Stormbringer's Thunder

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen There is an amazing amount of vitriol aimed at Donald Trump, his supporters, and Christians. There were many Christians who did not support him, or (like me) only did so reluctantly in hopes that he meant what he said about appointing Supreme Court judges that are pro-life [ 1 ], supporting religious freedom [ 2 ], and he promises to uphold the Constitution [ 3 ]. Whether or not appointed judges betray the values they claim to uphold (like some have done) remains to be seen. Also, there's that "down ticket thing", people running for other offices; it wasn't just a presidential election, you know. I'm cautiously optimistic, and hope he gets advisers who know what they're doing. Christians need to pray for him [ 4 ]. I'd like to recommend a Christian analysis of the election on Janet Mefferd's podcast [ 5 ]. For some interesting discussion from a secular source, I had a great time listening to analysis and callers on this p...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Interesting that some cultures have made scientific advances in some areas, then just — stalled. Ancient pagan cultures had some good mathematics and observations, Mohammedans falsely take credit for various discoveries [ 1 ], Communist science was notorious for lagging behind the West (espionage was a big part of their progress [ 2 ]), and so on. For science to thrive, it needs the proper environment. Mao Zedong image on Chinese banknote Image credit: Freeimages / Tudou Mao Despite Bill Nye the Propaganda Guy's claims [ 3 ], belief in evolution has nothing to do with scientific progress. In reality, evolution is of no benefit to medicine [ 4 ], and has hindered scientific progress [ 5 ], and is anti- science [ 6 ]. Atheistic communism has been devastating to scientific advancement [ 7 ], and America is racing in that direction, what with the politicizing of science and all [ 8 ], [ 9 ], [ 10 ]. Do you need to be an atheist to be a scientist today?...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Simply put, a logical fallacy is an error in reasoning. People have to use logical thinking every day and seldom think about thinking. Ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks and other peoples used geometry, which requires logic. Logic as a discipline became more formalized with people like Aristotle. Some people will say that logical fallacies only apply to debate situations, but such an idea cannot be supported. A twist on Aristotle by Luca Giordano, 1653 On the surface, spotting logical fallacies seems rather easy. Sometimes it is. Other times, the lines blur because fallacies share different names, different fallacies resemble each other, people combine them, and more. Those times are like a social media relationship status: it's complicated. We cannot be clinical all the time, and some fallacies appear in our everyday speech. For example, reification (assigning a characteristic to something that is abstract) happens frequently. No, your car d...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Alfred Nobel, inventor of dynamite, put in his will that a portion of his estate money be set aside and awarded for five recipients each year who have "benefited mankind". The five prizes are literature, physiology or medicine, chemistry, and peace. (A sixth prize for economics was established in 1968 .) Although most of this activity is in Sweden, for some reason, Alfie wanted the peace prize committee to be in Norway. Derivative from Nobel Prize image , public domain in the United States The prize for peace has come under criticism because it shows a leftist bias, including the award to B. Hussein Obama, who had done nothing to earn the prize except show up for work at the American presidency. (Years later, there is regret over giving Obama the undeserved award .) In 2016, Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos was given the peace prize. From the October 12, 2016 edition of The Briefing by Dr. Albert Mohler : . . .and the controversy this ...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Actually, the title of this post is slightly inaccurate. It's actually more like "Evolutionary thinking and the so-called 'wall of separation between church and state'". A story I like to tell is that I was in a discussion with someone on this: Me: The constitution says that the church shall be separated from the state, and the school from the church. He: Right. Me: That's the Soviet constitution. He: Wait... There's your problem, Hoss. People in this country have been beaten over the the head with the separation thing so often that they actually believe it's in the United States Constitution. It's not. It was in a letter from Thomas Jefferson to Baptists in Danbury, Connecticut. They were worried that they'd lose their freedom of religion, and Jefferson reassured them that they have nothing to fear about the government establishing a particular denomination. Nowadays, secularist sidewinders will use ...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen 3дравствуйте товарищ! In a recent episode of The Briefing, Albert Mohler expressed thoughts about how many Republicans are fond of Vladimir Putin (Владимир Путин), president of the Russian Federation. In the spirit of "Me, too!", I wanted to give some of my thoughts, things that Dr. Mohler and others have probably discussed already, but with my distinctly less intellectual approach. So I may as well continue Russian into this. Vladimir Putin image credit:  www.kremlin.ru People can respect and even admire political, religious, and other opponents without giving up their own principles. Dr. Mohler discussed the "strong man" aspect of Putin, and I can see why this appeals to some people. I'm old enough to remember being fearful about some degree of nuclear war with the Soviet Union. The Soviet KGB (and to some extent, the GRU) were the subjects of books, essays, movies, television, and the like, so we were frequently reminded of th...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen For several months, I've been chomping at the bit to get this article written. There is an addendum belo w the video. Is it just my imagination, or has there been a marked increase in anti-vaccination material? (Perhaps they get worked up by anti-vax celebrities and politicians like Donald Trump , Jim Carrey , Jenny McCarthy , Bill Maher , and others.) There are many conspiracy theories linked to vaccinations, and there is a range of intensity, including "governments use vaccines to control the population". This troubles me. No, it actually gets me angry. (There are people who will take any innocuous comment and say that the writer is angry, but in this case, I'm telling you right out of the gate how I feel. I've even "unfriended" people for spreading the stuff.) This will not be a detailed pro-vaccine apologetic, since too many people have their minds made up from emotional appeals and terrible reasoning, but I want to make so...