dumb blondes or dumb men?

Next time CFA gives achievement tests, maybe a certain someone should take the day off.

Men’s mental performance drops in the presence of blond women, apparently due to the subconscious link of dumbness to blondness, reports the Sunday Times.

A study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology found that men’s scores fell in tests after they had been shown a picture of a fair-headed woman. Further analysis ruled out that the poor performance came down to any distraction the image might have caused. Instead, the subjects “mimic the unconscious stereotype of the dumb blonde,” said Thierry Meyer, joint author of the study and professor of social psychology at the University of Paris X-Nanterre.

The study adds to a body of research of how stereotypes affect peoples’ behavior. Other similar research has shown people walk and talk more slowly in front of the elderly.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Be blessed!
RB

blue beauty

This is a wonderful slide show sent to me by her.

To change slides/pictures just click the arrows at the bottom of the slide show. This is gorgeous but to really enjoy it you need the full screen view. To view full screen click here to go to slideshare.net. Then at the new page click "full" in the lower right corner of the slide show there. To change slides/pictures you just need to click on the screen.

Enjoy!

| View | Upload your own

a special relationship

I have talked to many women friends, relatives, and students. There is often a very special relationship between a girl and her grandmother. I see this in Lois and her grandmother. She has got to be the best grandma ever: extremely patient and affirming yet not overly indulgent. This weekend these two washed dishes and cooked together. It was wonderful how grandma involved this little girl, making her feel completely part of a team working together.

Two albums of photos from August have been uploaded:

1) various family activities and celebrations.

2) Miss Lois at Taylor Park.

Be blessed!
RB

after 2000 years he is still intimidating people

It's a music video, so may want to turn the sound up.



My favorite line:

...it has Christ in it and after 2000 years He is still intimidating people.

Be blessed.
RB

it's friday . . . but . . . .

This is my favorite all-time sermon. I think a lot of us could use this right now.

Evangelist Dr. Tony Campolo tells the story of a little preaching competition that he had with his pastor during services at the church where he attends. Dr. Campolo tells how he preached the perfect sermon, perfect in every way. He had taken the congregation to the heights of glory. And as he sat down beside his pastor, Dr. Campolo patted him on the knee and simply said, "Top that." The older black pastor (S.M. Lockridge) looked at him and said, "Boy, watch the master."

It was a simple sermon, starting softly, building in volume and intensity until the entire congregation was completely involved, repeating the phrases in unison. The sermon went something like this:

It's Friday. Jesus is arrested in the garden where He was praying. But Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. The disciples are hiding and Peter's denying that he knows the Lord. But Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. Jesus is standing before the high priest of Israel, silent as a lamb before the slaughter. But Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. Jesus is beaten, mocked, and spit upon. But Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. Those Roman soldiers are flogging our Lord with a leather scourge that has bits of bones and glass and metal, tearing at his flesh. But Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. The Son of man stands firm as they press the crown of thorns down into his brow. But Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. See Him walking to Calvary, the blood dripping from His body. See the cross crashing down on His back as He stumbles beneath the load. It's Friday; but Sunday's a coming.

It's Friday. See those Roman soldiers driving the nails into the feet and hands of my Lord. Hear my Jesus cry, "Father, forgive them." It's Friday; but Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. Jesus is hanging on the cross, bloody and dying. But Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. The sky grows dark, the earth begins to tremble, and He who knew no sin became sin for us. Holy God who will not abide with sin pours out His wrath on that perfect sacrificial lamb who cries out, "My God, My God. Why hast thou forsaken me?" What a horrible cry. But Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. And at the moment of Jesus' death, the veil of the Temple that separates sinful man from Holy God was torn from the top to the bottom because Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. Jesus is hanging on the cross, heaven is weeping and hell is partying. But that's because it's Friday, and they don't know it, but Sunday's a coming.

And on that horrible day 2000 years ago, Jesus the Christ, the Lord of glory, the only begotten Son of God, the only perfect man died on the cross of Calvary. Satan thought that he had won the victory. Surely he had destroyed the Son of God. Finally he had disproved the prophecy God had uttered in the Garden and the one who was to crush his head had been destroyed. But that was Friday.

Now it's Sunday. And just about dawn on that first day of the week, there was a great earthquake. But that wasn't the only thing that was shaking because now it's Sunday. And the angel of the Lord is coming down out of heaven and rolling the stone away from the door of the tomb. Yes, it's Sunday, and the angel of the Lord is sitting on that stone and the guards posted at the tomb to keep the body from disappearing were shaking in their boots because it's Sunday, and the lamb that was silent before the slaughter is now the resurrected lion from the tribe of Judah, for He is not here, the angel says. He is risen indeed.

It's Sunday, and the crucified and resurrected Christ has defeated death, hell, sin and the grave. It's Sunday. And now everything has changed. It's the age of grace, God's grace poured out on all who would look to that crucified lamb of Calvary. Grace freely given to all who would believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary was buried and rose again. All because it's Sunday.

It's Friday! But Sunday's a Coming!

[To download the mp3 file of a 55-minute Tony Campolo sermon (it's great but only the last five minutes relates to the above sermon) click HERE.]

a training mission

A Black Hawk helicopter crashes in northern Italy with eleven on board. Four dead solders are pulled from the wreckage. Another died soon after in hospital. Others are in critical condition. The fifth fatality, Army aviator Captain Christian Skoglund, was an outstanding young man married to a wonderful young woman. A young woman from Canton. A young woman I watched grow up.

