Friday, March 30, 2018

Alice . . who?

Alice Cooper. The rock star. He came (or came back) to faith in Jesus Christ. And he came back to church. Here he is, talking about it.

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Irreducible #2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Step by tiny step, that's the evolutionary process.

If, say, a bushing (see diagram below) was produced by mutation, what advantage would it give to the bacterium?

Evolution cannot think, "I must retain this bushing, because it's going to be important to the flagellum."

Thinking ahead, progressing according to a goal for the future, requires intelligence. If that bushing is not useful by itself to the bacterium - without all the other parts of the flagellum motor - then it will not be retained in the genes.

The flagellum can't function while it waits for the last few parts to mutate. But the bushing and all the other parts are there, and they work together incredibly well. Michael Behe doesn't think evolution (random mutations/undirected natural selection) did that. He thinks it looks designed.

The flagellum needs every single part to be present in order to function. It has "irreducible complexity." This is the idea that Behe contributed to the whole intelligent design theory.


Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Irreducible #1

A documentary, "Revolutionary," was made about biochemist Dr. Michael Behe of Lehigh University. He doesn't look like a radical, but his openness to the supernatural makes him different among his professional colleagues.



He studied the "bacterial flagellum," a whip-like tail of a single-cell bacteria. It's anchored in the cell's membrane, and it's made of protein molecules. (To get the scale of it, the bacteria is so small that hundreds of thousands of them could fit in the period at the end of this sentence.)

It's constructed like an outboard motor. Did it assemble by random chance? Evolutionary theory claims that all living organisms develop their systems when minute random mutations give an advantage that is passed on to the next generation.

Could random mutations build these proteins and assemble them into a functioning machine? Behe is skeptical.

(cont'd tomorrow)

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Chimera

A living half-human/half-chimpanzee is the super creepy goal of some scientists. Biologist & psychologist David Barash calls it a terrific idea. Even knowing that the individual produced by this combination might be "doomed to a living hell," he says it would be worth it.

One justification for similar experiments is that it may be possible to grow human organs, like the liver, inside an animal, like a pig. Then the organ could be transplanted into a human who needs it.

But his hostility to Christianity motivates him even more. He thinks that "such a creation [chimp/human] would . . drive a stake into the heart" of the idea that God created humanity in His image.

Why does he want to do that? He claims that this Christian doctrine makes humans cruel to animals. I claim that this Christian doctrine makes humans morally responsible for kindness to animals.

I also notice that he has no problem with the cruelty of giving this chimera a life of "living hell," or with killing those pigs so humans can have their new liver.

Monday, March 26, 2018

Fb pages gone

It hasn't been a great year for Facebook, with involvement in political censorship and sales of targeted personal information. And now they find out that the vastly influential Elon Musk doesn't like them.

Musk has taken down Facebook pages for both Tesla and SpaceX after some of his twitter followers suggested it.  Together, the two pages had over five million followers. 

photo: wokesloth.com

On twitter, he said: "I don’t use FB & never have, so don’t think I’m some kind of martyr or my companies are taking a huge blow. Also, we don’t advertise or pay for endorsements, so … don’t care."
"We've never advertised with FB," Musk added. "None of my companies buy advertising or pay famous people to fake endorse. Product lives or dies on its own merits."
So here's one billionaire pulling his support from another billionaire. In the small club of billionaires, maybe they're not all friends.
taken from Space

Friday, March 23, 2018

Moderate Islam

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) wants to reform Saudi Arabia, and he says that a key component of his plan will be making Islam more moderate. What does he mean? He vows to "eradicate the remnants of extremism very soon."

"We are returning to what we were before - a country of moderate Islam that is open to all religions, traditions and people around the globe," he said. "We want to live a normal life. A life in which our religion translates to tolerance, to our traditions of kindness" . . The prince stressed that Saudi Arabia "was not like this before 1979."
Public entertainment was banned, but concerts are now allowed and cinemas will open soon. The ban on women driving cars will end in June, and they will have more flexibility in the clothes they must wear.



