Archive for November, 2007
Thanksgiving 2007–Part II
Thursday, November 22nd, 2007Good Afternoon and may the Lions win, but may Green Bay have many interceptions. (I have the Green Bay defense for my fantasy football team, but I love the Lions lo tho they have disappointed me many a year.)
Bored yet? Well, here’s a link to Thanksgiving coloring pages. And you could always go shopping. Heaven forbid, we take one day to be with friends and family, football and feasting. Must have Karaoke Machine . NOW!
Note that I have a new Amazon widget in the right-hand column. Oprah has her list of favorite things. At my store link, I have a list of my favorite things. I’ll do a post today and keep it at the top of my blog and edit it as I find new, great, stuff.
Mama had some good advice, too:
The cure for the curse of plenty is to share it, and to recognize your good fortune and your happiness. You can’t figure out your opportunities until you know your assets, and our best assets are often our friends and family.
Thanksgiving 2007–UPDATED REGULARLY
Wednesday, November 21st, 2007Hi all! A very happy, healthy and whole Thanksgiving to all of you! I’ll be going out and grabbing Thanksgiving posts and adding them.
My first is by John Stossel courtesy Betsy about the famine in Plymouth. Can you say a socialistic experiment gone wrong? Once the settlers got capitalism, it was all good. Thus, Thanksgiving. He notes:
What Plymouth suffered under communalism was what economists today call the tragedy of the commons. But the problem has been known since ancient Greece. As Aristotle noted, “That which is common to the greatest number has the least care bestowed upon it.”When action is divorced from consequences, no one is happy with the ultimate outcome. If individuals can take from a common pot regardless of how much they put in it, each person has an incentive to be a free rider, to do as little as possible and take as much as possible because what one fails to take will be taken by someone else. Soon, the pot is empty and will not be refilled — a bad situation even for the earlier takers.
What private property does — as the Pilgrims discovered — is connect effort to reward, creating an incentive for people to produce far more. Then, if there’s a free market, people will trade their surpluses to others for the things they lack. Mutual exchange for mutual benefit makes the community richer.
UPDATE 1:
Ace talks about post-T-day dieting. Don’t want to get fat to begin with? What’s wrong with you? It’s Thanksgiving. Really, it’s the carbs. Ditch ‘em. That means you’ll be eating turkey and well, turkey. Have a salad, some cranberries, a dab of sweet potatoes and a thin slice of apple pie. Avoid potatoes, stuffing, pecan pie, bread and all the other “fixins“. Don’t eat like a pig and you’ll be fine. Go out for a walk before the game starts. No harm done. If you choose to eat like a pig and forgo post-nosh puking, the best bet is to put yourself into ketosis. That’s essentially the Adkins diet–deprive your body of carbohydrates so your liver starts breaking down fat for energy. You’ll be fine. Really. Step up your exercise while eating only protein, fat and veggies and you’ll drop weight.
UPDATE 2:
Are you guilty about feasting on Thanksgiving? So do Leftists, but for other reasons. Sez Michael Medved:
“The notion that now you have a major school system sending out a message that, no, rather than expressing thanks we should emphasize guilt on this holiday — that is sick, it is destructive and it is anti-American.”
More Thanksgiving anxiety for those with eating disorders. As we’ve already seen, if you eat and/or have relatives, T-day can be anxiety-provoking. Get over it, anorexics!
If you’re in a giving mood, you can get a free laptop if you buy one for a kid in Africa. They look cool, but I wonder if a kid needs food more. My kids want to adopt a kid–you know send money every month. Any good organizations?
UPDATE 3:
LaShawn Barber is thankful to blog and that her blog is read by important people.
Mark Steyn recounts the history of Jingle Bells. Will anyone be dashing through the snow, what with Global Warming and all? Oh, and Steyn explains why America and Thanksgiving are great.
UPDATE 4:
What to overlook when you’re with your relatives and what to remember, by Gina Cobb.
Kinds of Turkeys. Some from Washington, but they won’t be there for long.
And your fatigue? Not the turkey’s fault. H/T Brendan Loy. Brendan Loy is almost a dad! Only a few weeks left. Something to be thankful for, for sure.
Michelle Malkin reminds us: STOP Before You Gripe. An absolute must read!
Here’s one more thing to be thankful for: Hillary isn’t president…..yet. UPDATE: Oh, and neither is Monica Lewinsky, but some prefer her.
Reasons to not be thankful for the press. 300,000 reasons to be thankful for Democracy.
UPDATE 5:
Abe Lincoln’s original intention for Thanksgiving. And the post-modernists’ butchery of Thanksgiving as a demonstration of gluttonous narcissism. I’ll have a big, fat helping of myself and my own world view, thank you!
More on surviving the holidays and challenges, too. Stay sane out there people!
Thoughts on justice, or lack thereof. And why to be thankful this isn’t a communist nation and be thankful for free speech. Paul Belian notes:
It is worse. These habits also haunt Western Europe. America’s first amendment, which allows people to say what they want, even if it is deemed offensive to others, is simply anathema to Europeans. The great 20th century American journalist H.L. Mencken once said: “The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one’s time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.” The Europeans failed to stop the oppression at the beginning.
