Apparently there is a tradition at K State of throwing live chickens on the court whenever the Kansas Jayhawks come to town. Students smuggle the birds in, and then throw them out during player introductions to mock Kansas' avian mascot.
PETA has complained to the K State administration, which issued a letter this week threatening that anyone caught throwing an object onto the floor will be ejected from the game, and could possibly face criminal prosecution.
The PETA complaint "described chickens as 'very intelligent and inquisitive animals' that appeared to have been subjected to 'deafening noise, bright lights, terror, abusive handling and likely death for the sake of amusement.'"
PETH (People for the Ethical Treatment of Humans) has filed a similar complaint, describing students at K State as "not terribly intelligent, but very inquisitive humans" that appear to have been subjected to "deafening noise, bright lights, terror, abusive handling and likely death every time their football team plays the Nebraska Cornhuskers."
I love Japan. I love the people. I love the culture. I love the natural beauty. I love their endless stream of new and occasionally useful technological gadgets. I also love their innocent attempts at translating Japanese signs directly into English.
It has been nearly 5 years since I've been to Japan, so to stay sharp on my Engrish translation, I will occasionally visit engrish.com to keep up on the latest lost-in-translation finds. Below are a couple of my recent faves, as the Japanese give us some input on where to pray, and what we should be praying for:
I kid because I love…
Second thoughts...
...Tominthebox has picked up on the Engrish sensation over on his blog.
You can read Mark 11:12-25 for yourself, but here is the gist of the passage. On the day after his triumphal entry, Jesus returns to Jerusalem from Bethany. He sees a fig tree that is full of leaves, but upon closer inspection it is found to be completely devoid of fruit. Christ curses the tree, that it would never bear fruit again. Once he reaches Jerusalem, he enters the temple and sets himself to the task of clearing out the money changers and those who were selling doves. He and his disciples again spent the night in Bethany. The following morning, as they were making their way back to Jerusalem, Peter notices that the tree Jesus had cursed had withered away, to its very roots. In a rather cryptic explanation, Jesus explains that a man who has faith can tell "this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea.'" If the man does not doubt, this will be done for him. However, he cautions that when they pray they must forgive anyone that they are holding anything against, "so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."
That's the summary, but you would do well to read it for yourself before you go any further here. Having said that, if you're anything like me, you will be thoroughly confused about what fig trees, overturned tables, and flying mountains have to do with each other. We studied this passage for our Sunday night Bible study this week, and I was amazed to find, upon further investigation, what I believe God is saying through his Word here. The following is my understanding of this passage, and you are more than welcome to comment if you disagree, especially if you think I'm missing the point here.
At any rate, off we go…
One of the literary devices Mark uses frequently in his Gospel is sequencing or sandwiching the telling of certain events together to make a larger point. In this case, we see that the order is as follows.
Leafy fig tree, though devoid of fruit. Jesus passes judgment on it.
Jesus enters the temple and passes judgment on it.
Withered fig tree, having suffered the curse of Christ's judgment of it.
Christ's explanation (sort of!) of what this all means.
From this structure, we see that the judgment of the fig tree is about much, much more than just a tree that refused to produce figs. We can also see that Jesus' teachings on prayer are about much, much more than just giving us a name-it-and-claim-it blank check, as long as we believe really, really, super hard that Jesus will give us a new Mercedes Benz. Continue reading this post »
When I was a kid, my family and I were all up in Hooper, NE for a family reunion. Having grown bored with adults pinching our cheeks and telling us how cute we were, my brothers and I escaped to Hooper Memorial Park. I thought I was hot stuff whenI climbed into the middle of the merry-go-round we were on, but I was surprised to find out that the middle was turning slower than the benches along the outside of the ride. I learned an important concept from the land of Physics that day. The relative speed of a rotating object increases the further you travel from its axis.
I was also surprised to learn that this same principle is what makes the drivetrain of our slowblower work. My dad, who now lives in Dallas, has given us custody of his MTD "I-eat-Nebraskan-snow-for-breakfast" two-stage snowblower, since the annual snowfall in Dallas doesn't really necessitate *a* snowblower, let alone one of this magnitude. I guess technically it's a snow thrower, but that doesn't have the same ring to it. The last time I took it out the belt that runs the auger and fan didn't perform very well (as in it jumped the track several times, and then became so shredded that it transferred very little power to the assembly it was supposed to be driving). Since we are expecting up to 8 inches of snow Saturday night, I thought it would be a good idea to repace the worn belt sooner rather than later.
In order to access the belt, I had to take the access panel off of the bottom of the machine. The images you see below are from that perspective, with the snow blower tipped forward on its "face." I like to tinker with things like this, and I am always fascinated to find out how stuff works. Yes, howstuffworks.com is in my favorites list. I thought the drivetrain of the snowblower was so fascinating that I couldn't help but pass my findings on to you.
