Tuesday, February 14. 2006
The Gospels have become so overladen with myth over the past two thousand years that some Christians - me, for example - are not always certain whether an event was added myth, or actually written in the Gospels. And, of course, the Gospels are not exactly gospel themselves, being oral reports written down years later. I hope I am not the only Christian who thinks that the question of whether Jesus had a special relationship with Magdalene is 1) dumb, since there is no data, 2) uninteresting, 3) a distraction, and 4) irrelevant. What is highly relevant to me is the following scene from John's Gospel, as described by Jean Acocella, who considers the role of Mary Magdalene in her piece "The Saintly Sinner" in The New Yorker: Magdalene goes to the tomb in darkness, before dawn, and she goes alone. We feel her hurry, her sense of danger. To her astonishment, she finds the stone rolled away. She runs back to the disciples and tells them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.” Peter and another disciple take over. They rush to the tomb; indeed, they race to see who can get there first. (This exemplary male competition became a favorite scene in medieval morality plays. In John’s Gospel, it adds a bright little note of comedy to the otherwise dark tale.) When they arrive, they see that the Magdalene was right: the body is gone. They go back home, presumably baffled, but the Magdalene stays behind, weeping. She looks again into the tomb, and now she sees two angels dressed in white. They ask her why she is crying, and she repeats her simple complaint: “They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.” Even with angels, she’s still looking for the body. But then she turns around and sees another figure, who says to her, “Why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou?” The tomb is in a garden, and the Magdalene thinks this man must be the gardener. A third time—it’s like a song—she repeats her complaint: “Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him.” Now comes the stab through the heart. “Mary,” the “gardener” says to her, and instantly she knows. “Rabboni” (roughly, “My dear rabbi”), she replies, and apparently she reaches out to him, because he says, “Touch me not.” (This is the Latin Bible’s famous phrase “Noli me tangere.”) “But,” he tells her, “go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father.” He then vanishes, and she is left by herself.
Read the whole piece, which powerfully asserts Magdalene's authority on "matters of the soul."
Enormous 4th Century BC Macedonian tomb discovered by farmer in Greece. It's easy to be Green - so say US corporations. Who knows whether it makes a difference, but I don't think that's what it's about. Cool book: A Treasury of Royal Scandals. More on the Left's efforts to muzzle free speech on the US airwaves. Aronoff at Accuracy in Media. Registering ammo (!?!) in Boston. Good example of how a nanny state becomes a fascist state. MassBackwards. Dhimmitude further defined and explicated. Diana West at Town Hall Katrina $ wasted: Who is surprised? New Orleans is not exactly the world capital of, um, probity. Cheney's attempted murder of lawyer "pal." So, the old guy got peppered. Big deal. It must be a slow news week, especially if you won't report progress in Iraq. I saw one news report that said he was hit with buckshot! More likely #8s or #9 birdshot from Cheney's 28 ga. Not very scary. Hey, but what about the rumors that Whittington is Libby's natural father, and also Abramoff's bag-man for the White House? Investigate that.
Monday, February 13. 2006
It is widely accepted today that the early Indians were responsible for the extinction of the large animals of North America - the amazing Pleistocene mammals - mammoths, camels, etc. that were abundant here during the retreat of the most recent Ice Age. However, now it appears that the Indians had a major impact on all edible species, and that the abundance of animals found by the early European explorers may have been a consequence of the Indian population collapse due to disease. Story about the Indians and California wildlife here. For really old animals - Spinosaurus. It seems that this guy was the largest carnivorous dinosaur. H/T, Lucianne.
This migrating flock of mostly male Robins breezed in around 4 this afternoon, the day after the Big Snow. 
Al Gore slanders the US with lies and brown-noses the Saudis - incredible. Cap'n Ed. Michelle has details also. Righteous indignation from Ace, too. Rick Moran also has a fine piece on the subject. What is Gore thinking? Most popular dog breeds - after mutts, of course. Willisms The world Lincoln was born into: Am. Thinker A Shanghai Disney? Travelwire A message to Sweden from Tammy Bruce: The values of freedom are lovely and nice when one does not have to defend them.When we are challenged is when we find out who we really are. The Germans learned what was at their core in the last century. Sweden, are you to be the first Western nation in the 21st century to surrender to fascism?
