Future presidents as game show contestants

Just for fun: three future presidents appearing on the classic game show, "What's My Line?"

Ronald Reagan



Gerald Ford



Jimmy Carter

The Sunday Comics: Why the fuss over same sex marriage?

H/T to Peter Ould.

Nothing like a little fun with dispensationalists

H/T Treading Grain.

This could very well be the stupidest person on the face of the earth, Volume 3

We have already noted the latest trend among the Stupid People, namely questioning whether or not Jesus was actually male. That being the case, Paul Oestreicher, the pitiable soul who penned this piece of pseudo-hermeneutical garbage in The Guardian, is a little behind the curve.

Heterosexual, bisexual, homosexual: Jesus could have been any of these. There can be no certainty which. The homosexual option simply seems the most likely. The intimate relationship with the beloved disciple points in that direction. It would be so interpreted in any person today. Although there is no rabbinic tradition of celibacy, Jesus could well have chosen to refrain from sexual activity, whether he was gay or not. Many Christians will wish to assume it, but I see no theological need to. The physical expression of faithful love is godly. To suggest otherwise is to buy into a kind of puritanism that has long tainted the churches.

All that, I felt deeply, had to be addressed on Good Friday. I saw it as an act of penitence for the suffering and persecution of homosexual people that still persists in many parts of the church. Few readers of this column are likely to be outraged any more than the liberal congregation to whom I was preaching, yet I am only too aware how hurtful these reflections will be to most theologically conservative or simply traditional Christians. The essential question for me is: what does love demand? For my critics it is more often: what does scripture say? In this case, both point in the same direction.

Whether Jesus was gay or straight in no way affects who he was and what he means for the world today. Spiritually it is immaterial. What matters in this context is that there are many gay and lesbian followers of Jesus – ordained and lay – who, despite the church, remarkably and humbly remain its faithful members. Would the Christian churches in their many guises more openly accept, embrace and love them, there would be many more disciples.

Sorry, Paul. Your subject matter is so passé. We don't get all bent out of shape over questions about Jesus being gay anymore. We've moved on to questions about his (her?) gender!

Get with the program, man! (That is, if you are a man. Never can be sure these days.)

This could very well be the stupidest person on the face of the earth, Volume 2

Stand Firm and MCJ are all over this side-splitting contribution to the ever-expanding Stupid People File from the Easter edition of the CBS Sunday Morning program. Apparently, it was a slow news day (the death of the legendary newsman Mike Wallace, notwithstanding), so the present-day descendants of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite had to find something to keep their audience entertained.

De Wesselow - an agnostic, originally a skeptic about the Shroud - has just published a provocative new book about in which he concludes it's genuine.

He compared it to artwork depicting the Crucifixion created since the Middle Ages, referring to the Station of the Cross at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola in New York City: "If you look at the hands on the cross, the nails go through the center of the palms," he showed Teichner. "That part of the hand is not strong enough to bear the weight of the body."

Meanwhile, the image on the Shroud shows the nail wounds going through the wrists. "That's how they would have done it in Roman times," said De Wesselow, supporting the idea that the Shroud is much older than the middle ages.

He said the Shroud illustrates signs of the events of Good Friday through Easter Sunday. "You start off with the flagellation, and that's very clearly presented on the Shroud, with these very, very distinct marks of the flagrum," he said. "You can then see the crown of thorns. He then is beaten and you can see on his face underneath his eyes there's a swelling. His nose looks as if it's been broken." There is also the mark of a puncture of a spear, with "dribbles of blood coming down."

Just coincidence?

But now here's the provocative part: De Wesselow's take on the resurrection - what he says happened on Easter Day when Mary Magdalene and two other women went to Jesus' tomb:

"They go to the body, they lift off the cloth, and they notice this strange shadowy form on the cloth itself," he said. "Immediately, they would have had this perception of it as a living presence in the tomb with Jesus."

"They didn't see Jesus come alive again?"

"No, I think what they saw was the Shroud," De Wesselow said. "Once they saw the Shroud they understood that he'd not been resurrected in the flesh, he'd been resurrected in the spirit."

According to de Wesselow, each supposed sighting of the risen Christ was actually a sighting of the Shroud. He's convinced it was what sparked the rapid spread of Christianity, as it was taken from Jerusalem to Galilee, then to Damascus, where he believes Paul saw it and became a Christian.

