Disaster Guns. We have had little if any Katrina discussion on the blog. If you are like me, you are in an ongoing assimilation process with respect to all of the data (and opinion) coming through the internet and other media. Events tumble over one another so that whatever we might say has to be provisional at best. The issues raised by the events are not abstract ones to me, however. They are quite personal, having lived not only through Andrew but also the civil "unrest" that occurred in Miami during 1980. In fact, it is the 1980 anarchy to which I most often refer as I view the Katrina images. In 1980, Miami had race riots after the trial of some policemen who beat to death a black man. That trial resulted in the acquittals of the policemen.

On the Sunday following the verdict, we came out of church in Miami Springs. We looked to the east and saw columns of smoke rising up about three miles away, where black neighborhoods were predominant. Foolishily, I thought that I had to go to the office that afternoon, and I took the expressway east to get there. Its route took me on the south side of those neighborhoods, but I saw police at each ramp and through-traffic on the expressway was unimpeded. I arrived at the office downtown. When I got to our floor, high in the building, I walked down the hall to look out the north and west side, and what I saw horrified me. At least eight columns of smoke arose from the area of town which I had skirted coming in. Finally, belatedly, I realized that the danger was personal, not just to me but to my family at home. I called Carol, described what I saw, and told her I was on my way back.

As I drove up the ramp to get on the expressway, still in the city, a black man emerged on the side of the ramp ahead of me and to my left. I kept driving in his general direction and then saw that he had a large, broken concrete block in his two hands and was eyeing me. Before I could do anything, he heaved it. Fortunately, the missle first struck the hood of my car, about two feet in front of my face, and richochetted to my right, hitting the windshield on the passanger side and shattering it. The force of the concrete block hitting the hood actually penetrated the hood to some extent.

(Ironically, the City of Miami police headquarters was on the other side of the ramp. Those people, however, were otherwise occupied, which is part of the point.)

I kept driving until I saw a highway patrol car on the side, and I pulled over and told the trooper about what happened (this was before cell phones were ubiquitous). He radioed a report immediately. I drove on home unmolested.

When I pulled up in the driveway, Carol came out of the house, saw the windshield, and started crying.

Even then, back at home, I felt relatively safe. Because of some peculiar urban geography, Miami Springs is accessible only at certain points, and the police were at each one of those points. But we were not, after all, that safe. Now I would certainly stay home and would be much better prepared.

Which brings me to the most recent Carnival of Cordite, which I recommend. The theme for this edition is "Disaster
Guns". I would subtitle that theme "Arming Yourself for Anarchy". No less a noted figure than Glenn Reynolds is quoted as saying that including a gun in one's survival kit is appropriate. There are a number of links to blogs where people make recommendations about the appropriate firearms. (For example, one can purchase a very simple shotgun at Wal-Mart for less than $90.)

Yes, I am beginning to sound like every right-wing NRA gun nut NPR has ever panned, but you have to think about what is happening in NOLA and what could happen in the event of a disaster where you live, whether generated by the weather or by one of America's enemies with a WMD.

Situational Awareness
It seems to me that one of the main issues in the discussion on my running habits is that of situational awareness. (Brian raises an aesthetic issue, and while important, it comes down to an "I like chocolate, you like vanilla" discussion.) SA is one's awareness of the threat level created by persons, objects & possibilities for action in your vicinity. (My own definition.) Having headphones on compromises one's SA because hearing what's going on around you is an important part of your overall assessment of those persons, objects & possibilities for action. I am happy to stipulate, for this discussion, that headphones have this effect on one's SA.

That said, let me also say that I have a constant Threat Assessment program consciously running in my head at all times. I'm not saying that I'm the best at it, as I'm sure that specially trained military folks are way ahead of me here, but I do think that I take it very seriously. I think about it while running, while walking with Aidan to Sbux, while walking around inside my office, while walking through my own house, for crying out loud! In other words, I'm constantly updating my SA, even when I'm sitting at my computer in my dining room, in my own house, in the day, with all my doors locked.

There are a few things that have contributed to this:
--getting assaulted in Middle School: nothing alerts you to the physical threats of the world like getting punched so hard you are knocked out
--going to a very middle class and very overcrowded public high school
--studying Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate with blue collar folks where bruises were not optional and if you weren't ready to puke by the end of the class, you weren't at the end of class
--studying said Karate in a dojo located in a warehouse district in Miami-Dade County, across the street from a Miami-Dade County Detention Center
--going out with friends in Miami: Downtown, Coconut Grove, Hialeah. You know, places known for their safety.
--reading books like this, and this

So while I think the world is a beautiful place, filled with exciting possibilities, and I delight in sunshine on my face, a breeze ruffling my hair, and I look to see the Lord's gracious providence at work in all places -- I am equally convinced that there's a real possibility that around the next corner is someone/something that could do me serious harm. In fact, every corner I turn where there isn't someone/something lying in wait I thank the Lord for his gracious providence. In other words, rather than viewing the world as a good & happy place where bad things are the exception, I view the world as a place where bad things happen, and when they don't, it's a direct result of the Lord's gracious providence. Like Pope John Paul II & Jacques Ellul it seems to me that the world is bent on self-destruction and it is the Lord who preserves the world in spite of itself.

Getting back to running with headphones. I don't use them when, in my assessment, they put me at unusual risk. (Remember that I already think that the world is a risk, so going for No Risk situations is not an option, as well as being naive and foolish.) So running on the street and going around a blind corner: the earbuds are out. Running along a frequented trail the earbuds are in. Of course, being a fit (relatively) 30 year old, 6 foot, 160 pound male plays a big part in my Threat Assessment. And even when my earbuds are in, I'm observing shadows, looking for and avoiding the blind corners/dark alleys, visually sweeping my area, etc.

There are some days when I'm running to work out general frustrations with the day. And on those days, I occasionally run through a dark alley or two. Not because I didn't notice they're dark, but because maybe there'd be someone there who'd volunteer to help me work out my stress. But that's only occasionally. Seriously. Don't worry Mom.

I do, however, run with scissors. Is this a problem?

The Beach High Soccer "Carry".

I remember a great soccer game in which both Macon and Walter played during high school, when the Springs High varsity played Beach High. (Macon was a senior, Walter in ninth grade.)

The Beach High players (who were really good and played really dirty, which was fine) had, as part of their bag of tricks, a "carry". Their "carry" was the ball itself, which they did when the refs weren't looking.

On the other hand, I noticed Walter took some action regarding a Beach High player when the ref was not looking. Much to the cheers of his team-mates on the sideline and his old man.

I put the Free World in jeopardy again today
by going running with my shuffle & headphones. (If you're lost, then clearly you haven't read the comments to this post.)

While some have advocated for me to take certain measures for protection, I'm currently thinking that this would be more appropriate. That way, I'll be safe and if I ever need to join the US Millitary for the Global War on Terror, I'll be ready. 'sides, I think running with that would be a serious deterrent to any would be attackers. Shoot, it would deter anyone from even being on the same block as me!

Completely unplanned, my run began with "We're Not Going To Take It," by Twisted Sister and the very last (uphill!) block was run to "Sloop John B," by The Beach Boys. ("I feel so broke up, I want to go home," expressed my end of run sentiments exactly.) In the middle was alot of good stuff, but I thought it was a particularly fun beginning and ending.

A Carry for Scott. I haven't figured out how to do links in comments, but I did want to respond to Scott's concern about a carry while bicycling. This might do for Macon too as he runs around with his iPod.

Dimes, Sugar, and Quarters: An old Nita-ism.

In her inventory of idioms, my mother, Juanita, keeps this one close at hand: "Too much sugar for a dime, and not enough for a quarter".

I think we all know what this means, but maybe you can do better than I in expressing that meaning. The idea is that whatever effort that a result seems to require is more than the result is worth, but the effort itself is not particularly meaningful either.

The saying also provides a handy excuse for not doing something that, perhaps, ought to be done. Finally, it gives a basis for criticizing some other person's proposal or some other person efforts.

There is at least one song with this title. The song is by Merle Travis, and you can read the lyrics here. The gist of the lyric is that the relationship in question is not worth the cost. The "sugar" is not quite worth the time and treasure, reminding me of the lyrics to an old folk song much sung in the sixties called "The Lemon Tree":

Lemon Tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet
But the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat.

That was a good lyric for a teenage boy to have in his head.

But I digress . . .

Back on the running wagon
In terms of getting me out the door and putting one foot in front of the other, my iPod Shuffle is one of my most important pieces of gear. I've just started running again this past month and my Shuffle plays a pretty crucial part in that. Here's how my internal should-I-go-run-now? calculus works: (+) indicates a motivator, (-) indicates a demotivator

(+) my favorite shorts don't fit like they used to, (-) but it's hot outside!, (-) I'm already tired from the day, (+) but I know I'll feel better both in the medium and long run if I go, (-) but in the immediate short term I'll feel really poor due to all those hills outside! (-) umm, did I mention that I'm tired, (+) but I'll actually get a better rest tonight if I exercise today, (+) I really want to be able to run around the soccer field with Aidan in 10 years without injuring myself &/or embarassing myself, (-) I'll get all sweaty and have to take a shower before bed, that's a good 20-30 minutes I could be doing other things, (+) oooooh, I wonder which songs will get shuffled up the next time I listen to my shuffle? Let's go see!

