Tuesday, December 30, 2008

MIXED REACTION - AGAIN

It is not news that war is once again breaking out in the Middle East on the Gaza Front.
Forces are staging and great volleys are being exchanged.

We are struck by the variety of world reactions to the growing hostilities.

On the one hand, prior to the outbreak of fighting, Israel was the target of a huge number of indiscriminate missile launches which cascaded down, blindly, on cities and towns and the like.

Only good fortune, good luck, or the Grace of God prevented numerous casualties.
The Study, perusing the news reports of those recent days, sees nothing of world outrage about this.
No outrage against the Arab barbarians carrying out these attacks. No outrage at all.

On the contrary, Israel is tacitly or overtly blamed for making such barrages ‘necessary’.

And then, when the counterattack is undertaken by the IDF, the outraged demonstrations begin.

We are busy here at The Study with happier thoughts about happier things, thank the Good Lord, but this Gaza matter is a biggie and is one to watch.

More to follow.

And we will endeavor to end this year of postings with some positive entries.

It is a sad note that some observers would have it that a successful Israeli offensive might be the best news we can hope for in that troubled part of the world.

2008 - RIP



Ah Friends, dear friends, as years go on
And heads get gray
Touch hands, touch hands, with those that stay.


Quoted above is a short verse discovered some years ago. Regretfully, no citation is available, lost in the course of time.

But the sense of it fits the closing days of 2008.

What a year it has been!

We are sure that the events of this year will be catalogued, probed, and dissected by folks for a very long time.

The Study hopes to be a part of those goingson [is that a word?].

An early contribution to that effort is the observation that a lot of really good people, mature folks we were very aware of when we were young (er), are now passing from the scene.

A partial list:

Sir Edmund Hillary; Bobby Fischer; Margaret Truman; Van Johnson; Eartha Kitt; Doug Fraser; Paul Newman; Richard Widmark; Edie Adams; Charlton Heston; Eddy Arnold; Dick Martin; Cyd Charisse; George Carlin; and Dr. Mike Debakey.

We rather doubt that every year sees such an attrition of the important and the interesting.
At least we hope not.
And this is but a partial list.

Take a moment on the Eve of the New Year to touch a hand or to at least raise a glass to friends and relatives, living and dead, who have been or who are a part of your lives.

There is at least a very good chance that we will pass this way but once.
It is good not to miss the opportunity.




Friday, December 19, 2008

THE NEW AMERICA...QUOTED IN POWERLINE

The link below will take you to an item in Powerline which is terrific food for thought.

In a few words, "...the times they are achangin'" for the good ole USA.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2008/12/022333.php

TEN INCHES OF SNOW FELL

Ten inches of snow fell on us this AM.
That is a lot of snow.

That is a lot of snow blowing and shoveling. We did both today.

And we are writing Christmas cards and sending off packages and making lists and checking them a couple of times and giving a party and going to some and doing other fun stuff.

And it is Christmastime.

The birdfeeder is full and the wood is stacked by the back door.

As we wrote in our annual Christmas Letter:

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

In 1872, Christina Rossetti wrote what would become the beautiful carol In the Bleak Midwinter. The first stanza, quoted above, could easily have been written for this Christmas Season of 2008. A hard, cold winter has come upon many of us, and it is a good time to thank God for family, friends, and our many blessings.

AUTO BRIDGE LOAN

The Executive Branch has acted, for better or worse.

Legislative under nancy and harry failed to act, for worse.

President Bush did so reluctantly. Imagine a Chief Executive worrying about forever modifying, perhaps not for the best, the American economic system.

But anyway, help was needed in some form. Congress could not provide it – was not able, competent enough to do so.

So the President acted. b.o. will have to carry the ball after inauguration.

God help us.

President Bush took the authority provided by the inept Congress and did what he felt was necessary.

As we write, the stock market is up a bit.

We at The Study are confused. We do not know who is right. But we know who some of the wrongs are.

PIRATES - THEIR TIME IS COMING

Nations are getting exercised about the pirate problem.

About time.

Big problem: what to do with captured pirates.

Can you believe it? There is no judicial mechanism at present to try these captured barbarians.

But at least nations are getting interested.

BLACKWATER WORLDWIDE TARGETED – 16 DECEMBER 2007?

AP is reporting that US prosecutors of Blackwater Worldwide have just received radio logs indicating that the charged Blackwater guards received 8 minutes of incoming fire from “insurgents and Iraqi police”.

Fom Iraqi cops??????

And the US Government is setting up to prosecute this security force.

We wonder how john murtha feels about this case?

UNMENTIONED CULPRIT(S) IN AUTO CRISIS

I read it somewhere, have forgotten where…
And most of the pundits, Fox News included, are not mentioning it…
But there are more culprits in this debacle than bad management; labor; crash of financial area, etc..
The big unmentioned is the American auto buyer who consistently and irrationally refused to buy cars made by the Big Three.

Why in God’s Earth would anyone in recent years refuse to buy American?

b.o. criticizes management. Labor does the same. Conservatives criticize the ‘greens’ and labor.

NO ONE CRITICIZES AMERICANS WHO BUY FOREIGN CARS !!

Everyone who needs a car should go out and buy GM; Ford; and even Chrysler.

Do it!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

THE BRIDGE LOAN

The US needs GM and Ford.
Ford claims that it does not need the loan.

GM needs it.

GM and Ford do not need government control of their companies.
They are plagued by enough of that already.

Such is the dilemma.

It or they need help.
The government can extend help.

But the government can also ruin the companies.

We at The Study do not know the answer.
We hope someone does.

We at The Study do not want to drive the cars that harry and nancy want us to drive.

Running a country and an iconic (?) business is not an easy job.

ON A HAPPIER NOTE

Our bird feeder has never attracted a better mix of birds: woodpeckers, cardinals, bluejays, sparrows, and others that I do not know the names of .

The snow cover is beautiful...long lasting, not too heavy - especially nice since our snow blower is still out of action.

J.L. Hudson's current incarnation as Macy's is superb!
A repeat visit yesterday to two larger outlets of this excellent store confirmed our belief that there is still some of the 'old store' left after half a century of our patronage...
And there have been a lot of changes...

SWEET

Newsweek, the New York Times, and NPR [upper case this one time] – The Study has the impression that all of these flaming liberal organs are in some difficulty.
Numbers of readers, listeners are down.
Print circulation is down.
Advertising revenue is down.

And we believe that liberal network news/opinion is suffering as well.

How sweet it is.

NPR - LAYOFFS, CUTBACKS

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/10/AR2008121002064_pf.html

npr suffering income decline?
Programming cuts?
Staff layoffs?
Loss of audience??

Who would have thought that a biased, flaming liberal network would have such problems??

I am sooooo glad that I have never willingly contributed a flaming red cent to this network.
Here at The Study, we USE npr, we do not support it.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

MOST COMMONLY STOLEN

Heard on radio today that the two most commonly stolen cars in the USA today are Hummer and Escalade.
Announcer opined that this is because these two vehicle types are vehicles that people like.

And he went on to suggest that nancy p. and harry r. and greens want to see Americans buy and drive crap...that this would reduce the crime rate because crooks tend not to steal crap.

Good goin' nan and harry.

CROOK COUNTY

The Governor of the State of Illinois looks like a little boy.
He is not a little boy.

We are given to understand that he oozed up out of Crook County.

Other prominent potiticians, past and present, have oozed up out of there too.

7 DECEMBER 1941...A BELATED NOTE

67 years have passed.
The year of my birth.

A lot of water under the dam.

Official commemoration will be slightly different this year.
More about that after it occurs. We will see.

What can one say about 7 December 1941, The Day that will live in infamy.

The war to end all wars didn’t do the job.

It happened again.

And we have fought plenty of them since.
And are doing so as I write.

What can one say?
Is there a lesson for us today?
Is there a danger of ‘learning’ the wrong lesson?
The answer is yes, the danger is great and some have learned the wrong lesson.

Maybe the leader of our greatest ally in that war of 1941-45 said it best:

I do not hold that we should rearm in order to fight. I hold that we should rearm in order to parley.

And,

Peace will not be preserved by pious sentiments expressed in terms of platitudes or by official grimaces and diplomatic correctitude, however desirable this may be from time to time. It will not be preserved by casting aside in dangerous years the panoply of warlike strength.

The United States, was not ready for 7 December, 1941.

Maybe that is why it happened.


Thursday, December 4, 2008

SOMETHINGS BIG THIS WAY COME

Something big this way comes is a quote I think I remember with some accuracy.
No idea of origin.

A paraphrase for today might well be somethings big this way come, for this last month of 2008 is chock full of really unbelievable happenings.

The implication, the connotation, is not positive.

To name just a few of the things :

The Episcopal Church of the United States continues to split/splinter and to threaten to splinter again.
The Presiding Bishop (upper case intentional, out of courtesy) should expect no less of the militant conservatives.
It is so tiresome to see/read/hear of her deposing this or that dissident bishop whilst the ‘reforming’ processes swirl around her and the ECUSA.

Mumbai – what can one say about Mumbai? One question for sure: where else could it/will it happen?
India apparently did not take appropriate precautions; did not respond effectively.
Wonder how the US would do? Or any other civilized country.
As the g.d. flaming lib national dems might say, Who needs a Patriot Act?

A luxury cruise ship is attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden. It escapes, but what a way to run a war!!
We need the old ways back: convoys perhaps; summary punishments;
armed merchantmen/women; contracted maritime security.

