The Stokes Kith and Kin Community Blog

CGS Bernard C. Webber Comes to Miami, Named for a Hero

2012-02-10T06:17:00.000-05:00

The first of the new class of Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutters being detailed to Miami is the CGS Bernard C. Webber, according to today's Herald.

Bernard C. Webber was a Senior Chief Petty Officer and one of the "Chatham Legends:"

On February 18, 1952, he took the CG36500 out of Chatham Station withthree volunteers-Seaman Ervin Maske, Seaman Richard Livesey and Petty Officer3rd Class Andrew Fitzgerald, an Engineman, responding to the tanker Pendleton,which had broken in two off Chatham in a storm. Seaman Maske was at ChathamStation awaiting transport to the Lightship Stonehorse but remained ashorebecause the Coast Guard deemed the seas too rough to transport him. Hevolunteered, along with the two Chatham Coast Guardsmen who volunteered toaccompany Mr. Webber.

The Coast Guard crew faced 60 foot waves, hurricane force winds andblizzard conditions to rescue 33 sailors who survived the shipwreck. Whilethe CG36500 was leaving Chatham Harbor, her compass and windshield were smashedand the rescue boat began shipping water. They persevered, and by dead reckoningthey finally sighted the stern section of the Pendleton, where the ship'screw was awaiting rescue. They only lost one man-the ship's cook, GeorgeD. "Tiny" Myers,

The four who manned the rescue boat all received coveted Coast GuardGold Life-saving Medals for their heroism in what is considered by maritimehistorians to be "The Greatest Small Boat Rescue in Coast Guard History."

-from the US Coast Guard Lightship Sailors Association International's webpage on Bernard C. Webber, (USCG Retired) 1928 - 2009

The photo below is of the CG36500 that Webber commanded on his rescue mission. It is from the the Chatham Legends website:

The CG36500 has its own complete website here. It's worth examining.

Getting Started with Stott's "Through the Bible"

2012-02-09T05:49:00.001-05:00

Some friends of mine are interested in picking up John Stott's Through the Bible - Through the Year, Daily Reflections from Genesis to Revelation (Baker Books 2006) to aid their daily devotions. It has readings set up something like a lectionary, following the Christian calendar. It begins with "Week I:Creation" and progresses more or less through the Bible, from the beginning of the year to the end.

Where do you begin if you pick up the book later in the year than the first week? If one is beginning during the first third of the year, Stott advises on page 8 as follows:

The best way to keep in step with the Christian calendar is to pinpoint the date of Easter in the year in which you are using the book. Then during the two weeks before it . . . we can read the meditations set for Week 31 . . . and Week 32. On Easter Day itself, and during the remaining days of Easter Week, we can then read the meditation set for Week 33.

Today is Thursday, February 9, 2012. Today's reading, "Forgive Us Our Sins," is on page 204. It is part of "Week 24: The Lord's Prayer." This is a delightful way to start the day.

The Vision of a Revolutionary East West Corridor for MetroRail

2012-02-09T05:26:00.000-05:00

(Click on the image to make it bigger.) I suppose this would be work for Harriet, once she finishes with the Port of Miami Tunnel. We shall see.

Images of the Port of Miami Tunnel Boring Machine

2012-02-09T05:18:00.003-05:00

Her name is "Harriet" and pictures of her are here.

Construction Status of the Port of Miami Tunnel, a Tour

2012-02-08T06:29:00.002-05:00

-from the Herald. Read more about it here. What a wonder!

Chickens Come Home to Roost for Mr. Stupak. Or Something.

2012-02-08T03:07:00.002-05:00

[W]e're eager to hear from former Michigan Congressman Bart Stupak, who for a brief moment led a faction of pro-life Democrats against ObamaCare in 2010. They surrendered when Mr. Obama gave them the fig leaf of an executive order that will supposedly prevent federal funds from subsidizing abortions. Mr. Stupak is now a lobbyist at the D.C. law firm Venable LLP.

-from yesterday's WSJ editorial, decrying the HHS regulation that draws the Obamacare "religious exception" so narrowly that even left-wing Catholic bishops are up in arms.

Ken and I remember Bart Stupak. But the man at least paid for his transgressions. Knowing that he would not be re-elected, he decided not to run again. Life is tough in America, though, now the poor man is out on the streets.

No, wait . . .

"Hallowed be your name"

2012-02-07T05:54:00.003-05:00

[God's] name is already holy in that it is exalted above every other name. Yet we pray for its hallowing, that is, that it may be given the honor due it in our lives, in the church, and in the world.

- Stott, Through the Bible - Through the Year, Daily Reflections from Genesis to Revelation (Baker Books 2006), p. 202.

How Believers Ought to Pray

2012-02-06T06:25:00.000-05:00

Believers do not pray with the view to informing God about things unknown to him, or of exciting him to do his duty, or of urging him as though he were reluctant. On the contrary, they pray in order that they may arouse themselves to seek him, that they may exercise their faith in meditating on his promises, that they may relieve themselves from their anxieties by pouring them into his bosom; in a word that they may declare that from him alone they hope and expect, both for themselves and for others, all good things.

-John Calvin, as quoted in Stott, Through the Bible - Through the Year, Daily Reflections from Genesis to Revelation (Baker Books 2006), p. 201.

"Mortgage Tornado Warning, Unheeded" - The New York Times at its Best

2012-02-05T07:16:00.001-05:00

See this article published yesterday on the efforts of Florida businessman Nye Lavalle to bring to Fannie Mae's attention unfair and fraudulent businesses practices of those in the mortgage industry. The Times article has a link to the full text of the investigative report made by a major law firm that had been retained by Fannie Mae to look into Mr. Lavalle's allegations.

Mr. Lavalle accuses Fannie Mae of "aiding, abetting and sanctioning ... predatory lending and
servicing schemes," as well as committing accounting and securities fraud, and racketeering
violations. He views Fannie Mae as responsible for damage inflicted on single-family borrowers
by unscrupulous lenders and servicers because Fannie Mae approves lenders and servicers,
maintains servicer profiles and ratings, approves mortgage document terms and servicing
requirements, and benefits from the income stream created by wrongdoing.

-from the investigative report.

"Monsanto lobbyist uses power as FDA food czar to target Amish "

2012-02-04T13:15:00.003-05:00

If true, this is really a nasty report. (Thanks to Instapundit.)

(The fact that a former food industry lobbyist "is now is the second highest-ranking official at the FDA, and as Food Safety Czar is responsible for implementing the day-to-day policies that govern the food safety laws for the U.S. " is part of why people are spitting mad at Washington - and ought to be.)

Sidewalk Legos

2012-02-03T10:01:00.002-05:00

Thanks, Jane!

From the Sarasota Chalk Festival and Leon Keer.

Getting Out of Afghanistan Early Seems Wrong

2012-02-02T06:39:00.000-05:00

A faster end to U.S. combat in Afghanistan could give President Barack Obama an election-year lift.
It may also demoralize Afghans who fear a return to the austere rule of the Taliban and hope that reconciliation between all parties would deliver a better alternative.

-from a Reuters report today that the US announced that it will withdraw its combat troops a year earlier than previously announced, taking the Kabul government by surprise.

Surely this is not some cynical move by the Obama administration to save his re-election.

I recall that when we went into Iraq, then Florida Senator Bob Graham, a Democrat and a decent man, was very critical of the Bush Administration, arguing that the central theater of war should be Afghanistan (we were already there, but not the way we were about to be in Iraq.) This was also a theme during President Obama's campaign for President. Now this.

"All Good Things Come Out of Blood, Sweat, and Tears"

2012-01-31T15:31:00.001-05:00

(Maybe a little hyperbolic, but I get what he means.)

Rubio: Obama 'made everything worse' - The Hill's Video

2012-01-29T17:10:00.000-05:00

Rubio: Obama 'made everything worse' - The Hill's Video

Ryan Hall, Marathoner, Christian

2012-01-27T18:13:00.000-05:00

Lynda Robertson, my favorite sportswriter at the Herald, had this column on the Olympic-level runner. He's competing in the ING Miami Marathon this weekend. Mary competed in the 2006 ING Half-Marathon (scroll-down at link).

Speaking of running, we should all consider running in this 5K in March.

Aidan, Let's Get Together and Show them How to Design a Warehouse System

2012-01-27T17:55:00.001-05:00

(Thanks to Jane for forwarding me this link.)

¡Hola, Caballero!