Seriously, that's pretty much how it goes. Other observations on my thinking while I'm at it: generally, my reasons for not running (or exercising in general) are short term, and my reasons for doing so are long term. Being interested in the variety of my own music served up is a short term (even if admittedly small) reason, and seems to be enough to push me over the edge in doing it. Funny that. Seems like all the long term reasons are really good ones, but they get trumped by the short term ones, and it takes a short term reason to help me get going.

(Merlin Mann of 43 Folders calls this a Life Hack (e.g. something you do to/for yourself that helps you to do the thing you need to do). He's got lots of them here. And all you productivity geeks like me should be reading his blog anyway.)

I've had a number of different "audio sources" for my runs since High School: the Walkman, basic radio strapped to the arm, Nike flash player, iPod, but the Shuffle beats them all for these reasons:
-- it's super light. I have a back pocket on my running shorts and I don't notice it at all when I drop the shuffle into it.
-- it's easy to operate. The user interface is really straightforward and so easy that I don't even have to take it out of my pocket to play/pause, vol+/-, or <> songs. I can do it by touch through the fabric.
-- it's easy to fill with a robust variety of good music. This takes a little bit of preplanning, but I've rated most of my songs and set up a "Top Rated" playlist that automatically populates itself with all the, you guessed it, top rated songs in my library. I plug the shuffle in, click "Autofill" which is preset to the "Top Rated" list, and the shuffle is filled with 150 songs randomly selected from the playlist, with the filling weighted towards higher rated songs. My library is big enough at this point that I am still surprised at songs that come up ("oh yeah! I forgot I had this one!"), but am guaranteed that the only things in the shuffle are songs that I like.

My previous audio sources failed on at least one of those three criteria and wound up being one more reason not to go running.

When the shuffles first came out, I read an article about how Apple had discovered that most people used the shuffle function on their iPods more than anything else, and enjoyed the random strings of songs it put together. When I read that my reaction was, "well, ok, that seems kind of strange, but whatever." But now I repent and confess that I get it. It really is fun to hear Johnny Cash followed by Green Day followed by Over The Rhine. As songs reach their end, I'm thinking, "what's next? what's next?" And my brain gets distracted from the complaints from various muscle groups by thinking about connections between songs, or the absolute disconnect from one song to another.

Colorful Language and Handling Anger in I Samuel.

I am having a good time at the Tuesday morning Bible Study, led by Worth Carson at Granada PC[A]. Today we covered I Samuel 25, where the major characters are David, Abigail and a dunce named Nabal.

This passage relates that David and his men (who are out in the wilderness avoiding Saul) had been providing protection from the Philistines to Nabal, a rich sheep and goat herder. Shearing time has arrived, which is a festive occasion. David sends word to Nabal and asks most respectfully whether he and his men may come and party with Nabal and his clan. Nabal sends word to David that David may go fly a kite. This really angers David. Really.

Worth is a Hebrew scholar, and he related the literal translation of some of the passages. In my NIV, verse 13 reads "David said to his men, 'Put on your swords!'" Worth said that the literal translation is simply "Swords!!" I think the Hebrew communicates something here that the NIV does not.

But what is more interesting is the literal translation of the oath that David makes in verse 22, so angry is he. The NIV reads, "May God deal with David, be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him [Nabal]."

The Hebrew translation is " . . . if by morning I leave alive any among them who pisses against a wall."

Colorful. What else are we missing not knowing Hebrew?

The main point of the story is how Abigail staunches David's anger. What a wise and beautiful woman. I want to read more about her.

We discussed the matter of dealing with anger, of how men deal with it (often poorly, when they are left to themselves), and how an intelligent, beautiful, God-fearing woman can transform a very dangerous situation. What a blessing for any man to have an Abigail nearby at a time of crisis.

(Or any other time, for that matter.)

Why it may not be a bad idea to know how to handle a gun.

Neighbors helping neighbors.

More on Amateur Radio and the Ionosphere.

This hobby never ceases to amaze me. There is software to map what the ionosphere is doing on a near real time basis.

The software integrates with another program that pulls satellite data off the internet to actually make the map.

Blowing Away the Other Generations

THE top 100 of 1964, Ladies and Gentlemen

As I understand the rules:

a) bold the songs you like
b) strike through the ones you hate (html code is "strike" inside the brackets)
c) underline your favorite
d) and ignore the ones you don't remember/don't care about.

The problem is that I would listen to all of them, even "Dang me".

1. I Want To Hold Your Hand, The Beatles

The above was my favorite (don't know how to underline)

2. She Loves You, The Beatles

The problem was that year, she really didn't

3. Where Did Our Love Go, Supremes

It never arrived in the first place, so though I liked this song, it wasn't about me. And I was all about me then. (Then?)

4. Oh, Pretty Woman, Roy Orbison

I wanted to sing like Roy then. Now I do, of course.

5. I Get Around, Beach Boys

6. Everybody Loves Somebody, Dean Martin

And you were right, Dean. My mother loved me.

7. My Guy, Mary Wells
8. People, Barbara Streissand

This song seems so maudlin now. But I listened to her albums all through college. I thought she had the most fantastic, expressive and wonderful voice. She totally mesmerized me.

9. Last Kiss, J. Frank Wilson and The Cavaliers
10. Hello, Dolly!, Louis Armstrong
11. We'll Sing In The Sunshine, Gale Garnett
12. Java, Al Hirt

13. A Hard Day's Night, The Beatles

Wow. To have one of those! A Hard Day's Night! I didn't know what that consisted of, but I was ready.

14. Love Me Do, The Beatles
15. Do Wah Diddy Diddy, Manfred Mann
16. Under The Boardwalk, Drifters

17. Dancing In The Street, Martha and The Vandellas

I saw Martha and the Vandellas in the fall of '65 perform at the Stallion Club in Durham, which was a huge black night club. Will never forget it.

18. Little Children, Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas
19. Love Me With All Your Heart, Ray Charles Singers
20. Please Please Me, The Beatles
21. Chapel Of Love, Dixie Cups
22. Suspicion, Terry Stafford
23. Glad All Over, Dave Clark Five
24. Rag Doll, Four Seasons
25. Dawn (Go Away), Four Seasons
26. Bread And Butter, Newbeats
27. It Hurts To Be In Love, Gene Pitney
28. Dead Man's Curve, Jan and Dean

29. Come A Little Bit Closer, Jay and The Americans

She wouldn't. She didn't. That was a good thing.

30. A World Without Love, Peter and Gordon
31. Have I The Right?, Honeycombs
32. Don't Let The Rain Come Down (Crooked Little Man), Serendipity Singers

33. Baby Love, Supremes

Discovered the Supremes when I went to Duke in the Fall of '64. The rock and roll stations in Miami did not do black.

34. Let It Be Me, Betty Everett and Jerry Butler
35. Wishin' And Hopin', Dusty Springfield
36. You Don't Own Me, Lesley Gore
37. Walk On By, Dionne Warwick
38. The House Of The Rising Sun, Animals
39. G.T.O., Ronny and The Daytona

40. Twist And Shout, The Beatles

Did that a lot.

41. Memphis, Johnny Rivers
42. White On White, Danny Williams
43. Hey Little Cobra, Rip Chords
44. The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss), Betty Everett
45. Bits And Pieces, Dave Clark Five
46. My Boy Lollipop, Millie Small
47. Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Major Lance
48. The Little Old Lady, Jan and Dean
49. Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying, Gerry and The Pacemakers
50. A Summer Song, Chad and Jeremy
51. The Girl From Ipanema, Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto
52. Can't Buy Me Love, The Beatles
53. Remember (Walkin' In The Sand), Shangri-Las
54. C'mon And Swim, Bobby Freeman
55. Do You Want To Know A Secret, The Beatles
56. Keep On Pushing, Impressions
57. Baby I Need Your Loving, Four Tops
58. Navy Blue, Diane Renay
59. Diane, Bachelors
60. Out Of Limits, Marketts
61. Little Honda, Hondells
62. See The Funny Little Clown, Bobby Goldsboro
63. Because, Dave Clark Five
64. (Just Like) Romeo And Juliet, Reflections
65. For You, Rick Nelson
66. Today, New Christy Minstrels
67. Can't You See That She's Mine, Dave Clark Five

68. Leader Of The Pack, Shangri-Las

Burrruummm! Burruummm!!!

69. Funny, Joe Hinton
70. The Way You Do The Things You Do, Temptations
71. Anyone Who Had A Heart, Dionne Warwick
72. I Love You More And More Every Day, Al Martino

73. It's Over, Roy Orbison

I liked this one, even though it never got started.

74. Ronnie, Four Seasons
75. Surfin' Bird, Trashmen
76. What Kind Of Fool (Do You Think I Am), Tams
77. The Door Is Still Open To My Heart, Dean Martin
78. You Really Got Me, Kinks
79. The Shelter Of Your Arms, Sammy Davis Jr.
80. I'm So Proud, Impressions
81. Money, Kingsmen
82. Haunted Houses, Gene Simmons

83. Dang Me, Roger Miller

There ya go, Scott!

