Wednesday, August 3. 2005
Taize I see the Farmer mentioned heading off to Taize, which I have visited but I never could find words adequate to describe the experience. (I haven't met The Farmer, but I cannot picture him at Taize.) What I can recommend is their music. Here's one review from Amazon from a Mr. A. Hogan, an articulate fellow from Brooklyn: Hyperbole notwithstanding, this is simply the purest prayer available in recording in the Western tradition (outside of Gregorian or Ambrosian Chant and Orthodox Chant). Taize, dubbed by JOHN XXIII (of blessed memory) as "that little springtime" has been re-connecting young people for 50 years to the sacred simplicity of early Christianity with its emphasis on prayer, hospitality and commonality. These songs here, very simple phrases repeated over and again, are meditative and achingly beautiful. From the opening BLESS THE LORD to the final stirring notes of cantante domino, this is deeply moving and almost pure in its essence. If music can improve a person, this will. Humbling.
Indeed, as Instapundit would say.
Subways vs. Archeolology, in Instanbul. Preparation, Motivation, Discipline, and Interest - it seems simple to me. The silliness goes on about women and minorities in math and science. Why doesn't the National Science Foundation just come out and admit that, in effect, they want less Asians and less Jews in these fields? Some of the comments below the piece are interesting, too. Click here: Inside Higher Ed :: Women, Minorities and the Sciences PBS: A fair and balanced view, in New Criterion. (I personally do not feel that PBS offers enough, to enough people, to be worth subsidizing anymore.) Sample: Until public broadcasting signals that it can provide entertaining and demonstrably educational programming for television, the Internet, and the classroom, public broadcasting does not deserve to be treated as a sustainable enterprise. If it does rise to that challenge, reaching once again for the educational ideals that animated its founding, the public, corporate, and foundation monies it has been struggling to preserve for the last decade will be made available. And that, not partisan politics, is Patricia Harrison’s and public broadcasting’s real challenge.
Did the Indians kill off all of the big animals in North America? That's the latest theory, at TCS. Autism Debate: Epidemic vs. Better Diagnosis? Science Daily And SDA reports on the genetics of Autism.
Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. Benjamin Franklin
Tuesday, August 2. 2005
Beautiful Italian Lawyer - Free Mkt Fairy Tales gets it, here. Yes, she is hot. Forever Wrong: from the Prof. He has a point, does he not? But the Prof. is loathe to admit is that they want America, as we know her and love her, gone.
Hispanics moving to GOP: Newsmax The Times Online says it straight: We (Brits) are "useful idiots." Here. An objective look at global warming, at TCS On Normblog: Human rights are an indispensable part of a morally decent society (though the eager embracing of victimhood is not, and there's no doubt that the discourse of human rights has, along with multiculturalism, encouraged many to regard the status of victim of rights-violation as the most attractive one going, and hence to reach for it at the slightest provocation). But protection from those whose direct intention is to kill the innocent is also indispensable. Such protection may require us to be more ready to accept defensive policies which constrain, or in emergency infringe, individual rights than we've hitherto been accustomed to.
Read the whole thing here. Tourism in Turkey surges: for good reason too - what a great country to visit.
 Known as the Right Whale because it was the whale the whalers wanted most, this baleen whale (plankton-sieving, as opposed to toothed whales like the Sperm Whale) has been in hard times since the whaling era nearly wiped them out. Now it seems that their numbers are most influenced by collisions with shipping, and nothing can or will be done about that.
There are two populations of this mighty 50-foot creature, one in the southern hemisphere and one in the northern. The North Atlantic species is the one that is in trouble. I saw a mom and calf in the Gulf of Maine ten years ago - a special sight. Our New England Humpbacks seem to be doing OK, but the Rights are on a steep decline which only luck or nature can reverse.
