31 December –
This is most likely the last post – not the military variety – and, hopefully, not the last post in the life of this site – but very likely the last post of 2009.
We are about to launch into a very busy day –
To the Dear Few Folks who visit The Study, we wish a most blessed, joyous, prosperous New Year…
Confusion to the enemy…God bless the Good Guys…
Take very good care –
Let us hear from you.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH AND THE NEW YEAR
Most Christians in America probably don’t know much about what is happening in the Episcopal Church (TEC). It is very small in comparison with the Roman Catholic Church, the Southern Baptist Convention, or the new, “non-denominational” neighborhood churches, whose campuses dwarf small towns; and TEC is in decline, losing 32% of its membership between 1960 and 2002. After making a small recovery, its numbers are heading down again....
The modern Episcopalian has a lot to think about - so much, in fact, that it is difficult even to decide what to think about: besides personal devotions, there are the matters of parish, diocesan, and national church affairs, secular and religious.
The temptation is strong to ignore that which is disturbing and to concentrate on the familiar, the more personal matters relating to one's local parish, especially if that parish is conveniently removed from the most controversial issues.
The article 'linked to' below raises a serious concern for Episcopalians.
'Out of sight, out of mind" is a truism. It speaks the truth.
'What you don't know wont hurt you" is another old saying. It does not speak the truth.
http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/bernthal041708PF.html
SOMETHING GOOD MAY COME OF THIS
The terrorist penetrated the layers of security and nearly destroyed a passenger aircraft landing at Detroit.
No one was killed.
There apparently were injuries to some people, especially heroic persons who subdued the barbarian, but no one was killed and the most seriously injured was the barbarian.
Thank God.
And there is something else that can be said:
The event was bad enough, but it could have been infinitely worse – and it has exposed the state of readiness of our ‘layers of security’, one year into the b.o. Presidency.
Without attempting a laundry list of specifics, b.o.’s actions since the Detroit event have been patently frivolous and wanting; his homeland security director is obviously imcompetent; although denied by b.o.’s Administration, the barbarians obviously are engaged in a war against the United States and we understand that the barbarian underwear bomber is to be tried as a criminal, not as an enemy combatant, a status which will afford him the luxuries of an American civilian court.
The silver lining in all of this is that b.o.’s incompetence has been displayed in graphic detail and no one was killed.
The most seriously injured was the barbarian.
We were blessed, lucky, fortunate, whatever you choose to call it – no thanks to b.o.
Such will not always be the case.
The libs used to criticize President Bush for taking too many vacations.
The war against the barbarians is heating up.
b.o. is on vacation.
The difference is that unlike the known determination of the Previous Administration to combat/kill/interdict terrorists, b.o.'s commitment to the War on Terror is as questionable as his commitment to close Gitmo.
Why is it good to expose the failings of b.o.??
It is good because the 2010 and 2012 elections are looming in the not too distant future – and we suggest that the security and welfare of the United States is not being well served by the current Presidential Administration and leadership and membership of the United States Congress.
The myopic voters who fell for the b.o. line last election and elected him and his national dems need to see what deviltry they have wrought – and vote them and him out of office.
For it is deviltry – and we can only hope to survive his/their leadership with as few casualties as possible.
No one was killed.
There apparently were injuries to some people, especially heroic persons who subdued the barbarian, but no one was killed and the most seriously injured was the barbarian.
Thank God.
And there is something else that can be said:
The event was bad enough, but it could have been infinitely worse – and it has exposed the state of readiness of our ‘layers of security’, one year into the b.o. Presidency.
Without attempting a laundry list of specifics, b.o.’s actions since the Detroit event have been patently frivolous and wanting; his homeland security director is obviously imcompetent; although denied by b.o.’s Administration, the barbarians obviously are engaged in a war against the United States and we understand that the barbarian underwear bomber is to be tried as a criminal, not as an enemy combatant, a status which will afford him the luxuries of an American civilian court.
The silver lining in all of this is that b.o.’s incompetence has been displayed in graphic detail and no one was killed.
The most seriously injured was the barbarian.
We were blessed, lucky, fortunate, whatever you choose to call it – no thanks to b.o.
Such will not always be the case.
The libs used to criticize President Bush for taking too many vacations.
The war against the barbarians is heating up.
b.o. is on vacation.
The difference is that unlike the known determination of the Previous Administration to combat/kill/interdict terrorists, b.o.'s commitment to the War on Terror is as questionable as his commitment to close Gitmo.
Why is it good to expose the failings of b.o.??
It is good because the 2010 and 2012 elections are looming in the not too distant future – and we suggest that the security and welfare of the United States is not being well served by the current Presidential Administration and leadership and membership of the United States Congress.
The myopic voters who fell for the b.o. line last election and elected him and his national dems need to see what deviltry they have wrought – and vote them and him out of office.
For it is deviltry – and we can only hope to survive his/their leadership with as few casualties as possible.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
THE PLUM PUDDING
We took a Plum Pudding down to my cousin’s this day – two days after Christmas.
He is a World War 2 veteran, B-17 pilot, and he has loved the dark little creations from our cultural past for as long as he has lived.
The recipe is authentic British 19th Century – no plums – very, very firm until you bring them back to life, out of storage.
We make six every two years.
It takes half a day to make ‘em – three hours to revive ‘em on the day of serving.
Today we restored and served the last of six, the runt of the litter – it was two years old.
This spring we will make six more.
Our family recipe calls for serving it with a whipped cream condiment – not the kind from a can.
The pudding is steamed for at least three hours in a covered wok to prepare it for the flaming.
At the end of Christmas Dinner, the festive party crackers are ‘crackered’ and opened – paper hats put on and goodies and pithy sayings shared – and then it is time…
The pudding is removed from the bowl – placed on a serving platter, not too big, not too small – and then garnished with several ounces of fine cognac – amazing how the cheaper varieties produce an inferior flame and taste.
A match, wooden, of course, is touched to the small pool of cognac surrounding the pudding, the lights having been further dimmed, and the shimmering blue flame is the delight of the moment.
This has been a tradition in our family for my entire life, one looked forward to.
We omit the copper penny custom of our Victorian and Edwardian forebears, but all else is the same.
The dark color, the unique, succulent taste….
And we are concerned.
Aunts and Uncles and Parents and Grandparents have passed away, and no one, absolutely no young people in our family has any interest in our pudding tradition.
We are not talking fruit cake here –
Now we have nothing against the fruit cake – but we are here talking plum pudding!
The modern American has no idea what a plum pudding is – and when they taste it, it does not appeal.
But is should appeal - it is not fast food; it is not like anything else available these days - and it tastes good, albeit different.
So, this Christmas, for the first time, we decided not to share the ‘runt’ with the family on Christmas Day.
Instead of taking a leftover part to our Cousins – they are too ill to come up to our house - we revived the pudding and took the non-leftover pudd to them – intact – uncut – and it was terrific.
The four of us did our duty with the little gem.
We congratulated ourselves on our good fortune of being able to share the dinner and the pudding as we have done for over fifty years.
And we discussed the ending of another tradition.
The world is probably not a better world when men and women wear hats; when a gentleman removes his hat when addressing a lady; when he opens a door for her; when he lets her go first; when she enjoys his doing of these things, and other things; when certain things are just not said in the presence of ‘the opposite sex’; when one wears Wellington boots when walking through wet grasses; when one likes to walk his English bulldog while ‘wearing a blackthorn walking stick; and on and on, but perhaps such a world is more colorful, more courteous; more fun.
Just imagine the interest one generates at the meat counter and in the checkout lane when he requests a pound or two of beef suet to help in the preparation of food, not for birds, but for Christmas Dinner for his family.
I confess that I love it, all the more because I do not do such things to amaze anyone – but rather to enjoy a very wonderful treats and customs from my very own past.
He is a World War 2 veteran, B-17 pilot, and he has loved the dark little creations from our cultural past for as long as he has lived.
The recipe is authentic British 19th Century – no plums – very, very firm until you bring them back to life, out of storage.
We make six every two years.
It takes half a day to make ‘em – three hours to revive ‘em on the day of serving.
Today we restored and served the last of six, the runt of the litter – it was two years old.
This spring we will make six more.
Our family recipe calls for serving it with a whipped cream condiment – not the kind from a can.
The pudding is steamed for at least three hours in a covered wok to prepare it for the flaming.
At the end of Christmas Dinner, the festive party crackers are ‘crackered’ and opened – paper hats put on and goodies and pithy sayings shared – and then it is time…
The pudding is removed from the bowl – placed on a serving platter, not too big, not too small – and then garnished with several ounces of fine cognac – amazing how the cheaper varieties produce an inferior flame and taste.
A match, wooden, of course, is touched to the small pool of cognac surrounding the pudding, the lights having been further dimmed, and the shimmering blue flame is the delight of the moment.
This has been a tradition in our family for my entire life, one looked forward to.
We omit the copper penny custom of our Victorian and Edwardian forebears, but all else is the same.
The dark color, the unique, succulent taste….
And we are concerned.
Aunts and Uncles and Parents and Grandparents have passed away, and no one, absolutely no young people in our family has any interest in our pudding tradition.
We are not talking fruit cake here –
Now we have nothing against the fruit cake – but we are here talking plum pudding!
The modern American has no idea what a plum pudding is – and when they taste it, it does not appeal.
But is should appeal - it is not fast food; it is not like anything else available these days - and it tastes good, albeit different.
So, this Christmas, for the first time, we decided not to share the ‘runt’ with the family on Christmas Day.
Instead of taking a leftover part to our Cousins – they are too ill to come up to our house - we revived the pudding and took the non-leftover pudd to them – intact – uncut – and it was terrific.
The four of us did our duty with the little gem.
We congratulated ourselves on our good fortune of being able to share the dinner and the pudding as we have done for over fifty years.
And we discussed the ending of another tradition.
The world is probably not a better world when men and women wear hats; when a gentleman removes his hat when addressing a lady; when he opens a door for her; when he lets her go first; when she enjoys his doing of these things, and other things; when certain things are just not said in the presence of ‘the opposite sex’; when one wears Wellington boots when walking through wet grasses; when one likes to walk his English bulldog while ‘wearing a blackthorn walking stick; and on and on, but perhaps such a world is more colorful, more courteous; more fun.
Just imagine the interest one generates at the meat counter and in the checkout lane when he requests a pound or two of beef suet to help in the preparation of food, not for birds, but for Christmas Dinner for his family.
I confess that I love it, all the more because I do not do such things to amaze anyone – but rather to enjoy a very wonderful treats and customs from my very own past.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
DO YOU THINK?? COULD IT BE?
We read/hear that there is snow in Copenhagen - where the 'green' summit was/is going on.
Ditto for very heavy snow in D.C. - where the U.S. Congress is about to commit an obscenity.
Forgive the thought, but I wonder if a Higher Power is trying to tell us something.
Ditto for very heavy snow in D.C. - where the U.S. Congress is about to commit an obscenity.
Forgive the thought, but I wonder if a Higher Power is trying to tell us something.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
PRE-CHRISTMAS PREPS, ETC.....
It is shortly after noon and the day is cold and sunny.
And most of the Christmas prep is done or at least well underway.
Yesterday was devoted to such matters.
And now we at The Study turn to washing dishes, playing Christmas music on stereo, and reading/thinking/writing about the things we like to write about.
We note that our favorite stores yesterday were well-stocked with merchandise but very low on staffing.
There usually were no more than one or two clerks per department. A queue of three or four shoppers would tie up a register for seemingly interminable lengths of time.
Our traditional dining room in our fav department store (J.L. Hudson’s, aka Macy’s) was almost as in the old days – superbly enjoyable.
Conspicuous by their absences were the Salvation Army bell ringers outside the store – the post holding the pot was there, but no pot and no bell ringer.
Senior and temp clerks were obvious by their expertise or lack thereof. But they all were trying hard – or most of them.
And the coffee was good at the coffee bar – when late afternoon fatigue began to set in.
And then the temp outside dipped below freezing – and we received cell phone calls regarding the treacherousness of the roads – black ice and the like.
And then it was time for us to do what the song lyric proclaims: “…the shoppers rushed home with their treasures.”
I wish I knew how to add music symbols.
One-fourth of the way home we stopped off at a friend’s condo for an hour or so to let the road crews and heavy traffic do their respective duties.
Smart move.
Christmas music played throughout on XM Radio – and it was good.
Seat warmers did their duty and we said thankful prayers upon entering The Study.
And then a very late dinner and an hour or two of the Hallmark Station.
Nice.
This morning, the morning after the night before, we are regaled with the news of the day:
Iranian missile development and nuclear research; alarming fears about b.o.’s/reid’s/pelosi’s health care horrors; good news about the failure of Copenhagen to achieve anything; alarming predictions of national deficit and ramifications thereof; moving (not closing) Gitmo – lunacy – and on and on….but you get the idea.
There is good news out there – thank The Lord….but my goodness – our national leaders are proving themselves to be very, very human indeed.
And most of the Christmas prep is done or at least well underway.
Yesterday was devoted to such matters.
And now we at The Study turn to washing dishes, playing Christmas music on stereo, and reading/thinking/writing about the things we like to write about.
We note that our favorite stores yesterday were well-stocked with merchandise but very low on staffing.
There usually were no more than one or two clerks per department. A queue of three or four shoppers would tie up a register for seemingly interminable lengths of time.
Our traditional dining room in our fav department store (J.L. Hudson’s, aka Macy’s) was almost as in the old days – superbly enjoyable.
Conspicuous by their absences were the Salvation Army bell ringers outside the store – the post holding the pot was there, but no pot and no bell ringer.
Senior and temp clerks were obvious by their expertise or lack thereof. But they all were trying hard – or most of them.
And the coffee was good at the coffee bar – when late afternoon fatigue began to set in.
And then the temp outside dipped below freezing – and we received cell phone calls regarding the treacherousness of the roads – black ice and the like.
And then it was time for us to do what the song lyric proclaims: “…the shoppers rushed home with their treasures.”
I wish I knew how to add music symbols.
One-fourth of the way home we stopped off at a friend’s condo for an hour or so to let the road crews and heavy traffic do their respective duties.
Smart move.
Christmas music played throughout on XM Radio – and it was good.
Seat warmers did their duty and we said thankful prayers upon entering The Study.
And then a very late dinner and an hour or two of the Hallmark Station.
Nice.
This morning, the morning after the night before, we are regaled with the news of the day:
Iranian missile development and nuclear research; alarming fears about b.o.’s/reid’s/pelosi’s health care horrors; good news about the failure of Copenhagen to achieve anything; alarming predictions of national deficit and ramifications thereof; moving (not closing) Gitmo – lunacy – and on and on….but you get the idea.
There is good news out there – thank The Lord….but my goodness – our national leaders are proving themselves to be very, very human indeed.
b.o....nATIONAL dEMOCRATS...AND THE DEBT
We don't usually read Newsweek at The Study.
But this article on the threats of the current administration's economic/social/etc. 'reforms' is important - worth reading.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/224694/output/print
If only the folks who voted for b.o. would think about what they did then and what b.o. and co. is doing now...
It really is a no-brainer.
But this article on the threats of the current administration's economic/social/etc. 'reforms' is important - worth reading.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/224694/output/print
If only the folks who voted for b.o. would think about what they did then and what b.o. and co. is doing now...
It really is a no-brainer.
Monday, December 14, 2009
SUCH A TIME THIS IS
The Christmas letter is being inserted into the Christmas cards as I write these words.
Tomorrow is reserved for near finalizing of all Christmas shopping. A whole day is devoted.
God help us.
We are off to a wonderland of offerings and are hoping for total success.
We have attended Christmas programs and parties and there are more in the offing.
We are fortunate, blessed - or encumbered, depending upon how you look at it.
The woodpeckers have eaten up the suet and other feathered little ones have finished off the thistle – so their emporium will be one of the stops.
All the split wood has been burned – so more work is needed there.
Food has been laid in…the larder bulges – but there is always room for more.
And the spirit locker is adequately provisioned, especially in that it is closed until Thursday.
Dear wife has resurrected a violin from retirement and is preparing to rehearse tunes learned long ago – as well as ones she has just discovered. Who knows what may come of that.
Choir rehearsals are in full swing – and friends from all directions are hosting gatherings of varying degrees of complexity. We are too.
We note that newspapers are once again full of ponderings on the ultimate fate of religious life in the West – assuming, of course, that there still is life in such life.
I am kidding.
There is life!!!!!!!!
The flame does flicker here and there, however.
With the revelation that Iran has been working on a nuclear trigger for a weapon for years, we at The Study are waiting to see when the open hand of b.o. will be transformed into the more realistic fist of President Bush.
When, oh when will reality intrude upon b.o.’s myopia?
Or is he really just a Chicago pol?
Perhaps he is incapable.
And the fakery and lies of global warming are becoming more and more apparent with the revelation of the emails – and the current temp data – and the foolishness of warming proponents.
And God save us from the UN – the tool of the third world.
To think it WAS the creation of the VICTORS IN WORLD WAR TWO!!!!!!!!
And God save us from the current US Congress – or rather, God help the Good Guys/Gals in the Congress to save us from the bad guys.
nancy and harry are really on a trip.
And they are trying to take us all with them.
Carbon and the EPA threats and health care debates - WHEW!!!!!!!