Bailouts/bridge loans/nationalizations/inanity/wisdom are all mixed up together as, as one writer has put it, our nation, our economy is crossing the Rubicon.
Americans want to save the Big Three, as it were, but lots and lots of Americans buy foreign.
It is hard to forgive rotten, lousy, poor judgment.

A mob of shoppers tramples a store employee to death as it rushes to begin shopping.
Absolutely beyond belief!
But it is true.
We have come a long way, baby.

Friday, November 21, 2008

IMPOTENCY

At The Study, we monitor liberal news/commentary sources. Some of them are quite responsible.
The fact that much of the nonsense coming from the libs comes from the responsible lib sources is in itself depressing and…these days, even alarming, given the fact that flaming libs now control two of the three branches of the Republic’s government.

At any rate, one example:

Security concerns/necessities have required that private firms be contracted with to provide secure environments to various personnel/places/things in Iraq and Afghanistan and possibly elsewhere.
Libs consistently decry this practice. They invariably apply the adjective ‘infamous’ to the security organization known as Blackwater. This is depressing inasmuch as Blackwater has proven itself to be an outstanding enhancement of US presence wherever barbarians are at work against US interests. The operative word here is proven.

Some days ago we remarked that the flaming libs would wring their hands over what to do about the piracy problem off the African coast; that to suggest deploying private security vessels would cause the libs to go ballistic.
And now, on a ‘responsible’ lib talk venue, such has been the case. The ‘expert’ intones that no one would want a private security vessel to accompany convoys of freighters.

Really???
No one???

We at The Study think that it would be a splendid idea. Letters of Marque could be issued, as they were in days long ago, before the day of the flaming libs.

And the aforementioned pundit, w/o batting an electronic eye, further intoned that European law would forbid any summary trial of captured pirates.

GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY!!!!!!!

Accoring to OLD EUROPE, a captured pirate CANNOT BE EXECUTED under current international law.
And said pundit excoriated the US for not signing on the this international impotency.

Talk about a tired, old, and IMPOTENT Europe.

I think Europe deserves a lower case e.

And reduced letter size.


ON THE SHELF

Books currently being read at The Study:

The Post-American World, Fareed Zakaria. Zakaria explores the meaning for the US of a world growing up around American hyper power.

21 – The Final Unfinished Voyage of Jack Aubrey, Patrick O’Brian. This remarkable volume contains the first three chapters of the 21st volume of the Aubrey/Maturin saga, complete with manuscript pages next to typewritten.
Remarkable and absorbing for all fans.

Churchill by Himself, Richard Longworth. A splendid compilation of Churchill’s quotations, complete with annotation and background. Marvelous.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

RUMINATIONS

AUTO BAILOUT:

Auto CEOs testify in D.C. requesting $$ from Government.
$25 billion has already been appropriated for ‘green’ auto development. Auto execs ask for that to be diverted to a loan to keep their companies solvent.
nancy p. says NO.

you just gotta wonder what planet she thinks she is on.
She is a flaming fruit cake.

I know, I know. Name calling is childish. Silly.

She is a fruitcake.

And yes, my mind is made up on that.
I was recently told by an otherwise intelligent person, an educator, that one should keep an open mind.

Bull sh.t.

On some things, closed minds are the way to be.

b.o. PROMISED CHANGE:

b.o. promised change. And we are reading of Cabinet picks ringing with such change artists as john kerry and hillary.
And other folks out of the Clinton closet.

These are really agents of change.

Well, perhaps they are. But the change they offer might not be the kind anyone wants.

PIRACY:

The Russian Navy is sending more ships.
More ships will not do any good unless the pirates are not only interdicted, but are killed or captured.

They have to be killed or captured and then killed!

DRIVING THEM OFF WILL DO NO ONE ANY GOOD!

FNANCIAL CRISIS:

Stocks continue to fall in value. Little shooters can now buy GM and GE and this and that for next to nothing.
And the little and big shooters and the US Government were told that unheard of $$ paid into the system would save it and restore it and stave off utter ruin.

We are still on the downward spiral to ‘utter ruin’.

It would seem that the folks at the top do not know what to do. Or they are unwilling to do what has to be done, whatever that is.

What is the little or moderate shooter to think?

2008 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION:

Conservatives voted for McCain because he was better than anything on the other side. He was not exciting, except for now and then during an exceptionally fired-up speech.
Sarah P. introduced the excitement, and not just for her looks.

She had a message.
She will do her homework.

At The Study, we liked Rudy Giuliani. He was exciting. He did not try very hard. Maybe he did not want the job badly enough.

We hear good things about the power of a Romney-Palin ticket for the future.

Giuliani and Palin or Palin and Romney. Perhaps a little fire could be generated.

b.o. and nancy p. and h. reid will make a hash of things. They cannot manage or inspire confidence.
They are failures. The public knows they are losers. The public will soon discover the same about b.o. unless he can successfully blame President Bush for his own upcoming failures.
And the public seems to be … myopic regarding b.o.. At least for now.

God willing, better times are comin’.

WEATHER:

At The Study we are hearing of six and nine inches of snow Up North. And even greater falls West.
And our ground has been frozen, top layer, for over a week now. Koi pond is frozen over. At least glazed over.

And glaciers are advancing.

Skiing is beginning in lower Michigan and of course North.

NASA reveals that its facts/figures regarding October temps was all wrong.

MAN/WOMAN MADE GLOBAL WARMING???????????????

I have a bridge to sell ya.

Make me on offer.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

PIRATES – AFTER ALL THEY HAVE DONE FOR THE WORLD, SHOULDN’T THE WORLD DO SOMETHING FOR THEM?

One of the ugliest and oldest professions is occurring with ever greater frequency.

Piracy!!

I cannot quote exact numbers, but they are available – and piratical events are already this year at least twice the number of such events all last year.

I think something in the area of 80+ incidents.

The ships attacked, the ones that make the msm, are freighters carrying grain, oil, and munitions.

Private yachts have been taken as well.

The motive apparently is to take the vessel and hold it and the crew and the cargo for ransom.

It appears that the ransoms are usually paid; that the cargoes are returned; the hostages are often well treated; and that usually few or none of th perps are ever caught.
Indeed, the perps are alleged to be living the good life in the coastal towns.

The British Navy has engaged a pirate vessel recently. And the Indian Navy has done so on at least two occasions, sinking one pirate 'mother ship'.

It is alleged that naval forces are spread too thinly to effectively suppress the piratical activity, and that there is some fuzziness about u.n. resolutions and what can be done with pirates when they are taken into custody.

One suggestion we find especially appealing here at The Study is to organize convoys of freighters in the high risk areas and escort the vessels through threatened waters.

If national navies cannot do the job, then there are private contractors which are reliable and capable. One which comes to mind is Blackwater Worldwide.

Blackwater is testifying as to this possibility this or next week in Washington. And Blackwater has developed an escort vessel prototype which would be just the thing to discourage barbarian attacks off the African coast – or whatever coast presented a problem.
Convoys under escort would be invulnerable to pirate attack, and the cost of the escort would be far less than the escalating ransom and insurance costs which are mounting at an alarming rate.

Flaming liberals will doubtless have a hairy at this solution – but that is to be expected and hopefully can be dealt with by responsible authorities.

Regarding what to do with the pirates?

Piracy used to be a hanging offense. I wonder when that excellent practice went by the boards.

Ideally, pirates will be prevented form taking their booty, thus denying them hostages.

Ideally, they will be killed during the interdiction.

If captured, they can be tried and executed – rapidly, tried by courts created for the purpose.

Such courts should not originate in the u.n. unless the courts are prepared to carry out the kind of traditional maritime law which will discourage/suppress the seagoing robbery, murder, and kidnapping.

That kind of law is trial and expeditions execution. No imprisonment.
No muss. No fuss.

This should be a lesson to flaming libs: crime will flourish where there is no law.

There currently is little or no law in the shipping lanes currently under pirate attack.

Those shipping lanes are vital to the security of nations, important nations.

Pirates are important too. They deserve the attention of major nations.

They should be given what they deserve.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

GLOBAL WARMING...GOOD GOD!

This is just too much.
algore and the u.n. are just too much, in so many ways.

Worse, tho, is the gullibility of the public that sucks up the b.s. that they generate.
Check out the article in the link below.

Good grief!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/11/16/do1610.xml

Saturday, November 15, 2008

QUOTE(S) OF INTEREST

Does this quote make you think of anything controversial having to do with global warming?

There are many methods for predicting the future. For example, you can read horoscopes, tea leaves, tarot cards, or crystal balls. Collectively, these methods are known as "nutty methods."

Or you can put well-researched facts into sophisticated computer models, more commonly referred to as "a complete waste of time."

Scott Adams quotes

A STITCH IN TIME SAVES...YOU KNOW WHAT

Yesterday we cleaned gutters.

The rain was light and the temperature was in the mid to upper fifties.

Today rain is heavier and snow is mixed in and the temp is in the low forties.

Thank God for the blessed window of yesterday to prep for the oncoming season.

There have been years when I chipped ice chunks out of the gutters to remove leaves and stuff form the summer.

Water and leaves is better.

GM...THE BEST COURSE

GM and Ford, the Big Two, as it were.
I will not speak here of Chrysler.
Or even of Ford.

But regarding GM.

It would appear that GM is facing a mortal situation…one that it perhaps cannot escape w/o help.

It further appears that help most likely will take the form of either a ‘bailout’ or a filing for bankruptcy.

