The way the Ball bounces

Aboriginal Arab Spring, anyone?

2012-01-24T06:51:00.000-05:00

"OTTAWA — Canada could face an Arab Spring-style “uprising” if Prime Minister Stephen Harper doesn’t give a clear indication in his meeting with aboriginal leaders here Tuesday that he’s prepared to take their concerns seriously, a B.C. native leader warned Monday."

Over what, exactly? The endless billions in perpetual hand-outs from Canada?

Or the fact that Indians get to have all the fruits of western culture handed to them while remaining flash-frozen in their own pre-industrial culture?

Fine. Throw out your eyeglasses, medicines, cars, snowmobiles, and iPhones and we'll end all our oppressive subsidies.

Wouldn't it be better to, you know, ditch the reserve, join Canada and get jobs and live productive lives like the rest of us?

We would welcome you with open arms.

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

Mark Steyn Asks...

2012-01-20T13:25:00.003-05:00

"What First World jurisdiction needs over a fortnight to count a hundred thousand votes?"
Good question. And the answer is?

Mark Steyn: Politics trumps Left's empathy

2012-01-07T09:50:00.000-05:00

I'm at an African internet cafe. Chewing up some valuable i-time to post this from Mark Steyn.

Well worth reading.

Sorry I've been late approving comments etc. I have been deeply unavailable. May post some pictures from our trip to Kruger National Park if I get a good connection.

The Ball Bounces... To Africa

2012-01-01T17:31:00.000-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

You can read about my latest short-term missions adventure to South Africa and Zambia here.

I'll be back in 19 days.

See you then!

Fearless Predictions For 2012

2011-12-31T01:07:00.010-05:00

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1. The Bible will continue to contain all the answers to the world's problems.

2. Prayer will still be the most powerful thing on earth.

3. The Holy Spirit will still be moving over the earth and among God's people.

4. God will still honor His promises to His people.

5. Faithful people will still suffer persecution for righteousness' sake and their faithful witness to Christ.

6. God's people will still sing praises to God.

7. God will still provide room at His cross for drowning men who seek Him.

8. God's people will still receive God's blessings in abundance.

9. Jesus will still love you.

10. We will be one year closer to the coming of the Lord.

"The Word of the Lord endures forever." I Peter 1:25.

Merry Christmas 2011 From Boko Haram

2011-12-26T11:16:00.002-05:00

Countries in which Islamist terrorist attacks have occurred on or after September 11, 2001.Image via Wikipedia

The Nigerian 2011 Christmas Day massacre.

The Boko Haram Islamist sect, which aims to impose sharia law across Africa’s most populous country, claimed responsibility for three church bombings, the second Christmas in a row it has caused carnage at Christian houses of worship.

Meanwhile, over at Macleans they are bravely taking on Christian fundamentalists who have apparently squashed a Muslim TV show in the US. I posted the following comment:

"carping", "pandering", "zealots", "fanaticism"? Comes across as cheap bigotry rather than reasoned argument.
Plus it seems a bit insensitive of Macleans to have this still posted on a day -- Christmas Day no less -- when Muslim extremists have freshly massacred 39 Christians.

Which got me the following response: "Christians have been massacring Muslims on Christmas Day for a long time...also during Ramadan, Eid and the Haj."

Christmas marks the entry of God into fallen creation. It is book-ended by the cross, where the Son of God took evil's best shot and rose victorious over it. So, come on, militant Islam and Christian-haters, give us your best shot -- our victory in Christ is guaranteed. Death is swallowed up in victory. Evil's days are numbered. The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And he shall reign forever and ever.

Those who love Christ affirm the truth of the resurrection; those who hate him, the truth of the cross. God has come and done something and there's nothing you can do about it and even your unbelief and enmity testifies to God's truth.

So merry joy-to-the-world Christmas to all, including those who hate Christ, Christmas, and Christians.

First Century Media Reports of Nativity Story

2011-12-24T01:46:00.002-05:00

"Birth in Manger Reveals Looming Crisis in Housing and Transportation"

etc.

Caledonia Verdict: Justice, Canadian-Style

2011-12-23T18:27:00.002-05:00

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Native attacker gets reduced sentence for ‘vicious’ Caledonia assault.

"CAYUGA, Ont. — For beating a non-native builder to within an inch of his life during the fiery native occupation in nearby Caledonia, a young aboriginal man was sentenced to less than two years in jail, plus time served – a punishment that leaves the victim’s family demanding an inquiry into how the courts treat First Nations offenders."

Some Canadians are more equal -- a lot more equal -- than others.

Question: If a native whacks another native does he a) get a reduced sentence because he's a native, or b) get charged extra -- with a hate crime -- because he whacked a native?

In Canada, the soft racism of diminished expectation is alive and well.

My ancestors lived through the Irish potato famines. Does this buy me anything?

Christmas Countdown: Christmas Myths From Paul Copan

2011-12-23T01:33:00.000-05:00

Myths, and mythunderstandings, that is.

Here’s a true-false quiz:

1. Mary and Joseph had to travel as quickly as possible to Bethlehem because Mary could have given birth at any moment.

2. The Bethlehem innkeeper was fully booked, and so Mary had to give birth to Jesus in the barn/stall nearby/behind the inn.

3. Initially, this experience must have been frightening and lonely for Mary and Joseph.

4. “The little Lord Jesus no crying he makes.”

5. The angels who appeared to the shepherds had wings.

Here.

Breaking: Soccer Goalie Kicks Fan: NDP Demand Foot Registry

2011-12-22T10:44:00.000-05:00

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A Dutch soccer goalie landed some effective kicks at a drunken fan who had charged the field and attacked him.

The NDP, viewing the video during a Question Period time-out, were outraged at the assault of this soccer field Occupier and stormed the Canadian legislature demanding the immediate institution of a Foot Registry.

Estimated cost, based on past cost estimates for similar endeavours, is not expected to exceed two million dollars.

The nation's pundits were abuzz. Will this give the NDP a leg-up on the ruling Conservatives, or will PM Harper put his foot down, telling them they don't have a leg to stand on?

The best video of the event is at the 2:40 minute mark. Put the video on, go grab a coffee, and come back for it.

Original news link here.

Urgent Canadian Etiquette Question of the Day

2011-12-20T18:09:00.002-05:00

If the FedEx guy tosses your package over the fence into your yard, do you still have to tip him?

Another Urgent Canadian Etiquette Question brought to you by the friendly folks at the Ball Bounces.

How December 25 Became Christmas

2011-12-20T01:27:00.000-05:00

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How December 25 Became Christmas -- it's perhaps not what you think.

Flash: Educator Arrested For Hash (Brown) !!!

2011-12-19T15:28:00.000-05:00

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The flying McDonald's hash brown is at the 33 second mark.

It's enough to give the title "Educator" a bad name.

Now That Jong's Dead, Who Is The Worst Person On The Planet?

2011-12-19T08:01:00.001-05:00

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North Korea's Kim Jong Il Dies at 69.

Ding Dong, K-Jong Is Dead

What a wretched man -- he brought misery to millions. Was he the worst man alive? Is there anyone else on the planet who has done more to bring misery, starvation, and death to more people? Mugabe, maybe?

What do you think? Now that Jong's been gonged, who is the worst human being on the planet?

(Leftist votes for George W. Bush who cruelly shovelled hundreds of millions of US dollars towards the AIDS epidemic will not count.)

Sunday Psalm 18: "In my distress I called upon the Lord"

2011-12-18T09:27:00.004-05:00

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Psalm 18

1I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.

2The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

3I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

4The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.

5The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.

6In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

7Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.

8There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

9He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.

10And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.

11He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

12At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.

13The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.

14Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.

15Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.

16He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.

17He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.

18They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.

19He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

20The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

21For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

22For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me.

23I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.

24Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.

25With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;

26With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.

27For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.

28For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

29For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.

30As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.

31For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God?

32It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.

33He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places.

34He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.

35Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.

36Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.

37I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed.

38I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet.

39For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.

40Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me.

41They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto the LORD, but he answered them not.

42Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets.

43Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me.

44As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me.

45The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places.

46The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.

47It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me.

48He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.

49Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.

50Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.

Now for the Ball Bounces erudite commentary: wow!

source: biblegateway.com

Canadian Immigrants Want Their Money Back

2011-12-17T16:49:00.001-05:00

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"The program... has floundered in the three Maritime provinces under the weight of political scandals sparked by scathing auditor-general’s reports, RCMP investigations, lawsuits, allegations of bribes and corruption and, in Prince Edward Island, a protest by Chinese immigrants who stormed the provincial legislature demanding their money back."

Money back? We all want our money back.

Welcome to Canada.

Trying To Make A Driving Complaint With The Toronto Police

2011-12-16T17:29:00.000-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

Let me be clear. I have the highest respect and admiration for front-line Toronto police and Canadian police in general who daily put their lives on the line to protect us.

OK. Here's my minor brush with "the law".

I'm trying to make a driving complaint to the Toronto police. Trucks and/or cars have been mounting the curb and driving along a sidewalk and grass at Byng/Kenneth Avenue in North York.

I caught a guy in a black pick-up doing it Tuesday.

Today I logged on to the Toronto Police website and accessed the Driving Complaint screen. Got about 20 minutes into this when, near the end of the whole thing, it asked for perp vehicle identification information. It was a full-size black truck. I got the license plate number. You would think that would be enough, right? Wrong. The site demands that I enter the Make. Frustrated, I finally enter GMC as a guess. Then it demands that I enter the Model. Without Make and Model, it will not allow you to enter a complaint.

Apparently it's a new system. Had many complaints registered yet, boys? Did you do any testing on the system before you went live?

