Time to Reboot: New Year!

... a very good description, I thought, of beginning a new year.
Recently the Wall Street Journal posed the following three questions to a variety of well-known persons:
1. What professional project do you hope to accomplish this year?
2. What personal resolutions do you plan to keep?
3. What problems can you tackle more effectively?
The replies tell us that Mitt Romney plans to stop sleeping fully dressed in a suit, that Wolfgang Puck needs to spend more time with his family, and that Martha Stewart still can't give a straight answer...

What about you all? what do you hope to do or not do this year? Give it some thought.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZACHARY

Hip hip hooray, seventeen today.

When your birthday is done, you're much richer and fatter,
and the Bird flies you home on a nice silver platter...
Today is your birthday! Today You are You.
So what if it costs me a thousand or two?

( Don't you wish.).

We are very glad you were born.

Christmas Reflections

First Coming by Madeleine L'Engle

He did not wait till the world was ready,
till men and nations were at peace.
He came when the Heavens were unsteady,
and prisoners cried out for release.

He did not wait for the perfect time.
He came when the need was deep and great.
He dined with sinners in all their grime,
turned water into wine. He did not wait

till hearts were pure. In joy He came
to a tarnished world of sin and doubt.
To a world like ours, of anguished shame
He came, and His Light would not go out.

He came to a world which did not mesh,
to heal its tangles, shield its scorn.
In the mystery of the Word made Flesh
the Maker of the stars was born.

We cannot wait till the world is sane
to raise our songs wih joyful voice,
for to share our grief, to touch our pain,
He came with Love: Rejoice! Rejoice!

Wherever you are this Advent season... South Korea... Latin America... France... Germany...various regions of the US.... I hope that you will celebrate the Maker of the stars and the Mystery of the Word made flesh. May the reality of living on a visited planet give you hope and joy.

In the beginning was the Word.. and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us...

Headline: Top of the Class

Come, Tribe Davis! Let us raise our classes to Mother Dearest, who finished her murderous online master's degree with a straight A, completing more credit hours in a semester than I do in a year of St. John's!

Congratulations, Mum, and may the academic accolades rain upon your head! I'll raise my glass (several) to you!

HEADLINE: TOP OF THE CLASS

News Flash: Homeschooled student Zachary Davis took the top grade in his class in Freshman Composition at Sauk Valley Community College for the fall semester, walking out with A's in both Composition and Creative Writing.

Congratulations for making the President's List, Zachary!

Way to go!!!! You homeschooled kids rock.

castles

We went castle hopping yesterday.

Hello from Germany

Abby and Oma send their greetings from Germany.

Yesterday we went to Rudesheim to go to the Christmas markets there. We took one of Nate’s work friends with us, and it was fun. He was nice and just enjoying being out of the barracks. We went around to a lot of the stands and I got some cheap gifts/decorations, which I may or may not keep for myself. :-p We also got some gluhwein–and kept the mugs. After walking around for a while we split up and the guys went to grab some food/drink while I took Caedmon to see the donkey, rabbits, and sheep that they have in the petting zoo there. The machines for the food weren’t working and it started raining so we went walking down to see if they had the pony rides like they did previous years. They did, and Caedmon thought seeing the ponies was great. So when we met up with Nate again we let Caedmon ride one. I thought it was really cheap–2,50euro for 4 rounds, you lead the pony. Caedmon was all excited about it until he got on and then he started yelling about wanting to ride a different one. But it was still cute. Afterwards he didn’t want to leave, so we walked him down a little further and let him ride the train. That was just scary because he wouldn’t sit down. After that we walked to a little cafe and had some coffee, then went home. It was a fun afternoon, can't wait to take you Germany-bound folks to some of the markets. :-)

Christmas Markets

They're open, cant wait to go to more of them. :-)

Happy Thanksgiving, all you turkeys!

A man in Phoenix calls his son in New York the day before Thanksgiving and says,"I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of misery is enough.

"Pop, what are you talking about?" the son screams. We can't stand the sight of each other any longer," the father says. "We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her."

Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone. "Like heck they're getting divorced," she shouts, "I'll take care of this,"

She calls Phoenix immediately, and screams at her father, "You are NOT getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?" and hangs up.

The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. "Okay," he says, "they're coming for Thanksgiving and paying their own way."

Isaac is a daddy!

I'm amazed.

Close but no Moshiach

If anyone remembers last year, James Cameron, the documentarist of "The Lost Tomb of Jesus", claimed to have discovered Jesus' tomb - with Jesus still in it. There were rather disturbing implications from this, not the least of them being the dissolution of Christianity, were these claims substantiated by fact.

However, such claims were in fact unsubstantiated:
"Amos Kloner, the first archaeologist to examine the site, said the idea fails to hold up by archaeological standards but makes for profitable television. Kloner said that of 900 burial caves found within four kilometers (two and a half miles) of Jerusalem's Old City and from the same era, the name Jesus or Yeshua was found 71 times, and that "Jesus son of Joseph" had also been found."