84. Do You Love Me, Dave Clark Five

And the answer was . . .

85. (You Don't Know) How Glad I Am, Nancy Wilson
86. I Wanna Love Him So Bad, Jelly Beans
87. Don't Throw Your Love Away, Searchers
88. Hi-heel Sneakers, Tommy Tucker
89. How Do You Do It, Gerry and The Pacemakers
90. Walk, Don't Run '64
91. Cotton Candy, Al Hirt
92. Shangri-La, Robert Maxwell, His Harp and Orchestra
93. Chug-a-lug, Roger Miller
94. Steal Away, Jimmy Hughes

95. Louie Louie, The Kingsmen

There was a secret, maybe sexy message in there. But could never figure out what they were saying. But we always listened. We did get the word "Louie" several times.

96. A Fool Never Learns, Andy Williams
97. Bad To Me, Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas
98. There! I've Said It Again, Bobby Vinton
99. I Saw Her Standing There, The Beatles
100. Needles And Pins, Searchers

Posted while watching the SG-1 Fan Favorite Marathon. Woo!

Because (1) It's been way to long since I posted, and (2) I'm so proud of him for coming out as such a strong opponent against idiotarianism, I'm going to follow Sean's lead and take a plunge into the Songs-That-Came-Out-My-Senior-Year-In-High-School Meme. But only 50, not the full 100. Cause I know you people like me and think I'm fairly interesting, but I'm not going to push my luck.

Here's the way you play:
1) Go to musicoutfitters.com and, in the search box provided, enter the year you graduated high school.
2) From the search results, click the link for the top 100 songs of that year. [Or 50]
3) With the resulting list:
a) bold the songs you like [Sean's definition (which I'm adopting): I'm going to define 'like' as 'i'd listen to it if it came on the radio and not change the channel]
b) strike through the ones you hate (html code is "strike" inside the brackets)
c) underline your favorite
d) and ignore the ones you don't remember/don't care about.

I'm in the class of '93.
1. I Will Always Love You, Whitney Houston
And IIIIIIIIIII-eyyiiiiiii will always hate this soooooooongggggggg

2. Whoomp! (There It Is), Tag Team
This is the 1993 equivalent to "Who let the dogs out?" kind of song.

3. Can't Help Falling In Love, UB40
I think this list is going to indicate fairly quickly that I am a certain kind of romantic. Cause while I hate #1, I really like this song. Really alot.

4. That's The Way Love Goes, Janet Jackson
5. Freak, Silk
6. Weak, SWV
7. If I Ever Fall In Love, Shai
8. Dreamlover, Mariah Carey
9. Rump Shaker, Wreckx-N-Effect
10. Informer, Snow
11. Nuthin' But A "G" Thang, Dr. Dre
Don't remember this at all. I'm just striking it out on principle.

12. In The Still Of The Nite, Boyz II Men
See? I really like this one too.

13. Don't Walk Away, Jade
14. Knockin' Da Boots, H-Town
Yeah, there were some real winners this year.

15. Lately, Jodeci
16. Dazzey Duks, Duice
A definite winner. I want to dance just hearing it in my head.

17. Show Me Love, Robin S.

18. A Whole New World, Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle
There were some girls I knew at Davidson (one of whose initials are "K" and "S"), who watched this movie ALOT. Because I'm a sensitive guy, I watched it along with them ALOT-1 times. I'll be happy never to hear it again. [Update: (in response to a certain commenter) Where ALOT = 2.]

19. If, Janet Jackson
20. I'm So Into You, SWV
21. Love Is, Vanessa Willlams and Brian Mcknight
22. Runaway Train, Soul Asylum
Great song. Even better, if very very sad, music video.

23. I'll Never Get Over You (Getting Over Me), Expose
24. Ditty, Paperboy
25. Rhythm Is A Dancer, Snap
Truer words were never sung to a super cool backbeat.

26. The River Of Dreams, Billy Joel
Not a fan of BJ.

27. I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles), Proclaimers
28. Two Princes, Spin Doctors
Ooooooh! Two good ones! I danced many a night away at Sig Ep to these two songs. [Update: Cause, just like Sean, I forgot to underline my favorite.]

29. Right Here (Human Nature)-Downtown, SWV
30. I Have Nothing, Whitney Houston
31. Mr. Wendal, Arrested Development
32. Have I Told You Lately, Rod Stewart
I agree with you, Sean.

33. Saving Forever For You, Shanice
34. Ordinary World, Duran Duran
Too bad the Duran Duran comeback didn't make it.

35. If I Had No Loot, Tony! Toni! Tone!
36. I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That), Meat Loaf
I do not understand the fascination with Meat Loaf. His name should be Meat Lame.

37. Slam, Onyx
One of the all time great Let's-Get-Hype! songs.

38. Looking Through Patient Eyes, P.M. Dawn
39. I'm Every Woman, Whitney Houston
Sheesh. She was having a banner year.

40. Baby I'm Yours, Shai
41. Come Undone, Duran Duran
42. I Don't Wanna Fight, Tina Turner
43. I'd Die Without You, P.M. Dawn
44. Whoot, There It Is, 95 South
45. Hip Hop Hooray, Naughty By Nature
Sig Ep. Dance Floor. Impressing the Ladies. Moi.

46. Another Sad Love Song, Toni Braxton
47. Will You Be There, Michael Jackson
48. Comforter, Shil
49. Good Enough, Bobby Brown
50. What's Up, 4 Non Blondes

The Strident and Angry Criticism Loudly and Continuously Voiced by the Mayor of New Orleans.

Demonstrating once again that the best defense is a good offense.

I have no idea who has been talking about oil prices in 1980, but . . .

Economist David Rosenberg at Merrill Lynch says, in a research note titled You Will Never Hear These Words Again: " "Don't worry, gas prices are still below 1980 levels in real terms" … As if comparing things to 1980 was supposed to make anyone feel better in any event -- it was one of the worst recessionary phases the economy endured in modern times."

-Today's WSJ.

Too Clever by Half. From what I read, it will be weeks and perhaps months before the economic disequilibrium caused by Hurricane Katrina will stabilize, although we are assured that it will stabilize. The length of time that it takes will depend in part on what reserves or "slack" in the economy we had at the time that the disaster began. With "just in time" processes well embedded in the economy, processes meant to banish idle resources from the system, unanticipated jolts could make recovery more difficult than it would be otherwise. So, in the longer run, day to day efficiency may be more costly than allowing a bit of inefficiency to linger in the system.

A law school professor of mine once described the advantages of inefficiency in the criminal justice system. He said that we would really not want to have a zero crime rate. Instead, he said public policy should seek an optimum crime rate, which would not be zero. He argued that the application of enough coercive government force to attain a zero rate (assuming it would even be attainable) would create a police state that would be intolerable.

"Inefficiency" and "slack" are probably the wrong words to use in this discussion, because they are pejorative. Maybe the right words are "rest" or "Sabbath". When there is no "Sabbath" in the economy, then a crisis can break the system. It remains to be seen whether our economy will be broken or merely strained.

And this, of course, applies in our individual lives as well. We are maxed out, and then we get sick and we find ourselves behind where we would have been had we taken care of ourselves right along. Married couples with children are maxed, whether it is because both spouses work outside the home in demanding jobs, or because a full bridge, golf, church, or soccer schedule sucks up time and energy, and nothing is left in the tank when the family gathers except to watch TV.

On the other hand, just think what God could have done had he worked that seventh day?

More on the Oil Issue/Hurricane Katrina. This morning the WSJ lead article is about the impact of Katrina on oil and gasoline prices; they are, of course, "sharply higher".

"October crude-oil futures settled at a new nominal record of $69.81 a barrel in Nymex [New York Mercantile Exchange] trading, up $2.61 for the day, or 3.9%"

But note this:

"The record remains the $39.50 barrel price reached in April 1980, equivalent to $95.26 when adjusted for inflation."

Years ago I had a client who lived in a very nice home in the Florida Keys. He had made a good bit of money in real estate out West, and retired to Florida in his early fifties. His view was that hurricanes were great for the Keys. He said it blew away all of the shoddy construction and what was rebuilt was all to the good.

The Oil "Crisis". A front page article in the WSJ Monday explains "Why Oil's Surge Hasn't Damped Global Growth." It makes some interesting points.

In contrast with past "oil shocks", this "surge in oil prices stems more from global economic vigor - the strong demand for oil from China and the U.S. - rather than producers' manipulative tightening of supply or fears about Middle East conflicts disrupting supply."

"While oil prices during the surge have hit highs in nominal terms, the peak price in inlfation-adjusted terms would be over $90 in April 1980."

"Oil prices are now $16.50 a barrel above their May levels. Although the U.S. economy in 2004 was more than twice the size it was in 1979, the Energy Department says the nation consumed only 9% more petroleum, primarily because it has become more energy-efficieint."

Amateur Radio Beep Beep. I know, dear reader, you have been thirsting for another post on amateur radio, so here is one on the topic of amateur radio beacons.