And we could make a list. Could we ever!!
But again, it is late and there have been adult beverages and the Christmas lights are on and carols are playing and for the moment, thank the Good Lord, joy is abroad in the land (The Study).
You never know about an hour from now.
Things happen.
Tomorrow is reserved for near finalizing of all Christmas shopping. A whole day is devoted.
God help us.
We are off to a wonderland of offerings and are hoping for total success.
We have attended Christmas programs and parties and there are more in the offing.
We are fortunate, blessed - or encumbered, depending upon how you look at it.
The woodpeckers have eaten up the suet and other feathered little ones have finished off the thistle – so their emporium will be one of the stops.
All the split wood has been burned – so more work is needed there.
Food has been laid in…the larder bulges – but there is always room for more.
And the spirit locker is adequately provisioned, especially in that it is closed until Thursday.
Dear wife has resurrected a violin from retirement and is preparing to rehearse tunes learned long ago – as well as ones she has just discovered. Who knows what may come of that.
Choir rehearsals are in full swing – and friends from all directions are hosting gatherings of varying degrees of complexity. We are too.
We note that newspapers are once again full of ponderings on the ultimate fate of religious life in the West – assuming, of course, that there still is life in such life.
I am kidding.
There is life!!!!!!!!
The flame does flicker here and there, however.
With the revelation that Iran has been working on a nuclear trigger for a weapon for years, we at The Study are waiting to see when the open hand of b.o. will be transformed into the more realistic fist of President Bush.
When, oh when will reality intrude upon b.o.’s myopia?
Or is he really just a Chicago pol?
Perhaps he is incapable.
And the fakery and lies of global warming are becoming more and more apparent with the revelation of the emails – and the current temp data – and the foolishness of warming proponents.
And God save us from the UN – the tool of the third world.
To think it WAS the creation of the VICTORS IN WORLD WAR TWO!!!!!!!!
And God save us from the current US Congress – or rather, God help the Good Guys/Gals in the Congress to save us from the bad guys.
nancy and harry are really on a trip.
And they are trying to take us all with them.
Carbon and the EPA threats and health care debates - WHEW!!!!!!!
And we could make a list. Could we ever!!
But again, it is late and there have been adult beverages and the Christmas lights are on and carols are playing and for the moment, thank the Good Lord, joy is abroad in the land (The Study).
You never know about an hour from now.
Things happen.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
GOOD JOB, b.o.
b.o. went to Norway and gave a good speech.
He stunned his audience, there and here in the United States, for he made sense.
He declared that the US has a noble history in world affairs; that the US is responsible for the continued freedom of many peoples throughout the world; that US blood and treasure has been spent for many good causes at home and abroad.
And he escalated a war and explained why others should be a part of that escalation.
He catered to the Left and to the Right and to the Independents and to the Middle.
He defied the prejudices of Old Europe.
He did a good job.
Except for the nod to the Left, he gave a Bush speech.
Good job, b.o.
He stunned his audience, there and here in the United States, for he made sense.
He declared that the US has a noble history in world affairs; that the US is responsible for the continued freedom of many peoples throughout the world; that US blood and treasure has been spent for many good causes at home and abroad.
And he escalated a war and explained why others should be a part of that escalation.
He catered to the Left and to the Right and to the Independents and to the Middle.
He defied the prejudices of Old Europe.
He did a good job.
Except for the nod to the Left, he gave a Bush speech.
Good job, b.o.
THANK YOU, MICHIGAN
The Michigan Legislature has debated and discussed and anguished and argued and finally decided that good health is more important than the right of smokers to inflict their habit on all those folks around them, smokers and nonsmokers.
What a difficult, traumatic, difficult decision!!!!
The right to smoke has long been protected as a fundamental right of free men and women of these United States.
Say what???????????
A fundamental freedom that wars have been fought for, that men and women have died for.
Come to think of it, smoking is an alleged right that has caused the death of countless people, in one way or another.
You really would think you were discussing part of the Bill of Rights.
Finally, Michigan Legislature – you have stressed and strained and brought forth a no-brainer –
Thank you.
What a difficult, traumatic, difficult decision!!!!
The right to smoke has long been protected as a fundamental right of free men and women of these United States.
Say what???????????
A fundamental freedom that wars have been fought for, that men and women have died for.
Come to think of it, smoking is an alleged right that has caused the death of countless people, in one way or another.
You really would think you were discussing part of the Bill of Rights.
Finally, Michigan Legislature – you have stressed and strained and brought forth a no-brainer –
Thank you.
GENE BARRY, R.I.P.
Gene Barry died last Wednesday.
His portrayal of Bat Masterson (He wore a cane and derby hat, they called him Bat, Bat Masterson) on the TV of the 1950’s was part of our memory of that most interesting decade.
Those were the days of the TV Wyatt Earp (Tombstone, the Town Too Tough to Die; Matt Dillon (Gunsmoke, Dodge City); Johnny Yuma (The Rebel); Paladin (Knight Without Armor); Rawhide (Head 'em up, Move 'em out); and no doubt other shows that others could remember.
We remember them all – can whistle the theme songs of all of them – and recall play acting a number of the roles ourselves – in our own fantasy land.
We know nothing of the man himself, but we wish him well – Godspeed – he made possible many an enjoyable half hour for a lot of viewers.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
WINTER - 2009
Winter has arrived.
Wind, snow, single digit temps, and the birds and squirrels are ‘eating up a storm’.
Dear Daughter spent the night at The Study last night. Their power went out.
Dear Son-in-law went home near midnight when their power came back on.
Daughter stayed.
He had to be home very early in the morning to take care of some things.
He was missed, but having Daughter overnight was just like old times.
We had breakfast together – Old Dad fixed it and scraped her car – not room in garage – and ‘launched’ her off to work – almost like she was going to school, as she used to do – all those years ago.
Nice!
And then we refilled all the feeders and cut and split wood and cranked up the wood stove.
And then we completed the Decorations.
The Study is now presentable.
The cold kept us in tonight – time to catch up on all sorts of things.
Dear Wife writes out the Christmas cards – I do the Christmas Letter. Hard to believe it is time for another letter.
Dear Wife folds ‘em.
I mail ‘em.
Division of labor.
Gramma used to say many hands make light work.
She knew what she was talkin’ about.
We miss Gramma.
She did good work.
Tomorrow our Study Group at Church completes another study session and we go out to lunch.
And after the New Year, God willing, another session begins.
The cycles go on.
Thank the Good Lord.
This is a busy time; and it is a good time of year. When things get hectic, I/we try to remember the Elizabethan prayer –
This is the day the Lord hath made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
It doesn't always help, but sometimes....
Good stuff.
Or the Cavalier prayer in the Civil War:
Lord, I will be busy this day and may forget thee.
Please do not forget me.
Again, sometimes it helps a lot.
And one gets to connect - with those who have gone before - just a little bit.
Again, nice!
Wind, snow, single digit temps, and the birds and squirrels are ‘eating up a storm’.
Dear Daughter spent the night at The Study last night. Their power went out.
Dear Son-in-law went home near midnight when their power came back on.
Daughter stayed.
He had to be home very early in the morning to take care of some things.
He was missed, but having Daughter overnight was just like old times.
We had breakfast together – Old Dad fixed it and scraped her car – not room in garage – and ‘launched’ her off to work – almost like she was going to school, as she used to do – all those years ago.
Nice!
And then we refilled all the feeders and cut and split wood and cranked up the wood stove.
And then we completed the Decorations.
The Study is now presentable.
The cold kept us in tonight – time to catch up on all sorts of things.
Dear Wife writes out the Christmas cards – I do the Christmas Letter. Hard to believe it is time for another letter.
Dear Wife folds ‘em.
I mail ‘em.
Division of labor.
Gramma used to say many hands make light work.
She knew what she was talkin’ about.
We miss Gramma.
She did good work.
Tomorrow our Study Group at Church completes another study session and we go out to lunch.
And after the New Year, God willing, another session begins.
The cycles go on.
Thank the Good Lord.
This is a busy time; and it is a good time of year. When things get hectic, I/we try to remember the Elizabethan prayer –
This is the day the Lord hath made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
It doesn't always help, but sometimes....
Good stuff.
Or the Cavalier prayer in the Civil War:
Lord, I will be busy this day and may forget thee.
Please do not forget me.
Again, sometimes it helps a lot.
And one gets to connect - with those who have gone before - just a little bit.
Again, nice!
Monday, December 7, 2009
FOUR LEADERS: COMPARE AND CONTRAST
I used to ask my students to research various historical figures and to reach arguable conclusions regarding those figures.
F.D.R., Winston Churchill, Harry Truman, and b.o. would have been just right for such an exercise.
Check out the following editorial and give it a try.
What fun such a unit would have been in class, or at lunch with fellow teachers.
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/dec/07/leadership-in-war//print/
F.D.R., Winston Churchill, Harry Truman, and b.o. would have been just right for such an exercise.
Check out the following editorial and give it a try.
What fun such a unit would have been in class, or at lunch with fellow teachers.
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/dec/07/leadership-in-war//print/
‘…A DATE WHICH WILL LIVE IN INFAMY….’
7 December 1941
68 years is a long time in the context of individual human lives.
As Dear Gramma used to say, “A lot of water has passed under the dam.”
But in a larger context, in the world order of things, it is not really such a long time.
The folks who visit this journal doubtless know something, perhaps a lot, about the story of ‘Pearl’ and the events which followed the attack.
So, what is it that one can say about this very important anniversary that might have some relevance in our present day?
In 1950, Winston Churchill recalled his thoughts shortly after the attack:
Silly people, and there were many, not only in enemy countries, might discount the force of the United States. Some said they were soft, others that they would never be united. They would fool around at a distance. They would never come to grips. They would never stand bloodletting. Their democracry and system of recurrent elections would paralyse their war effort. They would be just a vague blur on the horizon to friend or foe. Now we should see the weakness of this numerous but remote, wealthy, and talkative people. But I had studied the American Civil War, fought out to the last deseperate inch.
Half American himself and a student of American affairs, he knew whereof he spoke.
Many folks today do not have the benefit of his knowledge, of his wisdom.
Churchill saw the wolves at the door.
Churchill knew what it would take to handle them and what it would cost.
I fear that many of us today know little or nothing of either – of the threats or of the costs.
Perhaps that is why it is good to remember the events and the meaning of Pearl Harbor all these years later –
The world is not a safe place.
It is not secure and serene and a great international playground.
The generation of WW2 came to know those truths.
But that generation had forgotten those sobering facts too, until 7 December 1941, just as we believe our generations have forgotten them.
Think on Pearl and remember what we have forgotten again.
68 years is a long time in the context of individual human lives.
As Dear Gramma used to say, “A lot of water has passed under the dam.”
But in a larger context, in the world order of things, it is not really such a long time.
The folks who visit this journal doubtless know something, perhaps a lot, about the story of ‘Pearl’ and the events which followed the attack.
So, what is it that one can say about this very important anniversary that might have some relevance in our present day?
In 1950, Winston Churchill recalled his thoughts shortly after the attack:
Silly people, and there were many, not only in enemy countries, might discount the force of the United States. Some said they were soft, others that they would never be united. They would fool around at a distance. They would never come to grips. They would never stand bloodletting. Their democracry and system of recurrent elections would paralyse their war effort. They would be just a vague blur on the horizon to friend or foe. Now we should see the weakness of this numerous but remote, wealthy, and talkative people. But I had studied the American Civil War, fought out to the last deseperate inch.
Half American himself and a student of American affairs, he knew whereof he spoke.
Many folks today do not have the benefit of his knowledge, of his wisdom.
Churchill saw the wolves at the door.
Churchill knew what it would take to handle them and what it would cost.
I fear that many of us today know little or nothing of either – of the threats or of the costs.
Perhaps that is why it is good to remember the events and the meaning of Pearl Harbor all these years later –
The world is not a safe place.
It is not secure and serene and a great international playground.
The generation of WW2 came to know those truths.
But that generation had forgotten those sobering facts too, until 7 December 1941, just as we believe our generations have forgotten them.
Think on Pearl and remember what we have forgotten again.
Monday, November 23, 2009
MAY IT BE SO
Monday night.
It is late.
And once again I sit to write after a busy day.
Stuff has happened.
Good stuff and not so good stuff.
Deadlines are looming. Some are being missed. But some are being met.
And there are some victories. There are defeats.
We are slipping and sliding into early winter. It can be scary.
Lots of things can be scary.
As I wrote in a comment to another website, we think of ourselves as young in our dreams– until something happens to remind us that the years have passed.
A close friend dies; we attend a reunion; we attend the wedding of a young man or woman we knew as a child; a Dear Grandchild calls on the phone and says, “Grampi, we found our piano books.”
Or another war starts or a crisis of some sort looms and we watch some of our leaders behaving like idiots or scoundrels or worse – and we know it – and we can do so very little about it – and we remember that there was a time we believed that we could change the world and make it better.
Well, we know more of the world now.
Our two Grandkids are the second pair of kids we helped to raise, if only for a few years.
We’re not raising them now, but we are blessed in that we see a lot of them.
What a terrible world it would be without Grandkids!
I remember hearing and playing that ballad It Was a Very Good Year a lifetime ago –
But now the days grow short
Im in the autumn of the year
And now I think of my life as vintage wine
>from fine old kegs
>from the brim to the dregs
And it poured sweet and clear
It was a very good year
Hearing it now makes me feel both ways – young and then…older.
And the memories – lots of memories.
What a terrible thing it would be to lose the good memories.
I am wondering tonight if it is inevitable that a great nation, as it ages, even if it is not really old as nations go, will lose its edge, will find that the virtues and the values that made it great and dynamic and resourceful and irresistible and yes, even exceptional, will fade – and the dark side of reality will move irresistibly into the forefront.
I stood behind Robert Frost a lifetime ago [really behind and off to the side] as he read from his The Road Not Taken:
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
Rarely, if ever, can a person go back.
I am wondering tonight if a nation can go back once it has taken wrong turns, really wrong turns.
May it be so.
It is late.
And once again I sit to write after a busy day.
Stuff has happened.
Good stuff and not so good stuff.
Deadlines are looming. Some are being missed. But some are being met.
And there are some victories. There are defeats.
We are slipping and sliding into early winter. It can be scary.
Lots of things can be scary.
As I wrote in a comment to another website, we think of ourselves as young in our dreams– until something happens to remind us that the years have passed.
A close friend dies; we attend a reunion; we attend the wedding of a young man or woman we knew as a child; a Dear Grandchild calls on the phone and says, “Grampi, we found our piano books.”
Or another war starts or a crisis of some sort looms and we watch some of our leaders behaving like idiots or scoundrels or worse – and we know it – and we can do so very little about it – and we remember that there was a time we believed that we could change the world and make it better.
Well, we know more of the world now.
Our two Grandkids are the second pair of kids we helped to raise, if only for a few years.
We’re not raising them now, but we are blessed in that we see a lot of them.
What a terrible world it would be without Grandkids!
I remember hearing and playing that ballad It Was a Very Good Year a lifetime ago –
But now the days grow short
Im in the autumn of the year
And now I think of my life as vintage wine
>from fine old kegs
>from the brim to the dregs
And it poured sweet and clear
It was a very good year
Hearing it now makes me feel both ways – young and then…older.
And the memories – lots of memories.
What a terrible thing it would be to lose the good memories.
I am wondering tonight if it is inevitable that a great nation, as it ages, even if it is not really old as nations go, will lose its edge, will find that the virtues and the values that made it great and dynamic and resourceful and irresistible and yes, even exceptional, will fade – and the dark side of reality will move irresistibly into the forefront.
I stood behind Robert Frost a lifetime ago [really behind and off to the side] as he read from his The Road Not Taken:
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
Rarely, if ever, can a person go back.
I am wondering tonight if a nation can go back once it has taken wrong turns, really wrong turns.
May it be so.
Monday, November 16, 2009
FIRST PACIFIC PRESIDENT?
The link below will take you to a post in Powerline.
It really says it all.
We have quite a fella for ceo of the United States.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/11/024959.php
It really says it all.
We have quite a fella for ceo of the United States.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/11/024959.php
PRESTIGE
Talk about the snow falling on the b.o. snowplow train.
The numbers are being crunched and the numbers are exposing, dare we say, the lies of the b.o. Administration regarding the impossible costs of the intended wholesale replacement of the American health care system.
It would appear that the costs are prohibitive, politically and economically unachievable.
So much for b.o.’s promises to change all, fix all – to lead us helpless and incapable citizens into broad, sunlit uplands.
Yes, the stuff is falling.
There are also of course the costs of the economic bailouts – the success of which is yet to be seen.
And there are the upcoming show trials in New York of the Gitmo folk, especially the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, ksm, as the msm is calling him.
And the Copenhagen gathering has collapsed.
And the tour of Asia is off and running. b.o. will bow and scrape and talk the talk and accomplish nothing except the further erosion of US prestige.
We attended a lecture last week wherein an Asia expert explained/defined something of the rationale of national power. He discussed the obvious power factors: economic; military; and intellectual, etc.
He left one out which I used to share with my students. It is the ingredient of power known as prestige.
Prestige is that which makes it possible to exert persuasive, sometimes even coercive influence, without having to do anything but communicate desire or intention.
It is that quality which impresses target audiences with the assurance that what one says will occur will actually occur.