2012-01-25T07:13:00.002-05:00

Last evening on the way home from the office, I dropped by the Home Depot just off Okeechobee Road, near LeJeune. (Over the weekend I discovered the world's greatest garage shelf as I researched the problem on the internet and bought one Sunday afternoon at HD. It was on sale for $10 less than shown on HD's web page, and it worked out so well, I went back to buy another.) I was dressed in my lawyer's uniform, but left the suit jacket in the car.

At HD there is a security guard at the exit door to check one's receipt against the merchandise he is carrying out. The security guard waiting as I approached the exit was a woman. "¡Hola, Caballero!" I was a little taken aback - not Señor, but Caballero - but recovered in time to say, "¡Señora, hola a usted!" When she checked the receipt she said, "Buenas Noches," and so did I. Not a word of English.

The gray hair, the white shirt and tie: I am entitled not only to courtesy but also to deference at HD. I love the Latin culture in Miami.

Introduction to Artificial Intelligence and Other Subject Matter

2012-01-25T03:11:00.000-05:00

Online education without charge at Stanford and other places.

I wish I could go on-line for more time, say an extra day a week when I needed it. I'm waiting for that.

"The Role of Health Professionals Should Be to Share Knowledge, Teach"

2012-01-24T22:02:00.000-05:00

Dr. Gustavo Parajón emphasized a bottom-up community approach to the prevention of disease and promotion of health rather than the more traditional top-down hospital-based approach. He believed that in every community there were capable leaders, regardless of their level of education, who had the skills, passion and commitment to make a difference to improve the health of their communities. He also believed that in a setting like Nicaragua, where health services did not reach the poorest people, that the role of health professionals should be to share knowledge, teach and encourage lay health workers.

-from "A Tribute to Dr. Gustavo Parajon," on the Amos Health & Hope Website.

Could that model work in the US? It might, if it were allowed. But with our dense regulation of medical services, this probably only works in a country like Nicaragua. Or maybe I'm ignorant and this sort of thing is already working in the inner cities of America and rural America. Or maybe the "community" in the phrase "community leaders" is something different in Nicaragua than it is here.

On the other hand, we do have the development of health services at places like WalMart.

Interfering with a Nation's Oil Supply is Serious Business

2012-01-24T16:54:00.000-05:00

Japan is extremely poor in natural resources, and the situation was not much different in the pre-World War II era. Consequently, Japan had to depend on trade heavily to function as a modern nation, and it was a serious and vital issue for Japan to keep all crucial strategic resources, particularly oil, coming in to it from the outside world. If the route for Japan to obtain these materials was cut off, and therefore, the strategic resources were stopped from coming to Japan, there would basically be only two choices left for Japan. One is to lower the level of function as a modern nation to where it could meet the level of domestic productivity for natural resources. And two is to go out actively and find a way to gain what it needed to maintain its function as a modern nation. The conflict and negotiation between the US and Japan in the pre-World War II period illustrates a good example of the case and explains why Japan went to war against the US. The US, the biggest oil supplier for Japan at the time, imposed the oil embargo on Japan in July, 1941, and it helped the Japanese to make up their minds to fight against the Americans. Thus, in a way, the attack on Pearl Harbor was not a surprise one at all; it was a necessary result of the conflict and negotiation.

-from Arima, The Way to Pearl Harbor: U.S. vs. Japan in the American University's ICE Case Studies.

Do the Iranian mullahs have the backbone that the Japanese had? I guess we'll see.

"The GOP Deserves to Lose"

2012-01-24T10:17:00.003-05:00

Subtitled: "That's what happens when you run with losers."

Wow! Bret Stephens of the WSJ takes the GOP to the woodshed.

UPDATE: Considering the President's SOTU speech last night, both parties deserve to lose. No one on the Democrat side took on Obama. Where are the Eugene McCarthys of this generation?

Salud y Esperanza

2012-01-24T08:24:00.000-05:00

First Baptist Church of Ft. Lauderdale is very much involved in this mission in Nicaragua. (This is the church that sponsored the Israel tour that Carol and I recently took.)

Wishing the ECO Well

2012-01-23T19:06:00.001-05:00

An essay by Don Sweeting, President of Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando. But the Huffington Post is not happy.

¿Cómo se dice "Crossfit" in Español?

2012-01-23T18:29:00.003-05:00

Whatever. Carol and I are going to a free class at Crossfit Miami Thursday night.

Grr!

Active Minds Correlate with Reduced Alzheimers Risk

2012-01-23T18:10:00.002-05:00

Keeping the brain in gear throughout life with reading, games, and other mental activities cuts down on beta-amyloid plaques thought to cause Alzheimer's disease, researchers found.

--from today's MedPage Today

"How Not to Waive Your Legal Rights on a Cruise"

2012-01-23T10:36:00.008-05:00

See a good article in the Herald by Miami attorney Gabrielle D'Alemberte.

Those of us used to the American tort system and the ready availability of top-notch (and not so top-notch) "plaintiff's lawyers" will be shocked to learn of the severely restricted rights of cruise ship passengers to compensation for injury or of the families of cruise ship passengers who lose their lives as a result of the negligence of the cruise ship line.

Frankly, I doubt the efficacy of Ms. D'Alemberte's self-help advice about marking up one's cruise ship ticket as he boards the boat. But at least she gives a heads-up on the unfamiliar legal world that one enters when taking a cruise, especially on a foreign line.

My advice is for one to purchase reasonably broad insurance for life's contingencies (life, disability, medical), to the extent that one can. You can get extra coverage for a given vacation or trip, just for that trip. As to getting someone else to compensate you or your family for life's contingencies? If you get hit by a Coke truck on Flagler Street that was running a red light, then good for you. But don't count on it.

Mr. Romney's 15% Income Tax Rate

2012-01-23T09:35:00.005-05:00

Mr. Romney said he makes most of his money from investments, not wages or salary. Thus his income is really taxed twice: once at the corporate tax rate of 35%, then again at a 15% tax rate when it is passed through to him as dividends or via capital gains from the sale of stock.

All income from businesses is eventually passed through to the owners, so to ignore business taxes creates a statistical illusion that makes it appear that the rich pay less than they really do. By this logic, if the corporate tax rate were raised to, say, 60% from today's 35% and the dividend and capital gains tax were cut to zero, it would appear that business owners were getting away with paying no federal tax at all.

This all-too-conveniently confuses the incidence of a tax with the burden of a tax. The marginal tax rate on every additional dollar of capital gains and dividend income from corporate profits can reach as high as 44.75% at the federal level (assuming a company pays the 35% top corporate rate), not 15%.

-from the WSJ via Best of the Web.

I worry that the American people don't understand this sort of thing, even though it's pretty basic stuff. I don't think Jim Morin, the gifted political cartoonist of the Herald, does. (I'm giving him the benefit of the good-faith doubt.)

Newt's Grandiose Thoughts

2012-01-21T04:59:00.005-05:00

Althouse links to a list of them on a Romney website.

My favorite: "I have enormous political ambition. I want to shift the entire planet."

Is that like making the earth move, as in The Sun Also Rises? But Hemingway was writing about sex wasn't he? Maybe Newt's talking about sex, although he refers to "political ambition." But everything is politics to these people.

My second favorite is "I'm a Viking." Right, Newt.

Same Sex Marriage/Unions

2012-01-20T09:57:00.005-05:00

I'm on an estate planning listserv that a very fine New York lawyer, Sharon L. Klein of Lazard Wealth Management LLC, authors. Her email of this week includes the following on the status of pending same-sex marriage/union state legislation:

Colorado Civil Union Proposal

Pursuant to very detailed legislation introduced in Colorado on January 11, 2012, two unmarried adults over age 18, regardless of gender, would be allowed to enter into a civil union.

Parties to a civil union would be afforded many of the same benefits and protections under Colorado law as married spouses. These benefits are specifically listed in the bill and include rights of inheritance, survivorship benefits, priority for appointment as guardian, conservator or personal representative and benefits of laws regarding medical directives and care. However, the bill provides that, since Colorado income tax filings are tied to federal filings, civil union partners will be prevented from filing a joint state income tax return. The creation of a study commission to investigate state income tax treatment is proposed.

The bill provides that anyone who enters into a civil union in Colorado consents to the jurisdiction of the Colorado courts for the purpose of any action relating to the civil union, even if one or both parties cease to reside in the state.

New Jersey Same Sex Marriage Proposal

On January 10, 2012, a bill was introduced in New Jersey to recognize same sex marriage, in lieu of the civil union regime currently authorized under New Jersey law. Under the bill, marriage would be defined as the legally recognized union of two consenting persons in a committed relationship. Civil union partners would have 60 days following the bill’s enactment to dissolve their civil union, otherwise the civil union partners would be deemed married.

