October 2009 Archives

Found this photo of me in an unusual Halloween get-up. I remember being a pirate several years. But this year--probably 6th grade--I wore the lederhosen Dad brought back from Germany,plus a mask. I don't know what my brother Stu is--he's wearing a winter coat with a black mask. Huh? Rick is a pirate, probably wearing my hand-me-down costume. Such is the life of the baby.

I think this is the best piece Jon Stewart has ever done. He mostly brutalizes Fox News, then throws in jabs at MSNBC and the Obama Administration. Just delightful. (If you're reading on Facebook, you'll need to click on the "View Original Post" link to view the video, which is on my blog.)
Real journalists go after the story. What drives reporters is to break a story before anyone else. It's their obsession. CBS, NBC, ABC, the NY Times, the Washington Post--they all want to break a story first. And they've all broken stories critical of Republican and Democrat administrations alike.

When did FoxNews break a story which was critical of the Bush Administration? Did they even investigate anything that might make Bush look bad? If they are a professional news organization, they'll go after Republicans and Democrats alike. I await the evidence.

Until then, I'll pay attention to the news sources which investigate stories, and who let the chips fall wherever they fall.

I am, I admit, rooting for the Yankees.

I don't watch baseball until October. It just doesn't interest me. The game moves too slowly. But I watched the league champ games with great interest, and am now captivated by the World Series. After the Series ends, my interest ends, and it's back to the NFL, my true love.

The Yankees represent much of what I hate. They are arrogant and wealthy. I hate the way they buy every good player they can get. They don't build players. They buy players. And they spend obscene amounts to buy them.

And yet, the Yankees are so, uh, AMERICAN. Something deep in me insists they have a divine entitlement to win the World Series. If they're in it, they should win. I disgust myself for feeling that way, but I do.

There may be another reason I favor the Yankees. When I played little league, we had four teams which played among themselves--the Dodgers, Phillies, Tigers, and Yankees. Guess which team I played for?

Walmart has started selling caskets online. Fifteen caskets, and dozens of urns. Their prices undercut what you pay at funeral homes. And federal law requires that funeral homes accept third-party caskets.

Prices range from $999 for models like "Dad Remembered" and "Mom Remembered" steel caskets to the mid-level $1,699 "Executive Privilege." All are less than $2,000, except for the Sienna Bronze Casket, which sells for $3,199.

Caskets ship within 48 hours. Don't know about the return policy.

I imagine Jay Leno could have a lot of fun with this.

Here are three novels I read during the past couple of weeks. All very different, all very good.

The Butcher's Boy (Thomas Perry). This was Perry's debut novel, back in 1982, and it may still be his best. The book alternates between two storylines:

1. A hitman (the title character), whom you row to like.
2. A female FBI agent who believes a common killer connects two different murders, and tries to find him.

It's quite interesting. I found myself rooting for both characters--that the FBI agent would get her man, and that the Butcher's Boy would elude capture. An ending I wasn't expecting, but which delighted me.

The Bottoms (Joe Lansdale). This 2000 book won the Edgar Award for best novel. It's an incredible book. Set in the 1930s in east Texas, in an area called "The Bottoms." The story is told by a young boy, Harry, maybe 13 or so. One night he finds a dead body--a black woman who has been mutilated. Other similar bodies turn up. So they've got a serial killer in the Bottoms.

But what makes this story great is the interplay between the black and white communities. Lansdale makes you practically experience the subjugation of blacks, the total control wielded by whites. The racism of that time comes to life in Lansdale's book. I can't recommend it enough.

Kennedy's Brain (Henning Mankell). This is the first Mankell book I've read that didn't involve Inspector Kurt Wallander. The story involves a mother who sets out to prove that her 25-year-old son didn't commit suicide, but was murdered. Her quest starts in Sweden, but takes her to Australia, Spain, and then southern Africa, where a good chunk of the book takes place. It's a strange book, in ways, but compelling. The book didn't really end...and yet, I'm satisfied with that. It seemed appropriate.

Last night at the table tennis club, I got sick. Not swine flu sick, but vertigo sick.

It was my third match of the night. I had previously gotten squashed by the two best players in the club, guys I can't touch. It wasn't even good practice for them.

