I’m sure most of you are familiar with these images that have been circulating the blogosphere:

First, let me point out that Al Gore has failed at proving that Global Warming exists. That’s like trying to prove that Santa exists. Sure, wouldn’t it be dandy? But facts are facts and fiction is fiction. So, what does a has-been politician do when his life’s work has been proven time and time again to be a fraud? Well, if this has-been politician is Al Gore; he resorts to Photoshopping “evidence”. I mean, Photoshop trumps science, right? Wrong. Sorry, Al. It doesn’t. Just like whining about pregnant chads doesn’t win an election. YES, we all remember your whiny ass complaining about pregnant chads and dimples on ballots.

In the images above you can clearly see that several massive hurricanes have been Photoshopped. It’s been proven that hurricanes are at a 30 year low. Here are some graphs I found at Watts Up With That:

Both Northern Hemisphere and South Hemisphere AND therefore overall Global hurricane activity has continued to sink to levels not seen since the 1970s. Even more astounding, when the Southern Hemisphere hurricane data is analyzed to create a global value, we see that Global Hurricane Energy has sunk to 30-year lows, at the least. Since hurricane intensity and detection data is problematic as one goes back in time, when reporting and observing practices were different than today, it is possible that we underestimated global hurricane energy during the 1970s.

Using a well-accepted metric called the Accumulated Cyclone Energy index or ACE for short (Bell and Chelliah 2006), which has been used by Klotzbach (2006) and Emanuel (2005) (PDI is analogous to ACE), and most recently by myself in Maue (2009) , simple analysis shows that 24-month running sums of global ACE or hurricane energy have plummeted to levels not seen in 30 years.

Why use 24-month running sums instead of simply yearly values? Since a primary driver of the Earth’s climate from year to year is the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) acts on time scales on the order of 2-7 years, and the fact that the bulk of the Southern Hemisphere hurricane season occurs from October – March, a reasonable interpretation of global hurricane activity requires a better metric than simply calendar year totals. The 24-month running sums is analogous to the idea of “what have you done for me lately”. During the past 6 months, extending back to October of 2008 when the Southern Hemisphere tropical season was gearing up, global ACE had crashed due to two consecutive years of well-below average Northern Hemisphere hurricane activity. To avoid confusion, I am not specifically addressing the North Atlantic, which was above normal in 2008 (in terms of ACE), but the hemisphere (and or globe) as a whole. The North Atlantic only represents a 1/10 to 1/8 of global hurricane energy output on average but deservedly so demands disproportionate media attention due to the devastating societal impacts of recent major hurricane landfalls.

Interesting, indeed. Visit Watts Up With That for more information. Unless you’re a liberal. From what I understand; you liberals aren’t all that interested in facts and information. But, it’s there if you ever decide to quit being morons.

If you look at the second image I posted; the one with the faux-hurricanes… you’ll notice that the Arctic has magically disappeared! Funny, since the Arctic ice is currently at the SAME levels as 1979. The good people at Daily Tech pointed this out.

(click to enlarge)

Rapid growth spurt leaves amount of ice at levels seen 29 years ago.

Thanks to a rapid rebound in recent months, global sea ice levels now equal those seen 29 years ago, when the year 1979 also drew to a close.

Visit Daily Tech for more information.

Also, NASA points out that the average temperature of the water near the top of the Earth’s oceans has significantly cooled since 2003. CLICK FOR NASA ARTICLE

BBC has found that we have not observed any increase in global temperatures for the last 11 years. Yes, that’s over ONE DECADE. CLICK FOR BBC ARTICLE

So… tell me… Why does Florida appear to be dissolving in Al Gore’s lame Photoshopped images? What the hell happened to CUBA? Last time I checked; Cuba still exists. Also; look at the SIZE of those faux-hurricanes. Anyone who actually believes this Global Warming bullshit simply WANTS to. There is no other conclusion.

Here’s something fun:
Letting Al Gore know we aren’t falling for his junk science, Portland, Oregon 11/18/09

Wake up, people. He’s cashing in and making BILLIONS off of easily influenced MORONS.