I phoned the number associated with the screen to seek website assistance. All the person I got could do was tell me she knew nothing about the website, didn't know who I could talk to about the website, and suggested I go into the police station and report the driving complaint directly.

I told her I had tried by phone and they weren't interested. What I didn't tell her was this: t got passed along the police chain twice. The third person I spoke to told me to call 311 and report it to the City of Toronto. Which I did. The next day I got a call from the city of Toronto saying they'd had a swing by and determined it was not their problem, they were passing it off to the transportation dept.

Meanwhile there's some guy in a black truck out there wilfully destroying city property. And somewhere inside the Toronto Police Dept. there's some guy reporting on the successful implementation of a new online citizen reporting system.

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

Sunday Psalm 17: All I want is to see you as you are

2011-12-11T07:14:00.001-05:00

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Psalm 17

(A prayer by David.)

The Prayer of an Innocent Person ¹I am innocent, LORD!

Won't you listen as I pray

and beg for help?

I am honest!

Please hear my prayer.

²Only you can say

that I am innocent,

because only your eyes

can see the truth.

³You know my heart,

and even during the night

you have tested me

and found me innocent.

I have made up my mind

never to tell a lie.

⁴I don't do like others.

I obey your teachings

and am not cruel.

⁵I have followed you,

without ever stumbling.

⁶I pray to you, God,

because you will help me.

Listen and answer my prayer!

⁷Show your wonderful love.

Your mighty arm protects those

who run to you

for safety

from their enemies.

⁸Protect me as you would

your very own eyes;

hide me in the shadow

of your wings.

⁹Don't let my brutal enemies

attack from all sides

and kill me.

¹⁰They refuse to show mercy,

and they keep bragging.

¹¹They have caught up with me!

My enemies are everywhere,

eagerly hoping to smear me

in the dirt.

¹²They are like hungry lions

hunting for food,

or like young lions

hiding in ambush.

¹³Do something, LORD!

Attack and defeat them.

Take your sword and save me

from those evil people.

¹⁴Use your powerful arm

and rescue me

from the hands of mere humans

whose world won't last. ^[a] You provide food

for those you love.

Their children have plenty,

and their grandchildren

will have more than enough.

¹⁵I am innocent, LORD,

and I will see your face!

When I awake, all I want

is to see you as you are.

Jesus said, "he who has seen me has seen the Father".

Have a good Sunday. Do something different. Ditch work and worry. Play with the kids. Notice nature. Give thanks. Be grateful.

Swiss Chalet's Festive Special... I do the math

2011-12-10T18:57:00.001-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

Swiss Chalet's festivized quarter chicken white costs about $4.00 more than the unfestive version -- about $18.00 all-in. It comes with soggy dressing and decent cranberries. I always fill out the receipt survey from the previous visit, so I get a $4.00 chicken soup appetizer at no charge. That knocks $4.00 off. You get six chocolates, worth maybe $4.00. Plus, you get a $5.00 Indigo Kids coupon. I use the coupon to get $6.00 worth of kids' toy cars for $1.00. So... $18.00 minus $13.00 is... $5 bucks.

But, the festivized chicken special also comes with a two-for-one coupon on the inside lid of the candy box -- ostensibly worth another $10 or so, but you have to buy two drinks to get it, so lets make it worth $5.00.

I'm eating and drinking for free!

That's great, but doesn't Swiss Chalet realize calling it their Festive Special offends all of us who don't celebrate Festivus? Where's their sensitivity? They dropped Christmas for Festivus??!!

And that's the way the festivized Ball bounces.

Ontario School Replaces Christmas With Multiculturally-Friendly Mush

2011-12-02T17:19:00.001-05:00

Image by cassie_bedfordgolf via Flickr

Parents’ anger as Ontario school replaces Christmas concert with non-denominational February fest.

A country that is ashamed of its culture -- a culture upon which its freedoms and laws and institutions historically rest -- deserves to be taken out or over.

Still, in the best tradition of Canadian artistic creativity (except for the no-government-grants bit) I've written a theme song for the great new winterfestivus for the restofus:

Hey, it's that meh time of year
With it's Feb-ru-ary cheer
It may not be May, but it's certainly meh
It's the time between ~~Christmas and Easter~~ you-know-whats
We'd mention the two-of-'em, but we ain't got the guts...

It's a most, it's a most, it's a most meh-time-of-year!!!

Our new motto: "To make sure we're inclusive we exclude everything!"™

Or, maybe,

Canada. Whatever.™

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

Oh, This Is Beautiful...

2011-12-01T20:02:00.001-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

Quebec's $7-a-day daycare program faces corruption probe.

Oh, this is beautiful.

Two of Quebec's distinguishing characteristics in one headline. The vaunted $7/day daycare -- held up as an exemplary model of socialist Quebec and made possible because the rest of Canada shovels, what is it, seven or eight billion dollars a year in eternal subsidies Quebec's way while Quebec is up to its eyeballs in debt.

Plus, of course, world-class corruption.

Why Quebec puffs itself up and thinks it's something special is beyond me.

It's honest, tax-paying working stiffs who first pay their own way and then the way of others that make Canada great -- not the loads and loads of movers and takers.

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

Rex Murphy

2011-11-29T07:41:00.001-05:00

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Rex Murphy:

To be a serious Christian in modern Western culture is to be the favoured easy target of every progressive thinker and every half-witted comedian. It is to have your sensibilities and your deepest beliefs on perpetual call for taunts, mockery and desecration. At a time when all progressives preach full volume for inclusivity and sensitivity, for the utmost care in speech when speaking of others with differing views or hues, Christians, as Christians, are under a constant hail of abuse and disregard. There is nothing too low or too vulgar.

Well worth reading.

Lucid Canadian Comment of the Day: Falling Asleep In A Tent Is Camping, Not Protesting

2011-11-22T22:32:00.001-05:00

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re: Occupy Toronto:

“... falling asleep in a tent in the middle of a park is camping... not protesting.” -- Rachel Young, here.

Meanwhile, overheard at Occupy Toronto: "We're not leaving 'til we put the park back in the condition we found it in!".

OK, I made that one up.

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

Sunday Psalm: 16 - In your presence is fullness of joy

2011-11-20T09:50:00.001-05:00

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Psalm 16

A Michtam of David.

¹ Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust.

² O my soul, you have said to the LORD,
         “You are my Lord,
         My goodness is nothing apart from You.”
³ As for the saints who are on the earth,
         “They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.”

⁴ Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god;
         Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer,
         Nor take up their names on my lips.

⁵ O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup;
         You maintain my lot.
⁶ The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;
         Yes, I have a good inheritance.

⁷ I will bless the LORD who has given me counsel;
         My heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
⁸ I have set the LORD always before me;
         Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;
         My flesh also will rest in hope.
¹⁰ For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,
         Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
¹¹ You will show me the path of life;
         In Your presence is fullness of joy;
         At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

New King James Version (NKJV)

via BibleGateway.com

* * *

I confess: the Lord is my portion, my cup, my inheritance, my counsel, my instructor, my Rock, my Redeemer, my assurance of life beyond the grave.

How sure am I that Jesus is alive? 100.0%.

Have a good day of down-time rest from whatever you do the rest of the week.

Aborting Children Gives Chris Selley A Warm Fuzzy Feeling

2011-11-18T07:59:00.001-05:00

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Chris Selley: "Ms. Tomlins suggests the added effort might make women reconsider. All it makes me consider is the prospect of a woman giving birth solely because she can't scrape together $1,000, even in a desperate situation. This does not give me a warm, fuzzy feeling."

Obliterating unborn humans does, Chris?

It's Samaritan's Purse Week In Canada

2011-11-17T07:33:00.001-05:00

Our kitchen table is full of stuff collected over the last two years for the Samaritan's Purse kids. What a glorious sight! We got busy last year and didn't get any shoe-boxes done. We're making up for it this year! My wife is in charge of the operation. I contribute "stuff" as I come across it. My biggest coup this year was getting these little floating rubber ducky things from a pool/patio store in Phoenix. They gave us one every time we visited the store. Don't worry, we bought $1,000 in patio furniture, so they did OK by us.

It's Samaritan's Purse week in Canada, because "Next Week is Collection Week!".

Christmas shoe-boxes for the kids. The words of Jesus never cease to inspire.

Are you filling a Samaritan's Purse shoe-box this year?

Quote of the Day: "The dispute between atheism and theism is at bottom a philosophical dispute, not a scientific one"

2011-11-15T04:52:00.000-05:00

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Continuing our look at Alex Rosenberg’s The Atheist’s Guide to Reality, we come to Rosenberg’s treatment of the question “Where did the big bang come from?”....

"[T]he dispute between atheism and theism is at bottom a philosophical dispute, not a scientific one." -- Edward Feser, in the combox of the above post, here.

A Question For The Occupiers...

2011-11-14T10:13:00.001-05:00

Image by Kimberlyki via FlickrWhat plans do you have to restore the occupied grounds back to their original conditions?

Wouldn't most corporations -- the ones you despise -- have a plan in place?

What's yours?

* * *

And wouldn't those same corporations you despise expect to pay for taking over a public space, or otherwise compensate the residents who have been deprived of the use of public space?

What's your plan, Stan?

Sunday Psalm: 15 - Who may dwell in God's holy hill?

2011-11-13T04:00:00.000-05:00

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Psalm 15

A Psalm of David.

¹ LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle?
         Who may dwell in Your holy hill?

² He who walks uprightly,
         And works righteousness,
         And speaks the truth in his heart;
³ He who does not backbite with his tongue,
         Nor does evil to his neighbor,
         Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend;
⁴ In whose eyes a vile person is despised,
         But he honors those who fear the LORD;
         He who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
⁵ He who does not put out his money at usury,
         Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.

         He who does these things shall never be moved.