Apparently the names "Mary", "Joseph", and "Jesus" were some of the most common names in the period. I also find it likely Jewish leaders would attempt to fabricate such a site if they could not produce the body of Christ.

I think Cameron knew this all along, and his documentary (released prior to the publication of the squashing) was merely a clever way to make money for himself. For exploiting such a clever opportunity he should be commended. For blaspheming he is probably damned.

Pachabel Marries Metal

I have long thought classical music, if properly arranged, would excel in the metal setting. Instead of a chamber orchestra we have a metal band in place. What would great string music sound like on an electric guitar? The guitar and violin have roughly the same range and are similar enough that I thought it would be perfect. Two years ago at HoneyRock, a Service Teamer played part of Vivaldi's Summer Concerto on the electric guitar and it was great. Now I found something even better than that fragment: Pachabels' Canon in D....on the electric guitar.

Watch it for yourself (and note how many views/comments it has).It is amazing. If your interest is perked, search for Vivaldi and Bach metal arrangements...you won't be disappointed.

Politics

Those who propose to take charge of the affairs of government should not fail to remember two of Plato's rules: first, to keep the good of the people so clearly in view that regardless of their own interests they will make their every action conform to that; second, to care for the welfare of the whole body politic and not in serving the interests of some one party to betray the rest. For the administration of the government, like the office of a trustee must be conducted for the benefit of those entrusted to one's care, not of those to whom it is entrusted. Now, those who care for the interests of a part of the citizens and neglect another part, introduce into the civil service a dangerous element — dissension and party strife. The result is that some are found to be loyal supporters of the democratic, others of the aristocratic party, and few of the nation as a whole.

All this the citizen who is patriotic, brave, and worthy of a leading place in the state will shun with abhorrence; he will dedicate himself unreservedly to his country, without aiming at influence or power for himself; and he will devote himself to the state in its entirety in such a way as to further the interests of all. Besides, he will not expose anyone to hatred or disrepute by groundless charges. but he will surely cleave to justice and honour so closely that he will submit to any loss, however heavy, rather than be untrue to them, and will face death itself rather than renounce them. {87} A most wretched custom, assuredly, is our electioneering and scrambling for office. Concerning this also we find a fine thought in Plato: "Those who compete against one another," he says, "to see which of two candidates shall administer the government, are like sailors quarrelling as to which one of them shall do the steering." And he likewise lays down the rule that we should regard only those as adversaries who take up arms against the state, not those who strive to have the government administered according to their convictions.

It's a shame really. We should read more Cicero.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABBY!

My goodness, can it be possible? Baby Abby is fifteen!!

If you'd never been born then you might be a Wasn't.
A Wasn't has no fun at all, no he doesn't!

You take some pretty cool pics.

Have a super day! and a best Fifteen ever.

Good bye Focus on the Family

I took the following segment from an Associated Press article:

"Terrorist strikes on four American cities. Russia rolling into Eastern Europe. Israel hit by a nuclear bomb. Gay marriage in every state. The end of the Boy Scouts.
All are plausible scenarios if Democrat Barack Obama is elected president, according to a new addition to the campaign conversation called "Letter from 2012 in Obama's America," produced by the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family Action." Lots of groups Christian groups have criticized Obama, "but among the strongest pieces this year is Focus on the Family Action's letter which has been posted on the group's Web site and making the e-mail rounds. Signed by "A Christian from 2012," it claims a series of events could logically happen based on the group's interpretation of Obama's record, Democratic Party positions, recent court rulings and other trends.
Among the claims:
• A 6-3 liberal majority Supreme Court that results in rulings like one making gay marriage the law of the land and another forcing the Boy Scouts to "hire homosexual scoutmasters and allow them to sleep in tents with young boys." (In the imagined scenario, The Boy Scouts choose to disband rather than obey).
• A series of domestic and international disasters based on Obama's "reluctance to send troops overseas." That includes terrorist attacks on U.S. soil that kill hundreds, Russia occupying the Baltic states and Eastern European countries including Poland and the Czech Republic, and al-Qaida overwhelming Iraq.
• Nationalized health care with long lines for surgery and no access to hospitals for people over 80.
The goal was to "articulate the big picture," said Carrie Gordon Earll, senior director of public policy for Focus on the Family Action. "If it is a doomsday picture, then it's a realistic picture," she said.
Obama favors abortion rights and supports civil unions for same-sex couples, but says states should make their own decisions about marriage. He said he would intensify diplomatic pressure on Iran over its nuclear ambitions and add troops in Afghanistan.
On taxes, Obama has proposed an increase on the 5 percent of taxpayers who make more than $250,000 a year and advocates cuts for those who make less. His health care plan calls for the government to subsidize coverage for millions of Americans who otherwise couldn't afford it.
One of the clear targets of this latest conservative Christian push against the Democrat is younger evangelicals who might be considering him. The letter posits that young evangelicals provide the margin that let Obama defeat John McCain. But Margaret Feinberg, a Denver-area evangelical author, predicted failure.
"Young evangelicals are tired — like most people at this point in the election — and rhetoric which is fear-based, strong-arms the listener, and states opinion as fact will only polarize rather than further the informed, balanced discussion that younger voters are hungry for," she said.

