Paradise Restored?

As this is a daily blog and not a treatise or even dedicated webpage, I will not go too much into the specifics of this theory. However, I do believe that it is more than a coincidence that the acknowledged worldwide semi-tropical climate of pre-historic times was largely due to the abundance of PLANTS at the time. The creationist has a good argument in HOW that plantlife, with all it's carbon, got under the surface!

And now, evolutionary scientists, especially, are on the leading edge of the panic over the "carbon dioxide" crisis in the world of the future. Global warming is seen as such a horrible thing. Industry has worked hard to reduce the truly harmful pollutants to next to nothing, while promoting the use of fuel sources that continue to add a compound to the air that is not poisonous in any amount that is likely to arise in the atmosphere -- good old CO2!

Carbon dioxide is the plant kingdom's best friend, along side sunlight and water. The benefits of the latter two are enormous to animal life as well, but that is for another blog. Plants take the CO2 and add it to water to make up the numerous proteins that we call food! And the more CO2, the better for the plants. In fact, in the Netherlands the oil refineries are selling their CO2 to hothouses to produce VERY healthy roses! One can only wonder, as the world reaches a maximum sustainable population sometime this century, when we will return all the carbon trapped in another age to the atmosphere. And when that happens, the cylce will begin again as the plant kingdom comes again to dominate the biosphere, trapping the added CO2 in longer and longer growing seasons, as the conditions vacationers long for become common place around the world!

A good article on the benefits of global warming by CalTech grad Simon Que is found at lewrockwell.com. Thank you, Simon, for the inspiration for today's blog. And, to you Arnie Stanton (also of California), for emailing me the link to Simon's article.

Lois loses her way

There have been so may changes in the Superman story since I was a boy that one more twist is no surpize. First there was Jor-El's advice to Kal-El to give up his power so he could bed his true love in Superman II, and then there was the courtship and finally marriage in Lois and Clark, and now Lois turns to the arms of her boss' nephew in Superman Returns! Where will the revisionism stop? Of course, it is all fiction. And all the changes seem to have the "blessing" of his creators any way.

The really shocking thing with this new movie, I guess, is the son of Lois and her boyfriend, with whom she lives. I have not seen the movie, but I did look through official print versions of the plot line. It seems that when Clark disappeared, and Superman was nowhere to be seen, the poor woman falls for Perry White's nephew, a corporate officer with the the Daily Planet. The child is apparently his, though he seems to be a prodigy of sorts. Her son is in poor health, suffering from asthma, but Lois seems to be really devoted to him.

The out of wedlock child, and the luxurious lifestyle with his father, is presented in the literature as a lifestyle to be expected. Lois reportedly tells Superman as he comes, once more, to her rescue, that she "does not need a savior." If she persists in such an attitude, then she truly is lost, with no hope of redemption in the long-running legend of Superman. Of course, her boyfriend really does love her - so much that he is willing to sacrifice their relationship to the Man of Steel, whom he admires. I kind of suspect the mild Mr. White will be the real hero of this saga.

And by the way, the "Superman" emblem is not an "S," but the "serpentine symbol of the house of El." Does this not strike you as odd. The word "El" in the semitic original languages, is the word for God. In fact, its primary idea of "strength" is just about lost in the Old Testament, for it is found everywhere as an indicator of the divine. The commentary I have read has mysteriously avoided the term "Messiah" or "Christ-figure," though it refers to the "Jesus" figure. I think this is in deference to the producer of the film, who is Jewish. But if Superman is EL wearing a "serpent," on his chest, can he represent none other than the "Anti-Christ"?

Maybe Lois has made the "right" choice after all.

From King to villain

Before the Pilgrims, there were the Profiteers. The New World beaconed with untold riches - and lots of land. The natives introduced the adventurous explorers to a glorious "weed" which turned into a "money" crop so valuable that it was used to purchase goods from England. Virginia and the Carolinas grew wealthy on tobacco, even as the new nation was being formed. Virginia farmers could not have become the movers and shakers they were without the wealth of those leaves curing in the barns behind their estates.

And now, the smoke rising from the end of such a "noble weed" - much altered through chemical processing - is harming many who do not inhale it volunarily. Or so the studies are indicating. Of course, there are so many different factors affecting health, it is hard to define the "otherwise healthy" populous. What causes the underlying conditions that make so many people affected by secondhand smoke? Perhaps it is the "secondhand" smoke that actually is killing smokers who smoke in enclosed areas. It would be interesting to compare the health of those that smoke only outdoors and those that frequent bars.

It would be easy to condemn tobacco ("Big" or otherwise) or to disparage a government that seems to be bent on destroying a time honored industry. I can do neither. The native Americans treated the tobacco plant as an herb - to assist health and well-being (even spirituality). The "habit" of today is akin to the misuse of alcohol over the eons. God's creation is being defiled; we need to find ways to restore the intended use of what He has provided for us.

The Borg revisited

This evening I was meeting with a couple of guys - science fiction "writers" who were the only ones to show at our monthly Writer's Guild here in Greenville. Anyone interested in -- or, better yet, currently writing stuff -- come on out to our next meeting at Barnes & Noble on Haywood Road at 7:00 the fourth Tuesday of July.

Anyway, we were being bombarded with Borg jokes and such by the youngest of the threesome. We rolled our eyes as older more experienced "wordsmiths," but the humor was appreciated. The phrase "resistance is futile" sort of morphed into "persistence is fertile." The latter phrase is a good thought in both the world of writing and in the Christian life. Many a wall is papered with rejection slips before the first article is printed in a major publication. This writer has avoided that disappointed only by NOT seeking publication (apart from self-publishing).

In the Christian life, "persistence is fertile" is even more appropriate. Patience is a virtue so very often neglected in our everyday life. But we need to "Ask, Seek, and Knock" continuously, knowing that the answer will come in His will and in His time. One day we will be ONE with Him even as He is One with His Father. That, my friend, is an ASSIMILATION to look forward to.

The Corner of River and Rhett: The REAL thing we're running out of (not gas)

The Corner of River and Rhett: The REAL thing we're running out of (not gas)

My grandson, Jett James Martin,

born April 10, 2006, 10 lbs 8 oz.

Ain't he cute?

And now there are more photos!

I passed the religion test!

Many thanks to Joe Jon of NC!
http://joejon.blogspot.com

I am proudly a Reformed Evangelical, though a "flaming liberal" in comparison to Joe Jon! :-)

You scored as Reformed Evangelical. You are a Reformed Evangelical. You take the Bible very seriously because it is God's Word. You most likely hold to TULIP and are sceptical about the possibilities of universal atonement or resistible grace. The most important thing the Church can do is make sure people hear how they can go to heaven when they die.

Reformed Evangelical		79%
Fundamentalist		71%
Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan		68%
Emergent/Postmodern		57%
Neo orthodox		57%
Roman Catholic		39%
Classical Liberal		32%
Modern Liberal		18%
Charismatic/Pentecostal		18%

What's your theological worldview?
created with QuizFarm.com

Welcome to my mind

Well, I have been reading a few blogs, and I send emails occasionally to like-minded folk, so I thought I'd vent to the world some of my thoughts on things. I will just "throw it against the wall and see what sticks," as someone once said. Or maybe it was"they" who said it. You know: Terrestrial Human Entities of Yore.