Washington State Same Sex Marriage Proposal

On January 13, 2012, identical legislation was introduced in the Washington House and Senate to recognize same sex marriage. The bills would allow persons over age 18 to marry regardless of gender, and, except in limited circumstances, would supplant the registered domestic partnership regime currently authorized under Washington law. The bill requires that any statute, rule or regulation referring to husband or wife be construed as gender neutral and applicable to spouses of the same sex.

Except in limited circumstances, same sex couples in a Washington registered domestic partnership would be deemed married as of June 30, 2014, unless the partnership is dissolved or converted into a marriage before that date.

Missouri Constitutional Amendment Proposed to Prohibit Same Sex Marriage Recognition

On January 9, 2012, the Missouri legislature proposed an amendment to the state constitution to prohibit Missouri from recognizing any federal action mandating the recognition of same sex marriage or civil union, or any relationship other than the marriage of one man and one woman. The amendment would be submitted to Missouri voters for their approval.

West Virginia Constitutional Amendment Proposed to Prohibit Same Sex Marriage Recognition
On January 11, 2012, the West Virginia legislature proposed an amendment to the state constitution to restrict marriage to one man and one woman, and to prohibit West Virginia from recognizing same sex marriages. The amendment would be submitted to West Virginia voters for their approval.

Wikipedia has an article that gives the current status of same-sex marriage legislation state-by-state.

Wiki also has an article on on the current status of" civil unions" or "civil partnerships." Part of that article addresses the subject in the United States.

A Reputation for Being Very Tough Businessmen

2012-01-20T05:12:00.014-05:00

During the 1970s there were some failures of banks known as "Edge Act" banks. An Edge Act bank could loan money only to borrowers who would use the funds off-shore. Thus, such banks would not compete with domestic banks but only foreign banks. Domestic banks, which otherwise were restricted or at a regulatory disadvantage to foreign banks in making international loans, would form Edge Act subsidiaries, which had a different set of rules. The purpose of the Edge Act was to level the playing field on which our banks played and the foreign banks played. This was before the sort of international free-for-all we have in banking and finance today.

During the 1970's, Miami became a center for Edge Act banking. I don't exactly know why. Perhaps it was because it was during that decade that the "latinization" of the community achieved critical mass. By 1970, it had been ten years since Castro took over. During that decade, the first wave of Cuban immigration washed over South Florida, and a second, smaller one, washed over again with Mariel in the early 1970s. During the 1960s, the Cubans who arrived here had been in a survival mode but by 1970 they had become well-established, thanks in large part to the generosity of our government, a generosity motivated by our anti-Communist policy and the toxic nature of the Castro regime, and to the values and character of the Cubans themselves. These "refugees" and the government policies that helped them opened a door for Miami to Latin America. So Edge Act banks popped up in downtown Miami during the early 1970s. CitiBank had one of them.

As I mentioned, we had a recession that decade, and a lot of Edge Act loans went bad. Citibank's Miami Edge Act subsidiary carried a portfolio of these non-performing loans that needed the help of lawyers. At that time, Miami's banking lawyer community was very small. Through Senator Smathers, my firm got almost all of the Citibank Edge Act business. We weren't banking lawyers in that firm at the time, we were litigators. But bank "work-outs" looked like litigation. There was so much of this business at Smathers & Thompson that everyone in the firm got at least a couple of cases. I got a couple, me, a young lawyer who had been cutting his teeth on railroad crossing accident cases. In one of those Edge Act matters, there was a Mormon on the other side, a businessman who had borrowed money from Citibank to make investments in the forest industry in Honduras.

A Mormon? We forget that Mormons send their children into the world as missionaries for a term. They come back home culturally sensitized, knowledgeable, and with a second language. Furthermore, the Mormon culture celebrates success, especially business success. It promotes a clean life-style that allows someone to focus on what the culture finds important. The Mormons are very successful business people.

And they are fairly ruthless, as I found. The Mormon borrower on the other side was very pleasant personally and courteous. He did not exactly lie, he told a version of the truth, but he was out to win, he played close to the edge. The legal cards were stacked against him, however, and we had a good "work-out," but I learned something. In talking about this experience with other people who either were Mormons or had dealt with them, I realized that the person I dealt with was a sort of typical Mormon businessman.

I do appreciate the problem of bigotry and stereotyping, but the people I spoke to seem to think that, with Mormons, one deals with something special, and one needs to be careful. They are definitely not "good old boys." We have other business stereotypes like them, stereotypes that are probably useful to a point, Jews, Chinese, Scots come to mind. These are groups who have been oppressed or discriminated against economically or politically or both, and who fall back on their wits, on education, and on strong and networked families to succeed. For at least 100 years after they appeared in American history, the Mormons developed on the margins of American culture because of their unorthodox religious and social views. Now the religious and social unorthodoxy of the social elites in America have overtaken and passed them by. Now the economic benefits of the Protestant Ethic produce a very strong and successful subculture.

Which brings me to Romney: nice looking, courteous, well-spoken, good family man. Underneath all that is focus, determination, useful experience, competence, moral decency, and a sort of ruthlessness. Frankly, I think that's what we need right now in the White House. (I don't suggest that the President lacks moral decency. He appears to me to lack some of the other qualities, however.) Romney does what he has to do to achieve the objective, whether as governor of Massachusetts, as head of the organizing committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics, as an executive with Bain, or as a Presidential candidate.

Kodak Files for Bankruptcy

2012-01-19T09:33:00.004-05:00

Not Chapter 7, which would involve a liquidation, but Chapter 11, which would involve a recapitalization, etc., with the expectation that a New Kodak would emerge that is financially viable. (This process is one that the President did not allow GM to undergo.) The federal bankruptcy judge, however, can find that there is no financially viable Kodak appropriate for Chapter 11 and can move it into Chapter 7 (as a judge could have done with a GM bankruptcy).

The company has a huge pension burden. According to the WSJ's blog, the company spent $245 million on pensions and other benefits for retirees in 2011 when it generated only $93 million:

Kodak says it has “been unable to reduce the amount of cash consumed by post-employment benefit obligations to make them proportional to a financially smaller Kodak.”

The "pension and other benefits" matter can be dealt with in Chapter 11 and in Chapter 7. The US Treasury will be on the hook for at least some of those benefits in either case.

Sad.

From the Home of Goldman Sachs and MF Global

2012-01-19T05:15:00.005-05:00

The New York Board of Education wants to ban religious use of schools on Sunday mornings or at other times the schools are otherwise unused - even though the churches rent the space, dropping an estimated several million dollars per year into the city cashbox. If the ban prevails, more than 150 congregations will have to move to other meeting space starting next month - and that's hard to find in New York City.

-from the January 28, 2012 issue of World Magazine

As if there is no connection between Christian faith and honest, prudent financial behavior at every level, including the highest.

"The Mortal Threat from Iran"

2012-01-17T21:16:00.005-05:00

A Mark Helprin piece in today's WSJ.

As I read this article, it dawned on me why we have been so long in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have been preparing for war with the Persians.

It would be good for Obama not to be President when that happens. But it may not wait.

Abuela and her Boyfriend

2012-01-17T06:32:00.006-05:00

Connie Barron stepped through the glass doors of Concourse J at Miami International Airport Monday afternoon and immediately saw an overwhelming sight: her three grown daughters and six grandchildren rushing to embrace her.

“We want Abuela! We want Abuela!’’ the children, ages 2 to 13, had just finished chanting when their grandmother of Pembroke Pines emerged with her boyfriend, Miamian Jesus “Jay’’ Garcia – both 62.

-from the front page of this morning's Herald, complete with a photo above the fold.

Abuela and her boyfriend Jesus are among the survivors of the Costa Concordia cruise ship.

Thus, "marriage" - or the lack of it - among the middle-aged post-moderns. It will be hard to talk the little girls out of living with their boyfriends in a few years, with Abuela's example at hand - as if someone will likely be there to raise the question with those young people.

It won't be Abuela, absent the grace of God. Yet the grace of God is already active in Abuela's life, obviously. She could not swim. She survived. And there's this from the Herald aricle:

On Friday night, after she and Garcia escaped, she slept on the floor of a church building.

There is hope for Abuela and her family. May God continue to bless them.

Evidence that the English Don't Plan on Going to War Anytime Soon

2012-01-16T06:19:00.004-05:00

They apparently want the Scots out of Britain.

