Iran launches first satellite

Just six months after initial tests of the delivery vehicle, Iran has launched its first satellite into space. Early this morning a Safir-2 rocket lifted off from a launch facility somewhere in Iran, and shortly afterward successfully inserted the Omid satellite into low-Earth orbit.

Naturally, some folks on this side of the pond are worrying about Iran using its newfound spaceborne capability to rain nuclear fire down on Washington D.C. or Tel Aviv. But I don't see too much to fret about... yet, anyway. What Iran did today is much more in the league of what the Soviets did with Sputnik. It's a few magnitudes order of greater sophistication to build a working ICBM.

That said, as someone with a life-long interest in aerospace efforts - no matter who it is who's doing the effortin' - I shall be keeping an interested eye on Iran in the near future.

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Chuck Baldwin sez: Too many Christians are lazy 'cuz of prophecy

Chuck Baldwin, Baptist minister and brilliant writer, argues in his latest piece that prophecy has driven far too many Christians into a state of apathy. But where Paul wrote in humble reproval to his fellow believers at Thessalonica, Baldwin's is a thunderous condemnation (and in my opinion, rightfully so) aimed especially at those in America who profess to follow Christ. He writes...

In the first place, no one knows when Christ will return, no matter how many books or tapes they have produced to say they do. In Acts chapter 1, Jesus was asked by His disciples if He would, at that time, set up His kingdom. The first words out of His mouth were, "It is not for you to know." Oh, we can speculate, surmise, and make educated guesses, but that's the best we can do. It's time we were honest enough to admit it: only God knows when Christ will return. In fact, Jesus said, "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only" (Matthew 24:36).

In the meantime, millions of Christians across America are trying to play God. They talk as if they know when Christ will come. It's actually worse than that. They have the attitude that they have no personal responsibility to defend freedom and resist despotism. They seem to look at God as some kind of glorified fireman, who is obligated to rush in at the last minute to rescue them from a burning fire--a fire that they helped ignite, or at least, refused to put out themselves when they had the opportunity to do so. It's the old, "God would not let that happen in America" syndrome...

And later on Baldwin adds this...

I believe the real reason why so many professing Christians are so apathetic and indifferent to what is happening has nothing to do with the teachings of Scripture, Bible doctrine, eschatology, or anything of the like. It has everything to do with old-fashioned laziness. Today's average Christian just flat does not want to be bothered. He has a comfortable house, an easy chair, television, and a set of golf clubs in the closet. He takes two or three weeks' vacation every year, goes to church on Sunday (a church that does not intrude on his comfort zone, of course), pays taxes, and votes for his favorite "pro-life" Republican candidate every two years, and assumes that he is a "good" Christian and "patriotic" American. He is neither!

Hit here for the rest of Baldwin's essay.

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Fifty years ago today...

...was "The Day the Music Died".

It was on this date in 1959, just after 1 a.m., that the small plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, along with their pilot Roger Peterson, crashed into a field near Clear Lake, Iowa.

There were no survivors.

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New Republican head Steele: GOP should embrace pro-choice views, "gay marriage"

The only reason I'm really posting this is to illustrate something that I and many others have screamed ourselves hoarse about during the past several years: that there is no damned difference at all between the Republican and the Democrat parties in the United States.

In an interview with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday, new Republican National Committee chairman Micheal Steele said that it was "important" for the Republican Party to "reach out" and embrace candidates who are pro-abortion and pro-"gay marriage".

(Incidentally, I have my own thoughts about that and I might articulate them someday in the near future, suffice it to say it's a perspective that's neither "conservative" or "liberal"... and a lot of my fellow Christians might find it a bit surprising.)

I think that this elicits a lot of questions. Obviously, how is what Steele suggesting for his own party, any different at all from the Democrat party? Why should anyone who is, say, very much pro-life believe that his or her stance is going to be represented by the Republican Party anymore, if it is willing to compromise itself on this issue? How does this demonstrate that the Republicans are out for anything other than political capital?

And I for one would like to pose a question to certain "conservative Christians" who I know are reading this blog (yeah I'm looking at you Ron Baity, Jeff Baity and the others from Berean Baptist in Winston-Salem): how in the world, in light of this, do you still maintain that you have to owe loyalty to the Republican Party, when it clearly no longer cares at all about you and other "evangelicals" or what values you hold to?

Maybe the United States owes the old Soviet Union an apology. At least communist Russia was honest about being run by a single political party. In America, most rubes are convinced that there are two parties and that somehow, they're "making a difference" by belonging to one or the other.