The man commissioned to write a review of UK banking governance, Sir David Walker, was interviewed on the radio and asked why he had not recommended naming names of bank employees earning over £1million. He said he had carried out research and had found ‘not a shred of evidence’ that naming names would be constructive. As noted in previous posts (see below Politics, Power, belief and Evidence) Walker is using the word ‘evidence’ here as a way of closing down discussion. People submitting to the review were self-selecting, so if he was unable to find ‘evidence’ in his submissions of reasons why naming names might be a good idea he could also ask himself about his sample. What kind of people are they and why might they have the opinions they have? Other countries do publish the names of bankers earning big money. This might, for some researchers, also count as evidence.

Perhaps we humans are sort of cancer on the world.. we are destroying the planet, we are destroying ourselves… pretty much like some terrible virus.. and religion is the controlling system on the virus(Us).. what drives us to destroy ourselves and our host, the earth, religion tells us there is another place/host where we can go..AFTER DEATH 

Ed Begley, Jr. You’ve all seen him. His most recent “work” is the show that displays him living “green.”

I respect his choice to live the way he wants to live, but when faced with strong evidence that calls his beliefs into question he responds the way liberals typically do. Rather than respond with facts of his own, he attempts to shout you down and intimidate you. It’s kind of like those little rice-rocket cars you see all over the place. The guys who can’t afford the real engine mods to give them more speed simply modify the exhaust to make the car louder. More noise doesn’t make you faster, and in Mr. Begley’s case doesn’t make you right.

When the documents discussed in this interview were released, an atomic bomb was dropped in the middle of the man-made global warming/climate change camp. Yet rather than respond to the content of the documents, the proponents of man-made climate change simply attack the people who released the documents, and the act of releasing them.

The “scientists” in question (many of whom are politicians, not scientists) have been proven to have hidden evidence that would contradict their position on global warming. They are wrong, as is Mr. Begley, and they are supporting a movement that is designed merely to take away your money and freedom.

Recently, I had posted a debate from the Unbelievable radio show, which is broadcast in the UK. The topic of the debate was whether India should pass an anti-conversion law to prevent Christians from trying to convert people to Christianity. Basically, many Hindus in India want Christians to adopt the Hindu notions of polytheism and religious pluralism. They want Christians to accept that Jesus is one incarnation of the divine among many, and they want to outlaw the Christian practice of using speech to convince people to become Christians.

You can listen to the debate here in my original post.

But I wanted to highlight another debate that occurred in the comments of this blog, between me and a Hindu reader, who challenged me for being intolerant because I said that Hinduism was false.

His initial comment is here.

Guys, all religions teach the same things. Its how each religion is interpreted that makes it different. If you follow any religion persistently, it will lead you to a peaceful and happy life.

[...]If one feels happy following Christian rituals, he may follow Christianity; if he feels happy following Hindu rituals, he is good to a Hindu. It all depends on what makes sense to the person. Enforcing or luring someone to another religion is wrong…It should be a personal choice. And no one should oppose a conversion made by personal choice.

[...]To say that someone’s God or method of worship is false or not real is absolute rubbish according to me.

[...]If one says that other’s God or religion is false, he/she is not tolerating the other’s beliefs. And its immoral. Such things lead to religious conflicts.

[...]I believe in Jesus and so in my religion which is Hinduism.

[...]Why convert when a human being’s main aim is to be happy? Every religion has scriptures that tell how to become happy and attain heaven/liberation.

[...]Everyone loves his/her religion. They would not want to hear anything bad about it.

And I replied:

Our view as Christians is that the purpose of religion is not to live a happy life and to be “good”. Our view is that we want to believe what is true and to know God as God really is. We believe that God is a person, with a real personality – likes and dislikes.

What you’re proposing is a Hindu approach to religion, except with Christian symbols and rituals. But Christians don’t care about symbols and rituals much. We are more interested in history, science and propositional logic. We treat religion like… any other area of knowledge. First we discover the truth, then we act on it.

