CHRISTMAS LETTERHEADS

Below are a number of letterheads, quotations we have placed on our Christmas letters over the years.
We have perhaps posted one or more of them before.
We like them and find value in them...and posting or reposting seems to us appropriate.
Our house is decorated for Christmas.  Grandgirls have helped make Christmas plum puddings and they are steaming as I write.
Two acquaintances have recently died, within the last two weeks.
One, the son of friends, the other just recently met.
Still, their passing saddens.  We were not close, but now they are gone.
And so we think of that reality...and we think on the Season....and we publish the letterheads.
Christmas and the end of the year is a time to remember, to reflect.


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

Heap on more wood! The wind is chill;

But let it whistle as it will.
We’ll keep our Christmas merry still

Christmas--that magic blanket that wraps itself about us, that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance. It may weave a spell of nostalgia. Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but always it will be a day of remembrance--a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved.

The quote above declares Christmas Day to be a day of nostalgia, of remembrance, of feasting, and of prayer.  2011 was that kind of year for us, a year of connecting again with friends and traditions of 47 years and a year of gratitude for being able to do so. 

AN INVENTED PEOPLE

Early Tuesday morning on second cup of coffee and a Republican strategist is being questioned by a lib news anchor re the now much ballyhooed phrase to the effect that the Palestinian people are an invented people.
O so wise anchor asked…”Well, aren’t all people invented? Aren’t Australians and Americans, etc., all invented people?

Strategist, happily enough, knew something about international politics, international definitions, and international realities.

Lib anchor evidently did not.

Here’s the deal, here is what the lib doesn’t know.
To be a non-invented people, that is, to be legally a nation, a group of folks have to possess certain prerequisites:

1 defendable borders
2 citizens [naturalization/native born]
3 viable economy [money; production capability; distribution, etc.]
4 military forces [capability of at least self-protection]
5 government [political viability – ability to id problems and solutions thereto and ability to carry them out

The above list is off top of head…as I remember it from elementary diplomacy…
Again, no time/inclination right now to look up the complete list.
Would that there was an editor requring such and willing to write a check.

That'll be the day.

If and when a group of folks possess all these characteristics, really possess them, not merely claim to do so, then and only then are they able to access the club, to take advantage of the rights of nationhood and to shoulder the consequent responsibilities.
Only then is that group truly not an invented people.

The current group of folks occupying the Middle East area in question do not currently qualify.

They are not a nation.
They are invented [nationally speaking].
Pity the ignorance of the msm media anchor….and all who try to learn from him.

FYI

A drone is down and in the hands of the iranians.


We could have recovered or destroyed it.

We did not, at the command of b.o.

FYI.

I WONDER

I wonder if the folks who made the Christmas classics 'Tis a Wonderful Life' or 'Miracle on 34th' or 'White Christmas' or 'The Bishop's Wife' knew they were making classics, films which would endure for generations.

And if they did have a glimmer of an awareness, I wonder if they were excited by their good fortune, and if they were, if they were grateful.

They have gladdened many a holiday for us at The Study.

LEST WE FORGET

No patriotic poetry this year to mark the anniversary of The Day That Will Live in Infamy.


Instead, we spent midday at our Elks Club serving a Christmas Luncheon to ca. 40 American Vets of various ages and wars.

The Vets were grateful for the hospitality.
The Elks were grateful for the Veterans’ service.

Most were elderly.
Many were suffering the infirmities of age and/or disease.

There was music and food and fellowship.

It was good for them.
It was good for us.

Our keynote speaker related 7 December to the bombing of the Towers and the attack on The Pentagon and the attempted attack on the Capitol.

Sobering thoughts at this holiest time of year.

Lest we forget.

EMASCULATION

I didn’t notice when it happened…but apparently our nation is now at the point where if a political leader utters an opinion which a sensitive group considers to be derogatory…not physically threatening, mind you, but just negative/derogatory, it is assumed that said leader might well be expected to resign from office.


How boring.
How colorless.
How insensitive to the exquisiteness of artful, critical language and thought.

Good grief!

Perhaps we are misreading the news…
This week a news anchor said that such a leader is not expecting to have to resign because of a critical statement made on facebook prior to that leader’s election to office.

Should any right thinking citizen expect a resignation?

Emasculation of civil discourse.

THE LATE 19th

It happens every year at this time.

We get involved in so many traditional doings: gift shopping, the sending of cards, the viewing of certain movies and reading certain books and thinking of days so long ago…

And it hits us that so many of our favorite and important memories and conveniences and cultural innovations had their significant takeoffs within just a few years of each other.

Marshall Fields; Macy’s; J.L. Hudson’s; New York Central Park; Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive; the Great American West [the legendary truths]; innumerable magazines and newspapers still vital (albeit evolved) to this day; thousands of townhouses in London, New York, Chicago, etc., still in good shape serving a variety of needs;  births of so many technical innovations – the forerunners of much we take so for granted today: sewing machines, elevators, ice machines, steel companies, internal combustion engines skyscrapers, medical advances; Christmas cards and Christmas trees; Sherlock Holmes and public awareness of Charles Dickens…I could go on.

The brevity of this list displays several realities: I have not taken the time to even approach completeness; forgetfulness; and ignorance of lots and lots of good stuff.

Thank goodness I do not depend on this journal for an income.

But enough.

All the enumerated above came to be in the late 19th Century…all within a few years of each other.

We think of our present as a time of great innovation.

And it is.

But what a prodigious era of development was the late 19th as well.

‘EVOLUTION’ FOLLOW UP

The link below will take you to a nyt item on the staying power of the John Wayne mystique – of the enduring fascination with such superb portrayers of great American themes, be they actors or directors.

Even the links within the article are a  joy to read.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/03/movies/red-river-buckle-from-film-disappears-before-auction.html?hpw

Enjoy!

EVOLUTION

First there was Hopalong Cassiday, aka Hoppy.

Then Roy Rogers and Gene Autry.
And then James Stewart, Gary Cooper, and Henry Fonda.

There were others, I know…but these were…special.

And then we discovered the quintessence of the Western Type, two individuals who impressed this aging devotee of the American West: first John Wayne and then the great Robert Duvall.

And so it went…this Old Fella got older and recognized the changes which were taking place in the movie presentations and in his own opinion of what was closest to the real thing.

And now, this month, has occurred a further refinement of this process.

We discovered a biography of an American who not only dramatized the American West in great, superb movies…but who lived a life which would scarcely be believable if it were not true.

As Mark Twain [we think it was] said, “The only difference between fiction and truth is that fiction has to be believable.”

This individual is John Ford, Director.

The biography is Searching for John Ford, Joseph McBride.

720 pages of small-print text, heavily referenced.

Superb thus far…the story of a life as monumental as any of the dramatizations he brought to the screen.

A SPECIAL KIND OF LEADER

I think we heard it on npr…
Yes, we do listen daily….

Billings [I think it is Billings], Montana is enjoying a boom time…
Whatever, it is a town in Montana.

Unemployment rate is ca. 5%.

There is a shortage of folks to fill many available jobs.
Construction is up.
There is enough money in the city coffers to not only keep the library running full time, but to build one.
We have just reduced our library availability by one day a week.

And the rosy story continued.
In short, ecomonmic times are good in Billings.

The reason: an oil boom.

The petroleum industry is once again the black gold of the West.

And as noted earlier, b.o. dithers for reasons of election politics on the matter of the Canadian oil pipeline to the US.

Again, the pipeline will be built, if not to the US then to the west coast, thence to Asia.

In all likelihood, it will be built to the US, but not until after the 2012 election when b.o. can afford to enrage his green constituency.

In the meantime, jobs and national security considerations are deferred in a most transparent way for the most transparent of reasons.

Yes, b.o. is a special kind of leader..
What a piece of work!!!

OUR SECRET GARDEN AND THE WORLD

A significant part of this past summer was spent in our garden, privately, until now, referred to by us as our Secret Garden.

We have dug and mowed and built and watered and planted and trimmed, etc.
We encountered challenges and achieved successes as we went about our chores.
We fed birds and watched the squirrels and chipmunks and groundhogs and possums and so on go about their daily duties.

And we felt good.

The creatures appeared busy and happy and successful.
And such was often the case.

And then came this morning.

It snowed lightly last night and a thin coating of snow was melting off the glass table on the deck.
The third cup of coffee was consumed and the two delivered papers had been read.
Life was good.

And then there came the thump at the front window.
A robin had struck the window and fallen onto the bench on the front porch…and as I went to look I had the brief impression of a great brown wing flashing out of sight to the right of my line of sight.

I saw the robin breathing heavily and on its side on the bench, eyes open.
Thank goodness, still alive.
And then, the brown wing reappeared on the bench, next to the robin…an important appendage of a very much alive and predatory hawk…really quite beautiful and efficient, about to do its duty.

