Spiritually Bankrupt

Jeromy at Seeking Goliath recently linked to a blog where the author talked about feeling "spiritually bankrupt.

Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." I'm not sure what that means. But I think Dallas Willard was the one writing about how "Blessed are the poor in spirit" really means, "Good news! In MY Kingdom, even the spiritually bankrupt get invites!"

Oh, man, I hope he's right. That would be great news for me. Because I'm not very spiritual. Never have been. I've tried. And I'll keep trying. But I'm just not. I don't feel much of anything a lot of the time. I'm sorry.

I know; I probably won't be writing old-school hymns: "And He walks with me, I think, and He talks with me, probably in some way, and He tells me I am His own, but generally not through an audible voice that I hear, at least in a non-metaphorical sense, and none other has ever known just how awkward it even is for me to talk about my faith, personally, and I know I should feel bad about that, too."

Maybe I'm still doing something wrong. I've never come by faith easily. I don't get swept up in swirling "powerful worship". Shoot, I'm not even comfy in it. I don't like praying out loud, even among friends.

Read the whole thing. Brant writes very movingly about his inability to feel moved spiritually. I don't think Brant is alone, either. In my own sphere of experience, I have heard people express similar feelings and the internet is certainly full of people expressing the same sentiment.

For many of these people, I believe their feelings stem from a common source. In our age of sensationalism it is easy to trip over people on TV, in the newspaper, or in books proclaiming their profound spirituality and connection with God. They cry and shout and proclaim how deeply they feel God's presence in their lives, how he moves in them, touches them, and is always right there with them through all of their trials and tribulations. Leaving aside that much of this often seems exaggerated and not real, how can people have faith when it seems like this is the only way to have real faith.

I think faith comes in many forms and for some it is not going to be the charismatic, emotional, "I feel God's hand on me" sort of faith. For some, faith will be a quiet belief that there is a higher power of some sort and that life is not a meaningless exercise. Unfortunately, in our society it is easy to fall prey to marketing which tells you how you are supposed to feel. When people see some preacher on TV talking about how he literally feels God's presence regularly, no doubt some question their own faith, asking, "Why don't I feel like that."

And the answer is, "Because you're different." Just as we all like different foods or are attracted to different people, we are each going to feel faith in a different way and that's just the way it should be.

Those Crazy Canucks

I've never had an inclination to live in Canada, but stories like this ensure that I would not ever do more than visit.

A Canadian court has lifted a 12-year-old girl's grounding, overturning her father's punishment for disobeying his orders to stay off the internet, his lawyer said.

The girl had taken her father to Quebec Superior Court after he refused to allow her to go on a school trip for chatting on websites he tried to block, and then posting "inappropriate" pictures of herself online using a friend's computer.

What kind of world do we live in wherein a court can overturn a child's grounding by their parents?

Bush is a War Criminal

While it has been known for awhile that torture has been practiced by our soldiers and intelligence officers and that it has been authorized and condoned all the way up the chain of command, we continue to gather evidence of how deep it was. This was not the practice of a few rogue elements. Torture was signed off on by all of the major player's in this administration.

Pete concedes that the administration originally seized far, far more detainees than it could prove guilty (or ever tried to prove guilty) and has released thousands falsely imprisoned. Of the thousands seized, Pete concedes many were abused and tortured, with over a hundred deaths occurring during interrogation, two score of whom the administration has itself conceded were murder-by-interrogation. All this occurred after the president decided his actions as commander-in-chief could not be constrained by the law, after he had waived the baseline Geneva Convention protections for prisoners in wartime - in violation of the policy of every previous president of the United States from Washington on - and after critical memos were signed allowing American interrogators to do anything to prisoners short of death or loss of a major organ. Larry Wilkerson, Colin Powell's former chief of staff explains what this means in terms any morally responsible person would understand:

Andrew continues.

And all this was done not in the chaos of a battlefield or even by rogue units or POW camps. It was not done in a war with anything like as many soldiers and battles as World War II. It was done in a closely managed war by a professional military and intelligence service in every theater of combat as a concerted policy to get more intelligence about Jihadist terror and the Iraq insurgency. It was authorized directly in the chain of command by the president, who knowingly broke the law and hired lawyers to tell him he hadn't. No clever argumentation that "only" 270 prisoners remain at Gitmo can gainsay that. And it is not, by the way, evidence against the fact that this administration seized countless innocents and tortured them to say that they eventually released most of them. It is no consolation to the torture victims at Abu Ghraib that they were eventually set free and their innocence confirmed. Those are the standards of benign dictatorships, not democracies.

Now, you could argue that the administration, after initial understandable over-reach, has tried to set things right. But you would be wrong.

They still refuse to take responsibility for torture and abuse and murder on their watch; and the CSRTs they eventually came up with have been revealed as kangaroo courts in which acquittals are deemed out of bounds and in which countless military lawyers have cried foul. It would be great if we had had a chance to set up clear guidelines in advance, with Congressional support, to give prisoners Geneva protections and non-habeas but robust military trials in what is, as everyone concedes, a very challenging conflict. But this president decided against that, to ignore the advice from the professionals and from the military lawyers, and to do it his own way, with appalling results. Once this record has been compiled and the indecency of Bush's "new kind of war" revealed, it seems to me that no Supreme Court that gives a damn about the Constitution or the ancient traditions of Anglo-American justice or humane warfare would give the benefit of the doubt to a president like this one. Not if the word "court" and "justice" are to be deemed within the same universe.

Sometimes I wonder if I still live in America or if I have somehow been transported to Bizzaro World where this is actually the norm.

Our President authorized torturing people.

Our President locked up innocent people and did not allow them the means to prove their innocence or free them immediately upon knowing their innocence.

Our President's decisions have led to the death of dozens of people - not on the battlefield, but in shadowy torture chambers.

Our President has lied about all of this and seems completely nonplussed by the results of his orders.

Our President, George W. Bush, is a war criminal and should be held accountable along with all of the other knowing architects of this unbelievably morally bankrupt scheme. This is not the kind of America we want.

Max Baucus, Senator Extraordinaire

Matt Yglesias says that the biggest obstacle in getting "good health care reform" is none other than our very own Max Baucus.

One thing I'd forgotten during the long debate about Clinton versus Obama on health care, and in speculation about the Senate filibuster, is that the key legislative player, the chokepoint through which health care reform must pass, is Max Baucus, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. But he's not just Finance Committee Chairman, he's also a terrible Senator! Indeed, on core economic policy issues he's probably the worst Senator -- a little bit right-wing, a lot corrupt and unprincipled. Ezra Klein has a piece on Baucus and health reform that nods in the direction of Baucus' critics but then waxes optimistic:

Sadly, even Baucus recognizes his own inteptitude.

It's Okay to Use the Web at Work

So says a new study. That's good news for me 'cause I read this story and posted about here on my blog while at work.

Of course, the people who did this study are probably just a bunch of lazy slackers who always get in trouble for surfing the net instead of working. This was a way of justifying it all to their bosses. For their hard work in order to justify slacking off, I applaud them.

Firefox 3

Mozilla has released the newest version of the supreme internet browser. And it's still free! If you're still using IE, you owe it to yourself to check it out.

The Supporters of Torture Aren't Supporters of Truth Either

Glenn Greenwald excoriates John Yoo for his appalling WSJ op-ed supporting Bush's policies of endless detention.

Yoo, for instance, claims that the Supreme Court in Boumediene allows "an alien who was captured fighting against the U.S. to use our courts to challenge his detention." But huge numbers of detainees in U.S. custody weren't "captured fighting against the U.S." at all. Many were taken from their homes. Others were just snatched off the street while engaged in the most mundane activities. Still others were abducted while in airports or at work.
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The other deeply misleading claim in Yoo's Op-Ed is even more transparent. He characterizes the Court's decision as "grant[ing] captured al Qaeda terrorists the exact same rights as American citizens to a day in civilian court." What minimally self-respecting law professor would be willing to make this claim with a straight face?

The whole point of the habeas corpus right is that without a meaningful hearing, we don't know if the individuals our Government is imprisoning are really "al Qaeda terrorists" or something else. That ought to be too basic even to require pointing out. As this recent superb McClatchy article documents, scores of individuals detained at Guantanamo for years weren't "Al Qaeda terrorists" -- or any other kind of terrorists -- at all.

