Rev. Phelps to Visit Plattsburgh - Again

The good Rev. Fred Phelps is going to visit Plattsburgh again. The reverend doesn't like the play "The Laramie Project".

The beliefs of Rev. Fred Phelps of the Westboro Church of Hate confuse me. That is until I spent a little time at his "godhatesfags" website. Rev. Phelps has somehow convinced himself that he is one the unconditional elected, one of the Five Points of Calvinism. This, as I understand it, means that he is one of God's children that have been saved from the beginning of creation.

When God created the Universe (and people) he designated certain individuals as saved and other individuals as those who will eternally rot in hell. This makes a bit of sense due to the concept of "predestiination". Since God is all powerful and all knowing and always was and always will be, God knows what is going to happen in the future. So obviously who will be saved and who will not be so lucky has already been written.

The cool think about the unconditional elected designation, is (as I understand it) it doesn't matter how you lead your life. You can hate freely, as Rev. Phelps and his family does and it doesn't matter - you have already been unconditionally elected. You are predestined to be saved....no matter your actions while living on Earth.

"God preordained...a part of the human race, without any merit of their own, to eternal salvation, and another part, in just punishment of their sin, to eternal damnation. " John Calvin

Naturally, you can back this statement up with any number of passages from the bible.

Romans 9:21: "Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?"

Below is a picture of some of the members of Rev. Phelps Westboro Baptist Church.

They look a little similar to one another. Not a surprise since most the church members (~70 members total) are also related to Rev. Phelps. Sounds much more like a cult to me. If the Rev. Phelps is one of those individuals that has been "saved", I'm glad I'm an atheist. I'd rather rot in hell eternally than exist forever in a place where Phelps is considered one of the good guys.

Personally, I like George Carlin's views on religion.

Second Week Down

Today marks the end of the second week of classes. Quizzes given in Human Biology and Anatomy & Physiology II. Everyone in A&PII passed with pretty good scores and that was expected. Human Bio scores were better than the group I had last semester but still have 5 out of 37 students who failed to take the quiz. I'm going to be a bit more strict this semester in the amount of time I give to make up missed exams.

My Pathology class gets their first exam next week. I expect they will do quite well. We had quite a lively discussion about therapeutic touch in Pathology. Unfortunately, I didn't realize we had a TT practitioner (actually Reiki) in the class. Some of my comments on TT were not well received.

Bob Marley

Bob Marley was born on this day in 1944. I wasn't a big fan of his music when he was alive, but I come to appreciate it.

Krugman vs Will

I Screwed Up 2

The end of the era of excuses and denials.

How Many Planets "Out There"

Most people have probably read that extra solar planets have been discovered and that is about the end of it. Just how many planets have been discovered? How many stars have we seen that have planets revolving around them? These questions and many more will be answered at JPL's PlanetQuest website. In less than a month, the Kepler Satellite will be launched.

Are we alone? Is ours a unique planet or are there many other Earths orbiting other stars? Scheduled for launch in March 2009, Kepler, a NASA Discovery mission will help scientists determine just how many Earthlike planets may exist in our galactic neighborhood.

Visit the Kepler Mission website to learn how we are going to find many more planets in the immediate (relatively) vicinity of our galaxy.

I Screwed UP

Only two weeks into the Obama administration and President Obama has admitted that he screwed up. Eight years of George Bush and Bush still can't admit he ever made a mistake.

GOP Economic Advisor

Joe "The Plumber" is the latest advisor to the GOP on the economic stimulus package. Liberals consult Nobel Prize-winning economists and conservatives count on unlicensed plumbers for economic advice. Joe "The Plumber" is fresh off his job as a "journalist" in Iraq. While in Iraq, Joe pronounced that he didn't think we needed any jouralists in Iraq. Just let the military tell us what is going on.

Health, Defense and the Press

Some of my conservative positions.

Tom Daschle should withdraw his name for Secretary of Health and Human services. He's probably the one of the best people for the job but there has to be an equally good person without Daschle's tax woes.

The budget of the Department of Defense should not be cut - at least not in these economic times. Yes, I'm sure the budget could use a lot of work. We have heavy equipment in Iraq that needs to be replaced or refurbished. We don't really need F-22fighter jets (although it is a really, really cool aircraft). We need more ideas like the F-35 joint strike fighter.

The media needs to keep on President Obama's case. That is their job. Too bad they didn't do the same with Bush to keep him honest. But that is in the past.