To be honest, I stopped taking Focus on the Family seriously about the same time I wrote off Joshua Harris. America is not and never has been a New Israel-style theocracy. Sure, even some of the Founding Fathers liked to conjure up images and hint at values that suggested that, but only as ploys to galvanize more popular support for the Revolution. Most of the issues about which Focus on the Family is concerned are not platform issues. Gay rights is not, and won't be until Obama has an opportunity to nominate a Supreme Court justice. And unless Democrats are a 2/3 majority in the Senate at that time, the Republicans can still block any nominee they dislike, so I don't understand the alarm. In the segment cited above, they mention worries about long lines for health care. Are they worried because more people will have access to it? Ugh. Good bye Focus on the Family. You sold your brain to religion.

Happy Anniversary!

Hope you get to enjoy it! :-)

Powell endorsement

Anyone notice who fmr. Gen. Powell endorsed tonight? Any guesses? Any guesses as to why? Watch his endorsement of Obama, and listen to the the clarity and urgency of his message.

limited socialism

WASHINGTON - You won't find it in his campaign ads, but Barack Obama let slip his plans to become a modern-day Robin Hood in the White House, confiscating money from the rich to give to the poor.
MORE: Mac's Tax Ax A Saving Grace
MORE: O Poster Expelled At City HS
MORE: McCainiac Names Tot After GOP Ticket
MORE: Barack Backs Away From ACORN
Conservatives yesterday ripped Obama after he was caught on video telling an Ohio plumber that he intends to take the profits of small-business owners and "spread the wealth around" to those with lesser incomes.
showvideo("PostElections","1458_396214");
The fracas over Obama's tax plan broke out Sunday outside Toledo when Joe Wurzelbacher approached the candidate.
Wurzelbacher said he planned to become the owner of a small plumbing business that will take in more than the $250,000 amount at which Obama plans to begin raising tax rates.
"Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn't it?" the blue-collar worker asked.
After Obama responded that it would, Wurzelbacher continued: "I've worked hard . . . I work 10 to 12 hours a day and I'm buying this company and I'm going to continue working that way. I'm getting taxed more and more while fulfilling the American Dream."
"It's not that I want to punish your success," Obama told him. "I want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance for success, too. WASHINGTON - You won't find it in his campaign ads, but Barack Obama let slip his plans to become a modern-day Robin Hood in the White House, confiscating money from the rich to give to the poor.
MORE: Mac's Tax Ax A Saving Grace
MORE: O Poster Expelled At City HS
MORE: McCainiac Names Tot After GOP Ticket
MORE: Barack Backs Away From ACORN
Conservatives yesterday ripped Obama after he was caught on video telling an Ohio plumber that he intends to take the profits of small-business owners and "spread the wealth around" to those with lesser incomes.

The fracas over Obama's tax plan broke out Sunday outside Toledo when Joe Wurzelbacher approached the candidate.
Wurzelbacher said he planned to become the owner of a small plumbing business that will take in more than the $250,000 amount at which Obama plans to begin raising tax rates.
"Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn't it?" the blue-collar worker asked.
After Obama responded that it would, Wurzelbacher continued: "I've worked hard . . . I work 10 to 12 hours a day and I'm buying this company and I'm going to continue working that way. I'm getting taxed more and more while fulfilling the American Dream."
"It's not that I want to punish your success," Obama told him. "I want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance for success, too.

Doesn't sound too bad to me. A mixed socialist-capitalist economy is a good thing for the middle class, when guided by natural morality, rather than marxist determinism.

An Argument for the Existence of the God of Abraham

There are two ways a thing can exist. It can exist contingently, or it can exist necessarily. A thing is contingent if its existence is contingent on the existence of other things, and if it could be different (or not exist at all) without causing a logical contradiction. So to give an example, I am contingent, because my existence is contingent on the existence of my parents. I am also contingent because I could have had black hair instead of blonde without this causing some kind of logical contradiction in the nature of the universe.

For a thing to be necessary in its existence, it would have to rely on the existence of nothing else for its own existence, and everything else would have to rely on the existence of that necessary substance for their existence. Now we know that there must exist some necessary substance, because it is impossible to imagine a time when nothing existed. If nothing existed, nothing could have ever come to exist. So since there is existence now, something has always existed.

It could be, of course, that the cosmos is the necessary substance, and as has been pointed out by many atheists, "The Universe Just Exists." However, we also must realize that our cosmos is only one of many possible cosmos which may have existed in time, and also if our cosmos had been arranged differently, it would cause no logical contradiction. For example the Earth could just as easily have been the fourth, rather than the third, planet from the sun. But if the universe could exist differently from it now exists without causing a logical contradiction, the universe could not exist at all without causing a logical contradiction. As a result, we can say that the universe displays all the characteristics of a contingently existing substance. Therefore there must be some necessary substance, which is something other than matter, energy, etc, i.e a metaphysical substance, which is the exnihilator of the cosmos.