Then I played Rob, who I think hasn't beaten me yet. But last night, he was certainly headed there. He won the first game. Then, in the second, he had me down 10-6. We play 11-point games.

I heroically battled back and tied the game at 10. And then my world began spinning. Vertigo, which hasn't bothered me since last April, descended in force. I put my hands down on the table to steady myself as the horizon scrolled. I told Rob I was having a sudden vertigo attack.

"Do you want to sit down?" he suggested.

"If I move, I'm afraid I'll fall down." I said.

Instead, I just waited it out. Gradually, the horizon stabilized. But I was definitely done for the night. No sense even trying to finish that game. I just wanted to get home before I threw up.

It was one way to escape being beaten. Though I must say, I was on a roll there.

Rob, I learned last night, is lead pastor of a church called Level 13. Been there two years. I looked it up, and found their website. Very nice, done in WordPress. My real question was, where'd the name, Level 13, come from? That's a very odd name for a church. Churches are supposed to be New Hope, or Fellowship, or Northpointe with an English "e" on the end.

On the Level 13 homepage, they answered my question.

"For many the 13th floor is a place no one has ever been. Buildings usually skip the 13th floor because of superstition. For us level.13 represents those places most people are afraid to go. Jesus spent time on level 13. He spent time with people the religious zealots of His day would not come close to. Level.13 is a God-centered movement of people intentionally going to the hard places in our lives and in the lives of others."

How cool is that!

Went to the Fort Wayne Gun & Knife Show this morning. I don't have any guns. I go for the knives. Specifically, bayonets. I always come back with a bayonet. Today it was a Argentine Model 1909 bayonet, in great condition.

Someone was selling lots of bumper stickers today, nearly all attacking Barack Obama in some way. The photo above shows some of them. There were eight more displays of bumper stickers. It can make a guy like me very paranoid. If I went in wearing an Obama cap, they'd probably take me out back and tar-and-feather me. And that would be getting off easy.

You won't find many Democrats at these shows. These are real Americans, hardy hunters who love their pickups. They're also the kind of people who get righteously indignant about illegal immigrants. Don't like them Mexicans coming across the border and taking jobs from good ol' boys.

And yet, where do the Mexican drug lords come to buy guns? To these guns shows. The Mexican government, being unenlightened, restricts the purchase of assault weapons. A hard-working cartel assassin just can't find a decent sniper rifle in his own country. So, he has to come north of the border, buy guns from the US, and then go back home to more effectively assassinate policemen and kidnap members of the general populace.

So sure, we'll sell you all the guns you want, so you can wreck your country and force the people to live in fear for their lives. We'll even buy all the cocaine and pot you have to offer, so you'll have money to buy more guns. But please, when you're looking for a place to raise your family in peace and with hope for the future, don't come to the US. We want your drugs and your gun-money, but we don't want you.

It's October, and we're down to four teams. NOW I'm interested in baseball. The rest of the season, for me, might as well not exist.

This is a very interesting video from YouTube. It throws a lot of stats around, and I always want to know the source of stats before I accept them as true. But that's not crucial to this video. The intent is pretty much to say, "Here are some of the incredible things happening very quickly in our world. What does it mean?"

(If you're reading this within Facebook, you need to click the "View Original Post" link. That'll take you to my blog, where this was originally posted.)

Amazing Grace Baptist Church in Canton, NC, is holding a book-burning on Halloween. They are burning satanic books. But you might be surprised at what they consider satanic:

• Any Bible that isn't the King James Version. All other versions are "satanic" and "perversions" of God's Word. That includes the New King James Version, in addition to my beloved NIV. The fact that they aren't reading the original King James--that the KJV itself has been revised many times over the years--is probably lost on them. They prefer their issues in black-and-white, with no grays.
  
• Books by such heretics as Billy Graham, Rick Warren, Chuck Colson, Bill Bright, Tim Lahaye,  James Dobson, and a slew of others.
  
• Practically any kind of music: country, rap, rock, pop, heavy metal, weastern, southern gospel, contemporary Christian, jazz, soul, or oldies. I guess that leaves classical and hymns. Oh, I didn't see blues in that list.
  

Well, good for Amazing Grace and their grand total of 14 members. 

