October 2011
73 posts
6 tags
September 2011
126 posts
3 tags
3 tags
5 tags
One of the best moments in sports: the origin of...
From Alastair Eykyn of the BBC; full story HERE.
The haka is an emotive subject, with South Africa coach Pieter de Villiers whipping up a storm in New Zealand last week when he claimed the ritual was losing its lustre. “People are becoming used to it,” he said. “It’s not a novelty anymore and they don’t respect it.”
Inevitably, the comments triggered...
4 tags
““Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and...”
– Romans: St. Andrews Expositional Commentary (St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary) by R.C. Sproul
4 tags
If you want a big swig of despair, listen to the...
If you want a big swig of despair, listen to the people who know something about the global economy. Roger Altman, a former deputy Treasury secretary, is arguing that America and Europe are on the verge of a disastrous double-dip recession. Various economists say it will be at least another three years before we see serious job growth. Others say European banks are teetering — if not now, then...
2 tags
“WHICH sport is the world’s favourite? The answer, football, feels so...”
– Opinion piece in The Economist, trying to determine the popularity of cricket in the world. Read the entire opinion piece HERE.
11 tags
5 tags
Apple expected to unveil new iPhone next week
(Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) looks set next week to unveil its much-awaited new iPhone, which analysts say will have a bigger screen and work better with remote computing services.
Apple on Tuesday invited media to a “special event” called “Let’s talk iPhone” on October 4 at its Cupertino, California headquarters, an unusual location for a company that typically...
4 tags
“Jesus’ supernatural vision regarding people’s potential gave him irrepressible...”
– Just Walk Across the Room: Simple Steps Pointing People to Faith by Bill Hybels
4 tags
Amazon Unveils Tablet That Undercuts iPad’s Price
From the NYT; entire story HERE.
Seeking to stake a claim in the tablet computer market alongside Apple and Samsung, Amazon.com on Wednesday revealed plans to begin selling a color touchscreen tablet.
Named the Kindle Fire, the device has a 7-inch touchscreen, weighs 14.6 ounces and is outfitted with a dual-core processor. But the most important feature may be the price. At $199 the Fire is...
4 tags
In South Korea to reduce the country's addiction...
On a wet Wednesday evening in Seoul, six government employees gather at the office to prepare for a late-night patrol. The mission is as simple as it is counterintuitive: to find children who are studying after 10 p.m. And stop them.
In South Korea, it has come to this. To reduce the country’s addiction to private, after-hours tutoring academies (called hagwons), the authorities have...
5 tags
3 tags
Funk legend Sly Stone homeless and living in a van... →
Today, Sly Stone — one of the greatest figures in soul-music history — is homeless, his fortune stolen by a lethal combination of excess, substance abuse and financial mismanagement. He lays his head inside a white camper van ironically stamped with the words “Pleasure Way” on the side. The van is parked on a residential street in Crenshaw, the rough Los Angeles neighborhood where “Boyz n the...
10 tags
4 tags
Billy Beane of ‘Moneyball’ Has Given Up on His Own...
America is obsessed with winning. While I think we need to see ‘Moneyball’ simply because it is a great movie, and yes, a baseball movie, there is the problem that life doesn’t always imitate art. In other words, we don’t always have happy endings. Read the entire story below, from the New York Times HERE, on what is happening these days in the life of Billy Beane. It...
4 tags
3 tags
3 tags
4 tags
Humbling Loss to Australia Shows How Far U.S. Has...
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — The 67-5 score may not have been flattering, but Colin Hawley of the United States Eagles would not trade the experience of playing Australia for anything.
The Eagles, a mix of professional and amateur players, entered the Rugby World Cup match Friday as firm underdogs, and the gulf between the teams was brutally exposed by the Australians, who ran in 11 tries.
...
4 tags
White Sox release Ozzie Guillen; Marlins likely...
In 2005, a lifetime dream came true. The White Sox won the world series with an improbable run through the Red Sox, Angels and Astros. A record of 11-1 in the playoffs with the best starting pitching in several decades. I was there. The timing was great given my life at the time, and my son Aaron, Brenda and a great friend and fan Jeff Fox got to games with me. An for the rest of my life,...
4 tags
Moneyball: Brad Pitt Legs Out a Triple
I’m a baseball fan. The game is pure and it’s cerebral. Sorry; for those who think it’s slow and dull, you just don’t understand the game. And you’d probably never play chess. An excerpt from Peter Travers review of Moneyball from the Rolling Stone is below he stats picture; read the entire review HERE. Roger Ebert review is HERE and Richard Corliss of TIME...
4 tags
3 tags
The children of baby boomers have inherited an...
Gregory Warner is a reporter at Marketplace, the public radio show about business and economics. Read the entire story HERE.
A FRIEND of mine named Eugene who is 28 and an investment banker lives at home in Connecticut with his parents. He can afford to live on his own, but he doesn’t see the point. He’s putting the money he would have spent on rent toward co-ownership of a pizza...
4 tags
“Every age has its own characteristics. Right now we are in an age of religious...”
– The Pursuit of God, by A.W. Tozer (1948). Amazon book link HERE.
3 tags
4 tags
3 tags
'Person Of Interest' Review: We're All Being...
New show from J.J. Abrams for the Lost fans out there; with “Ben” and Jim Caviezel. it looks a bit dark, but most of Abrams’ work (like Fringe) has been worth the time to watch. Read the rest of the review HERE.
What if a machine could predict murder?
“Person of Interest,” a new drama on CBS written and conceived by Jonathan Nolan (brother of Christopher) and...