But if it is a necessary substance, it has to be a substance which could not be otherwise than what it is. So what are some traits that we can attribute to the necessary substance?

A.) It must be one. The idea of having two necessary substances is a contradiction, because each has to rely on nothing else in order to exist, and everything must rely upon each of them for its own existence. But if neither relies on the other to exist neither is necessary, and if either does, one is unnecessary.

B.) It must be metaphysical and indivisible. If it had contingent parts, like matter or energy, it would be contingent on their existence and therefore unnecessary.

C.) It must be alive. The principle that unites plants, animals, humans, and everything else that is alive is the principle of self-locomotion. They are capable of moving themselves. If this necessary substance is truly the exnihilator of the universe, relying on nothing else to have moved it in order for it to begin the movements that gave birth to our cosmos, then this thing lives.

D.) It must be perfectly good. A thing is "good" when it fulfills its end or function. When it fails to fulfill its natural end or function we say it is "bad". E.G, a bad tire is a flat one, because it is not fulfilling its function of helping our car move along the road. But since the existence of our necessary substance is logically necessary, it could not logically be otherwise than what it is. Therefore it logically must perfectly fulfill its natural end, and therefore it must be perfectly good.

Thus we find that the existence of the universe is logically reliant upon the existence of one incorporeal living and perfectly good God exactly like the kind revealed in The Hebrew Bible.

... and the winner IS....

Hip, Hip, Hooray, three cheers for Chicago Marathon Runner ELENA DAVIS, who finished YES FINISHED the course, all 26.2 miles through 29 Chicago neighborhoods. There were 45,000 runners and three other Elenas who were cheered by our sign but our Elena was the best of them all. You go, girl! ¡Sí, se puede!

guess where we went this weekend?

The Second Argerich Explodes

The more I hear of Irena Koblar's music, the more I like it. It's not often that a young pianist of this caliber is so powerful - most pianists don't mature and become truly great until their 50s or so; take Rubinstein, Horowitz, and Zimerman for example. That aside, Ms. Koblar's performances more often than not leave me breathless. Consider her recording of Beethoven's Piano Sonata Op. 10 No.3 in D major. What power and sensitivity! It was strongly reminiscent of the young Argerich from the 60s, winning the International Chopin Competition.

She has more than dazzling virtuosity; I have heard pianists with little else and though they may dazzle, they play without soul. (Lang Lang and such pianists are good examples) Ms. Koblar has plenty of soul. Her Scarlatti is dramatic without becoming Romantic gush, her early Beethoven rings clear and Classically true but her poetic depth is amazing considering her age. She dominates the keyboard (just watch her attack and posture!) without making it an empty instrument, again, something that normally is acquired through age and experience.

So many times women pianists flee to one of two extremes - overly sentimental or too dominating - Bianca Sitzius is a good example of the latter, Dubravka Tomsic of the former save for her Bach recordings. Yet Argerich and Irena Koblar were and are different. They have both, and Koblar, while she may never reach the emotional depth that Zimerman creates, nor the overwhelming virtuosity of Hamelin, has a confidence, interpretation, and technique all her own, and I say that it is good.

Her maturity, poetics, virtuosity, and faithful interpretations of the masters make her in my opinion one of the top young pianists in the world. This was her first concert - may she have many more, and have a long, distinguished career!

Finally, she is absolutely beautiful. It's rare for looks and art to be so well matched!

So much for the Cubs

How infuriating that they can't even win one game in the playoffs! What is their problem?? The best record in the National League and they still can't manage even one win in the playoffs. I say get someone who can hit and get rid of those who can't. This kind of embarassing loss is simply disgusting.

Bloodbath

Well, scanning the recent polls has been encouraging. An Associated Press article I read this morning suggested that the Democrats might gain as many as nine seats in the Senate this November. This is almost a bigger deal for me than the Presidential election, because the President can't get much of anything done without the Senate. On top of that "With Republicans fearing the loss of 17 to 21 House seats, January 2009 could bring Democrats a dominance over Washington that neither party has experienced since the Reagan years."

You know, American historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. predicted the Republican party would collapse. He actually suggested that would happen in the late 90's or just after the turn of the century, but of course couldn't figure in 9/11 and the Iraq war. The pendulum will eventually swing back to the center, and I think that third parties will play a stronger role in national politics very soon. Not sooner than 2012 of course: the Democrats will get their chance to soil the dough. I predict that Obama will win in November with a slim Electoral college majority and a small but clear majority in the popular vote. If the Republicans get slaughtered in the Congressional elections, then our national politics are going to change more dramatically than any of us have ever seen. I predict the Republicans will take a heavy beating. What happens after that is up to the Democrats and Obama.

Last Night's Debate

My expectations were that it was going to be pure entertainment with little substantive content...certainly true of Palin but I came away with a lot more respect for Biden. He was incisive and clear without resorting to the condescension of the past or compromising his message, all without making one of his characteristic gaffes (this has to be one of the best). 

 

Both parties were very cordial-great to see politicians strongly disagreeing without getting nasty. 

