JUST RIGHT

There is something very satisfying about this article.
It presses a lot of the right buttons.

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2012/01/23/st-james-the-smallest-parish-in-the-diocese-of-west-texas/

WE'VE COME A LONG WAY

Another debate.

And another and another and another.
We remember when the so-called debates, as they exist now, did not exist…and it was not really so long ago.
The pre-now debates took place in smoke-filled rooms and amongst the party power brokers…
Our new, present debate system is part of democratization of the process….in which the 'little guy' gets to have his/her say.

The assumption is that having TV land watch  the candidates of one party attack each other is the best way to win the upcoming national election.
After each transparent debate the pollsters poll the electorate to see who ‘won’.

Yes, this sounds like an enlightened system indeed, much superior to having party and political professionals evaluate the issues and strengths and weaknesses of the contenders.

Yes, we have really improved the process.

Evaluation of debating skills and  personal issues about which the voter cannot possibly relate to a skill set required to run the most powerful nation in the history of the planet now becomes a major factor in candidate selection.

We've come a long way.

VERY SPECIAL

For years I’ve yearned to smoke a pipe

On the moors of England on a foggy night.
A favourite briar, an ounce of shag,
A glass of whisky and an historical lag.

The path was a wide track, perhaps just over the width of a one-lane road. It was late in the afternoon and it was heavily overcast and cool and had recently been misting. The ground was just shy of hard and the water in the several walleye hatchery ponds was lightly frozen over with the reeds and cattails showing up through the ice cover.

I had seen no other walkers or dogs, my only visible company being birds and an unnamed little animal the size of a chubby cat with a long tail which scurried across my path at one point.
I was comfortable with warm clothes and blackthorn walking stick and most flavorful cigar…reconnecting with one of my several fantasy worlds.

And then, in the words of Clement Moore [sp?], What to my wondering eyes should appear..., but a HERD of deer, on the path, just ahead…2/3 of a hatchery pond away.

They were in a group and I counted what I thought were five or six.
And then they began to cross the drained pond, and the six turned into 12 or 13.

The last time Dear Wife and I had seen more than a few deer in one place at the same time was in the ‘90’s on the estate of William Cecil, Lord Burghley.

A good walk had become very special indeed.

WHY?

We watched the analysis of the state of the Presidency speech Tuesday night in The Study's library.
And then we watched the entire response by Mitch  Daniels.
And we were impressed.
Why on earth is Governor Daniels not in the arena with Mitt, Newt, and Rick?

BUMPER STICKER

Noticed this on car yesterday:

YOUR BODY IS A TEMPLE.
MINE IS AN AMUSEMENT PARK

I would have loved to  have gotten a look at the driver....

No such luck.

OF INTEREST

At Church:
Discussions are under way at Church regarding the Jesus of history and the Jesus of faith… discussion groups.
Proposed subjects…current issues in the Anglican/Episcopal Church; Holy Communion – what really happens; and making the Church relevant in the modern world.
Stuff like that.

TV:
Outstanding TV shows we set the DVR for: Person of Interest; Bluebloods; Gifted Man; and Masterpiece Theatre [Downtan Abbey].
As possibly noted before, our new TV is proving to be very seductive.

BOOKS:
The John Ford book not quite done…but we did succeed in having an excellent Irish band play some of the music from the Cavalry Trilogy whilst at a superb pub last Saturday night.
Huston Smith’s Why Religion Matters and World Religions are being reread. Really important books for folks with minds.

We are trying to establish that we have minds.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
We at The Study view diplomatic developments in Iraq; Afghanistan; Pakistan; Israel; and iran with concern.
It appears to us that b.o. is not up to the task of running a superpower’s diplomacy with the aplomb and intelligence which are required.

Let the voters beware….
We are of the opinion that the arena of international relations is a jungle.
Those not able to play the game will be consumed by that jungle.

We want the US to be a consumer, not a consumed.

THIS IS THE WEEK THAT WAS

There was once a TV show by the title of this post.
At least I think there was.

And such a week this has been.

Did not watch the debate last night…and heard/saw no news until this morning after grinding and activating a pot of the new Starbucks Blonde coffee.
Good stuff.

Anyway, took a few phone calls…noted that the temp last night was just a bit above zero….and began monitoring news.

Of interest, worth noting:

1 GM is the #1 carmaker on planet. We like that.
2 b.o. has said no to Keystone. Don’t like that.
3 abc began debate questions about the open marriage allegation….Don’t like that.
4 He left the ship…Don’t like that.

We are proud of GM. We are used to it being a behemoth.

Keystone needs to happen. Canada will sell the oil. We need Canada to sell it us…US, that is.
As the experts point out, it will be sold to US or to China.
What do you say, b.o.?

Men and women should be faithful to each other. Some men and some women will be unfaithful. Some of them will see the error of their ways and repent and do a better job.
At The Study, we are willing to forgive a sin of a decade ago which has been dealt with.
Fie on the msm which tries to redramatize the issue right before an important vote.
Fie!!

The skipper fell into a life boat. A drop-dead beauty says he was on board when he apparently was on the phone from a lifeboat.
Whaddia think??

We’ll pick our cruise line and crew carefully before our next voyage.