Teleportation

Remember that recent post about entangled atoms? I didn't think so. But entangled atoms are theoretically useful in making a quantum computer. Entangled atoms actually "teleport" information - spooky!

In todays Science Times there is an excellent graphic that explains quantum teleportation. Yes, theoretically this phenomenon could be used to teleport you....or at least a copy of you.

More Ice Palace Pictures 2009

Ice Channel

The lone tower by the Lake

Side of the Ice Palace

This was an access hole for wiring I think. It's been plugged up.

Extra blocks (being used to construct a pyramid in Riverside Park I understand)

Pirate ship of iceSteps to the quarterdeckLooking at the bow of the ship from the quarterdeck

Ice Palace from out on the Pontiac Bay

Entrance to the Ice Palace

Why Didn't I Think of That?

February 12th marks the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth. Click on the below youtube video and listen to Thomas Henry Huxley lament, in a song, about not seeing the simple fact of evolution. It's a minute or so into the video, so be patient.

Which Republicans Favor the Economic Stimulus Package?

It's clear that congressional republicans want nothing to do with President Obama's economic stimulus package. Every single republican in the House of Representatives voted against it. Are there any republicans that support the stimulus package. Check with republican state governors....the answer is please hurry and how can I get my share of the money.

Most Republican governors have broken with their GOP colleagues in Congress and are pushing for passage of President Barack Obama's economic aid plan that would send billions to states for education, public works and health care.

Their state treasuries drained by the financial crisis, governors would welcome the money from Capitol Hill, where GOP lawmakers are more skeptical of Obama's spending priorities.

Even the governor of Alaska wants in on the economic stimulus.

The 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, planned to meet in Washington this weekend with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and other senators to press for her state's share of the package.

Governors can't afford to be ideologues.

Ice Palace 2009 - Two Thirds Done?

The two rear high towers

Side view

Five main towers, one very tall, two medium and two a lower still, this is looking into what will be the center of the Palace

Tower standing alone by the shore

Ice Palace 2 - Cutting Ice

Things were pretty busy down at the Ice Palace building site. Ice blocks were being cut, removed, transported and stored at the rate of one every minute

Ancient gas-powered ice cutter


Kicks up a spray

Make the smaller cuts by hand

Block guided through a channel of water clear of ice

The 400 lb block of ice finally arrives at the shore

Ice block placed into the waiting loader

Which States are the Holiest?

New York State disappoints me. I guess we really aren't part of New England, but it looks like we are trying. The above map shows the most religious and least religious states. New York, New Jersey and Delaware fall together with the Western states as far as religiousity is concerned. As you might expect, it's the deep South that is most religious. Surprisingly, in spite of Sara Palin, Alaska seems to be full of unbelievers also.

Voice of the Republican Party

Current voice of the Republican party



Future voice of the Republican party

DontGo Movement

The dontgo movement, is for anyone who supports free markets, low-taxes, low-regulation and personal freedoms.

This is a great movement for those who think the last 8 years have gone just swimmingly. Low-regulation? You've got to be kidding me, how has that worked out for us? Personal freedoms? Does that include the freedom from warrantless wiretapping? Does it include the right to Habeas corpus? How about freedom from torture? Yeah and low taxes too. Nice thing about tax cuts is that when things are going well.....taxes should be cut. Even nicer, when things are going badly....taxes should be cut.

Yessir, let's keep things on the same track as the last 8 successful years of the Bush administration. Things were just hunky dory.

End of First Week of Classes

It's only the end of the first week of classes but when I got up this morning I had to convince myself that it was only 1 week and not 3 weeks. Things actually went very well. My labs were very well organized (relative to last semester), my powerpoint lectures for Human Biology and Anatomy and Physiology II are now complete, although are constantly being tuned. Pathology II, well, I finally have time to put those lectures on powerpoint. Using powerpoint with lots of graphics and links to the internets really helps get points across to students. There are excellent youtube videos available, good animations, and of course all the graphics you could hope for. These are especially valuable for teaching pathology.

Luckly, I have massages scheduled every Friday afternoon for the rest of the semester. There are benefits to working where they have a massage therapy program.

2009 Ice Palace Pictures

I haven't had a chance to get more ice palace building pictures, but that's ok. You can go here to find current daily pictures of the construction process. I hope to stop by today to get more of my own pictures.

There is also a webcam here.