I don't know if "this is most important election of [our] lives", but there are certainly enough pertinent issues afloat (hot damn! the House just passed the bailout) for me to hope that the purple states head to the voting booths in November. 

The Government is to Blame for the Financial Crisis.

Congress has balked at the Bush administration's proposed $700 billion bailout of Wall Street. Under this plan, the Treasury would have bought the "troubled assets" of financial institutions in an attempt to avoid economic meltdown.

This bailout was a terrible idea. Here's why:

The current mess would never have occurred in the absence of ill-conceived federal policies. The federal government chartered Fannie Mae in 1938 and Freddie Mac in 1970; these two mortgage lending institutions are at the center of the crisis. The government implicitly promised these institutions that it would make good on their debts, so Fannie and Freddie took on huge amounts of excessive risk.

Worse, beginning in 1977 and even more in the 1990s and the early part of this century, Congress pushed mortgage lenders and Fannie/Freddie to expand subprime lending. The industry was happy to oblige, given the implicit promise of federal backing, and subprime lending soared.

This subprime lending was more than a minor relaxation of existing credit guidelines. This lending was a wholesale abandonment of reasonable lending practices in which borrowers with poor credit characteristics got mortgages they were ill-equipped to handle.

Once housing prices declined and economic conditions worsened, defaults and delinquencies soared, leaving the industry holding large amounts of severely depreciated mortgage assets.

The fact that government bears such a huge responsibility for the current mess means any response should eliminate the conditions that created this situation in the first place, not attempt to fix bad government with more government.

The obvious alternative to a bailout is letting troubled financial institutions declare bankruptcy. Bankruptcy means that shareholders typically get wiped out and the creditors own the company.

Bankruptcy does not mean the company disappears; it is just owned by someone new (as has occurred with several airlines). Bankruptcy punishes those who took excessive risks while preserving those aspects of a businesses that remain profitable.

In contrast, a bailout transfers enormous wealth from taxpayers to those who knowingly engaged in risky subprime lending. Thus, the bailout encourages companies to take large, imprudent risks and count on getting bailed out by government. This "moral hazard" generates enormous distortions in an economy's allocation of its financial resources.

Thoughtful advocates of the bailout might concede this perspective, but they argue that a bailout is necessary to prevent economic collapse. According to this view, lenders are not making loans, even for worthy projects, because they cannot get capital. This view has a grain of truth; if the bailout does not occur, more bankruptcies are possible and credit conditions may worsen for a time.

Talk of Armageddon, however, is ridiculous scare-mongering. If financial institutions cannot make productive loans, a profit opportunity exists for someone else. This might not happen instantly, but it will happen.

Further, the current credit freeze is likely due to Wall Street's hope of a bailout; bankers will not sell their lousy assets for 20 cents on the dollar if the government might pay 30, 50, or 80 cents.

The costs of the bailout, moreover, are almost certainly being understated. The administration's claim is that many mortgage assets are merely illiquid, not truly worthless, implying taxpayers will recoup much of their $700 billion.

If these assets are worth something, however, private parties should want to buy them, and they would do so if the owners would accept fair market value. Far more likely is that current owners have brushed under the rug how little their assets are worth.

The bailout has more problems. The final legislation will probably include numerous side conditions and special dealings that reward Washington lobbyists and their clients.

Anticipation of the bailout will engender strategic behavior by Wall Street institutions as they shuffle their assets and position their balance sheets to maximize their take. The bailout will open the door to further federal meddling in financial markets.

So what should the government do? Eliminate those policies that generated the current mess. This means, at a general level, abandoning the goal of home ownership independent of ability to pay. This means, in particular, getting rid of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with policies like the Community Reinvestment Act that pressure banks into subprime lending.

The right view of the financial mess is that an enormous fraction of subprime lending should never have occurred in the first place. Someone has to pay for that. That someone should not be, and does not need to be, the U.S. taxpayer.

Credit

Everyone check your credit accounts. Capital One just cut my credit line by 60% & Bank of America did everything short of canceling my account. It's my honest opinion that even if this bailout bill passes, nothing will really improve quickly...

Cubs clinch the division!

This video brings tears to my eyes;)
GO CUBBIES!

War on Poverty

I am skeptical of the success that can be had of these dubious wars: War on Poverty, War on Drugs, War on Terrorism, etc. And I was thinking about poverty the other day and got curious about the amounts Uncle Sam (or, as it turned out, Nanny Sam) spends. This is what turned up.

We spend $1142 billion on welfare programs. Okay, next step. How many Americans are in serious poverty? Now I'm not talking about someone who doesn't have a TV, I'm talking about people who are having trouble feeding their kids. Since the national poverty rate is somewhere around 12 percent, I'm guessing bad poverty (I'm being generous here) is around eight percent. That's about twenty four million people. Divide 1.142 trillion by twenty four million and you get approximately $47, 583 per person per year.