Why don't the Scots simply finish moving over here? They should bring their cousins in Northern Ireland with them.

Thanks to Instapundit for the link.

Carnival Fail

2012-01-16T06:06:00.004-05:00

Carnival Cruise Lines owned the Costa Concordia.

Europe generated about 38 percent of Carnival’s revenue in fiscal 2010, the last full year for which geographic results are available. Its Genoa-based Costa Crociere unit is the continent’s largest cruise line based on passengers and ship capacity, according to Carnival.

-from the Link

Did you think the accident happened to some back-water Italian cruise-line?

MORE:

Luxury and efficiency make bad shipmates.

-from an article in the Atlantic magazine written a year after the loss of the Titanic.

Why do I think that this is all a metaphor for American civilization? As the Italians have arrested the captain of the Costa Crociere, do we get to arrest the ruling elites here?

Donna at Church Bought a Carry

2012-01-15T23:08:00.004-05:00

A Berreta PX4 Storm Type F Sub Compact in 9mm. In the parking lot after the service, we discussed starting a church gun club. Our idea is to call it the "FPC Clingers," as in people who cling to their Bibles and their Guns. I'm sure Jack would join.

James Dobson and a Bunch of Other "Evangelical Leaders" Join the Pat Robertson Club

2012-01-15T23:00:00.006-05:00

They are supporting Rick Santorum, who is not a bad guy but does not have a chance. Why is it that my visceral reaction, and a very strong one, is that they ought to mind their own business? Of course, I felt that way about Dobson during all those years he was telling me on the radio about how I was supposed to treat my wife.

Glenn Reynolds Boosts the Glock as "America's Gun"

2012-01-14T04:28:00.006-05:00

Here.

I wouldn't mind having one, but as a carry you can't beat the S&W revolver I keep in my pocket. To my mind, the 12 pound trigger pull is a feature not a deficit. I'm sure I will have plenty of strength to pull the trigger if, God forbid, I should ever have to unpocket the thing in self-defense. Furthermore, if I can't bring the target down with five shots at the close range for which a carry is intended, it will be over for me anyway.

Muslims Support Tebow

2012-01-13T15:22:00.000-05:00

Rick Perry?

2012-01-13T03:32:00.001-05:00

What a disappointment.

(Well, the Austin families were never hot on him. I should have known.)

"Using Interactive Tools to Assess the Liklihood of Death"

2012-01-12T05:10:00.003-05:00

This helps answer the question, "How old are you in dog years?"

No, seriously, as an evermore elderly elder, I don't like to be lumped into an aged defined peer group that includes flesh-eaters, smokers, drinkers, drug users, and couch-potatoes by a medical system that's looking for an excuse to under-treat me because I'm going to die soon anyway.

Thanks to Althouse for the link.

Where have we been?

2012-01-11T18:24:00.004-05:00

Carol and I went to Israel with a group from First Baptist of Ft. Lauderdale. I have to say that it was just great being around a group of Southern Baptists for 10 days.

(My observations from the start of my association with God's frozen chosen have continued to be that the SBs as a group are simply friendlier people, especially to newcomers and strangers. Maybe that's why they are growing and we are shrinking. I do love my Presbyterian friends, and there are many exceptions to this general observation. But social facts - or perceptions at least - are facts. My dad, an SB who only came to our church to see his grandchildren, referred to the Presbyterian church in any given town as "that ice-house down the street.")

We will post some photos at some point and some comments on the trip. It exceeded my expectations big time.

Not Scarcity but Plenty

2012-01-11T18:03:00.003-05:00

Thirty years ago I assisted a former president of Texaco with his estate planning. Along the way, he gave me a paper to read about the history of oil discovery. The thesis of that paper was, essentially, that we were not going to run out of the stuff anytime soon. The paper recounted the cycles of perceived plenty and perceived scarcity, with the doomsayers in full-throat during the down part of those cycles. Yet there was always another find or another technology developed to rejuvenate abandoned wells or to reach depths considered unreachable or to process crude that once seemed too expensive to process.

Here we go again on the upside - this piled on top of the recent oil-shale and natural gas discoveries here in the US. Thanks to Instapundit for the link.

A Few Days Before the New Year . . .

2011-12-26T11:47:00.002-05:00

A terribly bleak view of the future of our country.

I notice that someone's stealing copper from streetlights again on I-95.

How One Handles a Sneeze as a Sign of God's Calling

2011-12-25T08:23:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Mary described scrub protocols in the operating room. She said that surgeons learn to "swallow" their sneezes. (We asked her about itches and runny noses, but those are distinct subjects that require their own posts, respectively. This post is about sneezes.)

I inherited Juanita's explosive sneeze. Here was a college educated, Southern lady, who, when she sneezed, raised the roof. Those sneezes echoed around our neighborhood. Dogs started barking. When cars began to come with alarms, the alarms went off. People who knew the source, usually laughed. The uninformed were astonished.

Carol's sneezes make hardly a sound. Imagine a chipmunk sneezing, and there you have it. But Carol can't stand the sight of blood.

I don't mind the sight of blood so much, but I have do have Juanita's sneeze.

Mary's doing well with the sight of blood and she sneezes quietly. Well, then, there you have it. Surgery.

Christmas Eve Breakfast at Crandon Park

2011-12-24T13:27:00.002-05:00

Temperature in the mid 70s, a very light breeze, soft, bright winter sunlight, and two of my very favorite people.

"It's just math."

2011-12-23T01:44:00.005-05:00

P.V.T surface model for water.

As Mary is fond of saying, "Physics is just math." (Does she quote Koski?) The model is simply a three-dimensional graph.

In fact, everything is just math. Like this is just physics, is justmath, (More on the new particle here.)

Romney's Right Answers on Iraq

2011-12-22T05:14:00.009-05:00

A journalist named Byron York wrote this article entitled "Romney changes stance on Iraq." York writes for the Washington Examiner, a conservative counterpart to the Washington Post. As the title to the article indicates, York's thesis is that Romney changed his position on the war in Iraq over the course of a couple of interviews during the past week or two. (Instapundit links this article.)

But a careful reading of the article doesn't show the changes that York contends occurred. I find Romney's answers consistent and forthright about whether it would have been appropriate for our country to have have gone to war in Iraq had it had the proper intelligence concerning WMDs. Furthermore, his answers are valid.

What good is history if we don't learn from it?

The narrative of the war quickly turned to that of "nation-building" when our armies found no WMDs. The Constantinian idea of imposing a healthy national culture from the top down is more evidence that politicians ignore their history at the peril of the rest of us.

Santa! Santa!

2011-12-21T01:33:00.000-05:00

One more thing, please.

Thanks.

The Market Will Get after Red China, Just as it Did the Soviet Union

2011-12-20T21:32:00.002-05:00

And probably faster, as China has danced with it with such apparent success.

But there is the piper to pay.

Instapundit links this, as it did this six years ago.

Rant in the Middle of the Night

2011-12-20T04:01:00.005-05:00

As for [University of Connecticut's president Susan] Herbst’s claim that the humanities “teach us how we’re supposed to live,” this is true; rather, it was true, up until about 50 years ago. The last two generations of college students have been taught by their humanities and social-science professors that principles regarding “how we’re supposed to live” are merely “values,” and that all values are as good as any others. Moral and cultural relativism are the thin gruel that the universities feed their students’ hungry souls.

-from "The Humanities Real Enemies," by Thomas K. Lindsay, linked to by Instapundit.

This cultural relativism like the plague infects PC(USA). What pushed me over the edge happened about a 9 months ago when a freshly minted seminary grad was admitted to Presbytery on a split vote after she, during examination, said something like, "Jesus is the Savior for me, but for others . . . "

Please wash my mouth out with soap the next time I say "my tradition holds that . . . "

The Creed begins "I believe in God the Father Almighty , , ,," not "I believe in a god, I call Father Almighty . . . " He is not God the Father Almighty to me, he is God the Father Almighty period. When I speak the Creed, I'm telling you "I get it," like "I get calculus" (or once I did, anyway). I'm not telling you how I feel. Whether I get it or not, God the Father Almighty or calculus, has nothing to do with the authenticity of the fact.

And speaking of the Creed and relativism, don't you hate "Holy Christian Church" when it's "holy catholic Church." Give me a break.

And the Answer?

2011-12-19T03:30:00.005-05:00

The 5-foot, 6-inch arthritic, diabetic man weighed 185 pounds the first day of his [plant-based] diet on July 28. Today, he's an energetic, nonmedicated, 140-pound feel-good guy on a mission.

