Category: General

President’s Cabinet

Just as an addendum to yesterday’s post:

I was going to try to squeeze in there the fact that the British equivalent to the US President’s cabinet has members who are called *ministers* instead of the US term, *secretary*, because they serve… well somebody. But as I was looking around I found the official page listing the [US Cabinet members](http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/cabinet.html). Wow. Talk about integration! In the major department heads, WASP’s barely make up a plurality. Seven white guys out of fifteen total. I count two chinese, two hispanic, two black, and four women. Interesting to say the least.

I barely have that kind of diversity among my acquaintances!

Ministry

You know, I’m beginning to dislike the word “ministry.”

I just finished a conversation with a fellow student in my Greek class, and she said to me,

> “You know, I think the Lord is calling me to minister to Koreans.”
“Well,” I said, “There certainly are a lot of Koreans in the area.”
“Do you know xxxx in our class, he’s Korean, and we’ve been driving to class together. Well he ministers at a Korean church.” (I nodded. There *are* a lot of Koreans in the area.) “And the other day I saw the movie [Seoul Train](http://www.seoultrain.com/), and it really touched my heart. And *then*, the school where I work told me they had someone to tutor who is Korean and doesn’t speak a word of English. So I’m thinking, Lord, what are you doing here? Eh?”

Of course, the amazing thing was that she managed to convey all this information, I think, in a single breath. But it’s the word “minister” that get’s to me sometimes. Continue reading “Ministry”

Nobel for Discoverers of Ulcer Bacteria

[BBC News](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4304290.stm):

> Two Australian scientists have been awarded the Nobel prize for medicine for their discovery that stomach ulcers can be caused by a bacterial infection.

I thought this was pretty fascinating. Before Robin Warren’s and Barry Marshall’s discovery in 1982, it was pretty much a given that ulcers were caused by too much stress and a poor lifestyle. Even in the 90’s, when my mom had an ulcer, she was told pretty much to try to reduce her stomach acid levels and chill out a bit. This was so much the case [that](http://www.uncommondescent.com/index.php/archives/388),

> “When Robin Warren and Barry Marshall first claimed that the bacterium Helicobacter pylori plays a key role in the development of both stomach and intestinal ulcers, they were roundly ridiculed. So much so that Marshall actually infected himself to prove the point.”

As William Dembski is pointing out, “The scientific community’s reception of this discovery *should* give us pause about the continuing controversy over ID” (emph. added). The image we often get of scientists is that of open-minded free thinkers, who consider each new idea on its own merits, without prejudice. Why shouldn’t we? That’s how *science* works, isn’t it? But science and scientists are two different things.

In reality, people always like to hold on to their old ideas, whether religious, or cultural, or scientific, and the scientific community can be every bit the masters of the close-minded imperium as the religious council that bid Copernicus recant. It usually takes a good firm shove in the right direction before a person will consider a blind spot. Barry Marshall had to give himself an ulcer to get people to reconsider a bacteria. What will it take to get people to reconsider Darwin?

Moving up

Since I still haven’t time to say anything meaningful now, I thought I would inform you of a few blogs that are moving up from the “Surveilance” category to bona-fide blogs I endorse. Criteria? I keep skipping over other people to read them when I’m short on time.

All of these are way overdue, but since I don’t have time to give a full review to each of them, you’ll have to make due with a description and my full assurance that they’re worth the read.

* [BatesLine](http://batesline.com/) is the premier blog for all things Tulsa. Always nice to hear more about what’s going on in my home town than I ever knew when I lived there.
* [Brandywine Books](http://brandywinebooks.blogspot.com/) is a very nice Christian lit blog, named after a certain river in a certain book. More information about the Norwegian life than you could get from a full year of Prarie Home Companion.
* [Mere Comments](http://merecomments.typepad.com/merecomments/) functions as a kind of editorial page for [Touchstone Magazine.](http://www.touchstonemag.com/index.html) I”ve mentioned them before.
* [Dangerous Idea](http://dangerousidea.blogspot.com/) is the weblog of Christian philosopher Victor Reppert. Very good, except when he slips into chess. 🙂

As I said, these are all long overdue. And three out of four are getting moved under “Religion.” Go fig.

Wow

Do you know what a hypercube is? It’s a cube with four dimensions. Or, if it’s easier to bend your head around it this way, a hypercube is to a cube what a cube is to a square.

We can’t perceive in four dimensions, yet physicists tell us there must be more than the normal three dimensions of space for their calculations to work. Whatever. The important thing today is that somebody figured out how to draw a four-dimensional object. If you can draw a 3-dimensional object on a 2-D surface, what’s to stop you from drawing a 4-D object?

They could have stopped there. Any sane person would. But somebody had to go and design a [rubick’s](http://www.rubiks.com/) hypercube. I hate those things. I once solved one by taking off all the stickers and carefully rearranging them. But this…! I don’t know if there is a word against this kind of crime.

You can download your own hypercube [here](http://www.superliminal.com/cube/cube.htm), or you can play with a javascript version on your web browser [here](http://www.plunk.org/~hatch/MagicCube4dApplet/). My friend Stephen Herr can solve a Rubick’s Cube in about a minute and a half. Can somebody please issue a challenge to him to have a look at one of *these*?

(via my lovely friends at the Schlock Mercenary [Nightstar forums](http://zoo.nightstar.net/viewtopic.php?p=284717#284717).)

I’m just ducky.

You Are A: Duckling!

DucklingThe cutest of the cute, these baby ducks are often spotted in the spring following closely behind their mother. As a duckling you will grow up quickly, becoming one of the adult ducks seen commonly in ponds and streams. Playful and timid, charming and vulnerable, ducklings are nature’s very definition of innocence.

You were almost a: Lamb or a Monkey
You are least like a: Turtle or a Bear CubWhat Cute Animal Are You?

Wedding photos

Hi there,

We received a package from Kyle’s old roomies, Andrew and Nathan Mackey, and in it was a cd with pictures that they took at the wedding. So I have the first batch of wedding photos up on the gallery site, and they look smashingly good. If you need a photographer in Charlotte, I think that Andrew might be interested and he did a fabulous job too.

I have to go sifting through a couple of websites to get some more. Ces and Jeanna technically had wedding pictures up first but I haven’t had a chance to download them and put them in the album yet. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

I suggest that you view them in the full screen slideshow on the left.