Mazurland Blog

Blubber Update

I'll be too busy tomorrow (2 months on Nutrisystem) to post---Yard Sale for the Marine Corps League in the morning, and a trip to Sparta,NC (about 2.5 hours away) for a MCL Charter Presentation ceremony to a new Detachment in the late afternoon.

Starting Weight--349.6lbs on March 10

09 May @ 0700--313 lbs.

Lost 36.6 lbs in 59 days, or a little over a half a pound a day.

63 Lbs to go to short term Goal weight of 250

128 to get to Marine Corps Max weight of 185.

Still a "disgusting fat body" as any Marine DI would attest.  But I've reached the point where I need to put more holes in belts, and I need a new pair of black trousers for my MCL uniform, they're getting way too big!  I've not been able to put in the exercise I needed to this week, but I'll be back at it next week.  After I get my last shipment of Nutrisystem this month, I need to send back the indedible stuff that they send (you get to request your 28 day supply, but the free week they pick for you), I'll have about another 6-7 weeks on the program. 

With that I should be able to get under 300, and hopefully down to 285. That would put me at 100lbs overweight by USMC standards.  Another 85 lbs and I should be able to get into my Navy uniform, which my wife thinks is impossible, but she's pullin for me.

An Analogy You Can't Refuse

People often use analogies to explain difficult concepts or illuminate discussions. No analogy is perfect. But when you start out wrong-headed in using an analogy to explain something complex, things can get turned on their heads. Mitchell Hullsman at the LA Times used The Godfather to explain post-9/11 American policy and got it all bollixed up. Now, put aside for the moment that use of "The Godfather Analogy" in explaining things from American foreign policy to the UN to the Bush Family crime syndicate is a bit overplayed. In this latest go-around, "see-dubya" at Michelle Malkin's blog gets into the parlor game and sets things straight. I know Hank is a big fan of the Godfather series. Maybe he can shed some more light on where Kay falls in the scheme of things.

As Seen On TV

Magical realist dreaming must be contagious. Last night, in my sleep, I came up with another answer to the question I posed in yesterday's post: I blog so that I can get on the QVC channel. Last night I dreamt that I was, for some reason, watching a segment for the QVC home shopping channel from the studio where it is broadcast. The hosts were rehearsing (Do they rehearse on QVC?) a spot in which they would be selling some kind of combination home computer / home entertainment system. It seemed that the large-screen projector for the home entertainment system was run via the computer so that you could watch internet programming. I have no idea if there is such a product or whether there'd be a market for it, but that's not the point in a dream. The interesting thing was that the "programming" that was showing on the screen was not a high resolution movie trailer, a live news feed, or even a YouTube video, but rather a static image. It was a screen shot of Mazurland Blog.

The hostess was practicing giving a tour of the specs and features of the system, but I was just standing there waiting for her to say some lines about our blog. I knew that QVC had chosen us for some good reason to help sell the product, and I was sure that she'd say something about the three cute little boys on the right. (For some reason, Hank and Ben were absent - maybe the producers asked us to remove them.) But the reason for the image of Mazurland Blog went unremarked as she went down the list of features. I was getting a little antsy standing in back of the cameras, and I started to analyze the situation, a sure way to kill a dream: When is this thing going to air? How many site visits would we get out of this? Should we expect a call from Pajamas Media? Why were they trying to sell a big screen projector using a static image? Who would buy a large screen projection system to view a blog or do computer work? What would you use this for? (Wait, I think I know...) Not that I'm complaining about free publicity. but is this any way to run a business?

Like I said, magical realism. A little light on the realism.

You Heard It Here First

Since a very long time ago, I have been a strong booster of Fred Dalton Thompson! for President.  Obviously, that time is well past.  But I just read this over at Bench Memos wherein John McCain's Judicial Advisory Committee is detailed in full.  And I must say, it is heartening indeed.  But what struck me is the following:  Fred Dalton Thompson! would make a superlative pick for the United States Supreme Court.

That's right, Fred! for SCOTUS! 

Think about it:  consider the home-spun wisdom of his occasional editorials, Paul Harvey guest-spots, YouTube bits, etc.  Consider also that Fred!'s reputation is one of being laid back rather than in-your-face, and of giving considerable thought and deliberation to his opinions.  Consider also his experience as a lawyer, and his very clear bias toward strict constructionist constitutional principles.  The man clearly didn't have the "fire in his belly" to achieve the Republican nomination, but SCOTUS jobs are appointments.  And considering that he already shepherded now-Chief-Justice John Roberts through the confirmation process, he's already intimately familiar with the ins-and-outs of that particular rite-of-passage.  Finally, as a former Senator and popular, charismatic individual, he has connections that would ease the confirmation process considerably.

Electing John McCain as president in November just got that much more important.

Fred Thompson for SCOTUS!

More Fun Than Stamp Collecting

Why do the Mazurland authors blog? Well, we're not deluded enough to think we can change the world, though that seems to be endemic in parts of the blogosphere. First, our audience isn't big enough. But even if it were, the idea would still be a delusion.

I can't speak for the other authors, but I do it because I like writing. I write at work, but for enjoyment I write for my running club's web site, I write for a running blog at my local newspaper, and I write here. I write because the act of clearing out my head in a semi-organized way entertains me. I also blog here because I imagine and hope that it entertains the other authors and our tens of readers.

I was never a good fisherman when I was a kid, but I enjoyed it. I'd spend hours relaxing and working at the same time, but all the while hoping. It's the same way with blogging. I organize my thoughts, write a post, and hope I get some good comments, or start an interesting discussion. Sometimes it surprises me which posts get a lot of comments and which ones don't. But as in my fishing days, I don't just drag something big and juicy behind the boat and wait for the big chomp. That's trolling. I'd rather spend time choosing the lure, working the shallows and deep pools, making a challenging cast. As a kid, I would start fishing as soon as the winter ice cleared from the waters. It was more fun than stamp collecting.