Additionally, you have a Hindu approach to conversion, and you are trying to force that on Christians. You can keep your Hindu approach to yourself, and tolerate the fact that we have a different approach to conversion.

[...]You’re not in a position to know what Christianity teaches, or what Jesus believes, since you haven’t looked into these things at all. You know Hinduism. And you are projecting Hinduism onto other religions. But Hinduism is totally different than Christianity. They conflict in many areas, like cosmology and history. We believe that the universe had a beginning, you think it’s eternal. And science can arbitrate that claim. We are willing to change our beliefs to be in line with what we can test in the external world, using the laws of logic, and the study of science and history.

[...]You write “To say that someone’s God or method of worship is false or not real is absolute rubbish according to me.”, yet you think that Christianity is false, and not real. But I am actually not offended by that at all. You are welcome to think I am wrong. I don’t mind, this is the way that the game plays. Only one of us can be right, and if you were right, I would have to switch over to your view and that would be fine with me.

[...]You write “Everyone loves his/her religion. They would not want to hear anything bad about it.” No that’s your view. You identify Hindusim with India and patriotism and your people and culture. I don’t identify Christianity with anything except truth. I like it because it’s true. And that the only reason I like it.

[...]When I say that Hinduism is false, I am not “talking bad about your religion” any more than I am talking bad about the view that 2 + 2 = 5, when I say that 2 + 2 = 4. It’s not talking bad about an idea to say it is false.

And then he replied:

Do you believe that people who worship idols are devilish or all religions except Christianity are false? If yes then explain me with proper scientific reasoning and provide me a proof in the recent decades that logically explains the above two statements. You need to prove me that what you believe is experimented by scientists and proven by technology.

[...]I believe in all Gods no matter what religion because God is One. For me and this generation of educated Indians, we believe in tolerance and respect for all religions. We believe in co-operating with each other and not pointing flaws in others beliefs until its proven scientifically and attested by scientific authority. And we believe that people’s belief be respected!

Then I replied:

The current best theory of the origin of the universe is called the big bang theory. It states that all the matter, energy, as well as time and space and time, came into being from nothing. It is backed by experimental data from red-shift measurements, cosmic microwave background radiation measurements, and light element abundance measurements, etc. The theory states that the universe began 14.7 billion years ago. Additionally, the universe will not recollapse because measurements of mass density from Maxima and Boomerang show that the universe will expand forever.

The big 3 monotheistic religions agree with the universe coming into being from nothing. Unfortunately, other religions think that the universe is eternal, such as Mormonism and Hinduism. On that basis, I reject Hinduism, which requires that the universe be eternal.

“I believe in all Gods no matter what religion because God is One.” That view (pantheism/polytheism) is called Hinduism. You are a Hindu. Christianity (monotheism) is mutually exclusive with Hinduism, because the teachings are in conflict, (as with the example of cosmology). As a Hindu, you therefore think that Christianity is false. On your definition, you don’t “tolerate” Christianity – you think it’s false. You don’t “respect” Christianity, because you want to force your view (Hinduism) and your view of conversion (don’t tell other people their religion is false) on Christians.

[...]Note: I am ok with you saying that I am wrong and that Christianity is false.

And then we sort of wound things down from there.

Anyway, the point of this exchange is most people in most religions think that the point of religion is to be happy, to have a sense of community and to get along with everyone by never talking about whether religious claims about the external world are true or false. But that view of the purpose of religion is not the Christian view. On the Christian view, the goal is to seek the truth. And part of Christian practice is to defend Christianity in public, and trying to convince other people that Christianity is true.

So, I think that Christians need to be a bit tougher, and recognize when someone who is not a Christian is trying to get them to accept that the purpose of religion is not to seek the truth. That’s their view. That’s not our view. It doesn’t make any sense for someone to say that I am evil for thinking they are wrong, when they are thinking that I am wrong. I think a better way forward is to allow other people to disagree with you, but to keep the disagreement focused on arguments and evidence.