It further appears that GM is beset with a number of unsustainable financial responsibilities to its workers, past and present.

It further appears (ifa) that a filing for bankruptcy would call for the renegotiation of such worker obligations that are unsustainable, that a bailout would perpetuate said obligations.

I wonder if it is being too simplistic to think that bankruptcy finling and renegotiation are the most sensible courses to take.

Perhaps the national dem hurry to affect a bailout is not so much to save the national economy as it is to save the financial status quo of an important national dem voter constituency.

How unfortunate that the economic crisis has occurred at such a time of national dem ascendancy, temporary though it may be.

Monday, November 10, 2008

11/11/11...LEST WE FORGET

A lifetime ago at 11:00AM on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, all the students and faculty of our school would stop whatever we were doing and observe a moment of silence.

Consider doing it this 11th day of November, 2008. Consider doing it for all those who gave, as the verse says, the last full measure, and for those who were willing to give that same last full measure.

Visit the link cited below.

I shed a tear. More than one.
Make the most of this day of days.

Lest we forget.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpj2vaOP2I4&feature=related

CONFUSION…BISHOPS, BAKERS, CANDLESTICK MAKERS

What are the sheep to do when the shepherds don’t know where to go?
What is the crew to do when the captain and officers do not know what orders to give?
What is the patient to do when the doctors don’t know what is going on?

What are the faithful to do when the bishops and the priests and the elders and the well-meaning who is who of the Faith do not seem to agree on doctrine which has been acceptable for hundreds and hundreds of years by lots and lots of good folk?

And we are talking faith here, Folks. Matters of faith…not matters of test tubes and Bunsen burners.

Well-meaning clergy tell us that the Canons of the Church need not be observed; that they were meant for other times, other conditions.
Well-meaning lay persons echo the revisions.

And maybe they are right.

But maybe they are not right. Maybe they are merely the democrat party at prayer.

I do not want to have anything to do with the democrat party at prayer.

So what is one to do?

Perhaps hunker down and think a lot and talk a lot to folks who have good ideas.
How does one know what to do?

Maybe it is like it is in a lot of other contexts: buyer beware.

Leaders aka experts tell us this. They tell us that. Both sound persuasive.

But they are not responsible for what is the truth.

We are responsible for what we believe is the truth.

There is a song lyric:
You have to walk that lonesome valley,
You have to walk it by yourself.
Nobody else can walk it for you.

In matters of faith, folks should be careful about telling anyone what is and what is not.
I don’t care if they are bishops or deacons or janitors.

So what is the point of this little piece?

The point is that at this time our leaders no longer speak with one voice. Perhaps they never did, but it seemed as though they did.

Or, at least I thought they did.

Maybe they never really did.
Maybe the Early Church itself was divided, maybe more so than even we are now.
There are those scholars who have presented this apparent fact of life.

The confused among us, and I am one of those, can hunker down and take his own counsel and for the moment stay with the confused leadership.
He can leave and join no group.
He can join a breakaway group.
He can join a group which claims to hold to the ancient truths.

And I am sure there are other options.

Perhaps to be tolerant and confused is an ok way to be.
There are worse ways to be.

One worse way is to be intolerant and not to know that one is confused as well.

The pathetic fact about those revisionists who are decimating the ECUSA is that they are confused and intolerant.

And they are imposing their confused intolerance upon those of us who would be confused and tolerant.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

DO UNTO OTHERS

Ann Coulter as quoted in The Mole Hole:

For now, we have a new president-elect. In the spirit of reaching across the aisle, we owe it to the Democrats to show their president the exact same kind of respect and loyalty that they have shown our recent Republican president." --Ann Coulter

Thanks, Joel.

What an exquisitely tempting thought!

ECUSA – POLITICS AND PRAYER

It used to be said, a ‘lifetime’ ago, that the Episcopal Church was the Republican Party at prayer.
The ‘used to be said’ needs revision now, a ‘lifetime’ later.

Now, with the leadership of the ECUSA calling for a variety of sexual orientation and gender ‘reforms’; for reformation of US foreign policy directions; for ‘modernization’ of theological concepts; for a redefinition of rational approach to international law and international relations; for new directions in almost whatever-you-name-it, it should now be said that the ECUSA is really the democratic party at prayer.

The leadership of ECUSA appears to be way ‘ahead’ of the ECUSA ‘followers’.

What can I say?

That which was taken as given for hundreds of years, hundreds and hundreds, is now held up, or down, as wrong-headed, ignorant, prejudiced, biased.

Doctrines which were matters of faith are now labeled as superstition.

The denomination is declining in numbers, much as is the stock of GM and Ford.

Inane resolutions are passed by national church leadership and diocesan leadership which further alienate longtime members.

It has been said elsewhere by others: when the unwise and undefendable becomes the norm, the acceptable, that which was the norm will become the undefendable.
The two will not exist together.

And there will be consequences.

There was wisdom in the world before the revisions of these days.

Let our lessons be learned with the least cost possible.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

THE FINER THINGS

The year is hurrying on toward conclusion.

Today, Thursday is wife’s volunteer day at Granddaughters’ school. She assists in three classrooms: classrooms of Granddaughter One and Two, and in the room of a good friend from her days of active teaching.

Here at The Study we did ‘homefront’ things, The Study things: we wrote and filed papers; made phone calls; monitored tv, radio, and ‘net’ info sources; read newspaper(s); and then progressed on to provisioning The Study; feeding feathered ‘friends’; working in the ‘back forty’; cooking; making cocktails for ‘the hour’; and on it went.

In the course of this most pleasant day, a respite day from the depressing news of politics, we are reminded of the finer things as referenced by Gus McCrea in that splendid Lonesome Dove:

The smile of a beautiful woman; the taste of good whisky; and a beautiful sunrise or sunset.

The glass is not half empty. It is half full.

The Republic is resilient.

We have all sorts of reasons to be confident.

Smile at your wife or significant other. Or, for that matter, at any fellow human you feel like smiling at. Pour a finger or two of a single malt. Get out and enjoy the rising or setting sun.

This is the day Our Lord hast made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Don't substitute 'she' for 'he'. Don't substitute 'God' for 'He' in a prayer.

Recite the prayer: Lord, I may be busy this day and forget Thee.
Please do not forget me.

PUTTY, BRASS, 'N PAINT

Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem about England which went something like:

If England was what England seems,
‘n not the England of our dreams…
But only putty, brass, ‘n paint,
‘ow quick we’d drop ‘er,
But we ain’t.


I paraphrased these lines some years ago to:

If the Episcopal Church was what the Episcopal Church seems,
‘n not the Church of our dreams…
Etc., etc….


Now, having watched and read and thought about what is going on in the leadership of the ECUSA and the Diocese of Michigan, I am thinking that perhaps, just perhaps, the ECUSA is really NOT the Church of my dreams. Perhaps the leadership is really “…only putty, brass, ‘n paint.”

Not a happy thought.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

KEEP THE FAITH

It is late.
We have filed papers and watched the returns.

We voted this AM. It took ca. an hour. It was a pleasure.
Had a number of conversations, all pleasant.

We had a bad feeling.

A sense of what was about to happen.

And it did happen.

Our day was pleasant. We voted. We took car in for service. We ate an upscale lunch at the dealership. The dealership is 'green'...and there is a hair salon...
It is superb.

It is a GM dealership.

We have owned GM for over 40 years.

We buy American.

We must not lose GM.

These days, anyone who buys any car other than a Ford or a GM product needs their heads examined...

Chrysler is ok...but not as good.

Anyway, we did the car thing and came home and washed windows; caulked cracks; fed the birds - woodpeckers of all kinds are frequenting our feeder - and we were cheerful.

And we declared a cocktail hour for evening watching of the returns.
We do not normally imbibe on Tue PM.

We needed the drinks tonite.

The Republic is resilient.

It has been.

It is now.

It has to be.

More later.

It is late.

Keep the faith.

This United States has been thru some tuff times.
This is one of them.

But there have been others.

More later.

FROM THE GOOD BOOK

When we at The Study look out at the hopping and chanting crowd in Chicago, we think of many things.
But one thing that occurs to all of us is a quote from the Good Book, paraphrased:

Forgive them, for they know not what they have done.

MUDVILLE

There is no joy in Mudville tonight.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

CAN IT BE?

Can it be true?

Are they really 'hidin bidin?'

Does anyone notice his absence?

EROSION

I suppose ‘erosion’ can mean a lot of things.
It is a natural process in nature.
Natural forces wash away a surface, changing the surface of whatever is being ‘eroded’.

Perhaps it is a natural process in human nature as well.

Perhaps over the decades and centuries, behaviors and customs long taken for granted give way to modifications, even to revocations.

We at The Study thought of this as we note some of the ‘changes’ taking place in this election season of 2008:

Flagrant acceptance of illegal campaign donations via electronic means

Refusal of msm to question one candidate regarding significantly troubling professional/personal associations

Harassment of citizens by one candidate’s campaign for daring to ask legitimate questions

Failure of msm to challenge impossible campaign promises by one candidate

Msm and media intense ridicule of one slate of candidates/not the other

Official toleration of illegal voter registrations w/o concern for effect on election outcomes

Toleration of the idea that personal id is a normal requirement for a host of important everyday transactions but not in the matter of exercising the right to vote…as in buying smokes or booze but not in casting a ballot

We could go on.

But you get the idea.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

POLITICS – A QUESTIONABLE CALLING INDEED

It must be tough to run for high political office. The higher the office, the harder it must be.