So what's the reason for this little apologia? Well, apparently, the high-traffic blogosphere is quickly getting snapped up by paid bloggers. People who are professors or professionals and who also make a little on the side writing for the big blogs. Many of these people had their own blogs not long ago, but were snapped up by newspapers, media organizations, and the bigger bloglomerates. Stephen Bainbridge has something more to say about this phenomenon. Of course, if it turned out that blogging was at all useful or profitable, then this was inevitable. The beauty of the internet is that there are still plenty of small ponds for people to cast a line in.

[HT - Instapundit]

Latin American Magical Realism

Today is Cinco de Mayo, which is to Mexican-Americans what St. Patrick's Day is to Irish-Americans: a day of national pride and celebration that gets far more attention in this country than it does in the homeland. In Mexico itself, Cinco de Mayo is not a Federal holiday, but a regional holiday that is primarily celebrated in the state of Puebla, where the battle memorialized by the holiday occurred.

The holiday brought to mind a bit of Latin American magical realism that happened to me recently. Les, one of the Staff Assistants on my floor (we used to call them secretaries in the old days) is a vastly entertaining person with a great sense of humor. She came up to me not long ago and said that she just had to tell me the dream she'd had because I was in it. In the dream, she saw me about to walk into the women's bathroom on our floor and she yelled after me "Marty, you can't go in there! That's the Ladies' Room!". But I turned to her and said "It's OK. I've got to put the Virgin Mary back." And she could see I was carrying a little statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. So, she just stepped back and let me through. I note here that Les isn't even Catholic, but for whatever dream-logic reason, the fact that I had Our Lady made it OK for me to barge into the Ladies' Room. I guess that in her dream-world there was a little grotto or shrine in the ladies room for the BVM.

This story, which she related to several people (as did I), was the source of a good deal of amusement for several days. (I guess that Les is prone to some wild dreams. The next day she told of how she'd dreamt that Bonnie, the mail room lady, a woman probably in her late 50s, was pregnant with sextuplets.) And my wife, who gets along famously with Les ("She's a hoot!") decided to continue the fun. The next weekend, we bought a huge religious candle depicting Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of Mexico, and installed it in the Ladies' Room on my floor. I would've liked to get a statue, but there are no Catholic stores in my small town. Ollie's came through for the candle. My wife did the installation honors after normal business hours; I didn't think the excuse I used in Les's dream would work for me.

Apparently, Les has an iron bladder, because all the other Staff Assistants noticed Our Lady days before Les did. She's been renamed, a little disrespectfully, "Our Lady of Gottapoope", and I understand she gets called on now and then to freshen the air.

Busy Busy Busy

Sorry I've not done too much writing, but things have been keeping me occupied.  Thursday I took a 1/2 day off to cook for the monthly meeting of Lincoln County Vietnam Veterans.  I made spaghetti---Scratch made sauce, homemade meatballs, and 2 different types of Italian Sausage---some from Wegmans, and the GOOD stuff, from Scime's on Delaware near Tacoma, for you Buffalo types.  Some salad and garlic bread, and I got the result I was looking for. 

People from "Around Here" have never eaten GOOD Italian food, and what passes for GOOD "Around Here" reminds me of Italian food like I ate on the USS Saratoga, where they were cooking for about 6000 people. I got comments like "best I think I've ever had", "you should go into the catering business", etc.  I just told the guys that when you've never eaten proper Italian-American food, it's a new experience.  I'm on Nutrisystem, so I didn't eat any of it.  I told the guys that if they wanted the recipe for the sauce, just watch "The Godfather, part I",  I just listened to what Capo Pete Clemenza said when he was making sauce in the movie, and did that.  Comes out pretty good too.

Friday was Vietnam Era Veteran's Recognition Day in Lincolnton, and we had 2 Army MOH recipients at a dinner for 400 County veterans who served (any branch or time) between 1961-1975. I had to be the "Chow Line Master at Arms", and keep everyone "tightened up" and the line moving.  I cut out early because I knew I'd be hearing the same speeches again on Saturday, and did some errands in town.

Saturday, after doing regular SAT AM stuff like trash and branches to the Landfill, and a run to town for dropping off dry cleaning and picking up some grub, I re-donned my MCL uniform with a clean shirt and headed over to West Lincoln High School for the Navy JROTC Awards ceremony.  I gave out Challenge Coins to the parents of the cadets who are graduating and joining the Marine Corps.   The school is about 1/2 mile down from my house.   

Back home for a quick change and out to the other end of the county for a "pig pickin' " with my good friends Mike and Rick Howie.  They put on 2 a year.

Sunday brought the yard work, a trip to Lowe's for some gear, and a workout at the YMCA. I forced myself to stay swimming laps after 30 min, hoping to do a full hour, until some kid who WASN'T wearing rubber swim pants decided to take a dump in the pool.   Spent the evening doing laundry and watching the first season episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" from 1955.  EXCELLENT TV---start ordering these old series dvd's from Netflix and you'll probably do what I did, cancelled all but basic service on my cable. What they show on HBO/Cinemax/Showtime/TMC  just isn't worth what they charge anymore.

Back to work today for a rest.  But 58 calls in 7 hours isn't much of a rest. 

I'll comment Wednesday on the NC Primary Election

Dissent or Descent?

One of the local ronpaulians where I work is an interesting, and typical, I think, case study on the natural progression of the type of person who might follow Ron Paul in the first place.  To protect both the innocent and the insane, we'll just call him Dale, which works on multiple levels.

Anywho, when I first started working at my current place of employment about three years ago, I got into an argument with one of my colleagues about the obviousness of liberal media bias for the MSM.  Sadly, despite having been a Republican in the past, this individual, unbeknownst to me at the time, was already in the grip of severe, and now terminal BDS -- even to the point of having voted for Mr. Hussein-Obama in the recent primaries, and not for strategic reasons.  I'm still working to at least prevent his BDS from mutating into its McCainian sub-strain, but I digress.  In frustration and unwillingness to observe simple examples of liberal MSM bias, this individual instructed that I should talk to "Dale" to find a like-minded compatriot.

