One of the cranky old guy’s favorite Virginians is back to sticking his foot in his mouth. Pat Robertson, the Rev, wants to assassinate the guy running Venezuela. Admittedly, the guy running Venezuela is a jerk. But isn’t assassinating foreign leaders not an activity the United States habitually practices?
The Rev periodically emerges from his Virginia Beach citadel with a preposterous statement of some sort. Some of them seem to suggest the solution of problems by the committing of mayhem, such as a call not too long ago to straighten out the Department of State by nuking Foggy Bottom. His prayer for vacancies on the Supreme Court is only a tad less provocative.
Apparently, the Rev’s brand of Christianity is not overly concerned with all that love your neighbor stuff. The cranky old guy is betting that the Rev finds the smiting parts of the bible and Christian history much more appealing than the turning the other cheek parts. You remember the smiting parts, don’t you? Where the Hittites, the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Canaanites, the Israelites, the Persians, and the Romans, among others, smote each other from Jerusalem to Jericho and back?
The funny thing is, when in his youth the Rev, before he was the Rev, had an opportunity to smite the forces of evil, in this case communism, he discover better things do to. Back during the Korean War, pre-Rev Robertson found himself a United States Marine and on the way to Korea. The pre-Rev’s father, A. Willis Robertson, was at the time a United States Senator. The story is a little murky, but instead of fighting the commie hordes directly, the pre-Rev apparently served his country by being the liquor officer of his unit. More details can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Robertson or www.schlatter.org/liquor_officer.htm.
Still, the Rev, in the Presidential campaign of 1988, described himself as a former “combat” Marine. Those flights to Tokyo over the Sea of Japan to get the liquor probably did entail some risk. After all, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake was killed over the Sea of Japan.
Southeastern Virginia, the Rev’s stomping grounds, has its share of oddballs. Maybe it’s something in the water, or the effect of that nuclear power plant in Surry County. The cranky old guy himself was raised in the area, and has both relatives and in-laws through out the vicinity. So he feels qualified to opine that in terms of loons per capita, southeastern Virginia is well above the national average.
Occasionally, the cranky old guy’s spouse will suggest the possibility of retiring to the area.
Yeah, right.
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Sunday, August 14, 2005
A NEIGHBORHOOD COMES TOGETHER
A good neighborhood comes together in a time of crisis. The cranky old guy’s neighborhood? Well, maybe we could use a little work.
Our current crisis involves a tree branch on the cranky old guy's property. In a recent storm, it fell across a power line. There it still rests, straining the line but not as yet causing any difficulties. The power company, the successor to the infamous VEPCO of the cranky old guy’s youth, has been called. A human spokesperson, reached after many tedious minutes of dealing with a computer, said that the situation was on the company’s To Do list, but that it would likely be awhile.
Most in the neighborhood accept the situation, realizing that the matter is the power company’s responsibility and that the cranky old guy is not about to climb a tree to cut a branch away from a live electrical line. Also, most realize that no self-respecting tree company will tackle the problem without the power company’s say-so and supervision. Maybe Daryl and Daryl of the Culpepper Tree, Gutter, And Whatever Else You Want Done Company, but not a bona fide bonded outfit.
A few in the neighborhood, however, look upon such situations as an opportunity to expound upon their neighbors’ flaws and to demonstrate their own superior concern for the neighborhood’s well-being. For some reason, these few are mostly female. Instead of registering their complaint with the power company, the place where the problem has to ultimately be resolved, these few persist in reminding the cranky old guy that a situation on his property is causing them mental and emotional anguish. And much of the reminding is not done directly but through the little behind-the-back whispering avenues that criss-cross most neighborhoods.
Fortunately, the cranky old guy has an option to escape both the harping and the possible interruption, at a time of temperatures approaching the century mark, of the neighborhood’s electrical supply. That option is a place at the beach. So he’s off. Please give him a call when the situation has been resolved.
DSH
Our current crisis involves a tree branch on the cranky old guy's property. In a recent storm, it fell across a power line. There it still rests, straining the line but not as yet causing any difficulties. The power company, the successor to the infamous VEPCO of the cranky old guy’s youth, has been called. A human spokesperson, reached after many tedious minutes of dealing with a computer, said that the situation was on the company’s To Do list, but that it would likely be awhile.
Most in the neighborhood accept the situation, realizing that the matter is the power company’s responsibility and that the cranky old guy is not about to climb a tree to cut a branch away from a live electrical line. Also, most realize that no self-respecting tree company will tackle the problem without the power company’s say-so and supervision. Maybe Daryl and Daryl of the Culpepper Tree, Gutter, And Whatever Else You Want Done Company, but not a bona fide bonded outfit.
A few in the neighborhood, however, look upon such situations as an opportunity to expound upon their neighbors’ flaws and to demonstrate their own superior concern for the neighborhood’s well-being. For some reason, these few are mostly female. Instead of registering their complaint with the power company, the place where the problem has to ultimately be resolved, these few persist in reminding the cranky old guy that a situation on his property is causing them mental and emotional anguish. And much of the reminding is not done directly but through the little behind-the-back whispering avenues that criss-cross most neighborhoods.
Fortunately, the cranky old guy has an option to escape both the harping and the possible interruption, at a time of temperatures approaching the century mark, of the neighborhood’s electrical supply. That option is a place at the beach. So he’s off. Please give him a call when the situation has been resolved.