Image 1 (First Gear):
Image 2 (Fifth Gear):
Image 3 (Reverse, Second Gear):
I took these on my phone, so the resolution isn't perfect, but you get the idea. When you pull the drive lever on the handle it engages a tension pulley, which engages a belt that drives the wheel that you can barely see in the bottom of image 1. This drives the drivewheel that is connected to it (the main horizontal wheel in image one). Perpendicular to this wheel is another wheel that has a rubberized rim on it. This wheel drives a shaft that interfaces with the driveshaft in a small-to-big gear relationship (left side of image one), and this driveshaft is what drives the wheels.
The brass-colored assembly you see attached to the rubberized drive wheel is what sets the speed and direction. By adjusting the "gear" lever, this shuttle changes the rubber wheel's relationship to the faceplate. By changing its distance from the center of the circle, it adjusts the speed of the drivetrain in relationship to the RPM of the faceplate. Image one is first gear, so it is very close to the center, giving low speed relative to RPM. Image 2 is in 5th gear. It is way out toward the edge of the faceplate, giving it a higher relative speed at the same RPM. Image 3 is Reverse 2. By moving the rubberized wheel to the opposite side of the faceplate, it adjusts the direction in which the driveshaft rotates.
The clutch in this drive is the tension pully that engages the belt that drives the main wheel at the bottom of image 1. If it's spinning, everything else is as well. If not, the ruberized wheel can slide back and forth as if it were in neutral. This whole system allows the engine to run at the same speed the whole time, regardless of if the wheels or auger/fan assembly are engaged.
Tune in next time, when I'll explain how a shovel works.
Yesterday, the temperature was up in the sixties when I made it home for lunch. We had a nice little picnic on the patio, but not before stopping to admire Pete's first-ever self-portrait:
I asked him to tell me a little bit about this particular piece, and he exclaimed, "It's MEEEEEEEE! See my arms? They're big like a MANNNNNNNNN!" (see below)
I didn't have the heart to point out that the next time he wants to draw attention to his masculinity, he should probably use blue…
In the 2004 Tom Hanks film, The Terminal (trailer), Viktor Navorski arrives in New York, only to find out that the government of the country he has left behind has been overthrown, and the United States refuses to recognize the new regime. Because Krakozhia no longer exists, Victor's passport is invalidated, as is the money in his pockets. As a man without a country, and without money, Viktor is not allowed to set foot on American soil, thus he is forced to live in the airport terminal for the next nine months.
This film was no epic accomplishment for anyone involved with it, but the premise was fascinating to me. Imagine arriving at the end of a journey, only to find out that everything "back home" had been wiped away. Even the money in your pockets, though at one time it allowed you to purchase goods and services, comfort and leisure, would be worth less than the paper it was printed on.
This is the reality that we will all face someday. All of the things that seem so valuable to us now (that is, our material wealth that brings us the comfort, leisure, and status we hold so dear) will be rendered worthless. We see this in the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, found in Luke 16:19-31.
19"There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side.[f] The rich man also died and was buried, 23and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.' 25But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.' 27And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house– 28for I have five brothers[g] –so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.' 29But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.' 30And he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' 31He said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'"
In this life, the rich man selfishly enjoyed his wealth, feasting "sumptuously" while Lazarus laid just outside the man's gate. His greatest concern was his own personal comfort and satisfaction, though he easily could have spared even the crumbs that fell from his table, as Lazarus desired.
In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus gives us another parable, this time about the final judgement. In this parable, he separates people to one side or the other. On one side, he will place those who ministered to the needs of others during their lives. "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me." These will "inherit the kingdom prepared for [them] from the foundation of the world."
On the other side he will place those who ignored the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the prisoner. Though they had opportunities to bless others out of their wealth, they ignored those in need. "Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
Those in the first group were wise, giving away what they knew they could not keep. Those in the second group were foolish, forfeiting eternal life in order to increase their temporal comfort or status. Though they experienced a lifetime of feasting, they will one day long for even a drip of water from a poor man's fingertip. Their glory is bound up in their temporal wealth, which will soon be as useless as Krakozhian currency, forfeiting an eternal kingdom in the process.
As Americans living in the 21st century, we have much more in common with the rich man than we do with Lazarus. Even if money is tight around your house (as it is in ours), you still enjoy a standard of living that would make kings and queens from centuries past burn with envy. Cars. Microwaves. Televisions. Cell phones. The breadth and depth of our own personal luxury is nothing short of scandalous. Passages like this should make us very nervous because the lives we live as fat, pampered Americans look very little like the life of service and sacrifice for others that Jesus described during his ministry.
