Prophetic Musings

Some days are easier than others to write on here. Some days the news just seems to jump out. Other days it's pretty boring. I'm trying to get a post a day up on here, but it's difficult. I could rail about gas prices, immigration, war on terror, all those things. I tend to think that it is covered better in blogs other than mine, by bloggers who have more time than I do.

On the other hand, I will have a couple of announcements to make in the pretty near future of a couple projects we're trying to get off the ground. I'll post them here when we start. In the meantime, you can visit SkyProphet to see my business site. I still need to add some more content to it, but I think it looks pretty good right now. Let me know what you think!

With this year's tropical cyclone season in the southern hemisphere causing a fair bit of damage, the people who state that it is all being caused by global warming are being given more ammunition. Now, with Monica, it seems to be happening again. I personally don't see what they are talking about, but then any regular readers of my site know that already. I tend to think that this is all part of a cycle which the planet regularly goes through. We just on a high point in the cycle which is causing all the crazy weather.

It was extremely hot here in Texas last week, but that doesn't mean it was anything unnatural. Strange record high temperatures happen every year, but so do strange low temperature records. The earth fluctuates constantly. Meteorologists don't entirely understand it either. Sure, they know the cycles and basic ingredients to the weather, but they don't know for sure how everything mixes. If they did, the forecasts wouldn't be wildly different from day to day. Meteorology is a young science, and being such it will take years, if not centuries before anyone understands it.

Though I've got some somewhat dicey information that some governments have figured out how to control weather.

Sorry Kim, but I don't agree with you on this. As despicable as Fred Phelps and his motley collection of morons are, we can't start interfering with their 1st Amendment right to say whatever they want. If we start passing legislation to stop these idiots from spouting their bigoted puke, that gives them the same rights to stop us from saying our more sensible puke.

I agree with the sentiment. Anybody that protests at a soldier's funeral deserves nothing less than an orchestra level seat to the lake of fire. However, we can't do something to stop them from saying what they are going to say. These soldiers are dying to protect the 1st Amendement. Let's not trample on their memories by diluting it.

Besides, I think that a group of bikers is going to intimidate these people far more than passing a law will.

I saw this article on the Dallas Morning News today and it made me think of my time at Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie, TX. I think anyone that attends a private university tends to bristle a bit at the rules every once in a while. I know that I thought the curfew, restrictions on movies, and other rules were ridiculous while I was there, but I was also aware that it was my CHOICE to attend the school. SAGU didn't force me to attend. I agreed when signing up to obey the rules. Therefore, complaining to me was pointless. I don't think this student at Baylor gets it.

"I don't know that they're necessarily overstepping their bounds because when students come to Baylor, they're agreeing to the rules in the handbook," said Sarah Tinsley, a 23-year-old graduate student. "But I do think it's a little ridiculous for the school to try to dictate what people do outside of school."

What she doesn't grasp in this situation is that the name Baylor will be associated with the Playboy pictures. Baylor is simply trying to protect their name. Baylor is a (traditionally, anyway) Baptist university. They don't want to be associated with the "Girls of the Big XII" issue, as is there right to do so. I say that everyone has been given fair warning on this. If anyone pushes the lines of it, they deserve whatever punishment befalls them. I completely support Baylor's decision to say this. I only wish my beloved Kansas State would do the same thing.

Here are the mechanics of a homicide bomber's jacket. That these people can do this kind of thing and justify it just blows my mind.

(h/t Michelle Malkin)

Also, the Hamas-led government does not see anything wrong with it. See here for more details. These crack-smokers need to be wiped off the face of the earth.

FrankJ has come up with a new plan. I think it will work.

From the same guy who brought us a realistic plan for world peace.

OK, God. I guess today is payback for me questioning you yesterday.

Give us a break though. It's April and it's supposed to be 101 today. 101?!?!?!

This stopped being funny about 15 degrees ago.

Read the story here.

I understand what Opus Dei is wanting out of Sony. While Sony can say all they want that this is "a thriller and not a religious tract," the fact of the matter is that this is going to be the only picture of Jesus that many people will see. Sony could show some respect to all of Christendom and say up front that this is a fictional account. It sure isn't historical and sure isn't accurate. I don't care who might attack me on this (and judging by the amount of views I get, that will be nobody) but if someone wanted to create a movie about Mohammed and attacked the basic beliefs of Islam, would it get made? Not likely.

I read the DaVinci code before I knew what it was about. I'm glad that I knew Jesus before I did that. It was pretty easy to spot where they were going after it got started. If you really want to read the book, it's a pretty good page-turner. However, the actual story is a pile of crap. Jesus didn't have children and wasn't married. Simple as that.

It's April.

98 degrees? Seriously?

If this is a joke, it isn't funny.

Interesting article in the Telegraph today about global warming. Seems that according to the author's calculations, then temperature has actually decreased. He might not have received the memo about how global warming causes things to cool down also. Can somebody send him that?

Seriously, the article seems to be well written and the author,  Prof. Bob Carter, is a geologist doing paleoclimate research.. He attacks both the scientists who seem to exist in a governmental echo chamber and the governments for not looking for opinions outside the government-employed scientists or the UN. God knows we can't trust the UN to do anything else right, why should we trust them on this? He also makes reference to a study that I linked a while back, debunking the "hockey-stick" type graph that is so popular with the global warming crowd. His article is aimed mainly at the British government, but I think it applies well with our own here in the US as well.

I was reading something about this last week, but didn't think it to be terribly significant. Little did I know that National Geographic had decided to create a TV special about it, so I thought that I would look into it.