Glenn Beck is scaring people away from getting the H1N1 shot. "You don't know if this (the H1N1 vaccine) is gonna cause neurological damage like it did in the 1970s."

Politifact looked into this and declared his statement "Barely True."

In 1976, 1 in every 100,000 people who got the swine flu shot contracted Guillain-Barre syndrome, a neurological disease. But 30 years have passed. "The seasonal flu vaccine has been administered to 100 million to 250 million people a year worldwide, and there's been no evidence it caused anyone to get Guillain-Barre or any other neurological disorder," says Politifact.

The current swine flu vaccine was made the same way as the seasonal flu vaccine has been made for the past 20 years. Had it been discovered earlier, the vaccine would have been included in this year's seasonal vaccine. But by the time it was discovered, in May, the seasonal vaccine was already being made. Thus the need for a second shot.

Politifact concludes, "Without noting that the H1N1 vaccine has been manufactured in essentially the same way as the seasonal flu shot that has been used by hundreds of millions of people -- without any established link to neurological problems -- ends up misleading by omission. And so we rule Beck's statement Barely True."

But because of his (and Rush's) alarmist statements, absorbed by devoted listeners, people will most likely die. Most likely the children of listeners. But hey, anything to stick it to the Feds.

At the Catalyst 2009 Conference, held last week in Atlanta, Chuck Swindoll was given a lifetime achievement award. He spoke on "10 Things I Have Learned During 50 Years in Ministry." Here are those 10 points, as compiled by Drew Dyck and published on the Out of Ur blog. Good stuff.

1. It's lonely to lead. Leadership involves tough decisions. The tougher the decision, the lonelier it is.
2. It's dangerous to succeed. I'm most concerned for those who aren't even 30 and are very gifted and successful. Sometimes God uses someone right out of youth, but usually he uses leaders who have been crushed
3. It's hardest at home. No one ever told me this in Seminary.
4. It's essential to be real. If there's one realm where phoniness is common, it's among leaders. Stay real.
5. It's painful to obey. The Lord will direct you to do some things that won't be your choice. Invariably you will give up what you want to do for the cross.
6. Brokenness and failure are necessary.
7. Attititude is more important than actions. Your family may not have told you: some of you are hard to be around. A bad attitude overshadows good actions.
8. Integrity eclipses image. Today we highlight image. But it's what you're doing behind the scenes.
9. God's way is better than my way.
10. Christlikeness begins and ends with humility.

He also gave these five admonitions:

1. Whatever you do, do more with others and less alone.
2. Whenever you do it, emphasize quality not quantity.
3. Wherever you go, do it the same as if you were among those who know you best.
4. Whoever may respond, keep a level head.
5. However long you lead, keep on dripping with gratitude and grace.

While attending a summit in Germany last April, Barack Obama was asked if he, like many previous presidents, believed in American exceptionalism and saw America as uniquely qualified to lead the world. His response reflects my views perfectly, and it's an attitude that is obviously a breath of fresh air to the rest of the world.

"I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism. I'm enormously proud of my country and its role and history in the world. If you think about the site of this summit and what it means, I don't think America should be embarrassed to see evidence of the sacrifices of our troops, the enormous amount of resources that were put into Europe postwar, and our leadership in crafting an Alliance that ultimately led to the unification of Europe. We should take great pride in that.

"And if you think of our current situation, the United States remains the largest economy in the world. We have unmatched military capability. And I think that we have a core set of values that are enshrined in our Constitution, in our body of law, in our democratic practices, in our belief in free speech and equality, that, though imperfect, are exceptional.

"Now, the fact that I am very proud of my country and I think that we've got a whole lot to offer the world does not lessen my interest in recognizing the value and wonderful qualities of other countries, or recognizing that we're not always going to be right, or that other people may have good ideas, or that in order for us to work collectively, all parties have to compromise and that includes us.

"And so I see no contradiction between believing that America has a continued extraordinary role in leading the world towards peace and prosperity and recognizing that that leadership is incumbent, depends on, our ability to create partnerships, because we create partnerships [knowing] we can't solve these problems alone."

As I rode the eliptical at the Y, a Boston song, "Long Time," played on my iPod Shuffle. I decided that that album, the self-titled "Boston," was my alltime favorite album. I wore out a couple cassettes before graduating to the CD, and now I'm playing them on my iPod.