Auster has written a stimulating piece on the Founding and the Constitution, noting the extent to which the Founders were preoccupied with procedure rather than with the implicit, small "c" constitution - the civilization - which the government was designed to serve. Was that wisdom, or did they take the nature and character of the nation for granted? I don't know, but Auster has added his own paragraph to the Constitution: United States Constitution, Article VII, Section 1 (appearing just before the closing section of the Constitution which lays out the procedures for ratification): In ordaining this Constitution for the common government of the United States of America, we would be remiss if we did not gratefully acknowledge that divine Providence whose blessings have made this government possible. For he has been pleased to give this one connected country to one united people—a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs, and who, by their joint counsels, arms, and efforts, fighting side by side throughout a long and bloody war, have nobly established their general liberty and independence. Without the commonalities that make us one people, and the shared struggle for liberty that has made us a free people, this government could not exist. Nor could it exist in a state of pure freedom. Since liberty requires for its continuance the voluntary restraint of our sinful natures, and since such restraint requires the willing subordination of ourselves to the Author of all Good, it is clearly to be seen that this Constitution is made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
"Traditional and politically incorrect?" Certainly. Very interesting and provocative and highly debatable piece.
Nor'easter caused by Bush's Global Warming. No doubt. Warming causes cold weather, natch. Steyn on Mustafa Shag: If I were a Muslim, I'd be "hurt" and "humiliated" that the revered prophet's name is given not to latex blowup males but to so many real blowup males...
It's too good: Europe is Taking The Wrong Stand. Is Old Europe Doomed? Dalrymple: Europe’s loss of power, influence and importance continues to this day; and however much one’s material circumstances may have improved (just take a look at photographs of daily life in France or Britain in the 1950s and compare them to daily life there today), it is always unpleasant, and creates a sense of deep existential unease, to live in a country perpetually in decline, even if that decline is merely relative.
Read entire excellent piece. Venting, but with the legal details, about Carter and the MLK wiretaps. Rhymes with Right No blood, No fowl: Michelle is worried about fallout from the shooting story. Bird hunters know that this happens on occasion. As long as you miss the eye, it's no biggie, except to people like reporters who don't hunt or even like guns. A damn shame he missed the bird, though. And we learn he hunts birds with a 28 ga. That means he's good. More humorless Moslems: Volokh has the example - a new cartoon - of how not-offending becomes offensive. Jeez. Chill, Moslems. And cheer up.
Whenever I see an old lady slip and fall on a wet sidewalk, my first instinct is to laugh. But then I think, what if I was an ant, and she fell on me. Then it wouldn't seem quite so funny.
Jack Handey, Deep Thoughts
Sunday, February 12. 2006
Birding Superbowl. Now that is a Superbowl I can care about. CSM. Laura rips Hillary, gently. About time. "Israel will be removed." Ahmadineajahd (why can't these guys have normal names like Jim or Bill? Who can spell these names? Who wants to?) The Graf Spee's Eagle. Cool. Scroll down at RRWH Superb piece on Judith Butler, the academic propagator of Queer Theory and the patently insane wishful (?!?) notion that men and women are the same, at Horsefeathers - which lists no email link on their blog, and requires sign-up for comments - which I will not do. On principle. Pain in the ass. We'd do a reciprocal blogroll, but how do you contact bloggers with no contact link? Jack Carter? Not another Carter? In Nevada. Gateway. His Daddy is helping him - the Daddy that omitted the fact that Bobby Kennedy was the guy who wiretapped Martin Luther King Jr. at the King Funeral Bash-Fest last week. A born dhimmi - to anything and anyone. Govt. Spending, Pork, Entitlements, etc. Willisms
Snow Update: As of 2 pm, 19'' (58 cm.) and still coming down hard. A dog photo, from right now: 
One more: 
"Dane-geld" was the money you paid the Vikings to leave you alone, a bit like "protection" money in Brooklyn, or the way companies give money to Jesse Jackson. It's called "legal extortion". Horsefeathers remembered these lines of Kipling: It is always a temptation to a rich and lazy nation,
To puff and look important and to say:—
“Though we know we should defeat you, we have not the time to meet you.