New King James Version (NKJV)

source: Biblegateway.com

David is the author of this psalm. He was a "man's man" -- a warrior, tribal leader, king. He was also a worshipper and seeker after God. He counted God's presence as the greatest blessing on earth.

Centuries later Christ came as the "son of David" and gave us an interpretive key to the Old Testament Scriptures: they speak of Him. Who is the man of Psalm 15 who ascends God's holy hill and abides in his temple? Who is this righteous man? To ask this question is to answer it. It is Christ. Christ ascended the hill of God and abides in his temple.

Those who would do the same must do it through him. Whether you be Jew or Muslim or Hindu onew-age, or nothing-much-of-all hear his whisper: "I am the way... no man comes to the Father but by me".

Here's The 1% The 99% Should Be Going After

2011-11-12T18:00:00.000-05:00

"I followed the law," he said. Using the system as it was available to him "was only the prudent thing to do."

Ah, yes. Similar to the "I was only following orders" excuse.

h/t Mark Steyn

The Mark Steyn Word of the Day™

2011-11-12T10:04:00.001-05:00

Image via WikipediaOK, Mark Steyn is not Bill Buckley, but he is, er, Mark Steyn. So in honour of the fact that Mark Steyn is not Bill Buckley but is indeed Mark Steyn, the Ball Bounces is inaugurating the Mark Steyn Word of the Day™. You too can learn to think, write, and even (gasp) speak like Mark Steyn!

tchotchke

Used here.

Mark Steyn. Well worth reading.™

Pardon Me While I Throw Up...

2011-11-11T19:15:00.001-05:00

Image via Wikipedia
California Mayor Snubs Veterans to Attend Occupy Rally.

Ah, yes. Because Occupiers represent all that's brightest and best in our society. Is that it?

Do they even have a viable plan to pay for the damage they are causing to public spaces?

Darwinism Defined...

2011-11-11T08:23:00.001-05:00

Image via WikipediaThe term darwinism has both scientific and metaphysical dimensions. Metaphysically, it assumes materialism is true and then posits a theory consistent with this assumption. The problem arises when, because of this assumption, arguments are made to the effect that because materialism is true, we know darwinism is surely true and the only truth possible. Because it is true, we know it happened, and when inconvenient facts contradict it (like the demonstrably feeble creative power of undirected random mutation, the improbability of the butterfly, or the exquisite intelligence-laden complexity of the cell), it is because we don't know enough yet. In other words, a belief in Darwin of the gaps.

At any rate, here is cute definition of darwinian evolution designed by Tom Gilson over at Thinking Christian. You may design a clever response.

"Naturalistic Evolution (def.): the marvelous (presumed) capacity of nature to create the appearance of design, and to produce beings who have the ability to design and to detect design; but which itself has no ability to design, or if it does have that ability, it is forever undetectable."

The last bit is presumably a nod towards theistic darwinian evolutionists. Well done, Tom.

Sunday Psalm: 14 - Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!

2011-11-06T08:23:00.000-05:00

Cover via Amazon

Psalm 14

New King James Version (NKJV)

Psalm 14

–To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

¹ The fool has said in his heart,
         “There is no God.”
         They are corrupt,
         They have done abominable works,
         There is none who does good.

² The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men,
         To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.
³ They have all turned aside,
         They have together become corrupt;
         There is none who does good,
         No, not one.

⁴ Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge,
         Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
         And do not call on the LORD?
⁵ There they are in great fear,
         For God is with the generation of the righteous.
⁶ You shame the counsel of the poor,
         But the LORD is his refuge.

⁷ Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
         When the LORD brings back the captivity of His people,
         Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.

* * *

"Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!"

That cry-of-the-heart prayer of David was answered in the coming of Christ -- the "salvation of Israel". Zion's King. The suffering servant of Isaiah. The Son of Man of Daniel. "The Word" of John's gospel. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords of Revelation. This is the day [of salvation] the Lord has made. This is your day of salvation. Embrace it. Take hold of it. Relish it. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

source: biblegateway.com

Intelligent Design: The Beauty and Design of Butterflies - Today Toronto GTA - Free, With Refreshments!

2011-11-05T13:00:00.004-04:00

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"Intelligent Design: The Beauty and Design of Butterflies Nov. 5 (Saturday) 2:30 to 8:00 p.m. Agenda and more information To see how science provides convincing evidence for the compatibility of a Creator God who is potentially reflected in the design found in nature. Keynote Speaker: Paul A. Nelson. We will have a DVD showing of a beautiful new science documentary.

The day is free (with refreshments)."

Free with refreshments? How good is that?!

Richmond Hill Christian Community Church
9670 Bayview Avenue,
Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada L4C 9X9
Tel: (905) 884-3399 Fax: (905) 884-9465

The Ball Bounces shall be attending and reporting.

Sunday Psalm: 13 - "I Have Trusted In Your Loving-Kindness

2011-10-30T08:40:00.000-04:00

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Psalm 13
New Life Version (NLV)

Psalm 13
Prayer for Help in Time of Trouble
¹ How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? ² How long must I plan what to do in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will those who hate me rise above me? ³ Look on me and answer, O Lord, my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death. ⁴ Or the one who hates me will say, “I have power over him.” And those who hate me will be happy when I am shaken.
⁵ But I have trusted in Your loving-kindness. My heart will be full of joy because You will save me. ⁶ I will sing to the Lord, because He has been good to me.

New Life Version (NLV)Copyright © 1969 by Christian Literature International

credit: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2013&version=NLV

The Lord responds to the deepest longings, and deepest needs, of our hearts. He is not found at the end of a logical argument; he is found at the point of your deepest need. Have a good Day.

Nurturing Little Newfie Cheaters

2011-10-30T00:00:00.000-04:00

Image via Wikipedia"Earlier this month, Eastern School District along the east coast of Newfoundland unveiled a new evaluation policy that said teachers should not give a student caught cheating a zero, but an “alternate appropriate assessment.” The student’s mark should be “derived from the second assessment” with no academic penalty for having been dishonest in the first place."

So, we're penalizing the teachers instead of the students (by making teachers do extra work). And what's with the author's funny use of the term "bluff" as a synonym for cheat (see below)? Nothing wrong with bluffing on an answer, is there?

Newfoundland’s largest school board is “enabling students to cheat” with a new policy that requires teachers to let students caught bluffing on their tests get a second try with no academic penalty, the province’s teachers’ association charged this week in a complaint that echoes frustrations in other school districts across the country that are rethinking the way they discipline student cheaters.

PS -- It's OK to say "Newfie", I hope? No disrespect intended!

Did ABC News Really Say This?

2011-10-29T08:39:00.001-04:00

At a million-dollar San Francisco fundraiser today, President Obama warned his recession-battered supporters that if he loses the 2012 election it could herald a new, painful era of self-reliance in America.

Did ABC News really say this? Apparently so.

h/t Mark Steyn

The Occupiers Speak (You Can't Make This Stuff Up)

2011-10-27T01:44:00.000-04:00

You can't make this kind of stuff up.

During the final session reserved for comments, discussions became somewhat heated when a man stood and said through the “human mic,” “We are all God’s children. We should not label each other.” Another man responded, “Issues of inequality should be at the center of discussions." A woman added, “Don’t mention God. It makes me feel like I have to hide my agnostic beliefs.”

One's head spins.

Mark Steyn's Best Line Ever: The body count at Kingston is "29 per cent of the Montreal Massacre"

2011-10-26T09:43:00.000-04:00

The body count at Kingston is "29 per cent of the Montreal Massacre", but the feminists who happily used Gamil Gharbi/Marc Lepine to indict the massed ranks of Canadian menfolk are disinclined to dip their toes into the waters of the Rideau - even though this mass murder is far more telling about a culture of misogyny. -- Mark Steyn, here.

Where have all the feminists gone?
Gone to boardrooms, everyone
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

To The Occupiers: My First Job Was Shovelling Gravel, What Was Yours?

2011-10-25T09:01:00.000-04:00

My sympathies do not lie with the Occupiers. However, there are some systemic problems in the US worth addressing. I suspect the Tea Partiers will do a better job than the "give-us-free-condoms" Occupiers at addressing these, but I'll leave that for you to decide.

Here's my list:

1. US federal government "equity" policies which required banks to throw money at anyone with a pulse -- even if that pulse was sustained by welfare cheques. This was a flight from conservative fiscal reality with devastating consequences. Home ownership is an earned right, not a birth-right.

2. The federal government's aiding and abetting of the banks by easing good-sense policy constraints, etc. in the name of fuelling an artificial prosperity.

3. The immoral and unethical if not illegal actions of the banks in milking the real estate bubble for all it was worth, including creation of those slice-and-dice mortgage instruments. When scouting for real estate in Phoenix, I came across one property where the purchase price was $285,000, and the mortgage was for... $300,000. That's right, folks. The owner had negative equity in the property from the get-go.

4. The federal government's bailout of the banks, unaccompanied by censure and restrictions going forward. "All gain, no pain".

5. The federal government's student loans program which has apparently enabled universities to charge ever-increasing tuition fees, leaving graduates deeply in debt and, in this economy, with no viable game-plan to pay it off.

6. The assumption that life should be easy and "meaningful" jobs plentiful. To the Occupiers: My first job after university was shovelling gravel. What was yours?

Has the US passed its tipping-point? Probably. Because the tipping point is moral, and those with power have lost the moral restraint necessary for good governance. Much easier to live the good life now at taxpayers' expense. Kick the consequences down the road. The US needs a religious awakening, at just a time when Christianity is oozing out of American life and consciousness.

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

Sunday Psalm: 12 -- "I Will Rise Up To Rescue Them"

2011-10-23T06:55:00.000-04:00

Psalm 12

New Living Translation (NLT)

¹ Help, O Lord, for the godly are fast disappearing!