Then I got to wondering, "What are my other alltime favorite albums?" Here are my top 10.

1. Boston: Boston
   
2. U2: Joshua Tree
3. Springsteen: Born in the USA
4. Three Dog Night: Greatest Hits
5. Hootie and the Blowfish: Cracked Rear View
6. Meat Loaf: Bat Out of Hell
7. Springsteen: The Rising
8. Nirvana: MTV Unplugged
9. Aerosmith: Honkin' on Bobo
10. Carpenters: Close to You

Yes, the Carpenters. That was my first album, and I can still remember playing it over and over. I thought "We've Only Just Begun" really rocked.

Wow. President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize.

As Americans, can we celebrate that? When the world bestows an important award on an American, can we just be happy about that? As John McCain said, "As Americans, we're proud when our president receives an award of that prestigious category."

It won't help him a lick domestically. But it will help America's agenda around the world, since the president's stature will be heightened.

That said, let me say this: What the heck?

Let's be clear: President Obama didn't ask for this award, didn't seek it, didn't know he was being considered for it, and is probably embarrassed that he got it. OF COURSE he doesn't deserve it. He knows it, everybody knows it.

Melinda Henneberger of PoliticsDaily.com wrote a column called "Obama won the what?" She says, "The Nobel Committee has itself located a rare point of agreement between left- and right-leaning Americans. I think it's fair to say that the most common reaction among both groups this morning is, Huh?"

Joe Klein, writing on Swampland: "I'm as relieved as anybody that the Bushian gunslingers have been given the gate and, as regular readers know, I'm a big fan of patient, rigorous diplomacy....But let's face it: this prize is premature to the point of ridiculousness."

On Morning Joe, Chuck Todd said, "My response is, for what?"

Peter Beinart of DailyBeast.com wrote, "I like Barack Obama as much as the next liberal, but this is a farce. He's done nothing to deserve the prize."

Mark Halperin: "I predict right now that he will find a way to basically turn it down. I think he is going to say, I share this with the world or whatever. I don't think he'll embrace this. Because there is no upside."

Poland's Lech Walesa: "Who, Obama? So fast? Too fast--he hasn't had the time to do anything yet."

Gideon Rachman, a columnist for The Financial Times: "I am a genuine admirer of Obama....But I doubt that I am alone in wondering whether this award is slightly premature....While it is OK to give school children prizes for 'effort'--my kids get them all the time--I think international statesmen should probably be held to a higher standard."

Don't blame Obama for getting this award. Don't knock him around. I think he's clearly embarrassed about it, and put in a difficult situation. He can't turn it down. But yet, he can't claim that he deserves it. His statement today, I thought, hit as good a note as he could. But SNL, Leno, Conan, and the rest will have great fun with it...and deservedly so. I can't wait to hear what the comedians have to say.

I received this message at work today, sent through the website:

How sad to read that your denominational leaders have endorsed amnesty for illegal aliens. Perhaps we should break down border barriers because surely Jesus wanted all peoples to be able to migrate at will.

Why don't you take the locks off your churches, so that people can enter whenever they wish? Why don't you cede the residences of your congregants to the homeless?

Churches are being sucked into the mindless, leftist idea of "social justice" and away from the justice of the Bible.

First of all, we've made no statement whatsoever on this subject, so I have no idea what this person heard. Probably got us mixed up with some other "brethren" group. That happens a lot.

But I'm also wondering what this woman (it was a woman) believes the Bible says about justice. Because while she and Glenn Beck and Lou Dobbs may be kindred spirits, I'm guessing Jesus would take some exception to their views. And the Founding Fathers, too, for that matter. Because America was built by people who came here because borders were broken down.

I'm not making a statement for amnesty. I don't know enough about the subject to make an informed statement. I'm just reacting to the knee-jerk mindlessness of people like this.

UPDATE: Okay, this person pointed me to this reference to a resolution from the National Association of Evangelicals. We're listed among the member denominations, with a link to our feedback form. So I'll probably be getting some more.