Can honour set a leg? No. Or an arm? No. Or take away the grief of a wound? No. Honour hath no skill in surgery, then? No. What is honour? A word. What is that word, honour? Air. Shakespeare, Henry lV, Part l
Monday, August 1. 2005
A Bozo in Connecticut I can't believe my Senator referred to "the privacy clause in the Constitution." Surely he is referring not to a clause, but to the aura of an emanation of a penumbra which decided Roe v. Wade. What a dope. Yes, I mean Dodd, or, as we call him here, Sen. Dodo. On Patterico. This jerk would never had been elected if he didn't have the same last name as his Dad, Sen. Tom Dodd, who was a stand-up, good guy. It confused us country bumpkins, and we mistakenly elected the brat kid. Well, the sinecure is his until he decides to retire, which he won't as long as he can pick up cuties in the Georgetown bars. But he is getting a bit long in the tooth for that, isn't he?
Thanks to Powerline, the text of Bush's speech to the Boy Scouts, here. Why does the far Left detest the manly virtues? I do not even want to waste time wondering about that. And, for something completely different (turn on your speakers): http://www.michaelhodges.com/stuff/funny/2008cc1.swf
Restless Leg Syndrome Known as the most common disease nobody knows about, Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) effects 6-9% of the population, to varying degrees. Typically producing a deep feeling of leg discomfort at night, relieved by motion, when it is severe RLS can interfere with sleep and cause daytime drowsiness. It also can cause significant discomfort, approaching pain, on long flights and train trips when movement is restricted. No-one dies from it, but it can be a real annoyance, and it is often mis-diagnosed or dismissed. I myself have a mild case of it, and it makes me nuts on airplanes, mainly. I cannot sleep on planes and like to stand up next to the bulkheads. For the many who are bothered by RLS, there are effective treatments now if it bothers you enough. Neurologists tend to be the ones who would be familiar with the new treatments for this poorly-understood ailment. The latest information is available on Medscape.com, which I cannot link right now.
 Tin Foil Protection for Mind, Brain and Soul
Right Wing Nation alerted us to the importance of personal AFDBS, and reminds us to always wear the shiny side out. Government psychotronics could be anywhere. Go to the AFDB website, and be sure to check their persuasive and scientific testimonials. Personally, I never leave home without one and I care not what anyone thinks or says, because I am protected. And my headgear makes the chicks look at me more than they ever used to - I guess they must be thinking that I am a hip, clued-in dude. Check out the site - you can make big ones for your whole house so your pets and kids and friends can take off their personal AFDBs when they are indoors. Be sure to check the MindGuard website too, for full software protection. Yep, that is yours truly, Bird Dog, modeling a stylish version, on the invaluable AFDB website. Wear yours with pride - let everyone know that you are a thinking, Red State conservative.
Mufti Akram Kashmiri wants me to inquire about what "root causes" we have created to arouse terror. I have a better idea: Ask the Mufti to figure out the root causes for our anger at terrorists. That might keep the Mufti out of trouble for a few hours and he might come up with an answer. Jihad Watch. Free Speech on campus? You won't believe this one...I must say, truly chilling and scarey that a request not to receive emails from a Lesbian Feminist group could be construed as criminal harassment. Intell. Cons. Of course, if you told her she looked hot you'd really be in trouble, but I'll bet ya five bucks she doesn't. The world has gone nuts, to take peevish hysteric females seriously. A world without flirting is like a day without sun. Similarly, a day without telling someone to jump in a lake. It is normal. What kind of litigious, hypersensitive people have we bred in America? Happy Birthday, Milton. Milton Friedman is 93. The Pirates of ... Malacca? Here. Privateers. Cool - I mean the private navies. Perfect for Jimmy Buffet. Hey, Jimmy, old pal, get a real job, grab an automatic, and get fightin. Martian Ice Cream. Not yet, but how soon? Hey, Ben and Jerry. Here. Naive, self-hating Christian organizations. No Oil How big would this story be if this were a conservative radio station? The scandal of the year, no doubt. Good point, MartiniPundit. Hispanic illegals in California want to change America. Jeez, I thought it was just Islam that wanted to change America. Stay home, people, and change your own country. We like it here the way it is. Immigration Blog. Lady Bloggers - Cotillion is not only good and clever, but they link lots of other lady bloggers. Surveillance cameras? Pro or con? Big Brother or a source of comfort? I'd hate to see them everywhere, but heck, they are already in stores and gas stations. Anyway, Heather McDonald likes them. I guess, except in times of war and terrorism, I'd like to see them limited to private orgs. and not govt. Creepy, even if you're honest.
Men at some time are masters of their fates:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
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