-From the Oklahoman.

When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"

-From John 5: 1-9.

Sing and Make Music in Your Heart to the Lord!

2011-12-18T20:42:00.004-05:00

I Thessalonians 5:16-18: Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4: 4-7: Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 5: 19-20: Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Social Skills"

2011-12-17T06:14:00.005-05:00

Glenn Reynolds links to this post at the Penelope Trunk Blog - Advice at the Intersection of Work and Life. One of the "Social Skills" Penelope lists is "Paying Attention to Personality Types." She refers to the granddaddy (my description, not Penelope's, but should I say "grandmother?") of personality tests, the Myers-Briggs. (Penelope's blog is worth a regular look, by the way.)

At our men's breakfast yesterday morning, we read 1 Samuel 11. We began talking about leadership skills, because the scripture describes Saul's leadership in response to a crisis. (He is empowered by the "Spirit of God," a small detail). That discussion lead to a discussion of personality tests. (Do you suppose we may have missed the point?)

Coincidentally, at our firm we have recently undertaken personality assessments with the help of an HR consultant. I am again reminded of what an odd fellow I really am.

Come, Holy Spirit.

Staying or Leaving

2011-12-17T06:05:00.002-05:00

My personal calculus is this: I can envision no likely circumstances under which my theologically diverse congregation in Washington, DC, would leave the PCUSA. I have deep ties to that congregation, going back to my maternal grandmother, and I believe God has planted me there for his purposes. I have taken vows as a member, deacon, and elder within that congregation and the PCUSA. I see nothing that prevents me from fulfilling those vows, and carrying out the ministries to which God has called me, within that congregation. So I will be staying.

Yet others face a different personal calculus, and they will choose to leave the PCUSA. Can we still bless one another, as Esau and Jacob blessed one another in their maturity (Genesis 33)? Can we allow the possibility that God may be calling different ones among his servants to serve in different places?

-Alan Wisdom (last June) of the Institute on Religion and Democracy

(Yes, to his two questions, although most of the members at FPC Miami Springs, I believe, will vote to leave.)

Away in a Manger? No, at Home in the Manger.

2011-12-14T05:12:00.004-05:00

In traditional Middle Eastern villages, one would find mangers in the typical one or two room homes, one room being the "family room" and the other, if there were another, the "guest room," according to Bailey. At one end of the family room, immediately at the single door through which one entered the little house, the family's animals entered too. The family brought them in at night. The animals stayed there, at ground level adjacent to the door, safe from thieves and providing warmth with their body heat. There were no "barns" or "stables," no separate quarters for animals.

The family slept in the same room, but on a sort of dais or raised floor. The floor slanted slightly, toward the end of the room where the animals stayed at night, so that when the floor was cleaned and washed, the water drained to the lower portion by the door. (There were steps from the raised floor, down to the part where the animals stayed.)

On the raised portion of the floor, next to the part where the animals stayed, the builders would have made two bucket-like holes, accessible to the animals. They were the mangers, kept filled with straw, so the animals would have something to eat. That's where Mary laid baby Jesus. (Some houses may have had mangers fashioned from wooden boxes.)

There were no "inns" in Bethlehem. That word should have been translated "guest room," the second room that some houses would have. In the particular home where Mary and Joseph stayed, there was no room for Mary and Joseph in the guest room. It was occupied. So they stayed in the family room, with the family that owned the house.

No self-respecting village would have refused a pregnant woman hospitality. Besides, Mary and Joseph were "royals," Bailey writes. They were of the house and lineage of David. And Bethlehem, after all, was the City of David.

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes; the PC(USA) Through Middle Eastern (African, etc.) Eyes

2011-12-11T22:49:00.004-05:00

Alec Hill sent us three IVP books after his visit to our home. One of them is Kenneth E. Bailey's Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels. We've heard of this book, are simply delighted to receive it, and sadly reminded of what Dr. Bailey said about the PC(USA) and the Article 10-A decision.

I posted on what Dr. Bailey said this past September. It's worth linking again to his article for PFR, and reposting this quote from that article:

The recent decision to change our ordination standards is a rejection of Scripture and tradition as understood by more than one billion Roman Catholics. It is also an offense to more than 300 million Eastern Orthodox in their various communities in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and around the globe.

Western Christianity has been the “superpower” of the Christian world for more than a thousand years. Across the centuries we were able to define what it meant to be a Christian. This is no longer the case. As is well-known, the numerical center of the Christian world has moved South and East. That “global South” is becoming more and more important for the larger body of Christ and they (along with the Catholics and Eastern Orthodox) will see us as having departed from Scripture and tradition as the Church everywhere has known it for two millennia. Our relationships with them are now freshly damaged.

Be an "Obstinate Christian"

2011-12-11T19:24:00.004-05:00

Carol took note of Pliny's complaint about "obstinate" Christians in the quote in my post immediately below. Some of the Christians that fell into his clutches refused to renounce Christ and worship the Emperor, and some did not refuse. The compliant ones he simply let go. The "obstinate ones" he killed. We don't run such a risk these days. There's no good reason not to be obstinate about holding on to our faith.

Christians and Sexual Immorality

2011-12-11T05:07:00.014-05:00

Eighty percent of young, unmarried Christians have had sex. Two-thirds have been sexually active in the last year. Even though, according to a recent Gallup poll, 76 percent of evangelicals believe sex outside of marriage is morally wrong.

-Relevant Magazine, September/October 2011 Issue.

22 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers. 23 With them they sent the following letter:

The apostles and elders, your brothers,

To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:

Greetings.

24 We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25 So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. 28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: 29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.

Farewell.

-Acts 15:22-29

But Pliny [the Younger, Roman governor of Bithynia, a region on the north shore of what is now Turkey, persecutor of Christians during the Second Century] considered himself a just man, and therefore felt obliged to find out what crimes, besides sheer obstinacy, Christians committed. All he could learn was that Christians gathered before dawn to sing to Christ "as to a god," and to join in an oath not to commit theft, adultery, or any such sins . . .

-Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity, Vol. 1 at page 40 (1st ed. 1984)

What Carol and I have seen is that this sort of disobedience is not confined to "young, unmarried Christians," but to unmarried Christian adults of all ages. Such conduct has seriously weakened our local church and its mission. I suggest that this problem is at the heart of the movement under way of many PC(USA) churches out of that denomination. It is not about homosexuality, it is about sexual immorality, regardless of how one self-identifies concerning "sexual preference." It is a good reason to leave, as much as I would prefer not to concede that it is.

Our Brothers, the Roman Catholics, Have a New Missal

2011-12-10T13:38:00.004-05:00

Deacon Greg Kandra writes about it.

Yesterday at our Men's Breakfast, Gary Cameron, Area Director for InverVarsity, said that he thinks that the RCs may right now have a better grasp on what it means to live the Christian life than the Protestants.

A Thoughtful Article on Tebow in the WSJ

2011-12-10T10:11:00.006-05:00

It's here, but you probably need a subscription to view it on the WSJ's online service. (Sometimes I can find full copies of WSJ articles at other websites, if I google it. I'm not sure why.)

An interesting quote from that article I can reproduce:

At the national level, however, big-time sports is big business, with billions of dollars at stake, and Americans tend to be cynical about the whole show. In this world, Mr. Tebow's frequent professions of faith can come across as a discordant note, equal parts over-earnestness and naïveté. It's hard to resist the thought that, eventually, a darker reality will show through.

Mr. Tebow may indeed turn out to be a hypocrite, like other high-profile Christians in recent memory. Some of us might even want that to happen, because moral failure is something we understand. We know how to deal with disappointed expectations, to turn our songs of praise into condemnation.

What we are far less sure how to do is to take seriously a public figure's seemingly admirable character and professions of higher purpose. We don't know how to trust goodness.

And who can blame us? We don't want to be fooled again.

Patton Dodd wrote the article. The WSJ editors describe him as follows: "Mr. Dodd is the managing editor of the website Patheos [worth looking at] and a former senior editor at Beliefnet. This article is adapted from his e-book, "The Tebow Mystique: The Faith and Fans of Football's Most Polarizing Player."

The article refers to a link called Tebowing.com, which is sympathetic to Tembow. (Somebody might buy me a T-shirt from that site for Christmas. I'm buying Sam one.)