The faithful have vanished from the earth!

² Neighbors lie to each other,
      speaking with flattering lips and deceitful hearts.
³ May the Lord cut off their flattering lips
      and silence their boastful tongues.
⁴ They say, “We will lie to our hearts’ content.
      Our lips are our own—who can stop us?”

⁵ The Lord replies, “I have seen violence done to the helpless,
      and I have heard the groans of the poor.
   Now I will rise up to rescue them,
      as they have longed for me to do.”
⁶ The Lord’s promises are pure,
      like silver refined in a furnace,
      purified seven times over.
⁷ Therefore, Lord, we know you will protect the oppressed,
      preserving them forever from this lying generation,
⁸ even though the wicked strut about,
      and evil is praised throughout the land.

New Living Translation (NLT)

http://www.biblegateway.com

Mark Steyn Interviews Paul Simon: Still Crazy-Good After All These Years

2011-10-23T01:43:00.000-04:00

Mark Steyn's two-part musical interview with the incomparable Paul Simon.

Parts one and two may be found here.

Well worth a listen.

Can Greece Be Saved?

2011-10-22T04:49:00.002-04:00

The National Post is featuring TVO's ‘The Greek Collapse’, calling it "a must-see special". The show is hosted by the incomparable Steve Paikin. Experts bat around what to do about insolvent Greece.

The elephant in the room is corruption. The Greeks are dishonest. Tax evasion and bribery are the rule rather than the exception. Steve Paikin raises the issue at about the 29 minute mark and it is discussed for all of about 90 seconds. The guy's answer is incomprehensible.

There's a lot of discussion in the show about the rich EU countries stepping up to the plate and supporting the poor. Here's my question to the participants: Why would successful taxpaying societies spend their tax dollars propping up a dishonest, tax-evading one?

What is needed in Greece is a deep-rooted cultural repentance -- the kind of fundamental reordering of society that in the past has been associated with the leavening effects of evangelical Christianity. The kind of self-regulating reordering that characterized Great Britain, spread to North America, Australia, New Zealand and beyond, and unleashed the greatest prosperity the world has ever seen.

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

The Occupyification of St. Paul's Cathedral

2011-10-21T18:01:00.001-04:00

Image by jimmyharris via Flickr

St. Paul's Cathedral supports the Occupiers !!! (in a wish-you'd-all-go-away-now kind of way).

Meanwhile, a protester insists that Jesus would be outside with them (hopefully without the defecating-on-peoples' doorsteps, flashing, and pleas-for-condoms bits).

The protesters do fit the profile of the kinds of people Jesus sought to win and save, though...

Related articles

A Good Question To Ask "Occupiers"

2011-10-19T19:21:00.000-04:00

This is what journalists should be asking occupiers: "Did you vote in the last election?"

I would be interested in knowing the answer.

Who's Fault Is It BC Alberta and Ontario are growing and Quebec Is Not?

2011-10-18T22:16:00.000-04:00

Ontario, BC, and Alberta communities are seriously under-represented in Parliament. Parliament feels the need to tip-toe around the issue because Quebec will lose clout if the government does the right thing and increases representation in these provinces.

Question for Quebec: Whose fault is it that other provinces are growing and you are not?

Related articles

Sunday Psalm: 11 -- In The Lord I Put My Trust

2011-10-16T01:51:00.000-04:00

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Psalm 11

¹ In the LORD I put my trust;
         How can you say to my soul,
         “Flee as a bird to your mountain”?
² For look! The wicked bend their bow,
         They make ready their arrow on the string,
         That they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart.
³ If the foundations are destroyed,
         What can the righteous do?

⁴ The LORD is in His holy temple,
         The LORD’s throne is in heaven;
         His eyes behold,
         His eyelids test the sons of men.
⁵ The LORD tests the righteous,
         But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.
⁶ Upon the wicked He will rain coals;
         Fire and brimstone and a burning wind
         Shall be the portion of their cup.

⁷ For the LORD is righteous,
         He loves righteousness;
         His countenance beholds the upright.^[a

New King James Version (NKJV)Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

A key interpretive issue with this psalm is how far the quotation in the first paragraph goes. Compare the above with the NASB below:

¹ In the LORD I take refuge;
How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your mountain;
² For, behold, the wicked bend the bow,
They ^[a]make ready their arrow upon the string
To shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.
³ If the foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?”

I favour the latter interpretation. Have a restful day.

source: Biblegateway.com

Overread in a Trip Advisor Restaurant Review...

2011-10-15T04:07:00.000-04:00

"Lovely ship, nice tex mex food, v filling. Lamb chop's good."

Is it really too much trouble to spell out the word "very" when doing a restaurant review? What happened to verbal spit and polish? Can't be bothered? English writing skills are in decline. V much so.

Green jobs! Green jobs! Green jobs! Green jobs!

2011-10-13T01:00:00.000-04:00

"The City Council voted 4-3 to seek bankruptcy protection for Harrisburg, which has a debt burden five times its general-fund budget "because of an overhaul and expansion of a trash-to-energy incinerator that doesn’t generate enough revenue"

Another well-meaning leftist initiative gone horribly bad...

Barbara Kay's Insights Into The Supremes InSite Ruling

2011-10-05T14:05:00.001-04:00

The Canadian Supreme Court recently added being a drug addict to its list of human rights. They argued that drug addiction is merely a sickness rather than a moral failing and that drug addicts are sub-human (in that they lack willpower and the ability to make rational choices).

The left offered its usual hearty hear! hear! Facts have triumphed over ideology. In fact, it appears that ideology -- leftist ideology -- was slathered on rather thick in this ruling.

While no-one wishes drug addicts further harm neither do we wish to see their addiction trivialized as a mere illness nor supported in perpetuity by government as a fundamental human right. As for the Supremes pronouncements that InSite "saves lives" (which Barbara Kay challenges), I wonder if a study was done on the criminal harm committed by drug addicts being aided and abetted by InSite -- in which case, shouldn't the motto be "InSite causes harm"?

Barbara Kay offers her insights.

Sunday Psalm: 10 -- God Gives Courage

2011-10-02T10:15:00.000-04:00

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Psalm 10 - A Prayer for Justice

Why are you so far away, O Lord?
Why do you hide yourself when we are in trouble?
2 The wicked are proud and persecute the poor;
catch them in the traps they have made.

3 The wicked are proud of their evil desires;
the greedy curse and reject the Lord.
4 The wicked do not care about the Lord;
in their pride they think that God doesn't matter.

5 The wicked succeed in everything.
They cannot understand God's judgments;
they sneer at their enemies.
6 They say to themselves,
We will never fail;
we will never be in trouble.

7 Their speech is filled with curses, lies, and threats;
they are quick to speak hateful, evil words.

8 They hide themselves in the villages,
waiting to murder innocent people.
They spy on their helpless victims;
9 they wait in their hiding place like lions.
They lie in wait for the poor;
they catch them in their traps and drag them away.

10 The helpless victims lie crushed;
brute strength has defeated them.
11 The wicked say to themselves,
God doesn't care!
He has closed his eyes and will never see me!

12 O Lord, punish those wicked people!
Remember those who are suffering!
13 How can the wicked despise God
and say to themselves,
He will not punish me?

14 But you do see; you take notice of trouble and suffering
and are always ready to help.
The helpless commit themselves to you;
you have always helped the needy.

15 Break the power of wicked and evil people;
punish them for the wrong they have done
until they do it no more.

16 The Lord is king forever and ever.
Those who worship other gods
will vanish from his land.

17 You will listen, O Lord, to the prayers of the lowly;
you will give them courage.
18 You will hear the cries of the oppressed and the orphans;
you will judge in their favor,
so that mortal men may cause terror no more.

History is pressing on to its fulfillment -- the kingdom reign of God in Christ. So, lean in, and press on!

Is Islam Christ-Friendly?

2011-09-29T01:42:00.005-04:00

Is Islam Christ-friendly, as its proponents insist?

Apparently not. Being a true friend of Christ can get you killed. As Christians, we need to be prepared to die. Most of us will never experience martyrdom, but the possibility comes with the territory.

If this guy was gay, the CBC would be all over it. But he's just another Christian, so don't expect them to get too excited. I'll be happily surprised if they do. The photo headline above was from Fox News.

Lord, have mercy on this man and on his family -- and on his persecutors too.

BC Ferries

2011-09-28T07:43:00.000-04:00

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"In his eight years at the helm of the [BC] ferry corporation, David Hahn has overseen a meteoric rise in ferry fares coupled with a devastating plunge in ridership and revenue."

Sounds about right. I'm guessing the ferry corporation is unionized. Expect less for more (hello, TTC) in the years ahead as western economies retrench and government/big unions are among the last holdouts against reality.

If things get really bad, expect civil unrest. All those de-moralized socialized hordes relying on government-provided entitlements have no intention of cutting back or being the ones to pay for government over-spending excesses. That puts the entire weight of responsibility on the rest of us.

"Dress Witches In Pink And Avoid White Paper": Anti-Racism Industry Jumps The Shark

2011-09-27T03:21:00.002-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

Someone got paid for this advice.

Favorite colour? Lie and say black or brown.

Carbon Credits: Plant A Tree, Starve A Human

2011-09-26T08:47:00.001-04:00

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From their website, slathered in green righteousness:

The New Forests Company is a UK-based sustainable and socially responsible forestry company with established, rapidly growing plantations and the prospect of a diversified product base for local and regional export markets which will deliver both attractive returns to investors and significant social and environmental benefits.

From InfoWars.Com:

Armed troops acting on behalf of a British carbon trading company backed by the World Bank burned houses to the ground and killed children to evict Ugandans from their homes in the name of seizing land to protect against “global warming,” a shocking illustration of how the climate change con is a barbarian form of neo-colonialism.

