A Time to Give Thanks

It is that time of year again, the time of turkeys, cranberry sauce, and relatives gathering together.  In our case, two out of three apply – we have turkey and cranberry sauce.  But what is this holiday called Thanksgiving is really about?

It helps to flash back to those struggling Puritan settlers; you know them, the guys with with the funny black hats and muskets that look like some guy should be playing a jazz tune through. Colonizing untamed lands was not easy and starvation was a constant threat.  Early attempts at communal farming were a failure and the colonists were fortunate to be given charity by a local tribe of American Indians.  Not starving to death was something to be very grateful for and so was the ability to practice their religion without government interference or persecution.

Flash forward to today and compare our lives to their hard scrabble existence.  Even though times are tough by modern standards there is much to be grateful for.  We are yet free and live in a land of abundance. While times are tough at the Boonedocks right now and won’t be getting any better in the foreseeable future, I am thankful that I have a roof over my head, food to eat, heat to keep me warm, and electricity to power the PC I’m typing this on.  There are people who don’t have those things or are facing horrendous trials in their lives.

My prayer for this Thanksgiving:

I thank Thee, oh Father, for the blessings I enjoy. May those shattered families and individuals suffering today know comfort and healing, find their strengths that they have lost or not discovered, and know that redemption can be found by all of God’s children.  May they know hope and peace during these hard times and find inspiration from those who have gone before them. Please help them to feel Thy love for them and remind them that they have the divine within them.  Please help those of us who are blessed be better servants to those in need. In the name of the Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Why I Don’t Listen to Glenn Beck

Glenn Beck has gotten very popular over the past few years on both radio and TV.  He is at times very amusing and comes off  as a mix between a sideshow barker and that crazy uncle every family has. The red phone to the White House is an all time classic of political satire and a good example of how pointedly funny he can be.  He’s also gotten some important things out into the public eye that needed exposure.

But I’ve had issues with Beck’s behavior. Much mockery has been made of his loss of emotional control on air and for good reason. There is a dark side to his shtick and that is the pervasive severe paranoia he exhibits accompanied by grandiose beliefs in his own power to sway people. In that way he is a classic populist and the danger of populists is that they are often one step from becoming demagogues. 

Beck has increasingly been acting messianic, first with the 9/12 Project and now with an undefined march on Washington scheduled for next year.  While these things look good on paper, please note that every time he does something along these lines there is a new book being released or about to be released.  Lately I’ve found myself asking if it is money or delusion that fuels him -- or both? One thing I never had questioned is his patriotism.

Until now.

Calling for our young men and women to stop enlisting in the military goes so far over the line as to negate anything positive Beck has done in the past.  At this point, any conservative credentials can only be considered partial as it is clear he does not understand the troops or why they serve. I consider strong defense to be second most important leg of the Reagan stool of conservatism.  Yes what is being done to the Navy SEALS is reprehensible at face value and if the story is true, we have reason to make heads roll in the military and White House over it.  Note to Beck: the country isn’t the government and THE COUNTRY WILL STAND BEHIND THE SOLDIERS.  This isn’t Vietnam where the public abandoned our veterans. I know lefties who show more support of the troops and their mission than Beck just did.

If he believes the military will be one day used against the people of the country (and I think he does) discouraging patriotic conservatives from serving will make that easier to pull off.  Right there is a logic fail of epic proportions.  When things finally do start falling apart, I personally believe a big chunk of the armed forces, active and retired, will be the ones fighting for restoring liberty to this land.  You don’t want the people who listen to talk radio and watch Fox News to leave the military.

Glenn was always a weak sister during the war in Iraq and has shown isolationist tendencies much like Ron Paul, another destructive pseudo conservative. The world will come to us like it did on 9/11 even if we ignore it.  Isolationism is the last refuge of the coward and often a mask for someone who wants total control of their country.  That’s why it is galling to see libertarian types fall for the philosophy when it is antithetical to freedom and individuality in the long run.

One might point out the emotion of Beck’s dealing with his family members who have enlisted.  I have a young friend who enlisted in the Army last year.  While he is not active duty, the opportunity to go to Iraq happened and I spoke with him about the decision.  Without going into the details, we spoke about the pros and cons of going now instead of waiting to get out of college and being commissioned an officer. Never once did it occur to me to dissuade him due to Obama being president or his safety being guaranteed.

