27 April 2008

Call Al Gore's Office: We've Got Major Devastation in Scandanavia!

Go ahead and add the devastation of Scandanavian gingerbread houses to the ever-growing and never-ending list of things we can blame on global warming. The Terra Daily reported that both wholesale manufacturers of ginger-houses and home-based amateur builders are suffering. One retailer received 40+ complaints from angry customers whose houses collapsed due to overly-moist gingerbread and icing that wouldn't dry and harden. "The damp weather spells immediate devastation for gingerbread houses," said a spokesperson for Sweden's leading gingerbread wholesaler. "The problem is the mild winter."

26 April 2008

Ta-Nehisi Coates: The Audacity of Bill Cosby's Black Conservatism

Just read this excellent piece on Bill Cosby in the May Atlantic Monthly. (I'm a big Cosby fan, from his stand-up days to his sitcoms to his conservative politics.)

Facts Are Stubborn Things

“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclination, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” -- John Adams

Chuck Muth: The Yucca Mountain Gold Mine

After my post re: the Bob Loux letter re: his objections to the DOE's plans for Yucca, the always lucid Chuck Muth emailed me the link to this post on his new Yucca Facts blog. In it he presents the many possible Pros for a nuclear waste repository. Although I still think the DOE's Not-Yet-Invented Supercalifrajalistic Robots are pretty funny, Chuck makes many excellent observations. (Let's call them Muthservations for purposes of this discussion.)

The first Muthservation is that the great state of NV currently has a variety of problems: a budget shortfall, water shortages, high energy costs, road construction needs, and a lack of quality higher education opportunities. (Agreed. Actually, as Muth points out, these are all Facts so agreement is quite beside the point. Therefore, I withdraw it and just nod knowingly.) The next Muthservation (as recently reported in the Lousville Courier-Journal) is that uranium is now selling for around $73 a pound and that We-Have-The-Technology to extract it from "worthless" nuclear waste, so the uranium that could be recovered from the "waste" would be worth $7.6 billion. (wow!) Muth suggests that if Nevada became the site for our Great Nation's nuclear reprocessing center as well as the storage site for all the waste, Nevadan's could/would benefit in the form of a major budget surplus, plus a lot of highly skilled high-paying jobs, not to mention lots of cheap electricity from the plant (me Like-ee).

Chuck further Muthservates (that is the verb form) that some of the surplus money could be used to build a water pipeline from the Pacific to Yucca Mountain, where the power from the Nuclear Power Plant could be used to desalinate the ocean water (again, We-Have-The-Technology, given the ability to generate enough heat, which a nuclear reactor could do and then some) and solve all our water shortage problems. (This is freaking brilliant, so why is this the first time I've heard about this idea? Am I That out of touch with the talking points in favor of Yucca? If so, shame on me. I'll take comfort in the fact that I'm not alone because a small straw poll of Nevada residents (i.e. a few friends and family members) revealed that no one else had heard of this being a viable idea either.)

Finally, as a result of the nuclear "waste" repository (I shall never again think of it as waste), Muth says that with the reprocessing and uranium extraction center, the power plant, and the desalinization facility, we'd then have every reason to establish a Yucca Mountain Nuclear Technology University, complete with (and this may be my favorite Muthservation of all): an NCAA basketball team. (Muth suggests we name them the "Fighting Neutrons." With respect, I think we can do better with the Name-ology and shall proceed to think of ideas.) Oh yes, one more thing. All of this would likely lead to the necessity for a four-lane super highway connecting Yucca Mountain with Las Vegas and Reno (wouldn't THAT be nice), plus enough extra money to build enough roads to solve all our other gridlock problems.

Note/Update: a Yucca Facts reader, Bruce Jackson, pointed out that another benefit could be a major hydrogen production station/distribution system making Nevada a world leader in motor vehicles (and other power-using things) that use hydrogen fuel cell technology. Many believe this is the future of New Energy (and that bio-fuels are not, which now also seems to be the consensus of the entire world in light of recent food shortages/rising food prices).

25 April 2008

Stanford Metaphysics Research Lab: "The Theory of Abstract Objects"

I try to read something new in the Wide World of Metaphysics at least weekly. Often I have to re-Google and/or hyper-clickalate in order to find stuff I haven’t already read (and which I can sort of understand). Any-hoo, this week’s Read was a great Find on the principles and language of abstract objects. The gist is that a research group at Stanford came up with metaphysical formulas supporting two Principles of the Abstract: “existence conditions” and “identity conditions.” (For those who aren’t clear on the difference between Physics and Metaphysics, all theories of the abstract or conceptual fall under the heading of Metaphysical theory whereas Physics deals with concrete objects.)