So I did.  At the time, Dale was a lot like me in outlook, if perhaps a bit more bombastic.  A supporter of George W. Bush, the war in Iraq, and the greater "war on terror" as a whole, and a long-time Republican, at least here was someone (hadn't really gotten to know Marty yet) off of whom I could bounce ideas from time to time (when I could get a word in edge-wise, as Dale can be a bit dominant in conversations). 

It was during a field exercise, which entails a small team of engineers sitting in somewhat close and confined quarters for a couple weeks, isolated from friends and families, that I began to see signs of descent in Dale.  Naturally, politics is a common topic during these outings, as there's just not much else to do besides talking during the long work days in field exercises, and men being men, we talked about things that interested us. 

Then came up the Forbidden Topic of Doom™ (so named after this field exercise, of course):  the gold standard.  I, and those with me who were not Dale, listened for hours on end about how we as a country must, must! switch back to the gold standard if we are ever to emerge from the inevitable doom of the boom-bust cycle in which we have found ourselves.  All of this from Dale, of course.  Not being economists ourselves, or graduating from I Spent Two Hours On The Internet Reading About It University like Dale did, we obviously didn't have much ammunition against him apart from pointing out his lack of credentials ("shooting the messenger", of course, never mind how the messenger's credibility can, of course, impugn the veracity of the message) and the fact that our standard of living, when taken as an entire whole, vastly outstrips that of our forebears (refuted with "But it could be so much better if only we had stayed on a gold standard!", based, presumably, on his zeros of hours of economic modeling, simulation, and forecasting).

Of course, anyone who's spent any time whatsoever with a ronpaulian instantly knows that calls for a return to the gold standard are merely the mating call of the species.  I did not know this at the time, so we enjoyed a cordial conversation about the upcoming race, myself of course touting Fred Dalton Thompson (this was May 2007, back when such a thing was merely an exciting twinkle in my eye rather than a foregone conclusion (early fall 2007) or a sad reminder of things-that-could-have-been (November 2007 and on)), another being a fan of Romney, or Giuliani, or maybe McCain -- I forget precisely, and there was Dale, talking about some guy with two first names, Ron Paul.  "Isn't he a bit of a nutjob?", I sheepishly ask, based on the few snippets I had read by that time.  "I really like what he has to say," Dale responds, and then spouts a litany of policy positions -- limited government, strict constructionist Constitutional principles, fiscal responsibility, etc.  "Well, obviously I support those, but he's anti-war, right?"  "Yeah, well, I'm not so sure that's a bad thing", says Dale, ominously. 

Separate conversation a day later:  "Have you ever heard of false-flag terrorism?", Dale asks.  "Like when somebody pretends to be somebody else to start a war?"  "Yeah, I'm watching this video by Alex Jones..."  If you don't know anything about Alex Jones, well...  let's just say he's nuttier than a squirrel's turd, and leave it at that.  Of course, Dale watches this video, about the "secret history" of government-sponsored false-flag terrorism, with a completely uncritical eye, and takes much of it as gospel truth.  You know, because it "said so on the internet!"

We return back to our hometown.  In the coming weeks, Dale is sporting a "Ron Paul, America's Only Hope" shirt, drinking from one of those obnoxious "Ron Paul REVOLution" mugs, wearing Ron Paul buttons, plastering Ron Paul's face all over his office, talking him up every chance he gets, et cetera, ad nauseam.  Cue the next field exercise a short 2 or 3 months later.  Now we're on to full-blown "Ron Paul is the Only Man Who Can Save America!", spoken with that dead-behind-the-eyes look of a true cultist.  Mutterings of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, and other shadowy organizations follow.  Statements of belief mistaken for and asserted as statements of fact are made implying that only Ron Paul could muster enough votes to beat Hillary or Obama (or Edwards, at the time).  "Evidence" of his rising Intrade numbers is produced (and refuted).  The Crazy has truly set in with Dale, and Ron Paul becomes another Forbidden Topic of Doom™ at the field office (an injunction repeatedly broken, at great length, by Dale). 

This whole post was inspired by the capstone event in Dale's "evolution", witnessed by me this very morning.  In Dale's workspace, a bumper sticker.  A sticker, you ask, supporting Ron Paul's now-defunct campaign?  No, while Dale still stridently supports his man, not this time.  Rather, this was the text:  "FREE PALESTINE / END THE OCCUPATION". 

Ladies and gentlemen, I think I have sympathetic ears around here when I say that this is a truly sad and disgusting spectacle to behold.  From supporting American principles of democracy, classical liberalism, and freedom, to jumping on the Ron Paul bandwagon ostensibly in support of these very principles, to agitating for a death cult whose very charter dictates the destruction of the only genuine (albeit far from perfect) liberal democracy in its region, this describes a perfect, albeit not-yet-terminal, descent into incoherence and political fringe. 

My prediction:  before a year elapses, "Dale" will begin to express sympathy for socialist/Marxist/Maoist revolutionary groups -- you know, because if they're "against the war" then they must be worth listening to.  Lying down with dogs, waking up with fleas, and all that.  Where the terminus of this descent lay, I cannot say.  But it's frightening to behold.

May Day Roundup

It's May Day. As I told my running buddies in my weekly email, it's "the day when Commies, pagans, and children first come out to play". And I've been sitting around like the Maytag repairman, waiting for an idea for a short blog post. Oh, I've got several posts in the hopper, but they're kind of inchoate right now. If they ever come out, they'll be longer posts.

One idea that crossed my mind was to write a post on the question, "Why can't I write short posts?" Oh, it's not impossible for me to do it. It's just that many of my posts start out as a simple idea, and then they get longer and more discursive (definitions 1b, hopefully 2, and 3). But as the day went by, I saw several things around the blogosphere, each of which I could have spun into a long post. Instead, I'm putting out a May Day Roundup, a short bit on several things that have come round my way today. It's discursive, too, but more like definition 1a. I'll never challenge Instapundit's brevity (you need Glenn Reynolds' readership to get away with that), but maybe I'll end up boring my readers a bit less.