Thursday, March 22, 2018

Crown Prince

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince, heir apparent to the throne and often referred to as "MbS", is on a mission to change his country. 

Last June he replaced his cousin as heir to the throne of his father. He formed alliances and punished those who might stand against him to consolidate power. His move against certain wealthy men last November (yesterday's post) was a move against perceived opponents.


image: quora.com

"Vision 2030" is what he wants for Saudi Arabia's future, a plan to modernize the kingdom.

He says that his nation is "addicted to oil." Now that the globally traded price of oil has plunged in recent years, they're in a position where they have to diversify, to aggressively pursue more streams of income. 

But the economy is far from the only thing he wants to modernize. The Crown Prince says that the key to his vision is moderating Islam, tomorrow's post.

(cont'd tomorrow)

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Monday, March 19, 2018

Sweden crime

from NYTimes, "Hand Grenades and Gang Violence Rattle Sweden's Middle Class"

Sweden has enjoyed a low crime rate for many years, but the Swedish crime rate is rising. 

"Weapons from a faraway, long-ago war [Bosnia] are flowing into immigrant neighborhoods here, puncturing Swedes’ sense of confidence and security . .  [G]ang-related assaults and shootings are becoming more frequent, and the number of neighborhoods categorized by the police as “marred by crime, social unrest and insecurity” is rising.



"Illegal weapons often enter Sweden over the Oresund Bridge, a 10-mile span that links the southern city of Malmo to Denmark. When it opened, in 2000, the bridge symbolized the unfurling of a vibrant, borderless Europe, but in recent years it has been more closely associated with smuggling, of people, weapons and drugs.

Daniel Zuniga, a Stockholm suburb resident, died a month ago because he picked up an M-75 hand grenade lying in the street. It was packed with plastic explosive and 3,000 steel balls. His wife, bicycling with him, was blown to the ground and injured.

Paulus Borisho was near the hand grenade explosion and says, "I am afraid for Europe."

Friday, March 16, 2018

Long ago Brits

Some of us know little about the old British Empire, just what we pick up from media and culture. But you might learn something surprising about what we in the U.S. (and many other peoples of the world) received from the Brits long ago.

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Rule for life

Follow-up to "China Rule"

Last week's posts said that China's President Xi Jinping was positioning himself to take more power. The National People's Congress" met over the weekend and approved his proposal to abolish presidential term limits. 


So now Xi Jinping has paved the way for him to rule China for the rest of his life. The Council also inserted his philosophy and his name into their national constitution. A campaign started in 2012 to investigate public officials (which has so far punished about two million of them) was made into a formal Commission.

A political analyst in Beijing says, The room for debate is becoming narrower.” 

One of the Congress delegates who voted for Xi's power grab tells us why: “Xi has shown us the right direction in development and if you have found the right path, why change?”

Taken from "China's President for Life"

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Afghanistan #2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

American troops, regional forces (Northern Alliance), and allies together have been fighting Al-Qaeda and the Taliban since shortly after the September 11, 2001, attack on America. By December 2001, the Taliban seemed to collapse. By 2003 U.S. troops were down to 8,000 and it looked like the major fighting was over.

But by February of 2009 American presence had climbed to 37,000. U.S. Pres. Obama declared that we would withdraw in 2011 and sent more military. Five months later, we had about 68,000 troops in Afghanistan, and then he committed 30,000 more in December.

Plans and discussions centered for years on how to make Afghanistan secure and self-sustaining, and our troops were drawn down. The Taliban re-gained strength. By 2017 it controlled about a third of the country. 

In January of this year Taliban violence escalated, and Pres. Trump sent more troops. At this time our service members in Afghanistan number around 14,000.

So that's a short summary to roughly answer the question, what's going on in Afghanistan?? It's taken from the Council on Foreign Relations.

"The Taliban have nowhere to hide,” the commander of American troops in Afghanistan, U.S. Army Gen. John Nicholson, said [3 weeks ago]. “There will be no safe haven for any terrorist group bent on bringing harm and destruction to this country.”

