Baptist Pastor Beaten and Tazed By Border Patrol

A charming story:

The Great Global Warming Swindle

An interesting show from Britain:

The First Christians Were Universalists

Another one from Tentmaker777:

We Didn't Start the Flame War

This is the funniest video I have seen in ages (warning: very humorous use of profanity ahead):

Watch We Didnt Start the Flame War on CollegeHumor

CNN Reporter Attacks Protesters

Watch this. This is a REPORTER??? Attacking protesters instead of reporting on an event? Attacking Fox News instead of covering an issue?

Amazing.

Happy Tax Day!

/TEA BAG your congressperson today!

City of Heroes Issue 14: Architect

Issue 14 is undoubtedly one of the most ambitious issues ever released in City of Heroes. It is certainly on par with the release of "Inventions," in Issue 9: Breakthrough and proves that you CAN make sweeping major changes to existing games. "Changing the whole game" need not be a fiasco such as SWG's NGE release; no, it can be something positive that adds to the game experience, brings old customers back, and attracts new ones.

The key is that you add by adding, not taking away. You must add something to the game that doesn't take away from it. Oh, I know, whenever you add something, there are always those that do not enjoy the addition, and there are those who feel they "lost" something because THEY did not get something, but that's not the same thing as pissing off your customer base with unwanted change.

This is pure adding. What will be lost are the lagless nights of an empty server -- people are back and playing in droves. Last night, Freedom server was no longer taking any visitors.

So what is this patch about? It's about telling your own stories, making your own missions, and sharing them with your fellow players. The folks at NCSoft have given players the keys to the kingdom.

Similar but superior to the Star Wars Galaxies' "Storyteller System," players get to choose between long, intricate plots with many rooms, tasks, and bad guys, or quick and dirty get in beat the guy up and get out deals. Missions created by player architects DO provide experience and loot, so there is a reason to try them.

I checked it out last night, took the tutorial, and played through someone else's scenario. It was FUN. Pure fun. I can see how these are very appealing to veterans who have already ran two or three (or more!) characters and have done all the content.

This adds a potentially unlimited amount of new content to a game that sorely needed it. It gives players the power to make the game bigger, better, and more fun.

Wow, what a great patch.

Happy Easter

Brian McLaren: The Secret Message of Jesus

Brian McLaren's Generous Orthodoxy is a wonderful book, and should be read by Christians and non-Christians alike (especially ex-Christians). Here he discusses his new book and shares some very interesting insights:



Once again, /hat tip over to message in motion.

Open-mindedness

A neat little video about critical thinking.