Archive for the ‘opinion/news’ Category

Prayer and Probability

Posted: June 20, 2009 by datechguy in catholic, opinion/news, personal
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People often laugh at the idea of prayer imagine a grown adult asking an invisible power to adjust something for them. Prayer is also attacked as an assault on free will. For example the reporter who attacked pro-life people for praying that president Obama have a change of heart.

I have a theory on prayer, this is not to my knowledge based in specific theology, so someone who knows the church better than me can tell me if I’m committing heresy but consider the following:

How many things in life are actually certain? Very few. Spock’s example of letting go of a hammer and not having to see it to know has fallen not withstanding everything is subject to a certain amount of probability.

The medical field is a great example, you are always dealing with a level of probability on recovery from operations, risks from behaviors and so on. An excellent example is that we all know people who have avoided cancer and non smokers who have gotten it. This is a function of probability. Haven’t we all had close calls of one type or another? Or bad luck that has come hitting that one stone that was loose to trip and break a leg etc?

In my opinion this is where prayer comes in, I believe prayer can alter the probabilities on situation and actions. Since the actions are indeterminate (we don’t know for sure how they will go) it seems simply a function of luck. I believe that the power of prayer is basically channeling the intrinsic link between God and man and the community of saints to nudge probability. The stronger the link of the individual to God or the number of people involved prayer the better the chance of the odds moving.

That doesn’t effect the idea that God is a part of it, for example because a wind comes to help a becalmed ship and the wind is a natural phenomena that doesn’t mean that God allowed it to come.

This is in contarast to direct action by God that would be classified as a miracle. In that case you can have either objectively impossible action (Joshua and the sun) or an action so improbable that it seems to be no odds take place. (Curing of the blind man). Those are solid miracles.

Anyways that’s my theory. What do you think?

Update: Corrected awful spelling and grammar in post as it was rushed due to the party today.

“If we want to avoid making Iran a very nasty country…”

Posted: June 19, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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These word on Morning Joe today are one of the reasons why I have a hard time taking Zbigniew Brzezinski seriously.

The idea that if we even speak in support of the people in Iran that it will prevent us from talking them out of nukes or make them repressive.

Listen, these guys are going to blame all of this on us anyways. These guys aren’t going to become repressive, they already are. We aren’t going to drive them toward a bomb, they are already going there.

Forgetting the morality of it (which clearly says to speak up) and speaking practically, this is our best chance of accomplishing the downfall of the chief sponsor (as Yoda once said there is one other but that’s a post for another day) of terror in the world. It is a chance to do it without a military strike. These guys are very worried, particularly since we have 2 armies right next door.

We need to support these guys, both with public pronouncements and in small ways like the twitter update delay.

President Obama scoffed when his rhetoric was called “just words”, now he is unwilling to even deploy them.

The Other McCain Nails it

Posted: June 17, 2009 by datechguy in internet/free speech, opinion/news
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I’m going to be very busy today. P-3 days and all, but his explaination of how the MSM works is spot on:

How many MSM reporters (Associated Press, NY Times, CBS News, etc.) ever read Hot Air or Instapundit? And how many of them sympathize? The typical MSM reporter sympathizes with Media Matters, DKos and Crooks & Liars. The typical MSM reporter watches Olbermann every night. The typical MSM reporter thinks Letterman’s jokes about Palin are ROTFLMAO funny.

Most D.C. reporters, editors and producers hate Republicans, and that hatred matters.

and this:

It’s the uncanny coordination of the messaging that makes the Obama media such an engine of terror to its enemies. This harkens back to the JournoList revelation. Once you understand that there is an actual network Demnocratic political operatives, liberal policy advocates, progressive bloggers and major media journalists connected via a single communications link, suddenly the modus operandi is no longer mysterious.

Once this is understood the rest is easy.

Palin, Letterman now its official

Posted: June 16, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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Governor Palin has accepted the new revised apology offered by David Letterman.

There will still be a fire Letterman rally today as some think this too little too late:

The New York Times story also claims that protests aimed at pressuring CBS to fire Letterman have not yet had any effect:

CBS executives said Monday that they had exercised no pressure on the late-night star to offer any apology and that they had seen no real impact on advertisers from the protests.

This is why the campaign to get CBS to fire David Letterman must continue and expand with more and more people sending letters and e-mails of protest to CBS, Letterman’s sponsors and the sponsors of Letterman’s racing team to notify them that their products will be boycotted until Letterman is fired. It also will be important to send letters and e-mails of protest to anyone who appears on Letterman’s show to impress them that doing so will put a long-term stink on their careers.

CBS is still playing the “This will all blow over” card. No. It. Won’t.

Persistent, consistent effort on our part will persuade sponsors to drop Letterman’s show and CBS to fire David Letterman.

If we don’t take out this bully, we’ll be swarmed by the millions who will follow his example.

Read Ms. Yockey’s entire post, I can see her point and the idea of not giving up the advantage. It’s a legit position, it’s just not mine.

To me this whole thing is a question of honor The Governor was offended and called Letterman on it. Letterman’s response was insufficient so the Governor and her supporters persisted. Now Mr. Letterman has issued a 2nd apology and the Governor has accepted. As far as she is concerned honor is satisfied so the matter is closed. Who am I to say otherwise?

My goal wasn’t a scalp. My goal was to have the same rules applied to defend the honor of conservative woman in general and Governor Palin that would be applied if a a liberal woman’s honor was outraged.

We’ve shown that conservatives would not sit back and take it and believe me it’s been noticed by Mr. Letterman et/al. I don’t think we need a scalp to prove it.

Laura is with Cynthia on this one. Conservatives 4 Palin is with me and thus gets the last word:

So what did we learn from this past week? I think that the events of the last week have proven that conservatives need to fight back when they are slandered in the public arena; put the people making those claims or telling sick “jokes” on the defensive. Mr. Letterman was clearly in a deep hole, one he dug for himself. Now, clearly people can continue to pressure Letterman if they so choose. It is the right of the people to express their dismay with another citizen.

You know by now that I am a fan of quotes from Ronald Reagan. Here is one that I believe sums up this whole situation nicely:

When you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat.

Supporters of Governor Palin and women all across the country made David Letterman feel the heat and forced an apology.

Yup.

Update: Treacher and the Captain are with me too.

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