We will go the way of Belgium, if we aren’t willing to acknowledge threats to free speech. Right now, it’s coming from the unlikeliest of places, but it’s a place Europe is used to.
Comical holiday horror–go here for turkey laughs.
UPDATE 6:
I’m thankful for blogging and Thomas Jefferson would be, too. Faux freedom of expression is pronounced amongst the artsy fartsy types. You’ll find the real thing on blogs.
China can keep their products from those post-holiday sales. As they deny our troops a good time, I say BUY AMERICAN! More American product links here. This won’t make a difference. I know you’re lining up for that $800 42″ flatscreen at Wal-Mart, but still. China and freedom don’t seem to mix.
More, later!
UPDATE 7: Thanksgiving Day 8:25 AM CST
James Lileks shares what he’s thankful for and has great retro pictures, too.
Personally, I’m thankful for a the links I’ve been thrown by some big bloggers, including Instapundit, The Anchoress, John Hawkins and others! My readership is steadily building and I’m thankful for you readers, too!
I Trust The Government…..To Be Incompetent Boobs
Wednesday, November 21st, 2007Stories like these are why I’m not a government-knows-all conspiracy nut. There are just too many layers of lazy and stupid to make the whole organism out to be some efficient, fit, evil machine.
Women And The Church And Everywhere Else
Tuesday, November 20th, 2007First, Happy Thanksgiving week everyone!
MaxedOutMama, a favorite blogger of mine not only for her economic insights which are excellent and often prophetic but also for her social commentary, wrote a humdinger of a post that you should all know about and read. She discusses a woman’s role in the church. Has the church become feminized and will women behind the pulpit kill the church?
This year in England, more women graduated from seminary than men. The trend is even more significant in some U.S. schools. What will be the likely effect? There is no question in my mind that society has steadily been neutered and I’ve written on this in the past:
I think the modern feminist movement has pushed a neuterization of our culture.The essence of femaleness, the essence of masculinity is being pressed through an androgynous mould where we end up with wussified metrosexuals (all grooming and sexual grazing) and butch babes (all power grabs and gonads).
The emphasis both ways is self and self-gratification, either through money accumulation and/or sexual conquest. Is this the ideal those bent on gender-equity have fought for, lo, all these years? That men and women are essentially flawed and must “evolve” into one genderless, narcisstic being?
I’m not sure this “neuterization” was the goal, but that is where we are in America now. The result has been confused, used, materialistically wealthy and spiritually empty people seeking meaning everywhere but where it can be found: through faith, family and fidelity.
My concern about a woman having authority in a church is this: It will do no good for the future of the world, if women win in the church but souls are lost for Christ.
So, some people relate the decline of the church with feminism. Does a woman giving a sermon drive men away from church? One male commentator hypothesized that a woman’s sermons tend to focus on relationship and soft teachings rather than tough doctrinal stances that might make parishioners uncomfortable. In essence, a woman’s desire to avoid conflict makes a sissified church. Says one commenter:
Sissy theology seems to have come hand in hand with women taking over the clergy. One cannot fight nature; we are part of it and subject to it. So I would say, based on history, there are certainly women who are likely to be very good at a macroscopic pastoral duty, but likely so few as to be the exception.
This assumption implies that men are talking tough behind the pulpit. But the rise of popular televangelists like Joel Osteen give evidence otherwise. His church is full of men and women because he speaks a softer gospel message not in spite of it.
I also wonder if it is just that women haven’t had as much access to the pulpit and in those positions. I know something that drives accomplished women from church: being consigned to kitchen duty when they sit on the board room during the week. For women who believe a more traditional, conservative theology, the church can seem downright oppressive and a throw-back to a bad time.
Maybe it’s just the softer doctrine spoken by everyone that is killing the church. It is distressingly apparent how theologically ignorant many preachers now seem. There is only one preacher I know who can, without thought, put his finger on nearly any verse to support a doctrinal position. He is an ex-Rabbi and is thoroughly trained in theology, exegesis, hermeneutics and ethics. I might disagree with his conclusions, but he always has something concrete to back them up.
So, I’m putting this topic out there. If women in the church ruin it as this commenter notes:
Can a Christian denomination survive women’s ordination? It would be incumbent on the innovationists to prove that. Evidence for: The Assembly of God church. Evidence against: Sweden. My inclination is that the Anglican church will go the way of the Lutheran church in Sweden where 1/2% of Swedes attend church on a given Sunday (most of those being immigrants). Liberal feminized theology has effectively killed Christianity in that country.
Does feminism spell disaster for the business world and society itself?
Books & Test Scores
Monday, November 19th, 2007Why would this be true?
In seeking to detail the consequences of a decline in reading, the study showed that reading appeared to correlate with other academic achievement. In examining the average 2005 math scores of 12th graders who lived in homes with fewer than 10 books, an analysis of federal Education Department statistics found that those students scored much lower than those who lived in homes with more than 100 books. Although some of those results could be attributed to income gaps, Mr. Iyengar noted that students who lived in homes with more than 100 books but whose parents only completed high school scored higher on math tests than those students whose parents held college degrees (and were therefore likely to earn higher incomes) but who lived in homes with fewer than 10 books.