Okay, so what's happening to all that cash? It seems to me that if you give a struggling family in the Bronx almost 50k/year, they'll leave the Bronx pretty fast. It also seems to me that they won't need that kind of welfare for long, and it could be used to get the remaining four to six percent out of poverty. Shortly thereafter, poverty would be eliminated and the tax could be discarded. This is never going to happen and we're going to have more of a wasteful welfare state, not less. (I have the cynicism of youth)

Given that there is a minimum of 20k per year per person in poverty (if you remove Social Security from the equation) and that I hold 20k is enough to get you out of poverty in a few years (assuming these families already make maybe 15 thousand a year), where is all that money going?

Barack Obama's economic plan

Feminism at its best.

A recent grad from Sacramento State University has come up with an interesting way of earning money to pay for her Master's Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. Her undergrad was in Women's Studies which makes a lot of sense given her attitude towards her...unusual choice of income.

Great quote from the movie: "As long as she's doing it for herself and to pay for school, I think it's a noble thing". Ya know what we call people like that? Prostitutes, that's what.

It figures that feminists would think that prostituting yourself to the highest bidder is "empowerment". It seems that whatever is degrading and dishonoring about women is now "empowerment" and "liberating". N.O.W. makes porno flicks to "celebrate women", prostitutes are now "noble", and people who still have their heads on straight wonder just what the hell feminism is anymore. How can porn and prostitution be possibly benefit women? Do feminists think that making women objects of desire is going to create justice and equality? True justice will never be effected with such base methods.

Tolstoy had it right when he said that the basis for women's subjection was "that men do, and think it good to regard her as objects of enjoyment. If we continue to regard her as such and teach her the same, no amount of women in the courts or offices will ever change her from an inferior being".

Before I end my little rant, it's interesting to note that Ms. "Dylan" wishes to pursue a Marriage and Family therapy career. I don't know about you, but I'm sure as hell not going to see a prostitute to help me out with marriage. Forget that, and forget feminism.

Woo Hoo! She's Twenty-Two!

Happy Birthday, Elena! We are so glad you were born. I hope this auspicious day is full of fun, if not party hats. Put your birthday dress over your birthday suit and paint the town red. (so to speak.)

Here's to one more trip around the sun.

What about Georgia?

So here is another political quesiton: what are we doing in Georgia? (country, not state.)

Nate wants to be added

I don't know who the administrator is, but Nate would like to be added to the blog. His email is nenade.davis@gmail.com.

I Like This Lady

This is the kind of person we need in Washington: someone who is not afraid to tackle the status quo of politics and dispense with perks (like selling the governor's jet on eBay. ..) I think we need actual change, not just talk about it, and we need someone who has a record of making changes.

Since We're All Thinking About Politics (except me)

I thought I would share with y'all an article that I read recently that caused me great enjoyment. It is by Charles Krauthammer eight weeks ago and concerned Senator Obama; it portrays him in a less favorable light than the messianic swoon engaged in by the regular media.

"Barack Obama wants to speak at the Brandenburg Gate. He figures it would be a nice backdrop. The supporting cast -- a cheering audience and a few fainting frauleins -- would be a picturesque way to bolster his foreign policy credentials.

What Obama does not seem to understand is that the Brandenburg Gate is something you earn. President Ronald Reagan earned the right to speak there because his relentless pressure had brought the Soviet empire to its knees and he was demanding its final "tear down this wall" liquidation. When President Kennedy visited the Brandenburg Gate on the day of his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, he was representing a country that was prepared to go to the brink of nuclear war to defend West Berlin.

Who is Obama representing? And what exactly has he done in his lifetime to merit appropriating the Brandenburg Gate as a campaign prop? What was his role in the fight against communism, the liberation of Eastern Europe, the creation of what George H.W. Bush -- who presided over the fall of the Berlin Wall but modestly declined to go there for a victory lap -- called "a Europe whole and free"?

Does Obama not see the incongruity? It's as if a German pol took a campaign trip to America and demanded the Statue of Liberty as a venue for a campaign speech. (The Germans have now gently nudged Obama into looking at other venues.)

Americans are beginning to notice Obama's elevated opinion of himself. There's nothing new about narcissism in politics. Every senator looks in the mirror and sees a president. Nonetheless, has there ever been a presidential nominee with a wider gap between his estimation of himself and the sum total of his lifetime achievements?
Obama is a three-year senator without a single important legislative achievement to his name, a former Illinois state senator who voted "present" nearly 130 times. As president of the Harvard Law Review, as law professor and as legislator, has he ever produced a single notable piece of scholarship? Written a single memorable article? His most memorable work is a biography of his favorite subject: himself.

It is a subject upon which he can dilate effortlessly. In his victory speech upon winning the nomination, Obama declared it a great turning point in history -- "generations from now we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment" -- when, among other wonders, "the rise of the oceans began to slow." As Hudson Institute economist Irwin Stelzer noted in his London Daily Telegraph column, "Moses made the waters recede, but he had help." Obama apparently works alone.

Obama may think he's King Canute, but the good king ordered the tides to halt precisely to refute sycophantic aides who suggested that he had such power. Obama has no such modesty.