Just think, the good candidates must exaggerate what they will do, what they can do, what they want to do.
The bad candidates must lie and exaggerate about the same things.

The good and the bad. The difference is the one exaggerates and the other lies.

And the intelligent candidates know that most of their constituents do not know what the hell is going on.

The intelligent candidates can thus be said to be...hypocrits.

Of course, the above observations become more accurate when one adds the component of motivation.

The bad candidate generally has a bad, or at least a less good motive for running for office.
The good candidate will generally have the more respectable motive.

Depressing.

Imagine having to go before cheering crowds and having to either exaggerate or lie, almost always.

And when matters of high national interest are concerned, lives and physical wellbeing are often involved.
And often lives are lost and welfare sacrificed, for the greater good.

What a responsibility.

We here at The Study made phone calls yesterday on behalf of Senator McCain and a number of other Republican candidates.

We did not make many calls, about fifty or so.

We were verbally abused only a couple of times.
We had several pleasant conversations.

Most folks were not at home or their phones had been disconnected.

We were assured that the phone calling was important. We hope it is. We hope we did some good.

The economic crisis; acorn; the associations of b.o.; the msm; the wars in Asia; the disunity of the nation; the ignorance of the people; the bitterness of interest groups; and on and on. As it was once said so long ago, "These are the times that try men's souls.'

In this year of our Lord, the national dems are bad, very bad for this country.
Folks who support them are ignorant or mentally deficient and consequently are in their own way dangerous to the United States.

We are not at all sure that the Republicans know all the answers. But they sure as hell know a lot more of the good answers than the national dems.

One should make a choice. One should vote.

One should vote for the party and the candidates who will do the least harm and the most good.

The choice is, at the top of the ticket, easy.

One must vote for the national Republican Party if one is to vote intelligently.

The national dems, unchecked, will degrade national security, in all ways imagninable.

The saddest reality of this is that almost half, or more than half of the nation thinks it should vote for the national dems.

What a screwed up bunch of voters.

Monday, October 20, 2008

CORNY?? NOT A BIT!

Chris Wallace asked John McCain how he would do if he lost the election.

McCain said that he would do just fine, that it was an honor to have been able to run and that he thanked God for giving him such a blessed life. He added that he had never had more fun and that IF he lost, he would resume his life with his wonderful family and his career in government.

In a word, he was grateful for the opportunities he had been given to serve…to serve his country and his family.

Kind of reminds you of Horatio Nelson being asked by a fellow officer if he was cold whilst standing on the quarterdeck in a storm. His answer? I am not cold. I have my love of England to keep me warm [paraphrased].

Corny?

Not on your life!!

UNFAIR AND UNBALANCED

There are two sides to many of life’s happenings/doings.
The Study is a tiny online journal or blog if you will.

It has very, very, very few readers. Perhaps three or four.
As such, we at The Study can pretty much say what we like and not really bother to prove any of it.
But sometimes we do put evidence forth. Often we do not.

At any rate, a couple of things:

This AM’s newspaper carries a number of AP news stories, as all papers of any note do.
And several of these stories this AM had to do with McCain and Sarah P. and the financial ‘situation’.
The Sarah P. article had to do with her policies in regard to environmental protection of her hometown when she was mayor.
It is fair in that it discusses both improvements and degradations which occurred either before her incumbency or during her administration.

It is unfair in that it couches the improvements in such a way as to seem accidental or incidental, especially as it mentions her concerns about improving the quality of life of Alaskans as incidental to her obligations as mayor of her city.

Fair and balanced is a joke even when both sides of the picture are shown.

Little wonder why Brit Hume has decided to hang up the mike and camera this fall.
But we still detect a twinkle in his eye when he discusses some of the gives and takes of the world scene.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

RUMINATIONS ON A LATE SUNDAY NIGHT

The presidential race is a statistical tie.
But the momentum seems to be with b.o. He is raising and spending…a great deal of money.

He is smooth. Young. A gifted speaker. He makes his young and liberal audiences feel good.
He promises the impossible. A few of McCain’s promises are economical with probability too.

But b.o.’s promises are full of freight, baggage, stuff that will hurt the nation if they ever come true.
McCain’s exaggerations will not hurt the Republic if they reach fruition.

I am a poor chess player. At least I do not think they will hurt the nation.
The Episcopal Church is now down to 2.5 million members one report says. The worldwide Anglican Communion numbers 77 million.
The former entity is shrinking.
The latter is growing.

The leadership of the American wing of the Communion is taking it down the toilet. And the majority of folks in the pews do not even know it.

The Episcopal press was, we recall, at least as impressed with the Presiding Bishop’s resume as a pilot and marine biologist as it was with any theological expertise.

b.o. and Sarah Palin and John McCain appear on such venues as oprah, snl, letterman, and Lenno.
They appear there because that is where a hell of a lot of voters want to see them…and where a hell of a lot of voters get their ‘information’.
God save us.

I restored a political sign to an upright position today. It had either fallen down or had been uprooted. And planted a new one alongside it.
Nice when people toss down your campaign signs. Really ‘fair and balanced’.

We know that it is a truism that as you get older, time seems to fly by faster and faster.
But boy, this year the accelerated passage of time has really been noticeable. It seems but a week or two ago that we put the boat in the lake and opened up the camp.
And now the boat is out and the camp is closed.
In a twinkling.
And so many folks have died. Or become ill.

And seemingly but a few weeks ago we lit the last fire of late winter in our fireplace…and now I am splitting wood for the first of the new season.

It makes you wonder how many more years one has left…how many more seasons.
The time is really passing by…
I suspect that it has always been so, for the seniors of the society.
The youngsters long for the next day, for the next week, for the next season.
The oldsters know that the next will come all too soon.

Take care, take good care with your time.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

THE PROVERBIAL ASS

It seems that there is oil in and around North America.

Indeed, we are being led to believe that there is MORE oil in and around North America, in various forms, than there is in the Middle East.

Let’s be conservative.

There is a hell of a lot of oil in and around North America.

And all of it is accessible.

Some of it is accessible right now. Lots.

And all of it is eventually accessible.

And one political party is preventing the beginning of harvesting it.

ONE POLITICAL PARTY IS SITTING ON THE PROVERBIAL ASS.

We here at The Study urge one and all to vote for the other party.

GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY

acorn [lower case intentional] , the association of community organizations for reform now, is, of course, a national disgrace.

It is an embarrassment.
It is a travesty.

It purports to be working in behalf of the spirit of democratic political life.

In reality, it is working to destroy that very fabric.

The fruits of its labors will be to degrade the integrity of the electoral process.

And its leaders are unrepentant. They refuse to acknowledge the acts of their employees. They deny the damage they are doing.

Perhaps they are merely ignorant fools. Probably they are very aware of what they are doing.

No, not probably.

They are doubtless very aware.

Their expertise is age-old.

They are loading the ballot box. They are seeking to fraudulently change the outcome of an election.

They are the enemies of our system.
And b.o. and b.o.’s party, his ilk, his cohorts, his whatever you choose to call them, will do nothing, are doing nothing, to stop the doings of acorn.

Good God Almighty!!

YOU BETCHA

Troopergate…she had the authority….

So what is the big deal?

Leaders should stay within the law.
But they are supposed to accomplish that which needs to be accomplished.

It seems that the Governor had the right to exercise the power of termination.
She was within the law.

SHE HAD THE RIGHT!!!!

No issue.

She is a leader who accomplishes things, WITHIN THE LAW.

That is the kind of leader we need.
Doing what she did is called leadership.
It is what leaders do.

They don't just talk and organize communities.

They lead. They accomplish things.

That was how Teddy Roosevelt got the Panama Canal built.
While the Congress dithered and talked and organized, he ordered construction to start.

He was a leader.

You betcha!!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

BEYOND THE GATES...

Summer is…nearly kaput. I hope that is the right word.
Summer is about over.

The Northern Camp is shut up. Maybe one more trip to sort out a detail or two.

Splashes of color are abundant throughout the green foliage…and bright leaves litter the ground.

And it is cold at night, even tho warm during the day.

And the sun is sooo bright…and the blue sky so brilliant. Fresh, fresh air.

A squirrel ate a considerable portion of the British flag flying alongside the Stars and Stripes. We suppose he or she saw it as a warm liner against the coming elements.
The flag needed replacing anyway.

We have checked the wood pile and it stands ready.

Snow blower still needs work. And the koi need to be brought in.

And serious things are happening beyond the gates.

We non-economists here at The Study are watching the free falling stock markets.
We are watching the sober projections regarding the outcome of the looming election.

We see and hear about the doings of a group called acorn [small case deliberate].

We note the simultaneous registrations and voting going on in Ohio.

We hear of the transporting of bus and vanloads of folks from shelters and the like to registration centers and voting centers. We note the number of absentee voters…early voters sending in their ballots.

We are amazed that officials of one party should object to the showing of one’s ID to establish one’s identity. How un-American!!

Government is finding it necessary to dispense hundreds of Billions of dollars and still…the slide continues.
And now Government is talking of buying banks…and compelling the extensions of credit.

And on and on.

We are told that accounting rules are partly to blame; that mortgages were given to those without the ability to pay for them; that the ongoing difficulties are really at least partly to blame on political agendas.

We are witnesses to an economic epic…the outcome of which is not yet in sight.

As the mariner would say, beware the lee shore.