And just because you disagree with someone else, it doesn’t mean you have to be mean to them. In my office, I am friends with Hindus, Muslims, atheists and Jews. We try to outdo one another in good deeds to make our religions look good! And when we debate which religion is true, we use arguments and evidence to attack and defend. What I’ve found is that you get a much stronger friendship when you are comfortable being yourself. I keep telling my co-workers – it’s OK to disagree.

Related posts

• the problem of religious pluralism and religious truth claims
• the problem of postmodern skepticism
• the fate of the unevangelized (what about those who never heard of Jesus)
• the hiddenness of God (why isn’t there more evidence for God’s existence?)
• are all religions basically the same?
• what about the blind men and the elephant?
• isn’t faith is opposed to reason and evidence? (a debate between a Christian and a postmodern relativist)
• what makes Christianity different from other religions?

Mentoring

• the importance of being able to argue both sides of a question
• why does talking about religion make people uncomfortable?
• how to talk to your co-workers about your faith

Apologetics advocacy

• does the Bible teach that faith is opposed to logic and evidence?
• the six enemies of apologetic engagement
• why men flee the feminized church
• why won’t Christians defend their faith in public?

3040701    การประเมินข้อกล่าวอ้างและข้อคิดเห็นเชิงวิจารณ์    Critical Appraisal of Evidence

สืบค้น คัดเลือกข้อมูลเกี่ยวกับสุขภาพและการดูแลสุขภาพ ซึ่งมีการตีพิมพ์ตามปัญหที่เกิดขึ้นนำมาวิเคราะห์วิจารณืและสังเคราะห์ตามหลักการเศรษฐศาสตร์สุขภาพได้ข้อมูลใหม่ที่ประยุกต์ใช้กับปัญหาได้

(Searching and selecting information about existing health and health, care problems reported in the literature; critical appraisal of evidence in the literature; analyze selected information and synthesize, according to the principles of health economics, new information that is applicable to the problem.)

(3040701 จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย)

By Andrea McCallum

A POLICE pipe band tutor has been cleared of assaulting a teenage girl on the group’s coach as they made their way home from a music competition – despite touching her breast.

Iain McAlister had been accused of assault after allegedly quizzing the 18-year-old girl about her nipples before unbuttoning her top and “tugging” at her boob.

The 39-year-old had previously admitted during evidence that he had made seedy jokes about her breasts and that he may have touched her “by accident”.

But at Livingston Sheriff Court yesterday (Wednesday) Sheriff Martin Edington branded the incident an “indecent ” – but was satisfied no actual crime had been committed.

He said: “It is indecent – there was contact between your hand and her breast.

“But it was not assault.

“I therefore find you not guilty.”

Sheriff Edington said that the trial’s first witness was credible, but that parts of her story – including which breast he touched – were unreliable.

He added: “The second witness was very reluctant and it was like pulling teeth.

“But he was honest and reliable and said that you did touch her breast deliberately.

“You were also a credible and reliable witness.”

McAlister – a bass drummer in the Lothian and Borders Police Pipe Band – was suspended by the group following the alleged incident.

Outside court, McAlister, from Bathgate, said he was “relieved” the trial was finally over.

McAlister’s solicitor, Iain Smith, said the incident was part of the “horse play” on the bus.

He said: “Mr McAlister said he may have touched her breast.

“His evidence is clear and simple – he had been drinking and intervened mid conversation about her breast.

“It was rude and smutty and he joined in and as he was about to leave he made a gesture to pretend to touch her breast.

“He may have touched it and if he did he didn’t intend to touch it.

“His behaviour was not gentlemanly but certainly not criminal.

“He touched her breast and that’s not allowed.

“It was not a deliberate act but part of the horse play which was going on.”

During the three day trial, it was claimed McAlister unfastened the girl’s clothing and placed his hand on her breast during a coach journey from the Scottish Pipe Band Championships on May 16 last year.

