Monthly Archives: October 2011

The Obligatory Halloween Post

Posted on October 31, 2011 | 1 Comment

Halloween, or Hallowe’en, or better yet, All Hallows’ Eve.  The night before All Saints Day.  Many of those who are recognized by the Church as saints have a Feast Day set aside for them.  However, for Saints number 367 and up there is All Saints Day. It’s the heavenly equivalent of “et al.”

Of course many point to Roman and Celtic feasts that marked this day as being when the world of the living and the world of the dead came close to one another.  I have no doubt that those may be true, but I’ll leave it to the Romans and Celts sort out who started it first.  Considering how the Romans were in England from about 55 BC, they had ample opportunity to steal each other’s ideas.  The early church had no problem co-opting existing feasts; it was kind of like marketing – “New and Improved! Halloween! Now with the Miracle Ingredient – Christian Perspective!”

However, I look Halloween this way.

  1. Halloween is a kid thing, regardless of how it started.  Nothing wrong with letting the kids have some fun.  Besides, Christ himself told us that the model for our relationship with God was to be like the children.
  2. Halloween is good time to remember that death is a part of life.  Back in Louisiana, the day after All Saints Day – All Souls Day is traditionally a time to whitewash the family crypt.  Crypts are used in low lying areas like New Orleans because bodies buried underground tend to pop out during floods.  Crypts are a logical answer, but since they’re above ground they need attention

We sometimes forget – no, make that ignore the fact that life and death are intertwined.  If you take time each year to paint the final resting place of your family, it’s a pretty strong reminder that someday you’ll be there too.

  1. Halloween puts things into perspective.  My son Adam is now 13 and in this part of Virginia they actually have laws defining who can participate in Trick or Treating.  Age 12 is the limit; above that and it’s a misdemeanor.  Word is that they do actually cite over-age Trick or Treaters. 

“How was work dear?”

“Well, I they took me off chasing drug dealers and murderers, but I managed to bust half a dozen illegal Trick or Treaters.  You can sleep soundly tonight, dear, knowing it’s a safer world.”

Of course that might just be part of the local folklore like the headless pizza deliveryman.  In any case, Adam was born when my older son was already out of high school (and I thought I was old then!).  It seems like yesterday when he was born, and now he’s too old to dress up for Halloween. (Vanity, vanity, all is vanity…)

So there you have it, Halloween, not just candy but one more chance to get philosophical.

I’ll try to be funny tomorrow.

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Posted in Culture, Family, History, Holidays, Humor, People, Philosophy, Religion

I Played for Him

Posted on October 30, 2011 | 1 Comment

I played guitar at Mass this morning for the first time in about six years.  St. Augustine said, “He who sings, prays twice.”  If they sing along to my guitar playing, I think there’s a much larger multiplier.  The last time I played for Mass was when I was deployed to the Middle East.  The “chapel” in which all services were conducted was used for training during the day, and for various religious functions in the evening and on weekends.  There was no permanent altar, no organ, no choir director (because there was no choir so we made do with what we had.   Services for every denomination were accommodated.  There was a tabernacle for the Catholics to place the Holy Eucharist.  There were areas designated for the Muslim service members to store their prayer rugs.  Anyone who wanted to spend time with God was accommodated.  However, the permanent functions most of us are used to didn’t/couldn’t exist.  Most “parishioners” were only there for eight months to a year and the chaplains rotated every two months or so. It was what you might call a transient parish. 

I figure that every talent I have came as a blessing, so I certainly should acknowledge from where they came.  I try to play and sing as best as I can, but I remember one chaplain I met up at the Fort Dix/McGuire/Lakehurst Joint Base.  This chaplain was a black priest by the name of, and I’m not kidding, Father Martin Luther King.  He preached and held song in the same way many of my Protestant friends do.  He chided the parish to SING! “If you don’t like your voice,” he’d say (well, more like boom), “remember it was God who gave it to you.  If you don’t like it, give it back to him! SING!”  That’s the way I look at my guitar playing.  I have as much talent as He saw fit to give me.

Actually, I look at it more through the eyes of a parent.  As a parent, I’m thrilled when I get the chance to see my children perform.  I believe that as our Father, God looks at my performance the same way.  I may not have played perfectly.  I may not be the most talented musician.  However, I think God is a most appreciative audience.