We will therefore pay you cash to go away." And that is called paying the Dane-geld;
But we’ve proved it again and again,
That if once you have paid him the Dane-geld
You never get rid of the Dane. Indeed. And ultimately, after hundreds of years of raiding and pillage and rape and murder and destruction, the Danish Vikings, from Sven Forkbeard, to various Canutes, etc, ruled England for many years before the Norman Invasion in 1066. My free-association to these thoughts about appeasing an enemy leads to an excellent and, for me, very influential book: Hannah Arendt's Eichman in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. I will not try to summarize all of the wisdom in this book, but one of her many points is that Eichman did not have horns - he was a bureaucrat who wanted to get ahead and please his superiors. An average schlemiel, you might say. Part of the book refers to how the trusting and possibly overly-civilized, or innocent, Jews cooperated with German authorities. From an Amazon review by Egolf: One of the most disturbing sections of the book begins on page 117 in which Miss Arendt gives a horrifying example that mass murders in German occupied Europe were done with the sanction of the victims. She explains that leaders of Jewish councils cooperated with German authorties in a triage effort in herding victims to the concentration camps. This section reveals what happens when "decent" people exert serious efforts to prove that they can obey the law even if the law means their own destruction. These comments are followed by similiar remarks on page 137 whereby Miss Arendt remarks, ...the odd notion, indeed very common in Germany, that to be law-abiding means not merely to obey the laws but to act as thought one were the legislator of the laws that one obeys. Hence the conviction that nothing less than going beyond the call of duty will do." These remarks partailly explain the subtitle of the book, A REPORT ON THE BANALITY OF EVIL.
Yet, as depressing as this book is, Miss Arendt cites examples of rare courage in German occupied Europe during World War II. Miss Arendt cites the Danes who in effect said that they would no longer comply with German law, and a few Danes openly resisted efforts to arrest and convey Jews to concentration camps. This is an important part of the book in that it explains what can occur when petty minded bureaucrats meet with open defiance based on principle. Miss Arendt reveals what many thought was "toughness" was merely,... "a ruthless desire to comform at any price..."
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Thinking about Arendt leads me to the famous 1974 Milgram Experiment, which demonstrated how ordinary people can be quickly led to depravity by following the rules and adhering to authority and civilization conformity pressures. Read the link, if you need a reminder. Nowadays, Political Correctness and Leftist Surrender are the main source of Peer Pressure. That's enough for now. This isn't a lecture. You connect the dots. Or let us show you modern-day civilized, humanitarian, humble, sensitive submission - let Gateway do it for you, - in Denmark!!! - with pictures... These are not the Danes who rescued the Jews: these are the Danes who submit, by reflex, to aggression. We all have people like that.
The New Cabela's Limited Edition Spring Catalog. Email them, and get your own. Hard-cover, for your bedside table, next to your Bible and your current history book. 
1Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
2Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long.
4For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
5Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah
6Therefore let all who are faithful offer prayer to you; at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters shall not reach them.
7You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. Selah
8I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
9Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding, whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle, else it will not stay near you.
10Many are the torments of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord.
11Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.
Saturday, February 11. 2006
Only in England! Knife Amnesty!!! Admittedly, it is scary the way a knife can slash out at someone when the holder just couldn't control the willful destructive mind of the knife. On the other hand, if you can't buy a handgun, then what are you supposed to do when someone really pisses you off in England? Hit 'em with a pudding? Then there will be Pudding Bowl Amnesty. Other Side of Kim A Steven Breyer quote which explains a lot. YARGB Laura Ingraham in Iraq. Image below, and story at Expose the Left. Not a pudding bowl in her hands:  Religion of Peace: 5 years in jail for attending a gay wedding. Gay and Right Happy First Blog Birthday, Pamela! Atlas Shrugs Will ABA impose racial quotas on law schools? Volokh Popularity of Sharia law in Moslem nations. Quite popular. One Hand Clapping
Enviros urge: Stop drinking water - bad for the env. Is beer preferable? Env. Economics Moslems march against Valentines Day. Michelle Cartoon via New England Repub via NYPost: 
Stock up on 
canned goods smokes and
beer. Big snow
on the way to New England. Gotta get my snowplow cranked up and ready. What is a Nor'easter, and why are the winds from the northeast when a storm system is moving to the northeast? It's complicated. Try here.
Florida and gun rights - very advanced, in the right way. AlphaPatriot Porter Goss on the NSA issue: very direct. And Rightly So Budget Deficits: Cafe Hakek considers whether they are short-sighted or not. The comments below the piece are excellent.
I dare you to try reading this semi-scholarly piece about Liberal Christian Theology in Crosscurrents. I got lost so fast that it wasn't funny. I think their point is that a politically progressive Christian theology is a good, modern thing, but, if so, it is way beyond my poor powers of comprehension.
Jake was dying. His wife sat at the bedside. He looked up and said weakly:
"I have something I must confess."
"There's no need to, " his wife replied."No," he insisted, "I want to die in peace. I slept with your sister, your best friend, her best friend, and your mother!"
"I know," she replied, " now just rest and let the poison work."