As you may recall, one can communicate by radio on certain frequencies with those who live below the horizon. This is because of the ionosphere, layers of ionized atoms that surround the earth. Those atoms are ionized when the UV radiation from the sun hits them, knocking off electrons and creating charged particles. When one transmits a radio-frequency (RF) signal with a given wave-length, that signal will radiate toward the horizon, "bounce" or refract off the ionosphere, and end up on the other side of the horizon. If the part of the ionosphere in question is high enough, then the RF signal will bounce pretty far. After it comes down on the other side of the horizon, the radio signal may bounce off the earth and be sent up into the ionosphere a second time, and so on, all the way around to the other side of the earth or maybe all the way around to where the signal originated. This bouncing and refracting off the ionosphere is called propagation. But you knew that.

Sometimes, though, the sun doesn't do its job and no propagation on a given band is taking place. Its a bit like the weather. (One part of the amateur radio hobby is devoted to keeping track of and forecasting propagation. I know you would like to hear more about that sort of thing, but you will have to wait for another post, unless I get a life in the meanwhile, in which case you will never hear from me again.)

So here I am, turning on my radio, and I hear no one. No signals are coming in. Hhhmm, I might say, the band is "dead" or "down". Propagation is not working. Bad sun, bad, bad sun.

Or maybe not. Maybe everybody else went to the beach. Or maybe everyone else is listening too. How does one know?

Well, there is another part of the hobby, where people set up radio beacons. A beacon is a transmitter, usually run by a computer program, that transmits a signal every so often on a given frequency and gives its call sign or identifying letter/number combination. If you are tuning around and pick up that signal and you know where that transmitter is, then you know that the band is not dead. You know that propagation is working, unless the beacon is located next door and not over the horizon.

The Northern California DX Foundation, with the help of an agency connected with the UN, has set up a network of beacons all around the world. These beacons coordinate their signals and each beacon transmits for, say, 10 seconds, one after another, on the same frequency. So, you tune the receiver to the subject frequency and then listen. It is unlikely that you will hear all the beacons as the signals emanate from around the world. But unless the band is completely dead, you will hear one or more.

For example, recently I tuned to the beacon on 20 meters, a popular amateur radio band. I heard the beacon at the UN in New York, then the beacon in Northern Canada, then the beacon in Hawaii, and then the beacon in Venezuela. During the rest of the cycle, I heard nothing, even though the beacons in other parts of the world were taking their turns.

Furthermore, each beacon in this network does not simply broadcast its call sign, it also follows its call sign with a series of dashes (or "dahs" as we CW operators say). The first dash is broadcast at 100 watts, the second at 10 watts, the third at 1 watt, and the forth at .1 watt. This will give you information not only on whether there is propagation on the band, but also how good it is. I can usually hear at least the first two dashes.

Now isn't that just about the most interesting thing you have learned all day?

Seniors Behaving Badly This morning abc.com posts an article about "seniors" living together without benefit of marriage. These people are often widows and widowers or divorcees. The justification for not marrying given by these couples is financial: that one or the other of them (usually the female)will give up pension, health, or alimony benefits, arising from her earlier marriage, if she marries again.

Dad's children certainly approve. Here is someone to take care of the old man, so the kids can go about their own business, and the new soul mate will have none of the marital rights that arise when a couple is wed, either in the event of a break up or in the event of death, so the inheritance is safe.

I say "Dad's children" because in my experience it is often the male who is the older and the more economically powerful. Furthermore, there are relatively fewer of these "free males" in the senior demographic than "free females", so they are in a better bargaining position already. Once again, women are apt to make bad decisions to avoid loneliness or to reclaim something lost and apparently found again.

Just think of the social consequences of this practice. The elders are tossing marriage aside because of short term monetary gain. They don't live in a vacuum but in a kith and kin community that not only spreads out horizontally, but is also two and sometimes three generations deep. What would the elder male's son and daughter-in-law say, when his granddaughter comes home on Spring break wth her boy friend and they want to sleep in her room? "Gee, Mom, don't be such a prude, look at Gramps for heaven's sake!"

Let's see, voices in the homosexual community want to marry, elder voices in the heterosexual community want not to. Say again why Jesus came?

Special Links for Sean. First, there is the addition to our link list, Sean. There it is, see it? Right at the TOP.

And there is this.

Sucker Punched by Katrina. Two hours ago the power came back on. It had been down since Thursday evening about 7:30, after Katrina took a turn to the left, drawing a bead on Miami Springs and other points along a diagonal that cut the county from the NE corner to the SW. Awe and anxiety competed as Thursday night we watched the spectacle out of our unshuttered front windows (which face the north) and the glass doors to our back porch (which face the south and which, unlike the front windows, are specially constructed to be hurricane proof).

As already reported, the eye of the storm passed over us, and gave us about 45 minutes of strange calm. It was still light, and we walked outside. The wind had been blowing from the west when the eye came by. When it left, the wind came barreling in from the east, and seemed to be much stronger and harsher. The word from the weather people on the radio (our Grundig portable with the battery you crank) was that the "backside" of Katrina was where it got nasty. They were right.

But we fared far better than the people S of us, down below Kendall in the Homestead, Redlands, Country Walk area, which suffered so much during Andrew. Instead of wind damage, the problem there was flooding. The forecasters had predicted that Katrina would be a "rain event" rather than a "wind event", but it turned out to be both. Flooding in parts of Dade, and sailboats piled up one on top of the other in Dinner Key and Crandon Park (where I kept my sailboat, when I had one.)

We lost a small tree, and a coconut palm we are growing blew over, which we should be able to prop up. With the fridge down, we lost some food. Carol, however, not one to allow a minute to go by without doing productive work, took the opportunity to clean the fridge - it's definitely "sparkle city" now. Other than the bearable misery of heat and humidity (which reminded me of growing up in Miami Springs, before central air, heck, before wall units at our socio-economic level). I actually enjoyed sleeping with the windows open, a little breeze, no top sheet, short PJs. Just the way it was, once upon a time. Carol did not see the charm in it.

Lesson learned, though. When the hurricane warnings go up, then we will batten down, regardless of where we think its going, regardless of the "category".

As to the Voice of Miami Springs, I did not get on the air. I had the means to do so, with my 5 watt CW transceiver and a lead-acid battery. But didn't. Next time, maybe.

Hurricane Katrina Update
I spoke with both mom and dad earlier today. Apparently things were a little worse with the storm than the parents predicted--but all is well. The eye passed right over 1190 Dove and the surrounding winds took out a small tree and quite a few large branches and that antenna dad left on the roof (but I think it's ok). The folks are without power, so everything in the freezer is thawing (quick! eat those bananas!) and so Paul Stokes is temporarily disconnected from the online world. The question remains: what sort of ham capabilities does he have without electricity?

I will not settle.
Here's a picture of our living on Brookstown now featuring Macon and Kellsey's old furniture, which I bought from them before they moved to Texas. As you can see, it looks quite nice in the new place, and I am very happy to have it. Owning this furniture has been a bit wearing on my young soul, however, which is apparently not ready to become encumbered by living room sets and other worldly possesions. What if I want to pick up and move accross the country or the ocean next year? What will I do with all this stuff? Perhaps you'll see this picture on e-bay at some point.

Hurricane Katrina: Going Bare on Dove Avenue. 5:30 PM EDST I guess its just hurricane fatigue, but for the first time in 20 years we decided not to "board up" and are going through this hurricane without bringing the lawn furniture inside, putting up the shutters, parking the cars up close to the house. The wind is whipping the trees outside, and there it is for us to behold in all its splendor. (In times past, all the windows and doors were covered with the aluminum panels we keep stored in the garage until these storms approach.)

The only concession I made to this one was to go up on the roof and lower the telescoping mast down into itself, so it sticks up 10 feet instead of thirty. It is guyed to edge of the roof.

When the wind blows just the right way, the front door, when not shuttered, will make a noise when a gust hits it. Its a little like someone knocking. Not only is that happening, but the door from the garage to the living room is making that noise, which is strange. The garage door is not an outside door. Its into the garage.

We are fatigued and/or blase because this is a Category 1 storm, and it was supposed to go in at the Broward/Palm Beach County line. Well, it is not doing that; it is going into Downtown Ft. Lauderdale, which is about 10 miles closer to us. The radar shows us in the midst of the lower hemisphere. We are getting right now gusts that I would say reach about 45 mph. They should increase for the next few hours. But still a Category 1, and on the lower end of that category.

Forbes 09/05/2005 Issue. I have been reading this magazine for 20+ years, and recommend it. Here is a run-down of what I thought was particularly good in this issue.

1. China Syndrome. About Michael Allen, who invests in China and describes his ups and downs with selling hi-fi equipment into the US market from factories he and a group built in China. This article is on Forbes' website.

2. Chemistry Lesson. About Jurgen Hambrecht and BASF, the German chemical company. You have probably seen BASF's commercials on TV and asked, "What is the point of these commercials". Now we know. I read Forbes for some guidance on stocks to invest in. (You now know why I am so wealthy, have my own jet, and only come to work to blog.) I may buy some BASF.

3. B-Schools - Part Time Fever. A timely article in light of Walter's interest in going to B-School. The thesis of this article is that it makes more sense for many young people to go to B-School part time and to continue to work because of the opportunity costs of going full time. Lists the "Top Part-Time Business Schools", and well as the Top U.S. Business Schools. Interesting description of someone who did distance learning at Chicago from Redmond, Washington. See also the article on China "putting the squeeze on US business schools" with its own B-Schools; includes a list of "The Top Foreign Business Schools."