Before they present, the Stanford guys explain that their theories of Abstract “existence” and “identity” are supported by Ernst Mally's distinction between exemplifying (typifying) and encoding (instructing) a given property. This distinction can be seen in the difference between the atomic formulas ‘Fx’ (where ‘x exemplifies F’) and ‘xF ’ (where ‘x encodes F’). The formula ‘Fx’ could be used to logically analyze simple sentences like ‘Anne is happy’, ‘Bush is president’, and ‘Leo is a cat.’ Mally's idea was that we should not represent sentences about fictional objects, such as ‘Sherlock Holmes is a detective’, ‘Pegasus has wings’, or ‘Zeus lived on Mt. Olympus’, in terms of the notation ‘Fx’...because only real, concrete objects can exemplify the properties of being a detective, having wings, or living on Mt. Olympus. Nevertheless, Mally reasoned that there must be some mode of predication, i.e. some sense of the words ‘is’ and ‘has’ for which it is true to say ‘Sherlock Holmes is a detective’ and ‘Pegasus has wings’ (for we wouldn't understand the story/myth properly if we didn't imagine objects that were instances of the properties in question). So, Mally informally introduced the notion ‘x encodes F’ as a new mode of predication that is more appropriate for the logical analysis of sentences about fictions and other Abstract objects.

What is so beautiful about Mally’s thinking is the exactness of the language in relation to the thing it describes. He skillfully analyzes and explains what the real meaning of the word “is” is, both in the Real and Fictional: something we all thought only Bill Clinton could do.

Stay tuned for Part II which will answer the burning question: Are theories postulating Abstract objects incompatible with the theories of natural science?

War, Actually

Anne of Idaho sends along this excellent Jonah Goldberg quote from his Corner post on War and its Moral Equivalents:

But as a general proposition, I think it's true that the people who invoke the moral equivalents of war as an organizing principle seek to expand what the conservative proponent of actual war wishes to contract, to prolong (or make permanent) what the conservative hopes will be only temporary, and to celebrate as essential what the conservative sees as an unfortunate necessity.

"Help Me Tom Cruise, Help Me Woody Harrelson!"

For today's Entertainment News don't miss this Associated Press story about Wesley Snipes' three year prison sentence for tax evasion. In an attempt to soften the judge, Snipes offered glowing character references from various Hollywood pals including...Woody Harrelson...? Don't mean to be too hard on anyone here, but is that really the best go-to guy for a strong personal reference?

Update/Note: A friend asked about the header for this post. It's a reference to the movie Talledega Nights starring Will Farrel. The main character - Ricky Bobby - a NASCAR driver suffering from anxiety and paranoia after a bad crash and a nervous breakdown, believes he has caught on fire. He leaps from his vehicle and starts running around the racetrack, screaming: "Help me, Jesus! Help me Jewish God! Help me Allah! Help me, Tom Cruise! Tom Cruise, use your witchcraft to get the fire off me!"

Be Wary of the Cassowary

According to this piece on Oddity Central and as confirmed in the Guinness Book of Records, Cassowaries are the world’s most dangerous birds. (Note: the photos are worth the click-thru.) Apparently these birds can deal fatal blows and are rather unpredictable, aggressive creatures. Residing in the rain forests of Australia and New Guinea, they're considered "shy" if undisturbed -- but make a mis-step and become a perceived threat to this fierce and feathery fowl and you could receive a bone-breaking kick or get sliced up by its blade-like claws.

(From an Australian Broadcast Network interview with a neighboring tree squirrel who witnessed the crime: "He seemed like such a nice, normal bird. I mean, he never caused any trouble or anything. This is so hard to believe. It's a real tragedy.")

For more reading on this fascinating creature, click here. (Note: As soon as the page loads, your screen arrow turns into an in-flight hummingbird and "flits" around as you move your mouse. Cute!)

Hat Tip re: the Oddity Link: Jonah Goldberg's OLG (Odd Link Gal) on The Corner

The Hyphenization of America

What is the meaning and effect of the rampant spread of Hyphenization in our cultural dialogue? The variants are many: African-American, Asian-American, Jewish-American, Italian-American, Hispanic-American, to name a few. Are these handles an attempt to carve out personal Identity? Are they a source or sign of ethnic pride? Yes, yes, and yes.