While disgusting, I cannot say I find this surprising. Once you start compromising basic moral principles, the slope becomes quite slippery and you find yourself compromising more and more in order to justify your actions. Yoo, Feith, Rumsfeld, Cheney and the other architects of the current administration's policies will continue to spout garbage like this until long after they are gone from the national stage. I hope that our next President can work to restore some of moral integrity.

The Persecution Myth

Internetmonk has a great post debunking the oft repeated cry among evangelicals that Christians are persecuted in America.

Are American Christians justified in saying they are persecuted? It seems like a difficult case to make when we compare the experience of American evangelicals with the experiences of those in Africa and India who are genuinely persecuted. American Christians may experience persecution from time to time in unusual situations, but the vast majority of American Christians will never know anything of the real experience of imprisonment, violence or hostility that genuinely threatens their well-being.

American Christians may know a bit about harassment, ridicule or even prejudicial bias and intimidation. These aren’t to be discounted. And within some cultural subgroups- such as zealous political atheists or strict Muslims living in America- actual persecution of a Christian convert might occur. I don’t want to ignore those genuine episodes of violence and persecution that do occur.

These episodes, however, are extremely rare. Even if we are to give some credence to the likelihood that western culture is moving toward more frequent and acceptable persecution of Christians (and other religions), we are still faced with how American Christians use the statement in 2 Timothy 3.

I would suggest that the culture war mentality of American evangelicals proceeds on an exaggerated sense of persecution based on Christian mythology. The nature of American history and society makes a certain tension with a pronounced sense of specific religious entitlement inevitable. When Christians seem to expect that they be given a privileged place they also give themselves an excuse for claiming “persecution” when that is hardly the case.

A visitor from Sudan or India would find most of our discussions of persecution to be rather odd when compared to their own.

Sadly, I don't expect any amount of logic or reason to make this falsehood go away. Far too many evangelicals don't have time for such foolishness as "thinking."

William Shatner is Not Slowing Down

CNN has a great article about William Shatner.

Why did William Shatner cross the road? Why has he ever? To get to the other side. To see what's out there. To find out stuff and inhale the universe in his singular Shatnerian way. It's the story of his life -- and the lives of the characters he has breathed, spoken and shouted into existence over a 50-year performing career.

It's the story of "Boston Legal" bombast Denny Crane, racing to experience all life's pleasures before Alzheimer's drags him not-so-gentle into that good night. It's the story of the Priceline Negotiator, that discount-travel maniac who barnstorms across the planet to get us better deals on hotels and flights. It's the story of James T. Kirk, the wise and womanizing starship captain who led a crew of 23rd-century explorers across interstellar backroads.

And it's the story of Shatner himself -- a man governed by his passions and interests, a man who crosses new roads every day, gleefully ignoring those who dismiss him and conquering frontiers he never dreamed possible. A cultural phenomenon who, despite tales of his galactic ego, seems strikingly down to Earth as he shapes and basks in the third golden age of his career.

Say what you will about the man, but you can't call him dull.

Man's Inhumanity to Man

I'm not in the greatest of moods right now and it doesn't help reading stuff like this story.

Police killed a 27-year-old man as he kicked, punched and stomped a toddler to death despite other people's attempts to stop him on a dark, country road, authorities said.

Or this one.

The abuse-case that caused the Pope to lose his temper - to the point of a prissy smack - was Father Marcial Maciel. Until his death earlier this year, Maciel ran a large, far-right Catholic cult called the Legionaries of Christ. The Legionaries and their lay counterpart, Regnum Christi, are very powerful entities in the new Catholicism, given special protection by Pope John Paul II and much favor under his successor. And at the core of the Legionaries, like many religious cults, was a sexual abuse ring designed to please the founder. Secrecy was maintained by indoctrinating many members at a young age, and enforcing vows of silence on all topics related to Maciel. This cult-like stricture is still causing grief and suspicion in many parts of the Catholic world, most recently in the Baltimore archdiocese.

If I believed in hell, I'd think humanity was on the express train heading there.

Weekly Music Video

Some classic 80's metal - Dio with "Rainbow in the Dark"

Weekly Secret

PostSecret

Was World War II Unneccessary?

A new book out is claiming it was. Nicholson Baker writes in his book Human Smoke that it was the belligerence of Churchill and Roosevelt that allowed Hitler to solidly his power and authority in Germany and a major reason for the war.

Now I have often rolled my eyes at the level of adulation often given to World War II as if it was this neat little event where we, the good guys, just rolled up our sleeves and said, "We're going to teach the bad guys a lesson." The Allies certainly committed some atrocious acts and we should be able to look back on them with a critical eye and objective judge our actions without blindly resorting to, "Hitler was evil. We were the good guys fighting him so we could do no wrong."

However, it is ludicrous to go so far as to say that non-violence would have successfully dealt with Hitler as Baker tries to claim. Taking human life should never be done lightly and should without a doubt be the absolute last resort, but I don't think there's any doubt that the Nazis aligned with the Japanese presented a grave danger to the entire world and a military solution was the only one that was going to work. We can quibble on the details of how it should have been carried out (was it necessary to carpet bomb German cities? Drop the atomic bomb?), but you can't make a serious argument that holding hands and singing Kum Bah Ya would have curtailed Hitler.

Should We Have a Space Program?

Rod Dreher rails against McCain's talk of putting a man on Mars.

I know it's obligatory for American politicians to come up with new goals in the space race. It's also obligatory to tell people who criticize this kind of thing that they're a bunch of plodders who have no sense of adventure, and who fail to honor something deep in the human spirit.

But you know what? Plodder that I am, I don't want this country to put a thin dime toward sending a man to Mars until we have figured out what to do about the long-term energy crisis in this country. I know, I know, you could substitute any cause you want to for space exploration (How can we send a man to the moon when there are people going without health care?!, etc.). But get this: oil just closed today a smidge shy of $140 a barrel -- up over $10 in a single day. Biggest one-day jump ever.
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The only point I want to make here is that the idea that the US should commit itself to a manned mission to Mars strikes me as so 20th century. Not a fantasy we can afford today.

Rants like this always annoy me. I've heard many people claim that the space program is a waste of money and we need to "solve the problems here on Earth first", but they don't seem to realize that the program has led to many advances not just in areas such as rocketry and computers, but in all sorts of areas such as communications, weather forecasting or even home cookware. The point is that the space program as with any cutting edge research can yield enormous benefits outside of its intended scope.

That said, I'm not sure our government should have an extensive space program. I think it is better left in the hands of private corporations. Let the government give out some grants and such, but it is too inefficient and unwieldy to continue being on the cutting edge of technology here (witness the debacle that is the space shuttle program).

I will vehemently disagree with anyone who claims, though, that we need to solve Earth's problems first. There will always be problems here and scientific research including that into space can help with some of them.

Better Go Buy Some Country Crock

'Cause you don't want to get on this guy's bad side.

Consumerism

I was chatting with Jeromy recently and one of the topics that came up was the consumerist mentality here in America. As an example of this, he sent me this link. On this page, you can buy an iPod from Revival Ministries International that comes "loaded" with many of their materials - videos and music - all for the low, low price of $2195.

Yes, two-thousand ninety-five dollars for an iPod full of their evangelistic garbage teachings. Your purchase lets you achieve "personal growth and [stay] plugged into revival" and support "Revival Ministries International's crusades in North America and abroad." They don't mention that it also allows anyone with common sense to mock you loudly and frequently, though.

The saddest part of the page, however, is the mention that this iPod is "Out of stock." There really is a sucker born every minute.

A Discombobulated Week

You can blame the lack of posting around here over the last week on my daughters. I get to see them a bit more in the summer and so they spent the last ten days with me. It was wonderful, of course, and I did not want to take them home tonight. Anyway, since I am not used to having them here so much, my typical routines get thrown into chaos and I found myself not getting on here to post anything even after they had gone to bed. But, now that they are gone until next weekend, I should be back to posting regularly again.

Harlan Ellison Interview

I've been reading some Harlan Ellison short stories lately out of Angry Candy and what do I stumble upon but an interview with Ellison (part 2 here) at the AVClub. Ellison is without a doubt one of the great American writers and is a very entertaining person to boot. Here he responds to a question about science-fiction fans.

