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Old Testament 'proof': Royal seal discovered

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 14:36:24 GMT

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Clip Source: wnd.com

A team of archaeologists in Israel has unearthed what's believed to be the royal seal of an Old Testament prince who is said to have tossed the prophet Jeremiah down a well.

The stamped engraving, known as a "bulla," was discovered earlier this year about 600 feet south of the Temple Mount, but is just now making headlines.

The letters on the seal are in ancient Hebrew, and Mazar told WND the relic was recovered through a wet-sifting process. She says the method was learned after the "illegal excavations" by the Waqf, the Islamic custodians of the Temple Mount, who have been dumping debris in huge mounds.

This is actually the second recent discovery of an ancient bulla from the time of Jeremiah.

She added, "It is not very often that such a discovery happens to archaeologists in which real figures of the past shake off the dust of history and so vividly revive the stories of the Bible."

10 Types of Amazing and Rare Cloud Formations

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:44:47 GMT

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Clip Source: www.collthings.co.uk

1. Nacreous Clouds

These rare clouds, sometimes called mother-of-pearl clouds, are 15 - 25km (9 -16 miles) high in the stratosphere and well above tropospheric clouds.

2. Mammatus Clouds

Sometimes very ominous in appearance, mammatus clouds are harmless and do not mean that a tornado is about to form - a commonly held misconception. In fact, mammatus are usually seen after the worst of a thunderstorm has passed.

3. Altocumulus Castelanus

4. Noctilucent Clouds

5. Mushroom Clouds

6. Cirrus Kelvin-Helmholtz

7. Lenticular Clouds

Lenticular clouds sometimes form at the crests of these waves. Under certain conditions, long strings of lenticular clouds can form, creating a formation known as a wave cloud.

8. Roll Clouds

Cool air sinking air from a storm cloud’s downdraft spreads out across the surface with the leading edge called a gust front.

9. Shelf Clouds

10. Stratocumulus Clouds

Tags: clouds, nature, photography

Dead-Sea Tablet Found that Prophesies Jesus

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:21:09 GMT

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Clip Source: www.iht.com

JERUSALEM: A three-foot-tall tablet with 87 lines of Hebrew that scholars believe dates from the decades just before the birth of Jesus is causing a quiet stir in biblical and archaeological circles, especially because it may speak of a messiah who will rise from the dead after three days.

The tablet, probably found near the Dead Sea in Jordan according to some scholars who have studied it, is a rare example of a stone with ink writings from that era — in essence, a Dead Sea Scroll on stone.

It is written, not engraved, across two neat columns, similar to columns in a Torah. But the stone is broken, and some of the text is faded, meaning that much of what it says is open to debate.

"Some Christians will find it shocking — a challenge to the uniqueness of their theology — while others will be comforted by the idea of it being a traditional part of Judaism," Boyarin said.

Tags: jesus, bible, prophecy

Scientists Believe Mars Lander Found Ice

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:05:14 GMT

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Clip Source: www.usatoday.com

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Scientists believe NASA's Phoenix Mars lander exposed bits of ice while recently digging a trench in the soil of the Martian arctic, the mission's principal investigator said Thursday.

Crumbs of bright material initially photographed in the trench later vanished, meaning they must have been frozen water that vaporized after being exposed, Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson, said in a statement.

"These little clumps completely disappearing over the course of a few days, that is perfect evidence that it's ice," Smith said. "There had been some question whether the bright material was salt. Salt can't do that."

Tags: mars, space, astronomy

Woman sat dead in front of TV for 42 years

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:30:22 GMT

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Clip Source: www.dailyrecord.co.uk

THE remains of a woman have been found sitting in front of her TV - 42 years after she was reported missing.

Hedviga Golik, who was born in 1924, had apparently made herself a cup of tea before sitting in her favourite armchair in front of her black and white television.

"When officers went there, they said it was like stepping into a place frozen in time.

"The cup she had been drinking tea from was still on a table next to the chair she had been sitting in and the house was full of things no one had seen for decades. Nothing had been disturbed for decades, even though there were more than a few cobwebs in there."

Flowchart helps you determined whether to forward e-mails (really works!)