I opened the front door – the wing flew away…the robin had time to recover….
Hawk did not return and shortly the little creature flew away, apparently recovered.

This event was, of course, a reminder that the animals in our Secret Garden are not really playing, despite the spin we observers put upon their comings and goings.

They are busy, seriously busy, engaged in a constant life and death routine.
They are not really playing.

There is a lesson here.

Our Garden has a definite worldly aspect to it.

Except that folks in the world actually do play a lot. At least some of us do.

But they also have to work and plan and face dangers, some of which can and do turn out to be catastrophic.
Surely there is no need to give examples.

If I hadn’t driven off the hawk, the robin would have been toast.

If the world does not deal successfully with the dangers it faces, it too will be toast.
No threat. Just fact.
Always.

And now to the point.

The natural world only appears to be bambi-like.

It is really, like the TV character Monk says, a jungle out there.

Safe play-like existences, really safe ones, require a lot of work.
Soft power, one of the mantras of the libs, fades away in the face of the most dangerous threats.

The failure of the good guys over the millennia to solve the problem of the threats from the bad guys is not only because of ignorance but because we live in a world where perfection, long-term, does not exist.

Perfection, such as it is, requires constant work, cultivation, if you will, or it will go to seed [fall into chaos].

There really are weeds in the garden.
There really are unacceptable dangers in the world.

Treating the weeds, the dangers as equally entitled to life as the precious flowers will only result in a ruined garden, a ruined world.

Such is one of the lessons of our Private Garden.

THE MOTHER COUNTRY CONNECTION – 11-11-11

The United Kingdom and virtually all Commonwealth countries honor the day we call Veterans Day as Remembrance Day, a day to honor those who have died whilst serving their country in the armed forces.

11-11-11 became shorthand for the day, translatable as the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month when World War 1, the war to end all wars was finally over.

It used to be the custom for many folks in the US to pause from their duties on this anniversary.

I remember doing so as a lad in school during the 1950’s….
Normal routines would cease and a short moment of silence would be observed by all.

The years roll by. Generations come and go. Customs change.

It is good to remember some of the old ways.

It helps to keep things in perspective.

No memory = no perspective = no understanding.

This is one of our major problems today.

PITY

b.o. has decided to postpone the decision on allowing the oil to flow via pipe from Canada into the US.

US labor calls for it.
The national interest calls for it.
The economy needs it.

Environmentalists oppose it.

b.o. will antagonize labor by dithering; environmentalists by approving.

He has voted ‘present’ once again, a characteristic of his special leadership style.

We pity him.
We pity those who admire him

They are ignorant people.

VETERANS DAY 2011 - 11-11-11

Armistice Day once again, now called Veterans Day, the day especially chosen to remind all Americans to honor all veterans of the American Armed Forces: those living and dead, those serving and those retired.

If you should happen to run across a Vet anytime on Friday, consider thanking him or her for his or her service.
If you’re in a restaurant, consider buying him or her a meal.
Or a drink.
Or both.

In the spirit of the old days, at 11:00AM Friday morning, stop what you are doing and be still for a minute and thank God for the current Greatest Generation of US Military men and women our nation is depending on to protect the United States of America and all which our nation stands for.

TOO MUCH DETAIL…MORE ‘HUMBLING’

A little more cosmological reading has occurred. Maybe, maybe a little more of it makes sense.

And then I began to think about some theological study I have been doing with some help at church.

And then I caught a respected commentator speaking from the perspective of a respected religion, on the radio, of this and that specific regarding a number of after life ‘realities’, and the following observation occurred:

Respected cosmological physicists are on the brink of admitting, or perhaps I should say they are even now admitting, that they do not know anywhere near the whole story of the physical universe.
That we could be very, very wrong about significant assumptions currently current.

Now the physical universe is or should be easier to hypothesize about than the metaphysical, should it not?
I think so.

And if we do not really know the score about the physical, should we not be very hesitant to be too specific about the metaphysical?????

Nuff said.

The more specific one gets when discussing the metaphysical, the less reliable the account becomes.

Beware the fundamentalist who goes too far, about anything.

Einstein had some interesting observations along these lines.

How about this: I can say infallibly that on this earth there is no such thing as infallibility…and anyone who tells you otherwise is…truthfully and factually challenged.

More later.

REMEMBRANCE

Michigan State University will play the basketball season opener v. North Carolina this Friday.
We are not sports fans and we normally never take notice of such things.

But this game is going to be special.

MSU has arranged with the United States Navy to play this game on the flight deck of USS Carl Vinson, the aircraft carrier which has recently so distinguished itself.

What a superb way for a major university to honor Veterans’ Day.

Here is another chance to say, “Only in America!!”

HUMBLING

I’ve just completed listening to an interview with a very high-level physicist – one of those fellows who study string theory; relativity; multiverses; brane theories…that is not brain, by the way….
And I have read the transcript of the interview.
And I am impressed.
And confused.
And out of my depth.

And I am reminded of an old saying: “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.”

Well, in the realm wherein such fellows as the above work, all knowledge is a little knowledge to such as me…

I cannot begin to do justice what I am now trying to ingest/digest.

But…my o my.

We are reminded that there is so much information available to us now…

Masterpiece Theatre Sunday night made this point: “There is so much intelligence/data available…it is hard/perhaps impossible to tell what is important.”

It is easy to get fooled…to argue over things about which we know little or nothing in matters of science, religion, really important questions.

And we can make the mistake of thinking that we really can know all there is to know about things…..

We don’t really even know all the things there are to know about, much less do we or can we know all about them.

WHAT IS ONE TO THINK?

The hard-boiled political scientist will tell you that a nation has no permanent friends, only permanent interests.

But any realist can tell you that some allied nations are indeed special, that they have an enduring relationship with each other, that interests and friendships sometimes do correlate for very long periods of time.

This having been said, what is one to think of the leader of the United States who acts and speaks disparagingly of two of our long-term allies as though they were of no special importance to the welfare of his nation?

The two long-term allies are, of course, the United Kingdom and Israel.

b.o. has made it quite clear his regard for these two states.

And regarding energy independence, what is one to think of the interest groups which would prevent the significant flow of Canadian oil into the US via a new pipeline?
Especially what is one to think when one considers that if the pipeline is not built to the US that it will be built to the west coast of North America from whence it will be shipped to…just guess some of the customers who will be lining up to get it?

And the US will then be able to buy more oil from them.

What is one to think?

What is one to think of an electorate, of a national party, which thinks well of such leadership?

TRANSITION

A summer of variety for The Study has ended.

We have largely secured the grounds around us, as far as we can.

Bird feeders are reactivated. Firewood has been received and stacked, ready for splitting.
Flower beds have been winterized.

Lawnmower has been winterized – snow blower has not been readied for duty.
If a lawnmower is winterized when entering the off season, is a snow blower summarized when entering its on season?

The koi are in.

Hoses drained and stored.

You get the picture.
There is still a lot to do…but the processes have begun.

A microcosm of life perhaps?

SHORT TAKES

Solyndra and half a billion dollars. Can there be any doubt?
No.

“Pass this bill now!”
You’re not serious.
Yes he is.

3000 troops to be left in Afghanistan.
They will be very busy.

Nevada and New York.
Go guys!!!!

Are Brian Williams and Wolf blitzer clueless and without merit, undeserving of being watched or listened to?
Yes.

Boeing and the nlrb and Seattle and South Carolina…
Does any thinking person really believe that b.o.’s true objective is to do all that is possible to promote economic prosperity for the United States???
Name?

b.o. has called for financial rating agencies to be looked at by the government.
Probably the main line political pollsters should be looked at as well.

Can five heads be no better than one?
Yes, if you are talking about replacing Glen Beck with The Five.
Can there really be no one of quality for the 5:00 hour on Fox?

Can a great, free nation deserve poor leadership?
Yes, if the voters vote ignorantly and stupidly.

Is there hope for this great land?
Yes. 2012 is coming.

SOPHIE

We grow to be like our pets.

And, if we are lucky, they grow to resemble us.

Sophie Matilda of Waterford is our perfect English Bulldog.

She gardens with us; she breakfasts with us; she is as one with us.

She follows us around the house and loves to travel with us.
She loves the North.

She is more interesting probably than we are.

She doesn’t require a lot of exercise.

She sits and thinks a lot.
She is quiet, most of the time.
She doesn’t like to be scolded.
She doesn’t know how to do a lot of things.
Folks think she is…different.
She is patient.

Patience is a good thing.

As the old saying goes, “Lord, help me to be the man my dog thinks I am.”

THIS ‘N THAT

Books read, recently and currently:

Why Religion Matters, Huston Smith
The Forgotten Garden, Kate Morton
A Time to Keep Silence, Patrick Leigh Fermor
Decision Points, G.W. Bush
Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, Helen Simonson

And thank God for the internet which opens the way to journals, newspapers, and the like.

