The Skeptical Lutheran

I think if god does exist he must be an enormous asshole. Don’t agree? Then explain this to me. And don’t give me that crap about him knowing better than us.

Young earth creationists are prone to believe that the world was born on this very day in 4004 B.C. The MIT of YECs appears to have some respect for this astonishingly ridiculous idea:

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v1/n1/world-born-4004-bc

So to all you YECs out there, are you planning any earth birthday celebrations? Maybe burn a little extra oil since the earth is definitely not getting any warmer?

And it seems like just yesterday it was only 6011 years old.

I just realized that today is (or would have been) John Lennon’s 69th birthday. I wouldn’t have noticed, but I’m taking an interest in The Beatles lately. Here’s a little something to commemorate the occasion.

I’m so excited that Pam and Jim got married! I’ve been waiting for that since I accidentally discovered the show while I was waiting for “30 Rock” one night! Alec Baldwin is so hot! Anyway now that Pam and Jim are married I’m totally excited about their baby! Do you think they will bring the kid to work! I’m sure they will because that how real life works! And the ten minutes of dancing down the aisle at the wedding was completely plausible and believable and just way cool! My friends and I do that all the time! It’s perfectly acceptable to do that at someone’s wedding, even if you’re not in the wedding party or related to them, or even a good friend! And Pam and Jim kept making their trademark camera expressions through the whole thing! My friends and I laughed through that whole scene because that’s exactly how we are when we hang out! And that youtube video is so hillarious! I forwarded it to my whole address book! Your welcome, by the way! That show has gotten so awesome since they got people out that boring office! I can’t wait to see what original plot threads the imaginative writers will come up with next! I think more people should hook up in the office! Andy and the receptionist? Angela and Dwight (again)? Creed and Meredith? Oscar and Kevin?!?! This show is so awesome and clever and funny! Yeah NBC!

It just occurred to me that I could have titled that last post in honor of Dr. Jason Lisle’s celebrated series on logical fallacies at Answers in Genesis. I suspect this is a fallacy he will not be covering directly, opting to instead discuss by way of demonstration.

Also, I have read his latest fallacious musing, “Logical Fallacies: Faulty Appeal to Authority”, and I haven’t decided whether I will post on it directly. I do think it’s interesting though that he adds the qualifier, faulty, when all appeal to authority is faulty. Who decides if an appeal to authority is faulty? I wont spoil it for you, in case you haven’t read it, but his name is an anagram for jail lesson.

Last night the Skeptical Lutheran went to a screening of “It Might Get Loud”, a documentary about the electric guitar in general, and Jimmy Page, The Edge, and Jack White’s experiences with it specifically. It is only playing in very select theaters throughout the country, so you are to be forgiven if you haven’t heard of it. Here’s the trailer to get you up to speed:

If you have the least bit of interest in the electric guitar then you should not miss this movie. If you don’t, you may still enjoy it. My date was more of a classical musician and holds the guitar in some contempt, but she claims to have liked the movie regardless. Fans of U2, Led Zeppelin, or White Stripes should definitely see it. There is some hilarious video of U2 back in the really, really early days. We also get to see what Jimmy Page was like in high school. Jack White shows how to build a guitar out of discarded lumber, in case you ever find yourself in need of guitar on a remote farm. For me, the most interesting bits were those in which The Edge demonstrated his many many effects.

I suppose I should rate this. Let’s give it 4 Luthers out of a possible 5.

Last night I saw Green Day at the Scottrade Center here in St. Louis and they put on a show. Here are some crappy pictures I snuck with my blackberry:

And here’s a video I snuck with the same device. This was near the beginning. The audio isn’t very good, but Billy Joe is stopping the band in the middle of “Know Your Enemy” to tell security to let someone in the front take a picture.

And here’s a picture to prove I was there:

Update: Others are posting interesting videos of stuff that happened at the concert. This was my favorite moment: A guy came on stage to sing “Longview” then decided to go crowd diving. Problem is that he was too big for that. Check out what Billy says to him afterwards.

This chick got invited on stage to sing with and kiss Billy:

Tonight, sitting on my deck I noticed the following drama unfolding. Let’s watch…

If you’ve ever listened to Rush Limbaugh, then you have probably been impressed by his scientific training.  He is at once a climatologist, biologist,  and physician.  He knows better than 75% of climatologist the nature and cause of climate change.  He knows better than 99% of biologist the origins of humanity.  And if you’ve listened to him in the last year you’ve heard him peddling Zicam as a cure for the common cold.  Idiot liberal scientists will tell you there is no known cure for the common cold, but listeners to Limbaugh’s show have known for years now that if you take Zicam when you think you’re getting a cold, you wont get one.  Or it wont be as bad.  Or something.  Want proof?  Rush took it himself once and he said it works.

Oops, look what happened yesterday:

Small-cap decliners were lead by Matrixx Initiatives (Nasdaq:MTXX) down 70% on receiving a warning from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to discontinue selling it’s Zicam product and for consumer to stop using it immediately. The FDA has indicated that there have been 130 reported cases of people losing the sense of smell after using the products. Zicam is a leading product for preventing and minimizing the effects of the common cold when the patient uses the product at the first symptoms of a cold. The FDA action affects only the nasal swabs and gels and does not apply to the tablets or lozenges.

Obviously the fix is in and the Obama-run FDA is attacking the Limbaugh empire.  Don’t let them win.  I suggest all you Rush fans out there “rush” out and buy Zicam nasal swabs immediately.  Use the hell out of them and show those liberal scientists that they’re full of crap.

My daughter has been fascinated with the latest version of Disney’s minor character Tinkerbell.  I have to admit to having some fascination with her myself.  Check out this rendering and tell me just how much of a perv that makes me.

Looks like Disney is trying hard to come up with things that Fathers and Daughters can both enjoy.