At stake in all this is more than our material comfort and economic well being. At stake here is the very national security of the United States and hence the security of law and order in the world.
For kid thyselves not: just as the mushroom people come out in the streets of a city suffering power outages and/or other catastrophic urban setbacks, believe us, the mushroom nations and tribes will emerge if the mighty power of the US and US allies is degraded.
In the city it is the thin blue line which stands between the good and the bad.

In the world, it is, in the last analysis, the power of the remaining hyper power which keeps the mushrooms at bay.

We watch and wait, and pray for the good guys to win, wherever and whenever they are engaged.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

STARTING TO STIR

The activists at The Study are armchair activists.
That is, we watch and listen and think and engage in conversation and write and go about our business.

But today, we got out of the armchair, just a little bit.

We sought out the local County Republican Club Election Hq, acquired some literature/signs, and solicited info on how to help.

It is time.

The polls say it is time.

Our nation is facing a Presidency the like of which it has not known, at least for quite a while. And it is good the nation has not known such a Presidency for quite a while.
We do not claim to know if this Presidency could be the most disastrous of all time….We do not claim to be that knowledgeable.

We are concerned for John McCain’s campaign.

We think he wins the debates, the arguments, the image making, etc. And yet, so many do not or are unsure about this or that.

And it seems to us that he could raise more red flags, make more powerful attacks, strike boldly and point out ALL the negatives of b.o.

And yet he does not. And his surrogates do not.

And so the armchair folks at The Study have begun, only begun, to stir at this late date.

Cobwebs are dusted off. Addresses are looked up. And movement is apparent.

Let’s hope that lots of folks start to stir.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

GENERATION'S #1 GOAL, ACCORDING TO b.o.

b.o., in a recent speech, announced what he felt to be the #1 goal of this generation: the stopping of global warming.

Say what??

The #1 goal of this generation, if there is a #1 goal, is not to stop a hypothetical computer model.

Most likely there is no #1 goal of a generation.

The real #1 goal of a citizen might be, emphasize might be, to help create a world in which the individual can realize his fullest potential whilst helping to make his family, his nation, his culture, safe for future generations of his fellow countrymen/women.

Baloney on the #1 goal being to stop something which is probably not even happening.

b.o. is an airhead.

He talks nonsense.

Folks who believe him think nonsense. Is that a correct sentence??
Regardless, it is a true statement.

AFRICOM

On October 1, 2007, United States Africa Command achieved Initial Operating Capability (IOC). AFRICOM's IOC marks a realignment of the U.S. Defense Department's regional command structure. For its first year, AFRICOM is operating under U.S. European Command (EUCOM) as it progressively accepts oversight of the programs and activities that the U.S. military conducts with African nations.

The American version of empire continues to evolve.

Check out some of the facts at http://www.africom.mil.

We believe that it has to happen; that if it is done properly it will be a good thing for the United States and for the world.

As Grandma used to say, big trees from little acorns grow.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

PIRACY

It seems that pirates and the US Navy are active off the coast of Africa, especially off the Somalia coast.

We at The Study do not know the numbers, but a lot of ships and crew have been taken this year.

Lots of ransoms have been paid.

And there have been some rescues.

The waterways concerned are said to be among the busiest on the planet.

And we are sure that pirates are active elsewhere as well.

What to do?

Payment of ransom is one thing to do.

Ransom is not a solution that will cure the problem. On the contrary, it will doubtless prolong the odious practice of seagoing crime.

Rescue of ship and crew is a good thing to do.

Trial of pirates is good, if they are severely sentenced, even executed.

The seagoing crime rate seems to thrive off the coasts of failed nation states.
Creating successful nation states out of these failed states is not an option.

The best option is prevention of the act itself. The African and Asian failed states whose coastlines provide safe harbor for the seagoing kidnappers, killers, and robbers cannot be turned into successful members of the international community.

Instead, their coastlines and offshore seas must be scoured by naval forces of the successful nation states who have vested interests in maritime commerce.

The un has called for naval nations to enter into negotiations with the failed states to allow for police actions within their territorial waters.

Such police actions should take place with or without the cooperation of the failed states. Cooperation is the best way. But regardless, naval forces should act when and wherever pirates are detected.

Piracy is as old as prostitution and is at least as unsettling to law and order. Correction: it is more unsettling.

And finally, it goes w/o saying what nation must lead the effort.

Guess which one.

Monday, September 29, 2008

MITIGATION

And a new film has been or is about to be released concerning the alleged attempt by Ford Motor Company to steal an invention from its creator.

We have no idea if the premise is true.

If it is true, it would seem that the spirit of the old Robber Barons still lives.

If it is not true, than the spirit of the anti-capitalists still lives.

We know, of course, that both spirits still live.

And more importantly, we know that the Barons mitigated the evil they did with lots of good that they did, and that the good the anti-capitalists have done is mitigated by lots of evil which they have done.

INSULATED?

We have been seeing a lot of b.o. (obama) signs in the countryside around two of the towns we frequent in the lazy, hazy days of summer.

The towns are delightful.

They are friendly, clean, and prosperous, full of folks we believe to be intelligent, hardworking, and on top of things.

And so we wonder.

How can such folk put up signs for such a national dem as b.o.?

We theorize that perhaps these Northern Folk feel that they are indeed in God’s Country; that they are insulated from all or most of the harm that a b.o. can inflict on the Republic; and that it is time for a change; that change is good once in a while; and that after a dose of change they will be able to return to a leader who really knows what is going on.

It is amazing how wrong otherwise intelligent people can be.

IT IS CALLED BEING IN CHARGE

mitch album, in his weekly Detroit Free Press article, advises parents that he sympathizes with the dilemmas they face.

mitch has no kids, but he apparently feels he is as much an expert in dealing with difficult children as he is in understanding and explaining the intricacies of our American political scene.

It is our sense that he fails on both scores, again and again and again.

This universal, renaissance young man knows all and is quite ready and willing to set us all straight.

Only the task is beyond him.

Items: mitch suggests that parents cannot spank their kids these days; that they cannot deny kids their toys, cell phones, ipods, etc.; cannot even keep them home from school.
How could they face their peers w/o 'toys'? Spanking parents would be reported. Kids kept home from school would be in violation of the law.

Of course, as any effective parent knows, one can spank, moderately, at least at home, until the kids are too big and it is too late.

I was once told by an animal control person that I could not kill squirrels he had failed to catch and which were inhabitating our attic area.
I asked him, why not?
Why, he said, what would your neighbors say?

I said, I don’t care, for heaven’s sake, what my neighbors would say. I would not tell them.

And parents can deny the toys. It is called being in charge.

And parents can ‘ground’ little devils. He doesn’t even mention this option.

And the idea of keeping kids out of school is ridiculous, unless the miscreants are suspended. They probably want to be kept home anyway.

Write your books, mitch.

Prattle on about sports.

Be glad you have a city and a radio station and a listening public dumb enough to enjoy your mindless chatter.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

nancy AND harry

nancy p. and harry r. have been hard at work with colleagues hashing out solutions to our current financial difficulties.

I am only a retired history teacher, and boy, have I forgotten a lot of history. But these two are really two pieces of work. They must at least rival doings of the most disgusting national leaders ever to have crossed our national stage.

Partisan; self-seeking; blind to priorities other than that of their own political survival; very, very economical with the truth; and, to coin a term used over at The Anchoress, execrable, at least in the case of harry r.

THE COLLIDER AND THE BIG QUESTIONS

Something called called the Hadron Collider is about to be put online.

It apparently had something of a glitch at its startup…but will soon be humming along just fine.
And one of the things it will be used to unravel will be questions about what the universe was like before the ‘big bang’ occurred, the event which ushered in what we know as reality.

Or which science things ushered in the big bang.

Options are many: parallel universes, multi-dimensions, big bangs, or even many ‘big bangs’.

Will such a time, the time before our ‘reality’, ever be knowable to empirical testing?

What a fascinating hope.

An age-old hope….

And if an answer ever comes to this question via this machine, whatever will humankind do with that answer?

And another question: how will mankind ever extend scientific research into the other end of an important reality: the afterlife.

How can anyone ever declare and feel that life is boring when there is so much to wonder at, marvel at, worry about, and feel all sorts of emotions over?

THE DEBATE AND 'PROTECTING SARAH'

Debate #1 is over.

Senator McCain won hands down, in our opinion. Why pundits see the result as a draw is beyond us.

Senator McCain had the facts, the right perspective, and the gravitas.

Not a draw.

A walkaway (sp?).

And the dem pundits are suggesting that the ‘bloom is off Sarah’s rose’, that the voters have tired of her already.
They further suggest that the McCain camp has been sheltering her from the prying eyes of the press in order to save her from embarrassing gaffs, mistakes, etc.

We feel that she is instead being somewhat restricted…much as a prize racehorse is sheltered during practice before a big race…in order to fool the opposition.

We feel that she will engage joe biden and decisively defeat him…at the very least, completely equal him. And the public will be as surprised as the McCain camp hopes they will be.

There will be a bump in the McCain polls…indeed, more than a bump. Perhaps a hill.

Cannot wait for Thursday.

Sarah is being ‘protected’ from the msm in order to shock the public in how great she is and is going to be as the next VP, if our voters do the right thing.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

THEY FEED ON EACH OTHER

Is the Iraq War still going on?

Are Allied Forces succeeding in this or that city or hamlet?

Is political progress being made?

One would think, in a ‘fair and balanced’ media market, that one would give print/air time to some successes of our forces and not just concentrate on huge time slots for any failures, disgraces, etc.

But no, not in the USA.

Check out NPR, MSNBC, NBC, and CNN and decide for yourself.