DSH
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
INTELLIGENT DESIGN AND W
According to news reports, the President recently told a group of Texas journalists visiting the White House that he sees nothing untoward in a local school board deciding to allow the teaching of the Intelligent Design concept. That concept is all the rage among certain segments of the Christian fundamentalist community.
Well, this is too juicy to resist. Where to start is the only problem. But before doing so, let it be stated that this cranky old guy is not just some knee-jerk whiny liberal. He even voted for W in 2000. It is only the incompetence and arrogance displayed in the years since by the winners of the election that have led the cranky old guy to question the wisdom of his vote.
The following is certainly an over-simplified description of Intelligent Design, or ID for short, but if W and his Administration can over-simplify everything under the sun—from war, to taxes, to social security—why can’t the rest of us? This cranky old guy’s understanding of ID is that the complexity of the human animal, and the world in general, is advanced as proof of one or both of the following assertions: evolution couldn’t have occurred, and there is an all-powerful Supreme Being.
Just as an aside, it would seem that if an all-powerful Supreme Being exists, he, she, or it could have arranged for evolution. Some people, however, just can’t abide the idea of a monkey as an ancestor. But we will avoid this line of inquiry.
It can’t be denied that the world is complex, at least to our feeble mortal minds. Anyone who has ever struggled with an introductory course in quantum physics or Einstein’s special or general relativity would likely concede the point. But should complexity really be the focal point of such weighty issues as the origin and development of life and the existence of a Supreme Being? If it should, perhaps Bill Gates is a supreme being. After all, some of his software products, such as Word, are complex enough to keep a mortal busy for years exploring all the nooks, crannies, and perplexing happenings.
The problem with complexity is that it is not—or should not be—an end in itself. Complexity is just an intermediate point to a result. And this cranky old guy would caution the ID crowd about basing theological propositions on results because the results that are before us leave something to be desired.
Let’s just consider one result most of us are probably somewhat familiar with: sex. Here is an activity that produces a few moments of pleasure, and sometimes offspring. The price for those ends is awkwardness, embarrassments, messiness, occasional foul odors, and general yuckiness. If one were starting from scratch to design a procreation system that entailed a modicum of pleasure, one could certainly come up with something more refined and less yucky. Perhaps nothing more than a simple touching of fingertips and then the participants go their merry ways. A lot of approaches would be an improvement over what we are saddled with.
So this cranky old guy doesn’t buy the ID concept as something warranting the expenditure of public moneys to learn about. W and his cohorts have done enough damage in the areas that are their Constitutional responsibility: foreign policy, military policy, and economic policy, for example. About matters such as religion, school curricula, and the origin and meaning of life, matters that are beyond their responsibilities—and obviously more than beyond their competences—they should keep their opinions to themselves.
DSH
Well, this is too juicy to resist. Where to start is the only problem. But before doing so, let it be stated that this cranky old guy is not just some knee-jerk whiny liberal. He even voted for W in 2000. It is only the incompetence and arrogance displayed in the years since by the winners of the election that have led the cranky old guy to question the wisdom of his vote.
The following is certainly an over-simplified description of Intelligent Design, or ID for short, but if W and his Administration can over-simplify everything under the sun—from war, to taxes, to social security—why can’t the rest of us? This cranky old guy’s understanding of ID is that the complexity of the human animal, and the world in general, is advanced as proof of one or both of the following assertions: evolution couldn’t have occurred, and there is an all-powerful Supreme Being.
Just as an aside, it would seem that if an all-powerful Supreme Being exists, he, she, or it could have arranged for evolution. Some people, however, just can’t abide the idea of a monkey as an ancestor. But we will avoid this line of inquiry.
It can’t be denied that the world is complex, at least to our feeble mortal minds. Anyone who has ever struggled with an introductory course in quantum physics or Einstein’s special or general relativity would likely concede the point. But should complexity really be the focal point of such weighty issues as the origin and development of life and the existence of a Supreme Being? If it should, perhaps Bill Gates is a supreme being. After all, some of his software products, such as Word, are complex enough to keep a mortal busy for years exploring all the nooks, crannies, and perplexing happenings.
The problem with complexity is that it is not—or should not be—an end in itself. Complexity is just an intermediate point to a result. And this cranky old guy would caution the ID crowd about basing theological propositions on results because the results that are before us leave something to be desired.
Let’s just consider one result most of us are probably somewhat familiar with: sex. Here is an activity that produces a few moments of pleasure, and sometimes offspring. The price for those ends is awkwardness, embarrassments, messiness, occasional foul odors, and general yuckiness. If one were starting from scratch to design a procreation system that entailed a modicum of pleasure, one could certainly come up with something more refined and less yucky. Perhaps nothing more than a simple touching of fingertips and then the participants go their merry ways. A lot of approaches would be an improvement over what we are saddled with.
So this cranky old guy doesn’t buy the ID concept as something warranting the expenditure of public moneys to learn about. W and his cohorts have done enough damage in the areas that are their Constitutional responsibility: foreign policy, military policy, and economic policy, for example. About matters such as religion, school curricula, and the origin and meaning of life, matters that are beyond their responsibilities—and obviously more than beyond their competences—they should keep their opinions to themselves.
DSH
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