Prestige makes proof of credibility generally unnecessary.
It is what makes it possible for nations to have their way without having to resort to less than subtle action.
b.o. is setting about to absolutely destroy US prestige.
He is renouncing to the world the assumption by the Government and people of the United States that American policies are worth pursuing for the greater good and that the United States expects to prevail and indeed will prevail in areas significantly affecting US national interests.
In a few words, he is giving away the farm.
Ronald Reagan built up the farm.
Harry Truman built up the farm before him.
George Bush and Dick Cheney, in spite of mistakes made, did not give away any of the farm.
The world believed they meant what they said, even if the world did not like what they said and did.
And more of what they said and did was liked by much of the world than the msm would have you believe.
b.o. is giving it away and the farm will have to be rebought .
For the US is not the equal nation among other equal nations that b.o. is saying it is.
The peoples’ republic of china is not only a brother or sister nation, it is also a long-term enemy.
n. korea is an enemy.
iran is an enemy.
russia is an enemy.
The 9/11 terrorists and those they represent are enemies.
Those who support and abet them are enemies.
It is one thing for b.o. to attend to domestic American politics and appease interest groups and supporters, it is quite another for him to allow foreign enemies to lose respect for the American will to prevail in the world.
As someone once said, it is better to be respected and feared if one cannot be loved.
Our enemies will never love the United States.
It is important that they respect and fear an enemy United States.
Finally, I would conclude by saying that this post is incomplete in that I have not defined enemy.
There are enemies and there are enemies.
Russia is not the same kind of enemy that nazi germany or imperial japan was.
I know that.
But they are enemies just the same.
The word deserves a definition.
Perhaps I will do so later.
The numbers are being crunched and the numbers are exposing, dare we say, the lies of the b.o. Administration regarding the impossible costs of the intended wholesale replacement of the American health care system.
It would appear that the costs are prohibitive, politically and economically unachievable.
So much for b.o.’s promises to change all, fix all – to lead us helpless and incapable citizens into broad, sunlit uplands.
Yes, the stuff is falling.
There are also of course the costs of the economic bailouts – the success of which is yet to be seen.
And there are the upcoming show trials in New York of the Gitmo folk, especially the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, ksm, as the msm is calling him.
And the Copenhagen gathering has collapsed.
And the tour of Asia is off and running. b.o. will bow and scrape and talk the talk and accomplish nothing except the further erosion of US prestige.
We attended a lecture last week wherein an Asia expert explained/defined something of the rationale of national power. He discussed the obvious power factors: economic; military; and intellectual, etc.
He left one out which I used to share with my students. It is the ingredient of power known as prestige.
Prestige is that which makes it possible to exert persuasive, sometimes even coercive influence, without having to do anything but communicate desire or intention.
It is that quality which impresses target audiences with the assurance that what one says will occur will actually occur.
Prestige makes proof of credibility generally unnecessary.
It is what makes it possible for nations to have their way without having to resort to less than subtle action.
b.o. is setting about to absolutely destroy US prestige.
He is renouncing to the world the assumption by the Government and people of the United States that American policies are worth pursuing for the greater good and that the United States expects to prevail and indeed will prevail in areas significantly affecting US national interests.
In a few words, he is giving away the farm.
Ronald Reagan built up the farm.
Harry Truman built up the farm before him.
George Bush and Dick Cheney, in spite of mistakes made, did not give away any of the farm.
The world believed they meant what they said, even if the world did not like what they said and did.
And more of what they said and did was liked by much of the world than the msm would have you believe.
b.o. is giving it away and the farm will have to be rebought .
For the US is not the equal nation among other equal nations that b.o. is saying it is.
The peoples’ republic of china is not only a brother or sister nation, it is also a long-term enemy.
n. korea is an enemy.
iran is an enemy.
russia is an enemy.
The 9/11 terrorists and those they represent are enemies.
Those who support and abet them are enemies.
It is one thing for b.o. to attend to domestic American politics and appease interest groups and supporters, it is quite another for him to allow foreign enemies to lose respect for the American will to prevail in the world.
As someone once said, it is better to be respected and feared if one cannot be loved.
Our enemies will never love the United States.
It is important that they respect and fear an enemy United States.
Finally, I would conclude by saying that this post is incomplete in that I have not defined enemy.
There are enemies and there are enemies.
Russia is not the same kind of enemy that nazi germany or imperial japan was.
I know that.
But they are enemies just the same.
The word deserves a definition.
Perhaps I will do so later.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
MUSINGS
b.o has gone to Asia, bowing to the Emperor of Japan, apologizing for US misdeeds, weakening the United States, and signaling a reorientation of US international priorities.
And the Europeans did not like President Bush.
Gitmo prisoners will soon be in New York, preliminary to the beginning of the show trial of the year, of the decade, or of heaven knows how long.
What will b.o. do if they get off?
During WW2, captured nazis, out of uniform, who landed in New England from a u-boat were executed within a few months of their capture.
No civilian trial.
Nazi military captured on the battlefield were detained until the end of the war. No trials.
Nazi war criminals, civilian and military, were tried by military tribunals, not in the US, but in places near or where they did their evil deeds.
But those days were the dumb old days.
Now we have the good new days, the CHANGED DAYS OF b.o.
It appears the Ft. Hood shooter was a terrorist.
What a shock to the msm!!
And what is pre-traumatic stress syndrom?
Troop morale is apparently down in Afghanistan.
Couldn’t have anything to do with b.o. Naaaaahh.
b.o. declares the world has nothing to worry about in the meteoric rise of chinese national power: military; intellectual; economic.
b.o. always says it like it is.
Remember when folks only had to worry about funding Social Security and Medicare?
Now we have to worry about funding the United States.
Good thing b.o. is at the helm.
I remember when I thought bill Clinton was a pretty poor President of the United States.
He looks a lot better to me now.
And the Europeans did not like President Bush.
Gitmo prisoners will soon be in New York, preliminary to the beginning of the show trial of the year, of the decade, or of heaven knows how long.
What will b.o. do if they get off?
During WW2, captured nazis, out of uniform, who landed in New England from a u-boat were executed within a few months of their capture.
No civilian trial.
Nazi military captured on the battlefield were detained until the end of the war. No trials.
Nazi war criminals, civilian and military, were tried by military tribunals, not in the US, but in places near or where they did their evil deeds.
But those days were the dumb old days.
Now we have the good new days, the CHANGED DAYS OF b.o.
It appears the Ft. Hood shooter was a terrorist.
What a shock to the msm!!
And what is pre-traumatic stress syndrom?
Troop morale is apparently down in Afghanistan.
Couldn’t have anything to do with b.o. Naaaaahh.
b.o. declares the world has nothing to worry about in the meteoric rise of chinese national power: military; intellectual; economic.
b.o. always says it like it is.
Remember when folks only had to worry about funding Social Security and Medicare?
Now we have to worry about funding the United States.
Good thing b.o. is at the helm.
I remember when I thought bill Clinton was a pretty poor President of the United States.
He looks a lot better to me now.
SARAH PALIN - SHOWTIME
It starts with an interview on Monday.
And then the book is released on Tuesday.
And then the three-week book tour begins in Grand Rapids.
Dear Wife wanted to go to the signing.
I think I warned her off with the time factor, 7 pm, and what is sure to be huge crowds in Grand Rapids.
We’ll watch from afar.
We’ll buy our book and start reading it on Tuesday.
We’ll each have our own bookmark.
Sarah Palin is returning to the national scene, big time.
As someone once said about someone, “You go, Girl!”
The McCain staffers are firing volleys, as are the libs/dems.
Good for them.
They are not totally stupid.
The intensity of their vitriol and derision are perhaps measures of the respect, or rather the concern they feel for what she may be able to accomplish and do, for herself; for her nation; and to them.
Check out the article in the Wall Street Journal on her comeback:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704576204574529770560352200.html#printMode
As a teaching colleague used to say as he entered his class room at the beginning of each day, “Showtime.”
And then the book is released on Tuesday.
And then the three-week book tour begins in Grand Rapids.
Dear Wife wanted to go to the signing.
I think I warned her off with the time factor, 7 pm, and what is sure to be huge crowds in Grand Rapids.
We’ll watch from afar.
We’ll buy our book and start reading it on Tuesday.
We’ll each have our own bookmark.
Sarah Palin is returning to the national scene, big time.
As someone once said about someone, “You go, Girl!”
The McCain staffers are firing volleys, as are the libs/dems.
Good for them.
They are not totally stupid.
The intensity of their vitriol and derision are perhaps measures of the respect, or rather the concern they feel for what she may be able to accomplish and do, for herself; for her nation; and to them.
Check out the article in the Wall Street Journal on her comeback:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704576204574529770560352200.html#printMode
As a teaching colleague used to say as he entered his class room at the beginning of each day, “Showtime.”
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
TRADITIONS – A BAPTISM AND VETERANS DAY
Nine years ago three children were baptized in our church. Our eldest Dear Granddaughter was one of them.
I wrote about the event at the time and the church newsletter was kind enough to publish the article.
It went something like this:
Relatives and friends had eagerly responded to our announcement of the upcoming event [the baptism] and were present with us to witness and share in the proceedings. Sunday morning was the culmination of much preparation. Announcements had been sent out. Lists of things to do had been drawn up. Shopping trips to all sorts of places had been planned and carried out. All things were in their places and in good order.
Well, almost everything.
Sunday morning before church was busy and hectic and exciting.
Folks took turns at the bathrooms and the toaster and the coffee pots.
There was laughter and the helping of each other and the losing and finding of all sorts of things.
And then it was time to go.
Parents and Granddaughter arrived at the church in their vehicle.
Grandparents and Aunt and visiting relatives and sponsors arrived in their vehicles.
One of us found her way to the choir stall.
The rest of us found our way to our pew.
Not all of us were Episcopalians. All of us, however, were family that morning.
Those of us who ‘knew the ropes’ helped those who did not.
There was nervousness. There was laughter. There was seriousness. There was wonder.
And there was beauty. God was present that morning for all of us. You could feel it, as we usually do in our Church of a Sunday morning. But on that day, for us, it was special.
We were privileged that morning to participate in one of the great traditions of our Church.
It occurred to me that this is the sort of thing that makes the world go around.
Traditions such as this one, and others, such as anniversaries and birthdays and holidays of various sorts fill our calendars, if we are fortunate enough to observe them, and give meaning and joy to our lives.
Traditions help us to know who we are and what we have done.
Traditions help us through difficult times and help us to celebrate the good times.
Traditions give us strength.
Traditions suggest that our lives have meaning; that we have inherited a legacy; that we are part of the transition of that legacy.
We may modify and add nuances, but we are in a line of succession.
Traditions remind us, in a most comforting way, that we are not alone.
And so it is with nations.
And here is where I write of Veterans Day; of Armistice Day; Poppy Day; or of Remembrance Day.
I submit that a nation can be thought of as a collective person, for it is conceived and born, often with a certain amount of suffering and joy.
It grows and matures. It wins and loses. It rejoices and it grieves.
Those nations, those people that have traditions; that have a sense of the meaning of what they are doing, are nations that will most willingly bear the burdens which life can and will impose.
The leaders of our families and of our communities and of our nation will most deserve our thanks if they do all that is humanly possible to promote and to preserve the best of our American traditions.
One of those best traditions is to set aside as special the eleventh day of November, known by one of the above four names or simply by the three numbers 11-11-11, signifying the date and time, 11 am on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, 1918, when the fighting of World War One came to an end.
It has become traditional to pause on Veterans Day, perhaps at 11:00 am, for a minute or two, and to think about the millions and millions of Veterans who have risked and sacrificed and who are risking and sacrificing so much for their comrades, for their country, and for us.
It is appropriate to wear a poppy on lapel or blouse if you can find one to signify your awareness of the day.
It is especially appropriate to thank a Veteran if you can identify him or her as you go about your daily affairs, to thank him or her for what they did; for what they are doing; for what they may do in the future.
For what Veterans have done and are doing and will be doing in the future is to provide an essential part of the national power, prestige, and security of our nation, for military power is the sine qua non of national power.
It is not everything, but it is essential.
Veterans Day is an especially good day to thank God for those who have served and who are serving.
And it is an especially good day to pray that God will watch over those now serving and safeguard them while they achieve a just and a lasting peace wherever they are called to duty.
I offer this post as a friendly reminder to myself and to all that we are part of a reality that is bigger than ourselves –that we can both receive and transmit strength if we participate in that reality.
Lest we forget.
I wrote about the event at the time and the church newsletter was kind enough to publish the article.
It went something like this:
Relatives and friends had eagerly responded to our announcement of the upcoming event [the baptism] and were present with us to witness and share in the proceedings. Sunday morning was the culmination of much preparation. Announcements had been sent out. Lists of things to do had been drawn up. Shopping trips to all sorts of places had been planned and carried out. All things were in their places and in good order.
Well, almost everything.
Sunday morning before church was busy and hectic and exciting.
Folks took turns at the bathrooms and the toaster and the coffee pots.
There was laughter and the helping of each other and the losing and finding of all sorts of things.
And then it was time to go.
Parents and Granddaughter arrived at the church in their vehicle.
Grandparents and Aunt and visiting relatives and sponsors arrived in their vehicles.
One of us found her way to the choir stall.
The rest of us found our way to our pew.
Not all of us were Episcopalians. All of us, however, were family that morning.
Those of us who ‘knew the ropes’ helped those who did not.
There was nervousness. There was laughter. There was seriousness. There was wonder.
And there was beauty. God was present that morning for all of us. You could feel it, as we usually do in our Church of a Sunday morning. But on that day, for us, it was special.
We were privileged that morning to participate in one of the great traditions of our Church.
It occurred to me that this is the sort of thing that makes the world go around.
Traditions such as this one, and others, such as anniversaries and birthdays and holidays of various sorts fill our calendars, if we are fortunate enough to observe them, and give meaning and joy to our lives.
Traditions help us to know who we are and what we have done.
Traditions help us through difficult times and help us to celebrate the good times.
Traditions give us strength.
Traditions suggest that our lives have meaning; that we have inherited a legacy; that we are part of the transition of that legacy.
We may modify and add nuances, but we are in a line of succession.
Traditions remind us, in a most comforting way, that we are not alone.
And so it is with nations.
And here is where I write of Veterans Day; of Armistice Day; Poppy Day; or of Remembrance Day.
I submit that a nation can be thought of as a collective person, for it is conceived and born, often with a certain amount of suffering and joy.
It grows and matures. It wins and loses. It rejoices and it grieves.
Those nations, those people that have traditions; that have a sense of the meaning of what they are doing, are nations that will most willingly bear the burdens which life can and will impose.
The leaders of our families and of our communities and of our nation will most deserve our thanks if they do all that is humanly possible to promote and to preserve the best of our American traditions.
One of those best traditions is to set aside as special the eleventh day of November, known by one of the above four names or simply by the three numbers 11-11-11, signifying the date and time, 11 am on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, 1918, when the fighting of World War One came to an end.
It has become traditional to pause on Veterans Day, perhaps at 11:00 am, for a minute or two, and to think about the millions and millions of Veterans who have risked and sacrificed and who are risking and sacrificing so much for their comrades, for their country, and for us.
It is appropriate to wear a poppy on lapel or blouse if you can find one to signify your awareness of the day.
It is especially appropriate to thank a Veteran if you can identify him or her as you go about your daily affairs, to thank him or her for what they did; for what they are doing; for what they may do in the future.
For what Veterans have done and are doing and will be doing in the future is to provide an essential part of the national power, prestige, and security of our nation, for military power is the sine qua non of national power.
It is not everything, but it is essential.
Veterans Day is an especially good day to thank God for those who have served and who are serving.
And it is an especially good day to pray that God will watch over those now serving and safeguard them while they achieve a just and a lasting peace wherever they are called to duty.
I offer this post as a friendly reminder to myself and to all that we are part of a reality that is bigger than ourselves –that we can both receive and transmit strength if we participate in that reality.
Lest we forget.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
FOX VIEWERS - A BALANCED GROUP
The Pew Research Center reports that the viewers of Fox consist of:
39% Republican; 33% democratic; and 22% independent.
Daily ‘viewership’ of the cable news networks is described by Nielson as:
2.1 million Fox; 699,000 msnbc; 664,000 cnn; and 513,000 cnn headline news.
Arithmetic tells us that 55% of 2.1 million daily viewers of Fox are either democrats or independents.
b.o. is thus attacking a news organization that seriously interests two groups which are presumably important to the b.o. administration.
One has to wonder at a presidential policy which consists of attacking as ‘unreal news’ a network watched by so many democrat political allies, a ‘viewership’ which has risen by at least 9% since such attacks began.
39% Republican; 33% democratic; and 22% independent.
Daily ‘viewership’ of the cable news networks is described by Nielson as:
2.1 million Fox; 699,000 msnbc; 664,000 cnn; and 513,000 cnn headline news.
Arithmetic tells us that 55% of 2.1 million daily viewers of Fox are either democrats or independents.
b.o. is thus attacking a news organization that seriously interests two groups which are presumably important to the b.o. administration.
One has to wonder at a presidential policy which consists of attacking as ‘unreal news’ a network watched by so many democrat political allies, a ‘viewership’ which has risen by at least 9% since such attacks began.
obama V. FOX
If a sitting US President criticizes the credibility of a news network which is critical of him, is he criticizing the viewers of that network as well? Is he criticizing their intelligence? Their ability to distinguish truth from fiction?