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 19:54:30 GMT

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Clip Source: pollicinor.giuseppemazza.it

Tags: internet, email, flowchart

Drunk Driver Mows Down a Bunch of Bicyclers

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:03:18 GMT

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Clip Source: www.aomin.org

Ruckman Declares Himself to be "DOS 6.11-Only", Riplinger Writes Book on Subject

Thu, 15 May 2008 17:34:51 GMT

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clipper's remarks: .02% of Clipmarks users might find this as funny as I did, but I think this is about the funniest thing I've ever seen.

Clip Source: tominthebox.blogspot.com

Pensacola, Fl - Dr. Peter S. Ruckman, the outspoken defender of the exclusivity of the King James Version of the Bible, declared in a recent article that DOS version 6.11 is "the only true and perfect operating system." In the article, which appeared in the March edition The Sword of Truth magazine, Dr. Ruckman was asked about which software he uses when he writes his books. Ruckman responded by saying,

In a related story, TBNN discovered that upon the publication of the article, the controversial author of New Age Bible Versions, Gail A. Riplinger had already written a book on the subject of computer operating systems entitled New Age Operating System Versions.

"Windows Vista...is...by far...poised...to take over...the world. We at Microsoft believe that...if people...will...just use...our...operating system...that we...will be able...to...turn...them to...the...dark...side."

In one chart she uses something called "Acrostic Algebra" to show that modern operating systems are evil.

Tags: kjvo, ifb

Unreleased Infocom Game Found on Old Network Drive

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:01:06 GMT

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clipper's remarks: I thought this was an April Fool's joke at first, but it's not. This guy got his hands on an old hard drive from Infocom and found much buried treasure, including playable prototypes of a game that was never released that you can play on the website.

Clip Source: waxy.org

From an anonymous source close to the company, I've found myself in possession of the "Infocom Drive" — a complete backup of Infocom's shared network drive from 1989. This is one of the most amazing archives I've ever seen, a treasure chest documenting the rise and fall of the legendary interactive fiction game company. Among the assets included: design documents, email archives, employee phone numbers, sales figures, internal meeting notes, corporate newsletters, and the source code and game files for every released and unreleased game Infocom made.

For obvious reasons, I can't share the whole Infocom Drive. But I have to share some of the best parts. It's just too good.

Update: Don't miss the comments section. Infocom alumni Dave Lebling, Steve Meretzky, Amy Briggs, and Tim Anderson all comment on the story, Zork co-author Marc Blank helps correct an error, and writer Michael Bywater provides an alternative view of the events.

Tags: infocom, interactive fiction

What does it mean to say the "Holy Spirit is in us"?

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:12:18 GMT

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Clip Source: www.equip.org

“What does it mean to say God is ‘in’ my life, Jesus is ‘in’ my heart, or the Holy Spirit is ‘in’ me?” Does it mean that everyone simultaneously has a little piece of God in them? Or is the Bible communicating something far more precious?

First, to say that the Holy Spirit is in you is not to point out where the Holy Spirit is physically located, but rather to acknowledge that you have come into an intimate, personal relationship with Him through faith and repentance

Furthermore, to deny that the Holy Spirit is spatially locatable within us is not to deny that He is actively locatable within us

Finally, according to the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit is not a physical being, thus to ask where the Holy Spirit is, is to confuse categories. Asking spatial questions about a Being who does not have extension in space makes about as much sense as asking what the color blue tastes like

Tags: apologetics, theology, bible

2 Jn 10 - Should we "talk shop" with cultists in our homes?

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:56:05 GMT

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Clip Source: www.equip.org

“If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting” (2 John 10).¹

We must not forget that we are reading 2 John more than 1,900 years after it was written. We are also reading this epistle (i.e., letter) in a different language, in a different geographical region of the world, and in an entirely different religious context

John’s main concern in his second epistle was the Gnostic denial of the humanity of Christ.

It was common for visiting religious teachers to be given a platform to deliver messages in house-churches. Such a platform, however, should never be given to one who teaches a heretical view of Christ

The main application of this verse for today is that neither our churches nor our homes should be provided to cultists as a platform or base of operations from which to spread their heresies.