First, today is the Feast of the Ascension. As Mazurland's Religion Desk Editor, I've already written a short post on the Ascension a couple of years ago. I think the Holiday deserves a bit more meditation, but the time to write a longer post slipped away. For now, I think I can say that one of the lessons of the Ascension is that we are here for only a short time, and in that time we must be engaged in life and with each other, before we and our friends slip away.

Second, I got this link from Instapundit. It's an interesting (and long) meditation on why we should hope we never find life on Mars. And it's not for the reasons you might think: It will mean that in the long term, we, our civilization, mankind, is doomed. (No, I don't mean in the obvious ways, but from some mysterious cause.) Now, even if you disagree with some of the author's suppositions (scientific naturalism, standard evolutionary explanations, scientific hubris, etc.) it's a good read, and many of his arguments apply to all but the most God and miracle haunted universe (which may be our own).

Third, anybody with sense can see right through Obama's jettisoning of Rev, Jeremiah Wright. Wright's performances with Bill Moyers and in front of the National Press Club, both very sympathetic audiences, didn't help matters at all. And so Obama has finally decided the Reverend does not speak for him. But Wright has said far, far worse, over a long history of sermons, than he said to Moyers or the NPC. Why is it only now that Wright is unpalatable to Obama? Well, maybe after his political career is over, Obama can write an advice column for the lovelorn.

Finally, my son sent me a link to the Mother of All Mondegreens, a Bollywood music video "translated" into English. Enjoy.

[HT - Instapundit, Iowahawk, and Andy]

Foolishness and Ignorance of (some) Americans

It isn't in the Constitution, but I believe there IS a Consitiutional right to be an ignorant F**ktard in this country. I mean, with some of the stuff people write on the Internet, it's the only rational explanation.

I can understand that the ignorant and foolish among us don't understand Global Terrorism, the true meaning of Jihad, the goal of the Jihadists to eliminate Israel and  establish a planet covering Islamic Caliphate, etc. 

I also understand, or at least relate to, many on the political left that believe that our war against these forces of evil in Afghanistan and Iraq, among other places is bungling and intrigue whose fault lies at the feet of our President.  However, when our Warriors are mentioned, even most of the whackjobs say they support our Troops, especially those that are wounded.

The Marine Corps, in forming their Wounded Warrior Regiment, with Battalions at Camps Lejuene and Pendelton, have led the way in the care and treatment of returning wounded warriors from the fields and sands of SW Asia.  The Marine Corps League started the Marines Helping Marines Program, which assists these returning heroes in getting basic personal needs, and also to help relatives come to the hospitals to visit them, or for them to get transportation home to recuperate that they don't have to pay for out of pocket.  Mazurland (by Marty) has donated to this program.

I guess I'm kind of a "gossip junkie", from way back in the 70's when PEOPLE magazine first came out.   Now of course, the Internet has the "Buzz" from across the country much faster.  And for this type of news, I go to 2 websites. The Superficial, and Perez Hilton.com

Normally I wouldn't give the person behind the nom de plume Perez Hilton the time of day, as he's one of those "Flaming" type homosexuals, who is constantly in your face with his orientation.  But the guy has the scoop, and he always seems to have it first.  Perez doesn't wax political very often, sticks to gossip.  But he IS behind the troops.

He recently posted to his readers about another group that does what Marines Helping Marines does for ALL branches of the service, called the Wounded Warrior Project. No scam, many wounded warriors end up endorsing the help that they receive from the group.  Perez exhorted his readers to "donate to this very worthwhile cause".

Here's just a sample of some of the responses he got.

Don't give a f**k about America's troops---/I got my own problems.---/Our soldiers are NOT warriors. They are dumb barbarians killing innocent citizens for oil.---/They Fought for freedom? Don't make me laugh. They fought so George W Bush could get his grubby hands on THEIR oil.---/Your husband is a moron for even signing up. Why do you think when signing up they are called "privates"? It's cause they're OWNED. Why do you think they're given dog tags? Cause they are DOGS. ---/The only people in the military are people that couldn't get real jobs/

And the REAL killer diller:

Heros? HA! Since when does killing innocent Afghani people = a hero? All of you people with family in the service think they are God's gift to this country. Get over yourselves. Like I said before I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT AMERICA'S TROOPS! They signed up to kill people.

You can read the rest Over Yonder, but I'd recommend a good dose of anti-emetic first.

BTW, those who posted positively about this topic were mostly family members of Marines, or Marines themselves.  The cross that says "The most feared fighting force ever seen on this planet" is not an easy one to carry, but those serving today, and the veterans who served before them, carry it with joy.

Vote For This Man.

I'm reposting this excerpt, which was also posted by The Indispensable Geraghty™ over at The Campaign Spot, from still another source here, because I know there are still some folks here and elsewhere who have their serious doubts about John McCain: 

[Ret. Col. Bud] Day relayed to me one of the stories Americans should hear. It involves what happened to him after escaping from a North Vietnamese prison during the war. When he was recaptured, a Vietnamese captor broke his arm and said, "I told you I would make you a cripple."

The break was designed to shatter Mr. Day's will. He had survived in prison on the hope that one day he would return to the United States and be able to fly again. To kill that hope, the Vietnamese left part of a bone sticking out of his arm, and put him in a misshapen cast. This was done so that the arm would heal at "a goofy angle," as Mr. Day explained. Had it done so, he never would have flown again.

But it didn't heal that way because of John McCain. Risking severe punishment, Messrs. McCain and Day collected pieces of bamboo in the prison courtyard to use as a splint. Mr. McCain put Mr. Day on the floor of their cell and, using his foot, jerked the broken bone into place. Then, using strips from the bandage on his own wounded leg and the bamboo, he put Mr. Day's splint in place.

Years later, Air Force surgeons examined Mr. Day and complemented the treatment he'd gotten from his captors. Mr. Day corrected them. It was Dr. McCain who deserved the credit. Mr. Day went on to fly again.