We are starting to think that 2012 is not b.o.’s to win, but rather our side’s to lose.
The recent votes in Nevada and New York were a tonic -

We are starting to like the Governor of Texas –

Ron Paul is a fool –

A young Marine just received the Congressional – he is a current rep of another Greatest Generation…

Definition of Greatest Generation: a generation that does its duty.

The United States is blessed by an endless succession of such generations.

The United States is only cursed by individuals who are not such sterling reps…

Once again we are reminded…there was never any one greatest…

50th REUNION

We are just now home from attending Dear Wife’s 50th reunion.

It lasted two days, Friday evening and much of Saturday.

There was fellowship and laughs and tears and hugs and reminisces and speeches and recognitions of each other and food and drink and tours.

We visited the school.
We visited one of the great houses of the United States.
We looked back over half a century.
And we thought about our futures.

At our table was the grandson of one of the most influential families of American history, a fellow alumnus.

I love it.
I talked up the tour of his grandparents' home before I realized who he was.

I love it.

My 50th was two years ago.
A double whammy, delivered two years apart.
Wouldn’t have missed them.

There is no real point to this posting. Just a few facts.

Dear Wife knew [recognized] quite a few of her classmates. And they remembered her.
A few teachers were there, one was about to turn 100 years of age.

As an old retired teacher, my mind runneth over.

I encountered one of my students as we were leaving the Friday night cocktail party … and he remembered this old fella.
And I have been retired quite a while now.

I love it.

'Tis late.

Tomorrow is the anniversary of 9/11.
Take a moment and reflect.

Lest we forget.

Lots to think and write and talk about.
Lots indeed.

WHAT IS WORSE

The speech.

Thursday night before the ball game.
How pathetic.

The ball game? Yes.

But also the speech.

What a humiliation for a nation to have such a leader.

A worse humiliation: the folks who think he is worthy to hold the office.
How pathetic.

That is one of the few good things about having a free web or blog journal…or whatever this is….so few read it that one does not have to defend what one says….but it would be so easy.

b.o. is so terrible…so pathetic…so embarrassing…

And again, what it worse…is all the folks who think he is a winner.

A GROCERY STORE

You notice things as you get older.

I have shopped at the same grocery store for decades.
I have watched it morph through several owners, all the while not losing sight of its purpose – to supply customers with a first class shopping experience: abundant, fresh produce; meats; canned goods; dairy; etc., etc..

And eventually was added a bank; a pharmacy; a special card system; a gas station; a bakery; a deli; and so on.

And it was swell.

And then came a sale to a new owner.

And then favorite brands of decades began to disappear from the shelves. In-store brands began to replace the old favs.
Choices were reduced.
Produce space reduced.

The big draws ceased to be food…becoming gasoline credits and ‘points’ and cashiers were replaced by ‘self-checkout’ lines….

I, the old-timer, was displaced at last when cases of refrigerated water was moved into former produce shelves and the remaining produce shelves too-often ran out of stock.

There was always plenty of water.

And so we are shopping now at several other stores to make up for what had been a splendid full-service entity.

And the staff of the former delight was so reduced in number as to be virtually absent.

Change.

It happens.
It is not always good.

THE GOVERNOR WAS RIGHT

Think of it this way.

The Governor sees the theologians of Galileo’s day as the power establishment of the time.
He thinks of Galileo as the voice of the non-establishment of that day.

He tells the debate audience that the establishment decried the minority [the non-establishment] of that day, Galileo, with regard to correct science.

His point is that while the scientific establishment of today might argue that humans are causing the majority of climate change, it might well be as wrong now as the establishment was of the 17th Century when it condemned the non-establishment Galileo.

The media of today was too quick to deride the Governor.

It was wrong.

So what else is new?
The Governor was right.

CATCHING UP

So a couple of weeks has passed.
The summer is flying.

What have we been up to?
What have you been up to?

We have been buying and installing new fences.
You know, good fences make good neighbors.

Talking to a good neighbor over a good fence, or inviting one in through the gate is grande……

If you didn’t have a fence, you couldn’t talk over it. Or if no gate, you couldn’t open it.

As H.V. Morton said, if a gentleman didn’t wear a hat, he couldn’t tip it to a lovely lady.
I love it.

We have refurbished koi pond with a rock garden.

We have spent two weeks in Copper Harbor, Michigan…a land of enchantment which we have been privileged to appreciate for ca. thirty years.
Dear Son came in 68 in a field of 300 in a Copper Man triathlon: swimming; biking; running.

His first time…he was seeking just to get the experience…not to win….
Next year will perhaps be another story.

We journeyed North to a land of wolves and coyotes and bear to be with family and to be with such as only the North can offer.

And Granddaughter is beginning band camp…we are helping with instrument and transportation.

And we are digging stumps…and painting…and repairing small engines.

There is truly no rest for the wicked.
Actually, we do rest a lot.

DAVID RICHARDSON, 3 MARCH 1937 – 27 JULY 2011…R.I.P.

David Richardson, friend, Sherlockian, philosopher.

We were saddened to learn today of David’s passing.
We shared an interest in Sherlock Holmes; fine Scotch; lively discussions on a variety of topics; and the joy of gathering with like-minded friends.

A gentle soul indeed.

We will not forget.

QUESTIONS RUMINATIONS WORRIES ETC.

A commonly used herbicide [on lawns] is killing spruce trees in a many-state area –
The poison flags are all over so many subdivisions…

Large, self-propelled lawnmowers – noisy – have become so common…many are small tractors on small tracts of lawns…faux farmers, the homeowners…

And the noises…the leaf/grass blowers… the not caring what is going on in adjacent yards…

Gasoline-powered weedwhackers; grass trimmers; lawn mowers; power washers- all of them so, so much noise…
The young folks walk with earbuds…they garden with cacophony…they are never still…never really alone…they have their noises.
Their brave new world.

Reflections on the above: it is a delight to retreat form the day noise pollution to The Study buttressed with AC…
But at night…at night we crave the noises of the night….the crickets; the non-threatening thunder; the rain; the sound of the distant passing car; the meow of a neighbor’s cat…the sound of the wind and the wind in the leaves…

Funny how some sounds soothe…and some do not. How some sounds are noise...and some are not.

A USAF jet fighter at an air show….the sound of freedom as we are fond of saying.
The sound of a semi on the highway…not so comforting.
But it could be…in a different context.
Anyway…different contexts…different effects.

npr frets that spouses of transferred military personnel have trouble getting jobs…that it is a resultant hardship to frequent transfers.

You think?

We wonder if npr is implying that government should guarantee jobs for military spouses…
Perhaps that virtually all uncertainties should be removed from our lives…that government should remove all obstacles…

We understand that we are a nation divided between three groups: conservative; liberal; and independent.
At least three groups.

The first two are roughly equal.
The third is smaller and shiftable…unpredictable…the wild card.

There is no third party…and will not be.

Thus, the pols must play to their bases…and to the independents…

And then there is the media…really another constituency…or constituencies…

Quite a job…that of a politician…

Have to check a lot at the door as you go in…

SUCH IS THE WAY

Two funerals.
One wedding.
One baby shower.

The beat goes on.

The beat goes on is quite a statement, quite an observation.

One retires…and is replaced.

Drove through our old neighborhood on the way home this morning from a late breakfast at an elegant bakery…just for the fun of it. Had not done so for a year or two.

All the old neighbors are gone but one. Frank Merwin was the last to leave.

Our house is there…but different…apparently more than holding its own.

Dear Wife’s childhood house is no more, torn down and replaced by a much bigger one.

We are now nearing the senior status in our present neighborhood.

The beat goes on.

None of this is news.

Lots of sayings, pithy ones at that, attest to the truthfulness of one’s replaceability [I know, probably not a word].

We have long been advised to make hay while the sun shines. And those stones that roll gather no moss.

And early birds do very well with worms.

The message is plain.

The roads diverge in the wood.
We should beware of which one to take…and not to take too much time deciding.

Important national and personal anniversaries come and go…over and over again…and eventually, fewer and fewer observe.

There are new anniversaries to observe.

A new beat to march to.

Such is the way of life.

FRANK MERWIN R.I.P.

13 December 1922 – 11 July 2011…

In no particular order: husband; father; businessman; musician; WW2 USMC; gentleman; and good friend.
And other characteristics.

Rest in Peace.

We miss you already.

EXCITING TIMES

‘Tis a very good thing that I do not make a living writing for this modest site.

Spring has ended.
Summer is well along … evolving into a week of 90+ degree temps…and lots has been going on.

As planned, The Study’s property has been pruned and cut and made presentable.

There has been planning and planting and hauling and weeding and digging and mowing and stacking.

There has been a wedding in Chicago.

There have been funerals…of folks we haven’t known…and of folks we have known very well.
They are growing more and more common.

And so on…

In other words, we have been distracted.