Unfortunately they are also sometimes employed as a means to set aside minorities who believe that in addition to respect for their ancestral origins, they deserve special treatment in the Now. Nowhere is this more evident than in the ramped-up discourse in some corners of the African-American "community." Their leaders – the Jesse Jacksons, Louis Farrakans, and Rev. Wrights of our podiums and pulpits – speak of (or scream about) the so-called modern-day subjugation of African-Americans. These trouble-mongerers tirelessly beat the drum of Entitlement, demanding the ear of our nation. And their angst-driven pounding is amplified by the presence of that tiny dash.

Their labels, like the hyphens within, serve more to separate than unite. As that-which-comes-after the Hyphen, the term “American” does not transmit as strongly as what precedes. This divides us into factions, unconnected and unable to relate to one another. As Roosevelt once said, “There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism…. A hyphenated American is not an American at all. The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities.''

Those words were spoken in 1915. Nearly one-hundred years later, the subject still bears examining. Is the American Melting Pot coagulating and separating as it simmers over the flame of socio-political fervor? Will the soup be spoiled? Perhaps not: if we turn down the heat, fish out the Hyphens, and gently stir.

Credits: Teddy Roosevelt’s words were read by Laura Ingraham on her radio talk show this morning. She wondered about the effects of Hyhenated Americans feeling greater solidarity with their countries of origin - whether African, European, Asian, or Hispanic – than with America.

24 April 2008

What Is Conservatism?

An imaginary reader e-mails in and asks about Conservatism. What is it, what good does it do, and who says so? Excellent questions, all. To answer I will go at once to the writings of Russell Kirk who reminded us that conservatism is not an Ideology. As Kirk once wrote, "there is no Holy Writ, no Das Kapital and no Thirty-Nine Articles to provide and preserve conservative dogma." It is perhaps as Kirk once stated: conservatism is a state of mind, a type of character, and a way of looking at the civil and social order. A conservative person is one who values historical and permanent things...yet also knows that change can be worthy (and sometimes, ironically, a means of preservation). Conservatives believe there exists an enduring moral order and that certain aspects of human nature are also constants. Sometimes the twain shall meet, and sometimes, Not. Both harmony and disharmony are therefore indicated – but Harmony can better be attained and maintained when the fact of fallible men is remembered, not denied or ignored. Conservatives believe that Utopia, the land toward which our well-intentioned and left-leaning Ideologue friends ever-sail, cannot exist here on earth. We must do what we can, of course - but what that "What" is turns the wheel that will help us cruise happily on, or steer us all into the rocks.

And Another Thing

On the subject of Jimmy Carter again with a kill-two-birds Bonus (i.e. Obama's foolishness on the same subject). Initially, Obama said Carter’s meet-up with Hamas was none of his business. Then a spokesman for Obama said he did "not agree with President Carter's decision to go forward with this meeting because he does not support negotations with Hamas until they renounce terrorism, recognized Israel's right to exist, and abide by past agreements." (As quoted in the Washington Post) But hasn't Obama said he wishes to meet with Ahmadinejad, whose position is identical to that of Hamas?

White Sox Ban Bottled Water in Dugouts

Many remember Tom Hanks’ oft-quoted classic line from the movie A League of Their Own: “There’s no crying in baseball!” Now, as reported by Ed Price at NJ.com, there’s no water allowed either. Apparently there are signs between the locker rooms and dugouts in the White Sox’ U.S. Cellular Field which read, “NO BOTTLED WATER ON THE BENCH.” The official party line is that Gatorade is MLB’s official drink, and all players are forbidden to swig anything else in the dugout. White Sox management said if the players revolt and take bottled water to the bench, all water will be removed from the clubhouse as “punishment.” There’s a lot I could say about insane corporate sponsorship deals murdering the spirit of American sports, but we’ll just call this one Stupid and leave it at that.

Nevada State Board of Education Blocking Charter School Expansion

If you’re interested in public education issues, make sure you read Chuck Muth’s blog post on the Nevada DOE's hostility toward charter schools and the desperate parents who wish to home school and/or who have their children on charter school wait lists due to the failing public schools here in Nevada. Among other incomprehensible decisions, the Board of Education has put a moratorium on all new charter school applications and is also denying existing charter schools permission to expand. The bottom line (for me) is simple: If parents wish to home school and their kids can pass the DOE’s mandated profiency exams, that ought to be sufficient. And if there’s a waiting list for charter schools, then we should allow those schools to do what ought to be common sense in a free market: meet consumer demand through addition to or expansion of such schools.