Straight No Chaser: 12 Days of Christmas

2011-12-09T17:15:00.000-05:00

From Writing-it-Out/Keyboard to Dictation/Keyboard to Dictation/Dragon: Part I

2011-12-09T04:43:00.017-05:00

By the time I graduated from law school, I had done a lot of writing. My tools were the pencil, writing paper, a portable electric type-writer from Sears that I acquired at the end of my senior year in high school, index cards, scissors, scotch tape, and, toward the latter part of my student career, photo-copy machines. I didn't do very well using the type-writer directly. Instead, I usually "wrote-out" a first draft, made some annotations and changes directly on that draft, and then transcribed that draft to a type-written text. As I typed I would make more changes.

Next, on the clean type-written draft, I made more changes and corrections with my pencil. I would make more changes until the draft became messy, at which point I typed another transcription. I might go through several cycles of typing and hand-writing on the typed transcript. During these cycles I would often cut up the manuscript into paragraph pieces, rearrange the paragraphs, and then tape the thing together.

When the paper involved research, as it often did, I had index cards on which I wrote quotations from various sources. I would scotch tape the index cards into the right place during the cycle. Photocopy machines were just coming in, and Duke had a copy center, so I began to take books over to the center, especially library books, to get copies made of certain pages. I would take the scissors to those pages and scotch-tape slices to the current draft.

When I was working on a big paper at Duke, I used a type-writing service. There were secretaries in the administration offices who would take one's draft home and type it up for a fee. So as I was cycling through the process of producing the paper, I might get to the point where I would take my last type-written draft, one on which I had made relatively few and legible changes by hand, to one of these secretaries for a close-to final draft, get it back, decide whether it was good enough (it was never good enough on an absolute basis, but it was often good enough in terms of the time had left before I had to turn it in), and then either use it or cycle back one more time to the secretary for the final. One advantage to the secretary was that I could get away from the paper for awhile, and then get back with my mind refreshed to a nice, clean, professionally produced manuscript.

Dragon for the Mac

2011-12-09T04:31:00.005-05:00

I've had success with with Dragon Naturally Speaking via my desktop at the office, which is a PC. There is a Mac version of this product, Dragon Dictate.

Clinton-Huckabee 2012

2011-12-07T21:36:00.004-05:00

You heard it here. (But maybe not first.)

(I'm not advocating such a ticket.)

Tebow: A force of nature; freakishly gifted; highly disciplined; and the Product of a Strong, Two-Parent Family

2011-12-06T20:28:00.002-05:00

As such, he deserves to have an offense built around him 'specially.

Tebow and Denver beat the Vikings

2011-12-04T18:13:00.005-05:00

What Tim Tebow is doing for the Denver Broncos must be considered the top story in the NFL this year. After enduring incessant criticism and hatred from the media and so-called NFL experts, Tebow has now led the Broncos to first place in the AFC West.

-Patrick Michael at Yahoo Sports.

Bronco's defense not available for victory attribution this week. So what (that is, who) is the common denominator here?

More from Patrick Michael at the Yahoo link:

In fairness to the Broncos defense, they also forced two huge interceptions. And RB Willis McGahee rushed for 111 yards. However, Tebow was impressive as a… (Dare I say it?) passer! Gasp! On the day, Tebow was 10-15 for 202 yards and two TDs. More telling is fact that Tebow only rushed for 13 yards on four carries.

This leads to a startling potential conclusion. Could it be that Tebow is actually improving as a passer? Is it possible that NFL defenses will have to start game planning for Tebow the passer and runner? Could it be that John Elway better start scouting WRs instead of QBs? The critics may lose their minds.

"Covertly Conscious"

2011-12-02T11:10:00.003-05:00

Three hospitalized, brain-damaged men who were unresponsive and apparently unconscious of their surroundings caught observers by surprise when they repeatedly responded to commands by researchers. Although the men, diagnosed as vegetative, couldn't physically move or speak, a headset of electrodes measured their brain activity after neurologists asked them to imagine wiggling their toes or clenching a fist. One of the patients responded over 100 times, the researchers reported in The Lancet, a British medical journal. Roughly 20,000 Americans are living in a persistent vegetative state—a condition of being awake but presumably unaware. That condition led to a national outcry over the late Terri Schiavo, whose feeding tube was removed in 2005. The results of the new study suggest one-fifth of these patients might actually retain consciousness. A brain scanning system could enable them to communicate with their families.

-from World magazine's December 3, 2011 issue, p. 10

The abstract from The Lancet article is here.

"The Issue is One of Solvency, Not Liquidity"

2011-12-01T09:18:00.004-05:00

Mr. King said provisions of liquidity — such as the concerted central bank action taken by the BOE [Bank of England], U.S. Federal Reserve and other major peers Wednesday — won't solve the euro zone's problems in the long term because the issue is one of solvency, not liquidity.

-from today's WSJ. Mr. King is Governor of the Bank of England.

The market brought down the Soviet Empire. The euro zone is a bump in the road next to that. The US is a bit more than a bump, but it has no special exemption either. The British, according to the article, are getting ready for the zone's fall. I trust we are as well, even as we, along with the BOE "and other peers," are throwing more money at the crisis. I suppose those actions are window dressing, so that when the zone finally goes down, we can say that we tried.

Hooray the Allen Institute

2011-11-30T02:54:00.003-05:00

"Open Science" and the brain. (I posted on the Allen Institute previously.)

Cain May Drop Out. Blue Dog Alternate.

2011-11-30T02:22:00.010-05:00

It seems to me that any Republican Presidential contender who thinks that his sexual immorality will escape the avid attention of the media, is really not smart enough for the job anyway.

Speaking of politics, which I don't do much anymore since the near demise of the Blue Dogs (although Heath Shuler hangs in there big time), I liked this post on Ann Althouse' blog.

Tebow Takes Denver within Striking Distance of the Playoffs

2011-11-29T21:43:00.005-05:00

He's 5-1 since he started.

Tonight I heard Troy Aikman discuss Tebow on ESPN radio. He gave the credit he must give TT for his record to date, but stated that Tebow's "mechanics" will finally doom his team never to achieve the ultimate championship. Aikman also mentioned how well the Broncos' defense is now playing, a point detractors are lately making in their attempts to understand what has happened to Denver. (All the detractors are careful to say how much they "like" Tebow.)

I haven't heard anyone state that Tebow may have developed a different way to play the game successfully. That's my friend Sam's view, however. Sam is a student of Gator football and, naturally, has followed Tebow from the beginning. I think Sam may be right.

Spending Time with Some Giants.

2011-11-29T21:14:00.005-05:00

Today I had the pleasure of spending the greater part of the afternoon with Bill White, pastor of UBC, and our pastor, Van Lahmeyer.

This evening I had dinner with Alec Hill, President of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and with Gary Cameron, Area Director of the Graduate and Faculty Ministries ("GFM") of Intervarsity. Alec is spending the night with us tonight during his trip this week to South Florida.

The Kingdom is in good hands. It was a wonderful day.

Repeat, Reassure, Resume

2011-11-29T10:41:00.003-05:00

Juan and I discussed a particularly difficult client yesterday, someone who likes to control any agenda he comes near. The client's strategy of choice is to ask questions about whatever issue pops into his mind, especially if it is not related to the particular issue presented by the lawyer. This kind of a client is a troubling one for Juan and me, because we tend to be "pleasers." Clients don't need us to be pleasers, they need us to be lawyers.

Juan spoke to his father about this kind of client. Juan's father is a very experienced and successful real estate broker. His father described "the Three R's" as his way of dealing with these kinds of situations: Repeat, Reassure, and Resume.

Thus, when one is presenting the matter at hand to the client and the client wants to talk about something else, then the lawyer repeats the point he or she has made. Then the lawyer reassures the client that his question is an important one and that it will be addressed some other time. Finally, the lawyer resumes the discussion of the matter at hand.

This cycle may go on for quite some time and doesn't necessarily get things back on track the first time around. Or the 12th time.

Obviously, this approach would be useful in relationships in addition to the attorney-client or broker-customer relationships where one stands in any sort of fiduciary relationship with another.

Austin Princesses

2011-11-28T21:54:00.003-05:00

Judge Pollack Law Clerk Does Well

2011-11-23T08:11:00.001-05:00

Here.

Herzlich Starts for the Giants Tonight

2011-11-20T20:34:00.004-05:00

Against the Eagles.

He is the rookie cancer survivor.

UPDATE: The Giants lost, but Herzlich had four tackles.

Living Water. Dead Water. Mel Gibson as Bible Authority

2011-11-20T19:05:00.011-05:00

Today our Sunday School class addressed John 4:1-15, the first half of the meeting between Jesus and the Samaritan woman that commenced at Jacob's well.

