Book of Mormon: More Than 140 Million Served

Somewhere recently, someone received the 140 millionth printed copy of the Book of Mormon. Okay, so it may not be the most printed book in the history of mankind, but it's certainly made a splash in its 178 years of publication. From ABC News:

The Book of Mormon 1830 This collection of revelations, given to Joseph Smith by the angel Moroni, launched the country's biggest homegrown religion. Today, Mormonism has eleven million followers around the world; in the United States alone, its adherents outnumber Episcopalians or Presbyterians. The book provides the theological underpinnings for one of the world's most vibrant religions.

Personally, I have read it many times, but study of the book is a lifelong pursuit – especially when studied side-by-side with the Bible. The clarity and divinity of the Gospel of Jesus becomes so self-evident that the impact of this book on the world at large – and my life in particular – is hardly surprising.

Detroit Mayor Is Earning More Street Cred

Translation: Kwame Kilpatrick, the ultimate poster boy of civic corruption and above-the-law attitude, is in jail.

One too many times he flouted the terms of his bail by leaving the country (across the river in Windsor, Ontario). The judge has ordered him back to jail until he either posts his full $75,000 bond or his attorneys somehow convince the judge to release him.

Why couldn't this have happened a couple days ago, on the eve of his corrupt mother's re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives? She barely squeaked by as it was, and this would surely have pushed her support too low for her to recover. Ah, well. We in Michigan take what good news we can get.

Must-Read: Obama, the postmodernist

It's a rare article that hits the nail on the head so squarely that I just have to stand back in awe of the achievement. Here's such an article, by Jonah Goldberg in USA Today.

It's all about "Obama, the postmodernist." And it reveals Obama's "it's true because I say it is" approach to addressing innumerable issues. You really must read this article in its entirety. I've never seen a campaign summed up quite so well.

A couple snippets:

"Asked to define sin, Barack Obama replied that sin is "being out of alignment with my values." Statements such as this have caused many people to wonder whether Obama has a God complex or is hopelessly arrogant. For the record, sin isn't being out of alignment with your own values (if it were, Hannibal Lecter wouldn't be a sinner because his values hold that it's OK to eat people) nor is it being out of alignment with Obama's — unless he really is our Savior."

"On the troop surge, Obama's position has changed countless times, but he says it's unchanged. Worse, he has this grating habit of prefacing his new positions with something like "as I said at the time." But he didn't say "it" at the time, he said the opposite of "it." But saying that he said "it" is, to him, the same as having said "it.""

Okay, those clips don't give it justice. Just read it for yourself.

Wear Brucifer!

By popular demand, the official Brucifer t-shirt is now available for purchase in white, white and "hint of lint." Buy one today!

Obama Elicits the First Race-Baiting Comment

Of course Barack Obama is the first to fire a racially-charged shot at the McCain camp.

"Nobody thinks that Bush and McCain have a real answer to the challenges we face. So what they're going to try to do is make you scared of me," Obama said. "You know, he's not patriotic enough, he's got a funny name, you know, he doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."

"Bush and McCain" haven't said anything of the sort. Obama is saying that's what they will do. So he's preemptively condemning them for using race to scare off Obama votes, something they haven't come close to doing. So much for the high road, Obama.

Global Warming Now Imperils...Saturn

I love astronomy news. Every new discovery and mission is like the convergence of fact and science fiction.

The latest news from Titan (Saturn's biggest moon) is no different. NASA has confirmed with the Cassini probe the presence of large liquid lakes on the surface. Titan is the only body (after Earth) in the solar system to have such a feature, and it's made mostly of liquid hydrocarbons and ethane.

But alas, mankind must be endangering these pristine lakes, as global warming seems to have infected Titan:

The observations also suggest the lake is evaporating. It is ringed by a dark beach, where the black lake merges with the bright shoreline.

Book your Titan vacations now, before it's too late to enjoy the frigid, natural beauty of these incredible lakes.

Manilla Police Powered by Grease

Why is it that all the really cool, common sense ideas come from places like the Philippines? The police department there has turned from from government pork to McDonald's grease to fuel its police fleet. From the article,

One police car has been converted to use the diesel/cooking oil mixture and is already in use, and the government is studying how viable it is to convert more vehicles.

"It's a win-win situation for us because we will both benefit," Cruz said. "The cooking oil of their Makati stores will be re-used and the Makati police will use it as a component for their biodiesel and also save money."

They forgot about the other "win" - where McDonald's scores a cheap PR triumph, getting its name in the news and its logo (possibly) plastered all over the patrol cars it fuels. Of course, the environment couldn't care less.

For obvious reasons, I think police forces here should follow suit. Besides, who doesn't like the smell of a tasty barbecue as a consolation prize for getting pulled over?