From what I have been able to find, the Gospel of Judas seems to have been written about Judas Iscariot, not by him. Much of it comes from old Cainite gnostic beliefs, where Judas was thought to have been the only one who truly understand why Christ was going to die and therefore he was a knowing instrument in bringing it about. Read more of it here.

Personally, I think the people who believe this to be true are kind of off their nut. Anytime you have a story where there is only one person who is completely enlightened, and that person is not God, then you probably have issues in the story. Mormons believe that John Smith had the only revelation of the truth. David Koresh's followers thought he was the only one with the truth. If what I read on the Gospel of Judas is correct, those who believe it think Judas was the only one who understood the complete truth.

While it might make an interesting argument, I don't buy it. This looks like it could be a year which is shaping up to be a battle in Christianity. First this comes out, then later this year "The DaVinci Code" will be in theaters. It's going to be a long year.

The CAGW released their latest Pig Book yesterday, and I thought I would look through it and see what Texas was guilty of. Here are the numbers I came up with.

Total amount of pork projects: 261
Total amount spent: $403,516,000
Total population: 22,859,968
Amount spent per capita: $17.65

Before I go too much father, I should explain what CAGW uses to define a project as pork.

• Requested by only one chamber of Congress
• Not specifically authorized
• Not competitively awarded
• Not requested by the President
• Greatly exceeds the President's budget request or the previous year's funding
• Not the subject of congressional hearings; or
  
• Serves only a local or special interest

To be pork, it must satisfy at least one of these criteria, many projects will be two or more. For more information on this, go to their FAQ.

Now here is where it gets more interesting. I broke down the number of projects into the different categories listed in the Pig Book.

• Agriculture: 14 projects, $13,963,000
• Commerce: 63 projects, $138,173,000
• Defense: 5 projects, $12,300,000
• Energy: 37 projects, $46,882,000
• Interior: 20 projects, $15,735,000
• Military Construction: 10 projects, $69,030,000
• Transportation: 112 projects, $107,443,000

I'm not smart enough to figure out if all these are needed or not, but I can't think that they are. Can't the government stop wasting money and start saving it?

A kid from Missouri took some pretty good footage of a tornado you can watch by clicking here, click on the Video tab and then "Teen Tapes Twister."

The thing I find funny is that the person doing the interview is Gregg Jarrett (bio). Mr. Jarrett used to work at KSNW in Wichita, KS. Back on 26 April 1991, he and a videographer were on their way back from shooting a story when they came upon a tornado running roughly parallel to the Kansas Turnpike (I-35). They turned around and began shooting video of it, but didn't think they could outrun the tornado so they took shelter under an overpass. This is the fairly famous overpass video that has been widely circulated. The best explanation of why they survived is shown here, but read the whole thing. I found it entertaining that Mr. Jarrett was acting like the kid did something stupid by continuing to film the tornado. I guess it's only for professional journalists to do stupid things like that.

BTW, I remember this happening because I was 14 years old at the time. I grew up south of Wichita and remember seeing Mr. Jarrett and the videographer (Ted something, I can't remember his name) on the news later that evening all torn up and muddy from their experience. The storm system which produced this tornado had previously been through Andover, KS and had killed 13 people.

It's a rumor in my family that we were once named McGinn instead of just Ginn. This rumor is somewhat backed up by the fact that while at college, my brother and I were in a fraternity with two other brothers of the same ages, named McGinn. The weirder side of this is that my brother married a cousin of theirs, meaning he probably married in his own bloodline. We grew up in Kansas, not ARKansas, so I'm sure this is nothing to be afraid of.

(And to my brother and his family, this special aside. I'm joking. Please don't be offended. It's meant as humor, not anything directly at you. Besides, if anyone is the mutant it's me, but that's another topic altogether)

Anyway, today is Tartan Day, and while the blood running through my veins may barely be Scottish, I thought I would pass this particular history lesson on. Some light language, but considering it's Scottish history we're talking about, we should be thankful that it isn't worse.

My thanks to Matty O'Blackfive for this little treasure.

Mark Tapscott reports that someone has apparently gotten under the skin of Trent Lott (R-Mississippi) with Glenn Reynolds and N.Z. Bear's Porkbusters campaign. The key quote that everyone is pulling out of this is

"I'll just say this about the so-called porkbusters. I'm getting damn tired of hearing from them. They have been nothing but trouble ever since Katrina. We in Mississippi have not asked for more than we deserve. We've been very reasonable."

I think that the most interesting part of this quote is not what everyone else is looking at. Many are just looking at the first two sentences. I'm more interested in Lott saying "have not asked for more than we deserve."

Really? And what exactly is it that you in Mississippi deserve? I've always had a problem with that word. Dictionary.com defines it as " To be worthy of; merit." So what has Mississippi done to merit a $700 million gift from the taxpayers of America to more a railroad that CSX just spent $300 million on to repair after Katrina? Wouldn't that $700 million be better spent getting people back into their homes or fixing infrastructure still left damaged? How does Mississippi 'deserve' to have a railroad moved? If they want to move it IN THEIR OWN STATE then let the state pay for it. If the state can't pay for it, but they still want it moved, then let the railroad company pay for it. If the railroad doesn't want to throw more money at it than the $300 million spent already to fix it, the don't do anything.

I'm sorry, but the state of Mississippi no more deserves to have $700 million to move a railroad out of my taxes than I deserve to have $5 to buy a cheeseburger using their taxes. Let's stop spending money like we have it, and start realizing that our government is simply wasting away financial resources that we might need in the future. The entire financial and political system in Washington is corrupted and needs to be cleaned out. No more entitlement programs, no more earmarks, no more free government money for things. Let's rework the system, and Porkbusters is a good way to start. CAGW is also a good resource for information on this too.

(h/t (again) Michelle Malkin)