The girl also stated that McAlister had asked her if her nipples were pink or brown.

But he contested: “I did not mention the colour of her nipples.

“I jokingly moved towards her as I moved away, I would describe it as a shadow punch sort of thing.

“I have no recollection of touching her breast, if it happened it was purely accidental. If it happened it was a fleeting glance.

“She was laughing and joking.”

The court heard previously that McAlister had drank three cans of lager, a pint and “three quarters” of a second one during the course of the competition, but had said that he was “more sober than drunk”.

He said he began cracking jokes after seeing the girl talking with two others in the band.

And he said that the smutty innuendo was commonplace in the band, adding that “everyone was fair game”.

He said: “She had a blouse on which was very low and a vest top on underneath it.

“My parting shot was that for all the use the blouse was doing she might as well take it off.”

But he insisted he did not mean to upset the teenager and was not sexually excited by the incident.

See more of our pictures at our Flickr site and videos at our dedicated channel,  Deadline TV.

After a long bout of a lingering cold/cough/congestion which continues to haunt me, I decided that enough was enough and that I needed to get back on track with my P90X plan.  When my infection initially hit, I was left breathless, fatigued and hacking.  For those of us doing P90X, that’s the norm, right?    Only this time it was not the worked out feeling I was experiencing.  My body simply could not perform.  So, for many frustrated days I was unable to stay on track with a true 90 day plan.  I think I’m probably about a week off, so I could label my trek as P97X.  Regardless, I feel like my body is at the point where symptoms are starting to subside to the point that I can perform and hopefully push this junk completely out of my system.
Last night was my last time at the Chest, Shoulders and Triceps workout.  You start this program in the 2nd phase during Week 5.  I’ll miss this workout because it’s really a fun one that blasts the upper body and really challenges you. 

The first graph you see above I listed all the exercises that you are to do using your bodyweight only.  So you’ll see many push ups, etc.  Upon review of the data, I saw great progress in most areas.  MOST…    I’ve done more tri-rises in a different workout, but the time you are allotted kept my number from going as high as I’ve actually done (which is 23).  You’ll notice the big Goose Eggs on One Arm Pushups.  More power to Jack Palance for doing these, but by the time you get to these in the workout plan, my triceps are toasted and the body is simply not willing to put out any effort for these (even on my knees).  Overall, including all reps, I improved 63% from start to finish. 

On the second graph you’ll see I now list all exercises using weights.  To attempt to figure improvement, I introduced a concept I’ve learned called “Tonnage” where you multiply your weights by your reps to get a figure that you can compare to the back end.  This concept worked to show improvement in all but a few areas.  For Pour Flys, Front to Back Tricep Extensions and DB Cross-Body Blows, there was no improvement shown due to the tonnage model because at Week 5 I was doing high reps with low weights.  By Week 12 I was doing higher weights with less reps.  So, while my strength was up, this is where the tonnage model needs an asterisk by it and shows once again the difficulty comparing actual effort in these cases.  Regardless, I showed a total strength increase of 42%.
Whether flawed or not, taking 63% and 42% and averaging them out, I’m a little over 50% stronger than I was a few weeks ago.  I don’t know about you, but that does bring a smile to my face as it shows validity once again to the outcomes P90X can produce.  The numbers don’t lie.
Ready to allow P90X to change you?  If so, I would enjoy being your Coach (free of charge) to motivate you and guide you and advise you on your way. 

Click on this LINK to get started or to learn more!

BREAKING: San Diego ACORN Document Dump Scandal

Article: BigGovernment

On October 1st, 2009 California Attorney General Jerry Brown announced that an investigation had been opened into ACORN’s activities in California, resulting from undercover videos showing employees seemingly offering to assist the undercover film makers with human smuggling, child prostitution and even tax advice to boot.

Although ACORN has denied any wrongdoing, some of the employees involved were terminated, and ACORN has publicly stated that they would fully cooperate with any investigations that followed.

Interestingly, the local head ACORN organizer in California, David Lagstein was caught on tape earlier this month speaking to an East County Democratic Club.

