Targeted and Framed: Miss California

Former Miss California Carrie Prejean, an outspoken Christian, is ousted by the media for "scandalous" photos which are no worse than what you would see in a typical woman's magazine. They are NOT nude photos as the media is reporting. I kid you not, one TV news program said the "nude" photos were too controversial for TV and could not show them, yet when TV news had no problem showing parts Paris Hilton's sex video, blurred out in key places of course, which skyrockets her to stardom. This is the quintessential definition of a double standard.

Three out of the four judges for the Miss America were gay. That alone should have disqualified them judging as their priorities are clearly somewhere else. The judges knew ahead of time she was a Christian, and she was asked for her personal opinion about marriage with a clearly targeted question, while the other contestants were given soft safe questions. Apparently Carrie Prejean got her personal opinion wrong stating she believes marriage should be between one man and one woman, and coming from a state that just voted to agree with her statement. Judge Perez Hilton the very next day on multiple media outlets tore her apart calling her a bitc* and a cun* among other things (http://bit.ly/hYnOs), yet he gets a pass. Again, a double standard. Major media outlets said nothing of this vulgar hate speech.

Then Carrie Prejean is stripped of her crown for not performing her duties as Miss California. What is one of those duties? Taking semi-nude photos for Playboy which she refused to do because of her clear moral convictions (http://bit.ly/4BXYLs), as well as be a part of a goofy reality show (http://bit.ly/3Gjm1o). A setup for failure? Of course! If a liberal gay beauty queen refused to appear at a Christian event or low quality TV program, I guarantee she would have been given a pass.

This is just one clear example that mainstream media is liberal and biased.

The Price of a PC in Today's Economy

I get asked for computer recommendations all the time. All the time, and I love it. I'm glad people respect my expertise being a professional in the industry for a long time, and I am happy to help them. Having the right computer can really empower a person, make the more productive, and yes, even make them more confident.

As with any computer recommendation, price always plays a major factor. It is usually the number one criteria when purchasing a computer as most people have a fixed amount they can spend. In today's economy price is even more a concern. This video plays out a scenario I often experience when helping people:

<br/><a href="http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?vid=0bb6a07c-c829-4562-8375-49e6693810c7" target="_new" title="Laptop Hunters $1000 - Lauren Gets an HP Pavilion">Video: Laptop Hunters $1000 - Lauren Gets an HP Pavilion</a>

Now, to all my Mac friends, of which there are many, I am not out to spark a flame war. I am just stating the fact that an equivalent powered Mac costs 50%-100% more than a PC of the same power. You get more value and options for your money with a PC, and one can get quite a good PC laptop for around $700. Though I still use Macs in my profession, just one of the many reasons I switched from Mac to PC was value, and value is always a concern when people are shopping for a computer.

Another quick tip for computer shoppers: the best time to buy a computer is not after Christmas which most people think, but during the back to school sales for new computers, and right after school starts (Oct-Nov) for great refurbished deals.

So Many English Bibles!

One of the latest research projects I have taken up over the past year has been into the realm of bible translations. Us English speakers who love God's word live in an exciting time where there is a wealth of good bible translations available. Most countries only have one, maybe two translations of the Bible. This is a good problem for us English speakers to have! I will be posting more updates, but here is some preliminary information for those who want to know more about the bible you own.

There are two major translation methods. Formal equivalence (word-for-word), and functional equivalence (thought-for-thought). In all translation methods, the main goal should be to accurately speak what is communicated in God's word without changing the intended meaning or inserting bias.

Word-for-word translations are not necessarily better, and there is no true word-for-word bible translations. Even the phrase word-for-word makes it sound better and more accurate, but this is not necessarly the case. For example, here is a true word-for-word translation of John 3:16:
"Thus for he loved the God the world that the son the only/unique he gave so that every the one believing in him not may perish but have life eternal."

Yeah, so translators need to take some liberty in moving words around so the meaning is not lost. Translations like the King James (KJ), New American Standard (NASB), and English Standard Version (ESV), would be considered word-for-word, even though they really are not. Those that speak a second language will know one could never do a true word-for-word translation. These formal equivilance translations try to give presidence to the form of the original Greek or Hebrew and translate that form into English. This does not always work well, which is why we get a lot of "bible sounding" language that does not sound like proper English.

Also, the English language changes. When the King James was being read in the 1600's, people understood it because people spoke that way. We don't speak that way today which is why people often scratch their heads when reading King James, and that's not how the original Greek and Hebrew was. Formal-equivilance with an outdated language can make something nearly unreadable today. Ah, and you likely thought it was you when you couldn't properly read the bible! The original language of the bible was in the original tounge of people that day so one could understand it.

Also, how would you translate "he is in a pickle" into a different language? This is an English idiom which means someone is in trouble. Does it mean this person is litterly inside of a pickle? Idoms don't translate well as cultures are different, and idoms change over time. Mistranslating idoms such as the example above in word-for-word translations comes up with some funny verses as Mark Strauss demonstrates from the Better Bibles Blog:
Amos 4:6 ESV “I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities” Luke 17:35 ESV “There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.”

Functional equivilance, or thought-for-thought translates the same thoughts idea, and idoms from the original language into the language we speak today. The best example of this would be the New Living Translation (not to be confused with the Living Bible which is a paraphrase). The NLT is not a paraphrase as so many mistake it as, but an excellent formal equivilance that is readable and accurate tranaslated by a team of scholars from the original Greek and Hebrew. It also translates outdated time, length and volume measurements into measurements we use today.

Then there are versions such as the New International Version (NIV) and New English Translation (NET) which vary between the two translation methods when appropriate while still attempting to retain rediablilty and accuracy. On the opposite end of the spectum are paraphrases, or translations that places someone interpertation and theological spin on, usually done by one person. If you have The Message, or any other dumbed-down paraphrase, please get rid of it as there are more readiable and accurate to God's word translations out there.

While there are many good bible versions, there is no perfect bible translation, or translation method. Both methods have their pros and cons. My personal favorites are NASB, NIV and NLT. My primary bible is a NIV which I supplement with a NLT, and use a NASB on occasion. I also consult other versions such as the NET, ESV and KJ with Strong's Numbers.

Which bible version do you use?