Or is he engaging in a policy of suppression, of attempting to shut down contrary or alternate approaches to public problems, some of which could well be at least as legitimate and/or as effective as the programs he is supporting?
Regardless of one’s answers to the above two questions, one has to wonder at the wisdom of any presidential effort which even appears to be an infringement of First Amendment freedom of speech.
One has to wonder a lot at the policies and behavior of the current US President.
Or is he engaging in a policy of suppression, of attempting to shut down contrary or alternate approaches to public problems, some of which could well be at least as legitimate and/or as effective as the programs he is supporting?
Regardless of one’s answers to the above two questions, one has to wonder at the wisdom of any presidential effort which even appears to be an infringement of First Amendment freedom of speech.
One has to wonder a lot at the policies and behavior of the current US President.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
THE SNOW
Virginia and New Jersey, the day after.
The great articulated wheels have begun to slip, a little at first, but the snow has been falling for some months now and the white stuff is piling up.
There will be more of it coming down and the wheels will slip more and more.
You can count on it.
And the engineer said he would not watch it fall last night.
If he watched, he lied.
If he didn't watch, he should have.
The great articulated wheels have begun to slip, a little at first, but the snow has been falling for some months now and the white stuff is piling up.
There will be more of it coming down and the wheels will slip more and more.
You can count on it.
And the engineer said he would not watch it fall last night.
If he watched, he lied.
If he didn't watch, he should have.
Monday, November 2, 2009
CHANGE
You watch old movies or look at old photos and you notice that men’s fashions change ever so slowly.
Top hats and suits and shoes etc., have looked pretty much the same to the casual observer for many, many decades.
But if you go back far enough, differences do show up.
Top hats were taller and shorter, depending on the occasion. And they were actually worn by most men.
Lapels of suit coats changed in size and pant lengths and creases or whatever changed.
Ties changed in length and width.
And go back far enough, back toward the beginning of the 20th Century or beyond, and the changes become obvious.
Gradual change has also occurred in politics.
Twenty years ago or so I used to maintain with colleagues and friends that there were indeed differences between the Republican and Democrat Parties, that voting for the one was not the same as voting for the other.
But I would also argue that they had tremendous similarities as well, that neither one was really radically different from the other.
Both shared a number of core beliefs or perspectives, as on the importance of preserving this or that in American economics; in the Federal system; in the roles of the three branches of government, etc.
I think that today one could easily argue with assurance that great differences have emerged onto the national scene – but with, as should be expected, considerable complexity.
In some respects, the two national political parties, the Republican and Democrat, have retained similarities.
But the differences have become more pronounced, more significant, so much so that it is now arguable that adjectives must be attached to the two official names: those adjectives being conservative and liberal.
Years ago, the exact number I do not know, it was common to hear people in the political arena referred to as Republican, Democrat, liberal, or conservative. Seemingly intelligent folk would tell me that there were no such people as liberals or conservatives, that they were only Republican or Democrat, that the other two terms were really meaningless or at most , marginal.
Times have changed.
It can now be argued that the names Republican and Democrat are becoming increasingly meaningless, that the formerly allegedly meaningless or marginal terms conservative and liberal are now becoming the truly operative ones.
Indeed, I would argue that in some races at this time that it is more important to know the lib/conservative orientation rather than the Republican/Democrat if one is to vote intelligently.
And I fear that the same is true in another important arena: that of our national church structures.
If all you tell about someone or something is their generic title: Roman Catholic; Episcopalian; Methodist; Lutheran; etc., you don’t really say enough anymore.
One really must continue and attach the adjective, an adjective that is rapidly becoming or which has become a noun in its own right.
Top hats and suits and shoes etc., have looked pretty much the same to the casual observer for many, many decades.
But if you go back far enough, differences do show up.
Top hats were taller and shorter, depending on the occasion. And they were actually worn by most men.
Lapels of suit coats changed in size and pant lengths and creases or whatever changed.
Ties changed in length and width.
And go back far enough, back toward the beginning of the 20th Century or beyond, and the changes become obvious.
Gradual change has also occurred in politics.
Twenty years ago or so I used to maintain with colleagues and friends that there were indeed differences between the Republican and Democrat Parties, that voting for the one was not the same as voting for the other.
But I would also argue that they had tremendous similarities as well, that neither one was really radically different from the other.
Both shared a number of core beliefs or perspectives, as on the importance of preserving this or that in American economics; in the Federal system; in the roles of the three branches of government, etc.
I think that today one could easily argue with assurance that great differences have emerged onto the national scene – but with, as should be expected, considerable complexity.
In some respects, the two national political parties, the Republican and Democrat, have retained similarities.
But the differences have become more pronounced, more significant, so much so that it is now arguable that adjectives must be attached to the two official names: those adjectives being conservative and liberal.
Years ago, the exact number I do not know, it was common to hear people in the political arena referred to as Republican, Democrat, liberal, or conservative. Seemingly intelligent folk would tell me that there were no such people as liberals or conservatives, that they were only Republican or Democrat, that the other two terms were really meaningless or at most , marginal.
Times have changed.
It can now be argued that the names Republican and Democrat are becoming increasingly meaningless, that the formerly allegedly meaningless or marginal terms conservative and liberal are now becoming the truly operative ones.
Indeed, I would argue that in some races at this time that it is more important to know the lib/conservative orientation rather than the Republican/Democrat if one is to vote intelligently.
And I fear that the same is true in another important arena: that of our national church structures.
If all you tell about someone or something is their generic title: Roman Catholic; Episcopalian; Methodist; Lutheran; etc., you don’t really say enough anymore.
One really must continue and attach the adjective, an adjective that is rapidly becoming or which has become a noun in its own right.
THE LADY IN THE POINTY HAT AND THE DETECTIVE
Last Sunday was the day of the last game of our Granddaughters’ soccer league.
It was also the day of the Sunday School Halloween Party at Church.
And it was cold and windy – but not rainy.
The sun was out.
The Dear Granddaughters were a pirate and a little devil – a good pirate and a good little devil.
Their Mom had made the costumes and they were priceless.
We took the girls to Church and then over to the soccer field.
I was wearing my grey raincoat, full length, with a dress hat.
I dress that way in inclement weather.
I don’t dress up for Halloween.
Dear Grandma had dressed up for the day in her witch costume.
She is in the choir and lots of those folks dress up in the spirit of the day.
Dear Grandma, my Dear Wife, dresses up as a good witch, but her outfit is black with a tall pointy hat.
Anyway, there we were on the sidelines, Mr. Raincoat and Mrs. Witch.
Grandkids’ parents arrived and Gramma and I had to leave to attend a brunch.
The next day was piano lesson day at our house and Gramma brought the Dear Girls up to our house for their lesson.
9-year old Dear Granddaughter Elise sat at the table eating her snack before the lesson started and said, “Grandpa, one of my team [she named the player but I have forgotten the name] said look over there, Elise. A detective and a witch are watching our game!”
Elise told her that the detective and the witch were her Gramma and Grampa.
I/we love it!!!
New nicknames have been born.
Never a dull moment, as my Gramma used to say.
It was also the day of the Sunday School Halloween Party at Church.
And it was cold and windy – but not rainy.
The sun was out.
The Dear Granddaughters were a pirate and a little devil – a good pirate and a good little devil.
Their Mom had made the costumes and they were priceless.
We took the girls to Church and then over to the soccer field.
I was wearing my grey raincoat, full length, with a dress hat.
I dress that way in inclement weather.
I don’t dress up for Halloween.
Dear Grandma had dressed up for the day in her witch costume.
She is in the choir and lots of those folks dress up in the spirit of the day.
Dear Grandma, my Dear Wife, dresses up as a good witch, but her outfit is black with a tall pointy hat.
Anyway, there we were on the sidelines, Mr. Raincoat and Mrs. Witch.
Grandkids’ parents arrived and Gramma and I had to leave to attend a brunch.
The next day was piano lesson day at our house and Gramma brought the Dear Girls up to our house for their lesson.
9-year old Dear Granddaughter Elise sat at the table eating her snack before the lesson started and said, “Grandpa, one of my team [she named the player but I have forgotten the name] said look over there, Elise. A detective and a witch are watching our game!”
Elise told her that the detective and the witch were her Gramma and Grampa.
I/we love it!!!
New nicknames have been born.
Never a dull moment, as my Gramma used to say.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
16th CENTURY ALL OVER AGAIN
Here is one now.
Perhaps you only see what you are looking for…but I cannot believe this.
Change a few words or a few names and you could be reading an op-ed piece from the Spanish/Papal authorities of the Sixteenth Century.
Read the link. I cannot believe it is written in a responsible paper.
I admit I am not familiar with the paper.
http://thebulletin.us/articles/2009/11/01/commentary/op-eds/doc4aed0aaba1b11133063904.txt
The author has Henry VIII roasting in hell.
The English Church will likely be coming home if it agrees to the Papal terms.
The nonsense of the Protestant Reformation is now apparent for all to see.
This is the end of the Anglican Church of England and the Episcopal Church of the USA.
The small blaze will grow into a conflagration. As an aside, this is a particularly unfortunate use of words in this context.
A light has cut through the darkness.
And all of this because of the new Papal initiative.
I know I wrote a few days ago of a sense of being back in my grad school days researching the death plots and impossible dreams of the Roman Catholics laboring to reestablish their church in England as I considered this new papal offer, but to read this article and perhaps others like it being written today is just too much.
I shouldn’t be but I am surprised. To see such blatant ignorance, of the past as well as of the present, is…well, is a mind blower.
I think on this note I will go and read some light and frivolous fiction and congratulate myself on recognizing again the regrettable truth that old errors, old ignorances die hard if they die at all.
Good grief!!!!!!!!!!!!
Perhaps you only see what you are looking for…but I cannot believe this.
Change a few words or a few names and you could be reading an op-ed piece from the Spanish/Papal authorities of the Sixteenth Century.
Read the link. I cannot believe it is written in a responsible paper.
I admit I am not familiar with the paper.
http://thebulletin.us/articles/2009/11/01/commentary/op-eds/doc4aed0aaba1b11133063904.txt
The author has Henry VIII roasting in hell.
The English Church will likely be coming home if it agrees to the Papal terms.
The nonsense of the Protestant Reformation is now apparent for all to see.
This is the end of the Anglican Church of England and the Episcopal Church of the USA.
The small blaze will grow into a conflagration. As an aside, this is a particularly unfortunate use of words in this context.
A light has cut through the darkness.
And all of this because of the new Papal initiative.
I know I wrote a few days ago of a sense of being back in my grad school days researching the death plots and impossible dreams of the Roman Catholics laboring to reestablish their church in England as I considered this new papal offer, but to read this article and perhaps others like it being written today is just too much.
I shouldn’t be but I am surprised. To see such blatant ignorance, of the past as well as of the present, is…well, is a mind blower.
I think on this note I will go and read some light and frivolous fiction and congratulate myself on recognizing again the regrettable truth that old errors, old ignorances die hard if they die at all.
Good grief!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
40+ YEARS LATER - THANK YOU VERY MUCH
Hard to believe, but it has been over 40 years since I was working on an M.A. Degree - in British History.
I have not lifted my copy out of the files, but my subject was Roman Catholic plots against Elizabeth, Elizabeth I of England, and I remember bits and pieces of it.
The focus was on the work of Sir Francis Walsingham, her minister in charge of countering the death plots against her.
Yes, that word was/is death.
And I remember my astonishment those many years ago at the ignorance of the Spanish agents who were in the employ of the King of Spain and His Holiness in Rome.
I have forgotten the name of His Holiness.
But the point is the blindness, the ignorance, the criminal refusal to admit the reality of the English position on matters of State and Religion in the Sixteenth Century.
And I fear that I am witnessing a 21st Century version of the same thing right now.
The Vatican is apparently suffering under the delusion that there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Episcopalians/Anglicans just champing (or is it chomping?) at the bit to return to Rome, if only the gate should be opened unto them.
The prevailing Roman belief apparently is that the original reasons for the reformation in England were all a mistake; that what was then perceived to have been intolerable innovations in the Christianity of the day are these days matters of no consequence.
This was the blindness that called Elizabeth I an ignorant b..ch; a tyrant hated by her subjects; illegitimate; and destined for the fires of hell.
This was the blindness that believed that the English of that far-off time were pining away for a return to the Roman Church, the only way to salvation.
This was the blindness that launched the Great Armada into the lunacy of the effort to invade and ‘save’ England from the devil.
I know, I have not referenced the political matters of State. So be it. I am aware of them. But it is the religious factors that are important to day, not the matters of diplomacy and related matters.
Thus far, we have heard nothing form the Vatican regarding the matters of Papal Infallibility; the role of women in the Church; the matter of celibacy; the details of the invitation: or of a host of other issues which are important to Anglicans and Episcopalians, and, may I add, to many practicing Roman Catholics who defy their own church in their day-to-day independence.
Talk about hubris and about failure to understand the facts of life regarding important issues.
We at The Study are concerned about what is going on in the Episcopal Church of the USA, ECUSA or TEC, and the Anglican Communion.
We are concerned about the wellbeing of the Anglican Communion.
And we have real and long lasting reservations about the Roman Catholic Church, reservations which have come down to us over the centuries.
We have great respect of that Church as well.
But are we lusting after a chance to return to Rome??
We have never been there and we have no desire to go there.
We will work out our issues in the Church of our birth.
As a Dear departed Cousin was wont to say, "Thank you very much."
I have not lifted my copy out of the files, but my subject was Roman Catholic plots against Elizabeth, Elizabeth I of England, and I remember bits and pieces of it.
The focus was on the work of Sir Francis Walsingham, her minister in charge of countering the death plots against her.
Yes, that word was/is death.
And I remember my astonishment those many years ago at the ignorance of the Spanish agents who were in the employ of the King of Spain and His Holiness in Rome.
I have forgotten the name of His Holiness.
But the point is the blindness, the ignorance, the criminal refusal to admit the reality of the English position on matters of State and Religion in the Sixteenth Century.
And I fear that I am witnessing a 21st Century version of the same thing right now.
The Vatican is apparently suffering under the delusion that there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Episcopalians/Anglicans just champing (or is it chomping?) at the bit to return to Rome, if only the gate should be opened unto them.
The prevailing Roman belief apparently is that the original reasons for the reformation in England were all a mistake; that what was then perceived to have been intolerable innovations in the Christianity of the day are these days matters of no consequence.
This was the blindness that called Elizabeth I an ignorant b..ch; a tyrant hated by her subjects; illegitimate; and destined for the fires of hell.
This was the blindness that believed that the English of that far-off time were pining away for a return to the Roman Church, the only way to salvation.
This was the blindness that launched the Great Armada into the lunacy of the effort to invade and ‘save’ England from the devil.
I know, I have not referenced the political matters of State. So be it. I am aware of them. But it is the religious factors that are important to day, not the matters of diplomacy and related matters.
Thus far, we have heard nothing form the Vatican regarding the matters of Papal Infallibility; the role of women in the Church; the matter of celibacy; the details of the invitation: or of a host of other issues which are important to Anglicans and Episcopalians, and, may I add, to many practicing Roman Catholics who defy their own church in their day-to-day independence.
Talk about hubris and about failure to understand the facts of life regarding important issues.
We at The Study are concerned about what is going on in the Episcopal Church of the USA, ECUSA or TEC, and the Anglican Communion.
We are concerned about the wellbeing of the Anglican Communion.
And we have real and long lasting reservations about the Roman Catholic Church, reservations which have come down to us over the centuries.
We have great respect of that Church as well.
But are we lusting after a chance to return to Rome??
We have never been there and we have no desire to go there.
We will work out our issues in the Church of our birth.
As a Dear departed Cousin was wont to say, "Thank you very much."
RETREAT SHOULD NOT BE THE OPTION
The Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota will vote today on a new bishop. One of the candidates is an ‘openly partnered lesbian’.
The Vatican has withheld the release of the details of the newly-announced welcome to the Anglican/Episcopalian folks who are unhappy with this or that (these or those) feature(s) of their denomination.
Having read the ruminations re these and similar matters on the net and having talked about them in church meetings and over an adult beverage or coffee at home or in restaurants, pubs, etc., I offer the following observation:
I am thinking of Churchill again as he contemplated the successful withdrawal of British and French forces from Dunkirk during the last War.
He thanked God for the deliverance and led the national and international thanksgivings and praises for all that had ensued – and then he offered something of the following: he said, in so many words, that we should remember that wars are not finally won by retreats. To win, we must attack and defeat the enemy.
The goal is not merely to survive, but to win by achieving victory.
Potential Anglo-Catholics will not win anything for anyone if they merely retreat from their churches.
Folks who are thinking of crossing the Tiber, as it were, and going to Rome, should be careful NOT to be running away from something. To do it right, they should be going TO something, to a ‘broader, sunlit upland’, not fleeing from what they see as unacceptable and going to something that seems to be less unacceptable.
Another way of saying it, folks thinking of crossing over should be going for the gold, or even for the platinum and not for something merely less imperfect.
The Vatican has withheld the release of the details of the newly-announced welcome to the Anglican/Episcopalian folks who are unhappy with this or that (these or those) feature(s) of their denomination.