Um, yeah. The "spark" that ignited a worldwide movement which has now lasted for two millennia was the deluded imagination of a handful of disappointed dreamers venerating a piece of cloth. Makes perfect sense, doesn't it?

Cue the tape. . .

Here is a little history lesson we all need to hear

Thanks, Francis Beckwith and Elizabeth Scalia, for calling our attention to this very important historical tidbit.

For what it's worth: Anglicanism's answer to The Onion

Please note the addition of Anglitania to the Global Anglican Blogosphere. It would appear that we have Anglicanism's answer to The Onion, a clearinghouse for fake news from around the Communion and a safe harbor for levity in the midst of the current unpleasantness. There is no author profile, but some fellow named Andrew Gross keeps hawking this site on Facebook, so I am just going to assume he is behind it.

Of course, fake Anglican news is by no means a novel concept. We've tried it here a time or two, just to keep ++Rowan smiling.

AP and NYT break major story on biblical authorship

Mollie Hemingway, via Eric Metaxas, offers yet another example of the media's ignorance of all things religious.

Well this is exciting news. The Epistle to the Hebrews, long a highly regarded part of the Christian canon, has also long been shrouded in mystery.

Hebrews is basically a sermon with a brief letter attached. It describes temple sacrifices and persecution, possibly at the hands of Nero. The sermon writer’s name was not included and neither was it given by early Christian historians. Over the years, many different authors have been proposed, from Paul to Luke to Barnabas to Apollos. But none of those have been fully convincing. Some feminist scholars even wondered whether the author was Priscilla, a learned woman described in other books. But since the author clearly refers to himself as a man in parts, the authorship had remained a mystery.

Until now, that is.

The news broke in both today’s New York Times and in a widely circulating Associated Press piece. The news is buried in their articles about George Whitman, the Paris bookseller and cultural beacon.

Here’s the Times:

He welcomed visitors with large-print messages on the walls. “Be not inhospitable to strangers, lest they be angels in disguise,” was one, quoting Yeats. Next to a wishing well at the center of the store, a sign said: “Give what you can, take what you need. George.” By his own estimate, he lodged some 40,000 people.

Here’s the Associated Press as published by NPR.com:

Shakespeare and Company was also a haven for every author or would-be writer passing through the City of Light.

For them, Whitman reserved a welcome that turned Yeats’ famous verse — “Be not inhospitable to strangers / Lest they be angels in disguise” — into deed: He took in aspiring writers as boarders in exchange for a helping hand in the store.

There you have it. William Butler Yeats wrote Hebrews! I’ll admit it. I’m a bit surprised by this news.

Hebrews 13:2 (KJV):

2Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

And I had high regard for Yeats before this news!

The piece includes a rather unflattering photo of the newly discovered biblical author:

Not to re-open the authorship controversy, but the gentleman bears a remarkable resemblance to a fellow associated with popcorn.

The Friday Funnies: The presumptuous Richard Land

I'm not endorsing a presidential candidate here (at least not until the general election), but I find this piece of religio-political news somewhat amusing. Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention has written an "open letter" to Newt Gingrich, asking him to come clean about his past infidelities. If the former House Speaker doesn't do so, says Land, he will risk losing the support of "evangelical women."

“Mr. Speaker, if you want to get large numbers of Evangelicals, particularly women, to vote for you, you must address the issue of your marital past in a way that allays the fears of Evangelical women,” he wrote this week. “You must address this issue of your marital past directly and transparently and ask folks to forgive you and give you their trust and their vote”

Gingrich has been married three times. The failure of his first two marriages was reportedly a function of extramarital affairs — indeed he cheated on his second wife with his current wife, Callista Gingrich.

In an interview with The Daily Caller, Land said that Gingrich needs to address his misdeeds and ask for forgiveness.

“Evangelicals, by definition, are a forgiving people,” Land told TheDC. “Confession, redemption, forgiveness is part of our theological DNA. But, it helps when you ask people to forgive you.”

Land claims to have conducted over 200 informal focus groups with Southern Baptists across the country. According to Land, evangelical men are willing to forgive, but evangelical women are extremely concerned.

Land is encouraging Gingrich to give a speech addressing “once and for all” his past transgressions.

