Dumb and Such

Inflating vs Drilling

I meant to post this yesterday, but I’ve been too busy with Anabaptist Bookstore and Reaching Out Magazine:

Obama energy policy: ‘Inflate your tires’

"There are things you can do individually, though, to save energy," Obama said. "Making sure your tires are properly inflated – simple thing. But we could save all the oil that they're talking about getting off drilling – if everybody was just inflating their tires? And getting regular tune-ups? You'd actually save just as much!"

This is stunning.

No wonder Congress shut down yesterday for their five-week break without doing whatever it was they were supposed to do about the “energy crisis.”

They just inflated their tires and away they went, saving oil so no more drilling would have to be done.

Somehow, that sounds like a perpetual motion machine.

PS: What if Dan Quayle had said that?

Building With Sand

I would like to see some sand sculptures like the ones photographed on July 12 at Weston-Super-Mare (Somerset, England) beach. On that beach “the sand has the right consistency for perfect sculpting.”

In the first image is a North American sand sculpture — consisting of totem poles, bears, a hockey player, fir trees and buildings sculpted by Jill and Thomas from Florida.

North American sand sculpture

Next check out this lion and “Sand Rover” (built by I don’t know who).

Another sand sculpture

Aren’t those amazing?! And neat?! Those folks are quite the artists!

But doesn’t it seem kinda dumb to invest that kind of time and talent and effort into something as short-lasting as a monument of sand?

Jesus warned against building on sand. These folks build with sand on sand.

There are good life lessons in that, no?

“And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand” (Matthew 7:26).

On what you building your life?

And with what are you building?

What Makes Her a “Man”?!

In yesterday’s news, this report of people playing with words and culture and other such stuff:

Pregnant man gives birth to girl

A US man who was born a woman before undergoing gender realignment surgery has given birth to a baby girl, US media reported.

Thomas Beatie, who is legally male but decided to keep his female sex organs during chest reconstruction surgery and testosterone therapy, attracted worldwide attention in April after revealing his pregnancy.

The 34-year-old gave birth to a baby girl at a hospital in Bend, Oregon, on June 29, People Magazine reported Thursday.

“The only thing different about me is that I cant breastfeed my baby. But a lot of mothers dont,” the magazine quoted him as saying.

I’d say her (because that’s what she is, folks!) “gender realignment” surgery hardly qualifies as a success.

She had chest reconstruction surgery and testosterone therapy — and that makes her legally male?!

She decided to keep her female reproductive organs…and she’s still considered a man?!

Please.

And people still accept the whole charade.

OK.

Unread News Stories

Snow cover over North America greatest since 1966

Materialistic society is ‘damaging’ children

Noah’s ark for crop seeds opens in Arctic Norway

Depression drugs ‘little better than placebos’

Obama raised funds for Islamic causes

US religious landscape survey

Well, I read the third one.

But that’s all, even though they all look like something I could blog about here.

However, I have something else I need to write about: The Husbands I Want for My Daughters — no, I don’t mean a blog post.

Shouldn’t every dad have a checklist like that?

And maybe even every daughter?

Is Your Pilot Sleeping?

These two weren’t!

A pair of commercial pilots fell asleep in the cockpit on their way to Denver in 2004 and sped toward the airport at twice the speed allowed, according to an anonymous report by the captain on a federal safety Web site.

The unnamed pilot of the “red eye” flight said he woke up to frantic calls from air traffic controllers and landed without a problem.

[…]

The pilot said his schedule had been switched to three nights in a row of flying “red eye” flights. The eight-hour Denver- Baltimore round trip returned to Denver after 6 a.m.

On his third overnight flight, the pilot and first officer were sound asleep as they approached Denver International Airport. At 60 miles out, their jet was rushing toward the crowded skies surrounding the airport at Mach .82, or 608 mph, instead of the 287-mph speed required at that point.

The pilot also reported the plane was flying at 35,000 feet, above the restriction of 19,000 feet at that particular crossing point.

“Last 45 mins of flt I fell asleep and so did the FO,” or first officer, according to a one-paragraph report on the incident found on the federal Aviation Safety Reporting System.

“Missed all calls from ATC” (air traffic control) asking why he was ignoring the standards for approaching DIA.

“I woke up, why I don’t know, and heard frantic calls from ATC. . . . I answered ATC and abided by all instructions to get down. Woke FO up.”

He spiraled the jet down to a lower altitude as ordered, then landed “with no further incidents.”

Lured Kids?

This is amazing:

It matters to the security of people here at home if we don’t work to change the conditions that cause 19 kids to be lured onto airplanes to come and murder our citizens.

Perfect Soldiers: The 9/11 Hijackers: Who They Were, Why They Did It

Kids, Mr. President?

Lured?

That is stunning to me.

And when it comes to causal conditions, were none of those fellows educated and such?

And what about those other “kids” more recently in trouble in the UK? You know, those doctors?

Amazing.

I really do think Mr. Bush or Tony Snow or somebody at the White House needs to clarify that. (But it probably can’t be done.)

Above all, love God!