Maybe he's not the exemplar of Reaganite conservatism.  But consider his character, and his story, and his courage, and his struggles -- and then consider that of his opponent, be it Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Hussein Obama.  This is a man for whom you must cast your vote.

Fewer Dead People To Vote In Coming Elections

The Supreme Court has made it harder for dead people to vote. In addition, illegal immigrants, convicted felons, and carpetbaggers may become disenfranchised. In a display of common sense that is becoming a hallmark of the Robert's Court, the Supremes voted 6-3 to allow Indiana to continue to demand that voters produce photo identification in order to vote. The ruling is expected to encourage other states to adopt similar measures. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote, in the broader of two opinions defending voter ID laws,

"The universally applicable requirements of Indiana's voter-identification law are eminently reasonable. The burden of acquiring, possessing and showing a free photo identification is simply not severe, because it does not 'even represent a significant increase over the usual burdens of voting."

What it does represent is a significant burden for the deceased and other segments of the Democratic constituency. Predictable protestations from aggrieved Democrats, from Nancy Pelosi on down, were heard.

Very Telling

David Berlinski, a researcher at the Discovery Institute and advocate of Intelligent Design, has written a piece here regarding the apparently recent embrace on the part of the scientific community of atheism.  The whole article is worth a read.  The one thing that struck me the most was the following three short paragraphs:

It is curious that so many scientists should have recently embraced atheism. The great physical scientists — Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, Clerk Maxwell, Albert Einstein — were either men of religious commitment or religious sensibility.

The distinguished physicist Steven Weinberg has acknowledged that this is what the great scientists believed: But we know better, he has insisted, because we know more.

This prompts the obvious question: Just what have scientists learned that might persuade the rest of us that they know better? It is not, presumably, the chemistry of Boron salts that has done the heavy lifting.

In other words, the last 200 years have not yielded any particular revelations or epiphanies regarding the nature of the universe that have so completely devastated the need for a belief in God as to have provided modern scientists with "free pass" on that account.  He goes on to speculate and refute both Darwinism and quantum cosmology as sources of this "enlightenment", and does so handily.  Perhaps, when such theories are genuinely mature and proven, they might diminish the "God of the Gaps", but my God is greater than any gap and is only made to loom larger when the light is shined on the darkness.

(HT:  Instapundit, who also links to this rather incoherent and somewhat bad-faith response by the increasingly shrill Godless Math Nerd™ John Derbyshire

The Restrainer Restrains No More?

My current daily Scriptural readings are from Revelation (those who call it "Revelations", please leave now), so the End of Days are, naturally, on my mind.  Now, I'm of two minds when it comes to eschatology.  The backwoods fundie in me (which, I confess, is no small part) is just waiting for the first signs of an impending astronomical encounter of meteoric proportions (and for the first crackpot to dub it "Wormwood"), and wouldn't be too terribly surprised to see a new and particularly nasty breed of insect in my lifetime.    Meanwhile, my rationalist side keeps insisting in a Dawkins-esque tone that the entire book was simply a coded message relevant primarily to the First Century church about the Roman Empire (note:  fortunately, my faith is strong enough that the obvious third way of "ravings of a madman in exile on a penal island" doesn't enter into it).  My rationalist side can be a real jerk sometimes.

But this post isn't about Revelation or the prophetic words therein.  Rather, it's about a somewhat uncharacteristic passage in an otherwise standard, if short, Epistle from Paul to the church in Thessaloniki.  In whole, the passage reads:

1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, 2  not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Now, there's a whole treasure-trove of theological and eschatological gold in there, but what I really want to focus on are the parts I emphasized above.  Before the coming of the "man of lawlessness" (generally viewed to be the Antichrist), some entity who restrains this lawlessness must be removed.  Generally, I've always understood this to be the Holy Spirit as applied to humanity as a whole (keeping us from engaging our basest instincts on a regular basis) rather than just to believers. 

Why does this come to my mind?  Well, I frequently read stories in the news like this, in which an Austrian man kept his own daughter secretly imprisoned in his basement for 24 years, repeatedly subjecting her to the worst forms of sick abuse,  or this, one of many sad stories of late in which a teacher treats the students under her care as her sexual playthings, and they keep appearing with increasing frequency. And like most sane people, I begin to wonder "why on earth would people do something like that?  Why would they think it's okay to do it?  Where would they even get that idea?".  And then that passage pops into my mind.

What if this cycle of sick perversion is a manifestation of The Restrainer being removed?  What if that safeguard instilled by God to keep us from complete moral,  cultural, and societal destruction is being "phased out"?  It would certainly go a long way in explaining why these genuine atrocities keep cropping up.

On the other hand, perhaps these sorts of things have been happening throughout human history.  Perhaps the recent prevalence of them is merely a byproduct of the 24-hour news cycle.  Cable News has got to fill every hour, so suddenly what was once relegated to the local police as a domestic situation, and heard about only through the local gossip-mills, now makes national and international headlines in an otherwise slow news day.  After all, the last century featured some of the worst and unrestrained degradation ever seen by mankind, and we're still here.

Whatever the answer is, my backwoods fundie is keeping his eyes peeled for a man of lawlessness.   

This post was cross-posted at The Only Red Shirt in the Landing Party

Culture For The Hinterlands

Regular readers know that I enjoy good vocal music: good popular songs, jazz classics, choral music, and even opera. I can't claim to be an opera buff, but I have more opera in my CD collection than the average person. But I don't listen to whole operas much. It's a big investment of time. If I'm in the mood, I'll put on a collection of arias. Or, I might put on an opera, but have it on as background while I'm doing something else. This is wrong. While opera is an aural art, it needs to be seen to be properly experienced.

I've seen several operas in my life, but never at a major opera venue. This approach also leaves a lot out of the experience of opera. If you've ever seen photos of one of the major opera venues - the Met, La Scala - you are struck by its dimensions. The size of the stage, the shape and verticalness of the hall, all add to the intimacy of the visual and aural experience. This aspect cannot be duplicated in a multi-purpose concert hall.