Having read the ruminations re these and similar matters on the net and having talked about them in church meetings and over an adult beverage or coffee at home or in restaurants, pubs, etc., I offer the following observation:
I am thinking of Churchill again as he contemplated the successful withdrawal of British and French forces from Dunkirk during the last War.
He thanked God for the deliverance and led the national and international thanksgivings and praises for all that had ensued – and then he offered something of the following: he said, in so many words, that we should remember that wars are not finally won by retreats. To win, we must attack and defeat the enemy.
The goal is not merely to survive, but to win by achieving victory.
Potential Anglo-Catholics will not win anything for anyone if they merely retreat from their churches.
Folks who are thinking of crossing the Tiber, as it were, and going to Rome, should be careful NOT to be running away from something. To do it right, they should be going TO something, to a ‘broader, sunlit upland’, not fleeing from what they see as unacceptable and going to something that seems to be less unacceptable.
Another way of saying it, folks thinking of crossing over should be going for the gold, or even for the platinum and not for something merely less imperfect.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
A NEW ANGLE ON HOW TO WIN AND WHY WE LOST
A Mr. Matt latimer has a newly released book out, Speech*Less.
I have not read the book, but I read of it in Powerline and was impressed, especially by the following quotation from Mr. Latimer:
As a longtime friend of William F. Buckley recently told me, "Republicans win when they are conservatives. And Democrats win when they are conservatives." That, he assured me, was all the political advice one needs.
Check out the whole article via the link below, Mr. Latimer’s response to some of his critics, especially to those referred to as 'Republican elites' rather than as conservatives.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/10/024799.php
I have not read the book, but I read of it in Powerline and was impressed, especially by the following quotation from Mr. Latimer:
As a longtime friend of William F. Buckley recently told me, "Republicans win when they are conservatives. And Democrats win when they are conservatives." That, he assured me, was all the political advice one needs.
Check out the whole article via the link below, Mr. Latimer’s response to some of his critics, especially to those referred to as 'Republican elites' rather than as conservatives.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/10/024799.php
Monday, October 26, 2009
UNITED FRONT?
The 'new' older-generation [awkward phrase] Pope has once again created quite a stir.
The link below from the NYT suggests an arguable take on the Papal initiative which you may not have thought of.
So many issues!
So many interpretations are credible.
So many problems!
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/opinion/26douthat.html?_r=2&pagewanted=print
The link below from the NYT suggests an arguable take on the Papal initiative which you may not have thought of.
So many issues!
So many interpretations are credible.
So many problems!
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/opinion/26douthat.html?_r=2&pagewanted=print
Saturday, October 24, 2009
THE ROMAN OVERTURE
The offer has been made.
It has been received.
Details, many, many details have yet to be made public.
They will be announced and they will be dissected.
There will be reactions.
It is fascinating to watch major parts of Christendom shake off the dust of centuries and attempt to alter historic configurations.
It is as though endless minor earth tremors have suddenly morphed into a major earthquake.
I know, the above is a negative happening – and yet it is a natural happening and there are those who would have it that it is normal for separated parts of Christendom to attempt realignment.
We are struck by the sheer bureaucratic complexity of what is organized religion today, not to mention other salient and hugely important concerns, many of which I doubtless do not even know about.
I came across a site yesterday which dealt at some length with the problem of the overlapping hierarchical lines of authority which will result from the creation of the Anglo-Catholic dioceses existing within the geographical boundaries of already existing Catholic dioceses.
I have spent an hour trying to find that excellent essay and have failed and now I am not even sure I used the correct words in describing the problem.
Anyway, it will be fascinating to watch things play out.
I am wondering if Rome has waited a bit too long to make this offer. A couple of years ago, the breakaway Anglican groups in North American were no way as well developed as they are today.
I wonder if disaffected American Anglicans would prefer their own, non-Roman version of Catholicity to the Roman variety.
The world is a strange and wonderful place, sometimes.
It has been received.
Details, many, many details have yet to be made public.
They will be announced and they will be dissected.
There will be reactions.
It is fascinating to watch major parts of Christendom shake off the dust of centuries and attempt to alter historic configurations.
It is as though endless minor earth tremors have suddenly morphed into a major earthquake.
I know, the above is a negative happening – and yet it is a natural happening and there are those who would have it that it is normal for separated parts of Christendom to attempt realignment.
We are struck by the sheer bureaucratic complexity of what is organized religion today, not to mention other salient and hugely important concerns, many of which I doubtless do not even know about.
I came across a site yesterday which dealt at some length with the problem of the overlapping hierarchical lines of authority which will result from the creation of the Anglo-Catholic dioceses existing within the geographical boundaries of already existing Catholic dioceses.
I have spent an hour trying to find that excellent essay and have failed and now I am not even sure I used the correct words in describing the problem.
Anyway, it will be fascinating to watch things play out.
I am wondering if Rome has waited a bit too long to make this offer. A couple of years ago, the breakaway Anglican groups in North American were no way as well developed as they are today.
I wonder if disaffected American Anglicans would prefer their own, non-Roman version of Catholicity to the Roman variety.
The world is a strange and wonderful place, sometimes.
THOSE DAYS
The tv world of the 1950’s – and a bit before…
The death of Soupy has started the thinking – no research now…just off the top of the head.
Am thinking of those old shows – I bet film does not even exist for many of them.
I am thinking of such characters as Tom Corbett, Space Cadet; Mike Barnett, detective; Buz Corey, Space Patrol; Captain Video, who had the most ridiculous sets and costumes imaginable; and, more recently, 77 Sunset Strip.
And in the other medium, such shows as Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons; The Great Gildersleeve; Gangbusters; the Shadow, and countless others.
Again, no research here – just recollectin’.
Time flies when you are having fun.
The death of Soupy has started the thinking – no research now…just off the top of the head.
Am thinking of those old shows – I bet film does not even exist for many of them.
I am thinking of such characters as Tom Corbett, Space Cadet; Mike Barnett, detective; Buz Corey, Space Patrol; Captain Video, who had the most ridiculous sets and costumes imaginable; and, more recently, 77 Sunset Strip.
And in the other medium, such shows as Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons; The Great Gildersleeve; Gangbusters; the Shadow, and countless others.
Again, no research here – just recollectin’.
Time flies when you are having fun.
SOUPY SALES - R.I.P.
Soupy died this week.
Soupy as in Soupy Sales.
No details of his passing here. You can google (capital G?) for details if you want to.
My comments are more personal.
I watched Soup – we called him Soup – at noon when I could and at 11:00pm when I could.
He entertained us when we were children.
Now we are adults – and he has died.
He is not the first to do so.
He will not be the last.
And then, one day, we will die too.
The bell is still tolling.
It always has.
It is.
It always will.
World without end.
Soupy as in Soupy Sales.
No details of his passing here. You can google (capital G?) for details if you want to.
My comments are more personal.
I watched Soup – we called him Soup – at noon when I could and at 11:00pm when I could.
He entertained us when we were children.
Now we are adults – and he has died.
He is not the first to do so.
He will not be the last.
And then, one day, we will die too.
The bell is still tolling.
It always has.
It is.
It always will.
World without end.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
THE LAST FLAG
Fans of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin naval chronicles and Antique Road Show should take note:
A Union Jack, the last British Naval flag to have flown at the Battle of Trafalgar, has just been sold at auction to an American for a total price of 330,000 British pounds [I don't know how to make the symbol].
This was ten times the hoped for price.
The 'priceless' gem is torn as one would expect, probably from 'shot and shell' and 'fragments'.
We at The Study are fans of both the O'Brian series and the Road Show.
Congratulations to the buyer - and may the battle flag eventually be given to the British nation.
A Union Jack, the last British Naval flag to have flown at the Battle of Trafalgar, has just been sold at auction to an American for a total price of 330,000 British pounds [I don't know how to make the symbol].
This was ten times the hoped for price.
The 'priceless' gem is torn as one would expect, probably from 'shot and shell' and 'fragments'.
We at The Study are fans of both the O'Brian series and the Road Show.
Congratulations to the buyer - and may the battle flag eventually be given to the British nation.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
COMMENTS ON THE COMMENTS
Just a note to inform any readers commenting to this modest forum that I intend to respond to comments in the comment area itself whenever possible.
Thanks for whatever you contribute.
Thanks for whatever you contribute.
ACTION - REACTION
[Episcopal News Service] His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has announced his plans to allow provisions that would accept groups of former Anglicans who wish to convert to the Roman Catholic Church, according to an Oct. 20 press release from The Vatican.
[from episcopalife online]
In science classes a lifetime ago we learned that there is no action without an equal and opposite reaction.
And so it is, apparently, with regard to the actions of ECUSA, the Anglican Communion, and the Roman Catholic Church.
A few of the news sites we visit are all abuzz with releases regarding this news out of London and Rome.
For those of us who are concerned members of ECUSA, a lot is going on in this old world in which we live.
ECUSA should be concerned.
Perhaps interested is the better word, for the Pope is really providing a nuanced way for a significant segment of the disenchanted members of ECUSA to leave, a development which would strengthen the hands of the liberals now in charge of the national church.
And Roman Catholics should be interested, as the option will allow a new class of Christians to enter their ranks, and again, the old rule would again hold true, that action begets reaction.
The steadyasyougoers of ECUSA [I know, not a word] should be interested too, for even though perhaps uncomfortable with trends in ECUSA, they will find themselves further marginalized if they opt to stay the course while compatriots are leaving the fold.
Interesting stuff!!
[from episcopalife online]
In science classes a lifetime ago we learned that there is no action without an equal and opposite reaction.
And so it is, apparently, with regard to the actions of ECUSA, the Anglican Communion, and the Roman Catholic Church.
A few of the news sites we visit are all abuzz with releases regarding this news out of London and Rome.
For those of us who are concerned members of ECUSA, a lot is going on in this old world in which we live.
ECUSA should be concerned.
Perhaps interested is the better word, for the Pope is really providing a nuanced way for a significant segment of the disenchanted members of ECUSA to leave, a development which would strengthen the hands of the liberals now in charge of the national church.
And Roman Catholics should be interested, as the option will allow a new class of Christians to enter their ranks, and again, the old rule would again hold true, that action begets reaction.
The steadyasyougoers of ECUSA [I know, not a word] should be interested too, for even though perhaps uncomfortable with trends in ECUSA, they will find themselves further marginalized if they opt to stay the course while compatriots are leaving the fold.
Interesting stuff!!
Monday, October 19, 2009
THE METERS ARE RUNNING
Are the strengths of the United States so unassailable that significant features of it can be discarded or degraded without jeopardizing the whole?
This thought occurred to me this day whilst thinking about the national and international news of the last few days.
It is easy for one to get the impression that our leadership is dithering while our enemies are busily going about the business of finally achieving the goals they have sought after for many years, even for many decades.
The open hand remains extended to Iran and Russia and North Korea and Venezuela, and meanwhile the meters continue to run on uranium enrichment; new missile development; new anti-American treaty systems; greater energy dependence; combat operations not going well; impossible expenditures of funds and debt creation; and what increasingly appears to be an inevitable attack by one or more nations on the nuclear doings of Iran, to name just a few ‘meters’.
And all the while our national leadership seems preoccupied with health care revolution; Olympic games; climate change; and warring with cable news programs, to name just a few preoccupations.
Should the informed citizen be alarmed?
Is our Republic strong enough to stand all of this whatever it is?
In all my years, I have never heard of a great power successfully providing for its security by extending the open hand to enemies and asking for nothing in return.
I think it has never been done successfully.
I think it will never be done.
I have the impression that the leaders of the world, both the friendlies and the unfriendlies, are laughing at the leadership of the United States at this time, that the only people who take our President and his policies seriously are the poor fools who voted for him in this country and the citizens of foreign nations who just don’t know any better.
I suggest that the United States can make some mistakes and still be ok.
We are not just a major power.
The United States is a hyper-power, the likes of which the world has never seen, ever.
But there has to be a limit to what damage our own leadership can do to our great strength without making us vulnerable to significant threats.
This thought occurred to me this day whilst thinking about the national and international news of the last few days.
It is easy for one to get the impression that our leadership is dithering while our enemies are busily going about the business of finally achieving the goals they have sought after for many years, even for many decades.
The open hand remains extended to Iran and Russia and North Korea and Venezuela, and meanwhile the meters continue to run on uranium enrichment; new missile development; new anti-American treaty systems; greater energy dependence; combat operations not going well; impossible expenditures of funds and debt creation; and what increasingly appears to be an inevitable attack by one or more nations on the nuclear doings of Iran, to name just a few ‘meters’.
And all the while our national leadership seems preoccupied with health care revolution; Olympic games; climate change; and warring with cable news programs, to name just a few preoccupations.
Should the informed citizen be alarmed?
Is our Republic strong enough to stand all of this whatever it is?
In all my years, I have never heard of a great power successfully providing for its security by extending the open hand to enemies and asking for nothing in return.
I think it has never been done successfully.
I think it will never be done.
I have the impression that the leaders of the world, both the friendlies and the unfriendlies, are laughing at the leadership of the United States at this time, that the only people who take our President and his policies seriously are the poor fools who voted for him in this country and the citizens of foreign nations who just don’t know any better.
I suggest that the United States can make some mistakes and still be ok.
We are not just a major power.
The United States is a hyper-power, the likes of which the world has never seen, ever.
But there has to be a limit to what damage our own leadership can do to our great strength without making us vulnerable to significant threats.
THE MORNING RITUAL
We filled some of the bird and squirrel feeders today, another marker in the endless change of seasons.
Making coffee tomorrow will be more interesting than usual inasmuch as our kitchen windows look out on the bird and squirrel ‘dining hall’.
The morning routine will now have an added element of interest, as if it needed one.
How absolutely heavenly to start the coffee makers; to pour the juices; to activate the radio and TV stations of choice; to toast the English muffins to just the right color and crispness; and to open the morning papers to favorite pages knowing all the while that the feathered and furry little devils are enjoying their repasts as well.
Heaven of sorts on earth!
And amongst all of the above usually occurs a call from Dear Daughter on her way to work just to network with the ‘seasoned citizens’, as someone calls us.
And then - what to prepare for breakfast –
And then, if things are really going supremely well, several hours of uninterrupted work in The Study before worldly chores have to be undertaken.
If we are lucky, there will be occasional exclamations throughout the day of this or that remarkable bird at the suet or seed – or a call to quickly look out and see what the squirrels are up to.
Once again a line from Lonesome Dove comes to mind: “The finer things: the smile of a pretty woman; a sunrise or sunset; or the taste of fine whisky.”
I would add the joys of our kitchen and backyard dining hall to that excellent sentiment of Gus McCrae.
Making coffee tomorrow will be more interesting than usual inasmuch as our kitchen windows look out on the bird and squirrel ‘dining hall’.
The morning routine will now have an added element of interest, as if it needed one.
How absolutely heavenly to start the coffee makers; to pour the juices; to activate the radio and TV stations of choice; to toast the English muffins to just the right color and crispness; and to open the morning papers to favorite pages knowing all the while that the feathered and furry little devils are enjoying their repasts as well.
Heaven of sorts on earth!
And amongst all of the above usually occurs a call from Dear Daughter on her way to work just to network with the ‘seasoned citizens’, as someone calls us.
And then - what to prepare for breakfast –
And then, if things are really going supremely well, several hours of uninterrupted work in The Study before worldly chores have to be undertaken.
If we are lucky, there will be occasional exclamations throughout the day of this or that remarkable bird at the suet or seed – or a call to quickly look out and see what the squirrels are up to.
Once again a line from Lonesome Dove comes to mind: “The finer things: the smile of a pretty woman; a sunrise or sunset; or the taste of fine whisky.”
I would add the joys of our kitchen and backyard dining hall to that excellent sentiment of Gus McCrae.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
OUR LOCAL
We are blessed in our neighborhood with what the British would call a ‘local’.
Brits define ‘local’ as a pub close to one's home or place of work.
Other terms come to mind: inn; tavern; canteen; public house; watering hole; or taproom.
Funny how words can have so many meanings.
Over fifty years ago Dear Grandmother in Toronto asked a policeman if he could direct us to where she could find a ‘canteen’, meaning a container to hold water.
I was playing soldier and needed a canteen to complete my 'kit'.
He directed us to an eatery known then as the Honey Dew, a popular fast food restaurant of the time.
I love it.
Anyway, three of us visited our ‘local’ last Monday night.
Dear Wife was at an aerobic swim class.
People smoke at the ‘local’ and Dear Wife has a problem with that – something to do with headaches, a cough, stuff like that.
Smokers don’t mind if their habit causes such to happen to other folks around them.
But enough of that.
I put up with it on occasional Monday nights.
The fellowship is good and it is a ‘guys’ night out’.
We ‘feasted’ on lively conversation; wholesome, low-cost food; and very reasonably priced adult beverages.
Wait staff is personable, efficient, and welcoming.
We met folks we knew there.
We were comfortable; unhurried. We were made welcome.
News of families: news of births; of deaths; of jobs found and jobs lost; of vacations taken; of goingson at churches, etc., are all given equal air time.
Congratulations and sympathies are exchanged.
A community is maintained.
There is a 50-50 drawing: participants chip in $$ for raffle tickets. At a particular time, a drawing is made and the winner gets half the accumulated money. The other half goes to the house.