Excuse me while I write to myself. This is just for me. I feel so stupid and that my writing is embarrassingly sophomoric. No need to read on. I'm out of my depth trying to work through this, indulging in a futile attempt to reason about the unreasonable.

This afternoon I went to tell a colleague the bad news. He had met Christian only once but was impressed with the guy. My colleague had a very understandable and common reaction to the news, saying something to the effect that he had trouble understanding God's will in the death of this remarkable young man.

I don't know if it was God's will. Anyway, that was my reply. After thinking about this all afternoon, that would still be my reply. There is so much that happens that is not God's will. There is so much that I do that is against God's will. There is so much evil and sin in the world which God in his mercy does not eradicate, and therefore allows. (If God destroyed all the evil in the world tonight, where would you and I be in the morning?) There is so much that is not God's will, why should this be any different?

What if sin or evil was not the cause of this crash? What if it was the result of an innocent mistake (e.g., pilot error) or the result of a mechanical problem beyond any one's control?

I do not mean to be flippant, but death happens. Training missions. Combat. Helicopters crash. IEDs and grenades explode. Snipers. Ambushes. Soldiers die.

Why Christian? Why not?

Was he less deserving of death? Are others more deserving of death? To be honest, as I look at the people around me, when I look in the mirror, I have to say yes. It seems such a waste. It seems so unfair.

Our LT leads a cavalry scout platoon. Only 18 men but eight have purple hearts. Seven of his troopers were saved from certain death. It was the protective hand of God: multiple, obvious miracles.

Why were they spared? Why not?

Well the prayers of believers for these men are powerful and God is merciful. These prayers guided the protective hand of God. However, Captain Skoglund was a believer. His family members are believers. God also heard their prayers for the safety of him and his men.

Why Christian? Why not?

I do not know. I do not know.

What do I know? Christian Skoglund gave his life to Christ a long time ago. He was a child of God. To paraphrase an old hymn, his life was not his own, it was bought with a price; bought by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. His life belonged to Jesus. His life did not belong to a now grieving mother nor to a now grieving widow. It wasn't his. It wasn't theirs. It certainly wasn't any of ours.

We look for meaning in the tragedy in Italy. We want the seemingly senseless to make sense. I think there is meaning. I do not think this is random. However, I do not expect to find meaning unless God supernaturally reveals it. I also think the pat answer, the theological bromide, "It's God's will" does not help me or anyone else make sense of this.

The end of the Gospel of John (21:18-23) has Jesus talking one-on-one with Peter, indicating the manner in which Peter will die. Peter then saw John and asked, "Lord, what about him?"

Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?"

If you ask Jesus why, maybe he'll answer, "What is that to you?" Christian had a personal relationship with the Lord. Christian's life and his death are between him and God. It is none of our business. We are not owed an explanation. God does not need to justify himself. It is personal. It is a private matter between God and Christian. Go ahead and ask. Maybe God will answer.

Jesus also promised to comfort those who mourn (Matthew 5:4). Jesus wept (John 11:35) when he saw the pain caused by the death of his friend Lazarus. God knows what it is like to have a son die. He even had to watch it.

We should cry. We should mourn. We should grieve. We should be angry at death. If we are angry with God, we should tell him. Why pretend otherwise? Like God doesn't know?

Let's also thank God for Christian. He was a gift. Let's be grateful for the time we did have him. Those who knew him the best, those who were closest to him, those to whom Christian blessed most, are the same who have the most for which to be thankful.

The great paradox of this is that those who are grieving and suffering the most right now, are those who have the most to be thankful for. Those who are most angry with God are those who have the most to thank God for.

I understand the hurt and the anger. I understand the need to be thankful. These coexist together. What I don't understand is how or why they can coexist together. They do, but it doesn't make sense.

. . . blessed be the name of the Lord (Job 1:21)

thursday 8 november, 12:34 p.m., local time in italy

china '07 summer trip website

We finally finished the website SLU's CIIS Fellows Program: China Summer '07. There are slide shows, the written word, as well as links to websites, photos, and background readings. The site provides answers to such probing questions as: What are labor standards like in China? Are they improving? What does CIIS mean? Who's the Ivy chick?

Yes, all the answers to these questions and more are available at:

http://china07.wordpress.com

Be blessed!
RB

P.S. There may still be some typos and stuff to correct before we are really finished with the site. Any suggestions, corrections, or comments are welcome.

red cloud v. ivy

Our LT is in the 2nd Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division (2-2). The 2ID's shoulder patch insignia is an Indian head (Chief Red Cloud) in a star. As mentioned a couple of days ago, the 2-2 will be reflagged in 2008 as the 4th Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division (4-4).

While 4-4 may seem to be twice as good as 2-2, the 4ID's insignia is ivy. Like the Ivy League, this comes from the Roman numeral for four, IV. However, ivy is not nearly as cool as an Indian warrior.

Which would you pick: The Warrior Division or The Ivy Division?

blog topics

This afternoon I labeled all my posts to this blog. [See Blog Topics in the sidebar on the right.] This was mostly for my own benefit so I can more easily find old posts. This was the ideal mindless task since I spent the morning in bed and I was too under the weather to do much else this afternoon.

Time for a nap.

Be blessed!
RB