An interesting bit about Ezekiel

In reading Ezekiel 1-4, I wondered what the actual Hebrew phrase for "Son of Man" is, and it's actually "ben-Adam", which could also reasonably interpreted as "Son of Adam"; in other words, bearing the name of a very specific man, and indicating a specificity and meaning that I'd argue the usual English translation does not have, along the lines of Peter and Edmund being addressed as "Sons of Adam" in Narnia.  It is not just genetics, but an affirmation of heritage and position before God. 

Thoughts on Shane Gillis' monologue

Well, first of all, in a tradition with SNL that's two decades old now or so, it wasn't funny, or particularly new.  As the Babylon Bee jokes, pastors from the 1990s are berating Gillis because he's recycling their old sermon material.

For my part, I'm not quite sure what a prostitute typically looks like, so I don't have the basis for comparison that Gillis apparently does.  ☺  I'd guess real prostitutes wear more outlandish outfits, heels, and in general look a lot less healthy than a typical spandex queen in the gym, though.

But seriously, while I can understand that showing more skin might be cooler--though full length tights and such would reduce that advantage, I'd think--I also am not a huge fan of feeling barbell knurling on bare shoulders (or letting the barbell slip because of my sweat not being absorbed by a cotton t-shirt), or feeling cold, clammy, sweaty vinyl on my skin.  

So overall, short shorts & jogbra is not for performance, but for show, and I suffer from the "disability" that the only person who really needs to see the precise contours of my body doesn't need to go to the gym to see that.  But for those who want to make a good impression in the gym, the main thought I have is that as a rule, beauty is the whole silhouette, not just the eye drawn to certain areas.  So in that light, the jogbra/booty shorts combo may work against a lady.

Well said

Greg Crosby notes how he tends to love the things of the past as he goes through his life, and I am tempted to agree.   Not that there aren't good things now--a computer like I'm using right now to type this note did not exist until I was in my thirties, for example--but as I shop for things I'd like to have, I am becoming more and more aware that many of the things I'd like are fading out of existence.  Things like manual transmissions, Katahdin Iron Works hoodies, leather shoes, CD level sound quality (sorry, MP3 loses something when you're listening to classical music), rye flour (except at the "hippie" food stores), and a bunch of other things.  

OK, yes, life changes.  You can't find buggy whips, corsets, or bloomers in most stores anymore, either, and some things are for the better.  But even so, I think something has been lost.

MAID and transition procedures

It strikes me that one thing that MAID/assisted suicide and transition medicine have in common is that too many practitioners do not seem to adequately understand that these things are permanent.  You can't revive someone you've killed, body parts you've removed do not grow back or reattach, and even puberty blockers and hormone therapies permanently change development.  It reminds me, really, of an adult version of the warnings in elementary school that certain behaviors would go on one's "permanent record."  

Wisdom, or foolishness, in the law?

 With regards to the furor over an incident at Cornell where a young coed had "relations" with seven young men while all were highly intoxicated, this Powerline blurb notes that under New York law, voluntary intoxication does not render someone unable to grant consent.

Now this sounds appalling, well...at least to those of us who have never gotten intoxicated to "get up the nerve" to sleep with someone, and...maybe it is indeed the case that a certain portion of sexual assault allegations are indeed....simply people getting intoxicated to get the nerve to do something they otherwise would not have done.  The apparent discrepancy between rape rates in anonymous surveys and as reported to police might flow in part from this, and this would also explain the fact that about two thirds of sexual assaults noted on those anonymous surveys involve intoxicated people.

Now what is the proper approach in the law?  I'm not sure. Do I want justice for people who are truly victimized while they are intoxicated?  Absolutely.  Do I know that if a person was drunk at the time, he's going to have suspect memory, and isn't going to be a very good witness?  Absolutely.  

So I wonder if New York's approach is the right one because it tells all participants that things can really go wrong.  Want to have sex with a stranger while drunk?  Not only are you risking STDs and unwanted attachments, but if the other person persuades the police that your apparent assent was not real, you get to watch your money disappear by the billable hour.

It's not a perfect system--no system where you're depending on the memories of people who were intoxicated can be anywhere close--but perhaps it has something to say for it.

In related news, the newspaper of record has come up with a foolproof way to avoid being arrested for rape at a ketamine-fueled orgy: don't go to ketamine-fueled orgies.  Sounds like someone needs a Nobel Prize for that one.

Interesting news out of Denver

Apparently three former Denver Broncos quarterbacks are thriving at other professional football teams.  Now of course, the days when pro football players almost always stayed with one team, or maybe two, through their whole careers are long gone, but what strikes me is that this happened with a very interesting VP of football operations there; John Elway.  

Elway is of course retired, and to be fair, one of those QBs is now in the CFL, but it strikes me that people in the Broncos office might do well to understand the dynamics between Elway and these men, and see what they can learn for the future.  There are other former football greats--Mike Singletary comes to mind--who also failed as coaches, and as long as football teams hire former players as coaches, they might do well to understand what kind of things make them fail.