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Posted in Culture, Philosophy, Religion

Why I Didn’t Post Last Night

Posted on October 29, 2011 | Leave a comment

I started to write this yesterday but got a bit frustrated because – well, read along and you’ll understand.

This weekend is a big ham radio event called the CQ WW contest.  Ham radio contests occur when you try to make contact with as many other stations in as many places as possible in a defined period of time.  The WW stands for “World-Wide” and means that hams from all over the world participate, so it’s a great opportunity to talk with folks you may not have a chance to under regular conditions. For hams like me who have a reasonable station, this is a chance to add new countries.  The hams with high powered stations (we’re permitted to use up to 1500 watts) can work most countries much more easily.  So a worldwide event is something special.

The CQ is shorthand for “I wish to make contact with any station.”  It literally means “Seek you.”  When using Morse code, many terms and even phrases were abbreviated to make message sending faster. Some abbreviations are obvious, like TKS or TNX for thanks while others are less so, such  as “DX” for foreign stations; it refers to the fact that they are distant rather than local.

Some shorthand uses Q-Signals.  Someone realized that if you used 3 letters starting with “Q” but without the next letter being “U” people would know it was shorthand rather than a word.  QRZ? Means, “Are you calling me?”  Without the question mark it’s a statement – “I’m calling you.” A chat on the radio is a QSO and you confirm it by sending a QSL card.  Although all the purists preach that one should never use Q-Signals except when using Morse Code, most hams use it whenever talking with other hams.  After all, every hobby needs its own jargon.

So, where does the frustration fit is?  Last night, just before the contest started at 8:00 PM EDST, I was writing for the blog, on this subject.  I turned around to the radio as the contest began, and…

Remember the scene in “The Empire Strikes Back” in which Han Solo tries to make the jump to light speed and the Millennium Falcon just sputters?  It was pretty much like that.  Every time I’d press the transmit button the rig would shut down.  This is actually a safety feature; if conditions exist that could damage the radio, it shuts off. I checked everything with no luck.

Then the computer refused to talk to the internet.

I gave up and watched “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” with my daughter.  (They’ve been learning the dance moves to the “Time Warp” in music class; I knew it was a good school.)

Today it was rainy, windy and cold.  I decided that the problem had to be with the ground, and replaced the cable to the ground system.  It worked.

I didn’t work a lot of stations, but I did get to participate, so that was good.  I did manage to work Aruba & Jamaica (really), but alas not Kokomo, so I guess I need to listen to some Beach Boys.

It started out frustrating but ended up okay.  I like stories with happy endings.

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Posted in Communications, Philosophy, Technology, Writing

First Primary Results Are In for 2012 Election!

Posted on October 26, 2011 | 1 Comment

Transcript from the Mega Cable News Network

In a surprise move today, Podunk Junction, Arkansas announced that it had held it’s Republican Presidential Primary.  On the scene is local affiliate news anchor, Zeke Cletus.

Zeke: “That’s right.  While Florida, New Hampshire and Iowa fight over which will be first, this community in rural Arkansas managed to beat them all.  With me today is Cecil Chadworth, the local registrar of voters.

“The first question, Mr. Chadworth, is how a town could hold a primary.  These are normally state functions.”

Cecil: Now that’d be true, Zeke, but ya gotta realize this is Arkansas. Them Clintons got so many folks in the state registered as Democrats that Podunk County, of which Podunk Junction is proud to be the county seat, has all of the registered Republicans for the entire state.  Therefore we control all of the delegates for the state.

Zeke: “Well that seems highly unusual, but I’ll take your word on that.  Perhaps you could explain more.”

Cecil: If you’da studied your history you’da heard about a little thing called Reconstruction after the Civil War.  Down here in the South most folks would have nothing to do with Republicans for the longest time.  A few of us, back when we was young and foolish decided we’d buck the trend.  While the rest of the state had to choose between Dixiecrats and Democrats, we had the Grand Old Party.  We wuz just rebellious kids back then raising a bit of a fuss.  Everyone else just ignored us and figured it was a phase and it’d pass.  To be honest, we never thought much of it either.  Well most of us in Podunk are kin of one type or another and when the old Mayor retired, my cousin Billy thought it’d be funny to put my name on the primary ballot as a joke.  I became a bona fide candidate.  Well, we take family seriously in these parts and everybody in the family felt duty bound to vote for me.  I woke up one morning to find out that I was mayor.  In order for the family to support me, they all had to register as Republicans, so we’ve got this one little patch of conservatives right here.”