Good fun. Small town.
This was the first time since last spring that we had convened the Monday night group.
Our trips North make it hard to visit the local on a regular basis during late spring to early fall.
We play a lot Up North and enough is enough. When we are ‘downstate’ we tend to eat our less and do a few more chores than normal.
But now the ‘night out’ part of the ‘downstate’ routine has resumed.
Bottom line, I think the nicest thing about our local is the welcome that is extended to such a wide variety of people:
There are the Boy Scouts; Veterans; students; the handicapped; children at Halloween and Christmas parties; family picnics; car shows; travel opportunities; families which have lost loved ones; and on and on.
Our city, our nation, our world, could use more locals.
Brits define ‘local’ as a pub close to one's home or place of work.
Other terms come to mind: inn; tavern; canteen; public house; watering hole; or taproom.
Funny how words can have so many meanings.
Over fifty years ago Dear Grandmother in Toronto asked a policeman if he could direct us to where she could find a ‘canteen’, meaning a container to hold water.
I was playing soldier and needed a canteen to complete my 'kit'.
He directed us to an eatery known then as the Honey Dew, a popular fast food restaurant of the time.
I love it.
Anyway, three of us visited our ‘local’ last Monday night.
Dear Wife was at an aerobic swim class.
People smoke at the ‘local’ and Dear Wife has a problem with that – something to do with headaches, a cough, stuff like that.
Smokers don’t mind if their habit causes such to happen to other folks around them.
But enough of that.
I put up with it on occasional Monday nights.
The fellowship is good and it is a ‘guys’ night out’.
We ‘feasted’ on lively conversation; wholesome, low-cost food; and very reasonably priced adult beverages.
Wait staff is personable, efficient, and welcoming.
We met folks we knew there.
We were comfortable; unhurried. We were made welcome.
News of families: news of births; of deaths; of jobs found and jobs lost; of vacations taken; of goingson at churches, etc., are all given equal air time.
Congratulations and sympathies are exchanged.
A community is maintained.
There is a 50-50 drawing: participants chip in $$ for raffle tickets. At a particular time, a drawing is made and the winner gets half the accumulated money. The other half goes to the house.
Good fun. Small town.
This was the first time since last spring that we had convened the Monday night group.
Our trips North make it hard to visit the local on a regular basis during late spring to early fall.
We play a lot Up North and enough is enough. When we are ‘downstate’ we tend to eat our less and do a few more chores than normal.
But now the ‘night out’ part of the ‘downstate’ routine has resumed.
Bottom line, I think the nicest thing about our local is the welcome that is extended to such a wide variety of people:
There are the Boy Scouts; Veterans; students; the handicapped; children at Halloween and Christmas parties; family picnics; car shows; travel opportunities; families which have lost loved ones; and on and on.
Our city, our nation, our world, could use more locals.
THE WEIRD NEWS
When it gets late and when happy hour has gotten long and dinner was large and good, it becomes difficult to write.
At such times we/I tend to surf my news sites instead of writing and jot down whatever seems of interest, grist for future items, if you will.
Lately, all of the above have been happening a lot.
How sweet it is!
And here are some of the ‘grists’ [is that the correct use of that term?]:
chris matthews on msnbc announced that it would be ok if Rush Limbaugh was blown up.
Rush Limbaugh is not welcome as an NFL owner because of rumors/unsubstantiated lies spread about him.
Journalists silence a fellow journalist whilst the former is questioning algore closely about his claims regarding climate change.
b.o.&co. announce that the Taliban is not a major threat to the security of the US while it, the Taliban, gives every appearance of successful destabilization of Pakistan and that entire region of the world.
U.S. Federal authorities have ordered a southwest sheriff to stop arresting illegal immigrants in his jurisdiction.
CNN is fact-checking comedy routines which are critical of b.o.
A five or six year-old is suspended from school and faces 40+ days of ‘special education’ or something called ‘reform school’ for bringing a cub scout camping tool (combination knife, fork, and spoon)to the school lunch room.
The President of the United States, b.o., still in his first year in office, is worshipped by his followers, his congregants (his voters) and wins the Nobel Peace Prize in spite of the fact that he has achieved NONE of his goals to date and in spite of the fact that all the wars he ‘inherited’ are raging ever more violently as this post is being written.
Well, there you are.
Such is the state of the weird news that is floating around us these days.
And these are just a few examples!
Thank God there is lots of ‘normal’ news as well.
At such times we/I tend to surf my news sites instead of writing and jot down whatever seems of interest, grist for future items, if you will.
Lately, all of the above have been happening a lot.
How sweet it is!
And here are some of the ‘grists’ [is that the correct use of that term?]:
chris matthews on msnbc announced that it would be ok if Rush Limbaugh was blown up.
Rush Limbaugh is not welcome as an NFL owner because of rumors/unsubstantiated lies spread about him.
Journalists silence a fellow journalist whilst the former is questioning algore closely about his claims regarding climate change.
b.o.&co. announce that the Taliban is not a major threat to the security of the US while it, the Taliban, gives every appearance of successful destabilization of Pakistan and that entire region of the world.
U.S. Federal authorities have ordered a southwest sheriff to stop arresting illegal immigrants in his jurisdiction.
CNN is fact-checking comedy routines which are critical of b.o.
A five or six year-old is suspended from school and faces 40+ days of ‘special education’ or something called ‘reform school’ for bringing a cub scout camping tool (combination knife, fork, and spoon)to the school lunch room.
The President of the United States, b.o., still in his first year in office, is worshipped by his followers, his congregants (his voters) and wins the Nobel Peace Prize in spite of the fact that he has achieved NONE of his goals to date and in spite of the fact that all the wars he ‘inherited’ are raging ever more violently as this post is being written.
Well, there you are.
Such is the state of the weird news that is floating around us these days.
And these are just a few examples!
Thank God there is lots of ‘normal’ news as well.
Monday, October 12, 2009
A REFLECTION
Funny how seemingly or actually disparate things can get you to thinking.
In the last few days, I have been sorting and reading some biography and reading some poetry.
And then came some insights, some conclusions, and some regrets.
First, the sorting.
Rearranging my workroom is a major task and there are papers therein that have not seen the light of day or lamp for ten years.
I came across an email from an individual we drifted away from over an incident which at the time seemed worth the drifting.
Nine years ago!
The email had been sent during the period of high emotion and I guess had been largely ignored by yours truly at the time.
It was an apology and an appeal to maintain what had been for years a most congenial relationship.
It was ignored.
Second, the biography.
I have been reading lately an unusual bio of C.S. Lewis by Alan Jacobs, The Narnian. Midway through the text, Jacobs describes the difference for Lewis of individuality and eccentricity and the importance, for the good of the community, of recognizing, accepting and valuing the latter over the former.
For Lewis, “The English love their eccentrics not because the eccentricities themselves are necessarily delightful but because the mere presence of such odd folks among them is a testimony to the community’s gentleness, tolerance, and humor.”
In other words, “…healthy communities (including families and churches) characteristically produce highly differentiated individuals, even the sorts of persons we call ‘characters’.”
For me, , this means it is not so much the individual that is the most important in this context, but rather the toleration, even the appreciation of the individual, that is the most important.
Third, the poetry.
The Study is not located in a bell-ringing neighborhood. But I have lived in such.
And the Kayla Elise routinely sails The Narrows, a delightful strip of water between two parts of our Lake in The North where the bells of nearby St. Mary’s Parish frequently are loud and clear for all to hear.
At any rate, what with illness and deaths of close friends and acquaintances this year, I got to thinking of bells and that led me to look again at a verse by John Donne, originally in the form of prose:
No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manner of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.
So, there they were: the sorting and finding of the email; the value of tolerating and appreciating eccentricity; and the importance of avoiding loss of community whenever possible.
It is easy to imagine that one is an island and that he or she does not need anyone.
It is also a false imagination.
Two conclusions of this brief essay:
First, we should respect the individual member of society not because society revolves around that individual, but rather because such respect in itself is a noble feature of any healthy society.
To exalt the individual at the expense of the community is a perversion to be avoided.
Second, we need to treasure our acquaintances and to make every reasonable effort to maintain them.
As John Donne so artfully says,
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
In the last few days, I have been sorting and reading some biography and reading some poetry.
And then came some insights, some conclusions, and some regrets.
First, the sorting.
Rearranging my workroom is a major task and there are papers therein that have not seen the light of day or lamp for ten years.
I came across an email from an individual we drifted away from over an incident which at the time seemed worth the drifting.
Nine years ago!
The email had been sent during the period of high emotion and I guess had been largely ignored by yours truly at the time.
It was an apology and an appeal to maintain what had been for years a most congenial relationship.
It was ignored.
Second, the biography.
I have been reading lately an unusual bio of C.S. Lewis by Alan Jacobs, The Narnian. Midway through the text, Jacobs describes the difference for Lewis of individuality and eccentricity and the importance, for the good of the community, of recognizing, accepting and valuing the latter over the former.
For Lewis, “The English love their eccentrics not because the eccentricities themselves are necessarily delightful but because the mere presence of such odd folks among them is a testimony to the community’s gentleness, tolerance, and humor.”
In other words, “…healthy communities (including families and churches) characteristically produce highly differentiated individuals, even the sorts of persons we call ‘characters’.”
For me, , this means it is not so much the individual that is the most important in this context, but rather the toleration, even the appreciation of the individual, that is the most important.
Third, the poetry.
The Study is not located in a bell-ringing neighborhood. But I have lived in such.
And the Kayla Elise routinely sails The Narrows, a delightful strip of water between two parts of our Lake in The North where the bells of nearby St. Mary’s Parish frequently are loud and clear for all to hear.
At any rate, what with illness and deaths of close friends and acquaintances this year, I got to thinking of bells and that led me to look again at a verse by John Donne, originally in the form of prose:
No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manner of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.
So, there they were: the sorting and finding of the email; the value of tolerating and appreciating eccentricity; and the importance of avoiding loss of community whenever possible.
It is easy to imagine that one is an island and that he or she does not need anyone.
It is also a false imagination.
Two conclusions of this brief essay:
First, we should respect the individual member of society not because society revolves around that individual, but rather because such respect in itself is a noble feature of any healthy society.
To exalt the individual at the expense of the community is a perversion to be avoided.
Second, we need to treasure our acquaintances and to make every reasonable effort to maintain them.
As John Donne so artfully says,
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
THE PRIZE
It is at a time like this that this amateur historian, this retired professional history teacher, etc., etc., wishes especially that he knew more and had forgotten less.
I/we read, see, and hear that b.o. has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Questions at once present themselves: historically, what are the requirements for the prize; what are the purposes of the founder and the foundation that administers the prize; what changes have occurred in those purposes; and what has the current recipient done to deserve the prize?
Doubtless, there are other questions.
I could Google the questions.
I am not going to do so.
We are too involved with other things.
But a few observations may still be made.
A few impressions of yonder days when we knew more of such details survive:
the founder was an explosives manufacturer. At least, he had something to do with such stuff and there was a connection to war materiel’ [French word?].
He founded his prize to ameliorate the horrors of war, to promote the cause of peace by rewarding achievements in said pursuit.
Operate word here is achievements – not expressions of hope.
Over the years, very wise awards, consistent with the promotion of peace have been made.
Again, without research, we recall that Teddy Roosevelt was granted the honor in recognition of his work in halting the Russo-Japanese War.
jimmy carter received it, we think, honoring his work in the Camp David Accords [again, no research done].
Now, we don’t regard jimmy as really worthy of much, but at least he had done something. His prize was not awarded in advance.
So, b.o. has the prize.
He has done nothing.
He has won the prize for something else than that for which it was intended.
The Nobel Foundation is become a prostitute, selling/granting its charms for purposes other than that for which they were intended.
Adjectives come to mind: pathetic; obscene; and dishonest.
And finally, those who participate in such prostitution, those who bestow and those who receive, are in turn pathetic, obscene, and dishonest.
The Nobel Foundation and our President are all of those things.
I/we read, see, and hear that b.o. has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Questions at once present themselves: historically, what are the requirements for the prize; what are the purposes of the founder and the foundation that administers the prize; what changes have occurred in those purposes; and what has the current recipient done to deserve the prize?
Doubtless, there are other questions.
I could Google the questions.
I am not going to do so.
We are too involved with other things.
But a few observations may still be made.
A few impressions of yonder days when we knew more of such details survive:
the founder was an explosives manufacturer. At least, he had something to do with such stuff and there was a connection to war materiel’ [French word?].
He founded his prize to ameliorate the horrors of war, to promote the cause of peace by rewarding achievements in said pursuit.
Operate word here is achievements – not expressions of hope.
Over the years, very wise awards, consistent with the promotion of peace have been made.
Again, without research, we recall that Teddy Roosevelt was granted the honor in recognition of his work in halting the Russo-Japanese War.
jimmy carter received it, we think, honoring his work in the Camp David Accords [again, no research done].
Now, we don’t regard jimmy as really worthy of much, but at least he had done something. His prize was not awarded in advance.
So, b.o. has the prize.
He has done nothing.
He has won the prize for something else than that for which it was intended.
The Nobel Foundation is become a prostitute, selling/granting its charms for purposes other than that for which they were intended.
Adjectives come to mind: pathetic; obscene; and dishonest.
And finally, those who participate in such prostitution, those who bestow and those who receive, are in turn pathetic, obscene, and dishonest.
The Nobel Foundation and our President are all of those things.
WHEN ONE IS TIRED OF LONDON
Saturday morning – brisk but sunny.
The ‘downstate’ year is starting up.
May it be a good one. May it be a fruitful one. May we make as few mistakes as possible and do as much good as possible.
As that character Willie Wonka (sp?) said in The Chocolate Factory , at least I think he said, “So little time; so much to do!”
Young people generally have no idea how important their youth is.
Anyway, the downstate year is starting up.
New study group has begun at Church: as of Saturday, ten or twelve of us gather weekly for two hours to examine the past week in light of certain questions and perspectives and to discuss our new book: Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer.
One of the goals of the book study component of our meetings is to see God at work in the world, in our lives.
Each participant shares as much or as little of the input opportunities as he or she wishes.
Dear Wife has collected the Grandkids and they will stay overnight, going to Church with us tomorrow and then home before Dear Daughter and her husband and his Mom and Dad arrive for his Mom’s birthday party. Is that clear? Sounds too complicated.
New firewood has not arrived yet – but enough is left over for couple of weeks yet.
This afternoon will clear the back deck and cut/split some wood for tonight and tomorrow.
We look forward to buying corn-on-cob for squirrel feeder and peanuts for same little creatures.
Will perhaps add a thistle feeder to the seed feeder.
Had lots of luck last winter with the winter feedings.
And then second car has to be allowed back into garage. Camp gear needs to be stored, moved from its spring/summer billeting in one half the garage.
The seasons cycle – we must look a bit more inward as the temps decline.
And so much going on in the world – the nation – the community.
I have written the following before, but I cannot resist: in the words of Samuel Johnson, “When one is tired of London [or of the world, the nation, the community], one is tired of life.”
So true, so true.
The ‘downstate’ year is starting up.
May it be a good one. May it be a fruitful one. May we make as few mistakes as possible and do as much good as possible.
As that character Willie Wonka (sp?) said in The Chocolate Factory , at least I think he said, “So little time; so much to do!”
Young people generally have no idea how important their youth is.
Anyway, the downstate year is starting up.
New study group has begun at Church: as of Saturday, ten or twelve of us gather weekly for two hours to examine the past week in light of certain questions and perspectives and to discuss our new book: Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer.
One of the goals of the book study component of our meetings is to see God at work in the world, in our lives.
Each participant shares as much or as little of the input opportunities as he or she wishes.
Dear Wife has collected the Grandkids and they will stay overnight, going to Church with us tomorrow and then home before Dear Daughter and her husband and his Mom and Dad arrive for his Mom’s birthday party. Is that clear? Sounds too complicated.
New firewood has not arrived yet – but enough is left over for couple of weeks yet.
This afternoon will clear the back deck and cut/split some wood for tonight and tomorrow.
We look forward to buying corn-on-cob for squirrel feeder and peanuts for same little creatures.
Will perhaps add a thistle feeder to the seed feeder.
Had lots of luck last winter with the winter feedings.
And then second car has to be allowed back into garage. Camp gear needs to be stored, moved from its spring/summer billeting in one half the garage.
The seasons cycle – we must look a bit more inward as the temps decline.
And so much going on in the world – the nation – the community.
I have written the following before, but I cannot resist: in the words of Samuel Johnson, “When one is tired of London [or of the world, the nation, the community], one is tired of life.”
So true, so true.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
TESTS
8:30pm Thursday night.
It has been a good day.
Temperature in the low 50’s, mix of clouds and sun, and then light rain.
In came the koi before the rain started. Drained the pond and filled the tank in the bowels of The Study.
Netted the three big fellows (don’t really know the genders) and deposited them below, lovingly.
Stored away the pump and hoses and so on and refilled the pond, tossing in the requisite logs to prevent ice damage.
Breakfast had been a bit hasty, but lunch was better and dinner was superb.
Martinis and a glass of wine and a fine steak - perhaps not the best recipe for coherent writing, but there it is and here we are at just about 8:30pm.