Well, I suppose I agree with that, but with this proviso—it's not just science-fiction fans, it's the whole human race. As an outsider, I look on the human race as highly flawed. My feeling is that any species that can paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling and write Moby Dick and put someone on the moon does not have to settle for McDonald's toadburgers, novels by Judith Krantz, and American Idol. I get very annoyed at the potential that is in everybody, and how little people will settle for, and how easily they are turned away from their true purposes that can enrich them, by the most transitory silliness! Whether it's Paris Hilton or KFC food! [Sighs, pauses.] It's a frustration, and it's one of my most serious flaws.

Here is a hilarious segment from an interview he did on the same site about ten years ago.

The problem is that the intellectuals, the people who really do have some sort of education, the atavists and elitists like me who do read, don't understand that they are surrounded by people who are bone-stick-stone stupid. Every time we have some lunatic run amok and shoot someone, when we have kids in schoolyards blowing each other's asses off, everybody says, "What was the reason? What was the motivation?" There is no fucking motivation! The world is turning into a cesspool of imbeciles! The genetic pool has been so hideously polluted, and we have condoned all of it—every bit of stupidity from bad movies and cheap novels and shit fast food to rap music to pretending that the gun lobby is not an evil and insidious operation that serves the gunmakers... All of this crap is part of our inability to deal with the size of our own brains. We've got technological wonders around us and we've used them to abrogate all responsibility for everything in our lives. You call someone on the phone; you don't get anybody. There's voice mail: That way, no one ever has to return a phone call. If they don't like you, or if they're so filled with arrogance and hubris that they think they don't need to respond, they just don't return your calls. That sort of thing produces a level of frustration that in turn produces people who run around with guns and shoot the shit out of everybody because they're just fucking pissed off. They watch TV and see Leonardo DiCaprio being interviewed about fiscal responsibility and the International Monetary Fund, and no qualitative distinction is made by a Leno or a Letterman or a Larry King between an uninformed "celebrity" and some smart but tv-boring [Ellison insisted that "tv" be in lowercase. —ed.] authority. So we wind up with piss-ants like Limbaugh and Pat Buchanan and Falwell, who are so bloody damned meanspirited and Ugly Elitist that the noise-to-signal radio is overwhelming.

Yes, he is always this opinionated and ranty, but there is no denying his talent. I highly recommend The Essential Ellison as a starting point if you are unfamiliar with his work.

Catholics, Abortion, & Torture

Andrew Sullivan takes to task those Catholics who stand against abortion on all grounds, but turn a blind eye to torture.

There is no way that someone can say that a politician allowing abortion in a free society is on the same moral plane as directly authorizing, monitoring and covering up the torture of prisoners. No way. And any Catholic who voted for Bush in 2004, after the full evidence of his complicity in the torture of prisoners was well known should examine his or her conscience before examining anyone else's.

I semi-agree with this and also believe that supporting the death penalty while being against abortion is another double standard.

Weekly Music Video

Yeah, yeah. I was a day late with this and the Weekly Secret. How about an epic (nearly 11 minute) song to make up for it? The video is nothing special (because it is just the album cover with the song playing), but the song is incredible. This is epic, triumphant, European power metal at its very best.

"Theater of Salvation" by Edguy

Weekly Secret

PostSecret

The Post-Clinton Years

Andrew Sullivan and Marc Ambinder, both with The Atlantic, discuss what Obama's victory means for the country, the Democrats, and the Clintons.

Star Trek Luminaries

I mentioned the passing of Alexander Courage recently. Geekdad also pays tribute to him and to two other people who were important to the development of the original series, Joseph Pevny and Robert H. Justman.

UPDATE: Here is a link to a .wav file of the awesome theme that Courage wrote.

Kids are Mean

Just about anyone who has been through school will tell you that kids are mean. They may not have been on the receiving end of it, but they have seen it. A post on the GeekDad blog over at Wired is about the topic in response to an almost too outrageous to believe story from Florida in which a kindergarten teacher had her students vote on whether or not to expel another student.

I was bullied a lot as a kid. It had a profound impact on my life and not in a good way. I became a very angry teenager, not just because of the bullying but it played no small part in it. That anger led me to a lot of self-destructive choices that in some ways I am still trying to recover from. I think it is safe to say that I am at a point in my life where I have worked through that anger and dealt with the issue, but it has taken a lot of self-discipline, a lot of time, a lot of emotional release. The impact that bullying has on kids cannot be underestimated.

The source of bullying must be understood. It is about insecurity. The kids (well, all people, really, including adults) bully others because they feel insecure. They feel powerless. It is their way of asserting themselves, of hiding their true face, that of a scared kid worried that no one is going to like him or her. Bullies are lonely, afraid, and desperate for acceptance. They lash out in the only way they know how, but unfortunately it only serves to make those being bullied miserable while doing nothing for their own problems.

So, what to do about it? Well, parents must give their kids the self-respect and confidence so that they do not feel a need to bully other kids and so they can weather the storm if they are the target of bullies. It sounds so simple, but as a parent, I understand the difficulties in doing this. My youngest daughter, Shaena, is very insecure and feels worthless. Unfortunately, at her mother's home she is often called "fat", "worthless", and told she won't ever amount to anything. She is being bullied at home which is ten times worse than being bullied by your peers and it's not something that can just be made to go away. I see it in Shaena's face when I tell her how beautiful she is, how smart she is, what a wonderful kid she is, that a part of her doesn't quite believe me and it breaks my heart.

To all of the parents out there, tell your kids how wonderful they are just the way they are. Tell 'em when they are young. Tell 'em when as they are growing up. Give your kids the strength to stand before anyone and say, "I am a good person and I don't care what you say." God knows, they'll need it.

Is Hope So Bad?

Matt Yglesias writes about pessimism, hope, and Obama.

All in all, the pessimist in me sees it as an approach to politics designed to set us up for a hard fall when it fails. But in a deeper sense I find it incredibly appealing. To me, it's incredibly frustrating to hear that ideas "can't be done" not because they won't work, but because people know -- just know -- that they're not politically possible, even though they're things that have never been tried. I think almost every worthwhile accomplishment of progressive governance -- from the UN and NATO and the NPT to Medicare and Medicaid and Title I school aid to the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act to the ongoing feminist revolution that's completely transformed American society in a generation and a half with no sign of slowing down -- is the kind of thing that before it happened, a lot of people would have said that it couldn't happen. And of course sometimes the pessimists are right, but unless you sometimes assume they're wrong then nothing's ever going to happen.

As someone who tends toward pessimism myself, I find this one of the more, if not the most, compelling cases for Obama.

History is Made

He has clinched the nomination.

Primary Voting in Montana

I hope all Montana citizens eligible to vote in today's Democratic primary did so. I did.

And the Beat Goes On

The Democratic Rules & Bylaws Committee came to an agreement yesterday on the status of Michigan and Florida delegates, but it seems that it will only serve to further divide the party especially since Clinton and her surrogates keep hammering at the wedge. Much of the blame for this has to lie at the feet of the Democratic Party leadership. It was very foolish to strip both states of all of their delegates. The Republican plan of only stripping the two states of half their delegates made much more sense and would have spared everyone of much of this drama.

Of course, once it was done, it was up to Howard Dean and other party leaders to make sure something like the current circus did not occur. They should have been working behind the scenes to hammer out some sort of deal when the issue began to heat up or at the very least get Clinton to shut up and quit whining about the deal. She had no problem with the DNC decision back when she strutted around self-assured of getting the nomination. It was only after she realized Obama was going to smoke her that she started worrying about "disenfranchised voters." Why hasn't the media been hammering her more directly about this? I want to see her attempt to assemble a coherent answer when asked why she approved of the decision for awhile and then did a complete 180 on it.

The Dems need to rethink their rules so this does not happen again in the future. Clinton and her most fervent supporters are only making things more difficult for Obama and the party in the fall. The ludicrous calls to vote for McCain over Obama in November just boggle the mind. Obama and Clinton are very close policy wise. Anyone who supports Clinton just because of her genitalia needs to get their head examined. Obama has out-campaigned her plain and simple. Her argument that she is stronger against McCain in the fall is undercut by the fact that she can't even win her own party's nomination.

Weekly Music Video

Epica, a Dutch symphonic metal band performing two songs from their Consign to Oblivion album, "Blank Infinity" and the very cool "Mother of Light."

Weekly Secret

PostSecret

Justice?