And something of writer’s constipation has been unhappily very much with us….
Lots of things to think and talk and write about….and yet…the concepts and the words can be uttered…but not easily written.

And there is so much going on…in our own sphere(s)…and certainly in the world which make coffee and cocktail hours so much fun, besides the fellowship and the coffee and cocktails.

We are losing a favorite book store.
Our politicians reflect/mirror the confusion and political incapacity our our people.

We contemplate the purchase of extensive stockade fencing…good fences make good neighbors…if you are lucky.

Does our country still believe it is exceptional in that special, technical sense?

Do Americans still believe that their nation has a mission…that the Biblical injunction applies…”To whom much is given, much is expected”…or words to that effect?

American misadventures continue in Libya.
We draw down in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The American Empire ebbs and flows in fits and starts.

Our Son takes Granddaughters to Colorado and they catch trout and eat them on a frontier farm/ranch…a real one….not a touristy one.

We plan trips to Copper Harbor, Michigan and to Dear Friends in Texas…road trips…sight seeing all the way, God willing.

Dear Sophie Matilda and I grow more and more alike…getting older and more and more thoughtful…by no means more efficient.

Coffee and cigars and Irish Whisky have never tasted better…and discussion and debate have never been more enjoyable.

As we garden and plant and admire the greenery around The Study, I find myself resembling more and more my Dear Grandparents of so many years ago.

Perhaps there is something of a circle in this maturity business.

We wonder if it would be a good idea to buy an ereader. The Color Nook looks like a winner.

Spectacular law cases appear and are resolved.
The media fixates on titillating crimes…one after another.

Celebrities make us ashamed of our species.

And of course sometimes, even often, the opposite happens. Public characters do grand things.

These are exciting times.

A NEW SEASON

Summer is upon us all.

We have closed the Northern Camp…visiting the Holy Land of the North occasionally this year…
Leland/Traverse City to visit and Copper Harbor to visit and to attend an Iron Man Triathlon Dear Son is participating in.

We will be staying in familiar places but not in our camps.

The particulars of the closing are not important, but suffice to say we will be catching up on downstate needs…and they are many.

The koi pond is reclaimed with new statuary and landscaping and fences are being replaced.
Since reclamation, what I will call a toad or two have taken up residence and are singing their hearts out, swollen throats and all.
Superb!

An oft-retained tree company will undertake tree modification throughout our modest property.
And we will paint and varnish and prune and attend to our modest downstate affairs.

Spiritual beverages and cigars have never tasted better…and they will help us find our way.
As will fellowship with friends.
And book club and dinners in and out will also ease the pains of labor [not labor pains].

And all the while we look out upon our world.

b.o. confounds his military over Afghanistan and pleases his base.
Mrs. b.o. is in Africa.

New York redefines marriage.

Lybia defies understanding…a b.o. war of choice.

msm fixates on polls…as it is now accustomed to doing…and largely ignores the gritty details of important issues which few of us understand …

b.o. seems to be a part of most reporting on msm…
We wonder if the person of the President was always so oft mentioned in days gone by.

The nation's news should not really always or even largely revolve around the person of the President or the institution of the Congress.

Fixation on the national government diminishes the locals ..... and there are consequences.
Do you know them?
Does anyone care?

Rain is expected tonite…
Dear Grandkids arrive in morning for the day…an unexpected visit…

They will accompany us on our errands.

Dear Lord, we will be busy this day.
We may forget thee.
Please do not forget us.

Take good care.

ITEMS

Item: It appears that at least some of the dictators being so roughly handled by their people in North Africa and the Middle East these days are no friends of the enemies of our country.

There is an old axiom in diplomacy:

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

I hope that wise old heads in our government are keeping this truth in mind as they watch the dominoes fall.

Item: He talked through the national anthem. A while back, she hugged. And then there was the matter of the gifts.
No prob 'tho.
Why should anyone care about the courtesies due to a foreign leader, especially one from that country?

Item: cnn anchor eliot spitzer reporting on tony weiner. What could be better than that? What kind of a news network could employ spitzer? What kind of an electorate could elect a piece of work like weiner?
What kind of viewer could enjoy watching a piece of work like spitzer?

Item: The Royal Navy (British) and the French Navy are to share an aircraft carrier.
Just announced.
How about that?

Item: 6 June is the 67th anniversary of the Day called D. Did you find many references in your nightly news? In your newspapers?
'Tis ok.
It happens.
The years pass...as do the generations that remember. Those who were there or who knew those who were there pass on or ... get busy with other memories.

That is the way of life. That is the way of death.

Perhaps it is just as well, as long as a core of rememberers remain...remain always ... to remind the rest when the rest need reminding.

Young folk often make the mistake of thinking that what is going on now is more important than what has gone on before.
They do not know that their now is their tomorrow's history... that the one sets the trajectory for the other.
Young folk almost never know that simple truth.

Lots of old folks wish they had known that simple truth....while they were still young.

JAMES ARNESS R.I.P. 3 JUNE 2011

And so another bit of one's youth passes on over.

Our family watched his character Matt Dillon and his fellow actors on Gunsmoke weekly for years.
We loved most every one.

And, coincidentally, Mr. Arness was a veteran of the Day called D....
He died just a few days short of the 67th anniversary.

He was wounded during the invasion.

Thank you, Sir, for your service.

MEMORIAL DAY 2011

What can one say about Memorial Day that has not already been said?

The Weekend has become a holiday weekend, one to enjoy time off form work, form routine.
It is a time to reconnect…if one has been disconnected…a time to kick back, unless you are in serious retail…
And for some it is a time to carouse and get smashed and the like, if we are to believe the msm reports that police will be out in force on roads and lakes to do their best to keep folks from killing and maiming themselves whilst acting like ill-behaved kids.

In past years I have quoted poets and others who have said this or that…and at times I have tried to develop some creative thought or two.

This time I poured a couple of fingers of Jack Daniels and lit a cigar and opened up a six-hundred page book of the wisdom of Winston Spencer Churchill.

Be it known that he qualifies as an expert on a lot of grounds, but two of ‘em are that he is ½ American and a combat veteran of many, many wars.
And he is a genius.
A renaissance man if there ever was one.

‘Nuff said.

Two quotes will suffice.

The first one has to do with the mission, once war has begun:

Once you are so unfortunate as to be drawn into a war, no price is too great to pay for an early and victorious peace.

The second quote has to do with those who have perished whilst in service:

There is really no limitation to the number of different ways in which the desire to show reverence and affection to the memory of the fallen, and to preserve that memory, have manifested themselves. But the great mass of those who fell could not indulge in expensive monuments, and the thing that is deeply ingrained in soldierly breasts is that all should be treated alike, general and private, prince and peasant, all who lie there in common honour, and that the wealthy should forgo in this matter that which their wealth would enable them to obtain.

We will attend a parade in our home town. Part of our family will walk in that parade.
Others of us will take folks to see it and cheer on those who are involved.

And we will talk a lot of things appropriate.

Have a good Memorial Day, Dear Friends.

DON'T WHINE ON THE YACHT

It must be a most humbling experience to find oneself in the presence of a tornado.
Kind of like hearing a shotgun being locked and loaded…
Or staring down the line of site with a police canine who is not too sure of you…

I thought of these situations whilst ruminating over seeing and hearing customers at a favorite store of mine berate sales staff over the most trifling of issues…
It makes you wonder what has been going on in their days…or indeed, in their lives.
It does not take much courage to berate a salesperson in a retail establishment.

And it must really help the sales staff get through the day.

Loss of civility…lots of losses going on these days.

Our new priest reminds us each Sunday that life is short; that we should do our utmost to take advantage of the opportunities for good that come our ways…

Life is short…

We are replaceable.

We sell our house. New folks will eventually move in. We hope sooner rather than later, in this case.

We retire. We are replaced distressingly soon.

We don’t go here or there. Often no one notices.

Thoughts of tornadoes and shotguns and police dogs can remind us of lots of realities.

As someone said recently, I think on one of the talk shoes I listen to, “Quit whining on the yacht….” Or “I think this champagne is a little flat.”

On days when pressures build and you are not sure how things are going to turn out, it is good to remember that while winning is important, how you play the game is also an important part of the dynamic.

It has been raining a lot here this month.

Part of our deck has changed color.
This does not make Dear Wife happy.

I remind her of our trip in ’08 to Alaska when a very attractive naturalist informed us that in Alaska heavy rain is sometimes called “liquid sunshine.”

Lots of folks are in harm's way these days.

Well, probably lots of folks are always in harm's way.

Only right now the msm is telling us about quite a few of them who are not half way around the world.

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

And think about doing what you can to help someone out, even if just a little bit.

EDWARD HARDWICKE R.I.P.

Edward Hardwicke, who died on Monday aged 78, was best known on television for playing Dr Watson ....