4 tags
“Luther expressed concern about the gospel. He had warned people on prior...”
– Romans: St. Andrews Expositional Commentary (St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary) by R.C. Sproul
3 tags
Hank Williams III: Ghosts And Cattle Calls
From NPR; link HERE for the full story and to listen to three tracks from Hank 3: “Trooper’s Holler,” “Ghost to a Ghost” and “Camouflage.”
Hank Williams III, also known as Hank 3, is the son of Hank Williams Jr., as well as the grandson of Hank Williams, considered to be one of the greatest country music performers of all time. Hank 3 got his start in...
5 tags
Who's Weighing Tax On Rich? Congress' Millionaires
President Obama continued laying what may be more groundwork for his re-election campaign Monday, including a new tax proposal. He calls it the “Buffett rule”: a new tax on people making more than $1million a year, who currently pay a much lower rate than an average middle-class American. The president, in fact, proposed this rule to a group of people with a lot of millionaires...
5 tags
3 tags
3 tags
PETA Plans to Launch Porn Website to Promote...
Another sign that the world is about over.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is planning to launch a pornographic website to promote its animal rights and vegan diet message, a move that critics say will backfire and ostracize them from mainstream society.
PETA spokeswoman Lindsay Rajt said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles on Tuesday that the group has applied with ICM...
2 tags
3 tags
Manchester United’s stock offering on hold
Manchester United put on hold its $1 billion Singapore stock market offering because of volatile global markets, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.
The person, speaking on condition of anonymity because the club is not discussing its financial plans publicly, said United’s American owners are waiting for market conditions to improve before going ahead with the...
4 tags
Red Meat for N.F.L. Fans: Football Channel Sees...
From the NYT; full story HERE.
Like many N.F.L. fans, Mike Tanenbaum grew up watching games each Sunday with his father. They gathered around their television and cheered on their team, the Jets, in an act of shared familial devotion — to sport, franchise and the standard network broadcast.
That tradition — with his father and in front of the television — died a few years ago. These days,...
3 tags
Tracking Europe's Debt Crisis-Interactive Charts →
Great material from NYT HERE that gives you insight and summaries of the Euro Zone debt crisis. Good way to catch up if you’re behind.
4 tags
“Simply put, if you are a Christ-follower, then you are called, equipped, and...”
– Just Walk Across the Room: Simple Steps Pointing People to Faith by Bill Hybels
3 tags
Singer Pat Boone insists Obama born in Kenya
This just in from the wacky world news; read the entire story by Laura Donovan of the Daily Caller HERE.
President Barack Obama may have released his birth certificate this spring to debunk rumors that he was born outside the United States, but old school crooner Pat Boone maintains that our nation’s leader originated in Africa and has shown the world “a photo-shopped fraud.”
Speaking to...
5 tags
Republicans support jobs creation and even tax...
From Greg Sargent of the Washington Post; full article HERE.
Okay, this is just crazy.
As I’ve been noting here regularly, there’s a striking disconnect in public opinion: While disapproval of Obama is running strong on the economy, and while pessimism is running high that he’ll turn it around, solid majorities support the actual fiscal policies Obama has been championing.
Did you know...
2 tags
“To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators,...”
–
R.E.M. Call It Quits After 30 Years
4 tags
Disney to bring 'Avatar' to theme parks
Disney and filmmaker James Cameron announced plans Tuesday to bring the world of the Oscar-winning movie “Avatar” to the entertainment giant’s theme parks. The first “Avatar” land will open at the Walt Disney World in Florida, with construction due to begin by 2013, said Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide, Cameron and Fox Filmed Entertainment.
“James...
2 tags
“SIR – I must object in the strongest terms to the use of the oxymoronic...”
– An Economist reader reminds us of our responsibilities. And rightly so. (via theeconomist)
4 tags
FACT CHECK: Are rich taxed less than secretaries?
President Barack Obama says he wants to make sure millionaires are taxed at higher rates than their secretaries. The data say they already are. “Warren Buffett’s secretary shouldn’t pay a higher tax rate than Warren Buffett. There is no justification for it,” Obama said as he announced his deficit-reduction plan this week. “It is wrong that in the United States of...
3 tags
Arrr, mein hearties! →
theeconomist:
Yesterday The Pirate Party, dedicated (awkwardly) to free information and rigid privacy protection, won nearly 9% of the vote in elections for Berlin’s city legislature. Its representatives enter a German state parliament for the first time.
4 tags
“I feel like a filing clerk in Berlin in 1945. The...
THERE is surreal calm in Brussels, amid the greatest crisis to befall the European project in its history. The euro is besieged, several members lie gravely wounded or exposed to heavy fire and the defenders are running out of ammunition. The weakest outpost, Greece, could fall any day. Many fear this might lead to a collapse on all fronts. Yet European institutions churn along, producing...
4 tags
Remembering 'The Blues Brothers' 31 years later
I watched the end of The Blues Brothers the other night—the movie is 31 years old—and started to remeber how wild this film was (warning; the language is a bit salty). Not just the movie, but in terms of on location shooting and how many cars, real cars, were wrecked to make it. No computer graphics needed. And all because of two guys who love my home town, Chicago, and a wacky...
4 tags
“Meanwhile it is to be noted that the whole Scripture of God is divided into two...”
– Concerning Christian Liberty, Martin Luther, a treatise from 1520 confirming that Scripture teaches we are justified by faith (not works; hence the idea of liberty) and that sanctification alone produces us in us the power and motive to do good works.
4 tags
