Museums, Train Territory and Oil in Chicago

My family and I just returned from a wonderful trip to Chicago. My wife and I have two daughters, aged 6 and 8.  All of us learned many new things at Chicago’s spectacular museums.  For instance, the Field Museum

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has a terrific exhibit, called Evolving Planet, which examines the evolution of life forms on Earth from 4 ½ billion years ago up to modern humans, combining displays regarding genetics with numerous awe-inspiring fossils.  There’s no sign that the museum has given in to the creationist crowd. It’s mainstream science all the way.  In fact, the website for Evolving Planet takes misconceptions regarding evolution head on.  Here’s a refreshing sample:

Misconception: Evolution is just a theory, just as intelligent design and creationism are theories.

Answer: False. Evolution is a scientific theory based on the scientific method, which involves systematic data collection of observable phenomena and scientific experiments that can be accurately replicated. Intelligent design and creationism are faith-based belief systems—not testable scientific theories—that offer non-scientific explanations for life’s origins and the diversity of life forms.

Top off a visit to Evolving Planet with a visit to the Shedd Aquarium where you can see evidence of transitional forms like the Australian lungfish. 

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[I realize some of these photos are grainy–the aquarium prohibits flash photography.] 

Or view this exquisitely camouflaged leafy sea dragon.  God designed each and every fake leaf, even though He engaged in conscious deception by doing this (very unbecoming of omnipotence and omniscience).

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Travel note: Chicago hotel rooms …

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A Shaved Face Does Not (Necessarily) Imply Homosexuality

Think about it. The primary ("God Given") visible sign of male maturity is facial hair. Therefore the reason a man shaves his face must be: To appear feminine, or To appear underage Now, to whom do men who shave their faces appeal? Lessee: Someone who either wants a feminine lover,…

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We can’t even sing anymore

I’m in the middle of reading This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession, a delightful work by Daniel J. Levitin.   I plan to write about this book when I’m finished reading it, but one thing he wrote in his introduction especially intrigued me. Levitin writes…

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Republican Dan Burton votes to allow lobbyists to give elected officials gifts, vacations and fancy meals.

I didn't know much about Dan Burton until I read today's story with this headline:  "House Bans Lobbyist Gifts, Business-Sponsored Travel." Now I know that he's morally obtuse.  Here's the gist of the article: The U.S. House of Representatives, after installing its new Democratic leadership, voted to ban lawmakers from flying…

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Raising a Wall Can Open a View

I visited 2 very different construction sites today, on a whim. Two sons of one of my clients each were working a different site, and we just went by to see what was going on.

The first site is a new 9-story office building in Clayton, MO, a financial center near the center of the country. The son was applying fireproofing to the steel structure, much like you may have seen in 9-11 WTC documentaries. It was fun to ride up the external cage elevator on a breezy January morning and watch concrete sprayed onto the steel, to take a look around, staring down the open elevator shafts and the stairwells still missing stairs, to feel the wind in an office building with just cables between me and the precipice.

Then we went to the other son’s site, where a 2 story residence was being constructed in an old neighborhood. We were just in time to help raise the first external wall up on the second story. I rarely do that, generally preferring the George Jetson style of gainful employment.

What, you might ask, does this have to do with politics and economy and faith? Try the notion of distance from an issue, of perspective. From the points of view I had today, I’d say the building trade is thriving. People are hard at work putting up new buildings all over. Compare this to the national housing starts (down). Were you aware that the Empire State Building was built during …

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