Random Thoughts 5/19/12

• I am planning to go up to church camp next Saturday (the 26th) to work on the hand golf course.  The holes need to be re-dug and the signs re-done.  If you want to help (and play a few rounds), let me know ASAP.
• A few random President Obama thoughts:
• Rev. Jeremiah Wright says of the Obama's: "Church is not their thing. It was never their thing."  Ya think?  He had a loose affiliation merely for the political benefits?  Really?
• I still think President Obama had to have been born in Hawaii.  But I think he, like Elizabeth Warren, fudged his biographical information to suit his purposes in the moment.  In almost every situation other than running for President, being born in Kenya is way more exotic and interesting.  Hawaii, where he was actually born, is not only boring but disadvantageous because it makes people think of paradise.  A young Barack Obama, who aspired to political position in Chicago, lied to his publisher about being born in his father's homeland to make his "plight" more interesting.  But didn't we already know he was a politician?
• Here's a short article on Obama, Karl Marx, and marriage.
• Thinking about death can make you healthier.  Recent studies have shown that thinking about death leads to better health choices, increases helping behaviors, and helps us re-prioritize our goals and values.  I think mature Christianity does the same.
• NBC hates their show "Community."  Last season they held off on renewal, brought it back late, and then burned off the episodes as quickly as possible.  Inexplicably they renewed the show for next season… but only for a half season… and they're moving it to the Friday night death slot.  And then they fired Dan Harmon, the creator, producer, and show-runner.  It's his show and they fired him without so much as phone call.  "Community" will be canceled before Christmas.
• Just heard on the radio: "…when will the Kardashians' 15 minutes be up?"  Wow.  No doubt.
• Word of the Day: "Nakba."  Nakba means catastrophe in Arabic.  Palestinians use it to describe Israeli "occupation."  In all honesty, it ought to apply the Arab Spring, which has toppled moderate dictatorships across the Muslim world, only to replace it with a version of the Taliban and Shariah law.  Arab thugs are bad but Muslim theocracies are a catastrophe for women and human rights.
• Will the Big 12 gobble up several football schools, including Florida State, Clemson, and maybe Georgia Tech and Notre Dame?  It sounds crazy, especially for a conference that was hanging by a thread just a year or so ago, but this kind of scenario is being seriously talked about right now.