HIGHLY PARTISAN POLITICAL EDITION.

• How the Press Reported the 2008 General Election. The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, a nonpartisan journalism watchdog organization, reports greater unfavorable press coverage for McCain’s campaign than Obama’s.

• Redistribution of Wealth Experiment. A restaurant diner “spreads the wealth” by redistributing his tip to a homeless person outside.
• Chuck Norris : I’m Voting for Those Not Yet Born. Chuck Norris speaks up on behalf of the unborn.
• An Instructive Candidacy. Victor Davis Hanson reflects on what Sarah Palin has taught us about ourselves during this election cycle.
• The Obama Temptation. “Fainting audience members at rallies. Special Obama flags and an Obama presidential seal … Young school children singing songs praising Obama. Teenagers wearing camouflage outfits and marching in military order chanting Obama’s name and the professions he is going to open to them. An Obama world tour, culminating in a speech in Berlin where Obama proclaims we are all citizens of the world.”
• Deregulation: The Big Lie. “The current crisis was not caused by a deregulated ‘anything goes’ market, but by liberal intervention in the market, i.e. forcing banks to make high-risk loans or face costly lawsuits.”

• Taliban Kills Aid Worker. Taliban soldiers killed a Christian aid worker from South Africa in a drive-by motorcycle shooting. A Taliban spokesman said, “We killed her … because she was spreading Christianity.”
• Through the Storm. Bill Reichart reviews the new book written by Lynne Spears, mother of Britney and Jamie Lynn (published by Thomas Nelson). Lynne describes her book as “the story of one simple, Southern woman whose family got caught in a tornado called fame and who is still trying to sort through the debris scattered all over her life in the aftermath.”
• Lord of the Rings Live in London. The Royal Albert Hall and the London Philharmonic Orchestra will present The Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring in high definition with Howard Shore’s Academy award-winning score performed live on stage by the original soundtrack orchestra and choirs. I so want to be there!
• Sarah Palin Live in New York. Gov. Sarah Palin enjoyed some good-natured fun at her own expense on Saturday Night Live this weekend, which enjoyed its highest ratings in 14 years. Tina Fey’s impersonation of Palin is pretty amazing. (Can you tell them apart? Apparently Alec Baldwin can’t!)

• Lawsuit against God dismissed. “A judge has thrown out a Nebraska legislator’s lawsuit against God, saying the Almighty wasn’t properly served, because of his unlisted home address.”
• Trek Alert! SlashFilm has photos from the new Star Trek movie. The bridge looks awesome. My son asked, “Why does the technology look cooler when you’re actually going back earlier in time?” I guess the Star Wars prequels had the same problem.
• Free Christian Film Festival. If you are in central Florida, check out the Greater Orlando Christian Film Festival, which kicks off today at Regal Cinemas in Orlando. The festival is sponsored by Christian Film Festivals of America and is evangelistic in purpose.
• Mystery Worshipers. The Wall Street Journal reports on churches hiring professional “mystery worshipers” to evaluate their church. “To try to keep their flocks, churches are turning to undercover inspectors, who note water stains, dull sermons and poor hospitality.”
• Q-Drum. Check out the Q-Drum, a low cost rollable water container for developing countries. Looks like someone re-invented the wheel, but in a good sense this time!

  

• Spliced. Splicd allows you to share just the portion you want from any YouTube video. Just enter the start and end points and voilá!
• Bible to be Handwritten by 31,000. Zondervan’s next edition of the Bible will be handwritten by more than 31,000 Americans. (Hmmm, maybe they’ve been reading Ray Pritchard’s blog.)
• Star Trek continuity errors galore! Peter Chattaway posts a number of YouTube mashups of Star Trek continuity errors. They are fun to browse, but I would never have time to watch them all.
• Funerals for the Living. Al Mohler reports on “funerals for the living” in Thailand. People pay money for a two-minute funeral experience in a Buddhist temple where they are offered “an opportunity to die, rise up again newborn and make a fresh start in life.”

• Pastors’ Pulpit Politics Draw Complaints. Americans United for Separation of Church and State has already filed complaints against six of the 33 pastors who deliberately defied federal tax law by endorsing candidates from their pulpits on Sunday.
• The Perelandra Project. The Oxford C.S. Lewis Society and the Donald Swann Estate are planning a production of PERELANDRA the Opera to debut in June 2009. (Perelandra is the second book in C.S. Lewis’ space trilogy.)
• Iron Man 2 Conflicts with Dawn Treader. Not again? As much as I enjoyed the first Iron Man, I still think it’s release schedule had a negative impact on Prince Caspian at the box office.
• Incognito Browsing. Tim Challies warns parents about new features on web browsers which could allow children to browse the web without leaving a history of the sites visited. (See Taming the Internet in the Home for further tips on protecting your children online.)