The London Telegraph has just reported the death of Edward Hardwicke...superb actor who became Dr. Watson in so many excellent renditions of the Classic Tales.

We at The Study have enjoyed many hours of his artistry and his grasp of the intentions of the author of the Tales of the Master Detective.

We have it on good authority that he was every bit the gentleman he seemed to be on the screen.

Check out the obit:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/tv-radio-obituaries/8519646/Edward-Hardwicke.html

FOR 2012

Rudy Giuliani was a candidate of interest to us prior to the last election.
He is of interest to us now.

His campaign then was a joke.
Maybe he has learned what he has to do.

May he think seriously about helping to promote the welfare of the United States of America by engaging in and enriching the run up to the 2012 election.

HELLO TO THE TRUMPETS

The Wedding is over…a marriage has begun.

Our guests arrived and, as hoped, there was food and there was fellowship…and the tradition of honoring our heritage was continued.

We dressed for the occasion. We talked of fashion and beautiful people and history.

We lamented this and that and rejoiced in these and those (grammar?).

We shared family histories and trips taken.

We marveled at camera angles and precision planning…and we were glad to be together.

We learned a bit about things not commonly known.

We felt sorry for those who could not see the merits of the day.

Such events as The Wedding are reminders of the truism that we do not live by bread alone, as wise folks are so fond of saying..

For a few hours, for those who had eyes to see and ears to hear, a door, as the poet says, was half opened:

Say farewell to the trumpets!
You will hear them no more.
But their sweet sad silvery echoes
Will call to you still
Through the half-closed door.

At The Study on 29 April 2011 we saw and heard the trumpets.

29 APRIL

This Friday, very early in the morning…a wedding will take place.

As a young lad I recall watching the Coronation, in 1953, of the groom’s Grandmama [sp?].

And we honored the groom’s Dad when he married Lady Diana.

And we held a Jubilee Party, complete with Bonfire and food and drink and music and poetry for the groom’s Grandmama on her Jubilee.

And this Friday we will honor the Grandson as he marries his Dear Lady.

We intend a recording of the Event with a replay for guests in the evening.

There will be food and fellowship and drink and the Viewing and thinking of things romantic and British….
Cornish pasties and British and American spirits and delicate desserts and liqueurs.

And we hope that the future is full of good things for the Young Couple and their Country and indeed, for all of us.

It is easy to dwell on negatives these days when one seeks to think and speak about current world happenings.

The Wedding is a chance to celebrate a grande occasion.

We intend to do our best.

We hope all good folks will find the time to do so.

SEMPER FI

Our family went to church Easter Sunday.
A lot of us.

Dear Daughter’s Mother-in-law was ushering.

Just after the end of the service, while she was helping at the altar, her purse was stolen.

We are told by local police that more purses are stolen at churches than at shopping malls.

We are told that times are hard and that we should be understanding…

I am reminded of a bumper sticker seen a while back:

The Bible says that to err is human; to forgive divine.
The Marine Corps does not believe in either.

I am not a Marine, but … as those fine folk are wont to say, Semper Fi!!

A QUESTION...

In the early 1960’s, when some of us were young(er), a carton of cigarettes, that’s ten packs, used to cost $2.00.

A gallon of gasoline used to cost 20 cents.

You know what they cost now.

You can do a similar exercise for quite a number of products, some of them ‘luxuries’, some of them necessities.

So much for data.

What is one to do with such information?

PIE

b.o. laughed and said if you don’t like the price of gas, mebbe you should get a smaller car.

A little context:

World production of petroleum has just about maxed out.

Asia, especially China and India, are consuming ever-increasing amounts of oil products.
They are not interested in conservation…only in expansion, exploitation, aggrandization.
China more so than India.

The US cannot control Asian consumption rates of the black gold.

The US possesses the world’s greatest reserves of various types of petroleum products.

The US has unilaterally decided NOT to aggressively develop them…because of political/environmental allegations.

We suggest that there comes a time in certain debates where the issues really do matter….that certain issues are not really matters of tit for tat; this or that; or some choice that really does not make a difference.
In this case of petroleum production, the welfare, even the security of the American way of life is at stake.

Now we are facing rising prices…not actual shortages.

b.o. and his entourage wants to limit fossil energy production…and wants to turn instead to ‘green’ technology…

We are in danger of developing pies in the sky while we run out of the energy to bake them.

Think about that when you next fill up your tank…say…$100 for a 25 gallon fill.

And think about our president who wants to make pies.

TOPICS OF INTEREST AT ‘THE STUDY’…or, WHAT TO TALK ABOUT AT A COCKTAIL PARTY

‘Tis mid-week and mid-morning at The Study after a night of wind and rain and cold…
… a perfect night to burrow deeply into the quilts and the covers…

But the new day is upon us…

Someone calls you up on the phone and says, “What’s up?”

‘Tis fun to answer, “How much time do you have?”

If you feel good, or perhaps even a bit disputational (perhaps not a word), there really are a number of things going on in the greater and lesser worlds which could be the basis for a fun exchange:

The upcoming Royal Wedding; stealing of aluminum docks…and crimes concerning lots of other things; felonious/fraudulent emails; wars on three fronts; declining church attendance/membership; US energy policy (the insanity of) the Northern Michigan Context; US economy; vacant homes in nice neighborhoods; current US leadership: political, economic, and diplomatic, you name it; questions of what is an American – I was once asked this by a young teacher of US History, for God’s sake; challenges to (collapse of) traditional morality/standards; abundance of data/shortage of analyses thereof; awareness of the importance of appropriate personal and national goals for individuals and nations; the doings of family and friends and neighbors; health issues of those we are concerned about…or good health circumstances we are happy about; frivolous, silly community gossip (As Alice Roosevelt said, “Show me a person who does not like gossip, and I’ll show you a boring person.” Or, “If you have anything bad to say about anyone, come over here and sit down.”); and…that is enough for this cold and rainy morning…

Now to find a cocktail party.

NO BRAINER

It is good to remember that we ususally find only those things which we are seeking.
Awkwardly said, but you get the idea.
And unless we look for the right things as often as possible...we'll very likely miss them.

http://www.realclearreligion.org/printpage/?url=http://www.realclearreligion.org/articles/2011/04/18/how_unbelief_can_survive_the_miraculous_106238.html

A NEW SEASON DAWNS

The second week of April and no posting since 29 March.

We have been watching and reading and listening and thinking…and precious little writing.

And thanks be, the world has gone on anyway.

As the poet says,

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;—

Please be assured that we continue to watch our community; our nation; and our world…and fully intend to augment our oral commentary with that of the written variety…for our own benefit if for no other.

Thank the Lord for the dawning of spring.

The cycles continue to renew.

GOD SAVE US...THINGS AND PEOPLE

Coal, natural gas, and petroleum…

Thank God for fossil fuels and the ability to harvest them.

God save us from nuclear fuel.

And God save us from people and national party represented by charlie schumer and harry reid.

I hope you have heard the recording of chuckie’s phone conversation.

God save us.

WISDOM, THE ALBATROSS..HOW SWEET IT IS

There are bits of good news emerging from the chaos of the recent tsunami. We quote from the msm:

Bird experts feared that Wisdom, the oldest known wild bird in the U.S. was one of thousands of albatrosses killed when the tsunami spawned by Japan's earthquake swept across the Pacific Ocean on March 11.

But the 60-year-old [emphasis mine] Laysan albatross survived and was seen last week, feeding her recently hatched chick on a remote atoll near Hawaii.

The tsunami washed over several atolls and killed at least 2000 adult albatrosses and 110,000 chicks, officials at the Hawaiian and Pacific Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex said.

Refuge Project director Barry Stieglitz said researchers are in awe of Wisdom and her ability to endure. '

It's also very humbling to known that this 8-pound bird has been producing chicks longer than I've been alive,' he said.

How sweet it is!!

PIPER BILL MILLIN...SAVOR THE STORY

This is a story that movies have been made about...and it is true.
I love it.
I pass it on.....
Please check out the link below....
I hope the London Telegraph keeps it alive for awhile.

God bless Scotland!


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/military-obituaries/special-forces-obituaries/7952729/Piper-Bill-Millin.html

A RECENT CONVERSATION

An acquaintance assures me that one reason she is proud of her church is that it is a ‘thinking church’, a fellowship of believers who think for themselves and are able to avoid oversimplification and erroneous conclusions about matters of faith.

This same person then proceeds to make oversimplified and erroneous statements about various historical and current world affairs – totally at odds with her professed desire to be a thinking person and totally at odds with verifiable reality.

The point: we are human and we are inconsistent. I am terribly guilty of this human condition.

But it both amuses and worries me when so many folks suffer from this same limitation – especially when they are opinion makers and leaders of our nation.
And when they are voters.

It is a truism that never before has so much data been available to the ordinary citizen.

It is also a truism that never before has so much data been ignored by the ordinary citizen.