A 22-year-old man has been sentenced to a year in jail for having sex with a 13-year-old girl. Making it even better, her MySpace page says she is a 19-year-old divorcee and has videos of her dancing very suggestively. And, to top it all off, this is not the first guy she has done this to.

Now, I whole-heartedly support people not jumping in the sack until they are in a marital relationship; but I know that humans being the creatures they are, it is going to happen. So how can a case like this be called justice? This isn't a rape. This isn't a teacher sleeping with a student. No, this is a young girl who looks older, knows it, and uses that to deceive men and then get them into trouble. She is suffering no consequences from this from either the law or her parents who admit she still "stays out late" and only in the last few days has her MySpace page been taken down. Morris Williams, the most recent man going to jail went to her father after he started to suspect the girl was younger than she had been saying. We can debate the brains behind that move, but the point is that this guy is not some dirty pedo who needs to be locked up and branded a sex offender for the rest of his life.

This girl is only 13 years old and she has already ruined two men's lives. How many more times will it happen before her parents do something about it?

Angry Clinton Supporters

If I was a politician, I would be embarrassed to have people like this supporting me. I suppose that's probably reason #1,627 that I wouldn't ever run for office.

Alexander Courage Passes Away

Alexander Courage, composer of the Star Trek theme, has passed away. I can't help but think of that theme music whenever I think of Star Trek; it's just such an integral part of the show and eerily awesome. Mr. Courage will be missed.

New Insight About Stonehenge

Researchers have determined that it was used as a burial site for much longer than was previously thought.

Dating of cremated remains shows burials took place as early as 3000 B.C., when the first ditches around the monument were being built, researchers said Thursday.

And those burials continued for at least 500 years, when the giant stones that mark the mysterious circle were being erected, they said.

"It's now clear that burials were a major component of Stonehenge in all its main stages," said Mike Parker Pearson, archaeology professor at the University of Sheffield in England and head of the Stonehenge Riverside Archaeological Project.

In the past, many archaeologists had thought that burials at Stonehenge continued for only about a century, the researchers said.

Writing Competition Update

I just found out that the links I put up for my two entries in the writing competition were not working. I didn't have my settings on Google Docs set properly. I went back and fixed them, so they should be working now. I also put the links to the pictures and the stories at the bottom of this post.

Round 1: Pics, Story - "Cycle"
Round 2: Pics, Story - "A Great Illusion of a Dream"

Intelligent Americans

College may not be for everyone, but surely stupidity like this can be dispelled without a four-year degree.

One relevant piece of context: Large minorities of Americans consistently say they hold wildly out-of-the-mainstream views, often specifically discredited beliefs. In some cases, those views should make them pretty profoundly alienated from one party or the other.

For instance:

22 percent believe President Bush knew about the 9/11 attacks in advance.
30 percent believe Saddam had weapons of mass destruction.
23 percent believe they've been in the presence of a ghost.
18 percent believe the sun revolves around the Earth.

People aren't that dumb, are they? Are they?

Okay, they probably are. :sigh:

Bring on the Sugar Pills!

Some doctors are arguing for the legal right to prescribe placebos in certain cases. The mind is a fascinating beast.

Writing Competition, Part II

I wrote last week about an informal writing competition that I entered at EN World. Again, you are given four pictures from which you have 72 hours to craft a story around. I basically got a freebie in the first round because my opponent turned in his story late and unfinished.

Well, I got my second round pictures Sunday and turned in my entry today. In some ways this round was easier in that the writing came much more easily. On the other hand, the pictures were definitely more eclectic than the first round. I aimed for a fairy-tale feel with this tale, but I'm not sure how well I accomplished that. I think it turned out alright, but I'm not sure how great it is. Here it is if anyone is curious. Feedback, good and bad, is welcomed.

UPDATE: Fixed story link.

Misplaced Money

Your boss is auditing your department and finds that there is some missing money unaccounted for anywhere. You would probably be in trouble, right? Now, what happens when it is the Pentagon and $15 billion is missing.

But this story from Friday's Washington Post, which talks about $15 billion in spending on Iraq that can't be accounted for properly, or in some cases at all, shows that the other stage of federal budgeting -- implementation -- is similarly broken, not working properly, and...well...you certainly get this picture as well.

In fact, it appears as if virtually every procedure and law designed to prevent just this type of malfeasance was circumvented.

This spending was done in the midst of a national emergency and some of the usual safeguards couldn't be followed in the interest of national security and getting the job done quickly, right?

Nonsense. The Pentagon's own inspector general confirmed that this lack of concern for procedural safeguards was blatant and commonplace. That makes it hard to come to any conclusion other than that they were ignored rather than expedited or poorly executed.

It's also hard to come to any conclusion other than that the spending of taxpayer funds in Iraq bordered on, or actually was, simple and straightforward corruption.

Given the magnitude of the spending involved, Iraq may be the Bush administration's contribution to the biggest public corruption scandals of all time like Boss Tweed in New York, James Michael Curley in Boston, and Teapot Dome.

Now who wants to bet that the Dems in Washington will do a lot of grandstanding about the outrageousness of this, but nothing substantial will come of it? I mean, we wouldn't want to do the right thing after all. If anything happens (*snort*), it will be a couple of low-level flunkies who resign, but no one will face any serious repercussions or prosecution over this.

I'd love to be proved wrong, but I'm not holding my breath.

It's a Conspiracy!

According to our esteemed former President, "they" are directing a "cover...up" that his wife is "winning the general election and [Obama] is not." I used to have some respect for Bill as a politician (not personally), but the way he has handled himself during his wife's campaign has shown him to be clumsy, desperate, power hungry, narcissistic, and manipulative to a new level. About like his wife, I guess. Why would anyone want them back in the White House again?

Rembering the Fallen

Here is heartbreaking and moving story of a Marine who just passed away. After being injured in Iraq by a roadside bomb in 2005, he went through 100 surgeries. Unfortunately, he did not live through the most recent one. While it is tragic, it is also a powerful testament to the tenacity and will of mankind. It also serves as a powerful reminder whether you support the war or not of what the costs of combat are.

RIP, Merlin German. You are in a better place now.

Oh, Snap

Joe Klein takes Lou Dobbs to task.

Now, I know that Dobbs brings in some serious ratings. And he is certainly entitled to his own opinion. But he is not entitled to his own facts--especially not on a network that makes a real effort to separate truth from falsehood and represent all sides of the political debate. Shouldn't someone be editing this swill? Doesn't CNN have a responsibility to tell its viewers that, in this case, one of their presenters is engaged in flat-out anti-immigrant fearmongering? Perhaps the network could employ a simple superimposed title--THIS IS NOT TRUE...or LOU HAS JUMPED THE SHARK ON THIS ONE--whenever Dobbs pretends that there is such a thing as the NAFTA Superhighway.

What I always wonder is does Lou Dobbs actually believes all of the crap he spews or does he do it for ratings? Both probably.

Fair and Balanced

Check out this disgusting clip from Fox News.



What is wrong with these people?

Thanks to Andrew Sullivan

Weekly Music Video

Who's not going to take it? We're not. Twisted Sister with "We're Not Gonna Take It."

Weekly Secret

PostSecret

Tales From the Noble Library

What have I been reading lately?

Well, I finally read the two other books in the Prince of Nothing trilogy by R. Scott Bakker, The Warrior Prophet and The Thousandfold Thought. Bakker has a PhD in Philosophy and that really shines through in these books. Much of the plot revolves around philosophy and no, it is not boring. This is a very dark series with no clear good guys. It also explores some interesting territory such as the nature of belief and what it means to be a messiah/savior. The only let down for me was that even though this is a self-contained trilogy, these three books are only the opening salvo for a larger story and thus the ending feels rather abrupt and leaves you hanging, wanting more. All in all very good, though.

I also read The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I don't remember ever reading something so grim. This story of a father and son struggling to survive in the aftermath of an apocalyptic event is riveting and moving. McCarthy plumbs the depths of human depravity but also waxes poetic on the very best aspects of our species. The book was not a complete smash for me, though. I found the ending to be somewhat contrived. I won't spoil it here and further reflection has somewhat dampened my dislike for it, but I still think McCarthy could have done it better.

In the last week, I have read a couple of graphic novels - the Dark Phoenix Saga, a classic X-Men story and one of the inspirations behind the second and third movies featuring those wacky mutants as well as Preludes and Nocturnes, volume one of The Sandman, one of the most highly celebrated and award-winning comic book series. Both were excellent.