After all, in the words of his own slogan, "we are the ones we've been waiting for," which, translating the royal "we," means: " I am the one we've been waiting for." Amazingly, he had a quasi-presidential seal with its own Latin inscription affixed to his lectern, until general ridicule -- it was pointed out that he was not yet president -- induced him to take it down.

He lectures us that instead of worrying about immigrants learning English, "you need to make sure your child can speak Spanish" -- a language Obama does not speak. He further admonishes us on how "embarrassing" it is that Europeans are multilingual but "we go over to Europe, and all we can say is 'merci beaucoup.' " Obama speaks no French.

His fluent English does, however, feature many such admonitions, instructions and improvements. His wife assures us that President Obama will be a stern taskmaster: "Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism . . . that you come out of your isolation. . . . Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed."

For the first few months of the campaign, the question about Obama was: Who is he? The question now is: Who does he think he is?

We are getting to know. Redeemer of our uninvolved, uninformed lives. Lord of the seas. And more. As he said on victory night, his rise marks the moment when "our planet began to heal." As I recall -- I'm no expert on this -- Jesus practiced his healing just on the sick. Obama operates on a larger canvas."

I thought this was hilarious.

So "Focus on the Family" initiated a video advertisement asking people to "pray for rain" 2 minutes before Obama's acceptance speech at Mile High.

(Focus on the Family has taken legal action to remove the video off of you tube)

What's even funnier, is that rain DID NOT happen during Obama's speech! And what really makes me chuckle is that today's events in the Republican Convention are suspended because of "torrential rain". Haha.

In Which Annapolis And I Get Along Famously

I arrived at St. John's in Annapolis about 1:15 in the morning and thus was tired for awhile, but that's all in the past. Annapolis and I see eye-to-eye and I could hardly be happier. I found out where everything is, I have a job (I start work on Tuesday), I am ready for classes on Monday, I found a church, and the food is tremendous. All the running around like a chicken in heat paid off; now I can focus on Greek Greek Greek. For most of first semester the seminar readings will be a pushover (though not the discussions) so I'll have plenty of time to crack down on the hard parts of the Program.

The pianos are tremendous and well-kept. Three soundproof practice rooms with Yamaha U-3s are available, and in the classrooms are grands - one K.Kawai, (very nice-sounding for a cheap instrument), one or two Steinways, and a Baldwin. These are available after hours. (Mom, could you send me my Maryilyn Ham arrangements sometime? They're in my room and I forgot them) In the dining hall is an oldish Mason & Hamlin on which I will play rags and whatnot during meals.

I like Annapolis very much. Wish me luck (and cold hard cash - I'll need lots of that) on the East Coast with all these preppy kids!

Happy Birthday Oma

Happy Brithday, Feliz Compleanos (I hope I remembered that one correctly), and zum Geburtstag viel gluck!

fall semester starts in five days!

Here's a quick pic of me and Connor the other day. Lil guy's getting big;)




Finally got my Mustang Pony back after me and dad's near death experience on I-39 in Wisconsin. I'm pretty happy with it, the custom gray stripes have been replaced with Ford Factory dark white ones. Lets see if that helps its luck a little bit;)

back from Bavaria

I got back from my little vacation to Garmisch-Partenkirchen this afternoon. It was a long train ride with a 2yr old, but we made it (barely--I cut it pretty close on my last connection in Frankfurt). But we had a good a time. We hiked around the mountains and to some beautiful lakes, and even made a short day trip up to Munchen. Anyway, I just thought I'd post a few of the pictures/share the beauty of the Alps (I put captions below them).

The view of the mountains behind Edelweiss (the Army hotel where I worked the first few days of my trip).

The view from the bridge just before entering the base where Nate is taking his language courses. I think it's one of the best in Garmisch.

Riessersee. Caedmon and I "hiked" (with a stroller) up to it Thursday afternoon.

The Alps surrounding Garmisch.

Badersee. The water was beautiful: cold, deep, crystal clear. They had a machine for fish food near it because you could see them from the shore. We tried it, but Caedmon wouldn't stop screaming "I wanna splash da water!!!" so we left early.

Nate and Caedmon walking back from Badersee.

Marienplatz, Munich. If you can't tell from the picture, it was insanely busy in Munich that day.

Sweet Sixteen, Smokie Lynx

Yes indeed, the cat is sixteen years old today, fit and spry. So how many cat years is that?

If only I could look as good at her age!

A can of tuna is in order.

Post-Premier Crash

The Dark Knight was a pretty awesome movie. Y'all should go watch it, especially for the Joker.

I went to see the midnight premier on Thursday and it was totally worth it, albeit Rachel is totally ugly and Gotham City is now Chicago.

Go watch and enjoy!

Thoughts on Learning from the grad student Mom

Did you know that theories of human learning date back to Plato and Aristotle? Plato believed in the world of ideas, that learning takes place through abstract representation, and Aristotle believed that all learning originated in the concrete senses. This is of course oversimplistic, but I found it interesting. These two views have shaped the various theories of learning ever since, right up to the present day. Do you ever think about how it is that you learn something, and how this changes over the years? Fascinating stuff.