23 April 2008

"Parts of Speech" by Green Baker of Freedman's School, circa 1865

Basic grammar is still taught in our schools (isn't it?) but tonight Mama-Kiszer e-mails wondering whether we oughtn't return to simpler times - and simple rhymes - that can help children remember things (like the following, on parts of speech). I daresay there's an adult or three that could use the help as well...

Three little words you often see
Are articles – "an," "a," and "the."


A noun is the name of anything,
A school or garden, hoop or swing.

Adjectives tell the kind of noun,
As great, small, pretty, white or brown.

Instead of nouns the pronouns stand –
Her hand, his face, your arm, my hand.

Verbs tell of something being done –
To read, count, laugh, sing, jump or run.

How things are done the adverbs tell,
As slowly, quickly, ill or well.

Conjunctions join the words together,
As men and women, wind or weather.

The prepositions stand before
A noun, as in or through the door.

The interjections show surprise,
As Oh! How pretty! Ah! How wise!

The whole are called the nine parts of speech
Which reading, writing, speaking teach.

Source: An American Antiquarian Society Online Exhibition

22 April 2008

I say Nevada, You say NevODDa

Just in case you were wondering: the name of the Silver State is derived from the Spanish word nevada, which is the feminine form of "covered in snow." And just in case you were also wondering: the proper local pronunciation of the second syllable of the state's name is not like the "o" in "odd" but like the "a" in "glad". In 2005, the state even issued a specialty license plate that lists the name of the state as Nevăda. Why, you ask? Natives of the state strongly resent hearing Nevada's name mispronounced in the national media – which it has been of late (being an election year). Please take special care to utter the State's name correctly in all polite conversation, and please forward this Information Alert to any and all of your media pals, forthwith.

21 April 2008

DOE's Brilliant Plan for Managing Nuclear Waste at Nevada's Yucca Mountain Includes Not-Yet-Invented Robots

In a recent Yucca Mountain story, reporter Keith Rogers at the Las Vegas Review Journal wrote that “a Department of Energy plan to install thousands of titanium alloy drip shields in the distant future to keep water from corroding nuclear waste canisters inside Yucca Mountain has failed to convince Nevada officials that a repository, if built there, would be safe.” Apparently the executive director of Nevada’s Nuclear Projects Agency, Bob Loux, has written a three-page letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission explaining the inadequacy of the plan. Rogers said Loux's letter claimed that installing expensive drip shields a century from now (to protect the waste cannisters from corrosion) probably won't be possible because the DOE's plans rely on using robots that (a) have yet to be invented and (b) will need to be able to install the 5-ton shields by remote control in hot, highly radioactive rock-strewn tunnels. Additionally, Loux said that the amount of titanium needed for the 11,500 drip shields "would consume about a third to half of the world's current annual titanium production" and that the "availability of such quantities of this material...is not something anyone can assure with any confidence.”

Not sure Loux needed to cite concerns with future titanium quantities after pointing out that the DOE "plan" called for giant not-yet-invented heat-resistant anti-radioactive remote-control robots smart and agile enough to carefully install 10,000-pound drip shields over each of Yucca's underground waste cannisters. (You can't make this stuff up, folks!)

Navy Boats Deemed "Unfit" for Combat

This story from the Navy Times says two battleships recently turned up unsatisfactory in recent InSurv inspections (that's Navy talk for "Inspection and Survey"). Among the most serious failures were missiles and guns that couldn't be fired, radar systems that didn't work reliably, inoperable flight decks, and failed lifesaving gear. (Let's see...we can't see anyone, couldn't shoot anyone if we did, can't launch or land planes, and couldn't escape alive if we sank. Hoo-ah! ) Navy officials said funding for maintenance and repair was not the issue - so I guess that leaves us with gross negligence? Guess the CPO won't be up for Sailor of the Year...