The young man decided to go only to have the offer yanked out from under him – college it is, at least for a year.  He had my full support in his decision, as hasty as it might be.  I agreed with his mother’s assessment that “Dying in service is still dying in service to God.” 

In the end, service in the military is about service to our country and its people.  The oath sworn by every man and woman in our armed services is to the Constitution, not Congress, not the President. Glenn Beck would do well to remember that.

I don’t like how media figures influence things so disproportionately and I’m on record as not being a fan of them whether or not they are on my side politically. This episode illustrates why.  At some point, the perceived power they have goes to their heads.  Being entertainers first, they often shoot their mouths off and do damage to their own side. But a bigger problem is how much faith their listeners and viewers put into them.

That is why I don’t listen to people like Glenn Beck and prefer to cull my news from a wide variety of sources.  Broadcast and cable news/commentary are distorted by the lens of entertainment – or spectacle, if you will. I’m a Joe Friday kind of guy wanting “Just the facts, ma’am.”  We’ve got fiction for entertainment and it is dangerous when it passes for news.

An Unwanted Kitten

 

Having rescued many a kitten and cat over the years, I was in no mood to do so again.  The last two rescues had to be put down after trying to kill another cat and cleaning up blood stains from the murder attempts is not something I wanted to repeat. With the object of the attacks now full grown, I found myself praying not to have to deal with another kitten anytime soon.

Enter one abandoned kitten on the property with no sign of siblings or mother.  This happened two weeks after the afore mentioned prayer, so let no one tell you that God doesn’t have a sense of humor. After howling for two days in the barn (loud enough to be heard from the kitchen) my dad decided to let me know about it.  He said he heard a cat in the barn and that it had been going on for some time.  The moment I heard it I said, “That’s not a cat, that’s a kitten.”

Yes it was so loud only an adult could make that kind of noise, but the voice was far too young.  I figured it was a month or more old by the volume.  When we got out there, I managed to open the top half of the broken barn door and looked around.  The loud cry started again, earsplitting and right on top of me. A glance down revealed a tiny little yellow kitten – a very young kitten.

Not only did the young age surprise me, but the fact that the critter looked me in the eyes and came back to my voice after being startled. Not normal for an obviously feral kitten. Little did I know that was only the beginning of not normal behavior from him.

I easily picked him up and he began purring immediately and I knew he’d have to be cared for as the abandoned barn is not a safe place for kittens thanks to raccoons and roving tomcats.  He was strong and very feisty, but his eyes were dark blue, the ears only just upright, and his side teeth hadn’t come in.  Looking up info online, I decided he was between 3 and 3 1/2 weeks old, which meant formula as he wasn’t weaned and eating hard food.

So we gave him formula with a dropper and he wasn’t cooperative. Taking a gamble born of desperation, I soaked cat food in warm water hoping he could take that in.  Oh he liked the broth from it and had a hard time learning to drink it, but I was still concerned. 

I shouldn’t have worried. In a couple of days he had watched the hostile older cats and decided that he was a big cat now.

I’ve heard of two fisted drinkers and now witnessed the phenomena of the four pawed eater.

Precocious barely scratches the surface with this kitten.  We couldn’t find a box that could contain him and he went berserk when put in the cat carrier.   He was young enough to not be running or jumping, but his upper body strength was abnormal so he was able to climb almost anything. That meant having to sleep with the tiny character and not crush him by accident.

After a week, it was clear he wasn’t the runt of the litter and was probably the alpha. Wrestling, spitting, challenging, and tackling are his favorite pastimes being a typical boy cat.  One problem is that he bites everything and everyone.  I’ll be glad when he starts mellowing out even though he is good about not biting through the skin.

He’s come a long way despite an epic war of wills over the litter box.  Brighter than the average kitten, he understood its use right away but would only use it if I went to the bathroom too. Then he decided it would be a funny game to resist being put in the box when caught peeing or crapping in the living room.  Out he’d jump and arch his back, prancing at me before running to a corner of the bathroom.

I wasn’t amused.

At the time of writing this, it has been several days without an apparent “accident” and the litter box is needing constant cleaning.  I may have won the battle but this is a smart kitten and only time will tell.

Naming him has been a difficult endeavor and it came down to one of the following:  Zim, Johnny Rotten, or Howl.  For the moment, he is dubbed Howl, which is short for Howlin’ Cat, Howland Owl, or Howling Pain in the… well, you know.