Also articles about coffee futures, the tech future of India, and a counselor who helps CEO's deal with their "inner jerk"(Sounds like a good idea for lawyers and judges).

Justin Cleared! I knew it couldn't be true. This is so refreshing!

Pat Robertson. What an embarrassment.

He should stick to hurricanes.

No Death Penalty for Rudolph. A Georgia court sentenced the man who set the bomb during the Atlanta Olympics, killing an innocent and wounding others, later hid in the NC mountains and was finally captured. He received life imprisonment. Unlike the case with Kansas and the BTK killer, Georgia has a death penalty. A report in the New York Times states:

Prosecutors had agreed not to seek the death penalty if Mr. Rudolph pleaded guilty and revealed the whereabouts of about 250 pounds of dynamite he had cached in the North Carolina woods.

In July, Rudolph made a deal with prosecutors in Birmingham and avoided the death penalty there for killing an off duty police officer with a bomb.

Is Rudolph less culpable than Rader, the BTK killer? As demented as Rader seems and as horrible as his crimes were, one has to question whether morally there is any difference between him and a bomber who is likely to kill just about anyone who may be walking by. One crime is quite personal and focused, the other cruelly unconcerned about who the victim might be. To borrow a phrase from a former governor of Alabama, I don't think there is a dime's worth of difference between either crime.

Rudolph portrayed himself as a devout Christian, according to one report, interested in fighting abortion.

But, according to the NYT article:

[P]rosecutors took exception to his contention that the Olympics bombing was a protest of legalized abortion. David E. Nahmias, the United States attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, said that investigators had spoken to almost everyone who had ever known Mr. Rudolph and he had not mentioned abortion. "He was full of openly expressed hatred for the federal government, law enforcement, African-Americans, Jews, Hollywood, there's a whole list of things," Mr. Nahmias said. "The one thing that there was virtually no evidence of is that he had expressed an opinion on abortion."

Some Christian.

What's Wrong with Starbucks? New drug developed to counter the effects of sleep deprivation. And at Wake-Forest to boot.

Where's the Shame? Paris dumps Tinkerbell.

Michael Yon: Online Magazine
Credit Instapundit for putting me onto this blog. Michael Yon is embedded with an Army unit in Mosul, Iraq. His dispatches are quite good and offer a fascinating account of what is happening.

Just thought I'd pass this link on (I know, I know. I ended a sentence with a preposition.).

No Death Penalty for the BTK Killer? As I read last week about the sentencing hearing for Dennis Rader, the BTK murderer, I was interested to see life sentences and not death penalties. I checked on that and found that last year the Kansas Supreme Court struck down the death penalty as unconstitutional.

I found reading the reports on the sentencing hearing painful, because they went into some detail on who and how he killed. Frankly, I could not complete reading those articles. If there ever were a case for imposing the death penalty, this would be it, whatever your views might be on that sort of sentence.

In light of this case, it does not bode well for the "independent judiciary" that the lack of a death penalty in Kansas arises from judicial action and not legislative action. I have seen no mention in the MSM of this issue, that the BTK judge could not impose the death penalty because of what the state's supreme court earlier held, and I am waiting to see the issue mentioned elsewhere. Perhaps I missed it. In any event, it adds fuel to the fire that is beginning to break out about how insulated judges are from the reach of the democratic process.

Let it rage.

Update and Correction: No death penalty applied in the BTK case because the crimes occurred prior to Kansas' 1994 death penalty law. It was the 1994 law that the state's supreme court held unconsitutional last year. The Kansas death penalty law prior to 1994, enacted in the 1970s, had been held unconsitutional under the US Supreme Court's decision in Furman va. Georgia. See a history of Kansas' death penalty laws here. The Furman case dealt with a Georgia death penalty case, but it overturned the death penalty statutes of every other state in the union. So there was no death penalty for murder in Kansas at the time of the BTK murders. We cannot know whether that made any difference to Rader as he dealt with his victims or contemplated whether to commit his crimes in the first place.

By the way, accorinding to at least one report, Rader was a church going Lutheran.

Andy Stanley. A friend of mine gave me a sermon tape of this young, Atlanta minister the other day. He preaches about "being good enough" to get to heaven. It was aimed at the younger generation, and was well done. You can listen to this minister at the North Point Community Church website. The website has a bookstore that sells sermon collections and single sermons. My friend particularly likes a series on the Ten Commandments. But this single sermon looks interesting. If you would like to borrow the tape my friend loaned me, I am sure he would be happy for me to send it to you (although I will check with him first.)

The 100 People. Bernard Goldberg's book about misbehaving people is a best seller. Here is the list

Good Questions - Part II
Reading the WSJ today, I came across this editorial (for subscribers) that is along the same lines as Macon's post below, primarily regarding the (lack of) support for women's rights in Iraq (and, oddly enough, in Canada, according to the editorial).

"It seems strange to associate the context of Canada with that of Iraq, but a closer look at the arguments used to reassure the demonstrating women in both countries reveals the similar ordeals that Muslim women in both countries must go through to secure their rights. It shows how their legitimate and serious worries are trivialized, and how vulnerable and alone they are. It shows how the Free World led by the U.S. went to war in Iraq, allegedly to bring liberty to Iraqis, and is compromising the basic rights of women in order to meet a random date. It shows how the theory of multiculturalism in Western liberal democracies is working against women in ethnic and religious minorities with misogynist practices. It shows the tenacity of many imams, mullahs and self-made Muslim radicals to subjugate women in the name of God. Most of all, it shows how many of those who consider themselves liberal or left-wing see their energy levels rise when it comes to Bush-bashing, but lose their voice when women's rights are threatened by religious obscurantism."

It's far too easy to point the hypocritical finger at the multicultural Western liberal, but what about the Church? What role should it play?

Dressing for Success.

This article in the NYT is well worth the read.

Admittedly, Ben Stein, the writer, is a lawyer who lives in New York City, but I think he has a point that applies in Miami, Austin, Charlotte, Dallas, Columbia, whereever. Young men in the business world need to dress like grown-ups.

One thing I like about Austin is that it is a liberterian place as far as style is concerned. So it should be OK to depart from the open-shirt, shorts - dungaree wardrobe approach. Some young men I know clean up really well.

I would extend this idea to hair cuts. Look around for a good hair cutter, either a barber or someone in a beauty salon. Keep looking till you find the right person. Spend the money on a good cut, and spend the money at last twice a month.

Try this out with the next mall bureaucrat you have to deal with.

Semper Fi!

"The Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank GOD for the United States Marine Corps."

-- [Atrributed to] Eleanor Roosevelt, 1945

Amplifier! Into the Breech!!

Regarding the deluge of treasonous "war" movies coming out this fall from Hollywood, Jason Apuzzo writes:

"At some point, conservatives need to raise capital, pick up cameras and start making movies of their own - much like Mel Gibson did with "The Passion". And conservatives need to do this not simply to 'rebut' the other side, but to add depth and imagination to what has become a wasteland of popular entertainment."

Apuzzo's article at Townhall.com describes what we will be seeing in theaters this fall. Its not going to be pretty.

As for me and my house, we will take names, studios, producers, directors, and actors, and they will not see a cent of our money.

George Carlin on Martha Stewart

"Boy I feel a lot safer now that she is behind bars. O.J. Simpson, Robert Blake, Michael Jackson and Kobe Bryant are still walking around. So is Osama bin Laden. But the law takes one woman in America, who is willing to cook, clean and work in the yard, and haul her off to jail!"

Good Questions
I've been wondering these things for a while and, as usually happens, I waited long enough for someone else to crystalize them and write them out. Today, that someone is Christopher Hitchens on Slate.com:

The United States is awash in human rights groups, feminist organizations, ecological foundations, and committees for the rights of minorities. How come there is not a huge voluntary effort to help and to publicize the efforts to find the hundreds of thousands of "missing" Iraqis, to support Iraqi women's battle against fundamentalists, to assist in the recuperation of the marsh Arab wetlands, and to underwrite the struggle of the Kurds, the largest stateless people in the Middle East? Is Abu Ghraib really the only subject that interests our humanitarians? . . . . Isn't there a single drop of solidarity and compassion left over for the people of Iraq, after three decades of tyranny, war, and sanctions and now an assault from the vilest movement on the face of the planet? Unless someone gives me a persuasive reason to think otherwise, my provisional conclusion is that the human rights and charitable "communities" have taken a pass on Iraq for political reasons that are not very creditable. And so we watch with detached curiosity, from dry land, to see whether the Iraqis will sink or swim. For shame.

Alpha and Beta.

"In the rarefied atmosphere of academic investment finance literature, alpha and beta define the two components of investment returns. In simple terms, beta measures market return such as that incurred from passive (index) investing. Alpha measures the value added (or subtracted) accruing from investor skill. Positive alpha is return generated in excess of a specific benchmark without taking more risk than the benchmark.

"For investors, finding managers who consistently can produce alpha is like the search for the Holy Grail . . .

"One benefit of alpha is that it is not highly correlated with beta."

