An Impossible Magic Trick

August 14, 2009 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog

At first, this video clip looked kind of cheesy and lame, but it turned out to be quite amazing. I have no idea how they did this trick, but it is impressive!

Nancy Pelosi says: "I’m a fan of disruptors"

August 14, 2009 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog

Oh, reeeeeeally?

Nancy Pelosi says: "I'm a fan of disruptors"

August 14, 2009 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog

Oh, reeeeeeally?

Congressman Kevin Brady Explains the Health Care Bill

August 14, 2009 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog

All Aboard With the Steaming Priest

August 13, 2009 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog

Father Jay Finelli, pastor of Holy Ghost Parish in Tiverton, Rhode Island, explains in this video how he blows off a little steam with this unique hobby.


Also, check out this nice profile piece on Father Finelli in the diocesan paper.

Lego Spinal Tap: "These Go to 11"

August 13, 2009 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog

If you have seen and “get” This Is Spinal Tap, this will make complete sense to you. If you haven’t, it won’t. (But your Lego-playing kids will like it, regardless.)


Fun Poll: How Is America Going to End?

August 12, 2009 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog

From Josh Levin and Chris Wilson at Slate.com:

For the last week, I’ve considered many possible scenarios for America’s downfall: the rise of a climate strongman, the emergence of a transnational class of superhumans, secession by the country’s leading maple syrup producer, and others. At the same time, the Slate hive mind has been cranking away, analyzing the likelihood of various end-of-America scenarios with our “Choose Your Own Apocalypse” interactive feature.

Your task was simple: Browse through a list of 144 potential apocalypses and choose up to five that seem most likely to wipe the United States off the map. As of Wednesday night, 60,020 readers had submitted their visions of the end of America. Many of those participants came from outside the U.S.—a healthy 15 percent of the people who viewed the feature came via this Russian site. Our 60,000 “Choose Your Own Apocalypse” submissions included votes for 255,496 individual scenarios. We’ve tallied the ballots and analyzed the data. Out of the 144 scenarios in the apocalypse grid, here are the five you believe are the biggest threat to America’s continued existence:

The most popular scenario—”Loose Nukes,” chosen by 10.5 percent of Slate readers—combines modern and old-fashioned anxieties. “Taliban fighters wrest nuclear weapons from a destabilized Pakistan.

Or al-Qaida acquires a small arsenal of nukes from a disintegrating Russia,” the scenario description embedded in “Choose Your Own Apocalypse” reads. “The nonstate actors launch against the United States in an attack exponentially worse than 9/11.” The presence of terrorists at the top of the charts indicates that we’re still smarting from al-Qaida’s 2001 attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon—perhaps the most recent event that raised momentary doubts about the country’s continued existence. The fact that we envision those terrorists hitting us with nukes indicates that we have the same fears as the World War II generation. In the last 65 years, nothing has come along to supplant the scariness of a mushroom cloud.

While “Israel-Arab War” (picked by 7.6 percent of users) represents another worry that’s generations old, the “Peak Oil” (9.3 percent) and “China Unloads U.S. Treasurys” (8.2 percent) scenarios are new apocalyptic visions. Peak Oil—”Petroleum production reaches terminal decline.

Oil becomes too expensive to extract, and alternative energies can’t maintain our fossil-fuel-dependent lifestyle”—is the hobbyhorse of widely read collapsists James Howard Kunstler and Dmitry Orlov. It’s the scenario of choice for the modern doomsayer who thinks Western civilization has industrialized its way to destruction. Fears of an economic collapse triggered by China pulling out from the American economy are a symptom of both our worries over the current economic crisis and anxiety over America’s place in the world.

The scenario I’m most surprised to see in the top five is . . . (continue reading)

Fun Poll: How Is America Going to End?

August 12, 2009 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog

From Josh Levin and Chris Wilson at Slate.com:

For the last week, I’ve considered many possible scenarios for America’s downfall: the rise of a climate strongman, the emergence of a transnational class of superhumans, secession by the country’s leading maple syrup producer, and others. At the same time, the Slate hive mind has been cranking away, analyzing the likelihood of various end-of-America scenarios with our “Choose Your Own Apocalypse” interactive feature.