It follows that we are an extraordinarily ignorant ordinary citizenry.

PERHAPS SOME GOOD WILL COME OF IT

At The Study, we pray for justice and peace for the people of Libya.

And we pray for something in addition for the people of the United States:

hopefully, the manner in which b.o. has prepared and launched the US intervention in Libya will once and for all expose him for what he is to those Americans who up to now have refused to see
the kind of President he really is.

Check out the link below.

We know people who resemble the young lady.
We see such people in the msm on a daily basis.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2011/03/028681.php

IN CASE YOU BREAK ONE...

The US Government has decided that the American public must light the night with new fluorescent bulbs.
We are no longer to be able to buy the old bulbs we grew up with, the normal looking ones.

And, the Government warns that we should observe certain procedures if we should break one.
You no longer can just sweep them up.

Below are the safeguards, as reported by the msm:

The Environmental Protection Agency has posted a list of clean-up instructions, in case one of the compact fluorescent bulbs breaks:
--Have people and pets leave the room
--Air out the room for 5-10 minutes
--Shut off the heating/air-conditioning system
--Be thorough in collecting broken glass and visible powder
--Place cleanup materials in a sealable container
--Put all bulb debris and cleanup materials outdoors in a trash container or protected area
--Continue to air out the room where the bulb was broken
--Leave the heating/air conditioning system shut off for several hours.

You can still find the traditional incandescent bulbs on some store shelves. For now.
The last plant that made them in the U.S. moved its light bulb operation to China in September.

No.
They gotta be kidding.
This could not be.

Read the whole article in the link below.

We've come a long way, Baby!

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/03/22/republicans-try-block-new-light-bulb-restrictions/?test=latestnews

SOFT POWER..."ON THE FLY"...

Isn't it wonderful how b.o.'s soft power has made the world a safer place, so superior to the brutish hard power of the previous many generations of American diplomacy?

Yeah.......

We are really better off now than ever before.

The world really does now love the United States...and trusts and seeks to please the American President.

When we attack other countries now, we really plan ahead and know exactly how things are going to come out.

Our Secretary of Defense would never say....."We did this on the fly."

TRUTH AND GOODNESS

50+ years ago, our football coach told us boys that if we played to win and not to save ourselves from injury, that we would have the best chance to win every game.

At the funeral recently of a Dear Lady, I came across the following verse by Henry Van Dyke:

Who seeks for heaven alone to save his soul
May keep the path, but will not reach the goal;
While he who walks in love may wander far,
Yet God will bring him where the blessed are.

Neat how we can find truth and goodness in so many places.

GOD WILLING...

There is a lot to think about these days.

There is lots of good stuff.

But my goodness, the other kind of stuff is on the plate as well.

Thoughtful Americans have every right to be concerned about the obvious things:

1 the terrible problems facing Japan - new ones are surfacing
2 intervention in Libya
3 Iraq and Afghanistan
4 the economy
5 energy

I will stop with the above incomplete list and briefly, very briefly say the following:

b.o. as launched the US into a third war;

he has misstated the real reason for the intervention - the removal of a real enemy of the US and the region and even the world, alleging reasons that do not make sense in light of inhumane atrocities being committed by several other regional regimes;

he is alleging minimal US involvement or leadership and no use of US ground forces;

he is denying that regime change is a goal having already stated that the president of Libya [I don't have time to check spelling right now] has to go;

in short, b.o. is once again seriously truthfully challenged ;

b.o.'s fudging of the role of the US in this suggests that he is demeaning the intelligence of much of the world he is trying to avoid aggravating ;

his continuation of his trip to South America is a disgrace - if only in regard to image....and image is very, very important in these matters, whether or not he realizes it;

He does not realize a lot of things;

We at The Study believe that he is upsetting a lot of his advisors, those who are not equally ignorant.

We look forward to the next Presidential election...

We hope things will hold together and work out in the meantime.

We think they will.

God willing.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 101

Being the last great hope of the civilized world, indeed, of the world, is not an easy job.
It takes guts.

It takes a willingness to sacrifice a lot of things….
On of those things is the luxury of observing personal standards of moral, ethical behavior as defined by the political correctness of the contemporary world.

This is not to say that a leader of the free world is expected to be a monster.

It is to say that he or she has, at times, to act in ways which would not be appropriate for your neighbor next door.

Many folks in the sheltered communities of the US simply do not understand this fact of international relations.

The reason for this is that there is no effective international police force; court; or mechanism for the enforcement of international law.

There is international law.

There is no international government.

Therefore, the world beyond the borders of the US and the civilized world is a flaming jungle – a place where the barbarians are waiting to kill, rape, and destroy you in an unbelievable variety of ways.

This is not debatable.
This is not maybe the case.
This is not believed by a lot of Americans and Europeans and other such civilized folk.
This is the truth.

Therefore, the leader(s) of the civilized, free world have to be prepared to do things which you might not want to do yourself.

To wit, the leaders of the free world have to inform their peoples that his or her and their duty is to maintain the reputation, the prestige of the leader nations so that those nations do not always have to actually kill their enemies.

If the leader nation(s) possess sufficient prestige, reputation, so that their declarations are believed….if there is no doubt that they mean what they say and that the consequences will be inevitable…it is most likely that mere words will carry the day.

It is at least more likely.

If the leaders are not believed, they will have to keep proving, over and over again, that they have what it takes.

This is not likely, it is a fact.

Such proof costs…in blood and treasure.

How much better to simply announce a policy and have it believed.

No prestige – no belief.

Prestige – belief.

Elementary, my dear Watson.

Our President is often truthfully challenged.

He is often not believed.

So much the worse for all of us.

PAX AMERICANA

The US has acted to impose peace in North Africa.
The reasons are several.

As was the case in the invasion of Iraq, the US Government is not stating all of those reasons.

The reason for the editing of the causes is that the American public, much as was the case with the British public during the inception and development of the British Empire, is not, in the opinion of the US Government, prepared to support the progress of American imperial growth, a growth which we at The Study have watched and believed in over the course of the last half century.

Most of our acquaintances have never agreed with us.

But the fact grows ever clearer.

Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Libya.

The US military is in Saudi Arabia.
Israel is a valuable client state, a most valuable ally indeed.
There are US assets in a number of the Emirates.

Assets are propositioned in the Indian Ocean.

At least twelve, possibly thirteen carrier battle groups patrol the oceans.
I will not at this time even try to name other examples of US deployments of PERSIA influences: politics; economic; religious; scientific/social; intellectual; and artistic, to use an acronym.

Heaven knows how many US submarines are deployed.

The US Navy and Air Force are not stressed.

The Army and Marines are under intense pressure…and that condition has to be on the minds of the military planners.

And so it goes.

And once again, as stated above, at least as important are all the other non-military aspects of the US hegemony: the diplomatic, economic, social, cultural pressures which the American civilization is exerting on huge portions of the world.

The lingua franca is English…a fact of life initiated by the British Empire and continued by the American behemoth [not the right word, but it is late].

Finally, for this entry, the US will be of major importance in helping Japan deal with the current crises.

The world should thank God for the United States of America.

The above realities must be driving the libs crazy.

PLEASE NOTE

The United States has taken on another tyrant…

Whether it should take on that tyrant or not can be argued….

But note, this time, the President of the United States is not a Texas Cowboy!

Got that???

This time, the President of the United States is not a Texas Cowboy!!

Whatever will the msm do with this bit of a contradiction?

GOD BLESS IRELAND

I’ve begun to reread a favorite set of books…a three-volume history of the British Empire – by James Morris.
I have read it several times and refer to it frequently, but it has been years since a thorough read thru.

It is relaxing.

It tells the story of the rise and fall of a unique institution – very likely the most important institution of international consequence in history, certainly in modern history, whatever modern history is.

It is a familiar story to me in big picture. Many details I have forgotten, but there is a lifelong awareness of parts of the big picture, and reading over the good parts imparts a soothing influence.

These are days which need soothing influences.

It is St. Pat’s Day….

A dear friend sent the following gift to me this day…check it out:

http://www.andiesisle.com/ThisBlessingIsForYou.html

A true soothing influence.

The situation in Japan is so horrible in so many ways…and it came out of the blue, so unexpected…at least the magnitude of the quake and resultant wave…
And the nuclear horrors….
The human suffering and pain and all that is involved in that….
Beyond the scope of my writing tonight….
One of the great economies and cultures of the world so severely injured….

And now there is the Libyan war with imminent international action said to be about to happen.

And the war in Afghanistan goes on…crowded out of the news….and the problems in Iraq, tho hopefully improving…

And our own economic problems….

And the incredible energy policy of the national democrats…
The dithering of our government in the face of all these threats…..

Go to the website referenced above…

It will do you good…..

May the road rise to meet ye….
And the sun be always …you know where.

Take care.

These are hard times.