• It’s going to be a while before robots take over the world. “Can military robots from non-superpower countries be ready for battle if they’re running into garbage bins and mistaking plants for elevators?”
• Why Isn’t the Batman TV Series on DVD? Because the whole licensing issue is a mess, that’s why. TVShowsonDVD has the full story.
• Sarah Palin’s Faith Journey. The Weekly Standard presents a good overview of Sarah’s Palin’s Christian faith.
• Nightline, YWAM, Baby Killing and the Amazon. Tonight’s Nightline (11:35 p.m. ET; ABC) will investigate a missionary group’s campaign against infanticide among Amazonian Indians.
• CEO Rejects $22 Million Severance. CEO Robert Willumstad explained, “I prefer not to receive severance payments while shareholders and employees have lost considerable value in their AIG shares.”

• Free Engineering Courses at Stanford. “For the first time in its history, Stanford is offering some of its most popular engineering classes free of charge to students and educators around the world.”
• Mob violence against IJM staff in Peru. “The mob of 300+ angry villagers forcibly accosted our staff and tied them up in the center of the village.” A young woman from our church recently completed an assignment with IJM in Thailand. It is dangerous work, and we prayed for her constantly.
• Thinking Biblically about the Banking Crisis. Justin Taylor interviews David Kotter on the current banking crisis.
• Don’t Check Your Portfolio! “New research shows that the less often investors check the value of their portfolios, the happier they are. And the wealthier they are, too.” Well, it might not hurt to look a little bit!
• Sarah Palin and Complementarianism. Denny Burke responds to David Gushee’s questions about complementarian Christians who support Sarah Palin’s bid for the Vice-Presidency.

• Questions? The NYC Library has answers.
• Christianity in a Nutshell. Michael Patton gives a good summary of Christianity in seven brief paragraphs.
• Was Jesus a Community Organizer? Allan Bevere responds.
• Church History Sites. Church history professor Chris Armstrong lists his favorite websites about church history.
• Children’s Christmas Plays. Looking for a children’s play for Christmas? Tony Kummer’s got links and information.

• Holy Ghost Building. Christianity Today interviews Mike Roe about the new 77s album. Mike is also preparing to travel Route 66 with fellow musician Terry Taylor to interview people in preparation for a new Lost Dogs album.
• Confiscating snacks. Find out what snacks airport security will and will not allow you to take on the airplane with you these days. You know, life was a lot funner when you could bring your own food into airplanes and movie theaters.
• David Brickner Explains Remarks in Wasilla. David Brickner (Executive Director of Jews for Jesus) explains how his remarks at Sarah Palin’s church in Wasilla were distorted by the media.
• Pro-Life Resources for Churches. Stand to Reason links a number of resources to help church leaders equip their members to defend the unborn.
• Jetpack in flight. Wired has the video. Of course, this is nothing new. Here is footage of a real jetpack used in the TV show Lost in Space back in 1965. (Video length: 2:02)

• 10 Free Dates. The Frugal Dad lists 10 free dates that your wife will love. (Free is good.)
• Hurricanes from Outer Space. The Big Picture offers up some stunning photographs of hurricanes as seen from orbit (including Hurricane Ike as a Category 4).
• Hadron Collider Goes Online. The Large Hadron Collider goes online today, and Popular Mechanics shares 5 things you need to know about it. My favorite is #2: Even if the LHC does cause the world to end, it won’t be today. (It will be next month sometime.)

• Google Browser. The beta version of Google Chrome, Google’s new web browser, is now available for free download.
• 30-Days of Prayer. This 30-day prayer focus helps Christians pray for Muslims during the month of Ramadan (September 1-30, 2008). This year’s motto is: “Loving Muslims Through Prayer.” You can sign up for the daily email list here.
• The Dead Sea is Dying. A reduced supply of water from the Jordan River is causing the water level in the Dead Sea to drop at an estimated rate of 1 meter per year.
• Staying Well. Dr. Francis Collins (author of the best-selling “The Language of God”) is working on a book that promises “stunning new revelations about why we get sick; what it means to be healthy; how we can prevent disease; and medical treatment.”
• Israel to Display the Dead Sea Scrolls on the Internet. Specialists are digitally photographing every one of the thousands of fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls with the aim of making the entire file available to all on the Internet.

• The Periodic Table of Videos provides links to videos about each element on the table. (See also: Dynamic Periodic Table of Elements)
• Holographic Pastors? Slate reports on the recent trend of mega-churches launching video venues for their congregations.
• The Kind of Leader America Needs. The morning after the Presidential Civic Forum, Rick Warren preached on the top three qualities Christians should look for in a leader: 1) integrity, 2) humility, and 3) generosity.
• Scientists Say Star Trek Warp Drive Is Possible. They just need to figure out the minor detail of generating the amount of energy equivalent to turning the entire mass of Jupiter into energy (that’s about 2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kilograms!).