More online education

The University of Texas plans to join edX.

Like it or not, online courses seem to be a growing component of education.

Today's verse

Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

1 Peter 3:8-9 (KJV)

Today's verse

Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Amos 3:3 (KJV)

SpaceX returns to space

SpaceX has sent the first commercial flight to the International Space Station (ISS). The spacecraft, launched Sunday, will resupply the ISS.

Reading list

The Elements, by Euclid.

Today's verse

I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

Habakkuk 3:18 (KJV)

Today's verse

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalm 27:1 (KJV)

Today's verse

Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying, is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.

Haggai 1:3-6 (KJV)

Today's verse

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

Isaiah 40:3-5 (KJV)

Today's verse

For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Hebrews 10:30-31 (KJV)

Today's verse

And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

1 Chronicles 28:9 (KJV)

Today's verse

And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses.

Exodus 14:31 (KJV)

Update on Asia Bibi

Another Christian woman in Pakistan, Saira Khokhar, has been accused of blasphemy by a mob.

Key quote:

After Asia Bibi, another Christian woman has been targeted by Muslim fundamentalists because of allegations of blasphemy. Saira Khokhar, who teaches at the City Foundation School in Lahore, is accused of burning a copy of the Qur'an. However, the case is still shrouded in mystery.

Police took Ms Khokhar into custody and launched an informal investigation. No First Information Report (FIR) has been filed yet, but Christian activists and organisation along with the special adviser to the prime minister on minority affairs, Paul Bhatti, are closely monitoring developments to ensure her safety and rights.

This is the real war on women - not the phony, make-believe one the bigots in the secular media shriek about.

The online petition calling for mercy for Asia Bibi can still be found here.

For those who do not know who she is, here is the story about Asia Bibi's unjust imprisonment and death sentence for "blasphemy" against the Prophet Muhammad.

Please pray for Asia Bibi, Saira Khokhar, and their families.

Today's verse

And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

1 John 4:16 (KJV)

Reading list

Dr. Euler's Fabulous Formula: Cures Many Mathematical Ills, by Paul J. Nahin.

Today's verse

My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

Psalm 42:2 (KJV)

"Anti-blasphemy" insanity Part III

Rimsha Masih has been granted bail. But her life is still in grave danger.

Today's verse

How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

Psalm 139:17-18 (KJV)

Today's verse

I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

Jeremiah 17:10 (KJV)

Today's verse

Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.

Lamentations 3:40 (KJV)

Today's verse

For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.

Psalm 86:10 (KJV)

Reading list

A History of Mathematics (Third Edition), by Uta C. Merzbach and Carl B. Boyer.

Today's verse

Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: neither give place to the devil.

Ephesians 4:26-27 (KJV)

Today's verse

O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever.

Psalm 118:1 (KJV)

The war on science - Regnerus edition

The University of Texas finds no evidence of scientific misconduct against associate professor of sociology Mark Regnerus. I have written about this subject in the past.

Key quote:

"I think it's a just and wise decision, and I'm certainly pleased with it," Regnerus told the American-Statesman in an email. "It was a thorough and fair process, and conducted professionally."

Regnerus found that the adult children of gay parents reported significantly different, and often worse, life experiences than the children of married, heterosexual biological parents.

While it is good that Regnerus was cleared of wrongdoing, the damage has been done. The next time a university professor does something that annoys a homosexual activist, will he or she have to worry about having their name and reputation dragged through the mud?

Also, will there be any legal consequences for Scott Rosensweig, a "freelance writer" who leveled these false charges against Regnerus? Or is he free to re-group and try again? In the article quoted above Rosensweig didn't exactly sound contrite for his attempted smear of Regnerus.

Today's verse

My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass. But thou, O Lord, shall endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations.

Psalm 102:11-12 (KJV)

Today's verse

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:7 (KJV)

Update on Asia Bibi

At VOM's Persecution Blog, Christians are urged to write a letter to Asia Bibi.

The online petition calling for mercy for Asia Bibi can still be found here.

For those who do not know who she is, here is the story about Asia Bibi's unjust imprisonment and death sentence for "blasphemy" against the Prophet Muhammad.

Please continue to pray for Asia Bibi and her family.

Today's verse

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV)

"Anti-blasphemy" insanity - Part II

Muslim leaders in Pakistan are demanding the release of Rimsha Masih, an 11-year-old girl with Downs Syndrome held for alleged blaspehmy.

Today's verse

Lord, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them. Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O Lord.

Isaiah 26:16-17 (KJV)

Today's verse

The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.

Psalm 118:14 (KJV)

Today's verse

For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

Romans 12:4-5 (KJV)

RIP Neil Armstrong

The first man to set foot on the Moon has passed away.

Today's verse

In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

John 7:37-38 (KJV)

Curiosity takes a drive

Some video of Curiosity's first drive from NASA:

Today's verse

And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

Matthew 19:29 (KJV)

Reading list

In the Beginning and Other Essays on Intelligent Design, by Dr. Granville Sewell.

Today's verse

He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Romans 8:32 (KJV)

"Anti-blasphemy" insanity

Rimsha Masih, a pre-teen girl, is being charged under Pakistan's anti-blasphemy laws.

Key quote:

The United States government needs to understand the dynamic of the blasphemy law and get its response right. This threat is spreading: Blasphemy charges are surfacing in Egypt and Tunisia along with the rise of Islamist rule, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation persistently presses for such laws within the United Nations.

Agreed. It is true that the Washington Post and the New York Times reported on this story. Yet they and the rest of the media still seem obsessed with a mythical "war on women" in the United States. To date the secular media's evidence seems to consist of stories like one about an over-sexed 30-year-old law student's demands that someone else pay for her birth control, or a blabbermouth Senate candidate in Missouri. This is war?

Go to Pakistan - or any Islamist country - if you want to witness a real war on women.