Hot and Humid

I voted early yesterday. I was able to do a bit of research, although not enough. It's hard to do research for a primary when there's not much information out there about some races. The attorney general race is a prime example. There are two candidates for the Republican nomination for attorney general. I have no clue about either one, and there's not much information out there, either. It's hard enough to decide how to vote in this day and age of everyone claiming to be "conservative" to try to earn votes. It's harder when there's no way to check out their claims.

Hot

The weather here is hot. Really hot. Hot enough that it would probably be possible to fry an egg on the sidewalk. In fact, it's hot like Appalachian State. (Watch the video at this link and make it through the 1st verse to get the joke.)

Really?

I was reading this article from the Reuters earlier today, and I stared in shock at the start of the 2nd paragraph. It ran as follows: "The two-year-old octopus with possible psychic powers...."
Ok, hold on a minute. Yes, Paul the octopus did happen to "predict" the winner of 8 World Cup games, but that hardly seems to justify the use of the phrase "possible psychic powers." Never mind that the whole concept of psychic powers is absurd (and that the reference to them reveals something about the worldview of the reporter, a New Age and/or pagan worldview). The odds are 1/256 of picking 8 winners completely at random (as Paul obviously did). While unlikely, that certainly is possible. It is no different than flipping a coin 8 times and getting heads 8 times. It can happen because the sample size is so small.
I find it shocking that people are willing to believe that an octopus is somehow "psychic" because he happens to get lucky on 8 separate games, yet they are unwilling to believe in the existence of a Creator God when any study of nature reveals that it is highly, highly improbable that life as we know it could have evolved. The odds of any single system of the human body independently evolving is so much greater than an octopus getting 8 games correct. People are willing to believe that something supernatural allowed the octopus to beat the odds. Why aren't they willing to believe in something supernatural when it comes to life existing?

Election Season Has Begun (yay?)

With less than a month to go before the primary on August 3rd, election season in Kansas is heating up. The big news is the primary for the Senate seat being vacated by Senator Brownback. The two challengers, Moran and Tiahrt, have spent most of the past two months trying to portray themselves as more conservative than the other guy. The amount of effort that they're going to, especially Moran, is a bit sickening. Just show us your record and let it speak for itself. Who is more conservative? Well, I think it depends on what measures you use. I would say that Moran is barely (just barely) more conservative fiscally (if there is such a thing in Washington anymore, which I doubt) but that Tiahrt is more conservative socially. Both, in reality, are probably fiscal moderates and social conservatives of some sort.
The problem, really, is that there simply aren't enough politicians in the entire government who are true fiscal conservatives, which is what this country probably needs more than anything right now. Yes, there are important social & moral issues that need to be dealt with. The current leadership, however, is spending money like they're making it in the cellar. As a registered Republican voter, I need to decide who I'm going to vote for. What I really want to see, of course, is a candidate who is fiscally and socially conservative. They apparently don't exist. I'd settle for someone who is fiscally conservative and won't allow a liberal social agenda. Since I have neither of those options, I'll wait a little while longer before I make my decision, although I'm leaning one way over the other.

Happy 4th of July!

Today is an exciting day in American history! It was on this date in 1776 that we officially adopted the Declaration of Independence, marking our separation from Great Britain as a separate nation. While the Declaration probably wasn't fully signed until August, the Declaration itself lists July 4th as the date of the Declaration. It is a convenient date to use to commemorate the founding of the United States of America.
I have to take a moment to praise and thank God for the blessings I have of living in America. From the resources to the political, economic, and religious freedom with which we as a nation have been blessed, thank you, Lord!
Bashing America has become fashionable. While it is true that as a country, America has never fully lived up to its ideals, it is still not right to focus solely on the mistakes made by us. Yes, as a country, we have done evil. Yet we have also done good. From World War II to humanitarian aid to economic development, the United States has done much good in this world.
So, at least for one day, let's forget about the problems of the country and celebrate what has been done well for 234 years. Tomorrow, the problems will still be there, and we can do our best to solve them then.

A Reprieve from Summer

A temporary reprieve from the hot summer weather has arrived. After a week plus of temperatures in the middle and upper 90s, temperatures have cooled down into the 80s. With lows in the 60s, it's definitely a night to open the windows and let some fresh air into the house. Unfortunately, I know that the hottest days of summer are still ahead, in July and August. So, I'm planning on enjoying the nicer weather while it lasts.

World Cup -- The U.S. Undone

Well, the U.S. made it as far as I expected from them at this World Cup. Anything farther would have been a bonus. I'm proud of what they've done and how they showed resiliency to recover from being consistently behind. Unfortunately, that tendency to play from behind, along with an inexplicable habit of giving away goals in the first 5 minutes of games, led to their downfall. If they don't concede that early goal, they game would have been very different. I'm not sure if the U.S. would have won, though. Ghana had so much speed, and we didn't have the central defenders to match. Once the game reached extra time, we looked tired. Having to play from behind constantly will wear a team out, and the team looked tired as they played out the final minutes.
It was a great run by this U.S. team. It will be interesting to see what sort of team we assemble in 4 years. Several of the players on this year's team will be gone, and it will be hard to replace them. The biggest challenges, in my mind, are solidifying the defense and finding a consistently 2nd center midfielder to complement Bradley. We'll see what happens. Either way, this year's team gave us an enjoyable experience.