Pepto...Please

For anyone who might have been questioning the usefulness of the Saddleback Civil Forum, just go here.

Saddleback Forum

After blogging on the forum a time or two, I feel like I ought to at least offer some opinion. I watched it on CNN Video, and if you haven't seen it, just make your way out to CNN's website and click on the "Video" tab. The parts should be easy enough to find. If I had to describe the forum in one word:

"Yawn."

No new ground was covered, nothing new was discovered, and I found the forum largely forgettable.

I will make a few of observations.

Warren was too at ease with both candidates, manufacturing a faux familiarity, calling the Senators by their first names, and joking lightheartedly with both men. Granted, he did call both men his "friends" at the outset, but he was manufacturing credibility where there wasn't much. I did appreciate that he called both men patriots. However, the demeanor of the forum changed upon McCain's arrival and it was largely due to Warren. Warren seemed more at ease with McCain and the air was much less tense during McCain's questioning session.

His questions seemed largely pointed towards perpetuating the "culture wars." "When does a baby get human rights?" "How would you define marriage?" "What is worth Americans dying for?" There was virtually no mention of torture, something that as a pastor Warren SHOULD have brought up. The only times it came up was Obama's allusion to it and then McCain's rehashing of experiences in VN. (He shared those same stories as if no one in America has ever heard them; for the millionth time.)

McCain got a free pass to share his amusing anecdotes and one word answers yet Obama was grilled. If my conclusion is correct, the night was designed to boost McCain. We will only know in a few weeks.

Another observation is that Obama was very studied, diligent, articulate, willing to talk even though the environment was subdued hostility, and he made a genuine impression on me. His stance on pro-choice was reasonable as well as his stance on pro-homosexual rights (I thought these two issues were not to overrule the night). McCain simply mouthed talking points, to which he received abundant applause.

A last opinion I have is the salience of the forum itself. Warren asked a few questions, though not many, based on Bible verses. Was that necessary? Leaders can make policy decisions based upon the Bible and their understanding of it, but since when should knowing the Bible make one fit to lead? The forum was established upon this simple fact, that knowledge of the Bible makes one capable to lead, which if that be the case, call Mike Huckabee now. (/snark)

Having just gotten off the phone with my mother-in-law, she described the forum much more aptly in one word than I did. "Disgusting."

Heh.

So How Do You Pronounce Beijing, Anyway?

NBC Not So Sure How to Pronounce Beijing

In the shadow of Olympic venues, Brian Williams has anchored NBC's "Nightly News" this week in a city he calls Bay-jing. Yet Bob Costas, Meredith Vieira and many of NBC's sports announcers seem to be working in a different, more exotic place: Bay-zhing. So which is it?

The correct pronunciation is, of course, Bay-jing. My opinion is that this represents the level of stupidity that the media has ascended to. Is this an attempt to make Beijing sound like some mysterious, far-away place, perhaps making light of the human rights atrocities that has plagued China for numerous years as well as some of the ridiculous things they have done during the games, such as the Milli Vanilli act and girls obviously under sixteen competing?

Things like that don't happen in Bay-zhing. A college professor, proficient in Chinese, said that the "pronunciation of the city's name couldn't be easier." And these two Chinese Characters will help you in your pronunciation if you just cannot get it right.



Carsey Yee, one of the "characters" in the video, said:

"If we can't even pronounce Beijing correctly and consistently, how can we ever hope to address deeper cross-cultural misunderstandings and conflicts?"

As this isn't a purposeful mispronunciation for the sake of being derogatory, perhaps this also represents how dependent America is on China, and an outrageous attempt at non-offense. however, it is a misguided approach.

Some in the West may subconciously believe the harder-sounding "jing" sounds like a slur against the Chinese, he said. What strikes him odd is that the "zh" sound isn't used in the English language. "You have to work to get it wrong," he said.

Stuart Shepherd's Baaaad Week

I'm reminded of the words of Jimmy Buffett from his 1994 song "Fruitcakes"; mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa...

Stuart Shepherd apologized (sort of) for his recent Citizenlink video calling on believers to band together and pray for "umbrella ain't gonna help you rain" during Obama's nomination acceptance speech at the DNC in Denver.

Despite the ingenuity of the Internet, Focus on the Family and Citizenlink have tried to remove the original video; but you can view it here.

Neverthless, I tire of these kinds of antics.

More McCain Senility

If we can attribute "nations don't invade other nations" to McCain's mounting forgetfulness, perhaps we can add this to the voluminous number of gaffes the senile senator has committed.

The Price of Gas in Aspen

Sen. John McCain likes to keep current, so he has lately adjusted his standard stump speech to reflect declining oil prices.

Where he used to rail about $4 gasoline, he now rails about $3.75 gasoline.

But that figue drew unintended laughter and wistful comments about days-gone-by when McCain used it Thursday in a session at the Aspen Institute.

That's because a gallon of regular will set you back $5.10 at the Conoco station in the heart of the trendy town.

Senility aside, a twenty-five cent decrease is worth stumping about?

Holy Camoley

Guess who said this:

"In the twenty-first century, nations don't invade other nations."

Wait for it.

John McCain.

(H/T to the boys around the keg.)

Victoria Not Guilty

Sigh.

The jury reached a unanimous verdict this afternoon. The jury has decided this was a money-grab after all, but I've only got one thing I want to say; Brown was suing for 10% of Victoria's net worth. Today is the first report that Brown is suing for $405,000.00. Rusty Hardin, Vicky's attorney, has declined to discuss her finances. So, you do the math; if that number represents ten percent of her net worth, and I understand that chance is slim, what is $405,000 ten percent of, anyway?