February 2007 Archives
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February 28, 2007
Doors Open at 9. The Trouble will Begin at 11:10
With due respect to Mark Twain's announcement of his first lecture in San Francisco, the title of this post reflects a small part of my feeling about the March 19th "Convocation on Job." John Cobb emailed me yesterday to ask...Read all of "Doors Open at 9. The Trouble will Begin at 11:10"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:30 PM
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February 27, 2007
That's One Side of Me
What kind of "intellect" am I? Your Dominant Intelligence is Logical-Mathematical Intelligence You are great at finding patterns and relationships between things. Always curious about how things work, you love to set up experiments. You need for the world to...Read all of "That's One Side of Me"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:33 PM
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February 26, 2007
Against My Better Judgment - The "Jesus Family Tomb"
After spending part of Sunday and today contemplating the implications of the wise words of Chris Heard, "But the main reason I won’t blog a long review of the documentary is that I don’t have sufficient expertise in New Testament...Read all of "Against My Better Judgment - The "Jesus Family Tomb""
Posted by Duane Smith at 4:17 PM
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February 25, 2007
The Kilamuwa Phoenician Inscription
Simon Holloway at דבר אחר has posted a transcription and translation of the Kilamuwa Phoenician Inscription (KAI 24) from tell Zinçirli in the Anti-Taurus Mountains of south-central Turkey. The inscription was likely written in the mid to late 9th century...Read all of "The Kilamuwa Phoenician Inscription"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:57 AM
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February 24, 2007
"They Kneeled. They Cried. They Asked for Healing."
And they did it in adoration of the miraculous image pictured to the left. A cafeteria worker discovered this image on a cookie sheet while washing it after a function at Pugh Elementary School in Houston. So many people came...Read all of ""They Kneeled. They Cried. They Asked for Healing.""
Posted by Duane Smith at 12:59 PM
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February 22, 2007
Kareem Amer Gets Four Years For Blogging Insulting Islam and Mubarak
Abdel Kareem Nabil Soliman, aka Kareem Amer, a blogger, has been sentenced to four years in prison for what he wrote on his blog. As The Washington Post reports, An Egyptian blogger was convicted of insulting Islam and President Hosni...
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Posted by Duane Smith at 10:06 AM
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February 21, 2007
Climate Change and the Demise of the Neanderthals
afarensis beat me to this one. Below is the abstract of a Quaternary Science Reviews paper by Francisco J. Jiménez-Espejo, Francisca Martínez-Ruiz, Clive Finlayson, Adina Paytan, Tatsuhiko Sakamoto, Miguel Ortega-Huertas, Geraldine Finlayson, Koichi Iijima, David Gallego-Torres and Darren Fa (I...Read all of "Climate Change and the Demise of the Neanderthals"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:38 AM
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February 20, 2007
Halton on Rollston on Scribal Schools
Charles Halton at Awilum has a very good post on Christopher Rollston's paper, "Scribal Education in Ancient Israel: The Old Hebrew Epigraphic Evidence," from the most recent BASOR. Get over there and give it a read. Charles makes an important...Read all of "Halton on Rollston on Scribal Schools"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:27 AM
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February 19, 2007
Maricica Irina Cornici's Exorcist Get 14 Years
There was an abnormal number of hits today on a couple of posts I wrote back in 2005. In those posts I told of the death of Sister Maricica Irina Cornici at the hands of Father Daniel Petru Corogeanu, an...Read all of "Maricica Irina Cornici's Exorcist Get 14 Years"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:17 PM
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Pricing the Invaluable and the Just Plain Worthless
Shirley and I are making a few adjustments in our insurance coverage. If you have a homeowner's policy, at least with our insurer, all books are covered except for those that aren't. So what books aren't covered? Rare books. And...Read all of "Pricing the Invaluable and the Just Plain Worthless"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:54 PM
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February 18, 2007
Ritmeyer's New Blog
Leen Ritmeyer has a new blog abnormally called Dr Leen Ritmeyer’s blog. Ritmeyer, who worked with Mazar and Avigad on excavations in Jerusalem, is best known for his views on the location and placement of the temple in Jerusalem. His...Read all of "Ritmeyer's New Blog"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:17 AM
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It Looks Like Just Any Faith Will Do
Yesterday Mitt Romney gave a campaign speech at a retirement community in central Florida. Here is a portion of the report from the Bradenton Herald, Romney charmed many seniors with his energetic speaking style, professed love for his ''sweetheart'' wife...Read all of "It Looks Like Just Any Faith Will Do"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:12 AM
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February 17, 2007
Should We Call it the Wine Age?
Andresky of the Northwest Herald writes in his article "Muscat love: Ancient grape's ancestors can be found all over the world," Muscat is a grape that's hard to describe. Almost every great wine region in the world has some of...Read all of "Should We Call it the Wine Age?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 11:24 AM
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February 16, 2007
I Don't Seem to Meet the Minimum Qualifications
If only I were 72 years old or perhaps gay or married three times, I might just run for office. From recent Gallup poll, via Daily Kos: If your party nominated a well-qualified Candidate For WH ‘08 who was _,...Read all of "I Don't Seem to Meet the Minimum Qualifications"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:39 PM
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February 15, 2007
Some Observations on the Tel Zayit and ‘Izbet Sartah Abecedaries
I have previously written about the ‘Izbet Sartah abecedary and made a few preliminary remarks about the Tel Zayit abecedary. As I indicated in my post on it, the ‘Izbet Sartah abecedary was written between 1200 and 1000 BCE. On...Read all of "Some Observations on the Tel Zayit and ‘Izbet Sartah Abecedaries"
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:18 PM
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Server Problem
A few of you may have noticed that our abnormal server was abnormally down for a while this afternoon. Things are back working now but I'm not sure how long it will last....