So do we have to make a pilgrimage to the Met and shell out hundreds for a ticket, not to mention transportation and lodging? Thankfully, no. The Met is now bringing the experience to us. I just spent the best $22 I've ever spent to see a live broadcast of Donizetti's La fille du régiment, in High-Definition, at a local, large screen theater. The Met is famous for its live radio broadcasts, which they have been doing for decades. But the new venture of bringing culture to the masses is being rightly acclaimed as the next best thing to being at the Met. And in some ways, it's better. Certainly as I watched from my seat at the State Theatre in Central Pennsylvania, I was not at the met, nor with the audience, and I was not experiencing the Met's matchless acoustics, But with the robotic HD cameras and superb sound engineering used for the broadcasts, I was closer to the action than I would likely ever be able to afford. I also saw some backstage action, and between-scenes interviews, conducted by Renée Fleming, with the stars.

And it was live. Before the show, the robotic camera swept over the audience and I could see well-dressed patrons of the arts chit-chatting, or digging their noses, while I sat in jeans and sneaks adjusting myself in my seat. The opera itself is captioned in English on the screen, making the story easy to follow. After the first act, Fleming swooped in to interview two principals, Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flórez, It was like an encounter between a sports info-babe with an athlete on his way to the locker room at half-time. The singers were out of breath and sweating from the exertions of singing and acting in this very demanding physical comedy. But Fleming is more gracious than a grating info-babe, and the principals quickly swallowed enough air to be charming and engaging in their interview.

And during the show, all I could do was marvel at the spectacle: the tremendous talent and concentration by all the artists that went in to making the performance of this demanding work seem easy and fun; the superb singing; the visual spectacle. It was all quite dazzling.

La fille du régiment is a comedy with a plot even more ridiculous than most other comedic operas. A lost infant girl raised to womanhood by a regiment of coarse soldiers? Every one of them her "Papa"? But she has sworn only to marry one from the regiment? And she in turn finds that she is in reality an heiress? Excuse me for not going on, because it gets even more silly. And this barely scratches the first of the two acts. But the show is rollicking fun!

Let me say this about the audience. It's been remarked that the audience for classical music is dying. The seats at most performances are filled with white and blue haired people. And while the demographic for the broadcast performance I attended was weighted toward the senior side, there were many well-behaved middle-schoolers, teens, and college kids. And I could tell that the enjoyment was spread across the spectrum. My wife, who is less an opera buff than I am, had a wonderful time. And now we're talking of making a pilgrimage to the Met itself.

Though I'd heard good things about the Met's HD broadcasts, I unfortunately booked tickets for the last show of the season. Now, I'm sorry I missed some of the earlier shows. But there will be an encore performance of Puccini's La bohème in a couple of weeks. Yet again unfortunately, it will not be shown in my town. See it if you can. It will change your mind about opera. And if you can't make the encore, the Met is expanding its program to eleven operas next season. It's a fantastic bargain.

Toppling The Bushel Basket

Mazurland's newest author worries on his blog whether he should "God-blog" at Mazurland. Ben, unlike the other Mazurland authors is not a cradle Catholic, though he was educated at a Catholic high school. While Mazurland isn't a "God-blog", we do a fair number of postings on religion. I call myself the Religion Desk Editor because I've probably done most of the posts on religious topics, but all Mazurland authors have, at times, either written religion-themed posts or commented on them. And while the other authors were all born Catholics, all of us have gone through various stages where we have been at a distance from the Church. Pondering the "ifs", we've all been around the theological block. Fill in the Mazurland names in the following if you can: one has come, if not full circle, at least to a new accommodation to the Church's teachings. Another is a believer who yet holds the Church, and maybe all organized religion, at arms length. One moved from agnosticism to a strong, but not Catholic faith, and has probably spent the greatest portion of all the Brothers engaging his faith. So this post is in part a note of encouragement to Ben to post here on whatever topic he sees fit. But especially, we encourage him to post on religion, a topic on which he has a lot of value to say. We would miss part of his voice if he did otherwise. Ben, don't keep your light under a bushel basket!

Speaking of missing a voice, regular readers of Catholic apologist Jimmy Akin's blog have been concerned over his near departure from the blogosphere in recent months. Jimmy seemed to have farmed off a lot of his theological blogging to several other authors who, while quite good, were not Jimmy. When Jimmy would return, he would often post on non-religious topics, such as economics, or his Sci-Fi hobby. Some of his fans got impatient. Com-boxes started filling up with squabbles and speculation. Some grumbled that Akin's much less frequent God-blogging was theologically thin gruel; they complained that he was not being forthcoming about the reasons for his absence (though he continued to be very busy editing Catholic Answers, the premier Catholic apologetics site); they even speculated on a coming apostasy. (One of Akin's other authors titled a post unrelated to the speculation "If Jesus Were Dead, He'd Be Turning Over in His Grave", but that title applied to some content of the com-boxes). I'm sure all this got on Akin's nerves. It may be that, like ur-Mazurlander Chris, he got a little burned out. But Jimmy's coming back. Slowly, but surely. He's writing more posts in the Defensor Fidei mode. Take a peek under the basket.
 

You Get What You Pay For

I read about an interesting free service in today's Wall Street Journal called ChaCha. It's meant for cellphone users who are looking for the answer to some question, but can't do an internet search, either because of their phone's lousy (or absent) web browser, or because they need to pay attention while driving, or some such thing.

If you're sitting in front of a computer, it's easy to look up information on the Web. It's almost as easy if you have a sophisticated cellphone with a decent Web browser and you're in a place with a good Internet connection where it's possible to type.

But what if you only have a standard cellphone with a lousy Web browser -- or even the best Web-browsing phone, but it lacks a fast data connection? What if you're speeding down the road in a car, where typing is dangerous?

Now, there's a way to get your questions answered despite those hurdles. It's a free cellphone service that lets you ask any question answerable via a Web search, using any cellphone, by simply making a voice call. It's called ChaCha, and I've been testing it out.