Firstly, while mucking and cleaning the pond, it occurred that the country is probably not more culturally or politically divided now than it was under President Bush.
b.o. is not the cause of current disunity and animosity and cynicism and ignorance and confusion and on and on and on.
It started before him – before President Bush – it was developing before Ronald Reagan, that Dear Fella who did a lot to get rid of some of it. Emphasize some.
He too was the butt of jokes and insults and stupid criticism.
But no matter.
b.o. did not start it.
His crime, if you will, is that he is unable, perhaps incapable of doing anything about it.
He is the product of machine politics and is subject to the attentions of very active interest groups, groups which are not loved by much of moderate or mainstream America.
He is too much a part of one side of the cultural/political divide to be able to do any bridging.
He has grown up in it and has wallowed in it.
He is tainted by it. To this day.
He will have a devil of a time ever escaping it.
Too bad.
Too bad that he promised to be able to bring the nation together.
But then, that is what politicians do – they, or many of them, say whatever it takes to get elected.
Secondly, how about the ‘elite’ folks who are defending roman polanski (sp?)?
Elites in several walks of life they are doing it.
And to think that once there was a day, not too many years ago, when so-called educated folks denied that there were really liberals or conservatives, that everyone was really just about the same as everyone else.
I know, the definitions of lib and conservative have changed over the decades – but still.
The nature of the crime, or rather crimes, is so shocking – and the willingness to forget –
You just gotta shake your head.
Thirdly, we read this morning about the thousands, the tens of thousands of folks who turned out in Detroit for government $$ handouts to help them stay in their homes – and about how they deported themselves during the melee’.
Which brings to mind the recent Time Mag article on Detroit.
We have not read it yet – but apparently it has been discussed in the Senate of the United States and in our local papers and around many water coolers, in suburbs and urbs.
Are there still water coolers in offices??
Dear Wife asked this day what happened to Detroit.
Quick attempt at an answer [albeit incomplete]:
In the 1920’s, poor blacks moved North to work in the factories of Detroit.
Industry, especially automotive, boomed, and employment of all types flourished.
The Depression came and went, and more poor folk migrated north to work in the war plants.
The War ended.
Things seemed to be ok, but war work went away and industrial growth began to lag.
Foreign competition grew, especially in the automotive areas. And mechanical inventions encouraged southern black agricultural workers to head north as their jobs were displaced in the south.
And then the judicial system forced school bussing [sp?] on the city and middle class and affluent whites left the city in droves, leaving behind an impoverished and ever poorer population base unable to flee, unable to provide for itself.
A city with a population of millions is now reduced to 700 + thousand – no one really knows how many. Detroit has the poorest census accuracy of any major city in the United States.
No attempt to quote figures here, but the average family income of half the population of the city is – not enough to do the job.
Dear Wife asked what is to be done??
We suspect that there is no solution that can fix the problem.
We suspect that the best that can be hoped for is to suppress the most destructive factors and support the most positive, the most needy, the most helpless.
The city is beyond helping itself.
It has become a client entity, requiring control and funding and protecting from outside – and most of the citizens act as though they have no clue.
Pathetic.
As in medicine, not every illness has a cure.
Sometimes, the best we can hope for is maintenance.
Let’s here it for maintenance.
Even that would be a kind of win for Detroit.
Fourthly, the war in Afghanistan is not going well.
The Commander-in-Chief, b.o., has appointed a commander whom he apparently trusts, since he, b.o., appointed him.
b.o.’s problem is that he, b.o., is beholden to so many liberals, so many ignorant interest groups, that he cannot act on the advice of the commander without dithering and pretending to think and rethink and discuss.
It is our hope that when the rethinking charade is over that b.o. will do as his chosen commander has requested.
We are encouraged that virtually all of the Bush/Cheney national security measures loudly condemned by b.o. during the campaign have been largely validated and preserved by b.o. and company.
We are a resilient people, but we are being tested.
It has been a good day.
Temperature in the low 50’s, mix of clouds and sun, and then light rain.
In came the koi before the rain started. Drained the pond and filled the tank in the bowels of The Study.
Netted the three big fellows (don’t really know the genders) and deposited them below, lovingly.
Stored away the pump and hoses and so on and refilled the pond, tossing in the requisite logs to prevent ice damage.
Breakfast had been a bit hasty, but lunch was better and dinner was superb.
Martinis and a glass of wine and a fine steak - perhaps not the best recipe for coherent writing, but there it is and here we are at just about 8:30pm.
Firstly, while mucking and cleaning the pond, it occurred that the country is probably not more culturally or politically divided now than it was under President Bush.
b.o. is not the cause of current disunity and animosity and cynicism and ignorance and confusion and on and on and on.
It started before him – before President Bush – it was developing before Ronald Reagan, that Dear Fella who did a lot to get rid of some of it. Emphasize some.
He too was the butt of jokes and insults and stupid criticism.
But no matter.
b.o. did not start it.
His crime, if you will, is that he is unable, perhaps incapable of doing anything about it.
He is the product of machine politics and is subject to the attentions of very active interest groups, groups which are not loved by much of moderate or mainstream America.
He is too much a part of one side of the cultural/political divide to be able to do any bridging.
He has grown up in it and has wallowed in it.
He is tainted by it. To this day.
He will have a devil of a time ever escaping it.
Too bad.
Too bad that he promised to be able to bring the nation together.
But then, that is what politicians do – they, or many of them, say whatever it takes to get elected.
Secondly, how about the ‘elite’ folks who are defending roman polanski (sp?)?
Elites in several walks of life they are doing it.
And to think that once there was a day, not too many years ago, when so-called educated folks denied that there were really liberals or conservatives, that everyone was really just about the same as everyone else.
I know, the definitions of lib and conservative have changed over the decades – but still.
The nature of the crime, or rather crimes, is so shocking – and the willingness to forget –
You just gotta shake your head.
Thirdly, we read this morning about the thousands, the tens of thousands of folks who turned out in Detroit for government $$ handouts to help them stay in their homes – and about how they deported themselves during the melee’.
Which brings to mind the recent Time Mag article on Detroit.
We have not read it yet – but apparently it has been discussed in the Senate of the United States and in our local papers and around many water coolers, in suburbs and urbs.
Are there still water coolers in offices??
Dear Wife asked this day what happened to Detroit.
Quick attempt at an answer [albeit incomplete]:
In the 1920’s, poor blacks moved North to work in the factories of Detroit.
Industry, especially automotive, boomed, and employment of all types flourished.
The Depression came and went, and more poor folk migrated north to work in the war plants.
The War ended.
Things seemed to be ok, but war work went away and industrial growth began to lag.
Foreign competition grew, especially in the automotive areas. And mechanical inventions encouraged southern black agricultural workers to head north as their jobs were displaced in the south.
And then the judicial system forced school bussing [sp?] on the city and middle class and affluent whites left the city in droves, leaving behind an impoverished and ever poorer population base unable to flee, unable to provide for itself.
A city with a population of millions is now reduced to 700 + thousand – no one really knows how many. Detroit has the poorest census accuracy of any major city in the United States.
No attempt to quote figures here, but the average family income of half the population of the city is – not enough to do the job.
Dear Wife asked what is to be done??
We suspect that there is no solution that can fix the problem.
We suspect that the best that can be hoped for is to suppress the most destructive factors and support the most positive, the most needy, the most helpless.
The city is beyond helping itself.
It has become a client entity, requiring control and funding and protecting from outside – and most of the citizens act as though they have no clue.
Pathetic.
As in medicine, not every illness has a cure.
Sometimes, the best we can hope for is maintenance.
Let’s here it for maintenance.
Even that would be a kind of win for Detroit.
Fourthly, the war in Afghanistan is not going well.
The Commander-in-Chief, b.o., has appointed a commander whom he apparently trusts, since he, b.o., appointed him.
b.o.’s problem is that he, b.o., is beholden to so many liberals, so many ignorant interest groups, that he cannot act on the advice of the commander without dithering and pretending to think and rethink and discuss.
It is our hope that when the rethinking charade is over that b.o. will do as his chosen commander has requested.
We are encouraged that virtually all of the Bush/Cheney national security measures loudly condemned by b.o. during the campaign have been largely validated and preserved by b.o. and company.
We are a resilient people, but we are being tested.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
HOME FROM THE NORTH – UNTIL NEXT TIME
Tuesday morning, just a little after noon.
We rolled into The Study late, ca. 9:00pm with an impossibly overloaded car, two tired humans, and one four legged hairy dog person.
Thank God for a safe trip home.
The Kayla Elise is out of the water; the four boat poles are carefully stacked in camp; and the Northern Camp is winterized and put to bed.
Few neighbors were left in our end of things and we bid farewell to those that were available throughout yesterday.
We’re home a couple of days early, but the weather forecast made the move a good one.
We shopped the area villages day before yesterday for family items and for Dear Wife’s DKG (teacher professional society) auction which will take place in November, just after Thanksgiving.
The sky was alternately partly cloudy, cloudy, and then full of rain.
It was like late fall and it was fun.
And we were saying goodbye for awhile to all our fav stores and storekeepers and streets and parking places and bay fronts and ambience and atmosphere and stuff like that.
And then back to camp to start packing up for the departure yesterday.
Breakfast and lunch were eaten at camp, but dinner was in an eatery in Cedar, Michigan, in which the waitstaff knows us and provides favorite drinks and even suggests fav menu items they think Dear Wife would like to eat.
And they check on Sophie Matilda for us during the meal!!
Now, that is really above and beyond the call of duty.
A highlight during drive home was a brilliant, immense full moon, yellow, high in the sky – we stopped a couple of times and tried for pictures of it.
Not sure how they will come out.
At any rate, home safe and tired and partially unpacked.
Today, bacon/egg breakfast - catching up on what is happening in world and family for the last two days – then off for a hike and then down to Dear Daughter’s home for hello dinner, giving of a few tiny gifts, and the watching of a TV show Daughter recorded for Dear Wife.
How sweet it is!!
A new load of firewood is expected any day – and there is plenty to do around here to get ready for the changing seasons.
Thank the Good Lord for all blessings.
We rolled into The Study late, ca. 9:00pm with an impossibly overloaded car, two tired humans, and one four legged hairy dog person.
Thank God for a safe trip home.
The Kayla Elise is out of the water; the four boat poles are carefully stacked in camp; and the Northern Camp is winterized and put to bed.
Few neighbors were left in our end of things and we bid farewell to those that were available throughout yesterday.
We’re home a couple of days early, but the weather forecast made the move a good one.
We shopped the area villages day before yesterday for family items and for Dear Wife’s DKG (teacher professional society) auction which will take place in November, just after Thanksgiving.
The sky was alternately partly cloudy, cloudy, and then full of rain.
It was like late fall and it was fun.
And we were saying goodbye for awhile to all our fav stores and storekeepers and streets and parking places and bay fronts and ambience and atmosphere and stuff like that.
And then back to camp to start packing up for the departure yesterday.
Breakfast and lunch were eaten at camp, but dinner was in an eatery in Cedar, Michigan, in which the waitstaff knows us and provides favorite drinks and even suggests fav menu items they think Dear Wife would like to eat.
And they check on Sophie Matilda for us during the meal!!
Now, that is really above and beyond the call of duty.
A highlight during drive home was a brilliant, immense full moon, yellow, high in the sky – we stopped a couple of times and tried for pictures of it.
Not sure how they will come out.
At any rate, home safe and tired and partially unpacked.
Today, bacon/egg breakfast - catching up on what is happening in world and family for the last two days – then off for a hike and then down to Dear Daughter’s home for hello dinner, giving of a few tiny gifts, and the watching of a TV show Daughter recorded for Dear Wife.
How sweet it is!!
A new load of firewood is expected any day – and there is plenty to do around here to get ready for the changing seasons.
Thank the Good Lord for all blessings.
Friday, October 2, 2009
A RAINY DAY IN THE NORTH
Friday night in The North.
It has rained all day.
It is cold.
And it has been a good day.
A few things:
Watched the final episode of the Ken Burns special on the national parks. Of especial interest to us was this last segment in which a significant part concerned Alaska.
We missed the opening editions. Will catch them later.
A sports writer the other day opined that one of the good things about sports is that you can vent all you want about favorite teams and scores and who is or who is not the best at this or that and no one cares a darn – no real good or bad results can come from what is said regarding this or that.
In the Ken Burns special, one especially poignant statement goes something like this [paraphrased] : The wildness of Alaska is neither for you nor against you. Rather, it is unforgiving of mistakes.
Now why would I decide to write of these two back to back? I don’t know. There is a thread there. If it wasn’t so late, and if lots of good things hadn’t happened, I might have the answer.
Will think on it.
b.o. failed to get the games for his city.
He did manage 25 minutes with our commander in Afghanistan.
What a guy!
And how about david letterman!
And whoopy [I know, wrong spelling] goldberg : It is not rape rape.
But then again, how about Sarah Palin? She has a new book coming out pretty soon, ahead of schedule.
We intend to buy it.
As one writer urges, consider the purchase a political contribution, a poke in the eye to the libs.
Read the article re the publication in the American Thinker:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/10/palins_revenge_whos_laughing_n.html
As one website wrote: Go girl!!
Speaking of Alaska, one of our guides in that awesome state, during an especially long and heavy rainfall, remarked that she loves the rain, that in Alaska it is sometimes referred to as Liquid Sunshine.
It has rained all day.
It is cold.
And it has been a good day.
A few things:
Watched the final episode of the Ken Burns special on the national parks. Of especial interest to us was this last segment in which a significant part concerned Alaska.
We missed the opening editions. Will catch them later.
A sports writer the other day opined that one of the good things about sports is that you can vent all you want about favorite teams and scores and who is or who is not the best at this or that and no one cares a darn – no real good or bad results can come from what is said regarding this or that.
In the Ken Burns special, one especially poignant statement goes something like this [paraphrased] : The wildness of Alaska is neither for you nor against you. Rather, it is unforgiving of mistakes.
Now why would I decide to write of these two back to back? I don’t know. There is a thread there. If it wasn’t so late, and if lots of good things hadn’t happened, I might have the answer.
Will think on it.
b.o. failed to get the games for his city.
He did manage 25 minutes with our commander in Afghanistan.
What a guy!
And how about david letterman!
And whoopy [I know, wrong spelling] goldberg : It is not rape rape.
But then again, how about Sarah Palin? She has a new book coming out pretty soon, ahead of schedule.
We intend to buy it.
As one writer urges, consider the purchase a political contribution, a poke in the eye to the libs.
Read the article re the publication in the American Thinker:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/10/palins_revenge_whos_laughing_n.html
As one website wrote: Go girl!!
Speaking of Alaska, one of our guides in that awesome state, during an especially long and heavy rainfall, remarked that she loves the rain, that in Alaska it is sometimes referred to as Liquid Sunshine.
Friday, September 25, 2009
YOU NEVER KNOW
There once was a time when a broadcast or print news item stuck pretty much to the topic under which it was titled or labeled.
That was then.
Now is now – and you never know.
Two examples:
The other day Sophie and I emerged from the bathroom wherein I had just completed giving her her doctor-ordered once-a-week bath.
We have a two-person Jacuzzi type tub and I put her in, climbed in as well, and proceeded to do the duty.
I stand up and bend over. She is only a foot or so high. She doesn't even have to sit down.
We had a grand time – well, not really. She hates the bath but she loves the drying out part which comes later.
The shampoo has to stay on her for five minutes before rinse off, so I left the door open, set the clock, and turned up the radio to help me pass the time while we waited for the minutes to go by.
I set the station to NPR. I do that sometimes.
I am open-minded.
A producer of plays or a director or some such person was being interviewed by one of the senior folks at NPR.
They were discussing an updated version of one of Shakespeare’s plays which he was hoping would eventually be used as a teaching instrument in schools for some kind of civil rights lesson.
Well, it was interesting and I stood listening and getting cold feet in the tub with Sophie and I was thinking ok, so maybe this is a good idea and maybe it is ok that they are using Shakespeare to teach stuff.
Who better than Shakespeare?
And then it happened.
The guy being interviewed, the producer or whatever he was, started to say that it was easy to understand the message, that it was in plain English and so on, AND THAT IT WAS NOT IN BUSH TALK.
At first, I thought that he was referring to some sort of rural, mountain vernacular type of language.
And then it hit me.
This is NPR.
There he was, doing a good job talking about his play, and he had to interject the President Bush Thing, another case of BUSH SYNDROME.
And then along came the ad/review for a new Cadillac model, a 2010 edition.
The article was in the Detroit Free Press and it was a swell review. The reviewer went on about the good points of the car and so on and how he and his wife drove it to a wedding in Michigan and how nice it would be for the newly married couple to have such a car to take on their honeymoon.
And then it happened.
The reviewer ended the review by lamenting that it was too bad that the gay newlyweds had to go to Massachusetts to get their marriage legalized since the benighted state of Michigan did not allow such marriages to be performed.
IN A CAR REVIEW???????
Gramma used to say that you cannot tell a book by its cover.
But car reviews and educational plays too????
That was then.
Now is now – and you never know.
Two examples:
The other day Sophie and I emerged from the bathroom wherein I had just completed giving her her doctor-ordered once-a-week bath.
We have a two-person Jacuzzi type tub and I put her in, climbed in as well, and proceeded to do the duty.
I stand up and bend over. She is only a foot or so high. She doesn't even have to sit down.