"Even if the speculator ultimately makes money, they may not "win" in the context that they took on more risk than they should have to obtain the return."

From the August 2005 edition of Investment Update, a publication of Mellon Bank.

I have been reading this investment piece for many years. (I receive many of them each month from various banks, investment and brokerage houses.) Its author, H. Vernon Winters, is simply excellent. Lately, I see that he has been joined by a co-author, Christopher Sheldon, so Mr. Winters must be looking a retirement somewhere in the future. When that happens, it will be a pity for us laymen.

Guess which country.

"[A] full blown Islamist insurgency, sustained by thousands of young Muslim men with military training now resident in this country."

Answer here.

The NCAA at Work.

This just in.

The NCAA has advised that any college basketball team that would otherwise qualify for the March Madness tournament will be disqualified if it is uses a religiously sensitive mascot. The NCAA is responding to pressure from the American Society of Witches and Sorcerers , Inc., out of someplace near Chapel Hill and a Kansas based Santeria sect.

Air America, the New York Times, and the Bronx Boys & Girls Club. Air America is the radio network that leftists put together to combat the Rush Limbaughs and Sean Hannitys of the world. The Arizona Republic reports that one of Air America's supporters who was the development officer of the Bronx Boys and Girls Club arranged a $400,000 loan from the club to Air America, as well as a loan for himself. The scandal within this scandal is that the New York Times has not reported a word about it, according to the article in the Arizona newspaper.

"About a Boy". Viewed this with Carol, Walter, and Morgan this weekend. Its been out a few years, but I had not seen it. We see several people "get saved" in this movie. The entire Gospel is laid out here, or so it seems to me. Am I so buried in Christianity that I see it where it isn't? Is the director a stealth Christian? Is common grace at work?

The agent of salvation, the Christ figure, is a little boy, who is persecuted and then finally virtually "crucified" by his classmates during a talent show in an act of love for his mother, a sad single mom so miserable and self-involved that she attemps suicide earlier in the movie and doesn't deserve his sacrifice a bit. The little boy is very strong, single minded, and focused. You consider the aged hippie he has for a mother and the absence of an earthly father, and you have to ask just where did the boy come from?

The most interesting figure is High Grant's "Everyman". Selfish, but brutally honest with himself. The movie opens with him knowing exactly who he is, a "no one", a state in which he is apparently satisfied and whose main activity is "shagging" women. That is, until he meets "the boy", joins him in the vitual cruxifiction ("I am crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me . . .") and thereafter is able to connect with the beautiful, Madonna-like single mom with whom he had earlier started to fall in love but from whom he had turned away convinced of unworthiness.

It ends with a supper on Christmas Eve among a community full of hitherto broken people from broken relationships, people now in community, in a sort of church, enjoying one another, and bursting with promise.

Way Far. Couldn't sleep last night, so I got up around midnight and got on 20 meters. Worked Vlado in Belgrade, whose call sign is YU1RN.

Credit Reports: The Federal Trade Commission now allows us to obtain free credit reports once every 12 months. Click here to order yours. Florida and Texas residents can get theirs now. Alas, us NC residents must wait until Sept 1.

This is not a "teaser" link to some credit monitoring service, but if you like, you can send me $19.95/month for the rest of your life. Or you can sponsor me in my efforts to raise money for the Barnabas Center, which is a Christ-centered counseling center here in Charlotte. Your tax-deductible gift allows them to offer a sliding fee scale for services so that no one is denied access to the professional counseling they need. Click here for more info.

More Christians in China than Communists?

See this article in a UK MSM.

Finally had a normal Saturday here in Austin. It was a wonderful day! Slept late (7am) because Aidan did. Had a leisurely breakfast, matching Aidan spoonful for spoonfull, him baby-yogurt, me oatmeal. Kells, Mary & Aidan went for a morning walk while I spent a productive morning paying bills. We all sat around the dining room table and ate lunch together, enjoying each other's company, and then decided that an excellent hot summer afternoon activity was to walk down to Amy's Ice Cream on South Congress. So we did, and then followed that up with some antiquing in the vicinity. Back home, Kellsey, Mary & Aidan napped while I worked up the latest version of the family budget. After naps, we all sat in the den and while Mary and I played on our guitars. (She learning, me coaching, Kellsey & Aidan singing along.) Then I went back to the budget, Kellsey played with Aidan, and Mary cooked dinner. Kells fed the boy, I scrubbed him down and put him to sleep. We all sat down at the table again for Mary's marvelous meal. Kells and I had a "family meeting" to go over/fine tune the budget, Mary baked scones. Budgeting for 2005 accomplished, we all had tea/milk & scones. Followed up with some brief channel surfing, and now I'm headed towards bed with a book in my hand. I do not think the day could be improved: accomplished some good work (budgeting had been way overdue!), good conversation with beautiful women, played with my son, ate great food, saw some Austin Wierdness, all in a relaxed way. Well, maybe if you had joined us, that would have improved it, but that's all I can think to add.

Families don't sit down to eat together anymore. Something has been lost. Editorial from today's WSJ. Some notable quotes/comments:

"These days, fewer than one-third of all children sit down to eat dinner with both parents on any given night. The statistics are worse if both parents are working and the family is Caucasian (Latino families have the highest rate of sharing a meal). The decline in the family dinner has been blamed for the rise in obesity, drug abuse, behavioral problems, promiscuity, poor school performance, illegal file sharing and a host of other ills."

"And that's a shame [that the family dinner is disappearing]. Because dinner is like a formal poem, with a fixed meter and time. It can't be hastened by new technology or emailed as an attachment to our kitchens. Instead, it's one of the few opportunities for conversation in a noisy world, a place to take a slower measure of our frenzied days. By missing mealtime, we are missing a substantial part of our children's lives. Sooner than we realize, they will not be at our table. Sooner than that, they will not want to have anything to do with us."

Family dinners won't solve all of our social ills, but this article highlights the mis-prioritization of society's basic social unit, the family.

I'm curious to hear stories of K&K reader's own family dinners. Did you have them? Generally, were they a time of connection for your family or merely perfunctory?

Barnabas Center Golf Classic
Dear K&K readers, I humbly request your support in the 2005 Barnabas Center Golf Classic. What is the Barnabas Center, let alone this Golf Classic? Click here.

Thanks in advance for your consideration.
Scott

Time to Wake up and Smell the Iraqi Ragweed.

Check this article out by High Fitzgerald on Jihad Watch's website.

I do note, however, that the lead story in today's WSJ is that we are seriously and substantially getting out of Dodge early next year.

Aidan's Pulling Up!
Here's the latest Aidan video. In this one Aidan learns the valuable lesson of mutual exclusivity. It's your typical story of boy loves holding his shoes, boy wants to climb gate, boy can't hold shoes and climb gate and has to make a heart wrenching decision between them, only to walk away from it all in the end. I apologize for being so cliche, but hey, sometimes things are cliche because they're just so true.

Someday, it will be Aidan's turn
You may wonder what possessed my father to post this. Well, as I see it, there are two complementary impulses driving it.

The first impulse is the one that also drove this kind of behavior:
SCENE: Dad driving Macon back home from school/soccer practice/friend's house.
Macon: (with teen angst) "Oh no, Dad, don't!"
Paul: (rolling down window) "Hi, I'm Macon's dad!" "Hey there, I'm Macon's dad!" "Macon Stokes' Dad, right here!"
Macon: "Auuuugggh! Dad! Stop it!"
(To be fair, there never really was anyone around when he did it. This only slightly mitigated the torture.)

The second impulse, I suspect, is that this is really a plea to us all to start posting more, and not leave the sole posting responsibilities to him. Clearly, he's running out of content. So let's all heed the call and start posting more! (Although, from a psychological standpoint, perhaps rewarding this kind of behavior isn't the best idea?)

Amory Lovins. See the interview of Lovins in yesterday's WSJ. It appears in "The Journal Report" section, yesterday's dealing with the automotive industry. He discusses the matter of boosting fuel efficiency with lighter cars, and says that the debate about whether the world is running out of oil is beside the point, the point being that we can radically reduce our dependency on oil by building more efficient cars.

Lovins has a think-tank in Colorado known as the Rocky Mountain Institute. Its website shows some original thinking going on in that place.

One quote from the Lovins interview:

"One Detroit expert told me in 10 years you'll probably be able to drive home your efficient Chinese car from Wal-Mart."

Here is a link to a full blown article by Lovins on lighter cars.

Elsewhere in this section of the WSJ there is an article on how China, with its under-developed automobile energy delivery system, is in position to leap frog the US with fuel cell technology. Reminds me of how Eastern Europe, when the Soviet Union fell and those countries were open to a free market, decided to ditch their antiquated wire-bound telephone systems and go straight to cellular technology, effectively leap-frogging the US, which has so much invested in our poles, analog switches, and copper wire.

Where've you been? On the rig tonight, I had a QSO with Jim in Tule Lake, CA, which is a farm community in Northern California near the boarder with Oregon. Jim is a retired farmer, 63 years old and has been a ham for 49 years.

Just after that I had a QSO with Sabil in Lugansk, Ukraine.

"Rig" means "my radio station" or "my radio equipment".

