The FFM link has some very graphic and upsetting pictures of smallpox victims.)

I know this information is very worrying. I'll probably have trouble sleeping tonight thinking of it. But we all have to realize the extreme danger we are in.

Satire or Diatribe?

Canadian Christianity: Christian bands turn down movie role

Most independent rock bands would jump at the chance to appear in a Hollywood movie, especially one produced by R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe. But several Christian musicians in the Vancouver area turned down just such an opportunity a few weeks ago when they were asked to fill in for an American band that backed out of a film at the last minute.

The reason they turned the film down? The script, which makes fun of born-again Christians.

Now, I love satirical humor, and I don't think Christians are exempt from being satirized. But I have to wonder if this movie will end up being just a bitter, anti-Christian diatribe instead -- especially when Stipe describes the movie as being "like those monster vampire high school kind of movies, only here the monsters are Jesus-freak teenagers."

(Link via RockRebel).

Hollywood "Marriages"

Neal Boortz has the following to say about the above topic:

SO … HOW LONG DID THIS “HOLLOWOOD MARRIAGE” LAST?

I’m talking about the so-called marriage between Nicholas Cage and Lisa Marie Presley. How long did this one last? Minutes, hours, weeks? No more than a few months.

We really need to come up with a new name for these Hollywood sexual liaisons. They aren’t marriages, and to call them such is to insult every true, loving and dedicated marriage in this country. It is obscene to compare this Presley-Cage tryst, or any of Julia’s different arrangements, or J-Lo’s newest excursion into the sack with the dedication and love that you see in the faces of couples celebrating their Golden Anniversaries. Let’s just call them “Hollywood Couplings,” or something like that.

My suggestion for what to call these "marriages" -- "Flings with Rings."

Another Must-Read

Mark Steyn takes on Canadian and European anti-American snobbery: They'll have to think again about the Quiet American

In fairness to the late Ayatollah Khomeini, when he dubbed the US the Great Satan he at least understood that America is a tempter, a seducer: his slur attempts to explain its appeal. Calling America the Great Moron, by contrast, is just feeble. I happen to like moral clarity myself, but I can appreciate that for some tastes Bush's habit of dividing the world into "good" and "evil" and using these terms non-ironically might seem a little simplistic. But it's nowhere near as simplistic as dividing the world into "I'm right" and "you're stupid".

For Republicans, this is an old song. "President Reagan's library burned down. Both books," drawled Gore Vidal from his exile in Italy. "The tragedy was he had not finished colouring the books." This is the guy who won the Cold War. In the 1950s, Eisenhower was a smiling dummy who cared most about his golf. This is the fellow who won the Second World War. But long after everything else has crumbled away the intellectual arrogance of the anti-Americans is indestructible. "A man like George W Bush is simply not possible in our politics," I was told by an elegant, cultured Parisian this spring. "For a creature of such crude, simplistic and extreme views to be one of the two principal candidates in a presidential election would be inconceivable here. Inconceivable!" Two weeks later, Jean Marie Le Pen made it into the final round of the French election.

All this Bush-is-a-dummy garbage is beyond tiresome. However, I say let the Bush-is-a-dummy crowd continue to underestimate Bush. Because when they underestimate Bush (and America in general), they lose.

I'm Still Around

Sorry for the lack of blogging lately...I've been busy with some other things. Plus, I'm still not fully recovered from my cold.

I'm not one of those bloggers who feels that I have to post stuff every day. This blog is just an outlet for my opinions on various things. It's also motivated me to learn more about HTML and CSS. I try not to take this stuff too seriously. I think some bloggers get burned out and then quit because they feel all kinds of pressure to post lots of material every day and get lots of hits. I don't feel that kind of pressure and I hope I never do, because then it wouldn't be any fun.

So, just consider me a Type B, laid-back kind of blogger.