(NATO photo)

Thursday, March 8, 2018

China dissent

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

"Tiananmen Square" is not mentioned in Chinese school books.  Nearly a million protesters in 1989 gathered for about 3 weeks at that square in Beijing to demonstrate for greater democracy. The government deployed military troops who killed and arrested thousands.

(most famous photo of Tiananmen Square demonstration)

It was not safe to dissent from government policy in 1989, and it's still unsafe.

Li Baiguang, Christian human rights lawyer until just days ago, "represented illegally arrested pastors and farmers who had been forcibly evicted from their land. He also educated pastors and farmers about their legal rights." 

He attended the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C. on Feb. 8 this year, but on Feb. 26 he entered People's Liberation Army Hospital in Nanjing - and died there. Doctors said the cause of death was liver failure, though he had appeared healthy and was a non-drinker. 

Bob Fu, a student leader at Tiananmen Square in 1989 who took refuge in the U.S., now brings  "international attention to China’s gross human rights violations and promote[s] religious freedom and rule of law in China." Mr. Fu says that Li was murdered by the Communist Chinese authorities.

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

China control

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

China's one-party dictatorship has been strengthening its grip on national life for years. 

You read about the bombing of the 50,000-member church recently. "Xi Jinping is determined to crush any and all resistance to his rule." Christians are suspected of having "divided loyalties."

"China’s “Planned Birth” program continues today. Couples get told by the state how many children they can have . . Women who become pregnant before marriage, and women who become pregnant with a third child . . are still routinely aborted."

And the control over life is growing.

Internet censors now ban the use of the letter "N." They think it is code for "how many terms is Xi Jinping going to serve??" (Good question.) They also have banned using Winnie the Pooh meme. It is thought to look a little like Xi Jinping, and it mocks him.

No criticism of the new Red Emperor, however subtle, is allowed.

photo: https://www.eteknix.com/china-ban-winnie-the-pooh-social-media/

(cont'd tomorrow)

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

China rule

Presidents of the United States are permitted to serve only two terms in order to limit how much power one president may command. If the current president proposed an end to presidential term limits, and his party was expected to rubber-stamp the proposal, that would immediately become a crisis.

But that is what happened in China this weekend. President Xi Jinping recommended abolishing presidential term limits, and the Communist Party (of which he is also the leader) will meet this month and probably bow to the increase of his personal power.


"China’s Communist Party instituted term limits after Mao Zedong’s death in 1976, to ensure that a future Chinese leader wouldn’t rule for life and cement the kind of cult of personality Mao had.

"If China does indeed remove term limits for Xi, he will not be the first world leader to use constitutional rules for authoritarian purposes. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and Russian President Vladimir Putin have all made similar moves. It’s a form of power grab by procedure rather than by coup."

from The Atlantic

(cont'd tomorrow)

Monday, March 5, 2018

Just one Billy

Billy Graham was 99 years old when he died on February 21, so his days in the spotlight were decades ago. Some people today may wonder why so much attention has been given to this old man's passing. The answer is that many alive today heard him in person, and beyond actual memory there is his global reputation.

His meetings saw phenomenal numbers of people responding to God. It got the attention of media, entertainment, almost everybody. Just for fun, here's a link to the tv show "What's My Line" featuring Graham in 1960. The audience and tv personalities knew very well who he was.

Son Franklin said at the funeral last Friday that there were not two Billy Grahams. The Billy Graham of the big stadiums, and later on tv, was the same Billy Graham they saw at home.

Here is Billy in California, 1985:

Friday, March 2, 2018

Kathie Lee

Kathie Lee Gifford, actress, singer, TV host, has been on tv for many years. She says life can beat you down, especially for an entertainer, but "God didn't make a mistake with you . . God is not the enemy of joy - He is the Creator of joy!"



She knew Billy Graham personally, and she talked about that here after Billy's life on earth ended last week.