There are a number of dynamics at work here which make Dr. Land's "open letter" utterly ridiculous. To begin with, Gingrich already confessed his past transgressions in an interview with respected evangelical leader James Dobson in 2007. Perhaps Land missed that interview because he was too busy condemning Rudy Giuliani's infidelities and making excuses for Mitt Romney. Some will dismiss Gingrich's confession as a strategic political ploy (although he ultimately decided not to run for president in 2008). That is a legitimate question, but he appears to have been acting on his own initiative at the time. Critics would have a much stronger case for political pandering this time around if Gingrich meekly gave in to the demand of a self-proclaimed "evangelical leader" in order to allay the fears of "evangelical women."

Secondly, and more importantly from a non-partisan, strictly religious perspective, Gingrich converted to Catholicism in 2009. The Roman Catholic Church has a very thorough and sacramental process for reconciliation of a penitent. Whatever one thinks of Gingrich's politics or his motives in publicly confessing his sins, it would be scandalously beyond the bounds of Christian charity to question his sincerity in submitting to a process of ecclesiastical and pastoral discipline which, in his case, took a decade to complete. Having received absolution from no less an authority than the pope, it is hardly necessary for Gingrich to do additional penance at the behest of the interim pastor of a Baptist church in Tennessee.

Finally, and somewhat lightheartedly, there is the question of Dr. Land's presumptuousness. Focus group data aside, who is he to speak for "evangelical women?" Well, to quote that imminent theologian Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say, about that."

Consecration fail: Too funny not to post

Despite my oft cited editorial policy of ignoring all news items which mention the former American province of the Anglican Communion, a.k.a. The Church of What's Happening Now, and its cross-dressing high priestess, today I am compelled by the sheer force of uncontrollable laughter to violate that policy just once. This story from VirtueOnline is just too funny not to post.

The first service at the Washington National Cathedral following the August 23, 2011, earthquake was a cacophony of odd errors and uncomfortable mistakes. The many problems created a service who as one participant said "was not up to Episcopal standards." That statement puts it mildly with misspoken words, a malfunctioning pipe organ, poorly practiced musical groups, squealing microphones and a flustered Mariann Edgar Budde.

The service focused on bringing together many diverse musical elements with the opening processional done by a three-man group of Native Americans called Southwest Eagle Dancers. The lengthy constant drumming and chanting created a distinct tension as listeners wondered what religious tradition they were from. Clergy processed in to the syncopated drums and no singing.

Before the Episcopal Church bishops and Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori walked in, the sounds of the pipe organ began the introduction and first verse of "I bind unto myself today." After the second verse, the organ dropped out and the singing stopped and an eerie silence filled the Cathedral only relieved by the sound of walking feet. Everyone began to look at each other as the silence grew to over one minute. The organ started with verse three, played about four measures and abruptly broke off. Another long and uncomfortable silence began during which time the bishops continued their tense procession for another two minutes. Then the next sound heard to the congregation with its many empty seats was a tinny, electric keyboard. The hymn finished with this bizarre musical accompaniment that was too quiet for the hymn. Everyone was murmuring in speculation about what happened but no answers were given.

Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori began the service with the declarations of the election of Budde (who was ordained by John Shelby Spong.) During the Litany for Ordination, the prayer was being read "For Katharine, our presiding Bishop, and for all bishops, priests, and deacons that they may be filled with your love..." when something seemed to fall upon the pipe organ keys hitting simultaneously about three octaves of notes, creating a tremendously large sound of dissonance, overwhelming all spoken words and creating a sound like something from a horror movie. Everyone quickly stopped speaking and looked at one another aghast. A woman sitting in the row behind me said, "What is the Spirit doing?"

The service continued with the disruptive pattern of first a paragraph or two in English and then in Spanish, with this constant change throughout the service hindering any focusing on worship and the meaning of the day.

But the service became more and more confused. Dr. Paul Budde, husband to Mariann, read a long poem called "Coleman's Bed" by David Whyte, not an accessible poem that seemed entirely out of place in a liturgical service. One line reads, "Ghost then, to where others, in this place, have come before, under the hazel, by the ruined chapel, below the cave where Coleman slept." What was this? The only connection seemed to be odd ruins with the mangled liturgy at this point in a Cathedral whose entire ceiling was covered by netting in case more things dropped down on the congregation.