We had a grand time – well, not really. She hates the bath but she loves the drying out part which comes later.
The shampoo has to stay on her for five minutes before rinse off, so I left the door open, set the clock, and turned up the radio to help me pass the time while we waited for the minutes to go by.
I set the station to NPR. I do that sometimes.
I am open-minded.
A producer of plays or a director or some such person was being interviewed by one of the senior folks at NPR.
They were discussing an updated version of one of Shakespeare’s plays which he was hoping would eventually be used as a teaching instrument in schools for some kind of civil rights lesson.
Well, it was interesting and I stood listening and getting cold feet in the tub with Sophie and I was thinking ok, so maybe this is a good idea and maybe it is ok that they are using Shakespeare to teach stuff.
Who better than Shakespeare?
And then it happened.
The guy being interviewed, the producer or whatever he was, started to say that it was easy to understand the message, that it was in plain English and so on, AND THAT IT WAS NOT IN BUSH TALK.
At first, I thought that he was referring to some sort of rural, mountain vernacular type of language.
And then it hit me.
This is NPR.
There he was, doing a good job talking about his play, and he had to interject the President Bush Thing, another case of BUSH SYNDROME.
And then along came the ad/review for a new Cadillac model, a 2010 edition.
The article was in the Detroit Free Press and it was a swell review. The reviewer went on about the good points of the car and so on and how he and his wife drove it to a wedding in Michigan and how nice it would be for the newly married couple to have such a car to take on their honeymoon.
And then it happened.
The reviewer ended the review by lamenting that it was too bad that the gay newlyweds had to go to Massachusetts to get their marriage legalized since the benighted state of Michigan did not allow such marriages to be performed.
IN A CAR REVIEW???????
Gramma used to say that you cannot tell a book by its cover.
But car reviews and educational plays too????
THE WORLD IS WATCHING
At the u.n., b.o. touted the necessity of nations treating each other as equals, arguing that no nation should try to coerce the behavior of fellow or sister states.
Mainstream media generally has supported their candidate/President. You think?
At any rate, leave it to Powerline once again to call to our attention the shift, the drift, the growing realization on the part of that very msm that b.o. is really an eneffective leader.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/09/024584.php
On the international stage, I would add that he is a dangerous leader.
Dangerous??
Yes, for if he really waits for the world to 'handle' the Iran nuclear situation, then he will be guilty, guilty of plunging the Middle East into a major conflict, a conflict which he could have avoided by making it clear to Israel and neighbors that the United States, forget the world, will not allow, repeat, will not allow, Iran to go nuclear.
Liberals will argue that the US has too much on the plate what with Afghanistan and Iraq and Korea and global warming, for God's sake, and algore getting $500 million Federal dollars to outsource car production [tis ok for him, cause he is algore and a dem].
I will argue that we are in a phase of, if you will, WW3, that just as in WW2, there could not be too much on the plate, that as the old saying goes, "You gotta do what you gotta do."
Liberals believe that you gotta do, but what they gotta do is not what should be done.
Iran cannot go nuclear. b.o. had better not wait for the world 'community' to do the preventing.
If Iran goes nuclear, so does Egypt and Saudi Arabia. And before that happens, long before, Israel will attack Iranian sites, and a new war cycle will begin.
b.o. did not know what he was in for when he ascended from Chicago politics and entered the varsity level, the professional level, of international politics.
He is a shallow amateur.
Folks who voted for him are ignorant citizens of the co-greatest nation on the planet.
b.o. has no idea of the problems which are out there.
We can only hope that wise heads help him to find his way.
They probably will. He is ignorant, but perhaps he will realize that he does not know what is really going on and let folks who really know the score set the courses that have to be followed.
There is another old saying/thought that I will conclude with.
Nations are not equal. Nations do not all contribute equally to the general good. Some, even many nowadays, contribute much that is evil [read not good for the United States].
And the world order, such as it is, is not self-sustaining.
There is no world government. There is no world court [in name only] . There is no world legislature.
What there is is quite the opposite. There is disorder and lawlessness. There are strong nations and there are weak ones, just as there are wealthy ones and poor ones.
And the law-abiding nations of the world need leadership, because the lawless ones do indeed have their leaders.
The United States of America is the leader of the law-abiding nations of the world. The United States has inherited this role, has grown into this role, and it had bloody well better act as though it has assumed this role.
The old saying: Lead or get out of the way. Getting out of the way is not an option, for there is no second stringer who is up to the job.
The United States is the only mission-capable nation, whether or not the President of the United States knows it, whether or not he believes that the United States is responsible for all the ills of the world.
He didn't know this as a candidate. He is finding it out now.
The world is watching to see how he does.
Mainstream media generally has supported their candidate/President. You think?
At any rate, leave it to Powerline once again to call to our attention the shift, the drift, the growing realization on the part of that very msm that b.o. is really an eneffective leader.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/09/024584.php
On the international stage, I would add that he is a dangerous leader.
Dangerous??
Yes, for if he really waits for the world to 'handle' the Iran nuclear situation, then he will be guilty, guilty of plunging the Middle East into a major conflict, a conflict which he could have avoided by making it clear to Israel and neighbors that the United States, forget the world, will not allow, repeat, will not allow, Iran to go nuclear.
Liberals will argue that the US has too much on the plate what with Afghanistan and Iraq and Korea and global warming, for God's sake, and algore getting $500 million Federal dollars to outsource car production [tis ok for him, cause he is algore and a dem].
I will argue that we are in a phase of, if you will, WW3, that just as in WW2, there could not be too much on the plate, that as the old saying goes, "You gotta do what you gotta do."
Liberals believe that you gotta do, but what they gotta do is not what should be done.
Iran cannot go nuclear. b.o. had better not wait for the world 'community' to do the preventing.
If Iran goes nuclear, so does Egypt and Saudi Arabia. And before that happens, long before, Israel will attack Iranian sites, and a new war cycle will begin.
b.o. did not know what he was in for when he ascended from Chicago politics and entered the varsity level, the professional level, of international politics.
He is a shallow amateur.
Folks who voted for him are ignorant citizens of the co-greatest nation on the planet.
b.o. has no idea of the problems which are out there.
We can only hope that wise heads help him to find his way.
They probably will. He is ignorant, but perhaps he will realize that he does not know what is really going on and let folks who really know the score set the courses that have to be followed.
There is another old saying/thought that I will conclude with.
Nations are not equal. Nations do not all contribute equally to the general good. Some, even many nowadays, contribute much that is evil [read not good for the United States].
And the world order, such as it is, is not self-sustaining.
There is no world government. There is no world court [in name only] . There is no world legislature.
What there is is quite the opposite. There is disorder and lawlessness. There are strong nations and there are weak ones, just as there are wealthy ones and poor ones.
And the law-abiding nations of the world need leadership, because the lawless ones do indeed have their leaders.
The United States of America is the leader of the law-abiding nations of the world. The United States has inherited this role, has grown into this role, and it had bloody well better act as though it has assumed this role.
The old saying: Lead or get out of the way. Getting out of the way is not an option, for there is no second stringer who is up to the job.
The United States is the only mission-capable nation, whether or not the President of the United States knows it, whether or not he believes that the United States is responsible for all the ills of the world.
He didn't know this as a candidate. He is finding it out now.
The world is watching to see how he does.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
THE NEXT LUNCH HOUR
Dear Wife has left The Study for a long weekend with Daughter and Cousin. They will enjoy a traditional, annual visit to a small town country fair; shop; dine; visit and visit and visit; and do all sorts of things I do not even know about. There will be cocktail hours and in-home and out-of-home dining and hopefully, fun to be had by all.
Sophie Matilda and I will hold down The Study.
There are the usual chores.
Hopefully, some of these will get done.
And there will be time, God willing, to monitor and think and talk and write about what on earth is going on around us.
As suggested in these pages earlier, we at The Study do not listen ‘live’ to any speeches by b.o. or his minions or to speeches by any of the foreign leaders [in our judgement] who are not worthy of being listened to.
Instead, we rely on analyses from a wide variety of resources and, on occasion, to reading the texts of said speeches.
We used both methods of understanding last night and this morning regarding the remarks yesterday by b.o. and gaddafi at the u.n..
We could say a lot of things about these two speeches. It is at times like these that I regret not being able to have lunch with all my former colleagues in our History Department.
We were a somewhat diverse group – liberals, moderates, conservatives, and some crossovers hard to describe.
Folks from other departments would sometimes come up to eat with us, just to observe or participate in often lively exchanges.
Only rarely would tempers flare.
But sentiments would invariably be strongly expressed.
Such would be the case on a day like this, a day after some remarkable performances by some of the world’s leaders.
At that luncheon table, a decade ago, i might have poured my coffee and made my sandwich and then have opened up with, “Well, gotta give him credit, b.o. is really out to change the role of the United States of America in world affairs.”
And that would get us going. If I didn’t do it, someone else would make a similar or a different point.
I find that Sophie Matilda agrees with almost everything I say, except when we talk about her baths or her taking of medicine.
To my colleagues, I might have said that I am not going to parrot the ridicule and disbelief which has greeted the statement by our President – except to say that he misrepresented reality, completely and entirely – in everything he said yesterday.
I might have said that it was an embarrassment, a humiliation, that I can imagine what any knowing observer must have thought.
I know what I now think about the speech, twenty-four hours later.
The professional diplomats, if not the politicians, the good ones, know the score.
They know the nature of science; the inevitability of the spread of technology, including nuclear technology; the role of alliances, even the necessity of alliances; of balances of power; of the inherent inequality of nations; of the need for a peacekeeper; of the importance of national interest; and on and on.
And then, of course, there is the matter of the u.n. itself and its abilities, or rather its inabilities, to cope with the problems of the world since its inception so many decades ago.
I would have suggested that the u.n. is a relic of WW2 – a leftover of the mindset that helped the Good Guys win that epic struggle: the idea that victory in that war would allow the world to move into broad, sunlit uplands, as, I believe, Churchill proclaimed.
Well, our side won the war but the uplands we moved into had some clouds.
And the clouds are getting denser, the more years that go by. And the u.n., the agency of peace created by the victors, has not turned out to be the innovation that its creators thought it would be.
And then our lunch hour would be over and we would go back to our twenty-five or thirty young students – and we would do what we could to share with them the skills we hoped would help them develop into responsible young persons.
And I would look forward to the next lunch hour.
Sophie Matilda and I will hold down The Study.
There are the usual chores.
Hopefully, some of these will get done.
And there will be time, God willing, to monitor and think and talk and write about what on earth is going on around us.
As suggested in these pages earlier, we at The Study do not listen ‘live’ to any speeches by b.o. or his minions or to speeches by any of the foreign leaders [in our judgement] who are not worthy of being listened to.
Instead, we rely on analyses from a wide variety of resources and, on occasion, to reading the texts of said speeches.
We used both methods of understanding last night and this morning regarding the remarks yesterday by b.o. and gaddafi at the u.n..
We could say a lot of things about these two speeches. It is at times like these that I regret not being able to have lunch with all my former colleagues in our History Department.
We were a somewhat diverse group – liberals, moderates, conservatives, and some crossovers hard to describe.
Folks from other departments would sometimes come up to eat with us, just to observe or participate in often lively exchanges.
Only rarely would tempers flare.
But sentiments would invariably be strongly expressed.
Such would be the case on a day like this, a day after some remarkable performances by some of the world’s leaders.
At that luncheon table, a decade ago, i might have poured my coffee and made my sandwich and then have opened up with, “Well, gotta give him credit, b.o. is really out to change the role of the United States of America in world affairs.”
And that would get us going. If I didn’t do it, someone else would make a similar or a different point.
I find that Sophie Matilda agrees with almost everything I say, except when we talk about her baths or her taking of medicine.
To my colleagues, I might have said that I am not going to parrot the ridicule and disbelief which has greeted the statement by our President – except to say that he misrepresented reality, completely and entirely – in everything he said yesterday.
I might have said that it was an embarrassment, a humiliation, that I can imagine what any knowing observer must have thought.
I know what I now think about the speech, twenty-four hours later.
The professional diplomats, if not the politicians, the good ones, know the score.
They know the nature of science; the inevitability of the spread of technology, including nuclear technology; the role of alliances, even the necessity of alliances; of balances of power; of the inherent inequality of nations; of the need for a peacekeeper; of the importance of national interest; and on and on.
And then, of course, there is the matter of the u.n. itself and its abilities, or rather its inabilities, to cope with the problems of the world since its inception so many decades ago.
I would have suggested that the u.n. is a relic of WW2 – a leftover of the mindset that helped the Good Guys win that epic struggle: the idea that victory in that war would allow the world to move into broad, sunlit uplands, as, I believe, Churchill proclaimed.
Well, our side won the war but the uplands we moved into had some clouds.
And the clouds are getting denser, the more years that go by. And the u.n., the agency of peace created by the victors, has not turned out to be the innovation that its creators thought it would be.
And then our lunch hour would be over and we would go back to our twenty-five or thirty young students – and we would do what we could to share with them the skills we hoped would help them develop into responsible young persons.
And I would look forward to the next lunch hour.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
WATCH AND LISTEN
The Study routinely scans the excellent reporting/editorializing done at Powerline.
The following caught our eye this morning:
Obama's [foreign policy problems] stem from a combination of inexperience, arrogance, and misguided ideology. He'll outgrow the first problem, but not the other two.
A lot of important folks are in New York City this week. Far more than usual.
And diplomacy will command much of the broadcast and print media attention.
The Bismarkian sausage factory will be on display for those who have the eyes with which to see, the ears with which to hear.
Well, it is always more or less on display, but this week in NYC it will really be in the forefront.
b.o. will be on display.
We should watch him.
We should listen to him.
We should watch the analyses of what he says and does.
The United States is the leader of the Good Guys.
Watch and listen to what he says to and about the Allies of the leader of the Good Guys.
The following caught our eye this morning:
Obama's [foreign policy problems] stem from a combination of inexperience, arrogance, and misguided ideology. He'll outgrow the first problem, but not the other two.
A lot of important folks are in New York City this week. Far more than usual.
And diplomacy will command much of the broadcast and print media attention.
The Bismarkian sausage factory will be on display for those who have the eyes with which to see, the ears with which to hear.
Well, it is always more or less on display, but this week in NYC it will really be in the forefront.
b.o. will be on display.
We should watch him.
We should listen to him.
We should watch the analyses of what he says and does.
The United States is the leader of the Good Guys.
Watch and listen to what he says to and about the Allies of the leader of the Good Guys.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
ARE WE OR WERE WE?
'We can't afford the moral high ground' in the London Times is a must read for anyone trying to understand how nations work for and against each other in this modern age.
Unpleasant reading. It is like a dose of medicine that tastes dreadful.
It reminds me of the Bismark quotation oft quoted in these pages: "Those who like sausages and politics should never watch either being made."
Unpleasant, but oh so true.
Follow the link below.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6843433.ece
Accept the premises set forth in the article or not, but consider, as we see and hear in the next few weeks all sorts of nonsense being put forth by various world leaders, our own President included, that the world needs to scrap and replace the international order largely established, protected, and administered by the Anglo-American Special Relationship for the last two centuries, that the nations and agencies being proposed as the new protectors and administrators will not be Great Britain or the United States, the two greatest, most significant democracies the world has ever known.
I will not name the replacements being considered.
You can make up your own list of likely candidates, considering who and what is calling for the changes.
But I will emphasize again that they will not be the great democracies mentioned above.
And I will quote one of my favorite experts on such matters:
Many forms of government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time....
Churchill - 1947
Consider the speeches we will see/hear at the u.n. this week. And listen to b.o. call for new world orders. And listen to China calling for a new monetary system. And watch our diplomats sitting down with Iran and N. Korea promising us the fruits of extending the open hand. And watch the current sweeps going on rousting out the terrorists from New York City and related environs. And watch our Justice Department possibly undertaking prosecutions of the CIA and consider: are we on the right path in this year of change?
Or were we on the right path?
Unpleasant reading. It is like a dose of medicine that tastes dreadful.
It reminds me of the Bismark quotation oft quoted in these pages: "Those who like sausages and politics should never watch either being made."
Unpleasant, but oh so true.
Follow the link below.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6843433.ece
Accept the premises set forth in the article or not, but consider, as we see and hear in the next few weeks all sorts of nonsense being put forth by various world leaders, our own President included, that the world needs to scrap and replace the international order largely established, protected, and administered by the Anglo-American Special Relationship for the last two centuries, that the nations and agencies being proposed as the new protectors and administrators will not be Great Britain or the United States, the two greatest, most significant democracies the world has ever known.
I will not name the replacements being considered.
You can make up your own list of likely candidates, considering who and what is calling for the changes.
But I will emphasize again that they will not be the great democracies mentioned above.
And I will quote one of my favorite experts on such matters:
Many forms of government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time....
Churchill - 1947
Consider the speeches we will see/hear at the u.n. this week. And listen to b.o. call for new world orders. And listen to China calling for a new monetary system. And watch our diplomats sitting down with Iran and N. Korea promising us the fruits of extending the open hand. And watch the current sweeps going on rousting out the terrorists from New York City and related environs. And watch our Justice Department possibly undertaking prosecutions of the CIA and consider: are we on the right path in this year of change?
Or were we on the right path?
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