Friday, February 10. 2006
Not the usual chore. She is cute. Quick, clean download: indedroogkuis.wmv
Sounds like the NY Times in the Al Queda wiretap case will have some difficulties with "misprision of treason" ... if the government has the nerve to call a spade a spade! § 2381. Treason | | Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States. |
§ 2382. Misprision of treason | | Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States and having knowledge of the commission of any treason against them, conceals and does not, as soon as may be, disclose and make known the same to the President or to some judge of the United States, or to the governor or to some judge or justice of a particular State, is guilty of misprision of treason and shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than seven years, or both. "Misprision" see http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19991115 |
Michelle lists the nations and newspapers who have already submitted to Islamic bullying, demonstrating their terminal lack of healthy pride and self-respect. Captain Ed has some good comments. And Bruce does a great job with moral equivalence. Some people waste no time in bending over, do they? You have to wonder whether they like to, and what their problem is. No doubt there is great laughter in Muslim-land that some fake cartoons, some trumped-up emotion, and a couple of rent-a-riots can have such an effect on the world. This kind of event only reinforces their idea that the Caliphate is on its way, and more easily than they might have imagined. If you scroll down a bit at Michelle, see the cover of a Polish magazine this week - very relevant.
Poll: 97% of Iraquis oppose terrorism. Other interesting numbers, too. Blogcritic Big snow coming to New England. Wonderful. What is fun is to watch the TV news hype a normal winter snow. "Winter weather warning" flashing below the screen, etc. I guess it sells soap, though. Weather was more fun here in New England when you didn't have two days' warning. "I insulted Americans, but they aren't going to behead me." Kalitsky in (UK) Times Reid is in deep trouble with Abramoff mess. Good thinking about Defined Pension Plans and Social Security. Willisms Hate speech is good. Coyote. A good point: it lets you know where someone is really coming from. Ice cream vending machines? Why not? A VC Mark Warner is getting his act ready for the road. Hey, Dems. This is the kind of candidate you need.
 Last time, we did the Gordon Setter. The English Setter is a more popular favorite, an excellent family dog, and the finest of gun dogs.
Setters are members of the Spaniel family, with Spanish ancestry, as the name implies. Like most modern dog breeds, their blood lines were established in the late 1800s, but in the case of the English Setter, there are two lines: one bred for appearance and one for the field. All setters retrieve, track, and point with a "set," a behavior which originally is thought to have been bred for bird trapping. More about the English Setter here.
Western Civilization males are widely afflicted with this debilitating disorder. The cause is unknown, but some theorize that it is caused by the "Hen Flu," which shrivels up the testosterone-producing cells in the testes, along with the tubules which carry the hormone to the blood. Active research is going on in Australia, because this presumably viral ailment has not arrived there as of yet, making the study of uninfected males easier. However, it is unfortunately endemic in European, American, and Canadian males, and is transmitted, we believe but cannot confirm, by an unfirm handshake and a tendency to smile too much. It appears to be male-specific. Many of the symptoms are behavioral rather than physical, suggesting that the virus attacks areas of the brain as well as the testes. Typical behavioral symptoms include reflexive submission to aggression, eagerness to please, lack of pride, quick abandonment of familial heritage and ideals, a fear of firearms, absence of normal male drooling over attractive females, absence of normal male patriotism, and a deterioration of the instinct to defend family and compatriots. All can be summed up by the Omega Male Syndrome. Typical physical symptoms include occasional cold-like symptoms, the occasional cough, and fatigue, especially late at night and after drinking sessions. The only two reliable tests for this disorder, until the viral antibodies are further identified, are the Drool Test and the Adrenaline Response Test. In the former, test subjects respond to scantily-clad strippers, while measuring devices record saliva production, hardness of privates, and tendency to touch and sexually harrass. In the latter, test subjects are handed a military M16 while target images are passed by the target range. The number of holes in the Islamo-Fascist Jihadist image seem to be a reliable measure of the progress of the disease. The only known cure is to read Maggie's Farm daily. Multi-million dollar studies by the CDC are ongoing to determine the mechanism of this therapeutic effect. The CDC is hopeful that these studies will further our understanding of brain-body interactions.
A mortician was working late one night. He examined the body of Mr. Schwartz, about to be cremated, and made a startling discovery. Schwartz had the largest private part
he had ever seen!
"I'm sorry Mr. Schwartz," the mortician commented, "I can't allow you to be cremated
with such an impressive private part. It must be saved for posterity."
So, he removed it, stuffed it into his briefcase, and took it home
"I have something to show you won't believe," he said to his wife, opening his briefcase.
"My God!" the wife exclaimed, "Schwartz is dead!"
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