Quick Takes

It's been a busy couple of weeks and very little time to blog. Hopefully we'll be able to post more soon. In the meantime, a few random items for your consideration.

Who said this? See if you can identify the author of this quote. It seems particularly relevant to the current War on Terror. The answer is at the end of this post.

"It appears we have appointed our worst generals to command forces, and our most gifted and brilliant to edit newspapers. In fact, I discovered by reading newspapers that these editor-geniuses plainly saw all my strategic defects from the start, yet failed to inform me until it was too late. Accordingly, I am readily willing to yield my command to these obviously superior intellects, and I will, in turn, do my best for the Cause by writing editorials - after the fact."

This is not good news. According to an article in The Independent, children are spending less time reading with their parents:

Children of primary school age spend more time on their own or playing with
friends than they do in the company of their parents, according to research
published today. Even mealtimes are squeezed into as little time as possible so
that children can leave the table and watch television or play with their
toys.

Hat tip: Tim Ellsworth

Labor Pains. From the Associated Press:

A small Russian city just got a really big addition: its resident has delivered her 12th baby at 17.05 pounds _ the biggest on the nation's record.

Tatiana Khalina, 42, delivered the girl by Caesarean section at a maternity clinic in Aleisk, a town of 30,000 in the Altai region in southern Siberia, Svetlana Gildeyeva, a nurse at the clinic, said Thursday.

Gildeyeva said the birth on Sept. 17 went smoothly and both the mother and the child were fine.

Debating atheism. On Faith, the online forum on religion sponsored by Newsweek and The Washington Post, is hosting a symposium this week on atheism. They started off with the following question:

Best-selling atheist Christopher Hitchens wrote: "Religion is violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism and tribalism and bigotry, invested in ignorance and hostile to free inquiry, contemptuous of women and coercive toward children." Why is he right or wrong?

Syndicated columnist Cal Thomas responded with this astute observation:

He is right. That is exactly what religion is. Religion is a creation of man designed to control people who don't agree with whatever brand is being promoted. God has nothing to do with religion. What God has everything to do with is relationships. It is THAT he wants from human beings, a relationship with Himself. But since He is holy and we are not, he demonstrated His love toward us in that while we were still sinners, He sent Jesus to die for us (romans 5:8).

That is not a message to be held or patented as the exclusive property of anyone; rather it is a message to be shared with whosoever will come to Him on His terms. As the offended party, He gets to make the rules (after all, He did make the universe). That some reject his message is their right, but they also must accept the consequences, for "The fool has said in his heart 'there is no God'" (Psalm 14:1)

Hat tip: Kathleen Miller

Bye, Bye Barry. San Francisco Giants' slugger Barry Bonds played in his last home game at Pac Bell Park last night and possibly the final game of his career. He's a free agent at the end of the season and the team has already said they don't plan to re-sign him. He doesn't plan to retire but maybe he should rather than trying to prolong his career as a designated hitter in the American League. He's already got the career home run record (even though he is suspected of cheating through steroid use) and has the stats to get him into the Hall of Fame. Baseball would be better off if he would just retire.

Why did the chicken cross the road? It's an old joke but one company (who sells a cool device for roasting chickens) has assembled some of the best answers to this joke. My personal favorite is from John Cleese:

This Chicken is no more. It has ceased to function. Bereft of life, it rests in peace. It's a stiff. If it wasn't nailed to the road it'd be pushing up daisies. It's snuffed it. It's metabolic processes are now history. It's bleeding demised. It's rung down the curtain, shuffled off the mortal coil and joined the bleeding Choir Invisible. This is an Ex-Chicken. Ergo, it did not cross the road.

Reminds me of the Dead Parrot Sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus:




Coming soon....I've got several DVD and book reviews to post in the next couple of weeks including some educational resources that will be of particular interest to fellow homeschoolers. I also hope to have a couple of author interviews in the next few months so check back often for updates.

Answer to the quote quiz. The quote at the beginning of the post is from General Robert E. Lee (1863). Hat tip: Evangelical Outpost