Out There

A blog by Scott Harrup

tpe

News

« Previous Entries Next Entries »

Words

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

It’s the age-old question — which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Or, as I’ve been wondering, do the media negatively influence our culture’s use of language or does a degenerating culture create the foul-mouthed media it consumes?
Last night I was watching a documentary on dams and hydroelectricity when an ad popped on for […]

Second Life

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009

Scanning CNN.com today, I ran across a group of stories about Second Life, an online environment that now attracts several million visitors from around the world. Users create avatars, or alternate computer-generated personalities. These avatars interact in countless ways that mimic life. They meet socially, pursue career-related and entertainment activities, organize group events, even marry […]

He Paid My Debt

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

Bryan Darrell, a longtime friend, e-mailed me a few observations about the national debt.
“Current and future government obligations now total nearly $60 trillion (Social Security, Medicare, current interest payments on debt to foreign governments, government bailouts, and the current administration’s new budget proposals). … Can we repay all the debt? It’s possible, but it will […]

No Harmony for eHarmony

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

Breaking news today is eHarmony’s announcement it will launch a new Web site that caters to same-sex singles. The online dating company believes it needs to take this step to avoid future litigation after finding itself having to pay New Jersey $50,000 and a state resident who filed suit $5,000.
That might seem like small change […]

Safe Haven

Friday, November 14th, 2008

Nebraska lawmakers are scrambling to rewrite details of a safe haven law they passed in July. As currently worded, the law guarantees, “No person shall be prosecuted for any crime based solely upon the act of leaving a child in the custody of an employee on duty at a hospital licensed by the State of […]

And Now a Word From Our Sponsor …

Tuesday, November 4th, 2008

In his USA Today article, “TSA Allows Ads in Bins Across U.S.,” Thomas Frank reported yesterday the Transportation Security Administration will allow airports nationwide to begin selling ads in the plastic bins used to move your shoes, cell phones and jackets through those trusty scanners.
That’s just great … another tiny corner of your life has been hijacked […]

Rock of the Aged, Redux

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

I groaned and moaned in one of my earliest Out There posts over a 2007 kidney stone attack Christmas week. If you want the details, you can read them here. But yesterday’s article in the New York Times, “A Rise in Kidney Stones Is Seen in U.S. Children,” had me pondering not only my vulnerability […]

Can-do Spirit

Monday, October 13th, 2008

I read on CNN.com today about Monica, a young mother who contracted a flesh-eating bacteria strain while giving birth to her daughter. Doctors had to remove Monica’s uterus, ovaries, gall bladder and part of her colon, along with her legs and arms.
But Monica has survived and is determined to be the wife and mother her […]

Watch the Lamb

Thursday, September 18th, 2008

I read of Ray Boltz’s admission to a lifelong struggle with homosexuality and was saddened he has decided the struggle is no longer necessary. I could take the word “homosexuality” out of the previous sentence, substitute any number of sinful tendencies I do battle with daily, and put my name in place of Ray’s.
Ray and […]

Trust God No Matter What

Monday, September 15th, 2008

This morning’s headlines on the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch buyout have sent stocks plummeting. Gas prices are spiking again in reaction to a continuing barrage of hurricanes. If FDR had us singing “Happy Days Are Here Again” as the United States began to leave the Great Depression behind, what should the national jingle […]

« Previous Entries Next Entries »