But wait, the worst was still yet to come. The Rev. Linda Kaufman, a close friend of Mariann, gave the sermon. Kaufman started off with a reference to her own "beautiful and elegant wife" and the advice she had received about this sermon. This preacher went to describe Mariann in seminary as rich, thin, very liberal and driving a Volvo. Kaufman went on to make jokes about her weight and described herself several times as "fat" and she was surprised that the thin Mariann would be her friend. To make jokes about fat people was inappropriate to the maximum but Kaufman did this several times. Instead of the scriptures, Kaufman preached about the poem and told Mariann in a loudly yelling voice "to be hospitable, even to the stranger to you." She offered no ideas about what this meant and left the image hanging out there of the wealthy Mariann Budde having an easy financial time of life. And this was Budde's friend?

But the service continued with Jefferts Schori reading the liturgy in a long, low monotone. Everything went very slowly. During the actual consecration, "Therefore, Father, make Mariann a bishop in your church" the pipe organ decided to make more unexpected dissonant sounds, though these notes were quieter but still noticeable.

Following the consecration the newly consecrated Budde stood up to applause dressed in her new orange, purple and blue vestments. She was asked to speak and in a shaky voice gave a testimony to the great work of "John and Karen Dixon" apparently mixing together the names of Bishop John Bryson Chane and Bishop Jane Dixon.

Everyone in the congregation waited for someone from the House of Bishops to help her but they did not. Finally after a minute of this extremely shocking mistake, members of the congregation yelled out to Budde that she had her names wrong. She stopped and finally understood what was said but embarrassment reigned everywhere. She had recently dismissed Chane as Interim Dean of the Cathedral and it is widely believed that Jane Dixon organized to help Budde win the election.

So who did she want to thank in her heart? Probably Jane Dixon. Budde said, "I should probably stop now." After this mistake, Budde faded away and went to sit down for the offertory. She sat down next to Jefferts Schori and talked throughout the offertory with the Presiding Bishop (who seemed through her body language to be trying to discourage Budde's continued private loquaciousness). But Budde continued and the congregation tried to recover from the failed tribute to John Chane, who looked shaken by this.

Even after all of this, none of the rest of the service went well with the liturgy continuing as a few words in English, a few words in Spanish. This pattern successfully added to the already broken and confused environment. The communion music between singers and a piano pulled apart several times, and the microphones squealed throughout the service.

The receptions were poorly attended. What was there to celebrate after this long day of mistakes, gaffes, dissonant organ interventions and a group of noticeably discomposed group of Episcopal bishops?

Who knows what will happen next at the Washington National Cathedral? Stay tuned.

Dime novel theology returns to the silver screen

Forgive me if I don't welcome this news with any great degree of enthusiasm. My own initial reaction is, Hide the children!

Filmgoers disenchanted with the glut of horror flicks lately will appreciate [!!!] the recent announcement that another "Left Behind" movie is in the works.

“This is definitely an exciting time … for the entire Christian [!!!] filmmaking industry. We're remaking the original “Left Behind” movie at the true Hollywood blockbuster level that a message like this deserves. … This is the movie that Christians have been hoping for and I can hardly wait to get it going,” stated Cloud Ten Pictures Founder and CEO Paul Lalonde in a statement.

The “Left Behind” movies are based on the popular series of the same title, written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. The series chronicles the events of the End Times, including the Tribulation period and eventually, the Rapture.

The previous “Left Behind” movies, which starred Kirk Cameron, were mostly political thrillers with a Christian focus. The new film is written by Paul Lalonde, of Cloud Ten Pictures, and John Patus, who worked on the last movie, “Left Behind: World At War,” according to the Hollywood Reporter. Cloud Ten is now searching for a director.

The Left Behind book series earned a huge following among Christians, when the first in the series was released in 1995. The series earned an even larger audience when it came to the big screen in 2001 (it was preceded by the film’s release on VHS and DVD), with the release of “Left Behind: The Movie.” The book series has produced several other spin-offs, such as a kids’ series, graphic novels, video games and an album, “People Get Ready.”

Well, in the words of that eminent theologian Peter Halsten Thorkelson. . .

Editorial policy refresher course: No Pharisees (or Pharisettes) allowed

From time to time, such times being when the powers that be from the Church of What's Happening Now, formerly the American province of the Anglican Communion, set out on one of their search and destroy missions, it becomes necessary to remind visitors to this site why such forays into the world ecclesiastical tyranny get scant mention here.

I have no desire to give any free publicity to a cross-dressing high priestess or contribute in any way to her laughable efforts to perpetuate the myth that she is the spiritual head of a legitimate church. The latest exercise in illegitimacy, aimed at South Carolina Bishop Mark Lawrence, is further evidence that the true Pharisees (and Pharisettes) among us are the liberal revisionists who use their positions of authority to run rough-shod over the Gospel of Jesus Christ and anyone who seeks to be faithful to it.