So the National Association of Evangelicals made a statement which endorses amnesty for illegal aliens? I looked up the NAE statement. No they didn't. The statement proposes seven actions, none of which involves amnesty. The one they're probably worked up about says: "That the government establish a sound, equitable process toward earned legal status for currently undocumented immigrants, who desire to embrace the responsibilities and privileges that accompany citizenship."

Letterman. Polanski. Ensign. Edwards. Writes Gene Lyons on Salon.com: "What would Americans talk about without celebrity sex scandals? It's getting to where even a diligent voyeur has trouble keeping the protagonists straight without schematic diagrams.... Reveling in other people's sins has become the national pastime. We've become a country of Peeping Toms, a sadistic activity."

Roper does a worldwide survey to show how much admiration people have for different countries. It's called the National Brands Index. Last year, the United States ranked 7th, behind: Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, and Italy.

This year, the United States ranked first.

I think that's a good thing. If you're a Republican (as are 90% of my Facebook friends), you may think that's a bad thing, because it could be a "win" for Obama. Kinda like getting the Olympics would have been, which is why so many conservatives cheered when Rio got the Olympics.

Or maybe, like me, you cheer for your country no matter who lives in the White House.

The survey included 20,000 respondents from 20 countries. 

I'm amused by the obsessive attention Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity give to czars, on whom they hang apocalyptic intrigue. They contend that these special advisers, appointed without Senate confirmation, subvert the Constitution. I personally don't think America is so fragile that a collection of advisers focused on specific issues will usher in Armageddon. But Glenn and Sean are entitled to their hysteria.

FactCheck.org, like Politifact, freely criticizes idiocy among both Democrats and Republicans. I like those sites, because my interest is in truth and accuracy, something the drive-by motormouth pundits don't care about. When Obama lies (which he does), I want to know it. When Republicans lie, I want to know it. I voted for Obama, but I'm not interested in blindly excusing him of whatever he says or does. Nor do I automatically believe what he says. So I appreciate FactCheck and Politifact dutifully checking into things.

FactCheck.org has now investigated the whole czar controversy. They found that for the most part, the title "czar" is a media creation; it's not the person's actual title, and it's all a tad arbitrary about who Beck et al deem worthy of the designation. President Bush appointed a guy to be the point person for dealing with the Bird Flu. His actual title was Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Public Health Emergency Preparedness, but the media called him the Bird Flu Czar, which was sure a lot easier. That's sort of how it works with most of these folks.

Every administration appoints people as special envoys, office directors, special assistants, or point persons on issues-of-the-moment. Such people are most vulnerable to getting tagged with the czar label.

Glenn Beck identifies 32 persons as Obama czars. Here's what FactCheck.org learned about these persons (there is some overlap):

• 9 were actually confirmed by the Senate.
• 8 were not appointed by Obama, but by other officials (for instance, one by the EPA, another by the Homeland Security secretary).
• 15 were created by previous administrations (though it took Beck or Hannity or someone else to add the "czar" title.
• Of the 32 positions Glenn Beck lists, only 8 are brand new, Obama-appointed, unconfirmed positions. They include the special representatives for Afghanistan and Pakistan, two persons dealing with automotive issues, one dealing with green jobs, and others.

There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of political appointees in every administration. I don't know where the anti-czar people draw the line. Wouldn't the White House chef, about whom the Senate has no say, be the Kitchen Czar (or Czarina)? Is there a Mail Room Czar? Housekeeping Czar? At what point does a person become a Czar? This cries out for definition.

George Bush probably had more czars than Obama, though again, that term was largely a media creation. He had a Gulf Coast Reconstruction Czar, AIDS Czar, Cybersecurity Czar, War Czar, World Trade Center Health Czar, Faith Czar, Budget Czar, Cleanup Czar, Intelligence Czar, Bioethics Czar, Manufacturing Czar, Public Diplomacy Czar, Regulatory Czar, Abstinence Czar, Domestic Policy Czar, Food Safety Czar, Homelessness Czar, Reading Czar, Science Czar, Terrorism Czar, Counterterrorism Czar, and others. You could probably say Presidents George HW Bush and Clinton were both Tsunami Recovery Czars. The final one was the Bailout Czar, charged with distributing the first $700 billion.

Despite all of these nefarious Bush appointees blatantly undermining the Constitution, America muddles along. I suspect that the Founding Fathers created something durable enough to survive even Obama's dastardly attempts to topple 230 years of capitalism and democracy.