To use ChaCha, you just dial 800-2chacha (800-224-2242) and state your question. In a few minutes, you'll get an answer via text message.

I've always wondered how services like this make their money. Anyway, since it's free, I thought I'd give it a whirl. My first question was "How many US presidents were impeached, and who were they?" The good news is that I got a text message back within a couple minutes. The bad news is that the answer was wrong!

The text said "Only one US president- Andrew Johnson has been impeached". They gave this site as a source:

Only one US President - Andrew Johnson (who was tried but aquitted by one vote) Nixon resigned and Clinton avoided it narrowly.

Now most Mazurlanders know Clinton was also impeached, and that neither he, nor Johnson was convicted (removed from office). Well if ChaCha could screw up an easy question so quickly, I wondered how they would handle something harder. My next question was "Mazurland (I spelled it for them) Blog recently added a new author. What is his name, and does he have an arrest record?"

Their response was "Ben Thompson is joining the crew and will be posting soon for Mazurland blog. I could find no arrest record for Ben. Thanks!" Their source was Mazurland's front page. (Yay! One more hit)

Great. Another two minute response. Problem is, now I'm not sure whether or not I can believe them.

Terror In The Skies

Over at Fox News, they're currently headlining the development of a personal combat glider.  Take the time to click that link and check out the picture of the most badass flyboy to ever hit the skies.  And then come back here, and imagine that weapons package implemented on a wider scale.  Then imagine this guy strapped into a pair of those wings, screaming toward you at 135 mph,  sidearm in one hand, can of whoopass in the other.  And be much afraid. 

p.s. To the powers-that-be:  there's a typo in the banner above.  You misspelled "Hank and Ben's Alternating Blog-o-Rama" as M-A-Z-U-R-L-A-N-D, whatever that's supposed to mean. 

Welcoming our Warriors Home

Chris reminded me in his comment on my last post that our Vietnam warriors didn't get much of a reception when they got home.  He's right.  Most of them had epithets hurled at them, along with baggies of dog shit.  They were called every nasty thing that you can think of.  Worst part of it, was that most of the Soldiers and Marines who served in Vietnam were DRAFTED.  Is it no wonder that 40 odd years after they returned they still harbor resentment??

Our modern warriors have been taught their history. That's why the Desert Storm Victory Parade in DC was led off by a huge cadre of Vietnam Veterans, organized by the Vietnam Veterans of America.  It might have taken a couple of dozen years, but when America finally had another land victory by force of arms, we remembered to recognize and honor our Vietnam vets FIRST.  For many of them, it was the first time anyone had ever shown them any appreciation for what they endured. And they DID endure.

I traveled to Severn, MD last month for the Marine Corps League Mid-East Division Conference.  Severn is about 10 miles from BWI Airport, where planeloads of our Warriors fly in from Iraq and Afghanistan.  Some of us early arrivals were in the hospitality room enjoying an adult beverage, when the Mid-East Division National Commandant came in and said ---Anyone want to go out to BWI and welcome our warriors back to the USA??  Like he had to ask.  A plane load was about 40 minutes out.

We jumped in some vans and headed to the airport.  We stood on the sides of a long hallway, where the troops would come in through large double doors.  We knew that of the 246 troops hitting USA soil for the first time in over a year, there would be only 12 Marines, but to a veteran, it makes no difference.  We Marine Corps Leaguers were in our Red Blazers and Red fore and aft caps (Pisscutters) so we were very noticeable in the front rank of the crowd, which consisted of family members, Legionaires, VFW's, Amvets, and about 10 other national veteran's groups--some of which I never heard of .  There had to be 700 people in this space. 

And the troops came in---straight from the field.. Some still had sand on their boots, rifles in hand, and carrying very heavy backpacks, helmets and seabags.  The place went wild. Applause, cheering, screaming like I've not heard since I last saw a recording of a Beatles concert.  The looks on their faces told it all. And I'll swear there wasn't a dry eye in the house.  A huge Marine --he had to be 6' 6", saw me and the FMF Corpsman's pin on my lapel and said SEMPER FI, DOC!!!  And I stuck out my hand and said SEMPER FI!! Welcome Home Marine!!, And he PICKED ME UP and danced down the hallway with me for about 10 feet.  I had just started my diet so at 349, picking me up at ALL is a trick.  When he set me down I told him---I know EXACTLY how you feel, I did this 24 years ago!  He replied to me "It's great to still be alive, in once piece, and back in the USA."  I know how THAT feels too. Nothing feels better to return to the land of Cold Beer, 7-11, and the best country on the planet. 

If you're going to be in the Baltimore/Washington DC area, and you'd like to welcome home America's Best, let me know and I'll put you in touch with the Marine Corps League people who make sure the airport is full of veterans and supporters for these heroes.

More Unintended Consequences From Your Friend, The Nanny State

The NYT chronicles the interesting side-effect of a state-wide ban on indoor smoking in Minnesota:  participation (and revenue) in charity gambling events such as Bingo have precipitously fallen immediately after the passage of the ban law. 

Now, I hate smoking.  Both my parents were smokers for a very long time, and I resented them for it because they did it around me.  My uncle died from smoking.  I detest even the faintest aroma of cigarette smoke, which makes me nauseous.  So a part of me roots for smoking bans, within reason (sorry, Marty).

And then the free market, libertarian, small-government part of me slaps some sense back into me.  Some restaurant allows smoking?  Don't go there!  All the bars have smoking?  Seriously, if you have that hangup, what are you doing in bars?  If enough people "vote with their pocketbook", the market will decide behavior -- as indicated by a large number of restaurants already jettisoning their smoking sections and not feeling the slightest pinch financially because of it. 