Carter's Political Science Grade: "F"

After meeting with Hamas, former President Carter told CNN that the group promised not to undermine [Palestinian President Mahmoud] Abbas' efforts to reach a peace deal with Israel, providing the Palestinian people approved it in a referendum. However, CNN later reported that Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, said Carter's statements "do not mean that Hamas is going to accept the result of the referendum." Clearly, either Hamas lied to Carter – or Carter misunderstood or misrepresented what was said when they met. Either way, Carter’s effort to facilitate and “provide communications between people who won’t communicate with each other” has failed.

Like many, I believe Carter is well-intentioned and sincere in his desire to seek peace. Unfortunately, people can be quite sincere and quite wrong at the same time. Sincerity requires an earnest mind but does not necessitate either knowledge or wisdom. Lacking the latter, Jimmy Carter is learning that Experience is a hard teacher: she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards.

Pope Benedict XVI Prays at Ground Zero

The healing and consolation of God was sought in the Pope's prayer yesterday. It ends thus:

Grant that those whose lives were spared may live so that the lives lost here may not have been lost in vain. Comfort and console us, strengthen us in hope, and give us the wisdom and courage to work tirelessly for a world where true peace and love reign among nations and in the hearts of all.

18 April 2008

The Icing On My Cannoli

I love most everything Italian, starting with (but not limited to) the food and wine, the captivating history, the culturally-rich cities, the breathtaking landscapes, and of course the shoes. Having never been to the actual country, it’s primarily through books, photographs, documentaries, Giada and Lidia on Food Network, and the sale racks at Macy’s that this steamy love affair has blossomed. Now Italy has offered me a new and exciting enticement – one I hope will last until we can finally meet.

Silvio Berlusconi and his conservative party “People of Freedom” have won a surprising and decisive victory in Italy’s recent general election. Hated by the left-leaning European elite, Berlusconi waged a campaign that by all accounts was the hardest fought since Italy’s liberation from Fascist rule in 1944. He spoke often of family values, personal responsibility, hard work, discipline, individual generosity, market-based capitalism, and a foreign policy based on a strategy of peace-through-strength. (Anyone else think he sounds like an Italian version of Ronald Reagan…?) In contrast, his rival, the former mayor of Rome and leader of the New Democratic Party, pounded the podium for a social-democratic system with the State as Supreme Distributor of wealth and welfare. Not surprisingly, on international issues, the Demotalian party platform proposed a policy of "dialogue and accommodation." (Translation: more fruitless Talks and continued Tolerance for international atrocities.) Berlusconi's message was pro-American; his opponent called for greater European solidarity. Berlusconi promised to strengthen transatlantic relations; his challenger clucked away with the usual anti-American and anti-hawk squawking.

So what did the voters think? In the biggest win Ever for an Italian political coalition, Berlusconi's party won 47 percent of the votes (340 seats in the national assembly) and finished with a parliamentary majority of 101 seats, an Italian record. On the proverbial heel of wins by the French conservatives in both the presidential and parliamentary elections, the Italian right's decisive win may be part of a new and growing European trend. Of course, it’s much too soon to say whether the Berlusconi-Sarovsky victories are really the beginning of change. But for now, it’s spring, the birds are singing, and Italy’s whispering sweet nothings in my ear.

File Under: Mind Boggling International Events

We’re finally on the verge of Peace in the Middle East. What? You haven’t heard?? Jimmy Carter has met with Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal! Carter told the press he would “…try everything I can to get [Meshaal] to agree to a peaceful resolution of differences both with the Israelis…and also with Fatah.” Problem solved, people, so let’s all buy the totally awesome ex-Pres a drink, join hands, and commence with the Kumbayas.

(Not!) Carter’s wish for peace is admirable, but this meeting with Hamas was complete and utter foolishness. Carter is not only engaged in a futile endeavor - trying to use his personal charm to change the hearts and minds of the always-violent Hamas - he's also making himself useful to one of the most lethal terrorist groups on the planet. (For those not famililar, Hamas’ charter includes the following words: “Israel will exist…until Islam will obliterate it…”) So how does Hamas’ stated mission to destroy Israel in the name of their religion combined with their large militia equal “a good chance” (Carter's words) that he can convince Hamas to embrace non-violence? It doesn't - but apparently Carter isn’t one to let the facts get in the way of a good story. Nevermind Hamas' propensity for recruiting and training bus-blowing suicide bombers and the errant rockets fired into Gaza week in and week out. Carter is going to sweet talk these guys into playing nicey-nice, just you wait and see.

