Ukrainian Army Recruitment

Hat tip to small dead animals blog.

Macworld Expo Impressions

1. No upgrade to iPhone hardware is imminent, so I think I'll be getting one pretty soon. The software upgrades look great.
2. AppleTV 2.0 and the price drop have me considering one, which I find surprising. Not for a while, though.
3. iTunes movie rentals are nice, but not thrilling.
4. MacBook Air looks like a well-engineered laptop, but I wonder if there's enough of a market for it at that price.

Kind of an average keynote, I guess.

AAPL isn't getting it's usual bounce from the keynote. In fact, it's down 11.57 at this moment.

Guinness Tipping Point Ad

Cool video.

Guinness: Tipping Point
Uploaded by Razorbuzz

Identity Politics and the Democratic Nomination Race

I thought of posting on this, but Yuval Levin at the Corner beat me to it.  

As far as I know, Ms. Clinton's remark isn't factually wrong.  Still, in a party that invests so much in sensitivity, it's wonderfully ironic to watch the ensuing mock outrage.

UPDATE:  Also see David Brooks' column in the NYT today (free registration required).

Following the Calling isn't Sufficient

2 Kings 10:30-32a:

30 The LORD said to Jehu, "Because you have done well in accomplishing what is right in my eyes and have done to the house of Ahab all I had in mind to do, your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation." 31 Yet Jehu was not careful to keep the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit.

 32 In those days the LORD began to reduce the size of Israel.

It's not enough to narrowly follow the mission you've been given.  You also have to keep the law of God in your heart and turn away from earlier sins.  Note that as a consequence Israel was reduced, even though Jehu's family ruled to the 4th generation.

Covenants and Governance with the Consent of the Governed

I read this verse (2 Kings 11:17) this morning before church:

Jehoiada then made a covenant between the LORD and the king and people that they would be the LORD's people. He also made a covenant between the king and the people.

(NIV)

On first reading, it seemed to me like a very early form of the constitutional system of governance with the consent of the governed.  The Constitution of the US is a covenant between "We the People" and the US Government.  After church, I realize that the covenant between the government and the people only makes sense in the context of the first covenant, which involves God, the government, and the people.  "One nation, under God", indeed.  As our society abrogates the first covenant, so shall the second be abrogated.

BCS Championship

Had it on in the background.  With March Madness I find myself regretting that I haven't watched college basketball earlier in the season.  I don't get that feeling with college football.  It's just not my thing.