Maybe those with lots of books value learning and it’s as simple as that.
Detroit Is Dangerous
Monday, November 19th, 2007On a positive note, Detroit is losing population like a European country so there won’t be very many criminals and/or victims left before long.
More Detroit stats here.
Mixing Politics (And Other Impolite Topics) With Family and Holidays
Monday, November 19th, 2007Holidays and politics and/or religion and/or lifestyle choices (that’s not being politically correct, one of our patients was pilloried by her family of medical doctors because she had the temerity to visit a chiropractor for back pain even when they had no helpful solutions) can be a toxic brew. People are drinking. They are financially stressed. They feel reduced to childhood roles. They feel trapped by the manipulation of mom and dad. In short, it’s hell.
Dr. Helen gives some very good and sensible advice about negotiating family and politics in particular, and holidays:
First, remember there is no need to discuss anything political. If you find the topic worse than a trip to the dentist to get your teeth pulled, just smile and say that at the holidays, you prefer to relax and talk about family and change the subject.
Her follow-up advice is equally sensible. Don’t try to change someone else’s mind. Be prepared with facts. Good advice, all. But what about avoiding the melee altogether?
Don’t go.
By the time a person reaches the age he or she can decide what to do for Thanksgiving or Christmas, he can decide whether or not to do it all. This might mean uncomfortable conversations like this:
“I’m sorry. We won’t be able to join you this year.”
“Why not?’
“We’ve decided to keep Thanksgiving as a family.”
Likely, your family is intuitive and knows the real reason. Mom will kvetch about
how great it will be this year and Johnny is getting better and we’re hiding the liquor or whatever.
You’re an adult. Just. Say. No.
One of the great things about adulthood is doing what we want to do. Well, they can tell us, but we can do what we want anyway. So embrace your adulthood freedom and do what you want!
Another idea: set limitations. Go for dinner, but don’t stay for the sing-a-long. Or, skip dinner and stop by for dessert. Or go the next day to visit the beloved cousins, when the atmosphere is less charged. If all the women end in the kitchen while the lard-butt men melt into the couch for football and it galls you as a woman of the new millinium, rebel. Sit on the couch. It won’t bother the guys, but the ladies might have a beef. Politely suggest that they nag their husbands.
If you must go and desire to not feel like the perpetual holiday whipping boy, use humor. Sometimes the vibe gets so heavy and serious. No one has changed the world by discussions at the Thanksgiving table…. OK scratch that, they probably have at the Bush or Kennedy or Tudor table, but you know what I mean. Here’s a potential script to demonstrate the absurdity of the conversation that has replaying for years:
“You know what, Joe? You’re right. I finally saw the error of my ways after all these years. I’m now a registered Democrat. I’ve donated to Obama and Clinton and Edwards, just to cover my bases. The Democrats have done such a stellar job in Congress that it was time to make a change to be on the side of the winners.”
At first, Cousin It will think you’re serious. Finally, he’s come to his senses! Then, he’ll get that you’re being sarcastic and get mad. With any luck though, he’ll regard you as hopeless and ignore you for the rest of the night.
If Thanksgiving and Christmas aren’t days of joy for you and your family, why are you doing it? Really, life is way too short.
The Death Penalty: Data Backs Common Sense
Sunday, November 18th, 2007You know how everyone intuitively understands that the death penalty stops some (not all) criminals? Among friends, I’ve had discussions where people wonder why anyone would commit a murder in Texas. Criminals seem absolutely terrified of being extradited to Texas for good reason. In Texas, they get killed, good and dead.
You know how all the pointy heads said that the death penalty isn’t a deterrent it’s just society’s blood-thirsty need for vengeance? And you know how you thought to yourself, whatever, that scum-sucking psycho murderer rapist has zero chance of hurting anyone else and maybe some other scum will think twice.
Turns out, conventional wisdom was right.
According to roughly a dozen recent studies, executions save lives. For each inmate put to death, the studies say, 3 to 18 murders are prevented.
The effect is most pronounced, according to some studies, in Texas and other states that execute condemned inmates relatively often and relatively quickly.
The studies, performed by economists in the past decade, compare the number of executions in different jurisdictions with homicide rates over time — while trying to eliminate the effects of crime rates, conviction rates and other factors — and say that murder rates tend to fall as executions rise. One influential study looked at 3,054 counties over two decades.
“I personally am opposed to the death penalty,” said H. Naci Mocan, an economist at Louisiana State University and an author of a study finding that each execution saves five lives. “But my research shows that there is a deterrent effect.”
I know. Shocking. But still, it’s nice to have data back up common sense.
More Reconciliation In Iraq
Friday, November 16th, 2007Reconciliation from the top down. The leaders can act courageous because the people have decided the direction they want their country to go.
Wait a minute. Isn’t that Democracy?