And now, enjoy this little clip.

 

My pastor, Tim Hallman, wrote a very good blog posted called "What is the Greatest Threat to Christianity?" I recommend it. 

Apple is suing Woolworth, the largest retailer in Australia, saying their new logo looks too much like Apple's logo. Woolworth says it's a stylized W that also looks like fresh produce. Apple doesn't want them slapping this logo onto electrical appliances--like, uh, portable music players.

I don't know. While I am so technologically ideological that I will normally excuse anything Apple does, I think they may be a bit picky here. Yet, I can see the argument.

A few conservatives are speaking out against the madness and conspiracy-mongering of the far-right Punditocracy. Lindsey Graham is the latest to raise a sane voice.

• "I'm here to tell you that those who think the president was born somewhere other than Hawaii are crazy. He's not a Muslim. He's a good man."
• About Glenn Beck: "Only in America can you make that much money crying. Glenn Beck is not aligned with any party as far as I can tell. He's aligned with cynicism. And there's always been a market for cynicism. But we became a great nation not because we are a nation of cynics. We became a great nation because we are a nation of believers."
• "There [are] people in this country that are having a hard time reconciling the fact that we have a black president."
• "The people who are doing unfair and unkind things to the president says more about them than it does the Republican Party. But we have to say that's crazy. Those who say the president was born anywhere other than Hawaii are crazy."
• "There is a chance here for the loyal opposition to become President Obama's biggest political ally on Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. We have plenty of differences with President Obama, but I want to do everything I can to help him contain that threat."
• "There are people out there saying crazy things on our side of the aisle. There were people saying crazy things about President Bush. That's just the way it is."
• "If you get rewarded for being a jerk you are going to keep doing it."
• "Can you imagine doing D-Day with cable television? Can you imagine writing the Constitution -- you know, O'Reilly says Ben Franklin's giving in on something. Can you imagine having to do that in this environment?"

Jordi was sitting in the front yard, looking up the street. Two young kids, maybe 6th grade, came down the walk with three dogs on leashes--a small poodle, and two even smaller dogs. The yappy kind.

Then the two kids spotted Jordi at the same time. They quickly came to a stop.

I heard the girl say, "I thought that was a big dog."

Then they turned around their dogs and headed back the other way. Didn't want to risk tangling with our 17 pound boy.

Jordi is SO intimidating. Meow.

When we went on vacation in mid-September, I took some books of redeeming spiritual and intellectual value...but didn't read any of them. Instead, I stuck to the escapist track, devouring five thriller novels during our 12-day vacation. All were winners.

Fresh Disasters. This is the first Stuart Woods book I've read, which is pretty amazing, considering how many books he's written in genres  I like. He has a series about a private investigator named Stone Barrington. Fresh Disasters is part of that series. I enjoyed the character, and enjoyed the plot--not hugely, but enough to want to read more. I found several more Stone Barrington novels at a used bookstore. They're now sitting on my shelf. I'll get to them eventually.

Rough Justice. I've read a number of Jack Higgins books over the years, but not in quite a while. It's about time I got back to him, because he never disappoints. His books have some continuing characters, such as Sean Dillon, who figures in this book. In this book, Higgins creates a new fellow, Harry Moore, who joins this cast of tough-guy British spooks. This was a very good book.

The Killing Floor. This is the first of Lee Child's novels about Jack Reacher. I'd previously read books 2-5 in the series, but not the first one. Of the books I've read, The Killing Floor and Echo Burning are my favorites. This one had a great plot, and plenty of action.

L.A. Outlaws. T. Jefferson Parker is a superb writer. I've read only a couple of his books, but they're always good. And LA Outlaws was outstanding. The central character is a sympathetic woman bank robber, a really unique literary creation. Her parts are written in first person, everything else in third person. I loved this book.

Black Widow. I'd not read a book by Randy Wayne White. He's a heckuva writer. Black Widow was based on a Caribbean Island. The protagonist, Doc Ford, is a former CIA agent of some kind (the book never really explains much of his background). A collection of very interesting characters populate these pages. White has written another Doc Ford book. I'll probably need to track it down one of these days.