It used to be that the successes of a nation’s military were proudly discussed in that nation’s media.

Not the media of the USA. Not today.

Wonder which came first: the dissembling/distortions of national media or the ignorance of much of the American public, for we are convinced that the two feed on each other.

FINANCIAL 'CRISIS'

Could it be that part of the current ‘crisis’ is the result of overbuilding of this or that?
Drive around your community. In ours, at the four corners of crossing streets one commonly sees more than one gas station or drugstore. Strip malls are…everywhere.

Mega malls are popping up…in really convenient places.
Car dealerships are legion.

Restaurants are built; abandoned; and reoccupied. Or not reoccupied.

Huge housing complexes are, or were, under construction all over.

Can it be that we have created a service infrastructure that is just not needed, that the negative financial fallout now is reaction?

Did one political party, especially one, decide that it was good policy to sell homes to folks who could not pay for them and made it possible, even attractive, for banks to carry out this insane policy???

You think?

Guess which party.

MORE ON HYPOCRISY AND POPPYCOCK

It may be said that institutions exist to serve the common good.

It may also be said that all institutions are IN the world.

It is also true that some institutions claim to be IN, but not OF the world.

That all of them are IN the world is not debatable.

That some of them are not OF the world definitely is debatable.
I suggest that all institutions are OF the world. It is just that some of their members do not know it. And some institutions are more other-worldly than others.

And then comes the matter of the purpose of the institution, the matter of serving the common good.

What is to be done with, or how is one to think about an institution which no longer serves the greater good, but instead serves a lesser good, or even serves no good at all, or even does harm to the community it serves?

And this is now the question facing folks who are disturbed by certain doings in the ECUSA, the Episcopal Church of the United States.
It also faces folks who are not disturbed by such goings-on, who are happy with said goings-on, for they are fracturing their institution.

Do the concerned folks swallow their concerns and go quietly about their traditional practices, thinking their thoughts and remaining within the Communion?

Do these folks speak out and work to correct what they perceive to be serious errors?

Do they merely withhold financial contributions?

Or do they leave the Communion they are so dissatisfied with?

Or do they change their minds regarding their concerns and go along with perceived changes?

Or do they do any other things not mentioned here?
It is late and I am sure there are other options.

I suggest that infallible human judgments/pronouncements do not exist. Institutions and individuals claiming infallibility are making fallacious claims.

Anyone who knows anything about how interpretations and beliefs came to be doctrine knows the truth: what we know of as religious doctrine comes about over time, by consensus, and, hopefully, without a lot of book burning and pain and suffering. Unhappily, there was a lot of the distressing latter developments.

Consensus is the operative word here.
And empathy.

And understanding that what has been ‘doctrine’ for ages and ages must not be tossed aside willy-nilly [sp?], regardless of the costs.

When an institution tosses out consensus; when it causes itself to fracture; when it seems to be serving other than the common good, then it will grow increasingly irrelevant to the perceptions of the public it serves.

Such an institution is currently perceived, by a growing number of its members, to be the ECUSA.

The ‘reformers’ should be aware that they are no more infallible than their more conservative forebears, those who taught that which is now in disfavor with national church leadership.

What they share with their forbears is a need to work with consensus, to avoid the trap of believing that they are in possession of a truth so sure that dissent can be ignored, even driven from the Communion.

Food for thought.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

TUESDAY

Ahmadinejad is at the u.n..
Actually, he is in the United States.
And the u.n. is in the United States. Actually.

ahm apparently would like the u.n. to be moved elsewhere.
So would a lot of Americans.

He, of course, should be subjected to a travel ban. Wouldn’t that be a stitch: any and every international trip he ever tried to undertake would be intercepted and he would be returned to iran, by order of the good guys of the world, the GGWs.

That’ll never happen.

The Study did not watch him today. We made salmon patties instead. You have to do the important things first. Mustard on the side.

But we believe he called for the annihilation of Israel and announced the end of US ‘interfering’ around the world.

Imagine!

What a guy!

And the Russian Navy is showing the flag next door to the US.

And venezuela is trying to buy attack fighters.

And the US Congress does not know what to do re our econ woes. This really is a big problem, and maybe this time at least they are confused because an issue is complex, not because they [plural pronoun?] are more into promoting their party than the good of the nation.

joe biden continues to shock and awe with his inane comments. Some of them are really quite on the mark, especially regarding hillary and the b.o. campaign message regarding McCain and computer use.

The winner of Election 2008 will have his hands full.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

THE STUFF OF HYPOCRISY AND POPPYCOCK BISHOP SHORI, ECUSA

Thanks to The Mole Hole for a heads up on this one.

Episcopal Life Online reports that the Episcopal Church of the USA is going to apologize for slavery:

[Episcopal News Service] A two-day solemn observance has been planned for October 3-4 at the historic African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where the Episcopal Church will take a monumental step and publicly apologize for its involvement in the institution of transatlantic slavery. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori will serve as celebrant and preacher at the October 4 service of repentance.<

Bishop Shori’s presence at/in the service presumably means that she is apologizing as well. Now, she, of course, has never owned anyone. But as the P.B., she presumably feels it is her duty to represent the entire American Church in this apology.

We note the word ‘repentance’ in the paragraph quoted above.
We think we recall that real apology requires repentance, or feeling sorry that one has done the act being repented, and also the determination not to do that act any more. Or, in other words, to change the relevant behavior pattern.

We think it is at least a bit awkward that in this case of repentance, the P.B. has never committed the act she is repenting; that consequently she cannot stop doing it, inasmuch as she has never done it; and that she can therefore not change her pre-repentant behavior.

We thus fail to see how this act on her part can be anything but an act of utter hypocrisy.

And the same goes for any part of the ECUSA that engages in similar apologies.

All of which leads us to the greater question of the growing irrelevancy of certain of our institutions, national or otherwise.

Friday, September 19, 2008

I SEE BY THE PAPERS [BORROWED PHRASE]

h. reid has announced that he and no one else knows what to do about our current economic woes.
You think?

Actually, there are those who either know or are about to know, but as Sarah P. has stated, it is convenient to allege that no one knows what is going on when you yourself do not know…

h. reid is a real piece of work. As is his colleague in the other House, nancy p.

The market is rallying today. The System is responding. Fixes are being put in place and, hopefully, they will do more good than harm.

b.o. has announced that he will make no ‘economic solution’ comments until after responsible officials announce their proposals.
Is this the same as b.o.’s ‘voting present’?

Sarah Palin and hillary were invited to a demonstration protesting the appearance of ahmadinejad at the un.

hillary announced she would not appear when informed that Sarah was also invited.

Sarah P. was disinvited when hillary pulled out.

Sooooooo, what is going on here???
Wonder what kind of folks organized this rally.
Why would either lady not be welcome if both had been welcome?
You gotta wonder.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

GENERAL PETRAEUS...PLEASE READ

Defense Secretary Robert Gates put it eloquently Tuesday when he said of Petraeus, paraphrasing Gen. Douglas MacArthur: "You have built courage when courage seemed to fail; regained faith when there seemed to be little cause for faith; and created hope when hope had become forlorn."

Read the whole thing at:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/printpage/?url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/09/petraeuss_miracle.html

THAT IS OK TOO

Becoming a senior citizen can be fun if things hold together: if your health is good; if income is adequate; if your mental state maintains; if your relationships remain strong; and so on.
You gain a certain perspective…especially if your memory does not get fuzzy.

And so, you can often be guilty of feeling just a little superior when younger folks display their ignorance about this or that happening in the family, the community, the nation, or the world.

The national dems would have you believe that unemployment today is the worst it has ever been. False.

They and others allege that the US is bereft of international allies. False.

They and others allege that additional exploitation of fossil fuels in North American would be a mistake. Wrong.

They and others [tao] allege that we can realize national energy requirements entirely by bringing online alternative sources of energy…w/o recorse to a fossil fuel bridge. Wrong.

Tao seem not to understand the importance of traditional mores, beliefs, customs, etc., and the dangers of allowing them to become irrelevant. They know not how little they know. They know not what they do.

Tao seem not to realize the unique role of the US in international affairs…and the significance of the process by which this uniqueness came to be. Such realization requires one to live outside the eternal present.

And on and on.

Yes, it is satisfying to know that you know more than some of our leaders.

And yet I am aware that a great comedian of our recent past once declared that isn’t it a shame that the only folks who know how to run the world are barbers and cab drivers…and in my case, a retired teacher.

But still, it is grand to watch. It would be grander to be able to act and change things.

But such is not to be.

We will watch and know a few things. That is ok too.

VERY CONSISTENT

harry and nancy have worked to produce an energy bill in their respective legislative houses that is typical of their work.

It allows offshore drilling in places where the least oil and natural gas is to be found; it allows for no incentives for the states who are to authorize it; it requires the gas companies which are to do the drilling to pay huge amounts of their profits into the Federal Government; and the Senate will under no circumstances approve it.

It is a bill which in final form will go nowhere.

It is thus very consistent with the work output of these two national dem leaders.

BE GLAD

A significant historical figure once said that folks who like sausages and politics should never watch either being made.
I have just spent some hours writing an essay on why it is so hard to become an informed citizen.
And I am depressed.
Brit Hume has announced that he is just a little tired of the negatives that he has been reporting for so long.
I believe that he enjoys the contributions he has made , but I also believe that he can be just a little tired.
If I were one of the few readers of this modest journal, and I am, I think that I would not want to read any more from this source about why there is so much ignorance all around us.
And I don't.
It is tiresome to be always reading negative stuff.
So I will sit on the item until I can insert some positives.
Be glad.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

YEAH, RIGHT!!