THE REAL DANGER TO THE WORLD

Japan has just suffered a catastrophic natural event.

Tectonic plates, after a long period of immobility, have shifted.

And the horror story is by no means over.

Aftershocks of great energy could occur in a day, a week, a month, even years later, aftershocks to this very event.

But there is the potential for another, even more serious consequence: nuclear power plants are in danger.

At last hearing, there were two such power plants endangered by lack of coolant and the means to operate the machines which cool nuclear fuel.

I have to say it…if the plants in question were coal fired or natural gas powered or even oil fired, there would be no such follow up problem.

I know, the greens will whine that there would then be air pollution…

Well, dear greens, the world, yes, the world, is now faced with a different kind of air pollution….

It is called nuclear fallout.

I suggest that a modern, emission scrubbed fossil fuel power plant is the way to go….

Because, no matter how clean and green a process is, as the nuclear fans are always claiming, some day, some way, it will fail and spill something which is most unpleasant.

I submit that coal, natural gas, and oil emissions might just be easier to deal with than nuclear fallout.

'Tis a no brainer.

IT HELPS TO VENT

It is so easy to be negative, but my goodness….there is really a lot to think about.

And Dear Gramma used to say…”A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.”

So what does one do when he or she has an opinion which is based on sources which are available to everyone…not special in any way? Just little bits of knowledge here and there.

If one enjoys writing and discoursing and debating …arguing…then one is faced with the dilemma: ignore Dear Grandma’s advice and hold forth or keep one’s thoughts to oneself.

At The Study, we believe that having opinions and expressing them in a respectful way whenever possible is one of the delights of life…so compatible with the good things: good food; good drink; good company; and even, sometimes, when possible in light of recent legislation, good cigars or a fragrant pipe.

A few brief observations on this cold, dark, rainy/snowy late winter Michigan night, knowing that at best we can have but a partial understanding of international realities:

The international community, a misleading word indeed, is presently undergoing severe readjustment.

Various nations are working to destabilize the order which does exist.

A number of nations cannot cope constructively with the forces which are in play even though they would like to if they could.

The community does not possess judicial, legislative, or executive authority equal to the task of protecting an international system for the good of all members.

The one nation economically and militarily powerful enough to ameliorate the most destructive scenarios is presently, as has often been the case in the past, undecided about what it must do in the many arenas which cry out for help.

That nation is, of course, the United States of America.

National leadership and the people do not agree on how to deal with the seemingly inevitable growth of the American Empire…

Yes, the accurate word is Empire.

It grows… and it will continue to do so.

It grows with a life of its own.

The Study became aware of a new wrinkle in the Libyan conundrum, an example of how US interests are mixed up in situations all over the world without most people being even slightly aware: the Government of the US is subsidizing the work of hundreds of scientists in Libya to enable them to apply their scientific skills to peaceful persuits instead of toward…you guessed it…the development of weapons of various mass destructions.

The fate of the welfare of those persons is currently of great concern to the US Government, as well it should be, for obvious reasons.

And there is the Peoples’ Republic of China; North Korea; Iran; Syria; Russia; piracy; and on and on and on.
The world used to know what to do with pirates.

We await the verdicts in this case.

And the energy crisis – the refusal of the b.o. Admin to allow development of North American oil reserves…INSANITY…

And the nascent riots of Americans against state and local governments…so reminiscent of the French and London riots of a year or two ago against their governments.
Those were large scale.
The American versions were relatively small.
But the hard working unionists have vowed: "You ain't seen nuttin' yet."

And the insane policy of ethanol subsidy so important to elements of the US Government.

And then I read in the Lenten Message of the Presiding Bishop of TEC that ethanol production is the fault of US gass guzzlers….AND NOT THE FAULT OF THE b.o. GOVERNMENT AND INTEREST GROUPS AND FARMERS…she would have us believe that we are contributing to rising food prices because we drive too much….AND NOT BECAUSE MISGUIDED LEADERS ARE COMPELLING US TO PUT CORN ALCOHOL INTO OUR GASOLINE!!!!!!!!!!!

We are told by elements of the msm that investigating homegrown Muslim terrorists via Congressional hearings will aggravate the hatred of Muslim terrorists everywhere --- say what???

Aggravate them?

How could they be any more aggravated than they already are?

Such ‘experts’ feel that hearings should be held at the same time on the KKK…to avoid any appearance of discrimination.

We tried in vain to come up with any KKK attacks against US national security since the Towers came down.

Help me out here if you can.

And then we have the spectacle of state senators running away to paralyze the democratic process.
Sorry...already touched on that one.

And there is the refusal or the inability of our national government to deal effectively with entitlements and taxation and the like.

And this is but a brief summary.

Stay safe out there.

INTERESTING PEOPLE…IN THE OBITS

You can meet the most interesting people by visiting the obituary section of the online London Telegraph….

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/

Believe me…no joke!

There are doctors and lawyers and ministers and priests and blackguards and heroes and artists and writers…and on and on and on.

Go to the website above…select obituaries…scroll down the list, select pictures and/or articles of interest…..and, practically guaranteed….read to your heart’s content.

Try it.

GOOD LUCK

I saw it happen.

An allegedly reputable cnn anchor asked an alleged cnn ‘expert’ what she thought of b.o.’s handling of the US reaction to the Libyan developments, whether or not she thought that b.o. had done about as well as could have been expected thus far.

Cannot quote her answer….but in so many words:

The problems are delicate. The US has to walk a tightrope…for, you know, G.W. Bush and Exxon and Big Oil and so on and so on cozied up to the madman and that is the reason why we have this problem today.

Cnn anchor did not question the answer.

I trust there is no need to refine the picture.

There was NO attempt to answer the question of b.o.’s dithering…pusillanimous response action/reaction….nada…….

b.o. faced a tuff problem…he still does, many of ‘em…and he has botched it ….

And msm BLAMES IT ON G.W. AND EXXON AND OUR FLAMING GORGING ON THE CHEAPEST FUEL AVAILBLE……WHILE THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT [READ b.o. admin.] forbids development of oil resources.

Bottom line: you cannot trust the msm.
You cannot trust lots of sources….
Soooooooooooo…you have to really discriminate and think and talk to lots of folks with differing opinions and read lots of uppity journals and stuff…and then hope you get to some kernels of truth.

Cnn can be ok….but not always. Not always bigtime!

Same for all the msm….Fox included…..

So you hafta discriminate.

The job is to figure out how.

Same thing for a successful national leader.

He or she does not have to be the most knowledgeable [sharpests] knife in the drawer…but he or she has to know how to find the sharpest knives…..

We the public have to ferret out the best sources of truth as well if we are to know what is really going on.

GOOD LUCK!

THE OLD AND THE NEW

We attended a delightful musical at our local professional theater last night.

It was Reunion: A Musical Epic... a musical treatment of the American Civil War.

Moving and most thought-provoking.

We enjoyed a superb Italian dinner prior to the performance.

Arriving at the theater fifteen minutes before curtain, we were offing coats and viewing exhibits in the outer hallway when what to our wondering eyes should appear…but a good sized Michigan deer…working his way through snow drifts just outside the windows.

How appropriate.

Mid-19th Century – early 21st…

The old and the new…

The music of the War struck all sorts of emotional cords…and the deer somehow sealed the deal…

Italian dinner; Civil War authenticity; and rural deer - all in one package.

We loved it.

There is meaning here.
The event is pregnant with it...but I cannot put it into words.
Don't have to.

But I had to pass it on.

Ttoo late to figure it out tonight.

"NUFF SAID

The RAF, SAS, and the Royal Navy, Her Majesty’s Forces, have rescused British nationals from Libya.

US nationals were extracted from Libya by ferry boat.

‘Nuff said.

WE HOPE THE HANDS DO NOT START TO WRING

We are busy here at The Study.

And, Lord knows, the world is busy in the greater world around us.

Revolution seethes in North Africa; sputters in Iran; same in Bahrain [sp?]; Egypt appears to have the lid on, especially important considering the location the Suez Canal; ripples observable all across this volatile part of the world, a vitally important province, if you will, of an American area of interest.

Iranian and Chinese naval assets are chess pieces in what is going on…pawns one might say….pawns to the US Navy, the king and queen and rooks and knights of the board (seas)….

But not all the players around the board appear to be deploying their pieces…and one of those players moves the king and queen, etc..

We hope that this is but an apparent failure to do one’s duty…an apparent lapse of will, ability, and knowledge, whatever characterization you choose to apply.

We hope the UN is not seriously expected to do anything.

We hope the presidential hands do not start to wring.

OBSERVATIONS; PREDICTIONS; HUNCH(S)

In the Middle East, a domino teeters.

Some would say it promises to fall.
Others, it threatens to fall.

The hunch: the b.o. Admin has no clue on what to do [it rhymes].

