Last week I mentioned Admiral William McRaven and former CIA Director John Brennan in a post. I knew McRaven was a graduate of the University of Texas (and later chancellor) but only recently found out Brennan also graduated from there receiving a Master of Arts in government with a concentration in Middle East studies. Brennan is also a Distinguished Non-Resident Scholar at UT, where he also serves as a Senior Advisor to the University’s Intelligence Studies Project.
I also mentioned last week that Robert Gates, former President of Texas A&M University, was the Director of the CIA. Man, Aggies and Longhorns are well connected with the CIA.
People tend to become atheists at a younger age when their religious parents talk the talk but don’t walk the walk, according to new research published in the journal Religion, Brain & Behavior. The study provides evidence that exposure to religiously-motivated actions plays an important role in the onset of atheism.
Anytime I hear a Rotten Tomatoes score I automatically tune out. I’m not sure what I have against them, it feels like they are over-exposed and over-hyped.
Dirk throwing (rather, tweeting) a little shade at Dwyane Wade.
Our pastor has been preaching a series on mortality. We recently had a married couple (an oncologist and internist) and a social worker, all members of our church, hold a roundtable discussion of sorts about dealing with death from the “professional perspective”. Yesterday our pastor’s sermon was over hospice and euthanasia. Here’s one thing he stated I think is worth repeating, “I never had one person say, ‘I called hospice too soon!'”
On another church-related note about yesterday’s worship service, WifeGeeding was ordained as a deacon.
Because of a typo I made yesterday, I thought I’d provide a link to a blog about cement. I’ve got a blog about nothing, they got a blog full of cement.
Cowboys center Travis Frederick has been diagnosed with Guillain Barre Syndrome. Whenever the story is mentioned on the radio or television, I think of JonBenet Ramsey because they sound somewhat similar, at least to me.
I only follow a handful of pastors on Twitter, most I know personally. I’ve noticed they mainly tweet scripture or stuff about scripture. I’m also aware they get all sorts of advice and everyone tells them how to do their job. So this is my passive-aggressive attempt to encourage them to include more candid tweets so they can be more relatable. I’m not saying they should use Twitter as a form of stand-up comedy, a political sounding board, or log every detail of their life. I just want to be able to find them relatable, to know they have a personality, that they are human and have a life outside of the church or ministry.
Elon Musk recently gave a tour of a Tesla Factory. I thought it was interesting how he spoke about the limitations of robots on the assembly line and the need for human intervention at certain points.
Christians are called to be Christ-like. If Jesus was alive today in human form, I’m certain he would drive an automobile, perhaps a Prius, but he would always use his turn-signal properly. In that spirit, be Christ-like in your driving habits, especially if you have a KLTY bumper sticker – drive “safe for the whole family.”
I’m not really looking forward to the Top Gun sequel, it will never live up to my expectations. However, it has caught my attention since I found out along with Tom Cruise it will have Val Kilmer, Ed, Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, and Lewis Pullman (son of Bill Pullman. Miles Teller Teller plays the son of Maverick’s late friend and partner Goose, which makes me wonder if they can get Meg Ryan to make a cameo. Cast her now or lose her forever.
Texas is now on track to produce more oil than either Iran or Iraq. That would make Texas No. 3 in the world if it were a country.
Texas is the epicenter of the shale revolution, with soaring production in the oil-rich Permian Basin leading the United States to record output. Rapid technological advances in fracking, the process of unlocking oil and gas deep underground, have dramatically reduced the cost to drill oil in the Permian Basin.
After refusing to go toe-to-toe with his general election opponent, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick agreed Thursday to debate television personality Geraldo Rivera over immigration and the murder of Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts.
Cowboys WR coach Sanjay Lal caught my attention when he had his receivers carrying cement blogs to strengthen their hands. He’s an interesting subject. I can’t recall anyone of Indian descent in the NFL, he was born in England and also lived in Iran, Kuwait and Mexico City, and attended junior high in Plano. He spent 11 years coaching in the high school and college ranks before the Raiders gave him his first NFL opportunity in 2007.
SMH, the morals of those in charge of college and athletic programs. I expect more out of those in charge of young men and women.
The R-rated ambition of Jim Henson – This month’s Happytime Murders echoes the Muppets creator’s lofty goal of telling mature stories with kid-friendly characters
Jimmy Johnson recently tweeted a picture of his renovated memorabilia/weight room. It’s not all as remarkable as one would imagine, but for some reason, in the upper left, there’s a Colonel Sanders picture. Perhaps he’ll play the man in an upcoming commercial?