Mr. Lagstein stated: “…the attorney general is a political animal, but certainly every bit of the communication we have had with them has suggested that the fault will be found with the people that did the video and not the people with ACORN.”

Continuing, Mr. Lagstein stated: “…we are fully cooperating, some of the investigators visited our office this morning and I think they really understand what’s going on.”

Shockingly, we now learn that the ACORN office in National City (San Diego County) engaged in a massive document dump on the evening of October 9th, containing thousands upon thousands of sensitive documents, just days prior to the Attorney General’s visit.

BigGovernment.com has learned that not only did this document dump occur, but the documents in question were irresponsibly and brazenly dumped in a public dumpster, without considering laws and regulations as to how sensitive information should be treated.

I am a local licensed private investigator. I took it upon myself to keep an eye on what the local ACORN office was up to, in light of the release of the undercover videos. I retrieved these documents from the public dumpster.

Documents shared with BigGovernment.com include information exposing not only the inner workings of ACORN in California, but also personal, sensitive information belonging to employees, members and clients of ACORN. ACORN and its few remaining defenders insist that the “good” ACORN provides outweighs the transgressions exposed in the recent undercover video sting. But, ACORN’s massive dumping of these documents and the cavalier manner in which it betrayed the trust of its supporters betrays that talking point. (Unlike ACORN, we have redacted sensitive and personal information.)

Click Here to View Documents

ACORN’s political agenda is also exposed, with thousands upon thousands of documents revealing the depth of the political machine that is ACORN, and its disturbing ties to not only public employee labor unions but some of the most radical leftist organizations.

The laws governing how sensitive, personal information such as social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, immigration records, tax returns, etc. must be treated are very stringent, and thus it seems as if ACORN may have committed serious violations in that department alone, with thousands upon thousands of potential plaintiffs.

Included throughout this post are a couple of photos showing the dump site, as well as just a small sample of the type of documents summarily dumped by the San Diego office of ACORN. In addition the video clip, from the evening of the document dump, shows ACORN operatives clearly engaged in some kind of discussion – likely related to the activities of that evening.

Over the weeks and months ahead, BigGovernment.com will continue to release information from this shocking document dump by ACORN, slowly revealing the ugly truth of ACORN: the fact that their stated mission of helping the poor and downtrodden is just a ruse and a cover for an organization that is highly partisan and highly political, and thus rotten to the core.

Click here to see MORE documents

If California Attorney General Jerry Brown and United States Attorney General Eric Holder refuse to truly investigate ACORN, and if the mainstream media refuses to engage in the investigative reporting that they used to do, then it will continue to be up to citizen journalists and investigators to expose the dirty, rotten underbelly of ACORN.

Click here to see EVEN MORE documents SHEESH.

There aren’t many guarantees in life as we aren’t promised another second after the breath we just took. It is by the permission of Allah that we breathe, that we eat, that we sleep and that we live day after day. Allah is the sustainer of life and grants unto us everything we stand in need of. We are nothing without Him.

The only guarantee in life is that we all, at some point will die. And it becomes the unhappy duty of those we leave behind to lay our mortal bodies down into the ground from whence our first parents came. I’ve been reminded of just our fragile our lives really are as a friend of mine, only six months older than passed away from complications of pneumonia. She was 25.

This sudden slap in the face of a wakeup call reminded me that it is the mercy of Allah that I live and is at the will of Allah that I die. It is through His permission and His permission alone that mankind lives and dies and as we live, being given all things that we stand in need of from the Sustainer, I’ve realized that I need to strive harder in my life, to live away that would be first and foremost pleasing to Allah, to be deserving of His blessings, but also, as an example to my brothers and sisters as how we all should treat each other.

To my friend, it is my prayer that you will be lifted up in the highest heaven and that Allah will remember your good deeds. There were so many of them! And I pray also that my friend’s family will be comforted and that they will know that the Lord loves them.

My heart has been very grieved by the loss of my friend and honestly I don’t really want to be talking about the thirteenth chapter of the Gospel Principles book, but to keep my promises to myself and to my friend, I’ll go ahead and discuss what I’ve learned.

The past couple blogs I exploded and put forth my argument as to why I cannot accept the Book of Mormon as divine scripture. Regardless of how I feel about the Book of Mormon, I know that people will take comfort from it and will regard it as scripture-but well I guess I require evidence for belief. When a book makes an extraordinary claim like the Book of Mormon does, I expect there to be extraordinary evidence to accompany that claim. The Quran, indeed, makes extraordinary claims, but science backs up its statements and its historicity is verified. The Quran is a book that calls people to faith, but not a blind faith. That’s what caused me to revert in the first place…

Moving on…

The thirteenth chapter of the Gospel Principles book deals with the priesthood of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I grew up Anglican so am not unfamiliar with the concept of the priesthood, though I never really saw the need for it other than legality concerns when marrying people.  The church, for me at least, always got in the way of the one thing that mattered most: God. Prophets, scripture, and my own personal prayer closed the gap between God and me. But, well, some churches and faiths believe that priesthood is necessary.

I’d like to share what Mormon faithful believe concerning the priesthood and this can be found in the Gospel Principles book pages 67 through 68:

What is the Priesthood?

The priesthood is the eternal power and authority of God. Through the priesthood He created and governs the heavens and the earth. By this power the universe is kept in perfect order. Through this power He accomplishes His work and glory, which is “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” (Moses 1:39)

Our Heaven Father delegates His priesthood power to worth male members of the Church. The priesthood enables them to act in God’s name for the salvation of the human family. Through it they can be authorized to preach the gospel, administer the ordinances of salvation and govern God’s kingdom on earth.

Why Do We Need the Priesthood on Earth?

We must have priesthood authority to act in the name of God when performing the sacred ordinances of the gospel, such as baptism, confirmation, administration of the sacrament, and temple marriages. If man does not have the priesthood, even though he may be sincere, the Lord will not recognize ordinances he performs…These important ordinances must be performed on the earth by men holding the priesthood….

Another reason the priesthood is needed on the earth is so we can understand the will of the Lord and carry out His purposes. God reveals His will to His authorized priesthood representative on the earth, the prophet….

This all seems well and good but in all honesty I am bothered by it. It seems to me that the concept of the priesthood does one of either two things: It attempts to elevate man to the level of God or attempts to bring God down to man’s level.

For me at least, Allah does not need priesthood in order to govern the heavens and the earth. After all, He spoke and the world was. Men are the ones who came up with offices that elevated men above other men, that gave them special rights to do things- in the eyes of Allah we are all equal. That is why in Islam kings will prostrate themselves in prayer with the common man; it is why we pray shoulder to shoulder, side by side- no one is above anyone else and it is God who governs everything by His divine will alone. No priesthood needed.

From left to right in the studio - the real heads: Omar Offendum, Fredwreck, Alchemist, Evidence [©Laith Majali

In truth, I’m jealous as hell of this image – snapped just today by my main lens man – the intrepid globe-trottin’ fool – Laith Majali. The pics colors are clearly influenced by my man Bplus, but it’s all Laith all the time these days.

Certainly, this pic be one legendary session – or an implication of a legendary session in the makin’ — hell, I wasn’t there so that’s why I don’t know for sure…and bein’ that I’m out here in Beirut and not there by some teleport device…well…that’s why I’m jealous.

A meeting of the hip-hop massive….from East to West…Omar Offendum in studio with Fredwreck (big ups Palestine), and Dilated Peeps representatives – Alchemist and Evidence.

Hope to see ya’ll when I’m visiting the Californi-nation in March.