The evictions were ordered by New Forests Company, an outfit that seizes land in Africa to grow trees then sells the “carbon credits” on to transnational corporations. The company is backed by the World Bank and HSBC. Its Board of Directors includes HSBC Managing Director Sajjad Sabur, as well as other former Goldman Sachs investment bankers.
The company claims residents of Kicucula left in a “peaceful” and “voluntary” manner, and yet the people tell a story of terror and bloodshed.

Villagers told of how armed “security forces” stormed their village and torched houses, burning an eight-year-child to death as they threatened to murder anyone who resisted while beating others.

“We were in church,” recalled Jean-Marie Tushabe, 26, a father of two. “I heard bullets being shot into the air.”

“Cars were coming with police,” Mr. Tushabe said, sitting among the ruins of his old home. “They headed straight to the houses. They took our plates, cups, mattresses, bed, pillows. Then we saw them getting a matchbox out of their pockets.”

“But in this case, the government and the company said the settlers were illegal and evicted for a good cause: to protect the environment and help fight global warming,” reports the New York Times.

Another leftist initiative gone horribly bad. When it comes to green, the poorest of the poor don't count, because, when it comes to leftist initiatives toward the third world, it's not about them, it's about us. Always.

Sunday Psalm: 9 - The Lord Is King Forever!

2011-09-25T07:35:00.001-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

Psalm 9
Thanksgiving to God for His Justice^[a]
    I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
      I will tell of all the wonderful things you have done.
² I will sing with joy because of you.
      I will sing praise to you, Almighty God.

³ My enemies turn back when you appear;
      they fall down and die.
⁴ You are fair and honest in your judgments,
      and you have judged in my favor.

⁵ You have condemned the heathen
      and destroyed the wicked;
      they will be remembered no more.
⁶ Our enemies are finished forever;
      you have destroyed their cities,
      and they are completely forgotten.

⁷ But the Lord is king forever;
      he has set up his throne for judgment.
⁸ He rules the world with righteousness;
      he judges the nations with justice.

⁹ The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
      a place of safety in times of trouble.
¹⁰ Those who know you, Lord, will trust you;
      you do not abandon anyone who comes to you.

¹¹ Sing praise to the Lord, who rules in Zion!
      Tell every nation what he has done!
¹² God remembers those who suffer;
      he does not forget their cry,
      and he punishes those who wrong them.

¹³ ^(A)Be merciful to me, O Lord!
      See the sufferings my enemies cause me!
   Rescue me from death, O Lord,
    ¹⁴ that I may stand before the people of Jerusalem
      and tell them all the things for which I praise you.
   I will rejoice because you saved me.

¹⁵ The heathen have dug a pit and fallen in;
      they have been caught in their own trap.
¹⁶ The Lord has revealed himself by his righteous judgments,
      and the wicked are trapped by their own deeds.

¹⁷ Death is the destiny of all the wicked,
      of all those who reject God.
¹⁸ The needy will not always be neglected;
      the hope of the poor will not be crushed forever.

¹⁹ Come, Lord! Do not let anyone defy you!
      Bring the heathen before you
      and pronounce judgment on them.
²⁰ Make them afraid, O Lord;
      make them know that they are only mortal beings.

Good News Translation (GNT)

Have a restful, joyful day as God's praise circles the globe this day.

The Vancouver Riots -- 100 Days On

2011-09-24T08:08:00.000-04:00

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The Vancouver Riots -- 100 Days On

It has been 100 days since the riot and no charges have been laid; police said on Thursday....

Too bad none of it was captured on video or something.

"George Bush Is A War Criminal"

2011-09-21T04:32:00.001-04:00

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We know this because a 1000 leftist bloggers -- 1000 points of blight? -- have said so. So, it must be true.

But... apparently, so is Condoleezza Rice.

Who knew?

She sure won't be speaking at Tyndale anytime soon.

Nor will Bill Clinton, if a comparative Google word search means anything.

(Not that either of them would want to touch Tyndale with a 10 foot poll at this point.)

Canadian Adjudicator To Refugee Claimant: "Not Catholic Enough"

2011-09-20T13:45:00.000-04:00

Image by Lawrence OP via Flickr

You're a refugee claimant. You're in a refugee claimant review. You're nervous. You're in a new country in the midst of strange people who seemingly hold life-or-death powers over you. You're sweating. You're a Christian. You're asked who the mother of Mary the mother of Jesus was, and who the mother of John the Baptist was.

Quick now, what's your answer? (please post in comments without looking at other comments' answers)

If you balked, you may be a Christian, but, in the eyes of the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), not Christian enough.

He knew Mary was Jesus’ mother and that John baptized him but not the names of Mary’s and John’s mothers; correctly answered questions about the rosary and the seven sacraments; named books of the Old Testament but was uncertain what they were about; failed to note that 2009 was dedicated to St. Paul by the Catholic Church, and gave other answers that fell short of Ms. Andrachuk’s expectations.

“I find, on a balance of probabilities, that the claimant is not and never was a genuine practicing Roman Catholic,” Ms. Andrachuk wrote. “I find that the claimant’s level of knowledge of the Catholic faith is not commensurate with someone who has been a Roman Catholic for three years.”

Fortunately a Canadian court had the good sense to strike down this ruling.

IRB adjudicator rebuked by court for refusing man who failed Catholic ‘trivia’

Related articles

Breaking: Pravda Approves Of Tyndale's Disinvite of George W. Bush

2011-09-19T19:52:00.004-04:00

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Pravda Forums has covered Toronto's Tyndale University's bait-and-switch invite/disinvite of George W. Bush.

Pravda approves! This approval -- by a "Supreme Member" no less -- may be the high water mark for the leftists who accused Tyndale of "hosting a war criminal".

Here's the link: http://engforum.pravda.ru/index.php?/topic/239707-bushs-toronto-visit-cancelled-amid-mass-public-pressure-for-arrest/ (Notice the words in the link.)

This post was written entirely by a the Supreme Member of the Ball Bounces.

How To Kill An Economy, and, Carbon Dioxide Is Not A "Pollutant"

2011-09-19T08:01:00.000-04:00

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The EU goes for the carbon taxes jugular.

British Airways faces a bill of nearly €50m, the highest of any airline, when carriers around the world are brought into the European Union’s carbon emissions trading scheme next year....

The airline industry’s total bill is expected to be €1.1bn ($1.5bn) at today’s carbon prices, the study says. The whole sector may only make a $4bn profit this year, the International Air Transport Association has forecast....

The findings come amid a fierce row over the EU’s move to make any airline flying into and within the bloc pay for pollution.

Memo to the EU and Financial Times: Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant.

Costs will be passed on to customers, because corporations do not pay taxes -- consumers do. This will harm the struggling world economy and put yet more money in big-government hands. The world takes another notch downward, thanks to the statist left.

Read the whole article here.

Sunday Psalm: 8 - The Lord's Excellent Name

2011-09-18T08:14:00.000-04:00

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Psalm 8

To the Chief Musician. On the instrument of Gath.^[a] A Psalm of David.

¹ O LORD, our Lord,
         How excellent is Your name in all the earth,
         Who have set Your glory above the heavens!

² Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants
         You have ordained strength,
         Because of Your enemies,
         That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.

³ When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
         The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
⁴ What is man that You are mindful of him,
         And the son of man that You visit him?
⁵ For You have made him a little lower than the angels,^[b]
         And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

⁶ You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
         You have put all things under his feet,
⁷ All sheep and oxen—
         Even the beasts of the field,
⁸ The birds of the air,
         And the fish of the sea
         That pass through the paths of the seas.

⁹ O LORD, our Lord,
         How excellent is Your name in all the earth!

New King James Version (NKJV)Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Rest. And enjoy. Peace.

George Bush, War Criminal "Has No Formal Training In Education Theory"!!!

2011-09-17T08:00:00.003-04:00

Concerning the Tyndale Debacle (see posts below for context).

Overheard on a Tyndale blog: "... why is Mr. Bush speaking on Christian higher education? So far as I am aware, all of Mr. Bush’s higher education was from private, secular American universities. He has no formal training in education theory..."

Ah, yes. The academy had done its job. You're either with us, or you have nothing to say. As I recall, Jesus and his main-guy Peter had no formal degrees either...

Meanwhile, here is a voice of sweet reason (which was not followed):

First of all, it sounds like a donor of Tyndale, Prem Watsa, is arranging and will be funding the breakfast (if you don’t know who Prem is, you may want to Google him). It’s very likely that Tyndale did not initiate this, and that Prem wanted to do this to bring awareness to Tyndale and Christian Higher Education among his colleagues and potential supporters in Toronto. Personally, I think it would be rude and irrational to turn down such a generous opportunity.

Rude and irrational indeed. Way to go, "Amy".

The Tyndale-Bush Debacle: Devilish Spawn vs. "Our Lovely School"

2011-09-16T15:21:00.007-04:00

Cover of George W. Bush

To the President of Tyndale
16th September 2011

Dear sir:

I just returned from an overseas trip and am dismayed (as a graduate of the Ontario Theological Seminary, as Tyndale use to be called) to be informed about an ugly rumour being spread against my alma mater.

Someone said that the mass murderer George Bush, whose war in Iraq killed, injured and displaced over 1,000,000 people while destroying the country’s infrastructure and increasing child poverty and death had been invited to our school.

Obviously, anyone who takes the Scripture seriously would never be so blasphemous to mistake George Bush as a Christian because, as Jesus said, “by their fruit you will know them.”

I will continue, in the midst of my jet lag to try to find out who is spreading this terrible rumor about Tyndale inviting such a devilish spawn to our lovely school.