Charlie Rangle…taxabley embarrassed?? Couldn’t happen to a more likely candidate!!

Pakistan is going to fire on US troops in cross-border operations??? Get a life!!

b.o. announcing that the US economy is fundamentally flawed?? Go b.o..

Senator McCain had lunch today in a diner.

b.o. is having dinner tonight with barbara striesand (sp?). b.o. is a man of the common people.

THIS ‘N THAT

Surfing the news sites on the web is enlightening, encouraging, and discouraging.
Put on the coffee, fix an English muffin, and hit the web.

Read Powerline…. http://www.powerlineblog.com/

W/o doubt, it is one of the best, most informative sites on the web. Does it have a liberal bias??
When hell freezes over.

And on a sad note, Brit Hume is set to retire at end of the year. One can only hope that he continues in a significant way on Fox.

Can Sharia law really be enforceable in parts of the UK??
Say it isn’t so.
Such is being reported.
I hope there will be more to come re this. The Mole Hole feared as much some time ago. We thought no way.
You gotta wonder.

Fox is doing interviews with First Dude. Did a good job with Sarah last week.
If you get a chance, check it out.

b.o. says the surge is working, that he was right to oppose the surge.
b.o. says the econ woes are the fault of the Republicans, that he can fix all.
b.o. is facing a new kind of 50 state campaign, one he did not imagine.

Have you heard the rumor, that joe biden might resign candidacy in favor of hillary?
The idea is being circulated, talked about. Not likely, but…interesting. b.o. really wants the Presidency. Wants it more than loyalty. Whatta guy!!!

acorn is reported to be ‘recruiting’ voters again…
"There appears to be a sizeable number of duplicate and fraudulent applications," said Kelly Chesney, spokeswoman for the Michigan Secretary of State's Office. "And it appears to be widespread."

And acorn is funded by public monies. I wonder what kind of folks acorn is registering. I wonder if they are all alive. I wonder if they will know how to vote.
Folks hard hit by the Gulf storms are still in a bad way. So what else could be expected? These storms are bigtime. God help those who were/are in harms way.
We are wondering when the charges of Federal incompetence or worse will start. Maybe they already have.

The polls are suggesting that perhaps, just maybe, the fall election will break the right way.
We have hope.

Confusion to the enemy. Confusion to the competition.

May the right win.

Monday, September 15, 2008

YOU GOTTA WONDER

Turmoil among the financial giants.

Gigantic sorting out is underway.
It appears that mistakes have been made…for some time…by our financial ‘experts’.
And now the piper has to be paid.

b.o. blames the Republicans.

The President and candidate McCain assert that the economy is fundamentally sound.

joe biden is live on the stump today proclaiming that the economy is not fundamentally sound, that we are virtually on the brink of 1929ish collapse, that McCain is totally out of touch with reality.

How sad for the dems to be in a party that needs American collapse/failure for it to prosper.
Many of us long for the good old days when both parties would argue instead for their own policies to improve our success, not to save us from catastrophe which is at hand.

For catastrophe is not at hand.

It is made up.

We are in delicate, transitional times. The difficulties have been caused by a lot of factors, some of which are most indirectly connected to partisan politics.

Beware the candidate who proclaims that he or she is a new light coming on the scene.

Treasure the candidate who promises to work with the powers that be to fix that which is out of order.

Beware the soundbites.

I actually watched a national dem activist this AM, on TV, argue that McCain’s inability to type, to email, to use a computer, is evidence that he is ‘out of touch’.

OUT OF TOUCH???

The idiot did not know that war injuries were the reason for the inabilities.

He asserted that if one cannot type, he cannot know what is going on in the world.

My God!!

How many people do you or I know who cannot type and who are very knowledgeable about the world around them?

I am reminded of the joke/question that sheds light on the difficulties of anyone trying to deal with the public.

What does the President of the US have in common with the manager of a cemetery?
Both have lots of people under them but no one is listening.

People!!

Good grief.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

IT IS THE WAY THE WORLD WAS

We went to Alaska this year.

Alaska now is a part of the world the way it was…except it is now…it is now the way it was.
And that is so special.
It is not another state but wilder. It is not like another state at all.

It is different. Not better, necessarily. Just different. And so very, very special because it is so different.

The folks living there have had an impact. But it is limited. It is not tamed.

To go to Alaska is to have a life changing event occur.

It is so special.

I wish I could convey the specialness (sp?) of Alaska in a satisfactory way.
I cannot.

What a coincidence that the lady we hope will be the next VP of the US is an Alaskan. And a very successful Alaskan at that.

Go to Alaska and see the world the way it was.

We hope you will love it.

It is not for everyone.

WILL NEVER HAPPEN

I know it really cannot be done.

But folks who elect to stay in target area of an incoming hurricane, and who don’t have to stay…and who need lifesaving rescue afterwards….rescue which endangers first responders…

Should only be rescued if they PAY, and pay big…..or they should be left on their own.

It cannot and will not be done.

But that would be sweet.

Same for folks who fish on floating ice flows…and have to be taken off by ‘chopper’…

That too would be sweet….

Make ‘em pay or ignore ‘em…

Will never happen.

Same for folks who build their houses in forest fuel and then fail to save their houses when NATURAL forest fires occur.

Let houses burn.

Same for those who build their damn houses in the middle of flood plains (sp?).

Will never happen.

FABRICATORS IN ACTION

The Study stayed home from church this Sunday AM.
Watching the TV on Sunday AM is a rare thing for us.

We surfed the channels: Fox; MSNBC; NBC; and did not get over to CNN.

Fox
was its usual excellent self, with the Brit Hume Panel and many of the regulars. Superb. On target. It really is fair and balanced.

Folks who do not agree that the Brit Hume group is indeed fair and balanced are out of touch, wrong, and really not worth spending too much time talking with.

Tom Brokaw was on NBC. He is alleged to be one of the better libs. What a scene. He should be ashamed of himself. He had chuck schumer on and was talking by remote with Rudy Giuliani…and Rudy pointed out, plain and simple, clear as a bell, the errors of the news item NBC and schumer and tom allowed to pass.\

Amazing that anyone would want to watch the NBC team for any other reason than that it is interesting to watch fabricators in action.

WE CANNOT TELL THE DIFFERENCE

Talking heads bemoan the nastiness of the current political campaigns.

We are told that never before have such ugly things been said about the competing candidates.

b.o. says ludricous things about his background and his opponent and about what he would do when and if elected.

Even the McCain forces occasionally issue pathetic condemnations.

And we are informed that never, never in the history of American politics have any such goings on been seen.

What a bunch of bull sh.t!!!!!!!!

Get a volume of 18th or 19th Century political speeches and see what the contenders said about each other.

Again, that the current pundits foist such exaggerations and even distortions upon the public is bad enough, but even worse is that the public is so ignorant that it believes them.

It has never been truer that a nation gets what it deserves in the leaders it elects.

That the polls are so evenly divided is evidence that we are a nation of politicallly ignorant voters who cannot tell fact from fiction, truth from lies.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

DEMOTIONS, ETC....

From anchors to analysts…Olbermann and Matthews.
It couldn’t happen to nicer guys.

Drivel!
Left wing drivel spewed forth from these two…talking heads.
msnbc has done the right thing...at last.
Hurricanes churn across the Caribbean and threaten our eastern coast.
Us warships transit the Med into waters considered home waters by Russia.
Russia announces naval exercises in our Caribbean.

b.o. continues to mouth his inanities.

Sarah P. continues I am sure getting ready for her ‘coming out’ series of events before the electorate.

She will do fine.

She is, as the pundits have said, a ‘quick study’.

Joel over at The Mole Hole picked her out a year ago as a winner, as someone to watch.

We started to do so here at The Study.

Bill Kristol (sp?) announced in June that she would be the pick.

He is wrong occasionally. Not often. And not this time.

The election is just a few months away. The campaigns have begun the final lap, and it will be engrossing. We look forward to the doings.

Pray that it goes well.

The nation, the world, needs a good outcome.

Russia is testing President Bush as the end of his Presidency. As sure as little green apples, it will tests b.o. if he is elected.

Russia will not test McCain as aggressively.

DEMOTION

From anchors to analysts…Olbermann and Matthews.

It couldn’t happen to nicer guys.

Drivel!

Left wing drivel spewed forth from these two…talking heads.

Msnbc has done the right thing...at last.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

THE ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

Home run.
Touchdown.
Bullseye.
Goal.
Basket.

The Candidate hit it out of the park.

Let there be no doubt. This is one remarkable ticket.

It speaks of a nation that 'does not run from history, but rather makes history'.

THURSDAY NIGHT DURING THE RNC

Fox News talked over a Robert Duvall tribute to Senator McCain.

CNN carried it.

I cannot believe that we have been surfing from Fox to CNN.

And Cindi McCain speaketh well.

The Senator's speech is about to begin.

Showtime!!!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

SARAH

Rudy Giuliani speaketh well. He has done so for a long, long time.

Sarah Palin speaketh well. She has done so tonight.

Message, knowledge, timing, both had the RNC in the palms of their hands.

We at The Study wish Sarah Palin and John McCain all success, for their sakes and for the sake of our nation…and the world.

FOX AGAIN...

Fox did it again.

Huckabee gave a superb speech...a 'tearjerker' even.....