After the class, several of us lingered and discussed the question of whether Jesus spoke Greek (and, by extension, whether John the Apostle spoke and perhaps wrote in Greek). This was important because I had during the class noted that there were two Greek forms of the word “well” (as in Jacob’s well) in the first 15 verses in Chapter 4 of John. (I’m using the 1984 NIV version here, as I do in the class.)

I observed that the Greek word for “fountain” or “spring” is used each time that the word translated “well” in English appears in verse 6. In verse 6, John, the author, is setting the stage for the meeting between Jesus and the Samaritan woman.

The Greek word for “fountain” or “spring” is used again in verse 14. In that verse we have a direct quotation of Jesus.

On the other hand, the Greek word for “cistern” is translated “well” in verses 11 and 12. Here the word appears when John quotes the woman.

The Scholars that I read in preparation for the lesson note that this distinction is very important. Water from a fountain or spring is healthy, life-giving, and continuous, like the Spirit, like the river of water in Psalm 1. That is what Jesus offers. It is “living water.” It is water that doesn't run out.

Water drawn from a cistern, a closed container where water is collected from another source, rain for example, is often dirty, scummy, unhealthy, unsatisfying. It is dead water.It is also a limited source of water. It will run out, especially in a time when you might need it most, a drought for example.

During our discussion after the class, one of us expressed the view that Jesus spoke in Aramaic and not Greek. He suggested that this distinction may not have been in the original conversation between Jesus and the woman at the well. It might have been introduced by whoever may have translated this into Greek. His source for the idea that Jesus spoke Aramaic was the film, The Passion of the Christ. I replied that I had read that Mel Gibson’s film had been criticized by scholars for having Jesus speak in Aramaic and that it was my understanding that the characters in the NT spoke “market-place Greek” or Koine.

This afternoon I went over my notes and I found the source that discussed Mel Gibson’s film. Craig L. Blomberg, in The Historical Reliability of the Gospels (Second Edition) (IVP 2007) writes as follows on page 16:

"In 2004, Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Cross, enthralled viewers around the world. The film was based on some serious research but it, too, contained some glaring errors, most notably the exclusive use of either Aramaic or Latin on the lips of Jewish and Roman characters who would have communicated with each other almost entirely in Greek! [italics and exclamation point are Blomberg’s]"

The quote from Blomberg has a footnote: “For a thorough analysis, see Corley and Webb, Passion of the Christ.

Skillet Black Beans with Potatoes and Tortillas

2011-11-19T20:05:00.004-05:00

Carol cooks up a recipe from VegKitchen.com. Yum!

Broncos 17, the Jets 13 (Updated w/ Video)

2011-11-18T00:50:00.006-05:00

Said Broncos coach John Fox: "He's just a competitive dude. He's super competitive. He never lays his sword down. He's going to fight you to the death."

-On Tebow's 20 yard touchdown run, in the last 50 seconds of the game, to beat New York!

Link to video.

Here's an interesting analysis of TT from sportswriter Martin Manley of the Kansas City Star.

Children at Risk Because of the Standard American Diet

2011-11-17T17:55:00.005-05:00

A new analysis of federal data provides a dismal picture of children's cardiovascular health that suggests the current generation of teenagers could be at risk of increased heart disease.

The study, which examined children between 12 and 19 years old in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that the adolescents performed poorly overall on a set of seven criteria set by the American Heart Association for ideal cardiovascular health.

Diet in particular was a problem, with not one of the 5,450 children randomly selected for the survey from the U.S. population meeting the standards for diet. Taking out the diet measure, still just 16.4% of boys and 11.3% of girls were rated ideal on all of the other six criteria, which included smoking, exercise, weight, cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar.

-From today's WSJ and an article on page A3 entitled "Kids' Heart Health Is Faulted:
Analysis of Federal Data Finds Shortcomings in Diet, Exercise, Cholesterol Levels."

After Carol read the article, she had the following comments:

This goes along exactly with what they said at our Engine 2 Immersion weekend. They said virtually the entire US population – including children – now show signs of heart disease. (They figure this out by doing autopsies of children and young adults who die in accidents or by some kind of trauma.) During WWII when they autopsied young men killed in the war there was a good percentage whose arteries were not diseased, but by the time of the Viet Nam war all the young men were showing signs of heart disease. And now, they said, even children were showing those signs.

Carol Makes a Vegan Lasagna!

2011-11-16T20:45:00.001-05:00

Uncle Sam as Baal

2011-11-16T08:21:00.004-05:00

The November 19, 2011 issue of World Magazine addresses the increasing dependency of Americans on government, especially the federal government. "Trends suggest that half of American children will use food stamps" states the cover, and there is much more inside.

The cover, by the way, is really clever, and worthy of a GlennzTees tee-shirt at least, if not a Despair poster that might say "Hello, I'm from the Government and I'm Here to Help You." (Note the lower left hand corner of the photo.)

Soup Tonight!

2011-11-15T16:44:00.001-05:00

Mary Ann makes a veggie soup. Yum!!

"The Screwtape Letters"- the Show

2011-11-14T07:57:00.005-05:00

Carol and I saw Max McLean's performance of the Screwtape Letters on Saturday. Thus, I became reacquainted with the classic little book by C.S. Lewis in a very entertaining, even profound way. An added treat is that Mr. McLean comes back on stage after the performance and answers questions from the audience. He is very good with his answers.

The show is coming to Dallas this coming Saturday.

Dr. Barnard on Losing Weight and Getting Healthy

2011-11-13T14:45:00.006-05:00

Neal D. Barnard, MD, the author of a number of popular books on nutrition, appeared on Toronto TV recently for this interview:
Thanks, Forks over Knives!

Succession Non-Planning

2011-11-11T10:11:00.005-05:00

Today at our breakfast, we considered 1 Samuel 8. The NIV section heading that covers chapter 8 is "Israel Asks for a King." Indeed, whenever I have heard a sermon or lesson on chapter 8, the discussion centered on the matter of Israel asking for a king, and God acceding to that request even though God tells his people through Samuel that it won't be good for them.

At the very beginning of that chapter, however, we see that the real problem is "succession planning" on the part of Samuel. Samuel "grew old" as it states in verse one, and appoints his sons as judges. His sons have turned out to be corrupt, just as did the sons of Eli. In fact, Samuel adopted Eli's succession plan and, again, that plan utterly fails.

This made me think of Joe Paterno and the monstrous problem now facing Penn State. The man is 84 years old, for crying out loud. His succession plan was apparently to live forever, and Penn State bought into that.

As alleged, Joe was told of the despicable act that Sandusky committed in the football team's shower room in 2002. His response was to tell an assistant to take care of the problem. That's what you might do if you are 74 years old, it's at the end of the day (or the middle of the afternoon), and the problem is not one that you feel like facing yourself. After all, you're tired and this is messy, so let one of the younger people deal with it, one of your "sons", so to speak.

What would Joe have done had he been 54 or 44? I think he would have gone to Sandusky's office, beat him to a pulp, and thrown him on the street. And then called the police.

That's why, when one gets into middle age and older, one deals with oneself and one's responsibilities differently, with due regard for the passage of time and its effects on one's body and spirit. Every organization, whether business, church, or family, needs to deal with the problem of the father or the father-figure beginning to fade, fading, and disappearing. Penn State failed at that. Israel failed at that. There is nothing new under the sun.

Traffic Jams Jamming Brain Development in Children

2011-11-08T17:21:00.004-05:00

According to today's WSJ, "Scientists increasingly link vehicle exhaust with brain-cell damage, higher rates of autism."

Among other things, the article cites a New Jersey study that found that

Premature births, a risk factor for cognitive delays, dropped 11% in areas around highway toll plazas after the introduction of E-ZPass, which eased traffic congestion and reduced exhaust fumes.

Caffeine: the Final Frontier (Updated)

2011-11-08T06:42:00.010-05:00

The other thing I ask people to think about is coffee with caffeine. There’s a significant study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, that took a group of young adults and half got coffee with caffeine and the other half had coffee without caffeine. The group that drank the coffee with caffeine had injury and impairment to the lining of their arteries and their blood vessels. So, you can still have coffee, but we would prefer that it be without caffeine.

-Dr. Esselstyn, here.

Here is the study to which I think Dr. Esselstyn refers. Here are the conclusions of that study, at least in what I take to be the abstract:

CC [caffeinated coffee as distinguished from decaf] acutely induced unfavorable cardiovascular effects, especially on endothelial function. In the fasting state, insulin secretion is also likely reduced after CC ingestion. Future studies will determine whether CC has detrimental clinically relevant effects, especially in unhealthy subjects.

What is "endothelial function?" Wikipedia describes endothelial dysfunction in part as follows:

Endothelial dysfunction is a systemic pathological state of the endothelium (the inner lining of blood vessels) and can be broadly defined as an imbalance between vasodilating and vasoconstricting substances produced by (or acting on) the endothelium.[1] Normal functions of endothelial cells include mediation of coagulation, platelet adhesion, immune function and control of volume and electrolyte content of the intravascular and extravascular spaces. Endothelial dysfunction can result from and/or contribute to several disease processes, as occurs in septic shock, hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, diabetes, it can also result from environmental factors, such as from smoking tobacco products and exposure to air pollution.

Tebow Reigns (Over the Raiders. This Week.)

2011-11-07T19:48:00.003-05:00

Denver’s 298 yards on the ground were the fourth-highest total in team history and the most since 2000. Tebow became the 16th NFL quarterback since 1950 to rush for 100 yards and [Willis] McGahee [former Miami Springs Senior High running back] had his second-highest rushing total of his career.

- Arnie Stapleton, AP Football Writer

How the AJC and the ADL Let the President off the Hook on Israel

2011-11-07T08:14:00.002-05:00

From the opinion page of the WSJ last Wednesday.

Dealing with Tracking Cookies

2011-11-07T07:54:00.002-05:00

Walt Mossberg addresses the subject on the All Things Digital part of the online WSJ.

Mary Pops Popcorn in a Brown Paper Bag

2011-11-06T15:51:00.012-05:00

Mary makes popcorn in a brown bag. She puts 1/4 cup of loose popcorn kernels in a 5 1/8 x 3 3/8 x 10 5/8 inch brown paper bag, a lunch bag that you buy in a package of 50. After adding the popcorn to the bag, she folds over the top a couple of times, and sticks it in the microwave. If you want oil, you can pour a little into the bag over the corn before you close up the bag and pop it. But I don't pour in the oil anymore, since Carol got back from Austin 6 weeks ago.

I used to think that I was fine with the microwave popcorn packages that came in boxes that said "94% Fat Free Butter." But I don't anymore since Carol got back from Austin about 6 weeks ago.

Six weeks or so ago, Carol attended an Engine 3 Immersion program in Austin. She learned that you shouldn't eat oil at all, whether plant-based or not. She also learned not to trust what's written on the front of boxes containing food. She said you had to read what is on the back of the box or package.

On the back of the Act II 94% Butter-Free box, I learned that it doesn't really say what "94% Fat Free Butter-Free" really means. What is the math all about here? Instead, I looked on that little label on the back, which a Democrat Congress sometime in the dim past probably required the food industry to apply, and it indicates that there is a good deal of fat left in the packages. So now I fix popcorn in the form of loose kernels in a brown bag as Mary does, and I don't use any oil.

(It's probably unfair to say that but for the Democrats, food labels would be a complete pack of lies. What I really think is that it was a compromise. The politicians, both Republican and Democrat, told the food industry that they could say whatever they want to say on the front of the box, provided that they at least approach the truth on the back. There is even trickery on the back of the box, but if you know the tricks, then you can pretty much figure it out, as Carol - and Mary Ann - learned about 6 weeks ago in Austin.)

As I going through yet another of these food sea-changes in my life (not sea-food changes; I don't eat sea-food anymore. I'm talking about popcorn here.), I thought I would read about how much popcorn cost. Carol would bring home from Publix for Mary's visits Orville Redenbacher's Original Popcorn Kernels, in the 30 oz. Jar, plus the paper bags. One would think that he could certainly trust Orville to be fair on the cost side.

Orville's popcorn on Amazon costs about 21 cents an ounce, if you are a Prime customer and don't have to pay postage.

Amazon also carries, however, Arrowhead Mills Organic Popcorn, sells it in a pack of six 28 oz. packages , and the cost of the corn is about 11 cents an ounce. Plus the popcorn pops into bigger popped kernels, there are significantly fewer unpopped kernels left in the the bag, and it tastes better than Orville's.

Unlikeable Sagal a Bandit

2011-11-05T10:31:00.006-04:00

The popular NPR program "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!" pokes mean fun at people, mainly those with middle-class values. Their clever creator and host, Peter Sagal, is mostly smart, very fast-witted, irreverent, and, at least to Carol and me, we of middle-class values, thoroughly unlikeable. A couple of years ago I was simply amazed to attend a grand dinner given in Orlando by Bessemer Trust for estate planning lawyers and find him to be the speaker. Unlike his performances on NPR, he was unprepared, unfunny, and boring. (What in the world was Bessemer thinking?)

Today's WSJ reports that Sagal is one of those people who runs in a marathon but will not pay the fee. According to the WSJ article (access to which does not require a subscription), these sorts of people are called "Bandits" in the world of running-event sponsors. I'm surprised he is a runner, but am not surprised that Sagal does this sort of thing if he is. (But, yes, how bourgeois of us to think so.)

Florida Republicans Sell-Out on Gambling

2011-11-05T05:40:00.003-04:00

Disgusting.

The[Genting] company must want to accelerate the project, because it has hired a team of lobbyists that includes fundraiser Brian Ballard, who is close to Scott; former U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz Balart; and Orlando lawyer and businessman Harkley Thornton, a close friend of House Speaker Dean Cannon.

Last night, Helen Ferre interviewed Lincoln Diaz-Balart on Channel 2. I couldn't believe it. I thought I had been transported to New Jersey. (As soon as the video of the interview is up on the WPBT website, I'll link it.)

"Oversigning": Survival of the Fittest in the SEC

2011-11-04T17:57:00.004-04:00

From the perspective of a Buckeye . . . , a Buckeye . . ., uh, a Buckeye person.

The WSJ has an article on it today, entitled LSU-Alabama: the Superbowl of Oversigning, in commemoration of the game of the young century tomorrow night.

Oversigning is a terrible, terrible thing.

Terrible.

But seriously, do you suppose there is a connection between the performance of the top SEC teams and the practice of "oversigning?" People I know who seem to understand college football tell me that the main problem that college football coaches have is of keeping the players motivated from week to week. The Herald wrote this week of Coach Golden's problems with the Hurricanes in this respect. Knowing that there is someone on the sidelines ready to eat my lunch would probably keep me focused.

"Prayer" by Marie Howe

2011-11-03T20:25:00.003-04:00

Every day I want to speak with you. And every day something more important

calls for my attention—the drugstore, the beauty products, the luggage

I need to buy for the trip.
Even now I can hardly sit here

among the falling piles of paper and clothing, the garbage trucks outside
already screeching and banging.

The mystics say you are as close as my own breath.
Why do I flee from you?

My days and nights pour through me like complaints
and become a story I forgot to tell.

Help me. Even as I write these words I am planning
to rise from the chair as soon as I finish this sentence.

(More of and about Marie Howe here.)

But compare:

Romans 8:26: In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

Glenn Strikes Again!

2011-11-01T14:12:00.002-04:00

GlennzTees

"[A]s soon as he knows better the orthography of the language"

2011-11-01T07:59:00.009-04:00

So Carlos and Caryn, friends of ours, our family, and our church, a Wycliffe missionary couple in Niger, write of their friend "H," who is helping with the translation:

Last month’s workshop on translation principles was a great help to the team. We recently loaded the translation software in 'H's' computer, so that he can work on translation as well (as soon as he knows better the orthography of his language). Up to now, 'H' has only worked on back translations into the official language, in preparation for meetings with a consultant. However, this would be the first time that he does actual translation. In principle, having two translators working at the same time on different passages will help the work to move along faster. In any case, please be in prayer that 'A' and 'H' would learn the orthography of their language quickly, and that they would work well together as a team.

I will be in prayer. But I am fascinated by the word "orthography." What does it mean?

Ortho, my office Webster's New International Second Edition Unabridged ("WSI") tells me, is from the Greek "orthos meaning straight, upright, right, true, hence, also correct, regular."

Thus, ortho-doxa, orthodox, a right opinion; ortho-dontia, straight teeth; finally, ortho-graphy, writing correctly, or as WSI continues:

"1. The art of writing words with the proper letters, according to standard usage; correct spelling; also, mode of spelling; as vicious orthography. 2. The art of grammar which treats of the letters and the art of spelling. 3. A drawing in correct projection, esp. and elevation."

I know a lot of people who treat spelling viciously. As for my own gifts, I think the "art of spelling" fits nicely.