Stormbringer's Thunder

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Most of us know that employers in The Big Company monitor someone's social media activities. As is often the case, when someone expresses a personal view that is not politically correct, they can be screened out and barred from employment, and people have even lost their jobs for expressing themselves on social media . I disremember when I read this, but someone said that it was good and right for The Big Company to monitor someone's activities. Really? We may cry "censorship" or "freedom of speech", but those do not apply so much here. That is, try to fight it in court on "free speech" grounds, and you'll probably lose. Your speech is regulated while on the company clock, vocal or written, and what you write can be monitored even though it's on your own time, on your own media accounts. There are companies that don't really care what the typical employee does in his or her spare time  as long as they

At first, I didn't have any ideas for something to write for the 8th anniversary of Stormbringer's Thunder. A spam comment at The Question Evolution Project , some podcasts that I heard while working, and ideas came through my mind like stampeding cattle spooked by lightning. —Cowboy Bob Sorensen Have you ever watched the TV show Restaurant Impossible? Chef Robert Irvine revamps failing restaurants and gives the owners new hope for success. He often has to not only deal with bad management (and frequently, bad food), but attempts to fix relationships as well. Many of the restaurants succeed, but there are quite a few that still fail or get sold . When I watch the show, I get to pondering on how the agreements and plans are akin to New Year's resolutions. The root problem still remains. People get involved in "12 Steps" recovery programs that have a pretense at Christianity, but actually give a false gospel . We have bad feelings, so a shrink gives us medicat

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen This article is primarily about arrogant atheists, but there are also arrogant agnostics who side with them when maligning Christians. (Yes, I know that there are subdivisions of atheist and agnostic beliefs, but those strike me as arbitrary and inconsistent. The kind of agnostic that says, "I don't know if there is a God, but I'm open to the possibility" seems to be harder to find.) Some can't make up their minds if they're atheist or agnostic, flip-flopping between the two positions, but still delight in attacking Christians — especially biblical creationists. When you wander into territory on the Web controlled by atheists, you'll invariably find posts by tinhorns who think they're geniuses because they are raising things about the Bible that they consider contradictions (which have been answered time and again for centuries), items that they reckon to be unfair (based on taking things out of context and subjecting them t

"Humanists" (generally atheists) are making a rude gesture to Christians by having their so-called " National Day of Reason ", fallaciously pretending that being an atheist makes you "reasonable", and being a Christian makes you unable to reason, on the same day as the American "National Day of Prayer". Of course, they already have their holiday, it's April 1 , but I reckon they chose that day simply to be obstreperous. Atheists are getting more obnoxious all the time. Matt Slick of CARM was going to be involved in the National Day of Prayer on the Utah Capitol steps, but the atheists had already reserved that space . On April 27, 2015,  Matt issued a debate challenge to the Idaho Humanist Association .  To demonstrate that Idaho Humanists are confident, respectful, and rational, he was answered with a stampede of logical fallacies and outright libel. Christians get that a lot, especially when we can point out how those who claim to

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen A quote that is misattributed to Voltaire reads, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." According to Evelyn Beatrice Hall , this was Voltaire's attitude toward material by Claude Adrien Helvétius. Voltaire is incorrectly called an atheist. He was actually a Deist who detested many religious dogmas, and believed in freedoms of religion and expression . The attitude of disapproving of what is said but defending the right to say it is sadly lacking in modern society; people screaming for "tolerance" are extremely intolerant. Even a cursory search will show that there is intense persecution of Christians , especially in countries run by atheists and Mohammedans. And it's only beginning . Edit: Around the time that I published this article, "Stand Up for the Truth" had a segment on persecution. To hear that, click on " Is Christian Persecution Coming to America? " It&

"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it." — Matthew 7.13-14 There are two kinds of fools that I want to deal with today.  Atheist Fools April 1, so it is Atheists' Day (Psalm 14.1). They are on the broad highway that leads to destruction, but suppress the truth of the God they know exists.  This was on a Facebook Page that was set up by atheists to mock and blaspheme (click for larger): My reply was comprised of the references and text of Prov. 26:12, Rom. 11:33-34, Isaiah 55:8-9, 1 Cor. 2:14, Jer. 17:9, 1 Cor. 1:19-20, Psalm 14:1, Rom. 1:18-22, Phil. 2:9-11. Naturally, the response was ridiculed. This guy proved God's Word right again (and blasphemed further). People like this want us to reject God's written Word and embrace their false god, which

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Nowadays, I can't go without coffee. If Doc tells me to give it up, I don't know what I'm going to do. Maybe go back to drinking tea. I used to drink tea, and was a reluctant convert to coffee because of convenience and socializing at various jobs. Never did give up coffee all the way, though. Back in the days when cowboy drovers were moving cattle from Texas to Kansas (just after the Civil War until the mid-1880s, mainly), the chuck wagon cook needed coffee to help keep the crew moving and happy — or closer to it, in that dangerous, dirty work. The Arbuckle brothers came up with a new way of processing and sealing the coffee , and it was an instant hit in the West. Since there weren't no stove handy most of the time, cowboys had their methods to make it, and it's still popular for people who are camping and so on. Good thing cowboys like to eat eggs... Here's a recipe from Camping With Gus , and more recipe information from American