Sunspots 968

Things I have spotted that may be of interest to others:

Project 2025 is an extensive document, proposing many changes in government. The 2025 is because it is a plan for action, if Donald Trump is returned to the presidency, for the first year of his second presidency. However, Trump is trying to distance himself from the proposals, claiming that he isn't familiar with the contents, and doesn't know who developed it. But CNN has done a deep dive, and found lots of connections between the document and the former President's advisors.

Snopes reports that Project 2025 plans to eliminate free weather information from the government.

A Conversation writer explains decaf coffee.

Sunspots 512

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:
Christianity: (sort of) Google has a map of present-day Israel, and surrounding countries, with information on sites of historical interest also marked.
Computing: OneTab is a browser add-on that converts all your browser's tabs to links, which can save clutter, and release some of your computer's resources. It can also be used to restore any or all such to tabs. (The web site apparently automatically recognizes which browser you are using.)
Health: National Public Radio says that we are spending a lot less, proportionally, on food than our grandparents did.
Humor: Addam Schwartz, of the Philadelphia Inquirer, pokes fun at recent studies that claim sitting is bad for our health.
There's a YouTube video, less than 2 minutes long, that says that you and I have been eating bagels incorrectly.
NPR reports on the fairly long history of knock-knock jokes.
Science: NPR reports that it may snow in the northern tier of states, but there are dust storms in parts of Africa, and they can be worse than snow.
Wired praises the aluminum can.

Marketplace reports that FEMA has a Waffle House Index, which tells them how bad things are after a storm. Really.

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 506

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:
 
Christianity: Speculative Faith has a blog post about The Walking Dead, and how we deal with death generally. The author closes by saying: ". . . the reality is the absence of sex, gore, cussing, and violence doesn’t make a book Christian-compatible. How it handles death, however, determines how in sync with the Gospel a book is."
 
Speculative Faith also has a blog post by E. Stephen Burnett, which discusses six myths about heaven, which are common among believers, and others.
 
Relevant names the most important idol worshiped by Christians.

Humor: The funniest video I've ever seen on TV that didn't star an animal or a baby -- a 5+ minute interview of Anne Hathaway, by Jon Stewart, on the Daily Show. They crack each other up, uncontrollably, and apparently without really meaning to, about 2 minutes in, and never fully recover. The live audience was definitely amused. (Unlike some Daily Show scenes, there was no reason to bleep anything out, and there was no mention of politics of any kind.)
 
Science:  A 2 minute plus YouTube video on how large astronomical objects are (and how small the earth is!).
 
Wired reports on the Rosetta spacecraft's exploration of a comet.
 
FiveThirtyEight analyzes recent snowstorms in New York city, and finds that it doesn't snow as often now as it used to, but, when it does, it snows more.

Sports: Congratulations to the Gasol brothers, from Spain, who are the first brothers ever selected as NBA all-stars. (They will be on opposing teams.) Congratulations to their parents, too, I guess.
Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 454

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to

someone else:
The Arts: An elegant gown, constructed, according to the site, from the covers of discarded Golden Books. I remember Golden Books from my childhood. I think they are still being published.
Computing: Windows Secrets has published a good guide for routine computer maintenance.
Wired reports on a phone that's supposed to deliver scents to the person on the other end of the line. Really.
Humor: (And child-rearing) A stay-at-home dad leaves post-it notes.
A great Guy Noir segment (audio) from A Prairie Home Companion.
Science: USA Today reports on why birds fly in a V formation.
National Public Radio reports that old trees grow faster than young ones, and, therefore, remove more Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere.
Sports: Sports Illustrated, and many others, reported on the heat wave in Australia, during the Australian Open.

Image source (public domain)

Does God control the weather, or is it due to natural causes?

The answer, of course, is both.

The BioLogos forum has a most interesting discussion of that question, which relates to origins. It’s well worth reading. This relates to the writings of Ian Barbour on possible relationships between Christianity and science.

Read the BioLogos Forum.

The Lost World of Genesis One: God establishes functions in Genesis one

I have previously posted on John H. Walton's The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate, indicating that Walton believes that the creation story of Genesis One is not the story of how God made things, but of how God organized things already present. Walton says that we impose our own cultural bias (create = make something) on the Scripture. I summarize some of Walton's evidence for that in the previous posts.

Walton claims that the so-called creation of light, on the first day of Genesis One, was actually an act by God to create time -- to make periods of light and dark exist on a regular basis. That is, to organize time into day and night. One the second day, says Walton, God organized the material of the earth so that there was a place for humans (and other organisms) to live on dry land, and also made weather possible. The act of the second day was not, he says, to create some kind of dome over the earth. He writes "That we do not retain the cosmic geography of the ancient world that featured a solid barrier holding back waters does not change the fact that our understanding of the Creator includes his role in setting up and maintaining a weather system. The material terms used in day two reflect accommodation to the way the ancient audience thought about the world." (pp.57-58)

Thanks for reading!