He opines that it is not the place of one nation to interfere in the affairs of another…that not only should the US not interfere in such affairs, but that it cannot.

You know what????

Bull!!!

Great nations, great powers not only can involve themselves but they are obligated to so involve…and any freshman student of diplomacy knows as much.

b.o. therefore knows it.
b.o. therefore is either truthfully challenged or he is ignorant when he speaketh thusly.

Good grief. I wonder which.

Think, just think of the US assets in the area…..military, naval, economic, diplomatic….

They are not there for fun.

They are there to do a job.
Great powers do not just.....wring their hands when assets are threatened.
If they do , they are no longer great.

Pakistan…a shooting:

A US Embassy official kills and possibly wounds Pakistanis…alleging an attempted robbery.
There are a number of incredible collateral developments.

The mob calls for the death of the American.

A Senator goes on over to calm the waters.

The accused American is former special ops.
Is it usual for US embassies in such parts of the world to employ lethal folks as part of their essentials?

YES!

Why?

Because some folks in those parts of the world are always ready to take out one or more Americans….whenever they can.

I wonder if b.o. understands that……that not only are such folks ready to take down individual Americans, but they are hoping and praying to be able to take down as much of America as they can…as soon as they can.

The Mexican-US border shooting:

An American ICE officer hasjust been killed along the border….just inside the Mexican side….whilst carrying out his duties.
Another is wounded.
So far, no allegation has been made by Mexico of any US wrongdoing.
Nor will it be.
Indeed, this is “…the first time ICE agents working in Mexico have been shot.”

Prediction: such shootings and Mexican criminal crossborder activity will increase in frequency.

b.o. will have to augment border security, whether he wants to or not.

The Mexican criminals will attack the US security forces.

The US will have to cross the border to restore border security.

Friend of ours say I am nuts.

I say just watch.

Mexico is losing control of parts of the frontier.

Some force will have to restore order.

That force is the US.

Just watch.

THERE IS NOTHING MORE DEMOCRATIC THAN A LYNCH MOB

Saturday morning….
Coffee made…two cups already consumed. Drunk seems too harsh a word.

Tv was on during the coffee prep….
Surfed three cable channels….cnn; msnbc; fox.

Cnn was fixated on the doings in Egypt; fox was arguing about whether or not US foreign aid should be totally stopped; and msnbc was exposing what they called a right-wing conspiracy to do away with bussing.

Imagine the horror of suburban parents wanting their kids to attend suburban schools!!!!!!!!!!

But to the point, what a depressing series of msm moments.

As the Egyptian fixation continued, the thought occurred: what is the American public really interested in in watching the riotous proceedings?

Is there even a scintilla of interest in Egyptian affairs?

Or rather, is the interest really in watching a riot…

How many of your acquaintances have you spoken with a month or more ago about everyday goings on in that most important country.

I will wager you have spoken to none.

So, the interest level is merely to watch a riot, a revolution.

Rioting ceases, interest ceases.

Another negative perspective :

A bit of wisdom recently overheard: “There is nothing more democratic than a lynch mob.”

Now, think about that.
If at first it seems silly, give it some time.

A riot is often as not a lynch mob, or just short of it.

Think about it.

Another depressing observation:
We are put in mind of the book…Tale of Two Cities…..and a character known as Madam Labarge, or some name close to that.
I will not take time to look it up.

She is the one who knits while the evil aristocracy is decapitated.
I think.

Anyway, another interviewee this morning started going on about how he hopes revolution comes to Algeria next…that a domino effect gets under way of toppling the present order of things….all cross north Africa and the Middle East.

Nothing like a little riot and mayhem to shake things up.

There is nothing more democratic than a lynch mob.

WE MISS HIM

Sunday, February 6, 2011…the hundredth birthday of Ronald Reagan.

No attempt here to list accomplishments.

No attempt here to list all the reasons he is one of the greats, but we at The Study have been and will be thinking about this American…

We do so with pride, affection, and an awareness that his like do not often pass this way….

Not that there are not many ‘ordinary’ folk who exhibit similar traits in everyday life, but rather that too often our leaders lack the quality package which he exhibited.

We miss you, President Reagan.

STAY WARM...STAY COZY

Thirteen inches of snow on the ground and below zero temp predicted for tonite.
A county truck just blocked our driveway plowing the street….Tis ok…we can handle it.
We'll dig out in the morning and be glad.

A goodly fire is blazing in the hearth and Dear Wife is journaling and/or reading in front of it.
I intend to join her.
Sophie is sharing the traditional heat source with her.

We have shoveled and cooked and cleaned dishes and now we settle in for the night.

Candles at dinner again as the new chandelier still has not arrived.

No traffic to speak of outside…

We are experiencing something of the ambience of an historical night.
Cool!

The msm is full of the troubles in the Mid East and of the foibles of life in the nation’s capital.

Egypt has captured the interest of the msm.
All of a sudden, most of the former everyday big items are pushed to the background.
Where did they all go?

I am reminded of the story of the little girl who turned to her father one night and asked, “Daddy, how come there is just enough news in the world every day to just fill the newspaper?”

One should remember not to let the msm control our awareness of important world happenings.
We should use them, the msm folk.

They should not manipulate us.

Big mistake to let that happen.

A cozy fire; candles; quiet inside and out; a fat, happy dog; Dear Wife [this list is not in any order of importance]; books and computer and paper and pen/pencil.

Has time travel occurred??

We could be back in the 19th Century, in some ways.

It occurs to us that a number of the world’s hot spots then, the 19th Century, are among the major hotspots of today.

British newspapers of the former era would have been full of problems in Pakistan; India; Iraq; Afghanistan; Iran; Egypt; Africa; Russia; and I could go on….but not necessary.
I name only the international problems.
The at-home problems were often very similar as well.

You get the point. Problem areas persist…and those areas were not problems then because the Good Guys were ignorant or were really just bad guys.

They were problems then because they could not be solved.
And we are having a devil of a time solving them now.

And our nation is not The Bad Guy.
It may not be run by the best guy in the world right now, but it is definitely not the bad guy.

Funny how the mind can turn on to such thoughts.

But it bothers me that folks today think that our recent ancestors were somehow less intelligent than we are….that they were ill-equipped to deal with the big problems…that we are so much better equipped now.

Two words for such thought: b..l sh.t!!

Sorry.

Another misunderstanding that bothers us here at The Study…..that empire is by definition a bad thing.

I defy the average person who holds that opinion to demonstrate any real knowledge of what empire was…beyond some impressions gained by less than casual thought/conversation/study.

Somehow the word in common parlance reeks with unwholesome baggage.

The tragic mess of Africa today is blamed on imperialism.

The mess in the Middle East is blamed on imperialism.

Problems in Asia are blamed on imperialism.

Problems in Latin America are blamed on imperialism.

And the everyday citizen believes all this blaming with a faith about as strong as he believes anything going on in the world far away to be true.

As a teacher of mine used to say to us young lads, “Poor Fellow…poor, poor fellow.”

This is becoming a negative essay.

Right!

Not good.

Well, there is a fire to tend and a book to read and thoughts to be thought and written about…hopefully more positively.

Stay warm. Stay cozy.

Think good thoughts.

Thanks for reading.

IMPRESSIONS

Something big this way cometh….

So goes the quote by some person a while ago….
We are told a great snow storm is bearing down…will arrive sometime this evening…

It is at times like this that the city/suburban dweller feels something of the challenge felt by the farmer day in and day out.

It is at times like this that non-farm folk are exposed, vulnerable to the forces of nature.

The sailor feels the presence of nature….as do those who fly the planes and work on the edge of things.

‘Tis a sobering moment of truth, a sobering interval of time for those of us so insulated from the forces of nature.

Sort of reminds one of just how great those forces of nature are….of how we are a part of something very great indeed – that maybe, just maybe, the world does not revolve around us and our desires as much as we like to think it does.

Egypt….

The events in this ancient land remind us of the importance of the Middle East…a crossroads…a reservoir of precious natural resources…a region which inevitably draws the great powers of the world into competition and conflict, a process which seems destined to go on forever.

Decades, centuries, millennia…

Remember this when you are tempted to think that our ancestors should have known better than to have involved themselves in this fulcrum of world affairs….

Some geopolitical challenges simply cannot be ignored or resolved.
Some things simply have to be dealt with, over and over and over.

Movies:

Dear Wife and I have seen several movies recently, contrary to our normal custom.

We have mentioned this before: the most recent C.S. Lewis film ; The King’s Speech; and True Grit.

I saw the last two, Dear Wife all three.

In all cases, the main feature was preceded by an endless stream of previews… nearly all of which were nothing less than litanies of incredible violence and mayhem and destruction.
They weren’t even very sexy.

They simply destroyed, attacked, and blasted.

I am sure a great deal has been and will be said about this phenomenon of the lust for violence…
We can think of lots more attractive movie topics.