You might say I'm convinced. . .

About his posting. He hasn't convinced me that I should post that way, but he certainly can if he wants. That way, if he does talk about the death penalty he doesn't lump me in with him. Like he said, I am a little iffy about the death penalty (and he certainly isn't).

I've pretty much gone in a complete circle over the issue of capital punishment. Four years ago I probably would have been in favor of capital punishment for murder and treason. I was 16 and probably was just going along with conservative Christian bandwagon without giving it much thought.

Last year I would have been unequivocally against capital punishment. It is a merciless system, and to me it needs to be absolutely foolproof. We should never hear about someone convicted of a capital crime being acquitted on the basis of DNA evidence. That should not happen. It means we could have wrongfully put other people to death. Yes, the Old Testament mosaic law required capital punishment for a myriad of crimes. But that was a theocracy; and even then charges could only be upheld on the basis of two or three witnesses. I would have definitely told you that in our present situation, capital punishment just isn't justified.

Now, I don't know. I hear the arguments; theological, pragmatical, and otherwise. It is clearly mandated in mosaic law (and Kaleb could tell you a lot about that); penologists will tell you about the problems of recidivism; forensic psychologists will tell you that most murderers and rapists are psychopaths who are incurable and unable to re-enter society; etc. etc. And yet, I must say that it would take more than arguments alone to convince me. It isn't a logical problem I have with it. It is more like an emotional barrier.

I don't want to agree with implementing capital punishment. But I am starting to see the merit of capital punishment in clear cases of 1st degree murder. It would be stubborn for me to continue to insist that it isn't justice. And as much as I dislike America (and I do, I really do; it's an abomination), I will concede that treason is a legitimate capital crime.

I don't have the time (and you don't have the patience, I am sure) to go through all my problems with theonomy. I'll just say one thing. Theonomy sounds great at first - the Word of God is authoritative and should be carried out in all areas of both private and civil life. That isn't too hard to swallow, until you think about all the people we would have to put to death (the list is substantial).

President Obama's first executive order

I would like to begin with a caveat. I did not vote for Obama (I didn't vote at all, as you may remember). Nor do I wish I voted for Obama (or for McCain). I am deeply upset with our new President's Pro-death voting record in the Senate. In short, I wish we had a President who supported unborn human rights. However, I have great hopes for the other human rights during his administration:

-He promises more humanitarian aid to those suffering in Darfur, and his Senate voting record supports this.

-His first executive order was to shut down Gitmo within a year.

-He signed a bill today abolishing America's use of torture.

-Basically, he just eliminated all the problems I had with the Bush administration.

None of this changes the fact that Obama supports the murder of babies. We can't just look past this. But neither can we look at this alone, and look past the good that Obama is already doing. That would be ingratitude. God has a purpose for Obama, and I do not think it's just judgment.

We who are Christians should not be humanists (in the ideological sense). But that in no way means that we can't be humanitarians.

Peace

I catch the general public up

So it's finals week for most of the collegiate world, and we are no exception. While I have plenty of work left to do and it's pretty early, I thought I'd take a sec and update everybody on what's been going on. 

1) Not to toot my own horn, but so far I'm batting 1000 on my movie predictions. The Day The Earth Stood Still got panned so badly it made Twilight look good. 

2) I think if I nail every one of my prophecies regarding upcoming film, somebody should buy me lunch. 

3) So it was a little chilly tonight: 

4) This excites me to just short of no end. 

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE HD

5) The word "epic" hasn't really been creeping into the general vocabulary of our class so much as violently hurling itself, leaving behind it a trail of devastation and laughter. 

6)  Rob and I will be running like madmen (at least, I will be) down the concourse of the New Orleans Airport towards nine or so frantically waving people in approximately 114 hours and 48 minutes. Not that I'm counting. 

7) I am very much looking forward to Tim Tebow running all over the OU defense and destroying that poor sap that got the Heisman. 

8) Blackberry waffles hot off the iron, topped with cold syrup, and flanked by pepper bacon and cheese scrambled eggs, is pretty much the ultimate brinner. 

I am going to shutup

The Dow is down 486 points, the S&P is down 52 points, and the NASDAQ is down 98 points. Curtis was right, and I was oh-so-very wrong. Not a real big surprise, considering my knowledge of economics. 

Anyhow, I'm not going to conjecture about why this happened, except to say that I don't really know who these "investors" are. Seriously, does anybody know? I also don't think that it was because people are realizing that Obama's just a politician. They've only had 18 hours to realize that, and I think it'll take more like 18 months, and that may be optimistic. 

Separate and tangentially related: Barack Hussein bin Ladin Jong Il Ayatollah Chavez Castro Stalin Obama is probably Muslim and he was probably born in Kenya, he's consorting with terrorists, and he just might have gotten rid of his grandmother (all things that, if Fox News haven't actually said yet, have been hinted in that particular lack of subtlety that seems to be their trademark), but he's going to be the President of the US of A unless something really crazy happens. So let's drop the blatant ad hominems and stick to criticizing his position, not him. I respect President Bush, I despise the war in Iraq. I love my friends, I hate their sins. Okay? So no more name-calling or other irrelevancies that do no help to anyone, vishte?*

*- That said, let's not get too terribly huffy and prissy. Let's laugh like Christians if something genuinely witty and still respectful comes along. Cue the Colbert, people.  