Another example of unintended consequences:  back in 2006, my former home state, Arkansas, passed a statewide smoking ban with the exception of restricted-access venues (bars/clubs/etc., who card at the door).  Result?  A popular pizza joint in Little Rock, in protest, changed itself to a 21-and-over "club", thereby cutting off a sizable portion of its clientèle.  How do I know this?  Because back in 2006, when I was home for my grandmother's funeral, "the kids" all decided to go to this locale for some comfort food.  My wife, at the time 27 years old, did not bring her purse with her -- after all, she was not driving, she was not paying, and we weren't planning on doing any drinking.  No purse, no ID.  So we all sat down to enjoy some classically good pizza, when the waitress was forced to "card" the whole table.  My wife being unable to produce any ID, we were promptly told to leave.  So thanks a whole effing lot, Nanny State.

But this is only the smallest link in the chain of unintended consequences when The Government tries to decide for us how best to live our lives.  If only someone had written a book about the potential consequences of ostensibly well-intended modern liberalism in this country...

When I Get Fed Up

There are things I like to look at to "get my mind right" after dealing with people like the Ron Paul taint lickers at FNY, or just reading comments on blogs that are so negative about our country, our military and those who sacrifice their youth, and sometimes their lives so the asshats that inhabit this country can be asshats.

This is one of the things I have to look at when I get so fed up I could just puke my guts out, thinking about what and how much I gave up in the 1/5th of my life that I gave to my country. And the putrid breathing scumbags that I sacrificed my youth for.  Hell, I could have gone to college and law school, and spent the rest of my life pontificating about how I'm right, and the world is wrong!

What Blogging Is--And What Some Think It Is.

Lots of people have blogs. Blogs are places you can write your "Random Thoughts", for others to see and comment on. That's what makes the Blogosphere so large. You name the subject, and there's probably a blog for it written by someone, somewhere on the planet.

But our pals at Free New York look at blogging (no surprise) from a whole different perspective. Here's what they think Blogging is:

Author makes a post.  If you want to comment, you must have "Facts" and "make your Argument".   Perhaps this comes from JO being a lawyer, I don't know.   What I do know is High School was over 33 years ago, and I never WAS on the debate team.  But I'm a full grown 51 year old man, and I have my opinions on lots of subjects.  And I can give them without citing Lew Rockwell.com, The Ron Paul Newsletters and the Mises Institute as the source of my "held opinion", if you will.

But I didn't realize that you couldn't make a comment on a blog that is simply your own opinion.  You can of course, unless you're one of JO's cabal of libertarian wing-nuts. 

For example---One of the "FNY Cabal"  makes a post on the "Ron Paul Smear"---not any longer the fault of the Media, but from the CATO institute and the people who fund it.  God freakin' forbid that Ron Paul "Smeared" himself because he's a doddering senile moron with ideas that turned off the American Public like a light switch.

If you want to Comment, you are expected to "state your facts" and "make a cogent argument".  If you just want to say, for example-- RON PAUL S**KS---then you must refute all the reasons that Ron Paul DOESN'T S**K, and then present all your arguments, backed up by "the facts" that Ron Paul DOES S**K.

What, in all the various kinds of bovine fecal effluvia  that permeates the planet, is THAT bullshit is beyond me.

I also had to explain what a "Tinfoil Hat" was to JO today.  So I guess it's true that paranoid schizophrenics don't know that they cover their windows and their heads with tinfoil to keep the "NEW WORLD ORDER" from energizing the living room telescreen to further indoctrinate them with Neo-Conservative propaganda--It just makes them feel better !!!

And here I was looking for something to post about......

I Stand Corrected

Okay, fine, maybe I won't stop posting.  But that doesn't mean I have to say anything meaningful!  For those of you feeling a bit less than enamored with the Republican nominee, read this article over at the Weekly Standard by P.J. O'Rourke.  It's largely about the time he spent on the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt, and what that aircraft carrier says about the character of John McCain, who launched from such a vessel back in his Navy days.  Key point:

Some say John McCain's character was formed in a North Vietnamese prison. I say those people should take a gander at what John chose to do--voluntarily. Being a carrier pilot requires aptitude, intelligence, skill, knowledge, discernment, and courage of a kind rarely found anywhere but in a poem of Homer's or a half gallon of Dewar's. I look from John McCain to what the opposition has to offer. There's Ms. Smarty-Pantsuit, the Bosnia-Under-Sniper-Fire poster gal, former prominent Washington hostess, and now the JV senator from the state that brought you Eliot Spitzer and Bear Stearns. And there's the happy-talk boy wonder, the plaster Balthazar in the Cook County political crèche, whose policy pronouncements sound like a walk through Greenwich Village in 1968: "Change, man? Got any spare change? Change?"

But read the whole thing. 

Bigger Holiday Tomorrow

Tomorrow, as it turns out, is "Tax Freedom Day", the day when the average American has earned enough money to pay his tax obligations.  I was actually going to post this... err... elsewhere, but I wanted to shame the powers-that-be into posting a bit more.  New policy for me:  three uninterrupted posts and I'm done!  You'll hear from me again when there's some buffer between spots.

(HT:  John J. Miller)
 

Obama and the Press

I hope I don't get in trouble with the powers-that-be for linking a lefty blog, but here's an interesting comment about Mr. Hussein-Obama and the fact that he apparently hasn't talked to the press in 10 days -- right before what may be the most pivotal primary of the Dem campaign season.  Now I don't care much about waffles, and I can't hold it against any candidate who snaps at obnoxious reporters, but the blogger rhetorically quotes Kevin Drum, who asks

Obama just doesn't give the press much access, sometimes shutting them down for weeks at a time. Why? Does this make sense to anyone else as a campaign strategy? I'm baffled by it.

Of course, when the rhetorical phone rings, I answer it!  And the answer is painfully obvious to non-cult-members neutral outside observers:  Whenever Obama opens his mouth extemporaneously (as one might in a press conference, having been asked unplanned and unprompted questions), he apparently just digs his bitter little hole that much deeper.  Thus, it's in his best interest to stay away from such situations.  And since The Press is so beholden to him, so completely and unabashedly in his camp, they're not going to complain in large enough or loud enough numbers to make a difference. 

(HT: Glenn Reynolds)