Rene's Ramblings

Sports: Bruins in ruins?

They lost to Washington. They lost to California.

Did they get bored and mail it in?

Or is it an indication of problems that this team has which will sink their chances of making a serious run in the NCAA?

I've never bought into the UCLA as #1 hype.

Just look at the team!

Affalo is a A level player with NBA prospects but he isn't an A+ player who will go high in the first round.

Collison and Shipp are A- players with some skills on top of raw athletic ability will need another year or two in order to be NBA ready.

Mata, Mbah a Moute and Abboya (the sixth man) are B+ players. These guys give a lot by sheer hard work on top of more modest athletic ability and skills. Their NBA prospects are not great. Perhaps second round projects and back-up role players.

Don't get me wrong, on paper, talentwise this team is probably better than 90% of the teams out there.

But how did they get the #1 in the country accolades?

Coach Howland has to be given a lot of credit for creating the "myth" of the #1 Bruins. In reality, it is smoke and mirrors. Howland's defensive schemes usually can cover up the weaknesses of the team (limited team speed and no dominant inside presence) but on their losses they were exposed. And as a fan who listens to the games on the radio, many other teams exploited those factors but they didn't have enough intensity and talent to fully overcome.

Anyway, one can hope the team can heal from aches and pains from the season and most of all, regain the play every possession with passion they have had all too infrequently this season. Hopefully, Howland can come up with the motivational talks to get them going and the Xs and Os to deal with teams that now really believe they can beat the Bruins.

Despite my concerns: GO BRUINS!!

Life: Life in the Big City

Went to a neighborhood meeting to discuss crime.

image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragnet_(drama)

Our guest was one of the lead officers from the LAPD division that covers our area. The approximate coverage area: Santa Monica Freeway to the south, Beverly Blvd. to the north, La Cienega Blvd to the west and Normandie Ave. to the east. The population in this patrol area is probably larger than many cities in the rest of the USA.

He acknowledged there is the planned number of cops to cover that beat and the reality of being short-handed. As such, good coordination between ground units and the helicopters is crucial. He also mentioned their careful observation of crime trends so they can deploy their limited resources to regions within the division area.

Another problem is that most police officers in our part of Los Angeles do not live there because they can't afford to. Thus, most commute in great distances and do 12-hour shifts three days a week. Ideally in community policing approaches, the cops would be on the beat most days of the week and become known individuals to the neighborhood.

I also found out that when you use the cell phone to call 911 in our neighborhood it will likely be routed to the California Highway Patrol! Thus, one has to clearly state what city before going any further in stating the nature of the emergency so they can connect the caller to the right place.

He reminded us that 911 is often overloaded on weekends when crime is highest. If that is the case, he advised we call the LAPD division office directly.

Devotional Thoughts: The Patience of Job

In youth group Bible study, I came across James 5:11:

As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

Job isn't mentioned much in the New Testament. In fact, this verse is the only direct mention though I suppose there are other passages where you might hear the echo of Job.

Anyway, with the completion of my blog through of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, I have decided to dive into Job for the next series!

So here we go, Job 1:1.

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

Where is the land of Uz?

Well, this tourism company says:

One of the earliest patriarchal figures in the Bible is Job (pbuh), whose book is one of the world's great masterpieces of religious literature. The city of Salt, northwest of the Jordanian capital Amman, houses the tomb/shrine of Job, the wealthy, righteous man from the Land of Uz who endured hardships with much patience and ultimately was rewarded with God's blessing (Job 1-3; 42:10, Ezekiel 14:14). Biblical scholars have located the Land of Uz in either northern or southern Jordan.

But to those who know the land, the rich biblical description in the Book of Job perfectly describes the varied natural environment, pastoral economy, and patriarchal social structures of ancient southern Jordan, known as Edom in the Old Testament. Job's three friends are identified as being from Teman, Shuh and Naamah, areas located in and near southern Jordan.

Wikipedia says more or less the same though they claim less certainty.

What about the name Job?

I don't know anyone who has named their child Job but it does have a meaning from the Hebrew:

The boy's name Job is pronounced johb. It is of Hebrew origin, and its meaning is "persecuted". Biblical: a man called by God "blameless and upright". Job is proverbial as an example of patience under trial.

For an artistic impression (there are 4 images) of Job, check out this web page.

Job visited by three friends - a fourth would join in later. The book of Job follows the conversations of these men as they struggle to come to grips with the suffering Job experienced.
image source: http://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/Pictures/Treasures%20of%20the%20Bible%20(Job)/target2.html

Lord, whatever happens in my life, my deepest hope is that in the end of my life it would be said of me that I too was like Job, "blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil." Amen.

News: James Cameron and the Jesus Family Tomb

It is all over in the news.

But the buzz seems to have settled rapidly compared to the Da Vinci Code.

I heard a brief report on it on my iTunes of a ABC Nightline podcast. The story didn't even merit a full show and the tone was somewhat skeptical of the claims made in the documentary. So even the secular news media isn't going crazy for it.

As you would imagine, the Christian scholarship community has been responding.

Be sure to check out the many posts from Mark Goodacre, an Associate Professor of New Testament in the Religion Department at Duke University. He rounds up a lot of posts from other scholars.

Ben Witherington has also posted extensively but unfortunately, he hasn't learned how to use the label feature in Blogger so I link to one of his earlier ones. Witherington is a professor of New Testament at Asbury Seminary.

One more place I'd recommend people check out is Stand To Reason's (by Melinda Penner) breakdown of the controversy.

Bottom line is that the tomb theory has a lot of assumptions and some of them not very good ones.

UPDATE: Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason has written a piece you should check out if you really want a very quick overview of the controversy. In particular, he calls to task some of the head-in-the-sand, knee-jerk (am I using contradictory mixed-metaphors here?) responses from some in Christian circles. He then uses his usual "Dragnet" "nothing but the facts" approach.

Culture: 24, 4 to 5 pm

The mid-season slow down is happening.

There is no way 24 can keep up the frantic pace.

TWP put it this way:

Kiefer persuades Wayne to let his brother's assassin out for the evening, and then he and Logan spend the rest of the episode getting dressed.

Meanwhile, Dave Barry put it this way:

Not enough Jack. Way too much talking. One boom -- one lousy boom -- at the end. The clear action highlight was Chloe yanking Morris out of the toilet.

Anyway, the 4 threads continue to unfold: (1) Chloe and Morris and their problems while trying to save the world as we know it; (2) Jack trying to track down the nukes; (3) the bad guys apparently have stolen some drones to deliver the 3 remaining nukes; (4) meanwhile, the plotting within the White House reaches a crucial point with the old liquid bomb in the tape recorder trick.

Implausibility alerts:
I guess they got 3 drones on that truck? Seems to me those drones might be a bit small to fly the suitcase bombs very far.
Do you think if a liquid bomb sprung a leak that it would still work?

For Google searchers looking for the Bible verse President Logan was reciting to himself, I think it was Psalm 40:2 (King James Version)

He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

However, I think the continuity people dropped the ball because when Jack opened Logan's Bible he saw Psalm 40:2 (New International Version) highlighted in yellow: