In "Freedom", Bill Whittle spoke of the Founding Fathers who were mostly men as well-off as any on earth at the time. He posed the question - with nothing to gain and everything to lose - why would they sign the piece of paper that could easily be their own death warrant and/or the loss of their life's work?

The answer - they did it to be free. "And they did it to make the rest of their nation - the poor, the disenfranchised - free as well."

On Rush Limbaugh's website he has posted an address his Father gave many times titled "The Americans Who Risked Everything" about the signers of the Declaration of Independence and what the results were personally to each of them. They didn't fail but the price for the pledge "to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor" - was steep for each.

Both are well worth the read on this anniversary of our independence.
Have a great 4th all!

Andrea
PS - Bill et al - all body parts still present and accounted for. Remember? We're part of the 1,500!

Write a song, say a prayer. Create somethng out of nothing. Consider me optimistic! Thanks for the reminder.

For Independence Day

Seated in the game of life
Expect to play a hand
About the same as any man
No worse than you can stand.

The cards will change as time goes on
A mix of bad and good
Play your own if you want play mine
Some times I wish you would.

Keep your cool and watch them fall
Don't grouse and curse and fret
Be patient and your time will come
Won't do no good to sweat

A motto now to serve you
When you get down on your knees
Finish up your thanks each night
By saying "I'll play these."

MJ

Happy Independence Day to one and all.

Semper Fidelis,

Michael

Thank you, MJ. Deal me in.

Happy 4th of July.
God Bless America.

Looking forward to seeing how
this new world of civility
turns out.
The best to all who are citizens.

Bill
before you wrestle with m.moore how about part 3?

God bless America. Happy fourth of July to all.

Please don't forget to attend your closest rally of Operation America Rising this coming Saturday the seventh. It is a non partisan support the troops rally being held in many state capitols. Check out the site, click on your state in the maps section.

God bless you all.
http://www.operationamericarising.com/index.html

This can be a humbling place. All the people who care very much about not just the very idea of America but Western civilization, and the greater good of freedom - for everyone.

To know that there are those among us who are no different than George Washington or Thomas Jefferson, is to have a scrap of hope to cling to, that we have a chance.

On this day of rejoicing in America, I am so grateful to know the fine people who make her a reality. A flawed and fractious reality. A hopeful and brimming reality.

-Each and every member of America's Military, most particularly those serving in-country. Millions of prayers, from all faiths, are sent aloft every day, for your safety and success. You wear hard hats out where your prayers are heard ahead of ours, which means the angels who accompany you call you brethren.

-Each and every of Our Troops who have perished to pay the price to defend freedom, most particularly in Afghanistan and Iraq at this writing.

Their brothers in arms miss them profoundly. Recall the longing that wandered the chambers of your heart for someone you lost in the course of a private life. Remember the good times, their special smile and odd thing they did when lacing up their shoes. Think back on the times they made you so mad you couldn't understand it. But you eventually let it go because it didn't really matter to lose a friendship over.

Now picture someone like them wearing a combat uni, holding a gun, lying on the dirt, in the dark, hunting down bad guys. They're three feet away from you. You're life is as dependent on them as their's is on you. What stench? What hunger? What thirst? What 24 hours awake? ....

When I did that about a friend of mine who served in Afghanistan suddenly my mind's vision was 10/10. Time compressed. I felt the hair on the back of my neck stiffen. I felt an ache wrap tight around my heart. My entire stomach went ice cold. The loss now was not just deep. It was miles wide, long past the bow of the horizon.

And that is just a part of the closest I can imagine it.

My friend served in-country and came back safe and sound.

-Each and every one of Our Troops who came back different. Physically and mentally. Emotionally. Humans retain an atavistic trait. We tend to not extend our unconditional compassion to anyone who doesn't look damaged. There are a lot of walking wounded who don't even know they're hurting. TBI can do that to a person. Looking at a pit of children and families slaughtered by al-Qaeda will change parts of you that you didn't know you owned.

That silent wound is a special sacrifice that sometimes actually draws scorn from the unthinking. I'm trying very hard to never be unthinking whenever I meet one of Our Troops.

-Each and every person who takes care of Our Troops. Their families, their friends, their communities.

-Each and every person who rushes out when they hear a claxon to come to our rescue, putting on a hard hat, or putting on a flak vest.

-Each and every person who extends a hand to help another without expecting anything in return.

Thank you all. I'm so proud of you. Dougman, you do know you're included, right?

Thank you Alexa

It's just amazing what people can do when you just get the hell out of their way.-Bill

That's what i'm working on, getting Hell out of everybodies way.

I won't be back today. I'm spending the small amount of time i have left with family.

All the warmth has left my heart.
The vacuum collects all the darkness from the beginning of Times.

Israel, YOU WERE WARNED!

The wrath will be on You!

Dougman

Happy Independence Day everyone. My family is having a small cookout - steaks & sweet potatoes. No fireworks this year (sniffsniff) - My littlin' is too young to keep her up past her bedtime.

You know, we as a country have some problems we need to address and sometimes the prognosis looks to be very scary. But there is still no other country in the world I would rather live in or raise my daughter in.

Thank you to all the Americans, past and present, who have served, lived or died so that my family and yours can live free in this wonderful country of ours!

Happy Independence Day from the sewers of Ejectia! I knew I felt like Art Carney's Ed Norton for a reason.

There indeed is much to be grateful for this day, from those who serve in the military such as my nephew, to those who uphold the simple things that help keep America a better place. Let us never forget how unique this country is, and let us support one another in helping to keep it that way. For me, that's what make the though of "laboring in the sewers" as a grunt not a burden, but a joy.

I'm watching the PBS special from Washington right now, and reflecting on the times I've been on the lawn of the House watching in person. I just wish I could adequately convey how special it was to be there, trying to soak in every nuance of history and patriotism. "Totally Awesome!" is probably good for 1%-worth. I hope everyone has done the little things to refresh their own sense of wonder about this place, and this day. And if not - there's still time!

Bill is promising an essay on global warming. I don't want to take any wind out of his sails, but the topic is humbug. The planet is warming. So what? We need to shut down all production, limit greenhouse gasses and destroy the world economy . . . in order to save . . . umm, well we had to destroy it to save it. Sound familiar? Humbug, I say. Given the time, the nation that invented air-conditioning will develop the technologies to air-condition the planet, if that's what it takes. I can only anticipate with pleasure the cries of environmental imperialism from the U.N., an organization aptly named as in UNdemocratic, UNprincipled, and UNaccountable. Scratch a Green and uncover a Red, I say. Same people, new utopia. My understanding of history informs me that the last four or five tries at this utopia didn't pan out either. But what's another hundred million dead? Joe Stalin: "A single death is a tragedy, but a million dead is just a statistic."

I'm not saying idiots don't need to be confronted and defeated on this issue, but logical argument holds no sway with the opposition. At least in the Taliban and other assorted loonies we know what we have: religious zealots bent on murder. We can shoot them with a clear conscience. The rot from within is harder to fight becasue it's a byproduct of affluence and freedom. Life is so easy now that the idle and pampered can find nothing better to do than criticize the golden goose. Give them a hatchet and they'll kill it, too, if they don't manage first to take off their own leg around the knee. There's a cure for this kind of decadence; it's called hard work based on a personal vested interest. Where else in the world (besides Europe) can malcontents and idlers sit with $4 cups of coffee, shod in $100 shoes, with a $200 cell phone in the pocket, as they whine and complain about the state of the world?

It's worse than humbug; it's self-indulgent crap. I've seen poverty from the Rio Grande to the Nile, to the Indus, and to points beyond. Oddly, the truly poor don't complain. I reckon they know it's a waste of energy. Complaining is a luxury of the decadent. Crap.

Global warming . . . what an utterly manufactured crisis for a decadent populace. What a sales job! But capitalism is just too dirty to contemplate the possibility of a corporation capable of making a global air-conditioner. Noooo! Can't have that. Somebody might make money off of it. Scuse me, but the last time I checked, Starbucks was a listed company on the NYSE. So how many Colombian coffee-pickers does one exploit with each purchase at Starbucks? Some people think it's an effort to grind their own beans by hand. Good for them. I'll have more respect when they start growing and grinding their own wheat for bread.

The issue of global warming is a fraud. It's a guilt trip like so much being sold to a compliant and unthinking populace. Well, I ain't buy'n it. The product stinks. Now, give me a chance to invest in global air-conditioning, you'll get my attention.

Happy 4th everyone!

Kari,

Well said and hear, hear.

Let the scoffers and skeptics grumble in their dark holes. Let the prophets of doom publish their propaganda. Let the mullahs and madmen rail against us.

With all our faults and failings this nation, our republic, is still the best and brightest hope of mankind.

Happy Independence Day to all.

God Bless America.

The issue of global warming is a fraud. It's a guilt trip like so much being sold to a compliant and unthinking populace. Well, I ain't buy'n it. The product stinks. Now, give me a chance to invest in global air-conditioning, you'll get my attention.

Happy 4th everyone!
Posted by: Mark William Paules | July 4, 2007 6:13 PM

Hey MWP. You've gotta quit holding all that stuff in. Next time let it out.

Just jokin' you bud. I agree with every word you said, except the global air conditioning. We don't need it. Matter of fact, things will be better if it heats a little more, just like it has done in many previous cycles. Atmospheric CO2 always follows, not preceeds, global warming. Anybody that worries about the small amount of CO2 that man releases just hasn't contemplated a Mt. Saint Helens.

Speaking of doomsday, what ever happened to the killer ozone hole. Never hear about that any more.

Spray cans releasing hydrochloroflourocarbons? Once again just think about how much of that was released by Mount Saint Helens alone. Far more than all the a/c freon and all the spray cans in the history of mankind. All there in one natural event.

I misspelled hydrochlorofluorocarbons in my last post. My bad.

I'm hit! I need medical attention!
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2007/07/miss-utah-sgt-jill-stevens-talks-about.html

Regarding the monolithic grandeur of Ejectia

About thirty years ago I saw a book by Paolo Soleri on his vision of giant future architecture. It envisioned a world where the architects determined the course and conditions of human existence. It was at the home of a very liberal man who had taken a hard left in the 1960s and was still going strong. The concept of gargantuan, monolithic structures satisfied that man's imagination in a lot of ways. The emphasis on authoritarian control, the expectation that the universe could be controlled by large projects, and so on seemed an interesting vision when I was in my early teens. As an adult, I got to see the limitations of authoritarian visions.

Living on Navy ships for a lot of years disabused me of the notion that giant architectures are always advantageous. Compromises exist in every engineered device, and Navy ships are not primarily intended as bastions of comfort.

Towards the end of my active duty time, I toured South America and saw some of giant arcologies built there by various authoritarian regimes bent on self-aggrandizement in reinforced concrete. Most of them are nightmarishly confusing and anti-ergonomic. But they sure are big and they sure are...compensatory.

What I like about Ejectia is that I don't have to live there, I don't have to do business there, and I don't have to pretend it represents my aesthetic. What I love about Ejectia is that I don't have to pay taxes to build it. What Ejectia does to make me ecstatic is allow me to hire my own architects, graphics designers, and servers if I want to express my own vision if I really want to.

Who knows, maybe somebody building this version will take their skills and experience and sell them as part of a package. That would be more than Paolo Soleri's team has ever done: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcosanti
"It has been suggested that even if any major discoveries or theories are achieved through the gradual development of the Arcosanti project, there is now no formal structure to gather, record, and disseminate these ideas to interested stakeholders. It is argued that, as of 2005, the 35-year project has yielded few tangible results in scientific theory or development toward advancing our knowledge of arcology in theory or practice."

Ejectia is going to kick Arcosanti's ass. At current rates of construction it also stands a pretty good chance of being completed in the real world first.

At current rates of construction ...

The first Viking Lander was scheduled to land on July 4th, 1976. Once in orbit around Mars they found the planned landing site was unsuitable. On July 20th, Viking 1 set down at an alternate location and began sending back data.

Two questions: Are we looking at days, weeks, or months? And Can We Help? Early on, those with professional-grade skills were asked to volunteer. Is there anything folks with less than professional-grade skills can do?

I've been reading Eject Eject Eject for a while now, and have finally been shamed into offering my services to this wonderful world Bill envisions. I don't have much to offer, I'm a pretty good computer programmer in languages generally considered obsolete (Cobol, PL/I, Ramis, etc). I know a little bit about a lot, and a lot about a little. I'm mechanically handy. I fully believe the best teaching my father gave me was when he said if you can read you can learn to do anything.

I share with our host a deep and abiding love for America, there's noplace else in the entire world I'd rather live. I have an intense dislike for anyone who would change our nation to match the pattern set by some other, lesser, nation or who would try a system that has failed, miserably, everyplace else it's ever been attempted.

"before you wrestle with m.moore how about part 3?"
I'm torn. Which would be more satisfying, finishing off the Troofers or going after our latter-day Leni Riefenstahl?
Aw, who cares?

It's like deciding between taking the last piece of chocolate cake or the first scoop of ice cream.
Except that "Both" is not an allowed choice.

I think, dear Monster, that Part 3 of "Trinity" is incorporated into Part 2. Bill names the trio as follows: capitalism, freedom and ingenuity. I guess we'll have to ask him what he has in mind, but seems to me the essay stands complete.

Re: Moore as Riefenstahl. By vocation, I suppose, yes. But there is something about Moore's personal decadence that reminds me more of Goering. I guess we'll find out when Bill has the time to comment.

MWP, I assumed that 'part 3' referred to the long-promised Seeing the Unseen, Part 3, hence the Troofer reference.

Sorry, Monster, I thought perhaps Bill intended to finish off "Trinity" now in two parts, to a third. My misunderstanding.

The Monster,
At least Riefenstahl had cinematic talent. Moore is just a hack. The comparison is unfair to Leni. Her devotion was tragically misplaced, but she was a groundbreaking artist.
Regards, Svin

I am hard to question in my MM hating bonifides, but unfortunately I DO think he is an excellent editor, and that's why his movies are such dangerous propaganda.

To illustrate the point of what is propaganda, I point people to the PIXAR contest for reediting trailers, where "The Shining" becomes a light hearted father son comedy, complete with Peter Gabriel soundtrack. Slick editing and emotionally compelling music can allow you to take otherwise truthful pictures and make them tell a very different story in the context. Of course, MM plants in a few staged episodes to make his points, but they are so obviously over the top, the effect is far more subtle.

On another note, affecting social change through architecture is not a new concept.

The British socialists of the late 19th founded the arts and crafts movement as a social response to the "shoddy and materialistic excesses of Victoria's empire" (sound familiar)- the style was quite popular here (and the best examples still standing are always found in uber lefty enclaves)- but the social message never caught on to a mass audience
(Elbert Hubbard: founder of the Roycrofters , author of the very remnant "Message to Garcia"; a required memorization at Annapolis and West Point , shameless capitalist and victim of Prussian imperialism a la the sinking of the Lusitania -- realized there was good money to be had in quality craftsmanship as long as you didn't buy into all this socialism drek. His contemporary Gustav Stickley did buy the socialism drek, and was consequently a business failure. The spirit of the roycrofters lives on in the VERY VERY "remnant" Foxfire school of the Appalachians.)

The mid century saw the rise of le'corbusier (leave it to the French) and houses defined as "machines for living" and the cold emotionless concrete, steel and glass edifices like we see in old communist countries and from officeplexes of the 1950's (like Pentagon city) are his black mark on architecture and humanity.

Frank Lloyd Wright on the other hand realized that people are people and that to be successful in making social statements through architecture - you had to reflect that eternal truth. His Usonian philosophy was very human scaled (his manufacturing techniques help to enable the post war affordable middle class housing boom - and his open layouts are the very basis of modern living). he also bumped the conventional wisdom of super-dense urban arcologies so favored by the other modernists/socialists for an environmentally planned suburban sprawl, knowing that people would desire open spaces and freedom.

Usonia was devised in the 1930's and 1940's but it is "futuristic" enough for Wright's Innis house in Los Angeles to serve as Rick Dekkard's condo in "Bladerunner"

Zimbabwe: A short article from PJM informs us that Robert Mugabe took a radical step today to stop rampant inflation in the already ruined nation. Are you ready? He simply ordered all merchants to halve the price of all goods on the shelves. Brilliant! Leave it to a Marxist to come up with a solution as breathtakingly simple as it is stupid! I guess with nothing now on the shelves and no currency that can be trusted, we can conclude that the cash economy of this sad nation is now officially dead. On the positive side, President Mugabe will not be winning the national lottery again any time soon.

The Marxist odometer continues to roll . . . 100 million and counting. Do you suppose this latest episode will change any minds down at the Berkeley Starbucks? Repetition in error with the expectation of a different result is the definition of folly. Maybe someone with some guts will offer a new course at Berkeley? Marxism 101: From Breadbasket to Basket Case in One Generation. And still they persist . . .

MWP,
Unsurprisingly, I hear that Hugo Chavez has instituted the same type of policy in Venezuala. Merchants were ordered to keep selling goods even if they took a substantial loss on each transaction. How ignorant of economics and even basic human nature can you get? Reminds me of the joke about Reza Gorbachev and Nancy Reagan shopping together here in the U.S.
Nancy: Let's try that store over there.
Reza: No, not that one, they have nothing to sell.
Nancy: What on earth would make you think that?
Reza: There is no one standing in line to get in.
Regards~Svin

Hey, Svin,

Try this TRUE story from the period when Gorby was still Minister of Agriculture (it's even funnier if you can do it with the Walter Konig over-the-top Russian accent):

Chernenko: Comrade, Gorbachev, you are late for meeting of Supreme Soviet.

Gorbachev: Sorry, comrade, I was reviewing latest statistics from soviet agricultural output.

Chernenko: Oh really, comrade? And how is state of glorious people's agriculture?

Gorbachev: Production figures again down this year. Is total mess.

Chernenko: Really? Since when have we such troubles?

Gorbachev: Since 1917, comrade.

So how many Russians does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

This was one of my old man's favorite jokes:

A red-hot Red firebrand was on his soapbox in the town square. "Come the the revolution," he thundered, "we will all eat peaches and cream!"

A voice from the back of the thin crowd shouted: "What if we don't like peaches and cream?"

The firebrand's face turned as red as his banner. He shook his finger in the general direction of the voice and roared: "Come the revolution we will all eat peaches and cream AND LIKE IT!

My favorite Russian (Soviet) joke:

A man waits in line all day and, finally getting to the counter, asks for some fish.

The shopkeeper raises an eyebrow and replies:

"Fish? We don't have BREAD - If you don't want FISH, go stand in line across street."

(Thank you, Mrs. Nemchonok)

- MuscleDaddy

Khrushchev was touring a Soviet university. While visiting a Russo/Soviet literature class he asked a student: "Who wrote 'Anna Karenina'?"

"I do not know." replied the white faced student.

Khrushchev turned to the professor and vented his wrath. "This is intolerable. I expect this situation to be corrected immediately!" he ranted as he stormed out.

Returning to his office in the Kremlin, Khrushchev was greeted by a telegram. It was from the literature professor and read: "Situation corrected, Comrade Khrushchev. After lengthy interrogation student has confessed to writing 'Anna Karenina'."

To Rickbert and all others impatient for the completion of Ejectia, this quote from the Notebooks of Lazarus Long: "Cheops' Law: Nothing ever gets built on schedule or within budget."

Patience.

none, the lightbulb contains the seeds of its own revolution

Today in History, July 6
1957: Althea Gibson is the first black winner of a Wimbledon singles title.
1908: Robert Peary sails toward the North Pole.
1885: Louis Pasteur's rabies vaccine successfully tested.
1854: The first Republican Party convention is held.
[Note: Ejectia is on Coordinated Universal Time, so the day begins at 5:00 pm PST]
(Yesterday)

How many Russians does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

A. We have a place in Siberia for those who ask such questions.

B. Lightbulbs are for party members only. The rest of you can sit in the dark.

C. Five. One to hold the bulb and four to drink till the room spins.

D. Sorry, comrade. No lightbulbs till next five year plan.

Happy Fourth to all my American neighbors, friends and family.
I no its ot but
Q: How many mice does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
.
.
.
A: Two, of course, but we're not sure how they got in the lightbulb.

In Soviet Russia, lightbulb screws you!

Two labor camp guards are walking the perimeter (and know no eavesdropping devices are present) when one asks a question that's troubling him:

Dmitri: I am confused, Alexei. Some of our residents are here for advocating capitalism. I am not political person. What is so wrong about capitalism?
Alexei: Is simple, Dmitri: In capitalism, man exploits man!
Dmitri: What is difference between capitalism and communism?
Alexei: Glorious communism is better than evil capitalism.... Is other way around.

Soviet Socialist Medical Plan
Cure for headache, toothache, backache, etc...
Lie down in bed. Put hat on one foot.
Drink Vodka until you see two hats.
Sleep for 12 hours.
Repeat as necessary.
Svin

Svin - that's really funny when you read it with a bad fake Russian accent.

My favorite Russian joke is from the movie Meteor (paraphrased) -

American Scientist: During the Viet Nam war, I was free to march on the streets in Washington to protest my country's involvement in the war.

Russian Scientist: We are not so different. I was free to march on the streets in Moscow to protest your country's involvement in the Viet Nam war.

My favorite joke of all time (which tells you how lame my life is)

Stalin, Khrushchev and Brezhnev were riding across Siberia in a train, when it came to an avalanche and stopped.

They waited quietly for a few minutes. Then Stalin got up and left the compartment. There was a gunshot, then he returned.

"Comrade Stalin! What happened?" the others asked.

Stalin answered. "The engineer? I shot him" and he sat down.

A few hours passed. Khrushchev stood up and said "Wait here" and left the compartment. Soon he returned.

"Comrade, what did you do?" asked the others.

"That man you shot? I rehabilitated him" answered Khrushchev.

They sat for another hour. The Brezhnev stood. Stalin and Khrushchev were surprised. "Comrade" they said "Why are you getting up? Comrade Stalin shot the engineer, Comrade Khrushchev rehabilitated him, there is nothing you can do!"

Brezhnev pulled the shade down over the window. "There, you see?" he said. "The train is moving."

Hate to break a pattern, but feel that other ethnic groups should be involved.

What's the difference between the Rolling Stones and a Scotsman?

The Rolling Stones say "Hey, you, get offa my cloud." The Scotsman says, "Hey, McCloud, get offa my ewe."

Gideon300- Sourdough experiment so far has been a resounding success. Thanks for the inspiration and help getting started! My starter seems healthy and is now about 2 weeks since finishing the initial fermentation. I've named it "Croyd" in reference to some stories from the Wildcards anthologies by George R. R. Martin. I fed it another cup of flour about 5 days ago since it seemed to have thinned compared to its earlier batter consistency.

This morning made up a batch of sourdough pancakes with an improvised recipe based on a small bit of research, and using the new starter. They turned out fantastic! I'm never buying pancake mix in a box ever again. Convinced my wife to try them and she was surprised they didn't taste like the starter smelled..she's sometimes frightened by my science projects at home, but she's now a fan of these.

Next project will be baking bread this weekend, and I'm also eager to try making some Ethiopian Injera flatbread if I can find the right flour locally.

Salutations to all Ejectians, and happy belated 4th!

Dear Douglas,
Here is your horoscope
for Wednesday, July 4:

Oh, blow it out your backside!
If you can't get here on time, You're Fired!

That felt good.

Since i'm full of darkness today, what other crap can I off-load,...how about some silly expectations like, oh, say,...a savior? Why am I waiting on a savior anyway?

To save me from what?

Let's do some introspection here.
Am I guilty of something.

Yes, according to the Pope, I'm guilty of sin.

When did that happen?

Right out of the womb. Born in to it.

HUH???

Yup, you can't deny it. The Pope say's so.

So, i'm damned right from the git go?

Yup, 'fraid so buddy. Nothing you can do about it but give yourself up to whatever the Pope say's you gotta do.

WAIT A MINUTE!
First commandment say's to put no other god before G_D, so why do I care about what the Pope says???

Hmmn,...Something just don't add up here.

Dougie, are you looking for a savior, who will save you from future harm - or a redeemer, who will make your past sins OK?

I've always figured that I can save my own self, just don't do bad stuff. The redemption is harder, that Pope fella offers redemption at a discount, just give him your soul and he'll take care of the rest. But if you want to take care of your own past sins, go and do good works.

Taking the blame for the sins of others is a damned good start.

Taking the blame for the sins of others is a damned good start.

Would that put me in direct contention with the Roman Catholic Church?

They'd say Blasphemy, I imagine.

If Catholic means Universal than tacking Roman in front of it just destroys the whole scope, doesn't it?

Okay - So, the Pope walks into a ba... nah, better not get that started....

Why do Scotsmen wear kilts?

'Cause a shep c'n hear a zepper a myle awa'!

- MuscleDaddy

I hate to break up the Scottish jokes for a Public Service Announcement (Well, my Senator, Mitch McConell, is a scottish joke, but that's a different story). However, Kim has a story that a lot of people might be interested in.

Apparently, OSHA is trying to pass rules for the Manufacturing and Sale of ammunition which will seriously affect the industry in a negative manner by being WAY over-the-top in restrictiveness.

Damn you, Dougman! McConnell has TWO 'n's...

Good catch, Wayne - I'm going to email the text of this to every gunshop in CO as soon as I get home.
(all internet listings of 'gunshops' are blocked from work, of course)

- MuscleDaddy

Eh, religion. I've done that whole route many, many times. I honestly believe I have been "saved" at least two or three times, but each time I start studying what the Bible says and I get into apolgetics and I talk myself out of believing.

Now that I have a daughter though, I feel like I should be in church. I want her to know all the things I know, but I don't want her indocrinated, know what I mean?

Things really do get more complex when your child is involved. I want her to go, but I don't want to go, but if she goes, then I should go, and I know her daddy won't want to go, and I don't want to go, etc.

Damn you Dougman! (just thought I'd throw that in for good measure)

Kari,

The trend in western religious belief over the millenia has moved from the hierarchical and authoritarian to the personal and individual. Luther broke with Rome and declared that man did not need the Church, nor the clergy, nor most of the Catholic sacraments to attain salvation. Only faith. My own take: If God created us with a free will and gave us a conscience, He didn't intend us to be automatons. Nor would He have given us the gift of discernment and a mind capable of contemplating His nature and His wishes if He intended only absolute obedience. But that's just me.

Oddly, Islam is supposed to be anti-hierarchical as well. My understanding is that Islam is about a personal relationship between believer and Allah. How that squares with what's going on now, I do not know. But I rather suspect that when men assume to speak for God, it's more about personal power than piety. Again, that's just me. I don't mean to put all clergymen in the same basket, but I rather prefer a clergyman-scholar-philosopher to an evangilist. Religion will always be a loaded subject, so I'll say no more for now. I suppose Ejectia is going to have to deal with it sooner or later.

Worth Posting Again

What difference does it make that you own a gun, if OSHA is able to put and end to ammunition?

From Kim's Site:

http://www.theothersideofkim.com/index.php/tos/single/10779/

From the NSSF:
http://www.nssf.org/news/PR_idx.cfm?PRloc=common/PR/&PR=BP070207.cfm

There are only two ways to get anyone to do anything: Force or Persuasion

Let's keep them limited to 'Persuasion'.

Start the letter-writing, people.

- MuscleDaddy

Bill,
While reading your Trinity essays, I remembered an incident from my far away youth. As a very young airman, I had a chance to hear Viktor Belenko speak. Viktor was a MiG-25 pilot in the Soviet Union who defected with his aircraft in 1976. During his debriefings with the CIA, he told of the propaganda briefings they would receive in the USSR. While showing slides of the ghettos in various American cities, the party officials would decry the capitalists that would allow their people to live in such horrid conditions. Viktor said he would look at the pictures and wonder why people in such a terrible system had cars in front of their homes and television antennas on the roofs. Then, when he made it to the States and the CIA showed him a supermaket, he believed it to be staged for his benefit. He spent months asking to go to grocery stores just to try to catch the US in a lie. When it finally sank in, when he realized that despite all of our flaws, we have a bounty of consumer goods at our disposal, he felt so betrayed for what had happened in his former life.

Those who believe that American poor have it bad should travel to Saudi Arabia and sit in a plywood and canvas hut of a camel herder who will NEVER be able to rise above his current situation. Go to the slums in Brazil and see the people who have no hope. Go to the City of the Dead in Cairo and talk to the 10,000 people who live with no water, light or sanitary necessities and will never be able to live with the barest of what we consider the essentials.

Keep up the great work, Bill. We are with you.

Kari/Mark,

Take sections 3a:
"Jesus said, "If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the (Father's) kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the (Father's) kingdom is within you and it is outside you."

..and 77:
"Jesus said, "I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained. Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there." "

...from the Gospel of Thomas
(dismissed by the Church as Coptic writings...a convenient assignation, when you want to deny the authenticity of something that both sounds right and physically dates from the right time - a discussion for later)

And add in Acts 7:48-49 :
Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:
'The heavens are my throne, the earth is my footstool. What kind of house can you build for me? says the Lord, or what is to be my resting place?.

And it becomes more plain (at least to me) that 'church' may not be necessary to a person's relationship with the divine per se.

However, a compelling arguement can easily be made for its role in helping to supply a bedrock structure in what is otherwise the sea of relativism that is the modern world.

Young children need structure - they crave it.

- MuscleDaddy

MD,

Agree with you on structure; as a teacher, don't I know it! Seems to me also that as one matures spiritually he takes on personal responsibility for his relationship with the Creator. In my case, I'll freely travel the road of heresy if it leads to the Palace of Truth. I'm very honest about admitting what I don't know. And rather reticent about sharing what I believe. I think a person can experience the divine, but not so sure that the limited human mind can actually "know" God. But here we begin to step into the realm of metaphysics, which is probably a better forum for Ejectia than religion. Such a thread could probably run to eternity, no pun intended. Unless you believe that eternity exists only in the moment. A separate thread . . . but I better stop before I launch on a treatise about the nature of time.

MWP, you know what Einstein said about time....

Theory of Relativity:

    2
E=mc

Chicago Corollaries:
Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?

Rob Miles -

My brother met Tanya over the internet, went to Russia, brought her and her two young daughters (none of whom knew a lick of English) home to the U.S. - they just celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary.
March 28, 2003 Tanya became an American citizen!
The daughters are in college, Tanya is now a respiratory therapist.

A few years ago she told me this story.........

They were taught that Russia was the best, most prosperous place in the world.......the standards in any other country were much lower than anything known in Russia.
Tanya's parents were allowed to leave the country at one point to travel, a cruise ship to Italy.

Her Mother returns and is frantic to see Tanya......she takes her aside and says -
"Tanya! Tanya! They lied to us! You MUST leave!"
She proceeded to tell Tanya of the wonders she had seen in Italy and other ports with her own eyes.
The stories she had heard on the ship.

As stated above, Tanya and her two daughters did leave.
I remember clearly, her first trip to a grocery store was ab-so-lute-ly overwhelming.......

"Tanya! Tanya! They lied to us! You MUST leave!"

Even today, the North Korean government is telling it's people that NoKo is the best, most prosperous nation on earth. Even as people starve.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=24942

"You retaliate against those that take advantage of the common trust. In other words, you punish the cheaters."
Truer words were never spoke, William. As a patriot, does this mean you agree that the deeds of Bush and Cheney over the past several years should be given very close scrutiny to ensure they are not taking the country down the garden path?

MD & MWP,

I think you're right, but for some reason (probably my growing up in the Bible belt), I feel like I need to find a church of sorts. Hey, just a bunch of people getting together to talk every week or something would be great. :) Maybe Ejectia can have a forum/chat for that.

What's more difficult is telling my mother that I don't want to go to a Evangelical Baptist church that preaches the King James Version is the only version. :) Yeah, she lays a little bit of a guilt trip on - and in a way, I wish Natasha had a reason to wear all those cute little dresses and such.

As to structure - I agree wholeheartedly. I grew up in a strict Christian household - ran away at 16 to marry an idiot (after I divorced him in prison, 6 years later he killed his girlfriend and is currently in prison for life without parole - ummm, can anyone say I made a mistake?). At 23, I hit rock bottom and came back to my conservative roots, thanks to a dear friend who helped me through a rough patch and got me back on the right path. And although he professed himself to be agnostic, we could have the most interesting conversations regarding religion and the history of the Christian faith.

But it was that structure that was built in my youth, that structure that I had rebelled against, I discovered through my friend. That's what I hope for my Natasha. Teen years are scary and I hope, that in 12 years, I can instill that structure in her.

"But here we begin to step into the realm of metaphysics, which is probably a better forum for Ejectia than religion." - Mark William Paules

Reading today's comments on what appears to be Protestantism vs. Catholicism, churches vs. individual faith, or metaphysics vs. religion, one thought comes to mind, as it often does for me.

What do you mean 'we', kemosabe?

Speaking as one who has no belief in any supernatural realm at all, this is pretty much all above my paygrade, outside my jurisdiction, and the more time goes by, makes me feel like the proverbial Martian anthropologist. I mean none of this in a bad way, in fact, my first impulse is to come to the side of whoever happens to be the underdog at the moment. I find there are strong arguments in favor of all the positions taken, even if I am ultimately persuaded by none of them. If you think that leaves me with a smug, self-satisfied feeling, think again.

I have never felt as much a part of any community (I daresay, even family) as I did in the churches of my youth. That I no longer have the Faith does not blind me to their virtues. All three of the divides listed above match fairly well with the social/individual poles which pull at our human natures. But if I may venture my decidedly non-spiritual point of view, the Collective and the Individual is the Scylla and Charybdis of human nature. Steer too close to either and you are destroyed. Only by navigating between them will you make it through.

Since I'm betting that our very natures are formed by and for navigating between the two, I really don't want to see either side 'win' when these debates come up. Not because I don't have a dog in this fight, but because I have two.

(Sorry for the length. I'd been trying to save the whole 'rock and a hard place' theory of human nature for it's own forum thread some day, but today just seemed like the day for it.)

stevejbons,
I cannot speak for William but I can address the problem of constantly looking to the past. For one thing, it distracts from the necessity of focusing on the future. What is done cannot be undone. The nation is at war and defeat would have grave consequences. Once our goal is achieved we may be better able to critique our past decisions without weakening the common effort through divisiveness and rancour.
"The Past is another country. They do things differently there."
Col.Jeff Cooper
Svin

Rickbert,

Sorry - the whole religion thing has really been on my mind recently, what with my daughter getting older and having family who won't stop bugging me about it.

I would like to know how you came to the peaceful conclusion you seem to have made. I'm good about not paying any attention to religion - until my family kicks in. And there is a big part of me that wants Natasha to be involved in a community like the one that I used to (well, kinda) belong to.

If you once believed and had faith, how did you come to not believe and not have faith and it not bother you? For that is my problem.

If you want to have this conversation off-comments: kippras AT gmail DOT com. I don't know how you feel about it - nor how everyone else feels :)

"Truer words were never spoke, William. As a patriot, does this mean you agree ..." - stevejbons

In case William Whittle is busy these days, trying to put the finishing touches on Ejectia together, I'll take a stab at this. Uhm, yes. All public officials should be given close scrutiny to ensure they do not violate the public trust.

I'll assume it was merely an oversight on your part that you left out such names as Reid and Pelosi from your example. I wouldn't want to assume you were implying they are any less deserving of scrutiny, or that Bush and Cheny were particularly more deserving.

After all, in an open debate that's the sort of thing people would be willing to come right out and state plainly.

Kari, I have no children and so have avoided the dilemma you have no choice but to deal with. You mentioned earlier a daughter too young to stay up for fireworks, so I'm guessing the biggest share of the problem still lies ahead of you. On the bright side, that means you have time.

As to the question of my own path, maybe we can pick that up again once Ejectia goes live. If I had kids, I probably would take them to visit various religious services as part of their education. If they found friends at any of them and wanted to return, I'd have no objection.

I suspect your concern for passing on values to your daughter will lead you to find a way, even if you can't see it now.

Kari, one way to ensure your kids grow up well is to home-school them. But it's expensive -- you have to spend some of your own time to do it. And you have to find some other families who do it so that you have help and your kids can share experiences.

stevejbons-

does this mean you agree that the deeds of Bush and Cheney over the past several years should be given very close scrutiny to ensure they are not taking the country down the garden path?

What? You think that Congress (let alone the media) hasn't bothered to give the administration "very close scrutiny" these last several years? :)

stevejbons,

We hold our elected officials accountable every two, four, or six years depending on the position. It's called an election. Scrutiny is the job of a free press and an informed citizenry. I don't think any patriot would argue with that.

Rickbert,

I suspect your concern for passing on values to your daughter will lead you to find a way, even if you can't see it now.

I really hope so. I think she needs something concrete to hold on to when the teenage years hit. I hope to instill the right philosophy and hopefully she'll have something to guide her later in life.

qwer,

Kari, one way to ensure your kids grow up well is to home-school them.

Oh, I've definitely given that a thought. I love the idea of homeschooling and finding a community to share in - different people with different knowledge teaching the children different subjects different days. It's kinda close to how I see Ejectia in a way - only that Ejectia is more for adults :) Or to send her to private school (I don't know where or what kind or whatever) where the teachers would be more accountable because I'm paying them. :)

We'll have to see which route we will need to take in the future, depending on our finances. :) But I'm open to all the information about homeschooling that people can give me :)

Today in History, July 7
1980: Shari'a law instituted in Iran. [They aren't all 'accomplishments'.]
1907: Robert Anson Heinlein born in Butler, Missouri.
1668: Isaac Newton receives Master of Arts from Trinity College, Cambridge.
(Yesterday)

Kari- I wish my father were still alive so I could ask him how he managed. Suffice it to say that even through a divorce where he did not get primary custody, a nightmarish second marriage, and a very busy career he still managed to pass on his values without the outside structure of a church. I DID go to church when I was young- Unitarian- but I was no longer interested by the time I hit adolescence and it was more a center of community than teaching of values. (Though goodwill, intellectual exploration, and tolerance of wide differences- including tolerance by the different- was expected there.)

For what it's worth, my brother from the second marriage became a Mormon and I remained as agnostic as Dad was, but the two of us are remarkably alike from the values perspective all the same- it's less about religion than the values all of our family holds to be important.

We were not indoctrinated. Virtually all of my memories involving my father that weren't about pure goofing around was of him gently encouraging us to think about everything- including right and wrong, life, the universe, and everything.

Ah, yes, the ozone hole. The one that lives over the South Pole and changes size with the seasons. The liberals tried to get us to think that WE were causing that enlarging, until climatologists published satellite photos showing the seasonal changes in size.
In the meantime, many of us suffered, particularly those requiring certain medications, specifically asthmatics.
/
As some of you may or may not know, the primary propellant in those hand-held inhalers, those incredibly small, portable lifesavers that I like to call ?freedom in a can,? is hydrochlorofluorocarbons. During the height of the ozone scare, pharmaceutical companies got on the ?green? bandwagon by producing inhalers that used other things as propellants. Guess what? They didn?t work! Same medication in the can, different propellant. Have an asthma attack, take a hit from the can, and---no results! I know. I was prescribed one of them. The day after I had to use it, I was back in my doctor?s office for a new prescription.
/
Six months after releasing the product, the company had to stop production. Whatever their laboratory testing had shown, in actual use, their effectiveness was absolutely ZERO.
/
I wonder how many asthmatics got into life-threatening attacks, or maybe even lost their lives, over that fiasco?

svinrod: About your comment about living in the past, here?s my favorite quote on the matter: ?To dwell on the past is to die in the present.? (Atrus? journal in the adventure game Riven.)
/
My best friend and I spent the Fourth watching old WWII movies and reruns of the Rat Patrol. I still feel a thrill inside every time I see those scenes of our tanks and half-tracks advancing on a battlefield; such a scene in "The Miracle of the White Stallions" called to mind a poem I had to memorize in the fifth grade. I post it here now in belated honor of the Fourth. It's called "Flag of the Free," by Walter Taylor Fields.

Look at the flag as it floats on high,
Streaming aloft in the clear, blue sky,
Rippling, leaping, tugging away,
Gay as the sunshine, bright as the day,
Throbbing with life, where the world may see---
Flag of our country, flag of the free!

What do we see in the flag on high,
That we bare our heads as it passes by,
That we thrill with pride, and our hearts beat fast,
And we cheer and cheer as the flag goes past---
The flag that waves for you and me---
Flag of our country, flag of the free?

We see in the flag a nation?s might,
The pledge of a safeguard day and night,
Of a watchful eye and a powerful arm
That guard the nation?s homes from harm,
Of a strong defense on land and sea---
Flag of our country, flag of the free!

We see in the flag a union grand,
A brotherhood of heart and hand,
A pledge of love and a stirring call
To live our lives for the good of all---
Helpful and just and true to thee,
Flag of our country, flag of the free!

Flutter, dear flag, o?er the lands and the seas!
Fling out your stars and your stripes to the breeze,
Righting all wrongs, dispelling all fear,
Guarding the land that we cherish so dear,
And the God of our fathers, abiding with thee,
Will bless you and trust you, O flag of the free!

***
Happy Fourth, everybody.

Robert A. Heinlein Centennial started today.
Hyatt Regency Crown Center & Westin Crown Center
Kansas City, Missouri -- July 6-7-8, 2007

Fair friends, you are a delight to read, no matter when I can drop in.

Kari,

That you were able to pull yourself out of the vortex so that sweet Natasha could be with us today is a non-denominational blessing, on so many levels. You didn't get to be the dead girlfriend, thank God. That you're here, spanking smart, with a brimming heart, wanting to make the world better now, not just later, is a hint of the girl your daughter promises to be.

The roads traveled and fabled... how many of them we think we know, or at least can name, when in fact, it's not until we're feet upon the gravel, in the dark, that we do, in fact, understand.

G'ni all, sleep ye deep and sweet.

Adding to The Monster's list...

1885: Pasteur gives 1st anti-rabies shot to Joseph Meister, 9 yrs old. Modern immunization begins here. The boy eventually became caretaker of the Pasteur Institute.

1920: 1st air navigation by radio-compass (as opposed to visual landmarks), from Norfolk VA.

Labrat,

My acquaintance with Unitarians has convinced me that if you can be agnostic and Christian at the same time, this particular sect fits the description. When I asked the Unitarian minister what he believed in, he answered in the negative: "Well there's a whole lot of things we don't believe in. For one, no magic." By this he meant no belief in things like the sacraments, transubstantiation, nor miracles. As far as I could tell, the man was the very definition of a natural philosopher. It makes me wonder how Unitarianism keeps its numbers up, turning out as it does so many agnostics, including some members of its own clergy. But I suppose there's value in recognizing what one doesn't know, or can't know. It does induce one to think about things rather than accept pat answers. Each to his own, I suppose.

I read at PJM that a lone blogger by the name of Rusty Shakleford has made it his personal business to shut down Taliban websites. This is a real fight, a people's war, a private citizen waging combat on his own! The Jawa Report vs. the Taliban, and guess who's winning? Now what does that tell you about our culture and technology vs. the enemy? A lone hacker is knocking out enemy communications from the privacy of his study. Twenty years ago this would have been science fiction. Check it out a PJM.

It just occured to me that Ejectia has an opportunity here to take an active role in the fight against terrorism. I've noticed while perusing combat video on U-Tube that I occaionally land on footage obviously shot by Jihadists. They are using U-Tube as a recruitment tool. Now, U-Tube does have a means by which users can complain to management about anything they find objectionable. U-Tube will then delete it. I'll need some volunteers. Here's the plan: We need to comb through the available footage using search words like Iraq, Afghanistan, Jihad, IED, etc. When we find something produced by the enemy, we click on the approriate link to advise management at U-tube that such video can be construed as aiding and abetting the enemy in time of war. Which it is, and against the law, too. Anybody game? This is a real chance to play an active part in this war, from the privacy of home no less! Post with a positive response, if you're up for it. Tally-ho!

Okay, I just gave my idea a test run. U-Tube is rife with Jihadist propaganda. I filed my complaint under "hate speech." We'll see if I can generate some action.

MWP,
Sounds like a good idea to me. Can you list any video you find so we can also go there and make our opinions known to management? Lets grow this thing!
Svin

Svin,

Jihadist video is rampant on this site. Just type in key words "IED" and "Jihad". It's all in Arabic and easy to spot. If U-Tube won't yield to citizen pressure, I'll call the FBI. Aiding and abetting the enemy in time of war is not protected speech under the 1st Amendment. Let's have at it.

And Svin,

While you're at it. Drop a note to Black5 and API and advise them. Let's roll, brother.

Anyone know Arabic? I'd hate to 'flag as inappropriate' any videos in Arabic that actually spoke against terrorism. Sure, some like videos from Shihabden are fairly easy calls. Four minutes of what appears to be a eulogy for Zarqawi rather than a 'good riddance'. They show the video of him firing a machine gun, but not the outtakes where he appears not to know how to operate it.

And his profile page listing Shihabden as 'Al-Qaeda in Youtub' doesn't help.

MWP,
I will do a post on QTR. Then we can link it and invite all our friends and acquaintances to play. That way I only have to write it once. I'll put up the link here when I'm done.
"L'audace! Tojours l'audace!"
Svin

Rickbert,

You don't need Arabic. It's real easy to tell the difference.

Also, this hacker by the name of Rusty Shackleton is supposed to be the guest on today's Rusty Humphrey's Show (AM, Talk Radio). None of my local stations carry him, but we need somebody who can pick up the program to make a phone drop. Advise the public that a citizen movement to combat Jihadist video at U-Tube is afoot, and invite the listening public to join us. The more pressure we bring to bear with our numbers, the better chance we have of ridding this scourge from the Net.

Mark- having grown up in a Unitarian church (they are very diverse, individually, from church to church, though), I'd say my impression of how they keep their numbers up goes about like this:

"So young Clarissa is calling herself Absence of Light Mystical Crow Coyote now, is she? That's lovely. Have her make a Despair Pie to bring to the next pot luck and we can all discuss the merits and flaws of Anton Le Vey!"

As much as UU churches can be said to have a truly common belief, it's the belief that the importance of a strong and nurturing community trumps and any and all differences in beliefs about metaphysics.

I left not because I had any devastating problems with UU, but rather because I'm simply not sociable enough to enjoy being enveloped by the community (which, in the church that I grew up in, can feel like being swallowed by a very friendly and slightly argumentative whale) once a week.

You don't need Arabic. It's real easy to tell the difference. - Mark William Paules

I agree that for some, the call is easy. But I spent a little time plinking around, following 'related' videos in arabic. Some I came across had names for the speakers. I googled them, found websites with some english translations and found only muslim theological sermonizing. Not violent, not my cup of tea for theology, but nothing clearly flaggable on Youtube as hate speech.

Given the ease with which YouTube has taken down videos by bloggers simply quoting MEMRI translations as hate speech against Islam, it would be nice to see a more even-handed approach. Pick a standard and apply it fairly to both sides, and I'll be content.

But ya, I think a 'daily dozen' of the easier calls to make (like Zarqawi eulogies, or videos of Azzam the American, in english) is a reasonable goal, and doesn't take long to find.

Bill,

Those are some interesting images. Not to be a wet blanket, but there are some problems with perspective that diminish them. I assume they are done in Photoshop and the structures and mountains on separate layers. Rotate some, as they don't look like they were sot on film! Pretend you have a 4x5 with tilts, swings, and shifts.

MWP, Rickbert, Svinrod,

When I'm over there looking at the MNFIRAQ videos -- which are videos posted by Our Troops and they are great -- I'll do my part too. YouTube is totally hypocritical in its application of its censorship policy.

Rickbert,
"Pick a standard and apply it fairly to both sides, and I'll be content."

It would be nice if YouTube would do that, but they seem to have chosen instead