I think the next book I am going to read is The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner.

Will Someone Please Shut Her Up?

The longer the Democratic race goes on, the more ridiculous Hillary Clinton sounds. She is crying that the process Democrats have in place to nominate a candidate is broken and needs to be fixed. I think you will find few who disagree that the Dems do need to revamp the system, but the problem for Clinton is timing. She had no problem with anything a year ago when everyone assumed she was the presumptive nominee. But now that she is going to lose the nomination to Obama, she wants to complain about the system and compare the situation in Florida and Michigan to the rigged elections in Zimbabwe. Will someone please put America out of it's misery and get Clinton out of the race? Pretty please.

The New Indiana Jones Flick

I took my daughters and mother to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull today. Bottom line is that it was good, but disappointing. I did not let my expectations get too high, but I still left the theater thinking it could have been a lot better than it was. Spoilers will follow below, so read no further if you have not seen the movie and do not want any details revealed...




Spoilers coming! You have been warned.




There were a few things that really bugged me.

• Yeah, Indy is supposed to be one tough mother, but did they really need to have him surviving a freakin' nuclear blast by climbing into a fridge?
  
• Indy's son as Tarzan. Ugh, that was bad.
  
• The MacGuffin in this one was pretty weak, even compared to the Sankara Stones from Temple of Doom. I didn't have a problem with the aliens per se, but more with the handling of them. They revealed it too early and showed way too much of them, not to mention going into the scientific babble about "interdimensional" and such. How is that Spielberg and Lucas go from three films revolving around a mystical, unexplainable, unnatural phenomenon to pseudo-science?
  
• Karen Allen reprising the role of Marion was great except for the fact that her character was weakly written and lacked much of the spunk she had in the first.
  
• It just seemed to be lacking something.
  

It certainly was not a bad film. I'll buy it when it comes out on DVD, but I'm not going to rank it as good as Raiders or Crusade. It might not even be quite as good as Temple of Doom, although the lack of a shrieking Kate Capshaw is a huge point in its favor. It also gets points for angering the Russian Communist Party. You know a movie can't be all bad if authentic Russian Commies are up in arms about it.

A Circus in Texas

So, an appeals court has thrown out the state's case for removing the 400+ FLDS kids from their homes citing that the state had failed to prove that the children were in "imminent danger." This is not surprising and, I think, the right decision. It was ludicrous of Texas authorities to turn one or two allegations of abuse into an excuse for removing hundreds of children from their homes. It's hard to see the state being motivated by much other than fear of a group that isolated itself and practices a religion that is in many ways very different from mainstream Christian beliefs. I disagree with many of the FLDS practices, but I have to say I felt for the parents when I saw them on TV pleading for their kids.

If there are allegations of abuse, then Texas authorities need to investigate those specific claims and not turn it into a witch hunt. But these are the people that elected a gun to the Senate, so how much can you expect from them?

Writing Competition

So, I signed up to participate in an informal writing competition over at EN World, a site dedicated to role-playing games especially D&D. There are no prizes other than bragging rights, but it offers a chance to hone my writing skills and have some fun.

The way it works is that you are paired off against someone in each round. Each bracket is given four pictures chosen by the judges and you have 72 hours to write a story driven by the pics. There is no minimum or maximum length; the only requirement is that you must use all four pictures and they must be a meaningful part of the story, not a throw-away piece. The judges decide which story they like better and the winner advances to the next round to do it all over again. It goes like that until the final round in which the final two have six pictures to write about in the 72 hour time span.

This is the first time I have participated and it is intense. I turned my story in just minutes before the deadline and most of the second half was written in the hour previous. I wasn't completely happy with it, not that writers are ever happy with their work even when they have years to work on a piece. I got some positive feedback from the judges and I am advancing to the next round, but mostly because my opponent turned in his piece half-finished and very late. There are some good writers in the group and a few previous competitors. Still, this first round gave me some confidence, so we'll see how it goes.

If you are curious, here are the pictures I had to use. And here is the story, I wrote. Comments and criticism welcome, of course. Just remember it was written in 72 hours and I have not revised it since.

UPDATE: Fixed story link.

The College Dilemma

College is for everyone, right? If only we could find a way to make it affordable for everyone, then every American could get a four-year degree and peace and prosperity would abound. I'm sure it's that easy, but a college professor writing a piece for The Atlantic disagrees.

I work at colleges of last resort. For many of my students, college was not a goal they spent years preparing for, but a place they landed in. Those I teach don’t come up in the debates about adolescent overachievers and cutthroat college admissions. Mine are the students whose applications show indifferent grades and have blank spaces where the extracurricular activities would go. They chose their college based not on the U.S. News & World Report rankings but on MapQuest; in their ideal academic geometry, college is located at a convenient spot between work and home. I can relate, for it was exactly this line of thinking that dictated where I sent my teaching résumé.
...
The bursting of our collective bubble comes quickly. A few weeks into the semester, the students must start actually writing papers, and I must start grading them. Despite my enthusiasm, despite their thoughtful nods of agreement and what I have interpreted as moments of clarity, it turns out that in many cases it has all come to naught.

Remarkably few of my students can do well in these classes. Students routinely fail; some fail multiple times, and some will never pass, because they cannot write a coherent sentence.

He continues.

There seems, as is often the case in colleges, to be a huge gulf between academia and reality. No one is thinking about the larger implications, let alone the morality, of admitting so many students to classes they cannot possibly pass. The colleges and the students and I are bobbing up and down in a great wave of societal forces—social optimism on a large scale, the sense of college as both a universal right and a need, financial necessity on the part of the colleges and the students alike, the desire to maintain high academic standards while admitting marginal students—that have coalesced into a mini-tsunami of difficulty. No one has drawn up the flowchart and seen that, although more-widespread college admission is a bonanza for the colleges and nice for the students and makes the entire United States of America feel rather pleased with itself, there is one point of irreconcilable conflict in the system, and that is the moment when the adjunct instructor, who by the nature of his job teaches the worst students, must ink the F on that first writing assignment.

The whole article is fairly damning of the current system. The anonymous professor says that we need to make vo-tech degrees more valuable and move away from the notion that everyone including the "people who run the boilers" need to have a four-year college degree because some people just are not cut out for it.

It is not demeaning to anyone to say this. We often have a tendency to conflate equality with sameness. We may all be equal in that we are all humans beings and American citizens, but the notion that we are all equally capable of all tasks is absurd and illogical. Each of us is different and has different talents and aptitudes. We should all have the opportunity to pursue higher education, but the notion that one must have it to attain even a minimally paying job is absurd. A high school education or a technical degree should be sufficient for a wide variety of decent paying jobs that can support a person. That's not to say that these people should make the same as someone who does get a four-year (or more) degree, only that they shouldn't feel a need to go to college in order to get a job that really shouldn't require it.

Hillary Whines About Sexism

Clinton says that the media has not been reporting the rampant sexism she has had to deal with.

...Hillary Clinton said sexist attacks on her campaign have been "deeply offensive," and sharply criticized the press for not raising the issue.

"There should be equal treatment of the sexism and the racism when it raises its ugly head," Clinton told the Washington Post in an article published in the paper's Tuesday edition. "It does seem as though the press at least is not as bothered by the incredible vitriol that has been engendered by the comments by people who are nothing but misogynists."

"…I believe this campaign has been a groundbreaker in a lot of ways. But it certainly has been challenging given some of the attitudes in the press."

Stay calm, Hillary. Someone's on it...

Weekly Music Video

The Pretenders - "Brass in Pocket"

Nutrition Info

You learn all sorts of things about various foods once you get diabetes because paying attention to what you are consuming is critical for controlling the disease. So, I learned yesterday that Diet 7-Up has zero carbs. Carbohydrates are the big thing I have to be aware of because no matter what sort of carb it is, your body converts it to sugar to use. Now over the past year or two I have cut way back on the amount of carbonated beverages I consume. Now I have a can or two every few months instead of every day as it used to be.

Anyway, I do like to drink something other than water every now and then. I have to be careful of juices because most have quite a bit of sugar. At the store getting Pepsi for my mom I happened to see a 2 liter bottle of Diet 7-Up on the shelf. Curious, I checked the label and it does not have any carbs. I bought it and found that despite the "diet" on the label, it tastes all right.