A "QSO" is a conversation. These 2 QSOs were on CW, as opposed to AM, FM or SSB. CW means "continuous wave" and is the mode where we use the Morse Code. AM, FM or SSB are radiotelephone modes or "phone" modes. When one is on CW, one uses "Q signals", because Q signals are abbreviations. They are also a sort of universal language.

For example, "QTH Miami Springs" means "My location is Miami Springs". If you put a question mark behind it, as in "QTH?" you are asking, "What is your location?"

Women in the Early Church. Van, our pastor, is taking us through the Book of Acts during his Sunday morning sermons. Yesterday we were in Acts 8: 1-7. The first part of that passage deals with the persecution of the church in Jerusalem. During the sermon, Van took note of the following in verse 3:

But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.

He drew our attention to the fact that women were being dragged off as well as men. He commented that if these women had kept to their traditional place, they may have avoided persecution. But they seem to have been as outspoken as the men, because they generated the same reaction. This does not conclusively point to formal leadership in the early church by women, nor to informal leadership by women that extended beyond other women to men. But it does seem to point to vigorous, front-line participation by women from the beginning, and its worth noting.

Google Maps and the Holy Land. Sean has been watching the Google maps phenomenon over on Interact, and, courtesy of Brad, points to this link to a Google map of Palestine with references to scripture embedded therein. Fascinating.

The link to the map led me to the homepage of the people who put up the link. Those folks apparently publish the English Standard Version or "ESV" and have a complete website. The site includes the blog where the Palestine map was posted. The map post on the blog explains how to do what they did with the map. The blog, has other posts that look interesting too.

Thanks, Sean.

Stop me, if you've heard it.

The Old West.

Three legged dog comes into the bar and shouts.

"I'm lookin' for the man who shot my paw!"

New Antenna at the House. This weekend I am putting up a new vertical antenna. This one will be at the NE corner of the house, screened from the front and east side by some trees. We don't want to upset the neighbors. Bought it second-hand from Joe.

This is not the beam antenna that I was working on last weekend. Still working on that one. The new vertical will give us three ham antennas up and functioning on or about the roof of the house: (1) inverted vee dipoles, center fed with a single coax transmission line, one dipole for 40m and one for 20m, (2) a uhf/vhf vertical for 2m and the 440 band, and (3) the new vertical, which covers 40m, 20m, 15m, 10m, 6m, and 2m (so many bands on one antenna, so cool).

As you can see, there is some duplication, especially between the dipoles and the new vertical. The dipoles tend to horizontal polarity and have a higher angle of radiation. The vertical is vertically polarized and has a lower angle of radiation. I don't know that polarity makes much difference after the RF refracts off the ionosphere. The lower the angle of radiation, however, the further the skip. (For example, if the angle of radiation were straight up, the refraction would send the RF right back to our location.) Because I can switch antennas from inside the shack, I should be able to see if there is any difference and under which conditions the difference occurs.

Exciting stuff, no?

How the Rest of the World Knows Us. Yesterday I met a most interesting gentleman, a man whose business is inside Russia and that he runs from his home in Miami two days a week. About four times a year he flies to the site of the business for a few days. The site is in the far east of Russia, 10 miles north of the Chinese border and closer to Tokyo than to Moscow. It takes him 24 hours to travel there, one way.

He told me that the business practices in Russia are so different from those of the US that they are incomprehensible to most Americans. He also told me this story.

On one visit, early in the development of this business, he and his Russian counterparts were having a long dinner in a restaurant and enjoying their vodkas, of which there were many. One of his Russian dinner partners said that he, the Russian, knows all about business, and my client asked how he came to that knowledge. The reply, "Why, watching US television shows!"

"US television shows? What shows?"

"Dallas, my friend, and Santa Barbara".

"That's not how Americans do business, Ivan!"

"It isn't?"

This leads me to a consideration of Scott's post, just below. How does the world see us? Through the broken prism of Hollywood, whether in movies or TV shows, and through the internet. What a picture they must have. What stumbling blocks, we in our liberality and license, have placed in the way of the sound development of the rest of the world.

Now Playing on Apple's iTunes:Adult-Oriented Podcasts
Link is to WSJ article (for subscribers). Essentially, because Podcasts are over the Internet, they do not fall under the FCC's indecency rules. Hence, a growing number of pornography is now available via Podcasts.

I was reluctant to create a post on this topic for fear of promoting this feature. However, I feel it more important to make K&K readers aware so as to beware!

Another slippery slope indeed.

Live Strong?
My interest in the Lance Armstrong Foundation has recently heightened, primarily because Lance is set to win a record 7th Tour "day" France, which is remarkable in and of itself, but also because of Lance's story and my new "connection" with it.

My question is, does LAF do good work or is it just cool to wear yellow? I'm not questioning LAF's or anyone's sincerity. In fact, Lance's story is quite inspiring, and I've read the content on LAF's website. But I'm curious if anyone has any experience with or opinions about what LAF actually does (besides being a part of Amplifier's success :) ).

For the record, I just ordered 2 packs of wristbands.

Battlestar Gallactica. I ordered the four-hour initial miniseries from Netflix, and started watching it last night. Its all about relationships and, incidentally, about a war with robots who have gotten 'way out of hand. (What an idea for a story!) I guess this is very post-modern - the relationships. The relationships, with one exception, are exceedingly dumb.

The exception and, by far, the most interesting relationship is that between a degenerate but brilliant scientist/thinker and the latest revison of enemy robot, a blonde bombshell. The place lights up when they are on the screen. Otherwise, the relationships are contrived, the characters over-drawn, and mostly unbelievable. (I believe the relationship between the degenerate scientist and the robot; I don't believe the other relationships. Go figure.)

We have all the usual suspect relationshps. The failed father and bitter son. The male noncom and the female officer. We have several semi-out of relationship people but sure to get one soon: the bad girl fighter pilot, about whom more below, the commander definitely not Captain Kirk, the former Secretary of Education now the President fighting breast cancer.

A lot of people act pretty badly, and not just my two favorites. If the carrying on between genders on the Battlestar Gallactica is any indication of where we are going with both genders in the armed forces, then I am taking a second look at Islam. We have one female, cigar smoking, fighter pilot actually bait a middle aged colonel and then slug him in one scene. Moments later, the commanding officer brushes it off, and a few moments later we learn that she was his dead son's girl friend at one point. Please.

We have a monumentally stupid interworld government that has put everything everywhere, traffic lights, space ships, defense forces, down to its space fighters, on one gigantic network, which the robots penetrate of course. Fortunately, the commander of the Battlestar Gallactica is a Luddite and refused to network.

Having watched a couple of hours of this laugher, the big question is whether I will watch the rest. The answer is, I will. I want to see that blond forever.

It Takes a Family
Good reads of excerpts from Senator Rick Santorum's book (links from National Review Online).

Moral Capital and the Courts
The Constitutional Wrecking Ball
The Government wasn't always neutral on religion.
What does the First Amendment really protect?
Marriage has lost it's place in the law

Modeling & Kettlebells
Finally! All that kettlebelling pays off as Walter gets his break in the modeling biz. Here he's modeling bike shorts. For real! That's him! I'm surprised, actually, that they asked Walt to do this, as his massive thighs almost distort the print going down the legs of the shorts.

GTD anyone?
David Allen is putting on a one day seminar in a number of cities this Fall. Where shall we go? Chicago (9/14), Minneapolis (9/22), Boston (9/30), DC (10/26), Seattle (11/11) are some of the options. If we get at least ten people, we'll each get $200 off the cost. I can think of a few folks who might be interested: me, Paul, Walt, Mary?, Jud?, Joel?, Morgan?, Lindsay?, Carol?, Scott? that's ten, but surely there are more Kith&Kin who've been absolutely riveted and fascinated by all the GTD talk around here. (Any IV staff?) We could register as the "Kith & Kin Community"! (Sean, you've declared your GTD opposition/obsession, maybe meeting David Allen Himself will clear things up for you.)

Cancer Watch II. I was a little hesitant to go public with our health problems. I hope everyone understands that these reports are simply to keep us all in touch and to help us talk about a disease that, for some people, is very difficult to discuss, and for others is the subject of outright denial. I have seen the latter case in client situations, and it is very sad indeed for the entire family and it makes it difficult to plan appropriately. I appreciated Scott opening the door to this sort of discussion, and keeping us advised of his situation.

As I reported earlier, my mother and I had tests last week for our respective cancers, her's active, mine dormant. She had a bone scan and X-ray series on Thursday, as she has bone cancer, secondary to breast cancer, and both of us had PET scans on Friday. Today we got the results.

At first our doctor's secretary called to tell us that they had received the results of the PET scan for both of us, that mine was negative and that Nita's showed "improvement". I asked about Nita's bone scans and X-rays, but they had not received those yet.

Then Dr. Feinberg called me about an hour later. He had all the results. He said that your's truly is "fine".

As to Nita, he said that that the PET scan was to detemine whether the bone cancer had spread to her viscera, that is to her liver, lungs, etc. He said that the PET scan was negative for that. The PET scan showed the bone cancer as well, which he expected, but that the PET scan showed "improvement".

He said that the X-ray series was to see whether there were any broken bones, because bone cancer can lead to that and Nita has some sharp pain if you touch her on certain places. No breaks.