I was very, very wrong, and will be again

And I admit it. That's all she wrote folks. No lawsuits or riots, at least not yet. Obama, like CNN predicted, lapped McCain. And yes, I am a false prophet in every sense of the word. Almost every state I named to go McCain went Obama. It makes me laugh. 

Well, it's been fun. I am actually kind of ambivalent about the whole imbroglio now. The Obamessiah has conquered, and socialism will be the order of the day, but is anything new under the sun? Doubt it. 

You can tell a person is insane by the fact that they try the same thing over and over again expecting a different result, a wise man once said. Well, here goes some insanity. I'm predicting again. Ready? Good. 

Hillary Clinton resigns her senator-ship to be Secretary of State for Obama. J-Bide then mysteriously disappears within the next 20 months. I'm gonna go with plane crash. Of course, there's always the possibility that a Klanner shoots the man J Gibbs has called the first half-white president. Or both. I can't say I'd be surprised at either. 

UPDATE: Curtis has brought up the interesting question of the stock market. He calls a collective dive. I say no such luck. We've just voted in the first democrat in 8 years, the first (half-)black president ever, and New York is a blue state. Hillary's the governor, and the Dutch Reformed guys upstate sure didn't choose her. I say the market jumps maybe 250 to 300 points tomorrow alone. It'll shallow out the next few days, but people are excited - especially Democrats with money. Worldwide we'll see repercussion climbs and also climbs of the markets on their own. Europe wants this man. 

ANOTHER UPDATE: In this post I say some pretty heavy things about democratic political figures. I have great respect for Pres-elect Obama. I honestly do. His rhetoric and his intelligence won this race. When I talk about potential assassinations, I do not want or encourage this. I'm just saying that if the man goes into the Deep South, some crazy idiot is bound to take a pot shot at the first black President. 

I dip my big toe in the dungpit that is the 2008 election

Alright people. Open poll. Put in the comments who you will try to make the most powerful person in the world come November 4 and why.*

If you feel like it, try to convince me to agree with you. I'll be voting in what is arguably the biggest swing state in the country, the Sunshine State of Florida itself. I'm also trying to figure out whether I'm going to write in "No" for President (as the right Reverend Rob Hadding is doing), or "Stephen Colbert" (for reasons that should be easily visible - namely, the sheer beauty of voting for Colbert).

Oh, and if your name is Trey (or even if it isn't), feel free to rant and rave about whom you hate the most in this election. Just attempt to avoid profanity/obscenity as much as possible.

*NB - I don't actually think that the President of the United States is the most powerful man in the world, but he's close enough. Search out your beef with me elsewhere.

Rob is fixin' to be in open rebellion against Wendell Berry

I must apologize to all those who (like me) have a deep respect for the poet, essayist, and farmer Wendell Berry. If you've read "Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community" you'll likely be aware that Wendell Berry has a deep suspicion of  technological things which attempt to replace things that come from the good tilled earth. As his main example of this, he says that people tell him that in the near future a device will appear that can display newspapers, magazines, and books, and will eventually replace paper-bound books.

As it turns out, whoever told him this is right. There may be others but the "E-book reader" that caught my attention was "Kindle"; the reader created by Amazon.com. This is a 10.3 ounce rectangular device that can hold up to 300 books, newspapers, and magazines (with a slot for an SD card that would greatly increase its capacity).

In the past I haven't been a fan of e-books because I just don't want to read off of a screen - it tires my eyes. However, Amazon.com claims that their screen uses a special E-ink display that uses no backlighting and looks very similar to ink on a page. In addition, since it's not backlit it is just as easy to read outside in bright sunlight as it is inside.

This isn't even what really excites me. What really excites me is how cheap some of the books are on Kindle. I could buy the "Complete Works of Shakespeare" for about 5 $. "The Landmark Thucydides", a book which I will be required to read next year is just 10$. The savings vary but just about all Kindle versions of a book are cheaper than their print versions. Theoretically, the device could pay for itself.

Even though there are many benefits to using this format for reading, I don't think printed books are going to be disappearing just yet. People still like to display their books (and smell them) and I don't think this desire is going to go away with this technology. In any case, I know Wendell Berry won't be getting one (and that's fine with me).

Meanwhile, this is all I'm going to be asking for Christmas.

I am probably being immature, but . . .

The stock market makes me laugh. 

The Dow Jones over the last few days:

Friday: -200 pts. 

Monday: +400 pts. 

Tuesday: -275 pts.

So far today (by 11:30 AM EST): -297 pts. 

Can anybody give me a reason not to laugh at this? I'm kind of looking for one because nobody seems to be laughing. But honestly. 

I philosophize

Sadly, this is so, so, so very accurate.

I particularly enjoy the Germans' respective objections to the final goal. Brilliant. Or, as someone in our class would say, "Brilliant, Mr. Python, brilliant."