Has an ex-president ever done anything so unwise? Before you answer, consider that Carter has now given Hamas something they didn’t have before this week: a claim to legitimacy in the ranks of international politics. The sub-text of Carter's dialogue with Hamas is this: "Your murderous political activities do not preclude you from a seat at the negotiating table." As such, Hamas will be encouraged and emboldened. (By all accounts, both Hamas and the Palestinian Street were indeed crowing from the rooftops post-meeting.) Hamas’ monomaniacal rantings, the genocidal echoes of Abdel Nasser’s promise to drive all the Jews into the Mediterranean, seem to have little meaning for Carter. Or perhaps he thinks they’re not really serious? The families of over 1,000 dead Israelis since Arafat’s intifada was ordered up in late 2000 might beg to differ. The on-record ravings of Hamas might also serve to persuade - if Carter were willing to really hear. Hope springs eternal, as the saying goes, but apparently so does the foolishness of our 39th president.

"Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evil men. Avoid it and do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way. For they cannot sleep until they do evil; they are robbed of slumber until they make someone fall. They eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence." --- Proverbs 4:14-17

17 April 2008

D.C. PoPo Say No-No

Midnight Memorial Dancer Arrested
Armed with I-pods and jazzed about celebrating the birthday anniversary of one of our founding fathers, a few young libertarian patriots were cutting a late-night rug at the foot of the Jefferson Memorial this past Sunday…until one of them was arrested, that is. Although the memorial is open 24/7, it seems you cannot get jiggy with it.

Did Noah Fish?

A Sunday school teacher asked her class, "Do you think Noah did a lot of fishing when he was on the Ark?"

"No," replied Little Johnny. "How could he, with just two worms?"

14 April 2008

Blogging for Peanuts

Jonah Goldberg of National Review recently stated, "For good or for ill, blogging has become the primary arena for talent development in journalism as well as the indispensable means of working around the limitations of the traditional media."

Agreed. Blogging is also attractive because if Newbie writers are going to slave away at the keyboard for cheap as they endeavor to establish themselves in the Wordsmith World, it's nice to have an Outlet where we can write whatever and whenever we want. Placement on a masthead and/or freelancing usually involves very specific assignments, very little creative latitude, and a (probably also underpaid) editor who at the end of all your blood, sweat, and tears says: "Um, it's pretty good - but can you make it a little shorter?" With our blogs, we are Free men and women, chasing whimsy passions and waxing philosophical at will.

(***Disclaimer: When I say "we," I do not mean me. I absolutely Love all my freelance assignments and enjoy working on tight deadlines for less money than I pay my kid to take out the garbage each week. And all my editors/employers are truly delightful people.)

10 April 2008

Kathleen Parker: Something Good This Way Comes

Over at NRO Kathleen Parker sub-titles and ends this editorial on Pope Benedict with these words: “The pope is a brave man.” She recounts how the pontiff has stirred up a few storms in the religious environment over the past few years, citing his baptism of an Italy-based Muslim journalist during the Easter vigil as the most recent. In response to this “insensitive” act, angry mobs attacked five Christian churches in the West Bank and Gaza, shot and killed an Italian nun, and burned effigies of the pope, calling for his death. The journalist, Magdi Cristiano Allam, has also received several death threats and is traveling with a security detail while his family is in hiding.

Surprisingly, in the midst of all this, Saudi King Abdullah called for a Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders to begin a dialogue re: suffering the world over. On Easter Monday, Abdullah expressed “distress” over a global crisis that “has caused an imbalance in religion, in ethics, in all of humanity.” Elsewhere, the Riyadh government called for Saudi imams to discourage extremism and encourage a more moderate, peaceful interpretation of Islam. And in Indonesia, Christian and Muslim leaders recently gathered to discuss cooperative efforts while Islamic educators issued an appeal to begin educating young Muslim men without justifications for violence.

Does this mean there is hope for a world gone mad? Parker says maybe, but notes that Pope Benedict’s inflexible insistence on speaking out on human rights in addition to God’s universal love may pose a problem for some. She quotes Father Roger J. Landry, a priest in the Fall River, MA, diocese and editor of the diocesan newspaper The Anchor, who wrote in a recent editorial that Benedict has “insisted that the conversation tackle how such love becomes concrete in analyzing how each tradition handles the question of human rights.”

I am grateful that Pope Benedict insists our dialogue include an honest examination and candid discussions of human rights violations wherever and whyever (and by whomever) they occur. I am also grateful that he does so without apology or equivocation, even under threat of death.