One that all watching Americans could benefit from hearing, even some libs....
And Fox carried on with H&C...

Not good!

We had to watch the doings on CNN....

My God....what are things coming to when you have to leave Fox and go to CNN?

FOX SLIPS UP A BIT

Wednesday night at the RNC…

Speakers tonight will be Romney; Huckabee; Guiliani; and Governor Sarah Palin.

A criticism of Fox News from The Study: during the opening prayer and I think the singing of the National Anthem; during the address by the former CEO of EBay; and during the speech by Romney, Fox continued Hannity&Combs, reports from newsfolks on the floor, and commercials, while competitors carried the speeches and the prayer.
What is going on here, Fox?
Hannity etc. is good, but the speeches and prayers are more important.

And yes, I know that the really big speeches will not be slighted.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

VERY BRIEF COMMENTS DURING RNC WEEK

The RNC has begun in earnest.

And I have missed most of most of the speeches.

Fred Thompson apparently gave a humdinger.

Especially good was his description of the kind of character civilizations have always prized in their leaders, character comprised of strength, courage, humility, wisdom, duty, and honor, and pointing out that these characteristics are part of the McCain resume, without a doubt.

And a good speech by Senator Lieberman, noting that now is a good time for political smallness not to get in the way of national greatness.

The brief address by President Bush was missed. It was short. Too bad it is necessary for the RNC to feel it has to…’downplay’ the President, if that is what is going on.

The WSJ has an especially good piece on the economic plusses of the Bush Administration:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122039890722392873.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries

It is really a flaming shame that the country is do divided, so partisan, blind, and caught up in meaningless progagnda that such info is not more commonly understood by…joe blo.

Did see Nick Clooney, g clooney’s Dad, criticize the msm for coverage of the pregnancy news re the VP candidate’s daughter. Good for him.
Dad is apparently a journalism prof??

Anarchist protestors outside the RNC should be given special treatment: pepper sprayed or tear gassed; cuffed; suppressed short of death if possible; arrested; charged with the most severe crimes they could be convicted of; and then thrown in the slammer for as long as possible.

Where do these cretins think they are? Can they not vote? Can they not work in national or local campaigns? How about running for office?

Good God Almighty!!!!

Sunday, August 31, 2008

APPEARANCES

The hurricane adds a dimension to the Republican National Convention, the RNC.

To some extent at least, we will be denied the hoopla of the opening speeches and what all.

It has been deemed less than fitting for the RNC to be seen to be celebrating while the storm is bearing down on our southeast.
And it has been deemed to be impolitic for various leaders and delegates to be at the RNC while the havoc is occurring in their home states.

The pity of it is that the RNC must go on and folks who are involved in it have a duty to be at the Convention and that there is no real need for them to have to go back to their home states.

It is show. Things must look a certain way. Folks must be on site, to be seen to seemingly be doing this or that, even when they could be doing those things from elsewhere, even in these days of … miraculous communication possibilities. And even when the ‘doing of this or that’ is itself largely symbolic.

Think of all the flak that President Bush took for taking the time to finish the story he was reading to the children when informed of 9-11, three years ago. Think of all those things he could have done in those four or five minutes.

And that is how it should be, I guess. At least, that is how it is.
Most likely.
It has been said that truth is perception. Even if perception is baloney.

But it is not really necessary. Governors and the like can orchestrate strategy and give orders from any state in the Union whilst carrying out various responsibilities, such as functioning as members of a nominating convention.

It is late.
The storm is on the way.
God save the Southeast. God save the Republic and the Republican Party.

Friday, August 29, 2008

THE EXPERIENCE ISSUE

Her critics will argue that she is young, that she lacks experience in ‘foreign affairs’.

Her defenders, rather her supporters, will/should argue that she is intelligent, gifted, energetic, and an experienced executive.

McCain has been certified to be healthy enough to take on the nation’s #1 job. There is no reason to believe that he will not be able to complete at least one complete term in office.

But anyway, she will be a quick study. She will be surrounded by the best staff and the best teachers to ‘bring her up to speed’ in any and all areas wherein she may be deficient.
She has time.
She is the #2, not the #1, and that is the/a big difference.
She has the time.

Her instincts, all of them, appear to be in the right places.

This alone puts her ahead of a flaming liberal who has repeatedly demonstrated his own fallibility.

FINALLY PROUD

I wonder if, in the next few days, Mr. Palen will announce that now, finally, he is proud to be an American.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

dems BEWARE

The national dems stress in their speeches and print and broadcast media that the American dream is in trouble; that the economy is weak; that the war in Iraq is lost; and that US alliances are in disarray.

Democrats beware!

The traditional American Dream has allowed b.o. to take centre stage. The economy grew by over 3% last interval. The Iraq War is well on its way to being won. And US alliances are vibrant and well.

Apparently, b.o. spoke to over 80,000 folk.

He was well received. Of course, he promised a list of things that no superman could ever deliver. And b.o. is no superman.

If only the ‘true believers’ could look around them and pierce the haze that their myopic vision has limited them to.

The economy is not spiking, but it is not in recession. It is growing, albeit modestly.

The war is being one, one front of it anyway.

Unemployment is low, near 5%. In oil country, where the dems permit only limited drilling, it is booooooming.

Our alliances are strong and flourishing. NATO is pushing into Eastern Europe. Russia is having a catfit.

To hear the dems tell it, the US is a third world country. You have to be blind, deaf, and dumb not to realize it.

HURRICANE THREAT

When Katrina hit New Orleans and local and state and Federal officials were less than optimally successful in their reactions, the Federal Government took the greatest pr hits.

In all fairness, the state and local officials were hugely remiss, as all right thinking folks know.

Now, if the current hurricane threat should hit New Orleans, God forbid, and if all the agencies do their jobs well, will the Feds get any credit? Or will all kudos go to the locals?

We'll see.

b.o.'s CONVENTION IS OVER

b.o.’s speech to 70,000+ folks is over.


The national dem convention is over.
We at The Study have watched parts of the doings over the last four days.

It was interesting.
It was flashy.
And finally it was enough.

We enjoyed the personalities for awhile. But after a while, the inanities and the inaccuracies and the pandering really began to cloy, to grow tiresome.
We look forward to the Republican National Convention. We look forward to less of the above negatives.

And then there is the drama of the networking feuds, the ones going on especially at NBC and MSNBC. We hope for more fireworks from that formerly decent network.

We think a well done is due to Joe Scarborough (sp?).

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

OVER SEXED; OVER PAID; AND OVER HERE

Whilst watching/listening to the national dem convention, I could not help but be aware of some of the hollywood celebs who were in attendance or who were making their opinions known via their 'work'.

madonna is currently busy, we are told, comparing McCain to Hitler and b.o. to Ghandi.

And richard dreyfuss, I think chevy chase (not sure), and others whom I did/do not recognize have appeared on screen, mouthing their ... 'wisdom'.

And it occurred to me that the British labels applied to our troops stationed in the UK in WW2, and perhaps in WW1, could be applied to these sorry actor and actress citizens:

These flaming libs are: Over sexed; over paid; and over here.

Unlike the military men of the two wars, however, they are pretenders, folk who make their fortunes by pretending to be what they are not, and they enjoy a forum which their background no way necessarily entitles them to.

That these folks are as ignorant as they are and that they say what they do is not the main reason to be concerned. Rather, it is the fact that so many listeners pay heed to them, and regard them as real.

They are not real. But they look like they are.

And the pathetic thing is that they think they are real. And that so many folks believe in them.

nationl dem CONVENTION COVERAGE...FAIR AND BALANCED

We have been watching the coverages of the dem convention.

Fox News, cnn, msnbc, abc, nbc, etc.

I defy anyone to carefully watch all of them and not come away with clear, easily reached and defendable reasons why the one is not better, superior to all the rest.

For anyone to fail to see the superiority of the one I am afraid will cast doubt upon his or her ability to discriminate between the poor, mediocre, fabricating, misleading, and the most “fair and balanced”.

Nuff said.

And I have just read that certain national dem miscreants intend to be present at the Twin Cities in order to distract, disrupt, or otherwise frustrate the Republican Convention which is about to commence.

No surprise. What else could we expect?

national dem watchwords: fight; march; take back the country; punish the corporations; workers unite to take from the rich and give to the poor; save the world from the domination of corporate interests; provide equality of all sorts to all; etc, ad nauseam (sp?) .

Does total equality equal total excellence or...equal mediocrity...without exception?

Think about it.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

A REASON TO STAY

The link below will suggest a line of reasoning which might allow disgruntled Episcopalians to refrain from leaving the American Episcopal Church.
It seeks to put a little perspective on how a conservative Christian might be able to put up with less than conservative leadership in the American Church.
Worth reading and thinking about.


http://3riversepiscopal.blogspot.com/2008/08/jeff-murph-reflects-on-spiritual.html

nancy p. AGAIN

nancy p., on Meet the Press again, this time quoted by TitusOneNine:

[Nancy] Pelosi was asked on NBC-TV's "Meet the Press" on Sunday to comment on when life begins.
She responded saying that as a Catholic, she had studied the issue for "a long time" and that "the doctors of the Church have not been able to make that definition."

Cardinal Justin Rigali, chairman of the U. Committee on Pro-Life Activities, and Bishop William Lori, chairman of the Committee on Doctrine, said her answer "misrepresented the history and nature of the authentic teaching of the Catholic Church against abortion."

And this woman is an important part of the leadership of the national democrat party.
And this woman is an ignorant citizen.

Beyond belief!!