Yours truly

Thomas Corbett

It's hard to know where to start with a letter like this. There's no indication it was meant to be self-satirizing. I would like to think it was written by some fiendish conservative to make the left look ridiculous, but there's no indication of that, either. It appears this is where the fevered leftist brain lands after a long trip abroad. Memo to self: never try to write a cutesy blogpost while jet-lagged. Memo to Thomas: get some sleep.

* * *

As a Tyndale alumnus, I can only say the Tyndale debacle is sad, sad, sad. The damage done will take years to recover from.

PS: I can only assume that that growly old war-monger Winston Churchill would have been chased off campus, while Neville "peace in our time" Chamberlain would have been welcomed with open arms.

Tyndale University's "Scheduling Conflict" Bad Hair Day

2011-09-16T12:38:00.004-04:00

Toronto's Tyndale University snags a world figure -- George W. Bush -- for what was to be the first in a series of prominent speakers who would raise Tyndale's public profile and raise funds for the self-financed institution. Quite a coup! Then the coup came undone due to a ~~coup~~ "scheduling conflict".

sat. on/ Scheduling conflict? Don't the respective parties have appointment calendars? I mean, I've got a car appointment scheduled for next Wednesday at 10 am, and there it is, right in my calendar, colour-coded green. Does this mean George W. Bush, former leader of the free world, cannot afford calendar software??!! If so, this means things are much worse in the US than people are letting on!! /sat. off

Michael Coren called Tyndale to get to the bottom of it all and Michael Coren is not a happy man. "It sounds like she might not be telling [me] the truth".

Indeed. (Of course, the Canadian financier organizing the event on Tyndale's behalf may have realized the way the (leftist) four strong winds were blowing, and decided to call it off -- he may have passed on to Tyndale a gentle "scheduling conflict" excuse, in which case, all they can do is pass on the excuse they were given.

Ten-minute Michael Coren video well-worth watching.

PS: Pastor Joe Boot of Westminster Chapel is my newest hero for telling it like it is. I also liked the Tyndale English prof, but he was in an impossible position.

Tyndale Students Claim George W. Bush Event Was A "Cash Grab"

2011-09-16T09:57:00.002-04:00

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Tyndale Students Claim George W. Bush Event Was A "Cash Grab"

Fine. Cancel the event and raise tuition fees.

Problem solved.

"Tyndale Is Hosting A War Criminal" -- The Poster

2011-09-16T09:49:00.000-04:00

"Tyndale Is Hosting A War Criminal". Well, there you have it. That's that then.

In addition to being a War Criminal, Bush is referred to as the author of policies which resulted in the "murder of thousands". The last time I checked, soldiers were not murderers. Perhaps they are thinking of revenge killings done by the Afghanistan and Iraqi authorities on their citizens? Perhaps they meant deaths rather than murders? But, no, they are critical thinkers, so it can't be sloppy writing.

And what's with this war criminal charge? Was the President ever tried, even in a pseudo-leftist court and convicted? Or is this just more hot rhetoric on the part of the critical thinkers at Tyndale?

I am an alumnus of Tyndale. It used to be conservative. It is conservative no more.

Go to Tyndale.Co for more.

"Equitable And Inclusive" -- This Is What It Gets You In Ontario's School System

2011-09-16T01:37:00.007-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

While flipping through his six-year-old son’s new student planner Monday night, Jaak Purres was shocked to see some pretty heavy words jump out at him: sex worker, female genital mutilation, Palestinian solidarity.

Most of them were plotted on a calendar marking “Days of Significance” — International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers (Dec 17), the International Day of Zero-Tolerance on Female Genital Cutting/Mutilation (Feb. 6). But their mere presence in a book stuffed in his son’s backpack and carried to and from his Grade 2 class, set off alarm bells for Mr. Purres, who sends his child to school in Toronto’s Bathurst and Lawrence area.

In what almost amounts to leftist self-parody, the father in the article is totally OK with the agenda being presented in Ontario public schools; his only concern is that his six year old son may not be up to it yet.

* * *

"Equitable and Inclusive". What gets stuffed into this? Whatever those who hold the reins of power like and believe in. What gets inequitably omitted and non-inclusively excluded? Whatever they happen to dislike. What is presented as equitable justice and inclusion is really nothing more than an act of raw, agenda-driven power. Palestinian solidarity? Why not solidarity with the Jews, whom the Arabs want to drive into the sea? Why not solidarity with the Christians, whom the Muslims are persecuting around the world and driving from their ancestral countries? Maybe the school board has such days, but I doubt it.

Parents who care about what their children are being taught should be vigilant.

Update: Anon1152: I've changed the picture.

Tyndale University Disinvites George Bush In Leftist Anti-Free-Speech Triumph

2011-09-15T13:33:00.004-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

Due to the actions of a left-wing pressure group Toronto's Tyndale University has cancelled(*) a scheduled fund-raising appearance by US President George W. Bush.

Bush, among other things, did more to quietly save lives in Africa by funding the fight against HIV/AIDS than any previous President but the leftists chose to characterize him as a run-of-the-mill War Criminal (apparently the presumption of innocence doesn't apply when a conservative is on the receiving end of a leftist accusation).

This is sad.

Big-tent inclusive and welcoming Tyndale, of which I am an alumnus, has suddenly become a smaller place.

File this under: exclusion, intimidation, intolerance, not to mention extremely ungracious behaviour.

(*) Actually, a "scheduling conflict" arose and "neither side is talking", which makes this worse -- a Christian institution apparently engaging in euphemistic obfuscation.

Infanticide, Anyone?

2011-09-15T13:18:00.000-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

This is what the finest legal minds in the country come up with. This is the kind of ruling we get from the people who rule us and Parliament via the exercise of Charter powers. This is what our intellectual and moral betters come up with.

Infanticide, anyone?

And what's up with the "especially mothers without support" justification. Didn't we used to have an institution that handled that? Let's see. Sifting through the memory bank. Oh, yeah. It was called, almost got it, on the tip of my tongue... marriage. With no sex before.

Trudeau's Canada broke marriage between a man and a woman as a socially necessary contract and constraint and with it has come the justification for abortion and infanticide. Funny how all the rights we have granted ourselves -- including gay rights -- have come at the natural rights of children to life and a father and mother's love, care, and protection.

The USA's Green Pork

2011-09-14T08:13:00.000-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

Conservatism stresses individual responsibility -- which includes not over-spending, honesty, and belt-tightening when necessary. It is the opposite of an entitlement (as in, "I'm entitled to your money regardless of the costs or consequences") mentality.

The USA's federal government has seemingly lost all economic moral and ethical sense. A nation ruled by liberal fantasies regarding the creation and preservation of wealth is a nation doomed.

The USA is losing the virtues that made it a great nation.

Michelle Malkin weighs in on the USA's Green Pork.

Read On Priceline...

2011-09-13T12:28:00.000-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

"The exercise room manager would not let me change the channel on the TV in the workout room."

Oh the humanity!

But, give the guy points for working out -- my idea of a workout on a business trip is a third trip to the buffet breakfast bar...

Read On TripAdvisor.Com...

2011-09-13T09:17:00.000-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

"The rooms were sufficient but there was no coffee valet in the rooms. If you wanted a cup of tea or coffee, one had to go to the lobby to get it...."

Oh, the humanity!

9/11*10: Remembering Todd Beamer

2011-09-11T01:49:00.002-04:00

Cover via Amazon

9/11*10: Remembering Todd Beamer.

A Christian presence that made a difference.

C'mon, guys.

Let's Roll.

9/11 Commemorations: "Let's Roll Over"

2011-09-10T08:50:00.000-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

From ‘Let's roll' to 'Let's roll over':

Mark Steyn's 9/11 portrait of the west's mishy-mushy reality-denying and self-loathing.

Sunday Psalm: 7 -- God protects me like a shield

2011-09-04T14:24:00.001-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

Psalm 7 - New Century Version (NCV)

A Prayer for Fairness - A shiggaion of David which he sang to the Lord about Cush, from the tribe of Benjamin.

1 Lord my God, I trust in you for protection.
Save me and rescue me
from those who are chasing me.
2 Otherwise, like a lion they will tear me apart.
They will rip me to pieces, and no one can save me.

3 Lord my God, what have I done?
Have my hands done something wrong?
4 Have I done wrong to my friend
or stolen without reason from my enemy?
5 If I have, let my enemy chase me and capture me.
Let him trample me into the dust
and bury me in the ground.
Selah

6 Lord, rise up in your anger;
stand up against my enemies' anger.
Get up and demand fairness.
7 Gather the nations around you
and rule them from above.
8 Lord, judge the people.
Lord, defend me because I am right,
because I have done no wrong, God Most High.
9 God, you do what is right.
You know our thoughts and feelings.
Stop those wicked actions done by evil people,
and help those who do what is right.

10 God protects me like a shield;
he saves those whose hearts are right.
11 God judges by what is right,
and God is always ready to punish the wicked.
12 If they do not change their lives,
God will sharpen his sword;
he will string his bow and take aim.
13 He has prepared his deadly weapons;
he has made his flaming arrows.

14 There are people who think up evil
and plan trouble and tell lies.
15 They dig a hole to trap others,
but they will fall into it themselves.
16 They will get themselves into trouble;
the violence they cause will hurt only themselves.

17 I praise the Lord because he does what is right.
I sing praises to the Lord Most High.

Have a great day!

New Century Version

New Poll: Rocks-Boy vs Crossbow-Guy !!

2011-08-31T21:48:00.001-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

"A boy was shot in the abdomen by a crossbow bolt Monday after he and another boy were throwing rocks at a passing car in Linda Vista, San Diego police said."

Rocks-Boy vs. Crossbow-Guy: don't forget to vote in the latest Ball Bounces Crossbow poll! Multiple answers allowed -- how good is that?!

