The Nation magazine has recently published a provocative story that opens with this paragraph: ‘When one of America’s largest electronic surveillance systems was launched in Palo Alto a year ago, it sparked an immediate national uproar. The new system tracked roughly 9 million Americans, broadcasting their photographs and personal information on the Internet; 700,000 web-savvy young people organized online protests in just days. Time declared it “Gen Y’s first official revolution,” while a Nation blogger lauded students for taking privacy activism to “a mass scale.” Yet today, the activism has waned, and the surveillance continues largely unabated.’ The “surveillance system” in question is the ubiquitous Facebook networking site. Chances are,…
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Abortion and China’s Brutal One-Child Policy
The brutality of China’s one-child policy is infamous. Supposedly forced abortions no longer exist there, but this heart-rending report says otherwise. Read this. Weep. And pray, “Come, Lord Jesus.” ‘A Chinese woman who was forced to have an abortion despite being nine months pregnant is suing the authorities for their actions.
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Shake-up in “Young Life” Ministry
Colin Hansen at Christianity Today reports on a shake-up going on in the parachurch youth ministry Young Life. The leaders of the ministry recently adopted a sort of statement of faith called the “Non-Negotiables of Young Life’s Gospel Proclamation.” The new measures have resulted in the firing or resignation of 10 staff members in the Raleigh-Chapel Hill area of North Carolina. For those of you who are involved in or concerned about the ministry of Young Life, you might want to check out the rest of this story. “Gospel Talk: Entire area Young Life staff out after evangelism mandate” – by Colin Hansen (Christianity Today)
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LSU Wins the Championship (Sweet!)
LSU took it to Ohio State tonight. It was a great ending to a tough, injury-ridden season. Now that it’s all said and done and we are all basking in our moment of victory, a few thoughts. [audio:https://www.dennyburk.com/Music/LSU-Fight-Song.mp3]
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Mohler’s Candidacy in the News
Last week I noted that Dr. R. Albert Mohler will be nominated this summer to serve as the President of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). Some reports have already appeared in the media, and they are worth taking a look at. Not only do these reports describe who Mohler is and his role in the conservative resurgence of the SBC, but they also include some comments from critics of Mohler. Unfortunately, the criticism is not constructive. In both cases, the criticism is at best wrong-headed, at worst subversive to the life of the SBC.
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How the Tigers Got to the Championship
The big game is tomorrow, and I am eagerly anticipating the opportunity to see LSU put a shellacking on Ohio State. The road to this championship was less than orthodox for the Tigers, and ESPN’s Pat Forde describes the drama this way.
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2008 NFL Playoff Bracket [UPDATE]
Wildcard weekend is over, so I have updated the playoff brackets that I posted last week. Here they are. 2008 NFL Playoff Bracket (WORD) 2008 NFL Playoff Bracket (PDF) The Cowboys are scheduled to put a licking on the Giants next week. You can also follow these brackets here.
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An Unscientific Postscript on the Iowa Caucuses
The Iowa caucuses are over, and Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee are the winners. A couple of items are worthy of note after tonight’s results. First, Obama emerges as the first viable African American candidate for President in the history of the United States. At least he seems viable, and that’s a big deal. Second, Huckabee, who was outspent 20 to 1 by Mitt Romney, came out of no-wheres-ville and is now a front-runner for the Republican nomination. (I’m wishing I would have taken the trouble to shake his hand when I saw him last summer and snapped this picture.)
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2008 NFL Playoff Bracket
The NFL playoffs are upon us once again, and I will be pulling for the Cowboys (big surprise). As a public service to you, I am posting a playoff bracket that you can use to follow the games if you are so inclined. Here it is in both WORD and PDF formats. 2008 NFL Playoff Bracket (WORD) 2008 NFL Playoff Bracket (PDF) One more thing, here’s the official Superbowl XLII website: www.nfl.com/superbowl.
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Iowa Caucuses: Do You Remember the Last Time?
Today the Iowa caucuses will be meeting to choose their nominees for president. There have been many predictions as to who will come out on top. I don’t think any of the ones doing the predicting have any clue about what will really happen. I remember that four years ago, many of the prognosticators saw Howard Dean as the inevitable winner of the Democrat caucuses in Iowa. Boy were they wrong. After finishing a disappointing third place, Dean put an exclamation point on his defeat with a rare display of . . . Hmm. . . Shall we say, jubilance?