The liberal revisionists are the ones who stand by themselves and thank God that they are not like other men while wielding their heavy hand against any who would dare to pray, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner."

It is enough to say that for such persons, a day of reckoning is coming.

You can't make this stuff up: Global warming may cause aliens to destroy earth

The global warming alarmists are becoming more and more desperate. Their latest claim: "Universalist Aliens" may preemptively destroy the earth if they view our over-use of greenhouse gases as a threat to other civilizations.

In a scenario best-saved for a science-fiction novel, two scientists from Penn State and another scientist from NASA have sounded another bell in global warming alarmism – Aliens. Yes, aliens. According to a report published by the three scientists, so-called “Universalist Aliens” may view our over-use of greenhouse gases as a way that would unintentionally destroy other civilizations, so we must be preemptively destroyed. Make sense doesn’t it? 

The report goes on to state:

It would be particularly important for us to limit our emissions of greenhouse gases, since atmospheric composition can be observed from other planets. We acknowledge that the pursuit of emissions reductions and other ecological projects may have much stronger justifications than those that derive from ETI [extraterrestrial intelligence] encounter, but that does not render ETI encounter scenarios insignificant or irrelevant.

So, based on what we think we might know about aliens, and what we think they might do to us if they ever encounter us, we should radically alter our lifestyle and change our laws. What these and other global warming scientists don’t understand is that making these kinds of changes will result in significant job losses and be catastrophic for the economy. And if they do understand it, they fail to recognize the negligible environmental benefits that come with U.S. carbon-cutting schemes.

It really makes you long for the good ol' days when those little green men simply wanted to blow up the earth because it obstructed their view of Venus.

A Father's Day story about the Holy Ghost

Before I experienced life as a pastor in such teeming south Georgia metropoli as Statenville, Fargo, Bainbridge, and Marshallville, I was certain that my hometown of Chester, South Carolina was the smallest place on the planet. It was so small, in fact, that my father (pictured, left, with my younger brother and me, circa 1970), a prominent member of the City Council, had to commute thirty miles north to the border town of Fort Mill to find gainful employment to support a wife and two children. Meanwhile, his father, my paternal grandfather, was never without work as the local TV repairman and my maternal grandfather (pictured, right) was equally busy as the town barber.

With Chester being such a small town, most of the people would have only two reasons to make the trek to the downtown square. They either needed a haircut or their TV was on the blink. The City Barbershop, as might be expected in any small town, enjoyed a well-earned reputation as a breeding ground for tall tales. There, my maternal grandfather trimmed the sideburns of Chester’s leading citizens for over 20 years and shared with them his abundant knowledge of current events between snips. But he got some serious competition from Gibson’s TV and Appliances, where my paternal grandfather held fort for over forty years, fixing TV sets and somehow finding the time every day to engage in a game of checkers and swap fish stories with the local intelligentsia.

It should not be surprising, then, that a story like this would begin to make the rounds and eventually find its way into the local newspaper. The following article actually appeared in the Chester News and Reporter in 1974.

Sunday morning services came at Chester A.R.P. Church recently and City Councilman Jimmy Gibson, garbed in a choir robe, was seated in the choir loft lending his vocal support to the service. His attractive wife, Jackie, was seated in the congregation with their children, when she happened to look out a window and see some boy entering their car, which had been parked along the street.

Hastening to tell her husband, Mrs. Gibson made her way to the choir loft and whispered what she had seen to her husband. Those who know Jimmy can guess the rest, but we'll tell it like we heard it.

Out of the loft Jimmy came, leaving the church and giving chase to the culprit. The boy, spotting the man running after him, must have been dumbfounded for there was the long-legged Gibson giving that All-American try with a billowing choir robe flapping in the breeze. We understand the boy's eyes got as big as saucers (maybe a little exaggeration there) and could hardly run for looking over his shoulder as if to figure out what that was running after him. No doubt, he had heard of the "Holy Ghost", and chances are that's what he thought was after him.

At any rate, Gibson called for help and a city policeman was close by, joined the chase, and apprehended the culprit.

So the moral is, if one has notions of tampering with automobiles on Sunday, be prepared for a "Holy Ghost."

That may not be exactly the way it happened, but that's the way we heard it.