Don't be confused; I'm not putting the cart in front of the horse here. There is only one path to the Father, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. No amount of charity or generosity can forgive a man's sins. However, those that have been saved by the Father's grace should be careful to avoid the siren song of this world's wealth. As Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, "You cannot serve God and money," and the default mode in our culture is to chase after material wealth at the expense of everything else. A time will come when all of our stuff will be gone. What we have left at that point will be the true determinant of who is rich and who is poor.
Bank of America wants your business. That is, if you're an "undocumented immigrant" without a valid social security number, they want your business.
The LA Times reports that Bank of America is testing a program that provides credit cards to its customers even if they do not have a social security number. All they require for ID is an identification card issued by the Mexican consulate, also known as the Matricula Consular. The only problem with that idea is that, according to wikipedia, Congressman Gary Miller (R-CA), and manyothersources, Matricula Consular cards can be obtained without any proof of identity, and they are used almost exclusively by illegal immigrants, since "documented immigrants" already have valid identification cards issued to them by the U.S. government.
According to Mike Gallagher, the only condition on receiving one of these credit cards, which can have a credit limit of up to $500, is that the account holder must keep at least $100 in the account at all times, for a minimum of three months. Upon achieving this monumental feat, they qualify for the credit card. They can also wire up to $3,000 a month to Mexico, free of charge, even though it is more than likely that the bank doesn't actually know who the account holder really is. I suppose it's only fair that the people who are taking jobs Americans (allegedly) don't want are also free to take money that Americans (allegedly) don't want and ship it off to another country.
The thing that bothers me most about all of this is that I work with clients all the time who are law-abiding American citizens, but because they've made some poor credit decisions in the past nobody will issue them even a simple credit card with a $500 limit. Apparently having "bad credit" is much worse than having a criminal history of breaking federal and international laws by sneaking across the border, ignoring employment and tax laws, and syphoning money out of the country. I can only imagine the way they would market this program. [cue cheesy announcer voice-over] "Bad credit? Sorry. No credit? Sorry. Here illegally, not paying taxes, and working for cash? We'll approve you!"
I have nothing against immigrants. If people want to come into the U.S.A. in search of a better life, that's fine with me. That is, as long as they're expected to play by the same rules as everyone else. In this debate, I just can't get past the word "illegal." People who do things that are illegal are called criminals. Criminals should be punished, according to the law. I'm sorry things are so bad in Mexico that people would risk their lives just to come and clean our houses, mow our lawns, and pick our vegetables. But, as Reagan said, you can't make the weak stronger by making the strong weaker. When we extend liberties like this to people who are in this country illegally, somebody has to foot the bill. That somebody is you, and that somebody is me.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
- Matthew 6:10, from The Lord's Prayer
OK. Stick with me here, because I'm kind of thinking out loud. Below you will see an interactive example of how a clutch works. You can click on it and it will do stuff. Try it, you'll like it.
Basically, the way a clutch works is that it connects one body that is revolving at one speed with another body that is revolving at a slower speed, and in the process the slower body speeds up to match the speed of the faster body. You with me so far?
What does this have to do with Jesus? Well, think of "your kingdom" (i.e. heaven) as the body that is revolving at the higher speed. In fact, its RPMs are absolutely perfect. Next, think of earth as the slower body. Yeah, it's spinning, but not nearly as quickly as it should be, and it's definitely not spinning anywhere near what heaven is. Jesus' prayer is that earth would speed up and match heaven's speed. What does he need to accomplish this? A clutch, of sorts.
That's where the church comes in. The church is Christ's instrument by which earth is made more like the kingdom. In John 17, Jesus prays for the church. He uses all kinds of relational language, talking about how Christ is in the Father, and that "those who will believe in me through their word" might be perfectly one, and also that Christ will be in them and the Father will be in Christ, and so on. One of the reasons for this interconnectedness is so that "the world may believe that you have sent me" and "they are loved by the Father, even as the Father loves the Son.
The Father is in Christ, and Christ is in the church, and the church exists in the world. These relationships allow the church to be very active in the speeding up of the world. God uses us, the church, to make the earth more and more like the kingdom. It may not be happening as quickly as you or I would like, but it is happening according to the will of the Father. And if, as some believe, we are truly at the dawn of the history of the earth, and that time may go on for another 40 or 50 or 100 thousand years, then it is feasible that this earth will continue to become more and more like the kingdom as time goes by. If that's the case, saints eons from now will look back at our times and see real and wonderful progress, just as we look back at the barbaric Romans and wonder at their violence and wickedness.
This point of view allows us to be very optomistic about what the Father is doing in the world, and where we are all headed. "Thy kingdom come…"
I didn't realize Hulk Hogan was the new coach of the Colorado Buffaloes' so-called "football program." Look for big things from the Buffs next year, brother. You know, like tear away jerseys, suplexes, and so on.
Use the player below to listen to Coach Hawkins' entire rant.
The first was...
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