Get Religion (a blog of three US religious writers) looks at the coverage of the BTK arrest in Kansas and the Lutheran Church 69 year old Dennis Rader was president of. He attended the church for 30 years. Rader has been charged with 10 murders that occurred between 1974-1991.

Helping a blogger
Michelle of Seeking Serenity recently found out her mom has cancer.
Michelle is in South Africa and needs to get to Australia after a call from her dad urging her to try to find a way to get to her parents as soon as possible.
The plane fare is a problem for Michelle and Been there…Still there - who lost her mom this past December is trying to help.
A paypal button has been set up on Laura’s blog so those that with the means to help out with the R13,000 and R15,000 cost can do so.
Flights are booked solid for the March/April break in South Africa, so Michelle and her son have been able to book an alternate time.

Sometimes miracles come from us. If you can help go here.

A look at Instant Messaging

Live Science takes a look at Instant Messaging and found that IM language is surprisingly formal. And it found that men and women message a bit differently, as well as teens and college students. And of all the words used, there are only 31 abbreviations.

Judge Joan H. Lefkow
A quick search shows that not many blogs have picked up on the murder of Chicago Judge Lefkow’s husband and mother Monday night.
Religion News Blogs picks up on the news story of her connection with the trial of white supremist Matthew Hale and links to information on his group, and the delight expressed on racist message boards over her families deaths. As well the blog provides background links to hate groups.
The judge, who attended Wheaton College, is in protective custody.

Supersize this
Canadian high school biology teacher Les Sayer decided to show his Grade 12 biology class that the documentary Supersize Me is biased and not objective.

He ends his 30 day MacDonald ‘diet’ today. He ate small portions, exercised an hour a day and lost 17 pounds.
His blood pressure went down, however, his cholesterol level hasn’t been tested yet.

Hollywood
I’ve noticed the media can’t seem to help reporting a lot more than necessary on the Micheal Jackson trial. Rabbi Shumley Boteach who was a Jackson advisor for awhile takes a look at the Oscars and entertainers as heroes.

In our time, however, the incredible has happened. The court jester has become the king. Those who play the heroes have become the culture’s actual heroes. Those who direct fantasy movies are directing the direction of our youth. And with entertainers as the principal people we look up to, so much of our society has become silly and trivial.

He talks about this hero-worship creating a vain and shallow society.

And now you begin to understand why so many people around the world think we Americans are so stupid and shallow. It’s not because of Bush. It’s because of Hollywood. The very nature of entertainment is that it is something you do in your spare time. Entertainment is designed to be on the periphery, never at the center of national endeavor. Performers dare not replace professors, cinematographers dare not replace soldiers, and comedians dare not supplant cardiologists as a country’s most lionized citizens.

The future of the United States is not threatened by any existing foreign power. Less so is it threatened by any terrorist. Terrorists can harm us, but they can never defeat us. The only thing that can threaten the continuity of this great country is if it collapses from the inside. If its foundations become so eroded, its pillars so brittle, that its national edifice falls victim to the forces of historical inevitability.

Zundel
Why did it take Canada so long to deport this holocaust denier, and why was he detained for two years on a national security certificate? He has been in the court system since the 1980’s and had two cases thrown out on appeal.

Missle Defense
Blog Canada’s E-Group looks at the childish diplomacy between Canada and the US regarding Canada’s no to the defense shield.
Canada sent three different messages last week, a yes from the Ambassador in Waiting, a no decision finalized from the Defense Minister and a no from the Prime Minister.
Top administrative officials in the US are angry at Canada’s decision as CTV points out, and news leaks are a diplomatic dance from Washington.

Sterotypes
The Internet Monk looks at standard religious/poltical stereotypes like:

Conservative…………………………………..Liberal
Evangelical Christian………………………..Liturgical Christian
Inerrancy……………………………………….Bible as Literature
Rejection of Biblical Criticism……………..Openness to Biblical Criticism
Evangelism…………………………………….Social Action
Pro-Life………………………………………….Pro-Abortion
Pro-Traditional marriage……………………..Pro-Gay marriage
Baptist/Charismatic/PDC……………………..Mainline Denominations
Homosexuality a choice……………………..Homosexuality as human nature
Republican………………………………………Democrat
Calvinist………………………………………….Arminian
Pro-War………………………………………….Anti-War
Men as pastors…………………………………Women as pastors
Home/Christian schools………………………Public Schools
Creationism……………………………………..Evolution
Talk Radio/Christian TV………………………PBS/Networks
Blogs……………………………………………..Mainstream Media
Less government……………………………….More government
Christian entertainment……………………….Secular entertainment
Puritans…………………………………………..Libertines
Dobson……………………………………………Wallis
Piper………………………………………………Capon
Bush……………………………………………….Kerry
Southern/Dallas Seminary…………………….Duke/Harvard Divinity
Football……………………………………………Baseball
Submission……………………………………….Egalitarianism
Rush/Sean………………………………………..Stewart/Moyers
Fox………………………………………………….CNN
ESV/NASB……………………………………… .NRSV

He is concerned that most US ‘conservative’ christians are controlled by the dynamics of the ‘culture’ war than they are by a biblical world view.

By listing these various options on the usual culture war teams, I am simply suggesting that it’s not that simple, and every thinking person isn’t going to come out in the same place. It simply isn’t going to work that everyone who likes one option is going to buy them all, or buy the thinking that goes on in each option. Not everyone is going to be motivated by “team loyalty,” or see the culture war in the same terms. The pressure to conform, keep your opinions to yourself, accept the acceptable thinking, and stay with the agenda is very real.

I just don’t buy it. I can’t buy it. If you’ve read this website, you know that I can be all over the map…..because I never signed up for the map or took an oath of loyalty to anyone.

US military surgical MASH units
Colby Cosh looks at casualities among soldiers and the historical three to one ratio, the four to one ratio and the major changes in the Iraq war which now sees a 10-1 casuality ratio as medical units move to the front to treat wounded solders.

And, as a result of all this, the wounded-to-killed ratio for American forces in the Second Gulf War (and the Afghanistan conflict) hasn’t been three or four to one. It’s more like ten to one. To put it another way, the United States has arguably made more progress in saving the lives of wounded soldiers since 1991 than the human species did in all history before that date. The new techniques are spreading fast: Israel, the U.K., and Canada are getting on board, and more will follow.

One of the difficulties of improved surgical practises will be:

On the other hand, American society is now being flooded with maimed veterans whose injuries would been unsurvivable in earlier ages. VA hospitals are already feeling the pinch. Economically, war will now become more costly, and there will be more disfigured vets to chastise the public conscience with their presence. One wonders which effect–fewer dead, or more crippled–will prove psychologically stronger in the end.

More information is available in The New England Journal of Medicine.