The bone scan was to assess the progress of the disease in Nita's skeleton. It shows the treatment is working. Not only that, it shows that the abnormalities to be "blastic" rather than "lytic". Blastic shows up as white on the scan, indicating a lesion that is denser than the bone itself. Lytic shows up as a lesion darker than the bone; it shows actual bone loss. What is interesting is that some of the blastic indications may indicate not the cancer but the healing of the cancer as a result of the treatment. The medicine mother takes each day by way of a pill is to kill the cancer. When the cancer lesion, which has bored into the bone, dies, it leaves a little hole. The treatment mother gets each month is to recalcify the bone, that is, to fill up those holes.

If what showed were lytic lesions, then I understood Dr. Feinberg to mean that we are dealing with bone damage that is far more serious than what the scans show. No osteolytic lesions showed up.

As Dr. Feinberg rang off, he said he was very happy to telephone us with good news. He says that he doesn't get to do that very often. I was glad to receive the good news, of course, but I am sorry that he does not make those calls so often.

FINALLY
For all those who have waited with bated breath, i thought I should tell you that I have just received an email from Amazon telling me that they are now offering Alias Season 4 for pre-ordering. It will be available October 25, 2005.

What a relief....=)

Also, I just finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. (Don't worry, no spoilers here.) Actually, it would be more accurate to say that I devoured it. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and overall I think it felt less dark than the previous installment, the Order of the Phoenix. When some of you have likewise finished it, let's talk.

Settling In
here in Austin, Tejas. It took almost 3 weeks for us to get our broadband connected. We decided to go with the TimeWarner Cable All-In-One (phone/cable/broadband). Seems like a good deal to us: local/long distance, digital cable & dvr, cable internet -- one flat fee. Now that it's here, it's very nice. The problem is that TWC holds the monopoly on such a bundled service, and their customer service left a great deal to be desired. (The actual "cable guy", though, once he got here, was super nice.)

The Digital Video Recorder (which will hereafter be referred to as the TIVO, even though it's not a "TIVO", because TIVO has already been verbed and I like it better than verbing DVR) is already getting a work out. We've set it to record this new season of Battlestar Galactica (a superfantastic show!) on SciFi Channel, the seasons of Batman and Justice League Unlimited on Cartoon Network, and the rest of the Tour de France, which I'm watching right now. Mary, who is spending the month with us, tivoed True Grit for watching later. And last night, Walter came over and we tried out the Video On Demand by "renting" House of Flying Daggers (a movie in the company of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero). It was $3.95 for 24 hours. That's what we would have paid for a Blockbuster rental, even though we would have gotten the Blockbuster rental for a week. But we didn't want to watch it over a week, we wanted to watch it once, on Saturday night. And, we didn't want to leave the house, so the VOD was the way to go!

We've really enjoyed all the family time we've gotten with the Stokes & Sewell sides of the familiy. Soon I'll post about the drive from Charlotte to Austin.

And How was your Weekend?

Went to Dillard's to buy some shoes last night (Saturday). They have a big selection of men's shoes, and I needed some new dress types, so as to assure people that, yes, I am a lawyer. (Chacos, to which Mary recently introduced me and which I have been wearing ever since, won't do.) Dillard's had a big Johnston and Murphy display - all made in China! As we looked inside other shoes on display, we saw India, Vietnam, and Slovakia. I finally bought some Eccos, made in Portugal.

I have had a particular interest in shoes since high school, during which I had my first "real" job (not counting delivering newspapers) at Sears selling shoes. Got to know shoes pretty well. Sears sold good shoes, all made in the US, mostly by the Brown Shoe Company (remember "Buster Brown"? No? Hmmm), based in Massachusetts but with factories around the country, the nearest somewhere in Georgia. Now and then we saw English shoes, but rarely. As the years went by, English shoes became more popular, then Italian. So now, China. I read where the Italians are mad at the Chinese for "dumping" its shoes all over the world and hurting the Italian shoe industry.

We had a covered dish luncheon after church today, to welcome the pastor and his family back from their vacation, a vacation that took them to two mission sites, one in Albania and the other in Scotland. (The pastor had worked in Scotland for two years as an associate pastor and had done short term mission work in Albania.) We were glad to have them back.

During that luncheon we sat with Bill and Mary Reed. Bill's elderly father has had some neurological problems. Bill said a speech therapist was sent to work with him, that the therapist was a Latin and had one of the worst accents Bill said he had ever heard. (That's saying something, because in Miami one hears a lot of interesting accents.) The speech therapist asked Bill's father a question. Bill's father just looked at him blankly. The speech therapist said, "Yust tell me jess or no!"

Spent some time on the roof this weekend. Several months ago my friend Joe sold me a used "beam". A beam is a type of antenna that is "directional" (that is, it will direct the RF one is sending in the direction at which one "points" it and it will tend not to receive signals except from the direction to which it is pointed) and has "gain" (that is, the signal strength will be increased simply by the fact that the power is radiated in a direction that is somewhat confined rather than 360 degrees.) I didn't finish putting the thing up. This is at least a two weekend project. But the tinker/enjoyment ratio was quite favorable.

Observed several copies of the new Harry Potter book in the congregation during the worship service this morning, mostly up in the balcony where the teens sit. It was quiet up there. Heard you could get the book at Wal-Mart for $15.

Oh, and it was my birthday yesterday. 59 years old. Nita gave me a big check when we went to Denny's yesterday morning for our weekly dose of cholesteral. It pays to be nice to your mother, folks.

Macon got his broadband up and working, so Aidan and I teleconferenced until his dad put him to bed.

The whole weekend we had Walter and Morgan in our prayers, more than usual.

"Department of Righteous Killings." Those of you who look askance at my Second Amendment proclivities will not be encouraged by this blog. Those of you who think I might have something there, might find it interesting. There is some R rated language, and a lot of references to Texans. WWJD?

The Islamization of Europe. This article, written in December by the British historian, David Pryce-Jones, is timely, given the events in London last week.

Also see Pryce-Jones' review of Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis by BatYe'or.

Boy Troy. Saw the movie Troy on DVD a few days ago. So much money spent for so little value.

What I thought most interesting was the effort to wring the mythological (i.e. religious) aspects out of it. But if you had no idea who Achilles parents were or why Paris "won" Helen, you would be a bit puzzled. For example, does anyone really think that Paris could have attracted the most beautiful woman in the world without the divine intervention that the Illiad describes? The kid's clearly a wimp

And what's the problem with the heel, Brad? How do you know the problem without knowing about "the gods" and how they played into this.

There are references to "the gods", especially Apollo, but they are mainly references of contempt. (You get only a tiny clue that Achilles mom is Thetis, a sea nymph. but you would have had to read the book.) You have the rationalists, on the one hand, that is the Greeks, and you have the believers on the other, the Trojans. The Greeks win. King Priam looks pretty silly, even if it is Peter O'Toole (what a waste!). The Greek leaders are worldly and tough. The Trojans lose.

I don't know how you would film the Iliad with the religious/mythological aspect properly in place, although that didn't stop Peter Jackson with the Lord of the Rings. It probably wasn't impossible to do it right, provided you had some respect for the transcendent.

Then there is the anti-family aspect. Achilles is the solo pretty boy. No beard, blonde hair. Not a nice person. But clearly the best body on the screen, male or female. Then there is Hector, family man, big brother, has a beard. Achilles kills Hector.

There's not much more really to say about this huge disappointment, except what's this leaping up in the air thing that Achilles does? I haven't seen anything that strange since the Chariots of Fire hero running around the track looking straight up in the air with his mouth open.

Cancer Watch. Carol is taking Juanita for a bone scan today. Tomorrow both Mother and I are going for PET scans, one for each of us.

We know Nita has bone cancer, secondary to the breast cancer she had years ago and presently being managed fairly well. The bone scan determines the status of that cancer. The PET scan will determine whether it has spread to other organs. That would not, of course, be a good thing.

I have NHL somewhere in my system, but it has been dormant, for which I give God thanks. The oncologist, Dr. Feinberg, the same physician who treats Nita, worries about it, though, and every every couple of years orders a PET.

Back from Vacation. Hello, All! Carol, Mary and I packed a lot into just a week or so of vacation. We visited Carol's Aunt Evelyn in Spindale, NC, on July 2, then later that day went to Montreat for the Christian Life Conference, which carried through until noon on Tuesday. Then from there we journeyed to the Mt. Pisgah Campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway, about 17 miles west of Asheville, and stayed there until Friday morning. From there Carol and Mary started out to Austin, arriving Saturday night, and I set off for Miami, stopping along the way for a day in Eastman, GA, with Ann and Don Dobbs, my aunt and uncle. I arrived home Sunday afternoon.

The camping experience was "eventful", but I will just mention here one of those events. On Thursday, we came down to Asheville and toured the Thomas Wolfe Memorial. This was a fascinating visit, and I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Asheville. Yesterday, back home in Miami, I went to the public library and checked out Look Homeward, Angel. I read it years ago, and its time to read it again.

More to report on later posts.

(Macon is supposed to get his DSL line hooked up today, so I hope to see him appear again soon and tell us about his new life in Austin.)