Thou Shalt Not Steal: Ripped Off Toilet Paper Flies Out Window, Lands On Fleas

2011-08-30T17:01:00.000-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

Putting the "special" in inventory control "specialist":

(JOLIET) Police say a Will County warehouse worker partnered with an accused murderer to rip off $60,000 in toilet paper and plastic utensils from his employer.

Kerr said police got a tip to look at local flea markets, and on June 4 found two vendors at Derald’s Flea Market in Joliet selling items stolen from Georgia-Pacific.

Officers seized about $1,000 in merchandise and learned it had been supplied by Hernandez, 25, an inventory control specialist at the warehouse, police said.

On July 20, police searched two units at a Joliet storage facility and found more than $10,000 in paper products and plastic cutlery, Kerr said.

Etc.

Sunday Psalm 6: My Prayers Are Answered!

2011-08-28T18:59:00.001-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

Psalm 6 -- A David Psalm

1-2 Please, God, no more yelling, no more trips to the woodshed.
Treat me nice for a change;
I'm so starved for affection.

2-3 Can't you see I'm black-and-blue,
beat up badly in bones and soul?
God, how long will it take
for you to let up?

4-5 Break in, God, and break up this fight;
if you love me at all, get me out of here.
I'm no good to you dead, am I?
I can't sing in your choir if I'm buried in some tomb!

6-7 I'm tired of all this—so tired. My bed
has been floating forty days and nights
On the flood of my tears.
My mattress is soaked, soggy with tears.
The sockets of my eyes are black holes;
nearly blind, I squint and grope.

8-9 Get out of here, you Devil's crew:
at last God has heard my sobs.
My requests have all been granted,
my prayers are answered.

10 Cowards, my enemies disappear.
Disgraced, they turn tail and run.

-- The Message

Saggy Pants on Yonge

2011-08-26T18:41:00.000-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

I saw a guy walking down Yonge Street the other day with some version of shorts half-way down his thighs. I mean, he was a walking, talking wonder of gravity-defiance. I figure the only thing keeping his pants up was his wide-stance way of walking -- he walked with his legs at least a foot or more apart. Which perhaps explains this: "This week, a San Francisco high school teacher in the Sunset District called police to intervene in a dispute with a student, who "became belligerent and took a fighting stance" after he was told to pull up his pants."

He may have taken the fighting stance in order to keep his pants up.

At any rate, the guy on Yonge Street undoubtedly thinks he looks cool, but the word that came to mind as I looked at him from behind was "retarded". It was like he had a sign on his back saying, "I'm unemployable; nobody's gonna hire me, you might as well get used to the idea of cutting me welfare checks for the indefinite future".

Could someone please remind me why you and I are deemed responsible for keeping this guy via the social system rather than this guy taking some kind of responsibility for his own life? Leftists/liberals say "take care of the guy". Conservatives say, "pull up your pants and go out and find a job".

What do you say?

Liberalism's "Seven Deadly Sins"?

2011-08-23T08:06:00.000-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

Here's an article worth the read: "7 Reasons Why Liberals Are Incapable of Understanding The World" by John Hawkins.

Here's an extract from each point, with my favourite, #3, in full.

1) Liberalism creates a feedback loop. It is usually impossible for a non-liberal to change a liberal's mind about political issues because liberalism works like so: only liberals are credible sources of information.

2) Liberals sources of information are ever present.

3) Liberals emphasize feeling superior, not superior results. Liberalism is all about appearances, not outcomes. What matters to liberals is how a program makes them FEEL about themselves, not whether it works or not. Thus a program like Headstart, which sounds good because it's designed to help children read, makes liberals feel good about themselves, even though the program doesn't work and wastes billions. A ban on DDT makes liberals feel good about themselves because they're "protecting the environment" even though millions of people have died as a result. For liberals, it's not what a program does in the real world; it's about whether they feel better about themselves for supporting it.

4) Liberals are big believers in moral relativism.

5) Liberals tend to view people as parts of groups, not individuals.

6) Liberals take a dim view of personal responsibility.

7) Liberals give themselves far too much credit just for being liberal.

I'm sure conservatives are sinners too. I'll leave it up to liberal readers of the Ball Bounces to point out our sins. Be that as it may, the facts of life are conservative -- which brings us full-circle back to the article's title.

Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) and the Rogers Stick

2011-08-22T11:52:00.000-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

I upgraded to Mac OS X Lion yesterday. Slick.

This morning, tried to use my Rogers stick at The Pickle Barrel where I was enjoying their $4.99 40th Anniversary breakfast special.

Got a "no service" message. Called Rogers. Raj told me they need to create a new driver for OS X 10.7. Will post on their website rogers.com/techsupport when it's ready.

Now, I'm in a pickle. You could say Apple and Rogers have got me over a barrel.

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

Sunday Psalm: 5 The Party Lasts All Night!

2011-08-21T09:13:00.000-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

Psalm 5 A David Psalm

1-3 Listen, God! Please, pay attention! Can you make sense of these ramblings, my groans and cries? King-God, I need your help.
Every morning
you'll hear me at it again.
Every morning
I lay out the pieces of my life
on your altar
and watch for fire to descend.

4-6 You don't socialize with Wicked,
or invite Evil over as your houseguest.
Hot-Air-Boaster collapses in front of you;
you shake your head over Mischief-Maker.
God destroys Lie-Speaker;
Blood-Thirsty and Truth-Bender disgust you.

7-8 And here I am, your invited guest—
it's incredible!
I enter your house; here I am,
prostrate in your inner sanctum,
Waiting for directions
to get me safely through enemy lines.

9-10 Every word they speak is a land mine;
their lungs breathe out poison gas.
Their throats are gaping graves,
their tongues slick as mudslides.
Pile on the guilt, God!
Let their so-called wisdom wreck them.
Kick them out! They've had their chance.

11-12 But you'll welcome us with open arms
when we run for cover to you.
Let the party last all night!
Stand guard over our celebration.
You are famous, God, for welcoming God-seekers,
for decking us out in delight.

Bonus points if you can figure out which Psalm is portrayed in the photo! I used to have a fair grasp of biblical Hebrew, but, alas, it has waned.

Have a God-blessed day!

Canada Post: Where's Jack Bauer When You Need Him?

2011-08-18T11:11:00.001-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

Not getting your mail? Have you tried counting your steps? Three? Dang-er-ous!

William Watson got mail: “We recently noted that the stairs of your home have three steps, and that there is no railing to assist in climbing them without risk, as Canada Post standards stipulate.”

Jack Bauer could handle those stairs in a single bound, dead.

The notice went on to explain that I... will have to pay for the privilege of not having my mail delivered. Judging by the cost of having our mail held back over our summer holiday the fee would be about $15 a week. Just to be clear: I will be paying Canada Post for not delivering my mail. If I decline to pay, the notice makes clear, all my mail will be returned to sender.

Remember: Big Union's goal is to get paid infinitely high wages for doing infinitesimally little work, with bankable sick days and full retirement after two weeks on the job. This is just one small step in the right direction!

* * *

I've been mail-slimming. Emailing/phoning businesses and organizations that send me mail asking them to put me on their emailing list and take me off their snail mail list.

How's your summer mail-slimming going?

Sunday Psalm: 4 -- I Have God's More-Than-Enough

2011-08-14T03:30:00.012-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

Psalm 4 A David Psalm

1 When I call, give me answers. God, take my side! Once, in a tight place, you gave me room;
Now I'm in trouble again: grace me! hear me!

2 You rabble—how long do I put up with your scorn?
How long will you lust after lies?
How long will you live crazed by illusion?

3 Look at this: look
Who got picked by God!
He listens the split second I call to him.

4-5 Complain if you must, but don't lash out.
Keep your mouth shut, and let your heart do the talking.
Build your case before God and wait for his verdict.

6-7 Why is everyone hungry for more? "More, more," they say.
"More, more."
I have God's more-than-enough,
More joy in one ordinary day

7-8 Than they get in all their shopping sprees.
At day's end I'm ready for sound sleep,
For you, God, have put my life back together.

-- The Message, by Eugene Peterson

(Someone said that God will put your life back together -- as long as you give him all the pieces!)

Jesus referred to himself as both David's son and David's Lord -- figure that one out! He quoted from the Psalms and used the Psalms to direct and soothe his own life. And no greater man ever lived than Jesus.

It's Sunday -- drink well from the well and be well.

New Poll: What To Do With Looters On Welfare

2011-08-11T23:10:00.000-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

London to debate stripping looters of welfare benefits.

What do you think?

Don't forget to vote in the latest Ball Bounces poll!

Origin Of Life: Solved!!!

2011-08-10T01:50:00.012-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

A few days ago we solved the origin of the universe problem.

Now the Ball Bounces ~~turns its lonely eyes to you~~ turns its attention to the problem of the origin on life. How hard can it be, really? I mean, it took literally nothing to solve the origin of the universe problem.

To get life, simply add nowhere to nothing. Nothing plus nowhere (plus chance -- ya gotta have chance in your corner) = Life!

This is how it happens: Information necessary for life simply appears out of nowhere, by chance. There. Problem solved. Did you get that? Let me say it again. Embedded, communicated information -- you know, the kind of thing we normally associate with ~~intelligence~~ random occurrence, simply appears out of nowhere, by chance.

It's simple. It's elegant. Do I win a Nobel?

Drat -- somebody beat me to it:

We can now address a simple question that is central to our understanding of the origin of life: Can non-living systems evolve? Can genetic information really appear out of nowhere, by chance? If the answer is no, then we're in trouble because those of us who work on the origin of life claim that is exactly what happened four billion years ago, when the first forms of life emerged from a sterile mixture of minerals, atmospheric gases, and dilute solutions of organic carbon compounds.