I won't be drinking it all that often, but it is nice to know that I have a good alternative when I feel like it.

Weekly Secret

Two that struck me this week.





PostSecret

Bunch of Savages

I read about this story when it first broke. I'm glad the mom is being brought up on charges and I hope justice is done, but still, it's stories like this that make me despair for the fate of mankind.

Edwards Commits

About dang time. Now when will all of the uncommitted superdelegates commit and put an end to this thing.

Watch Out Christian Bale

I had another follow-up visit yesterday with my doc about my diabetes. He's pleased with my sugar levels and doesn't see a need to adjust anything at the moment. That was good, but the even better news was that I have gained 21 pounds in the last month. So, now I have gained back nearly all of the weight I had lost. Not enough to fill out the Batsuit, but I'm getting there.

William Shatner's Ego

I suppose I can somewhat understand because he was graced with the opportunity to play the coolest freakin' guy EVAR, but still, sometimes it gets a bit old, like, I don't know, complaining about having sex with fans of Star Trek.

In his new autobiography, Up Till Now, Shatner explains how women would pretend they were being "beamed up" by the Starship Enterprise commander, shrieking: "So, this is what it's like to be in bed with Captain Kirk!"
He writes: "You can't imagine how much of a downer that is in every sense of the word."

Life's tough, eh, Bill?

Wireless Is Back

But only because I went out and bought a USB wireless card. Researching my problem last night, I found that many HP laptop owners have had the same issue with their wireless card just disappearing from their Device Manager and not working. The only solution has been to send it in to HP so they can replace the wireless card and the system board. No thanks. I'll just stick it out with my USB card.

The Terminator

Like a ruthless killing machine from the future, Clinton just won't quit. No one expected Obama to do well here and his campaign has been saying that for months. It also does virtually nothing to dent Obama's delegate lead. She picked up ten delegates over Obama in West Virginia which means his lead is only 168. There is no way she is going to make that up with the scant few delegates left. She may be angling for the Veep slot now and some are saying it is a good idea, but I couldn't disagree more. Having her on the ticket would undermine virtually everything Obama has based his campaign on, not to mention the last thing that his campaign needs is a pair of narcissistic, dishonest, power hungry cranks dragging him down. There are better ways to reach out to the blue-collar voters.

I Love Technology

But sometimes I want to throw it off a cliff. The wireless card in my laptop has apparently just given up. It was working this afternoon while I was at work, but when I got home it was not. The light would not come on indicating that the card was turned on. It was also not listed in the Device Manager. Downloading the drivers from HP's website did not help, nor did flashing the BIOS. I'm going to try a few more things, but I'm worried I will have to buy a new wireless card.

Last week I had to buy a new cordless mouse as my other one was acting up all of the time even with a fresh pair of batteries. Argh!

UPDATE: Fixed typo.

An Evangelical Shift?

An interesting article on CNN suggests that some evangelicals may be moving away from their close attachment to the Republican party and aligning themselves with Democrats. This comes as many Democrats - as seen in the Presidential race - are talking more openly about faith and religion in a positive way.

For decades, evangelicals have been seen as solid supporters of the Republican Party. That could be changing.

The religious right, a cornerstone of the so-called Reagan revolution -- the battle over abortion law, and gay marriage -- wants a change.

At least some evangelicals do.

A group of influential Christian leaders are declaring they are tired of divisive politics, tired of watching fights over some issues trump all the good they could be doing.

"Our proposal in [our] manifesto is to join forces with all those who support a civil public square. ... a vision of public life in which people of all faiths -- which, of course, means no faith -- are free to enter and engage public life on the basis of their faith," said evangelical leader Os Guinness.

I am not sure exactly what to think of this. On the one hand, I think it is good for evangelicals or anyone really to not align themselves with a single party. What happens when that party begins drifting from its core principles, e.g. the current Republican party? No, it is better to look at individual politicians. Now it may be that the individual politicians you vote for may typically come from the same party, but if they nominate a pol for a position that you disagree with on important issues, why would you vote for them? The fact that they belong to the "right party" is not good enough. If their opponent is worse on the issues, that is one thing; but if they are worse because they belong to the "wrong party," then it is ridiculous to not vote for them.

I am also not sure about the Democrats talking more about religion. I have no problem with it if is genuine and honest, but if it is the typical political pandering then I don't want to hear about it. The conflation between politics and religion with the Republicans has been bad enough. Let me be clear that I have no problem with anyone's religious beliefs informing their decisions. What I have a problem with is when the two become one and the same and political office becomes a tool of the religious to wield against all who disagree with them. That is a problem.

I do hope that more evangelicals break their firm ties to the Republican party and take a more balanced view of politics. That can only be a good thing for everyone.

Happy Mother's Day

To my wonderful mother, I say, "Happy Mother's Day." I would not be half the person I am today without her incredible love and support through good time and bad.

The Mother

There will be a singing in your heart,
There will be a rapture in your eyes;
You will be a woman set apart,
You will be so wonderful and wise.
You will sleep, and when from dreams you start,
As of one that wakes in Paradise,
There will be a singing in your heart,
There will be a rapture in your eyes.

There will be a moaning in your heart,
There will be an anguish in your eyes;
You will see your dearest ones depart,
You will hear their quivering good-byes.
Yours will be the heart-ache and the smart,
Tears that scald and lonely sacrifice;
There will be a moaning in your heart,
There will be an anguish in your eyes.

There will come a glory in your eyes,
There will come a peace within your heart;
Sitting 'neath the quiet evening skies,
Time will dry the tear and dull the smart.
You will know that you have played your part;
Yours shall be the love that never dies:
You, with Heaven's peace within your heart,
You, with God's own glory in your eyes.

-Robert William Service

I love you, Mom.

Weekly Music Video

Madonna's best song - "Like a Prayer"

Weekly Secret

PostSecret

Choosing Our Political Leaders

Commenter Kyle continues to discuss the torture issue and choosing our politicians. In response to my last post, he commented:

but, and this is not a dig, the 'moral majority' were convinced of the integrity of bush. he was, in the mind of so many, a great christian. certainly he was someone that most of the 'right' looked up to. he said 'jesus' and 'god' at all the right times. _if_ he fooled us (and i leave that up to you) what hope do we have of finding someone who isnt a false messiah?

I think there are a few problems brought up by this. One, the idea that just because someone says they have "found God" or they are "born again" or that they go to church every week automatically means they are a moral person or a worthy leader. We all need to do a better job of critically analyzing people running for office. It is dangerous to assume that just because they say something that makes it true. Politicians and their staff spend much of their waking hours figuring out what to say and to whom to get what they want. Our media needs to do a better job of calling them on their crap when it's not true and every citizen also needs to do a better job of looking beyond the Emperor's clothes.

The other point that your comment brings up is that of looking for someone who "isn't a false messiah." This is dangerous territory. We need to remember that politicians are just as human as the rest of us. We can't assume they are good or evil (okay, Cheney is evil), but right in between like any other human. If we do this, I think we'll be a lot less likely to be taken in by words that sound too good to be true or assume a political opponent is the devil incarnate just because he sits on the other side of the aisle.

McCain's Hamas Comments

I've seen a few people take the road that Rod Dreher does here that it's not a bad thing for McCain to say that Hamas wants Obama to be President because they really did say that and if it's true, then what's wrong with saying it? Unfortunately, that misses the core of the problem. McCain is not repeating this as a start to a dialogue on foreign policy or to explain how he would approach terrorism. No, he is repeating this to scare American voters into voting for him. "Do you want to vote for the same guy the terrorists support?" This is slimy and beneath McCain, not to mention it is ridiculous to think that we should let foreigners, especially terrorists, influence our elections.

How Many Christian Denominations Are There?

A lot. Here is a post over at Route 5:9 that touches on the topic.

From my experience, I think the issue is related to that of education in that we tend to forget that everyone is different and has different needs. This is just as true in education as it is spiritually. If a church-goer thinks to himself, "You know, I can't think of a single sermon from the past year that has done anything for me," then the church may need to reexamine its mission. A person feeling that way is more likely to leave the church and either stop going or find a different one.

The collective aspects of the Sunday worship are important and worthwhile for members of the faith. There is something very powerful about a collective experience like that. It is also important, though, that the church connects with people on an individual level. That may mean smaller groups meeting once a month or something, but however it is done, I think this is a critical component of any successful church and would go a long way toward keeping people in the fold rather than have them go off and start another church that they feel will better meet their needs.