This is what the boy looks like now.  Howl’s eyes are just starting to change around the pupil, I’ll be curious to see what color they end up.

It looks like we’ll be taking care of him for the long haul, I never did find any trace of his mother and siblings. There is a good chance the raccoons got them.  I think he’ll turn out to be quite the fighter and hope to teach him to be a protector rather than a bully.  The fact he is crushing on my #1 cat, Snooky, is promising.

I also like the fact she doesn’t run from Howl like he has the plague, but simply slaps him silly if he gets too fresh. Right now they are sleeping about three inches apart – he’s getting good at sneaking closer to her.

Welcome to the Boonedocks, Howl.

Aerial Recon Photos from WWII

I saw this at the Telegraph and had to share, the photos are amazing.  In the US, the motto “Unarmed, Alone, and Unafraid'” was used by photoreconnaissance squadrons as they flew incredibly dangerous missions.  Usually they flew solo with no weaponry, relying on speed and surprise to stay alive.  The pictures of Operation Market Garden and the D-Day landings are particularly compelling.

The Justice Society of America Lives

 

Growing up on comic books made me a reader as a child.  One of the fictional hero groups I liked the most was the Justice Society of America or JSA, the super heroes of the 1940’s.  All Star Squadron was the title of the comic I infrequently found at grocery stores and I fondly remember the extra large special where they saved President Roosevelt from super Nazi assassins. 

From there they were brought into the modern times of the 1970’s, inhabiting a parallel universe to the one that the Justice League of America took place. Age had actually caught up to the older heroes and they were training their children and other young heroes.  This was different and appealed to my love of history.  In these comics you would see a graying Superman, Flash, Dr. Fate, and Green Lantern fighting alongside Batman & Catwoman’s daughter, the Huntress for instance.

I never thought I’d get to see a live action version of the JSA, so I’m looking forward to Smallville’s special 2 hour movie involving them.  So far we have been informed that Hawkman, Dr. Fate, and Stargirl would appear as part of the disbanded and mysteriously forgotten heroes.  The preview above reveals one more character, the Sandman, in his gas masked glory. Between the glimpse of him and Dr. Fate with the photo released of Michael Shanks in full Hawkman costume, it will be the first time comic book costumes have been translated faithfully in Smallville.

As big a surprise as seeing the Sandman was, the bigger was seeing Alan Scott’s Green Lantern ring.  I doubt we’ll see much of him with a modern Hal Jordan Green Lantern movie in production. 

The best part of this is that the writer of the two hour special is Geoff Johns, the writer who made the latest incarnation of the JSA into a top selling comic book.  He knows and treats the characters reverently so old fans such as me probably won’t be disappointed.  The trade reprints of JSA are highly recommended as examples of comic books done well.

It will be a long wait until February 5th for this, but in the meantime I can continue to geek out over how well Dr. Fate’s costume translated into reality. That golden helm is just as intimidating as it was on the four color pages I read as a child.

Supercollider Blues Over?

The Large Hadron Collider suffered a magnet meltdown after its first run last year, shutting down operations until this past week. I’m happy to see the first test went well Friday and hope to see it get to smashing atoms soon.  In a small (microscopic) way, I’ve been involved through crunching research numbers for it on my computer.

While it is doubtful what the PC did was actually used, it felt good to contribute to something that will further research into physics.  I still remember the keen disappointment I felt when the much larger supercollider project in the US was cancelled back in the 1990’s. Now if we could get those idiots who believe that the LHC will create a black hole the special care they need…

Media Hack Picks on Teenage Girl

I’m late to the party on this one, but it allowed me to read what happened from the view of the teenager Norah O’Donnell decided she could trap in an interview.  The young woman dared to be in line for a Sarah Palin book signing while wearing an anti-bailout shirt. This provided a “gotcha moment” for O’Donnell to attack Palin for backing McCain in supporting the initial bailout and embarrass the obviously unprepared teen.  Terrific moment of showing what fools these Palin backers are, right?

Not exactly.  Turns out O’Donnell used a Blackberry to get info in order to set up the question while the teen acquitted herself well given the ambush style of the question. O’Donnell compounded things by lying on Twitter about the girl having voted last year. Read the girl’s blog Red, White & Conservative for a full account of what happened.

Be nice if MSNBC went to as much effort to find out where all the stimulus money actually ended up.

And people wonder why the media is viewed as biased?