Blog Updates
Check out the Resources page as I have recently added some new papers. There are more updates on the way and I hope to have the new Links page up and running sometime this month.
Culture
CNN asks “Black and single: Is marriage really for white people?” This article is incredibly interesting and demonstrates how events in culture, such as being black and single, which appear to be normative eventually become accepted as being right. Truth however is not determined by the whims of the polis. Why do you think this is the cultural norm and how does one address such an issue?
In “The Feminization of the American Male From Top to Toe” Dr. Randy L. Stinson reflects on Tony Glenville’s Top to Toe: A Comprehensive Guide to the Grooming of the Modern Male. Such a book would seem trivial at best; however, Dr. Stinson does a fantastic job connecting the philosophy of this book to deadly patterns that have emerged in the church.
From the article:
Men reading Glenville’s book will only be encouraged in their sinful tendency to look out for themselves. If men are focused on such trivial things as dry skin and pampering themselves with long baths, it will be all the more difficult to expect them to lead, provide, and protect. . . . What we need is a church culture that will require boys and men to do hard things, to cultivate toughness, resilience, and courage, top to toe.
Economics
“Exxon posts new profit record:” Nothing new here; it seems that every quarter they are posting record earnings. I don’t typically buy into conspiracy theories but I do remember a time when gas prices rising over $0.90 was outrageous. If you have not begun already then I suggest that you start saving your cash for an electric/hydrogen car.
Theology
John MacArthur has taken a brief look at Martin Luther in a short, but fantastic post, entitled “No Compromise.”
Joe R. Miller has interviewed Eric Bryant about his recent book Peppermint Filled Piñatas: Breaking Through Tolerance and Embracing Love. Check out the interview here.
The Olympics
Foreign Policy has an article up about the real meaning behind the summer Olympic Games. Toss your altruism aside because the Olympics are all about one thing: profit. Take a look at “Prime Numbers: Rings of Gold” for all the dirty details.
Missio Dei 
Exxon also payed over $32 billion in taxes. A bit more than their net profit. Oil companies pay for a lot of our government.
Thanks for the economic facts and that is pretty impressive. This is just me but I think it would be cool to see a pie chart, or something, detailing how much of our government is paid for by oil companies. Does anyone else think that would be cool?
Here’s <a href=”http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2008/08/putting-exxons-income-taxes-in.html”a fun graph showing that Exxon is paying more taxes than the bottom 50% of U.S. taxpayers.
Try it again. Graph here.
It’s actually a little disengenous of me– as noted on the site, all the taxes Exxon paid didn’t go to the U.S., most of it went elsewhere. And it’s the owners and shareholders of Exxon that paid the taxes in the U.S. Just something to keep in mind when you hear Obama and co. rail against the oil companies. If you have money in a 401k or 403b, you have some money in companies like Exxon. Politicians are quite careful not to save their money in mutual funds, 401ks, etc. (as their tax records prove) b/c they don’t want someone making a political ad saying “Sen. Johnson loves oil company profits. He wants you to pay higher prices!” This is an example of why politics are completely retarded.
keith I”M SO PUMPED THAT YOU ARE STILL BLOGGIN’ (and tapp too) so many of the bloggers have dropped out.
boo