The Ups and Downs of Diabetes

Learning to regulate my blood sugar has been the biggest hassle so far of having diabetes. I try to write down what I have eaten when I see that my BS spikes up. There is a danger of it getting to low as well, however, which is almost scarier.

Yesterday after dinner, I went for a walk with my daughters. Half a block after we left, I started feeling a little light-headed. It continued to get worse and I was also feeling very shaky. I had to stop and sit down before I passed out. I wasn't sure if it was my MS which can make me feel dizzy and light-headed at times or the diabetes. I rested for a few minutes and then told my daughters I needed to get back home. There were a couple times I wasn't sure I was going to make it home.

I did, though, and the first thing I did was check my BS. Sure enough it was low - 60. This was only about an hour after I ate. It should have been 150-180 or so. It wasn't high before dinner and I'm wondering if I didn't absent-mindedly give myself too much insulin because I did eat enough. Anyway, I grabbed a can of pop and ate some chocolate. After about ten minutes, I started feeling much better. It seems strange to me, but I think diabetes is going to have much more of an effect on me right now than my MS.

Educational Romanticism

Here is a very smart article on the notion of "educational romanticism," or the (absurd) idea that every student can learn equally well if given the chance.

Educational romanticism consists of the belief that just about all children who are not doing well in school have the potential to do much better. Correlatively, educational romantics believe that the academic achievement of children is determined mainly by the opportunities they receive; that innate intellectual limits (if they exist at all) play a minor role; and that the current K-12 schools have huge room for improvement.

Educational romanticism characterizes reformers of both Left and Right, though in different ways. Educational romantics of the Left focus on race, class, and gender. It is children of color, children of poor parents, and girls whose performance is artificially depressed, and their academic achievement will blossom as soon as they are liberated from the racism, classism, and sexism embedded in American education. Those of the Right see public education as an ineffectual monopoly, and think that educational achievement will blossom when school choice liberates children from politically correct curricula and obdurate teachers’ unions.

I have written before about the need for more individualized curriculums. It is ludicrous to treat everyone the same. Murray sums it up:

For the good of our children, educational romanticism needs to collapse, and quickly. Its effects play out in the lives of young people in devastating ways. The fourth-grader who has trouble sounding out simple words and his classmate who is reading A Tale of Two Cities for fun sit in the same classroom day after miserable day, the one so frustrated by tasks he cannot do and the other so bored that both are near tears. The eighth-grader who cannot make sense of algebra but has an almost mystical knack with machines is told to stick with the college prep track, because to be a success in life he must go to college and get a B.A. The senior with terrific SAT scores gets away with turning in rubbish on his term papers because to make special demands on the gifted would be elitist. They are all products of an educational system that cannot make itself talk openly about the implications of diverse educational limits.

Rod Dreher offer his thoughts.

Never-Ending Story

So, even after yesterday's results mean that Clinton has fallen even farther behind in delegates and popular vote, she just can't give up. It's not like yesterday even sealed the deal. She has been essentially out of contention since March 4. On a certain level, I think her refusal to give in has been good for Obama because it has made him a tougher candidate and better prepared to square off against the Republicans in the general. Now, though, it is just ridiculous. Her narcissism and desperation for power which have led her to keep sinking lower and lower are only hurting the party. Not that she cares about that, of course, even if a gracious exit would be beneficial to her.

When Egos Collide

My money is on the Bat.

Never Forget

Patrick Roy Kramer
May 6, 1977 - October 22, 2006

Racist or Religious Loony?

:Sigh:

Mary Bunger, a 44-year-old single mom from Abington, emerged from the town's general store on Wednesday, the only place to purchase a snack in a 10-mile radius.

"I am definitely going to try to go with Hillary," she said. "I almost feel like (Obama's) the anti-Christ from the Middle East."

The Horrors of War

Check out these chilling photos taken in the aftermath of the nuclear attack on Hiroshima.



Most of us are so distanced from combat, but I think it is important to remember what the consequences of war are. Not all results are going to be as horrific as those of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but death is still the ultimate outcome. War may be justified, but even if it is we cannot forget the cost.

The Menaissance Has Begun

A month back or so, I wrote about the decline of traditional male virtues and my new favorite word - menaissance.

Well, the menaissance is beginning. Check out this awesome website: The Art of Manliness. It is dedicated to bringing back real men, not the sitcom variety that sits on the couch, is sloppy, openly leers at women, and gets drunk all of the time. No, it has articles on topics such as grooming your beard, how to be a gentleman on a date, how to select and wear ties, and how to start a fire without matches. This is great stuff.

I joke about being a man and menaissance, but I do think it is a serious issue. Making women equal to men in our society does not mean emasculating men or making everyone the same. It means understanding that we do have differences and that sometimes those differences are okay. Men and women are different beyond our reproductive organs. Our brains our different. We think differently. Instead of trying to change our differences, we need to embrace them.

So, bring on the menaissance!

Weekly Music Video

Perhaps my favorite piece of classical music, Beethoven's "Moonlight" Sonata.

A Business Venture

After giving it a lot of thought, I have decided to start my own computer business. I have had a few opportunities arise in the last few weeks and I am going to capitalize on them.

My good friend, Jeromy works for an organization called Peacemaker Ministries which helps people with Christian-based conflict resolution. He approached me about hiring me to build a donor database for his company.

At the hospital I work at, St. Vincent Healthcare, I have built a database for our security department to keep track of daily incidents. I would like to do more with it, but much of it has been on my own time. Two women from our Performance Excellence (aside - who comes up with these names?) met with the security director about Joint Commission requirements. He showed them the database I created and they really liked it so they wanted to meet with me and see what else I could do with it. Everything they wanted is stuff that I already had on my list of things to do, but since I do it on my own time, it is slow going. However, I know that if I have my own business, I can talk to the security director about hiring me and paying me for my work.

I also have a lot of experience helping people troubleshoot computer problems and training people in computer use. All that said, I am going to start a business geared toward home computer setup and repair, database development, and training. I could use a few extra dollars for bills and credit cards not to mention helping my mother keep her house.

Thinking of a name has been the hardest part. "Noble Computing Solutions" is the only one I have sort of liked so far, but I'm not completely sold on it.

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A Torture Rant

Reader Kyle commented on my recent post about torture.

i've been writing our elected officials on this very issue for six years now.
for me, the question isnt "when is bush leaving office?" but when is the american public going to stand up and condemn torture.
up to this point, the american public at large has condoned torture. if we honestly believed that torture was wrong, we would not have re-elected our current president. we knew, way back then, that torture and extrodinary renditions were taking place.
when i first started hearing of the crimes against humanity carried out at the behest of our president and his administration i thought very seriously of leaving america.
this is the very reason i refuse to be a "one issue voter". i refuse to allow abortion (which the president is highly unlikely to change) to effect my vote more than torture or our treatment of the rest of the world (which the president (as shown during the last 8 years) CAN effect.

I think the problem, though, is that most people are too complacent about anything that isn't directly impacting them. If we have a leader who condones and authorizes torture, most people aren't going to care because it doesn't really affect their lives. If Joe Citizen's brother was being carted off to Gitmo there might be more outrage, but otherwise people are just content to go on with their normal routines. If you ask them, most would, of course, say, "Torture is bad. I don't support it," but they don't get worked up enough to do anything about it.

That means we need leaders with integrity. Sadly, politics doesn't seem to attract people like that too often. Or if it does, they don't keep it very long. Still, I'm not sure we can get anyone worse than Bush.

"Kind of a Dork"

Nothing keeps the ego in check like the sharp words of seven-year old girls. Brenda, a good friend and co-worker of mine was telling me that her granddaughter whom I have met maybe a handful of times told her the other day, "He seems like a nice guy, but he's kind of a dork."

I embrace the label, but it's still a bit odd hearing it come from a seven-year old.

The Race Question

Is there any doubt that race and racism are playing a part in this campaign when you read stories like this one.

After his speech, I left the county courthouse and crossed the main street to talk to a small group of demonstrators holding signs next to McCain’s campaign bus. J. K. Patrick, a retired state employee from a neighboring county, wore a button on his shirt that said “Hillary: Smart Choice.”

“East of Lexington she’ll carry seventy per cent of the primary vote,” he said. Kentucky votes on May 20. “She could win the general election in Kentucky.” I asked about Obama. “Obama couldn’t win.”

