Rusty Nails, 1/20/05...

"The sky is falling!" Or, it's just getting warmer... as in, globally warmer. Check Sean's post, Crichton responds to his eco-critics, over at Everything I Know is Wrong. He includes a link to an interview done with Michael Crichton which touches on the politically based criticism Crichton has been receiving because of his latest book, State of Fear. One on-line reviewer at BarnesandNoble.com wrote,

The author's comments in the section following the story are reprehensible! Equating well intentioned environmentalists, even if they might be scientifically unproven, with greedy developers because the end result is the same is about as inane and dangerous a philosophy that I have ever heard.

Also check a post I wrote last year about a speech Crichton gave on global warming. ********** Greg, over at What Attitude Problem?, links us to a hilarious conversation at a Taco Bell in which the validity of a $2 bill is debated.

Me: "I'm just trying to buy a burrito and pay for it with this $2 bill."... Guard: "Mike, what's wrong with this bill?" Manager: "It's fake." Guard: "It doesn't look fake to me." Manager: "But it's a two-dollar bill." Guard: "Yeah?" Manager: "Well, there's no such thing, is there?"

Those Susan B. Anthony "tokens" must be next. ********** Off the Top has a review of a soulful rendition of Handel's Messiah, and in the process reminds us of how distinctive we are as humans (made in the Image of God). ********** From the Em-Church perspective, Dave, over at Welcome to the Planet, posted recently regarding our false concept of safety, especially with regards to just who provides our ultimate safety (i.e., us or God?). In Kindergarten registration in Mayberry and safety, he says,

I may be wrong, but I think that camping out overnight in your Lexus SUV watching DVD's in your headrests so you can register your kid in school is just setting up the next generation to embrace and live into your sickness. What is needed is to rip back the facade of this life and shine the light of the Gospel into the darkness that exists in white upper middle class suburbia.

********** Ilona, at True Grit, clues us in to how unlikely it is that a Twixter will come from a large family. (note: unlike a Wabbit, a Twixter has nothing to do with Elmer Fudd) She references a commmentary from Kay Arthur, at GOPUSA, titled It's a matter of parenting: the Twixters. As far as I can tell, Twixters are those children-adults between the ages of 18 and 29, who have put off the responsibilities of entering adulthood. Arthur states,

Encouraging responsibility, independence, civility, ambition and a strong sense of values is critical. Young people today seem to be more interested in where the next party is rather than where the next paycheck is coming from.

Ilona takes Arthur to task, not so much for her conclusions, but for presenting the task of parenting as mere methodology.