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:24 PM
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February 14, 2007
What Isn't Written in Stone
I just finished a preliminary reading of Tappy, McCarter, Lundberg and Zuckerman, "An Abecedary of the Mid-Tenth Century B.C.E. from the Judaean Shephelah." I was as interested in what the paper didn't tell me as what it did. There have...Read all of "What Isn't Written in Stone"
Posted by Duane Smith at 12:05 PM
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February 13, 2007
A What Kind of Office?
Assembly Member Kevin Jeffries has introduced a bill (AB 165) into the California State Assembly that would establish an "Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives" that would report to the governor. According to the proposed legislation the "Office of Faith-Based...Read all of "A What Kind of Office?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 6:52 PM
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It Looks Like I Need to Get Back to School, Scribal School That Is
The November issue of the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research is at last out. So off to the library tomorrow. See Jim West's post for the Table of Contents. With the material by Ron E. Tappy, P....Read all of "It Looks Like I Need to Get Back to School, Scribal School That Is"
Posted by Duane Smith at 6:49 PM
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February 12, 2007
"Different Paradigms" or Intellectual Schizophrenia or Just Plain Lying?
This story comes from today's New York Times. Marcus R. Ross who recently received a PhD in geoscience at the University of Rhode Island believes the world is "at most 10,000 years old." His dissertation was on marine reptiles that...Read all of ""Different Paradigms" or Intellectual Schizophrenia or Just Plain Lying?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:30 PM
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February 11, 2007
A Note on an Abnormal Interest
Chris O'Brien at Northstate Science has a second post on "apologetics archaeology" in which he offers further reflections on Syro-Palestinian archaeology. He again makes several important points and tells of a couple of his own experiences in a very instructive...Read all of "A Note on an Abnormal Interest"
Posted by Duane Smith at 4:26 PM
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February 9, 2007
On Early Phoenician and the Early Phoenicians
Eric Welch at Revelee reports on the second meeting of his graduate archaeology seminar at Harvard. The focus of the seminar is on the Phoenicians. It sure sounds interesting. I wish I were sitting in on this seminar. If his...Read all of "On Early Phoenician and the Early Phoenicians"
Posted by Duane Smith at 6:54 PM
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February 7, 2007
Aaaah! Isn't That Sweet?
According to the published accounts these two lovers were found in this position in a Neolithic burial (c. 5,000 and 6,000 BP) outside Mantua, Italy. What puzzles me is not whether or not they died in an embrace but...Read all of "Aaaah! Isn't That Sweet?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 1:11 PM
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February 6, 2007
There's Work and Then There's WORK!
Yesterday we had a new carpet installed in our house. Shirley and I were home, doing what we normally do, in our study while the work was done. And I'm very sure that to the two young, hard working, installers...Read all of "There's Work and Then There's WORK!"
Posted by Duane Smith at 6:50 PM
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February 5, 2007
Intelligent Design: A Political Movement
Ed Brayton at Dispatches from the Culture Wars references a letter to the editor from Pamela Thompson, Vice President of Communications for the Templeton Foundation, regarding Intellectual Design Creationism. Give Ed's post a read. Here is a sample from Thompson's...Read all of "Intelligent Design: A Political Movement"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:28 PM
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A Teacher's Work is Never Done
Today is carpet installation day, or so it is supposed to be, therefore I thought I'd continue my reflections on swearing. The subject, swearing that is, reminds me of an abnormal situation at the company for which I still work...Read all of "A Teacher's Work is Never Done"
Posted by Duane Smith at 1:28 PM
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February 4, 2007
Türkiye'de Yapılan Arkeolojik Araştırmalar
Something new to me: The University of New England, that's the University of New England in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia, has a rather extensive website on current archaeology in Turkey called "Current Archaeology in Turkey" or if you prefer...Read all of "Türkiye'de Yapılan Arkeolojik Araştırmalar"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:02 PM
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February 3, 2007
Is a Better Score Better or Worse?
The science types are testing their Bible Knowledge. So far, the scores I've seen are at 90% or above. According to afarensis and PZ Myers "Zeno did worse." I thought I'd give it a try. You know the Bible 96%!...Read all of "Is a Better Score Better or Worse?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:53 AM
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February 2, 2007
On the Theology of Swearing
The latest edition of Biblical Studies Carnival reminded me of an abnormal exchange between Chris Tilling and Jim West on swearing. I find it hard to believe that either one of them is much of an expert on the subject....Read all of "On the Theology of Swearing"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:16 PM
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A Coincidence of Carnivals
Chris Weimer is hosting Biblical Studies Carnival XIV at Thoughts on Antiquity. There are several posts that I hadn't read that I found abnormally interesting. Among the most interesting links, one I had read, is one to Chris O’Brien's Northstate...Read all of "A Coincidence of Carnivals"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:51 PM
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