Zeke: “Would you care to tell us why you moved next year’s primary all the way into the year before the general election?”

Cecil: I got tired of hearing that those other states wanted their primaries to count more than anyone else’s.  When you think “Economic Solutions” do you think of Iowa?  When you think “A better way to do things” do you think Iowa?  Come to think of it, I’ll bet most people never think of Iowa at all.

Then there’s Florida – the land of retired people and hanging chads.  Give me a break.  The only good thing is Disney World.  Reminds everyone that it’s a Mickey Mouse outfit.

And New Hampshire?  You choose 50 people at random and ask them to point out New Hampshire on a globe and I’ll bet most get it wrong.  That’s why New Hampshire’s primary should be no more important than anyone else’s.  No less, mind you, but no more.

Zeke: “So there you have it.  The first primary of the 2012 presidential race and Mr. Cecil Chadworth is going to announce the results.”

Cecil: The results from Podunk Junction, Arkansas and the winner of all the Republican delegates is…

Ronald Reagan.”

Zeke: “Ronald Reagan!?”

Cecil: Yep. Last decent Republican to run for president.  We’ll keep nominating him until someone better comes along.”

Zeke: “But he’s dead!”

Cecil: At least we can guarantee no impeachments, no scandals, or any other embarrassments.

Zeke: “Well, like it or not, from Podunk Junction, Arkansas, the first primary results are in. This is Zeke Cletus, Mega Cable News.”

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Posted in Communications, Culture, Government, Humor

Seasons

Posted on October 25, 2011 | 1 Comment

Due to the career fields I’ve chosen, I’ve lived in a number of places.  We’re talking the North Coast, the Gulf Coast, the Atlantic Coast, the Great Plains, the High Plains and the San Francisco Bay Area.  With my Navy assignments I’ve spent time in Antarctica and various parts of the desert near the Arabian/Persian Gulf.

With all this, I’ve decided one thing.

Every place has something to recommend it.  Every place is flavored mainly by the people who live there.  And every place has a season when you prefer to stay inside.

It’s either too hot.

Too cold.

Too rainy.

Too windy.

Too humid.

Or something.

My advice – enjoy the weather when you can.

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Posted in Philosophy

Repeating History?

Posted on October 24, 2011 | Leave a comment

When I see some of the current political issues bouncing around, I admit – I get frustrated.  John Adams, one of our greatest patriots and a man who irritated just about everyone, predicted that America would have a de facto nobility.  This nobility would be based on wealth and education rather than merely birthright.  Of course, if you’re born into a wealthy family that values education and can afford to send you to a top school, it’s pretty much the same as being born into a royal family who provides you with wealth and an education.  It’s a chicken and egg thing.

There is, however a genetics thing that factors in here.  I live in Virginia.  Historic Virginia*.  Virginia, the first colony.  Virginia, the first permanent English settlement.  Virginia, where the British surrendered to General Washington, who was himself a Virginian.  Virginia, who donated  the land that became Washington, DC.  Virginia, home to the capital of the Confederacy (okay, this one is optional.)  Virginia –a commonwealth.  Virginia, the Old Dominion.

In Virginia, there were many old and storied families.  There were the Washingtons,  the Jeffersons, the Randolphs.  Famous people with famous names.  George Washington’s line actually was handed off to the Custis’ family when he adopted Martha’s son, John; John acted as General Washington’s aide and was killed in the Revolutionary War.  His children were then raised by George and Martha.  Ultimately the Custis line married with the Lees (Arlington, Robert E. Lee’s home that became the national cemetery came to him through his wife, a Custis.) 

Thomas Jefferson’s mother was a Randolph, and his only child who survived to adulthood, Martha (named for her mother, also Martha) married – you guessed it – a Randolph.

I see similarities among the current crop of American nobility.  They will pull together.  They will marry among the others of their class.

The only problem with an exclusive de facto nobility is one that often hampers blooded nobility.  The line dies out.  Just as there are no heirs to the Czars or the French throne, there are no direct descendants to the Washingtons.  After the Jeffersons re-merged with the Randolphs, that only left thosea from the Hemmings side of the family(One of Jefferson’s slaves) to claim lineage. 