Why not?

“Race,” Patrick said matter-of-factly. “I’ve talked to people—a woman who was chair of county elections last year, she said she wouldn’t vote for a black man.” Patrick said he wouldn’t vote for Obama either.

Why not?

“Race. I really don’t want an African-American as President. Race.”

What about race?

“I thought about it. I think he would put too many minorities in positions over the white race. That’s my opinion. After 1964, you saw what the South did.” He meant that it went Republican. “Now what caused that? Race. There’s a lot of white people that just wouldn’t vote for a colored person. Especially older people. They know what happened in the sixties. Under thirty—they don’t remember. I do. I was here.”

I think the racism found in the older generation will be Obama's biggest hurdle in the general election. Thankfully it seems to not be as rampant amongst younger generations. Still, it's here now and Obama must contend with it.

Courtesy of Andrew Sullivan.

Dialoguing Abortion Part V

In which we start drifting toward a debate on education...

Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV

I don't disagree that pro-life advocates need to take creative and tactical approaches in fighting this issue. That has been and will continue to be done in a variety of ways. In fact, I think the battle currently lies with state governments. The pro-life movement has also done a great job educating the public at a grassroots level over the past three years. But to the point at hand: I'd agree that fighting Roe v. Wade should not be the only method for defeating abortion.

I completely agree that pro-lifers will be more successful at the state level. It goes back to my bottom-up small scale approach.

And where does the lack of engagement come from? What is it that is keeping parents from being involved?

The thinking that has evolved is, "Well, the school will teach Elijah all about sharing, and honesty, and oh good, they’re going to have the sex conversation with him too. Whew."

I would argue that it is not schools teaching all this stuff that has made parents disengaged, but a massive cultural shift in which people don't want to do anything hard. It's easier to hand off anything difficult, including parenting, to someone else. We lead escapist lives trying to hide from anything that makes us uncomfortable or challenges us. Parents not getting involved with their children's education is only one symptom of this.

Our lives are ordered in such away that neglecting the important issues with our children is becoming easier and easier. This is most evident in the portion of the population where teen pregnancy is the highest- among the poor. Many folks in this demographic have formed a “the system will do it for you” mentality in regard to just about every aspect of their daily lives, including sex ed.

I agree the welfare state is a problem. We may have to have a similar discussion about it someday. Segueing into politics, I will say that one of the things I have liked in Obama's campaign is his call for individuals to stand up and take some responsibility for themselves. Oh, I have no illusions about his desire for increasing the government's roles in many areas, but it is refreshing for a liberal politician to also be talking about people standing on their own two feet.

This approach hasn’t worked when teaching evolution or history, for example. So with something like sex-ed, which is at least AS morally charged, we can expect, and have seen, the same results. You don't give a teenager who just wrecked the family Buick the keys to a Semi.

Well, the big difference is that evolution is science. I have no problem with biology teachers mentioning that not everyone agrees with evolution as long as they also point out that the people that do have not put forward a theory that fits the evidence near as well as evolution. The good biology teachers will also have no problem saying that the theory of evolution is an evolving (hee, hee) one and will continue to evolve as our knowledge grows. As soon as IDers or YECs can cobble together some sort of real theory backed by science, I won't have a problem with it being taught in schools. Good luck on that, though.

What do you have in mind when you mention history as not having a balanced view taught?

In terms of moral or philosophic discussions in school, I think it would go a long way toward getting students more engaged. Instead of just learning something like "Karl Marx was born in the early 19-century in Prussia. He was most famous for writing a book called the Communist Manifesto which was a socioeconomic examination of history," students can have a discussion on the the influence the book had on history. What is communism? What are the pros of such a system? Cons? Can Lenin and his Russian contemporaries really be called communists? And so on. Make the issues come alive rather than being rote facts and you'll see more kids excited about school. The same can be done with abortion or any other controversial issue. Better to meet them head on than to pretend they do not exist.

You can't change a culture through the structural constructs that have helped to create and perpetuate that culture in the first place. You're trusting a broken, dysfunctional education system with providing a clear, objective and accurate discussion on one of the most morally charged and personal issues of our day.

Except the structural construct does not exist in a vacuum. It was created by people, but us. Yes, the construct has cracks and serious deficiencies, but those deficiencies were created by us as well, so we need to and can fix them. I don't expect magical solutions, but I do expect that they can be fixed.

You've stated yourself that "I think that those who oppose abortion need to take a bottom-up approach. Talk to family members, friends, fellow church goers about abortion." Sex education became an issue in the first place because healthy sexual behavior disintegrated alongside the disintegration of families. The schools see the symptoms of that, and as a reaction now mandate sex education. But the education system is only attacking the symptoms of deeper issues that must be addressed at a family and spiritual level. As a result, the school system's efforts are proving more destructive than helpful.

I didn't mean to imply that schools should not include parents in their children's education on such topics on abortion, only that kids having homework that includes talking to their parents isn't going to suddenly make parents involved. Yes, yes, yes, parents must become more engaged. There is no doubt that this must be addressed. I disagree, though, that what schools have been doing is "proving more destructive." If schools had not been teaching sex ed, parents wouldn't have suddenly stepped up and done it. My mom did not have sex ed when she went to school, but her parents also never talked to her about it. I picture the schools more as putting a band-aid on the wound which actually needs surgery. They're doing something, but it's not enough because we need societal change, not just education reform.

Also in 2004, the Attorney General for California issued a legal opinion that “California schools cannot inform parents if their children leave campus to receive certain confidential medical services that include abortion… The opinion was prompted by resistance from teachers unions and groups such as Planned Parenthood... [to a 'parent-friendly' confidentiality proposal]."

A similar confidentiality policy is currently in place in Montana.

This is asinine. I didn't realize we had that in place here in Montana. One more thing to write to our legislators about, I suppose.

And if you're interested in what the future holds, the UK teaches abortion in schools now, and as the preceding web site indicates, teachers are publicly organized to propagate the pro-choice stance within the public school system.

Well, in some respects I think UK is doing worse off socially than we are here in America. When you've got the Archbishop of Canterbury saying that the country may need to adopt parts of sharia law, you've got some serious issues.

Isn't Love Grand?

How long do you think this couple is going to last?

A newlywed couple spent the night in separate jail cells -- she in her wedding gown -- after police said they brawled with each other, then members of another wedding party, at a suburban Pittsburgh hotel.

The fight started Saturday night after a reception when he knocked her to the floor with a karate kick in the seventh-floor hallway of a Holiday Inn, according to police. It escalated when she attacked two guests from another wedding party who came to her aid, police said.

The melee moved to an elevator and then to the lobby, where the couple threw metal planters at the two guests of the other party, causing minor injuries, police charged.

[snip]

The couple declined comment upon their release Sunday morning.

She left with her father, still dressed in her white gown.

Wielechowski left alone, sporting a swollen eye, tuxedo pants, a bloody T-shirt and one shoe.

Wow.

When Is Bush Leaving Office?

'Cause it can't come soon enough. The Justice Department is telling Congress that the CIA is legally allowed to torture.

Recent letters from the U.S. Justice Department to Congress state that intelligence agents working on counterterrorism can legally use interrogation techniques that might otherwise be banned by international law, The New York Times reported in its Sunday editions.

The Justice Department's interpretation shows the Bush administration is contending that the boundaries should have a degree of latitude, the Times said, despite the president's order last summer that he said meant the CIA would hew to international norms on the treatment of detainees.

Write to your Congressional representative and tell them that this is unacceptable. Something needs to be done about this.

I Can Still See...For Now

I saw my optometrist on Thursday to get a full eye exam. Everything looked good - no sign of diabetic retinopathy or cataracts or any other fun eye disease. Checking my vision as it stands now, it is close to 20/20, but he did say that in all likelihood as my blood sugar gets better regulated and is not up and down then my vision will return much closer to what it was. I have to go back in a month or so, assuming my blood sugar has been normal for at least two weeks, to see what I'm at and if I need a new prescription.

As it stands now, my vision is still pretty damn good without my glasses so I have not been wearing them. It is an odd feeling, though. I have worn them since junior high and I keep touching my face expecting them to be there.

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Weekly Music Video

An awesome metal song with one of the coolest bass riffs EVAR!!1! "Peace Sells" by Megadeth.