Tags: christianity, theology, bible

What do we do with C.S. Lewis?

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:41:29 GMT

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clipper's remarks: "We must read Lewis, and any human author, with an awareness of human fallibility. Lewis’s works are helpful and insightful, but they are not part of Holy Scripture. They need to be subject to the authority of God’s inspired Word. Was Lewis perfect? No, but he wrote many useful things. He had some inconsistencies, but in the end, he proclaimed the crucified and resurrected Savior to a world that needs the gospel."

Clip Source: www.equip.org

C. S. Lewis (1898–1963) is often called the foremost Christian apologist of the twentieth century. His many writings have introduced countless people to the Christian faith. Apologetic works such as Mere Christianity, Miracles, and The Problem of Pain explain and defend essential beliefs of Christianity

He had been critical of those who reject supernatural elements of Scripture and had observed that modern theologians often base their conclusions on naturalistic assumptions instead of the biblical text.⁶ Further reading, however, calls his own view into question

Some people find the miraculous so hard to believe that they cannot imagine any reason for my acceptance of it other than a prior belief that every sentence of the Old Testament has historical or scientific truth. But this I do not hold, any more than St. Jerome did when he said that Moses described Creation “after the manner of a popular poet”

Tags: christianity, apologetics

Top 10 Most Historically Inaccurate Movies

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:50:42 GMT

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clipper's remarks: So much for cinema as an educational medium....

Clip Source: movies.yahoo.com

10,000 B.C.

Heck, woolly mammoths weren't even found in the desert.

Gladiator

Emperor Commodus was not the sniveling sister-obsessed creep portrayed in the movie.

300

warriors of Sparta went into battle wearing bronze armor, not just leather Speedos

The Last Samurai

Saigo Takamori who committed ritual suicide, or "seppuku," in defeat rather than in a volley of Gatling gun fire

Apocalypto

his one movie has given entire Anthropology departments migraines.

Memoirs of a Geisha

seems more like a Studio 54 drag show than anything in pre-war Kyoto.

Braveheart

kilts weren't worn in Scotland until about 300 years after William Wallace's day

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

She was more of a regal majorette than Joan of Arc

The Patriot

He was a slave owner who didn't get married (to his cousin) until after the war was over.

2001: A Space Odyssey

Instead we got the Mir Space Station falling from the sky, Windows XP, and Freddy Got Fingered.

Tags: movies, entertainment, history

Increased knowledge about global warming leads to apathy, study shows

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:41:43 GMT

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Clip Source: www.eurekalert.org

COLLEGE STATION – The more you know the less you care – at least that seems to be the case with global warming. A telephone survey of 1,093 Americans by two Texas A&M University political scientists and a former colleague indicates that trend, as explained in their recent article in the peer-reviewed journal Risk Analysis.

“More informed respondents both feel less personally responsible for global warming, and also show less concern for global warming,” states the article, titled “Personal Efficacy, the Information Environment, and Attitudes toward Global Warming and Climate Change in the USA.”

The diminished concern and sense of responsibility flies in the face of awareness campaigns about climate change, such as in the movies An Inconvenient Truth and Ice Age: The Meltdown and in the mainstream media’s escalating emphasis on the trend.

Tags: politics, environment

Chronological Ignorance

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 11:48:10 GMT

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Clip Source: www.scriptoriumdaily.com

When reading old books, it is easy to display a chronological snobbery, as C.S. Lewis called it. The chronological snob is to time what the ethnocentric person is to ethnicity. His chronocentrism assumes that everyone in the past should know everything he knows or agree with all his assumptions. When visiting the past in his imagination, he views it as Cameron viewed the people of 1912 on Titanic: moderns with funny clothes and less stuff.

The Lord God of Sacred Scriptures is not a revolutionary, thank God. Rapid change in human culture has rarely been for the best and God does not make the mistake of the French or Russian revolutionaries. Each revolution was led by men who believed that they could rapidly bring heaven to earth, but ended up making France and Russia look more like hell. God knows that even a great good must be brought on slowly to avoid doing greater harm.

He is outside of time and no chronological snob nor does the Divine Being suffer from chronocentrism.

Tags: bible, history