During the pope’s trip to the U.S. later this month, he will address the United Nations (on Friday, April 18th).

09 April 2008

Tony Blair: “If you are somebody of faith it affects your politics, it affects everything that you do”

Click here to read a London TimesOnline piece re: former British Prime Minister Tony Blair talking about issues of faith and politics as well as his soon-to-be Faith Foundation. Blair recently converted to Catholocism, a fact now being widely reported in the media on both sides of the Puddle.

Jungle Training Essentials

In this story about federal employees putting millions of dollars of fraudelent or frivolous charges on their government credit cards over a 15-month period, the least egregious (and possibly funniest) was the credit-card holder who bought $360 worth of women's lingerie at a boutique for use during “jungle training” by trainees of a drug enforcement program in Ecuador. A State Department official agreed that the charge was “questionable” and stated that he would not have approved the purchase had he known about it. This raises a few questions:

When glancing over the receipt or billing statement (which was presumably presented for approval at some point), what sort of items did that State Department official think had been purchased at “Sedducion Boutique”? The word “seduce” has few meanings especially when coupled with a noun meaning "small specialty store"…n’est pa?

I'm also curious about the questions that would/should have been asked (and answered) had this purchase been properly flagged. Would the purchaser have claimed that special undies were needed due to the hot, damp conditions in Ecuador? Were these garments of special construct, enabling the wearer to more swiftly and stealthily move through the flora and fauna of tropical landscapes? And can we assume, at least, that the fabric was camouflage...or perhaps leopard print?

Consumer Warning: Don't Drink Gator Blood

This Washington Post story says researchers believe alligator blood may contain protein that can be used for new antibiotics targeting various infections and even drug-resistant "superbugs." In the meantime, this article says researchers warn against using raw alligator blood as a home remedy. In an unprocessed state (they say) it can cause sickness and even death to humans.

Given that many alligators reside in stagnant waters, eat the flesh of rotting creatures they stuffed under a log two weeks ago, and breathe swamp fumes as they paddle around their festering bogs...is it really that surprising to learn that (a) they possess super-immunity to germy things and (b) we probably shouldn't drink their blood?

08 April 2008

Ted Turner's Dire Predictions Lead to Discussion of Cannibalism at Dinner Table

Last week Mark Hemingway over at The Corner was kind enough to post this funny (actual) dialogue that took place during dinner at our house last week. This conversation followed Ted Turner's prediction that global warming will render the planet a barren desert and turn all of us into cannibals within a few decades. Thought I'd share it. (Our kids are pretty funny, if I do say so myself.)

12-year old Daughter: “So…which of us kids are you and Daddy going to eat first?”

Daddy: “Depends who’s getting the best grades and doing the most chores at the time.”

Daughter: “There won’t BE any grades because of the Failed State, silly!”

13-year old Son: “Anyway, I think the Father is supposed to sacrifice himself for his family…”

Daughter: “Yeah, that’s true. But we wouldn’t have to kill Daddy right away; we could just cut off one leg, then the other… We could probably keep him alive for a few extra weeks that way.”

Son: “What’s the point of dragging it out when Civilization will be in shambles anyway…?”

One Cosmos: excerpts on WFB

Today's One Cosmos blog is my pick for Read of the Day today, for many reasons, including a nice mention of WFB. Here are some (edited) excerpts:

[WFB] was a man who incarnated American ideals by utilizing liberty to actualize his potential in the most extraordinarily diverse ways, but always in the context of the "higher we" of the "American spirit," so to speak. It was not individualism for its own sake, but in order to "become" everything that his Creator intended for him to be, which is the purpose and vector of our liberty.

...And this is indeed the broad purpose of the spiritual life -or let us just say "life": to become what you already are. The purpose can never be to become what the group wishes for you to be, for this is slavery, not liberty.

...Classical liberalism enshrines a sort of liberty that implicitly promotes the use of it for higher ends, since it is a "gift" given for that purpose.

Read the whole post here (scroll to the top of the page).

Lone Shoes

I have long pondered the enigmatic phenomenon of a single shoe by the side of the road. These sightings have captivated my imagination since childhood and are the inspiration for the Title of this blog. What is the Story of these lone roadside shoes? How did they come to be there? Under what circumstances does ONE shoe fall or get tossed out of a moving vehicle or suddenly come off its foot and get left behind? What tales lie sleeping in the memories of these lost soles?
 
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