Girls > Boys

For the purposes of teaching, that is. I am attempting to give campers basic knowledge of horsemanship and create in them a spirit of proper western pleasure riding, and in this task I have found that girls are by and large the superior students.

First, the age group. The girls I had last session were ALL crazy about horses. Remember when Elena wanted nothing more than her own pony? I was teaching seven such girls. As long as I was talking about ponies, they were interested. They wanted to pet ponies, ride ponies, learn how to care for ponies, anything! I could not have asked for a more enthusiastic class. I could say the most boring, pointless things about saddles, bridles, and tack but they would hang upon each and every word.

Secondly, girls are much less familiar with the "cowboy culture", which is actually a gross misconception of real cowboy riding. Real cowboys were the most phenomenal horsemen seen since medieval knights. A cowboy would never whale away on a horse's sides with his spurs or sit slumped in the saddle! No, you couldn't see him move when he told his horse to go and they loved their horses to death. But in popular Westerns (especially bad Westerns) you see all that - bad posture, poor cues, etc. Girls are largely ignorant of this, so it is far easier to correct their posture errors. "Sit up straight! Relax your back! Don't grip with your knees! Heels down! Make a straight line from shoulders, hips, and heels!"

Third, girls have far less of a speed demon. This is a good and a not-so-good thing. They are largely content to walk and trot, accepting my reasons for forbidding them to canter. (my reasons are posture-related, not safety-related. If you cannot ride flawlessly at a trot, why should you be cantering or galloping?) They would never think of ignoring my command to slow down.

Fourth, girls listen better. I don't have to bribe them with candy or rewards in order for them to pay attention while I teach them about the Natural Aids. They sit quiet, absorb the information like a sponge, and then regurgitate it finer than I have ever seen it before. The result is that they go through the entire Basic material in three lessons and move on to the Intermediate material.

Thus, because I like easy work, if you give me the chance of teaching seven Basic boys or seven basic girls, odds are I'd choose the girls. On the other hand, it is awesome to see ten year old boys crack down and learn horses well and become fantastic riders, just like it's awesome to see them become dedicated pianists. So why does it seem like girls learn and behave better than their apish opposites?

Garmisch

Nate sends his regards from Garmisch. He took these photos yesterday. I found out today that I get to go down for four days at the end of the month, all expenses paid, to work at a retreat. :-)

A Postcard From Haiti

Better late than never. I thought you all might enjoy these highlights from the trip. The matriarch (a terrific cook of Creole food, by the way) of the family I stayed with wanted a group portrait, so here it is, for your viewing pleasure. Her son Reynauld, my tour guide and interpreter, is on the far left.
Check out the bank ("Your Money Is Safe With Us!"). And those Pante condom ads were everywhere; a rise in sex tourism has led to an explosion of HIV. The panorama is the village of Soisson where I stayed; very middle class by Haitian standards, about 25 miles from Port au Prince.
Those boys were my admirers. All you had to do was sit around twiddling your thumbs and sooner or later a troupe of lads would assemble and do their darndest to flirt in whatever language necessary. Very cute.

Notice the spotted pig rooting around in the mountain of trash. Mountains of trash are ubiquitous and don't bother anyone much.

That abandoned house was built by a French family who fled during the coup twenty years ago. It's in excellent condition, and the walls are covered with beautiful frescoes and paintings, but no one will move in; fear of the white man is too strong.

That water shot is Goudillon Beach, where native Haitians go because they can't afford Les Cote des Arcadenes, the more beautiful and expensive beaches. Strangely enough, Haitians aren't very good swimmers. They generally preferred to stay close to shore wading and playing shallow water games, and were very impressed when I ventured into water above my head.

The little boy in the window is Dildi, who would wake me each morning by singing sweetly in Creole. He was fascinated by my use of dental floss and thought it a scream when I gave him some. He and Alexandra say goodbye crouched outside the house, which was made of concrete and had no electricity or running water.

Downtown Port au Prince has some wonderful statues. Some of them are of your typical war hero, black republic style, with the mounted general on a horse. Others are very soulful. The one pictured here is the Unknown Slave. He's carrying a saber and blowing a conch horn for help. The Presidential Palace is in the background. It was built during the '30s and models the White House. I think this picture captures just how conflicted a country Haiti is, with its rich, bloody history and troubled present. A few days after I got back there were riots protesting the escalating food prices. It's a mess.

I love you, Haiti. One day I'll be back.

The Onion Predicts the Future

Onion: RIAA Sues Radio Stations For Giving Away Free Music (2002)
Wired: Recording Industry Decries AM-FM Broadcasting as 'A Form of Piracy' (2008)

Radio stations benefits: play popular music and generate revenue from commercial advertising.
Artist benefits: receive invaluable exposure to an audience and create opportunities to sell recordings.

Should radio stations pay royalties to artists and recording companies for broadcasting their music?

more pictures

I just realized that I never uploaded the pictures from my old camera, so here are a few more from Oma's visit.