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More WATCHMEN photos and stuff

"So this blue guy walks into a bar..."

If you've read the book, you know what the above image is about. Looks like instead of toning down the brutality - and let's face it, two decades later Watchmen is still one of the most brutal graphic novels ever - Zack Snyder is gonna ratchet it up even worse.

(I'm warning y'all who aren't "in the know" here and now: if Snyder is at all consistent with the book, during the part of the movie when Rorschach starts talking about what made him stop "pretending", I hope and pray that you have a strong stomach.)

Click here for more new pics from Watchmen, including the one on the left depicting a certain "prophet of doom" who spends his days walking the streets of New York. And if you mash down here you can read an article from a 1973 issue of the Wall Street Post reporting on the deaths of journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.

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Hatred and stupidity are a terrible combination

The photo on the right was taken during a protest in New York City in late December 2008.

Not as unintentionally funny as Sesame Street's Bert colluding with Osama Bin Laden, but still a somewhat hilarious peek into a heart of darkness.

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Universe is a giant hologram, evidence indicates

So... does the world really exist? Do you exist? Do I exist for that matter? Believe it or not, according to bleeding-edge quantum physics our reality may be a massive illusion. Physicists have discovered that the entire cosmos is structured like a hologram at its most basic level.

Then again, to those who are students of the Bible, this probably comes as no surprise anyway...

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

-- Genesis 1:3

Einstein established a long time ago that matter was frozen energy (i.e. light). So I could see how that would perfectly jibe with the "universe as hologram" theory.

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Google Earth going under the sea

After already putting practically every square meter of the Earth's land surface (sometimes hilariously so) at anyone's fingertips, Google is now turning its attention to the next-to-last frontier. The company is set to announce that its Google Earth will soon include mapping of the world's ocean floor.

I can imagine all kinds of fun that will be had with this. From the comfort of home users will now be able to search for Atlantis, zoom in on Rapture, and even take a peek at R'lyeh without having to disturb great Cthulhu's slumber.

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Obama keeping controversial "rendition" practice

Even though he has pledged to end outright torture (no matter what its supporters have tried to brand it as), is closing the CIA secret prisons and has vowed to empty the camp at Guantanamo Bay, President Barack Obama is going to continue the policy of "foreign renditions" started by his predecessor George W. Bush.

Rendition means that the United States can secretly abduct a "suspect", and have him or her covertly transferred to another country that doesn't have the same official policies against torture. But it's not the United States that will be doing the torture or whatever, see? Officially, our government gets to keep its hands clean.

Some will call that "plausible deniability". I call it "using the letter of the law to defeat the spirit of the law" at its most grandiose.

Still waiting for that "change" that I was hearing so much about...

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Congrats Pittsburgh Steelers!

One of the best Super Bowls ever. And wasn't that an amazing 100-yard touchdown by James Harrison? Don't know if I've ever seen anything like that.

Congrats also to the Arizona Cardinals on a hard-fought game and season!

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Pale horse, pale rider

A Cody, Wyoming man has been cited for "drunk driving" of sorts. Benjamin Daniels was stopped by police for "public intoxication" while riding a white horse on a busy thoroughfare during a blinding snowstorm last week. Apparently the color of his horse, combined with Daniels' lack of sobriety, the heavy traffic and the harsh weather conditions made for a potentially hazardous combination.

Ya just can't make stuff like this up, folks! :-)

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A commercial you won't see during the Super Bowl tonight

CatholicVote.org attempted to buy airtime to run this thought-provoking spot during the Super Bowl tonight. But NBC refused, on grounds that the commercial time isn't for "political advocacy or issues". CatholicVote.org is quick to point out that People for Ethical Treatment of Animals already received approval for a racy and suggestive promo it created.

Here's the spot that CatholicVote.org came up with. I find it to be exceptionally powerful, and well within the bounds of good taste. And in my mind, there is no reason at all why NBC should have refused to run it...

Thanks to Geoff Gentry for the heads-up.

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The Super Bowl spots for UP, STAR TREK, LAND OF THE LOST, G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA, and TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN!

Today is the Super Bowl, which means that big entertainment studios (among many other companies) will be dropping unconscionable amounts of coin on measly 30-second spots to shill for movies, some of which won't even be coming out 'til August. And thanks to the glorious wonder of the Internet, we can take a gander at them several hours before they air.