Saturday Morning Cartoons: Apparently, Mitch Daniels does have a few enthusiastic supporters

It's hard to imagine anyone getting excited about someone more accident-prone than Gerald Ford, but I guess some people are impressed by mediocrity.

The Friday Funnies: Inside Osama's this worldly pleasure palace

So now we know why Osama bin Laden (deceased) never saw fit to put his money where his mouth was with regard to those 72 virgins. It looks like he was finding plenty of pleasure this side of Paradise.

A stash of pornography was found among the trove of evidence seized from Osama bin Laden's Abbottabad compound by U.S. Navy SEALs, according to a report confirmed by ABC News.

The existence of the pornography stash, which one U.S. official told ABC News was "huge," was first reported by Reuters. The official said the pornographic material was found in a wooden box in bin Laden's bedroom and included electronically recorded videos.

Though bin Laden's compound did not have an internet connection or other hard-wired networks, a video recovered by the SEALs and publicized by the White House showed bin Laden watching himself on a television while inside the compound, suggesting those in the compound could play back videos.

The discovery of the pornographic videos is just the latest in a steady stream of information gleaned from evidence obtained by the SEALs during the mission that killed bin Laden nearly two weeks ago, from invaluable intelligence on al Qaeda operations to embarrassing personal revelations about the terror leader. Officials are analyzing one million pages of data recovered and said they've learned more about al Qaeda in the past ten days than in the last ten years combined.

Arranging hymns alphabetically can be perilous

Leading weekly services in several area nursing homes, I have seen my share of hymnals, mostly obsolete denominational songbooks donated by area churches after replacing them with updated editions. There is one hymnal, however, which is somewhat unique. Rather than categorize hymns based on seasons of the Christian year, doctrinal topics, or devotional themes, it simply arranges them in alphabetical order. That may sound simple enough, but it actually complicates things. An Easter hymn may be followed by a Christmas carol which, in turn, is followed by a camp meeting gospel tune which has nothing to do with either the Incarnation or the resurrection. Aside from the next letter in the alphabet, there is no rhyme or reason to the order of this (rather exhaustive) collection of church music.

This odd arrangement became quite the source of amusement today when I came across a page on which the long-time favorite "Amazing Grace" was immediately followed by a song with the unedifying title, "Angry Words." To further add to the hilarity, directly underneath the title, in all capital letters (a pretty common practice in most hymnals) was the title of the tune, "LOVE ONE ANOTHER."

Upon reading the words penned by Horatio Richmond Palmer, I thought the tune name better summed up the song's message.

Angry words! O let them never,
From the tongue unbridled slip,
May the heart’s best impulse ever,
Check them ere they soil the lip.

Refrain

Love one another thus saith the Savior,
Children obey the Father’s blest command,
Love each other, love each other,
’Tis the Father’s blest command.

Love is much too pure and holy,
Friendship is too sacred far,
For a moment’s reckless folly,
Thus to desolate and mar.

Refrain

Angry words are lightly spoken,
Bitterest thoughts are rashly stirred,
Brightest links of life are broken,
By a single angry word.

Refrain

Arranging hymns in any kind of order is always a tedious task. But arranging them alphabetically can be positively perilous.

Saturday Morning Cartoons: NASA global warming satellite plunges into the sea . . . AGAIN!

ROTFLOL! Do you think, maybe, somebody's trying to tell them something?

WASHINGTON (AP) -- For the second time in two years, a rocket glitch sent a NASA global warming satellite to the bottom of the sea Friday, a $424 million debacle that couldn't have come at a worse time for the space agency and its efforts to understand climate change.

Years of belt-tightening have left NASA's Earth-watching system in sorry shape, according to many scientists. And any money for new environmental satellites will have to survive budget-cutting, global warming politics and, now, doubts on Capitol Hill about the space agency's competence.

The Taurus XL rocket carrying NASA's Glory satellite lifted from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and plummeted to the southern Pacific several minutes later. The same thing happened to another climate-monitoring probe in 2009 with the same type of rocket, and engineers thought they had fixed the problem.

"It's more than embarrassing," said Syracuse University public policy professor Henry Lambright. "Something was missed in the first investigation and the work that went on afterward."

The Friday Funnies: Atheists don't have no songs

H/T to Scot McKnight.

The nominations for political jerk of the year can now be closed. . .

. . . because there is no way anyone can possibly do a better job of making a royal horse's rear-end of himself on national television than this guy!


So, even though it's only October, congratulations to this year's winner, Todd Seavey!