Your task was simple: Browse through a list of 144 potential apocalypses and choose up to five that seem most likely to wipe the United States off the map. As of Wednesday night, 60,020 readers had submitted their visions of the end of America. Many of those participants came from outside the U.S.—a healthy 15 percent of the people who viewed the feature came via this Russian site. Our 60,000 “Choose Your Own Apocalypse” submissions included votes for 255,496 individual scenarios. We’ve tallied the ballots and analyzed the data. Out of the 144 scenarios in the apocalypse grid, here are the five you believe are the biggest threat to America’s continued existence:

The most popular scenario—”Loose Nukes,” chosen by 10.5 percent of Slate readers—combines modern and old-fashioned anxieties. “Taliban fighters wrest nuclear weapons from a destabilized Pakistan.

Or al-Qaida acquires a small arsenal of nukes from a disintegrating Russia,” the scenario description embedded in “Choose Your Own Apocalypse” reads. “The nonstate actors launch against the United States in an attack exponentially worse than 9/11.” The presence of terrorists at the top of the charts indicates that we’re still smarting from al-Qaida’s 2001 attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon—perhaps the most recent event that raised momentary doubts about the country’s continued existence. The fact that we envision those terrorists hitting us with nukes indicates that we have the same fears as the World War II generation. In the last 65 years, nothing has come along to supplant the scariness of a mushroom cloud.

While “Israel-Arab War” (picked by 7.6 percent of users) represents another worry that’s generations old, the “Peak Oil” (9.3 percent) and “China Unloads U.S. Treasurys” (8.2 percent) scenarios are new apocalyptic visions. Peak Oil—”Petroleum production reaches terminal decline.

Oil becomes too expensive to extract, and alternative energies can’t maintain our fossil-fuel-dependent lifestyle”—is the hobbyhorse of widely read collapsists James Howard Kunstler and Dmitry Orlov. It’s the scenario of choice for the modern doomsayer who thinks Western civilization has industrialized its way to destruction. Fears of an economic collapse triggered by China pulling out from the American economy are a symptom o
f both our worries over the current economic crisis and anxiety over America’s place in the world.

The scenario I’m most surprised to see in the top five is . . . (continue reading)

Techno Apologetics: The “Sola Scriptura” Baptists-Can’t-Dance Mix

August 12, 2009 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog

I had totally forgotten about this little techno tidbit. Whoever cooked this up describes it this way:
These clips are taken from various debates that Protestant Reformed Baptist Elder Dr. James White has done with Catholic apologists: Art Sippo, Justification, 1991; Patrick Madrid, Sola Scriptura . . .
By the way, the “Sola Scriptura is a blueprint for anarchy!” line that Mr. White quotes contemptuously in this montage (actually, I think he may have quoted it contemptuously in our 1993 Sola Scriptura debate in Chula Vista, CA) is something I have been saying for years. You’ll also hear a little bit of Gerry Matatics thrown in there.

And if you’re interested in hearing the full debate I had with James White (oh, how I wish it had been video-taped), called “Does the Bible Teach Sola Scriptura?”, you can download it here. Be sure to check out my follow-up article on that most excellent debate called “The White Man’s Burden.”

Techno Apologetics: The "Sola Scriptura" Baptists-Can't-Dance Mix

August 12, 2009 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog

I had totally forgotten about this little techno tidbit. Whoever cooked this up describes it this way:
These clips are taken from various debates that Protestant Reformed Baptist Elder Dr. James White has done with Catholic apologists: Art Sippo, Justification, 1991; Patrick Madrid, Sola Scriptura . . .
By the way, the “Sola Scriptura is a blueprint for anarchy!” line that Mr. White quotes contemptuously in this montage (actually, I think he may have quoted it contemptuously in our 1993 Sola Scriptura debate in Chula Vista, CA) is something I have been saying for years. You’ll also hear a little bit of Gerry Matatics thrown in there.

And if you’re interested in hearing the full debate I had with James White (oh, how I wish it had been video-taped), called “Does the Bible Teach Sola Scriptura?”, you can download it here. Be sure to check out my follow-up article on that most excellent debate called “The White Man’s Burden.”

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