The answer has to be yes, because otherwise we are looking at intelligence. Article in Evolutionary News and Views that brings this to our attention, here.

The exciting news is this: with this breakthrough, scientists have at long last reconciled materialism with God, and even come up with a scientific description of the Creator!!! OK, he's a bit stubby and truncated, but here He is, God according to the latest scientific theory:

He's a real Nowhere Man,
Sitting in his Nowhere Land,
Making all his nowhere plans
for nobody.
Making all his nowhere plans
for nobody.
Making all his nowhere plans
for nobody!

Where did DNA information come from? Science circa 2011: Nowhere, man.

Barack Obama: "We'll Always Be A AAA Company"

2011-08-09T12:34:00.002-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

Richard Bove's US Market Commentary on BNN.

"You can't use debt to solve a problem with debt".

"You can't solve a debt problem by printing money".

"It's not our grandchildren's problem; it's our problem".

"You can't kick the problem down the road because there is no more road".

Well worth a listen.

The London Riots and the Toronto Talk Show

2011-08-09T09:42:00.001-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

I overheard a Toronto talk-show yesterday ~~talking about~~ excusing the London riots. Between the host and his guest, there was not one word spoken to suggest that the rioters are personally responsible for their behaviour.

Not. One. Word.

They immediately jumped to the never-ending quest for "root causes". It can't be the rioter's fault; it must be ours.

Here's the Ball bounces short list of politically incorrect root causes that you will not hear discussed on a Canadian talk show any time soon.

* Children being born and raised out of wedlock.

* Youth being raised in an permissive environment where dropping out of school going on the dole, and living idle, layabout lives is not only a live option, it's a social right and entitlement. In other words, "socialism caused the riots"

* A school system that fails to inculcate a sense of personal responsibility

* A social milieu that expects and condones this kind of behaviour (cf. the radio talk show)

The radio show ended with the guest suggesting that these kinds of riots could happen in Toronto.

Instead we should make it clear this kind of behaviour is not expected, never justified, and will not be tolerated.

Stephen Hawking's Two Big Buckets Of Nothing

2011-08-08T08:08:00.003-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

Stephen Hawking's Two Big Buckets Of Nothing:

You take a bucket of negatively charged energy, a bucket of positively charged energy, mix them together, and, oh, baby -- you've got yourself... one big bucket of nothing!

Then, you swirl this one big bucket of nothing around and... BANG!

Postscript. If the bucket is really, really, big, you get a BIG Bang.

Q&A.

Q. "Dr. Hawking, what if the buckets had been smaller?".

A. "We would have been tiny."

Someone remind me how this is an improvement on the big turtle creation myth?

"There Is No Why"

2011-08-08T06:05:00.001-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

The Beatles had it all wrong when they twanged "Tell me why".

Why?

There is no why.

You're asking for a "why" when there is no "why", there is only an "is", but that leaves you as nothng particularlarly special in the universe, and that's why your ego clings to these myths. -- SDC

A really, really big bang starts everything off. Don't ask why. There is no why.

This big bang has embedded in it all the laws of mathematics, the laws of physics, the laws of logic, the laws of chemistry. Don't ask why. There is no why.

These physical laws are all exquisitely tuned, as it turns out, to support the emergence of biological life on earth, itself governed by yet more laws. Don't ask why. There is no why.

No mind behind the universe, but minds spring up out of dust. Don't ask why. There is no why.

No consciousness behind the universe, but self-consciousness emerges from dirt and water, stirred. Don't ask why. There is no why.

A dumb, purposeless process produces the exquisite emotion of love. From dirt. Don't ask why. There is no why.

A creature emerges with embedded moral sense, with strong convictions that there is good and evil, right and wrong in the midst of this senseless, mindless, purposeless swirling dirt of a universe. Don't ask why. There is no why.

A man arrives in Palestine circa 4 BC and claims to be God. His grave is empty. Don't ask why.

Evolution has given our inquiring minds the insatiable impulse to ask "why".

Why?

Don't ask.

This is the state of scientism, circa 2011.

As SDC likes to put it, there is NO EVIDENCE for a Creator.

Apart from, you know, everything that exists.

Related articles

Sunday Psalm: 3 -- Real Help Comes From God

2011-08-07T04:34:00.009-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

Psalm 3

1-2 God! Look! Enemies past counting! Enemies sprouting like mushrooms,
Mobs of them all around me, roaring their mockery:
"Hah! No help for him from God!"

3-4 But you, God, shield me on all sides;
You ground my feet, you lift my head high;
With all my might I shout up to God,
His answers thunder from the holy mountain.

5-6 I stretch myself out. I sleep.
Then I'm up again—rested, tall and steady,
Fearless before the enemy mobs
Coming at me from all sides.

7 Up, God! My God, help me!
Slap their faces,
First this cheek, then the other,
Your fist hard in their teeth!

8 Real help comes from God.
Your blessing clothes your people!

Eugene Peterson, The Message

Have a blessed day.

Life Blooms On Mars!!!

2011-08-06T10:03:00.000-04:00

Image by Mads Boedker via Flickr

"You bloom quickly, you do what you need to do, and you go dormant." -- description of life on Mars, based on "the science" circa 2011

Life on Mars? Yikes, this sounds like life on earth!

The evidence for this?

To paraphrase scientist Dr. Emmett Brown, "Evidence? Where we're going, we don't need evidence".

Or, as an eminent Mars explorer once put it, "To infinity ... and beyond!

Evolution News and Views has the full story.

A Solution To the NDP Separatist Leader Controversy

2011-08-04T01:42:00.009-04:00

The National Post's Scott Stinson asks, "Was there no one else in the NDP’s 103-member caucus who could keep the seat warm for Mr. Layton’s return to Parliament and who would not spark questions about their divided loyalties?"

Fortunately, yes.

It would make a great made-for-TV movie.

Toronto's Pearson: Improvements. For Yoooooouuuu!

2011-08-03T17:55:00.003-04:00

During my last pass-through Pearson, I accessed the free Wi-fi at Pearson (thank you, Pearson!), and was led to this:

OK, I'll bite. I chose McDonald's Restaurant.

The response?

I tried it again and got the same response.

Too many votes cast from your location? Is this even coherent? Sheesh. Another well-meaning PR exercise down the drain.

I did appreciate the free Wi-fi, though.

Darwinism: Do You Believe In Magic?

2011-08-03T09:16:00.001-04:00

Stephen Pinker endorses Alan Rogers' "The Evidence For Evolution" with this glowing commendation: “Alan Rogers addresses the political controversy over the theory of evolution (there’s no longer any scientific controversy) in the best scientific spirit: with evidence and logic. For anyone with an open mind, a curiosity about the natural world, and a desire to see controversies settled with evidence rather than rhetoric, this is an invaluable contribution and a fascinating read.”—Steven Pinker, Harvard University.

A political controversy? Uncommon Descent picks up on sword:

It’s not a political controversy. It is:

1) An evidential controversy (for example, the fossil record, especially the Cambrian explosion).

2) A logical and computational controversy (the insufficiency of random errors producing highly complex, functionally integrated, self-correcting computer code).

3) A mathematical controversy (clearly insufficient probabilistic resources for anything but the most trivial changes based on Darwinian mechanisms).

Well said. Two comments.

1. If by evolution we mean that species change over time and share DNA, there is overwhelming evidence for evolution.

2. However, there is equally overwhelming evidence that the mechanism posited by darwinists -- undesigned, undirected, unintelligent chance variation -- is by incapable of producing elegant new designs.

The naturalist scientist sticks to darwinian explanations regardless of the improbabilities or inconsistencies -- because it's the only conceivable tool in his naturalistic tool-box. A person not wedded to the materialistic philosophy of naturalism is free to examine the evidence and follow it wherever it leads.

I believe in the principle of sufficient reason -- that everything that exists or happens has a sufficient reason (or cause) for its existence. Not just a cause. A sufficient cause. That's why I reject darwinism -- the mechanism posited is feeble and insufficient.

The gap between what exists and the darwinian mechanism's ability to produce the goods is not just a minor problem, it is huge. This gap includes the obvious physical design complexities of human beings and other species, but also includes things like human aspirations and moral sense. To the extent that there is a gap between what exists and the sufficiency of the darwinian mechanism to adequately account for it, darwinists believe in magic (hello, SDC -- I'm toyin' with ya).

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

Why Freedom 55 For Government Workers Means Enslavement 65 For You And Me

2011-08-02T06:51:00.004-04:00

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The Compensation Monster Devouring Cities is a must-read article. It outlines the financial debacle underway in America's municipalities. Rosy-eyed and/or weak-kneed politicians shovelling unreasonable, unsustainable wages and benefits at municipal workers.

The ticking time-bomb is pensions, where the political promise comes now, but the pay-out down the road. Problem is, we are now down the road and it's time to pay the over-pensioned piper.

Municipal America is on the fast track towards bankruptcy.

And Canadian cities will be too, if nothing is done to stop the weak-as-water politicians. I'm thinking of of institutions like the TTC and City of Toronto workers, and government workers in general. Getting far better wages, benefits, and pensions than tax-paying citizens, and all supported by politicians who view the tax base as an ever-increasing unlimited pool of available funds to exploit.

And this is happening at the municipal, state/provincial, and federal levels.

As someone has said, socialism works until you run out of other people's money. That's why "Freedom 55" for a government worker is "Enslavement 65" for you and me.

What is it about politicians that they throw conservative principles like prudence and thrift to the winds when they gain power? Is there something about getting elected that makes a person gravitate towards irresponsible, unsustainable leftism, or do the naturally imprudent and thriftless gravitate towards "public service"?

And is there anything we can do about it?

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