]]> http://100treatises.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/on-the-existence-of-the-man-in-the-sky/ Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:53:43 +0000 secularist10 http://100treatises.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/on-the-existence-of-the-man-in-the-sky/ http://lancashirecare.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/developing-mappa-multi-agency-public-protection-arrangements/ Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:23:41 +0000 sjennings29 http://lancashirecare.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/developing-mappa-multi-agency-public-protection-arrangements/

Developing MAPPA: Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements, Criminal Justice Matters,  Vol.51 (1), 2003, 20 – 29

Tim Bryan; William Payne - Public Protection Unit, National Probation Directorate.
 

Abstract:

The multi-agency public protection arrangements represent a real step forward. The co-operation between the police and probation service has been outstanding in some cases. I have been very impressed by what I have seen.” Hilary Benn, Minister for Prisons and Probation. This endorsement of the multi-agency public protection arrangements (the MAPPA) highlights their significance which the modest public and professional profile they have assumed belies. The lack of general awareness about the MAPPA is indicated in the frequent, erroneous reference to them as the MAPPPs: the MAPPPs (the multi-agency public protection panels) are but one part (albeit, a key part) of the broader arrangements. This low profile is indicative of a lack of awareness generally about the criminal justice system, in which the public and the media have a largely reactive andsensationalist interest.

Lancashire Care staff can request the full-text of this paper, email: susan.jennings@lancashirecare.nhs.uk

Sometimes I get a lot of criticism on other forums for my willingness to point out evidence that seems contrary to the beliefs of those who are authorities on certain subjects.  The Bill Belichick 4th-down play and the NL Cy Young Voting has really brought to my attention the willingness for some (far too many) to pay more attention to authority than to evidence.

By authority I mean tradition, convention, or anyone who thinks he or she is an expert.  Sometimes authority is correct.  Often times authority is correct.  There is a reason someone gets to the point where he or she can be called an authority on a particular subject.  The problem is that we shouldn’t take it for granted that because someone claims to be an authority on a subject that he or she is, or that he or she is always correct in his or her assessments.

If you want to criticize me for challenging authority when I feel authority is wrong, go for it.  I’m a big boy.  But when I write something, I feel I’m right.  This is not because I lean on my own understanding, but because I do my best to rely on objective evidence along with people who have more time and more brain power and are more willing than I to dig into objective evidence.   But there are some out there who would rather be so sure of themselves and puff out their chests so that they can seem smart to everyone.  But you can’t fool the evidence.

Before you think you are an authority on something for no other reason than because no one has challenged you, you had better check what evidence has to say.  Because someone might show up one day that doesn’t take your authority for granted and that someone points out reality to you.  Then all of the sudden your authority has slipped away.  Checking the evidence is a small price to pay for looking like a desperate fool trying to hang on to your authority.

Mindfulness Special, Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 2009, Vol. 23 (3)

 
Recent Developments in Mindfulness-Based Research

New Developments in Research on Mindfulness-Based Treatments: Introduction to the Special Issue
Authors: Lau, Mark A.; Yu, Amanda R.

Development and Preliminary Validation of a Trait Version of the Toronto Mindfulness Scale
Authors: Davis, Karen M.; Lau, Mark A.; Cairns, David R.

Do Mindfulness Meditation Participants Do Their Homework? And Does It Make a Difference? A Review of the Empirical Evidence
Authors: Vettese, Lisa Christine; Toneatto, Tony; Stea, Jonathan N.; Nguyen, Linda; Wang, Jenny Jing

Psychological Functioning in a Sample of Long-Term Practitioners of Mindfulness Meditation
Authors: Lykins, Emily L.B.; Baer, Ruth A.

Mindfulness Meditation Training and Self-Referential Processing in Social Anxiety Disorder: Behavioral and Neural Effects
Authors: Goldin, Philippe; Ramel, Wiveka; Gross, James

The Role of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on Perceived Stress: Preliminary Evidence for the Moderating Role of Attachment Style
Authors: Cordon, Shari L.; Brown, Kirk Warren; Gibson, Pamela R

Evolving Conceptions of Mindfulness in Clinical Settings
Author: Carmody, James

Lancashire Care staff only can request one or all 7 of the articles from the special: email: susan.jennings@lancashriecare.nhs.uk