This first spot is for Disney and Pixar's Up. I know some folks who have seen advance footage of this one, and they cannot stop raving about how good it's already looking. Go to Disney's website to see the commercial in much higher resolution. This will definitely be on my "must see" list this summer...

The next one is for J.J. Abrams' Star Trek, due out in May. Another one that I'm eagerly anticipating, for one reason because this looks totally unlike anything that has been done in the forty-some years of the Star Trek franchise. And because I trust Abrams to deliver the goods...

This next one is for Land of the Lost, starring Will Ferrell. A movie that so far I am remaining very cautiously optimistic for. I must admit though: visually at least, this spot is hitting on all the right chords. Love the shot of the "time/space junkyard", the multiple moons and the Sleestack of course. The music has a great vibe to it also. We'll see this spring how this one fares...

The Super Bowl commercial for G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Color me "meh". I'm just not getting this one yet. It comes perilously close to making me understand the whole "raped my childhood" thing that a lot of Star Wars fans have cried out over the past decade. That's supposed to be Destro that Christopher Eccleston is playing (sans the mandatory beryllium steel mask Destro always wears). Looks as outrageous and loud as any Stephen Sommers flick. I doubt I'll be there opening day for it but if word is good, I'll probably check it out, if only out of curiosity. ComingSoon.net has the commercial in multiple high-res Quicktime versions...

And finally, here's the Super Bowl ad for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. A movie that I am extremely looking forward to but until now I have somehow remained blissfully unaware of what it's going to be about. And if this spot is any indication, the sequel to 2007's Transformers is going to completely pour on the crazy!

Oh yeah: Go Steelers! :-P

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Yup, more WATCHMEN goodness!

Five weeks from today Watchmen opens in theaters. It's taken more than twenty years for a movie of this book to happen. And from the looks of things so far, it's gonna be done absolutely right (which had long been considered an impossible task).

Check out this new pic of some of the bad guys from the Minutemen era...

TotalFilm.com has even MORE new photos from Watchmen, including Dan's Arctic-conditions costume, the photo of Jon and Janey at the amusement park, and Billy Crudup in a very TRON-like motion capture suit during filming of the destroyed city scene.

And Movienewz.com has up some portraits of several of the characters, including Big Figure and his henchmen, Rorschach's psychiatrist and even one of Seymour! And yeah, Seymour is wearing just what you think he should be wearing.

So... does anyone know where a guy can find one of those cool Operation: Wrath of God patches?

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A friend's intriguing LOST theory

Geoff Gentry is one of the coolest people that I've had the honor of calling not just a friend, but a brother in the Lord. He is also a fellow Lost geek. And Geoff has come up with some very fascinating ideas about what's going on with the island (including the meaning of the Four-Toed Statue that has tantalized fans since the end of Season 2). Click here to read Geoff's "Island Mythology Theory". Of particular interest - and it's one of the more original notions that I've seen floating around - is what Geoff thinks is Richard Alpert's purpose with the island.

Don't stop now Geoff: we want to read more!! :-P

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"National car crushing" sought for inclusion in stimulus plan

You see, this is part of what's screwy with the United States right now. We've got too many politicians like Diane Feinstein and Henry Waxman, sitting on their publicly-funded derrieres all day and doing nothing but coming up with crap like this. As part of the "economic stimulus" now being debated, some in Congress are looking at it as an opportunity to completely gut the domestic industry manufacturing trucks and SUVs. Part of the scheme involves giving cash vouchers - out of the federal treasury - to people in order to help them buy "more fuel-efficient" vehicles.

So as if this country's economy wasn't in shambles enough, Feinstein and Waxman not only want to waste even more of our money, they want to destroy much of what little industrial infrastructure we have left to us.

It's almost enough to make one wonder if some elected officials are not actually the proverbial "Manchurian candidates", if ya know what I mean. They certainly seem hellbent enough on wrecking havoc to this country.

Thanks to John Seilback for the heads-up.

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RED DWARF is returning!

Dang... now there is a headline that I never thought I would ever be writing!

It will have been ten years since they were last seen, but Lister, Rimmer, Kryten and the Cat will be returning at last to television this spring. Red Dwarf: Back to Earth will be a two-part special broadcasting in Great Britain during the upcoming Easter weekend (and will no doubt soon afterward find its way to The Pirate Bay, Demonoid and many other torrent-trackin' sites). As the title indicates, the story involves Lister and his fellow crew members finally returning to Earth (and I smell a lot of fun to be had with Battlestar Galactica when they get there).

Slam this smeggin' link for more info on what many have raved is the best sci-fi comedy series ever.

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