Is the same thing fated to happen again?  Time will tell.

*The more time passes, the more I prefer to liken myself to being part of history as opposed to merely being old.

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Posted in Culture, Family, History

Stay Tuned

Posted on October 23, 2011 | Leave a comment

I have several deep and wonderful thoughts that I wanted to write about, but alas, I have squandered the weekend with my family.  I cheered my son and grandson at soccer games while my wife cheered on our daughter; it’s a luck – of – the – draw thing as to which of us covers whose game.

On the other hand, the recent article on technology history rewritten seemed to catch some folks’ fancy, so I’ll just have to see what else I have to share in a similar vein.

Stay tuned.

 

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Posted in Uncategorized

The History of Technology Rewritten

Posted on October 21, 2011 | 2 Comments

I admit that I love technology.  I love computers, electronics, gadgets and having a healthcare background, I’m exceptionally fond of “machines that go PING!”  I understand the complexities of electronics.  I know that the reason Columbus made his journey tying to reach Asia was not, in fact related to spices or silk, but was necessary to access all those wonderful electronic devices that are made in Japan, Taiwan and of course, China.  If Columbus hadn’t pave the way, Sam Walton would have had no purpose in life and the locations of Wal-Marts would have been squandered as parks, playgrounds and Civil War battlefields.

The Asians discovered the secret of electronic components in 458 BC.  We know it was a Thursday, but their reckoning of months and days was not yet solidified.  Fire was well known and had proven useful in making tools from bronze and iron.  Initially smoke was seen as a useless by product, but one enterprising individual discovered after much trial and error that if you trapped the smoke in a small package with wires coming out of it, you ended up with a device that could do amazing things.  The trick was that the device would work so long as the smoke remained inside it.  If you saw smoke leaking out, you knew it would no longer work.

The first devices, called components (compo – “full of”; nents – “smoke”) were resistors and capacitors that did not provide much usefulness.  Early Asian scientists amused themselves by storing an electrical charge on a capacitor, then tossing it to co-worker who received a shock.  This had no commercial value since, like the hand buzzer, it may be funny the first time but is anti-climactic after that.

Components advanced to more complicated states.  This was not due to a desire to make practical devices, but was seen as similar to origami, eating with chopsticks or trying to reason with teenage children – something to help pass the time.  It was only by the strangest of coincidences that two older men were sitting together, chatting amicably and weaving components together that it was discovered that one device could transmit sounds and the other receive it.  Initially no practical use was foreseen, but when two way communications could be maintained, the teenagers immediately started using it to communicate among themselves.  Daughters no longer insisted on telling their parents every excruciating detail about their day in school (who wore what, who likes whom, what someone said behind someone else’s back, etc.).  Instead upon returning from school they immediately used the device to call their girlfriends.

These devices were called “Telephones” because the parents would instruct their daughters to “Tell” the device rather than tell the parents.  The first of these were housed within large conch shells which helped to focus the sound in the same way you can use one to “hear the sea.”  As such, the teenagers started calling them “shell phones” a tradition which continues although the pronunciation has been corrupted.

Eventually components became smaller and were used for many types of communication devices and eventually devices that almost seemed to think.

So next time you get a call from a telemarketer or the phone rings when you’re sleeping, blame Columbus.

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Posted in History, Humor

Writers and Writing

Posted on October 20, 2011 | Leave a comment

One of the problems with authors is that they take pride in their work.  Normally this would be considered a good thing leading to a more fully developed and all around better product.  If the author is able to crank out bestselling novels, such as J. K. Rowling, it works.  Unfortunately for many writers this is not the case.

Many important documents are not the result of the effort of a single person, but instead are a distillation of the work of multiple people.  There are at least two major factors to this observation.  The first is that no one person tends to have all of the answers.  When a group is working together the best that can be hoped for is that a single member of the group will have the answer.  In many cases the answer is unknown and a plausible recommendation is synthesized (a fancy word for “cobbled together”) among the members.  This resultant idea was unknown to any of the members before they worked together and if it is truly a new idea, it is therefore untested and may in fact not be successful.  The end result is that no one person in the group can claim the idea as their own.

The second major factor is that once the idea develops it normally is recorded in some written form.  The document then makes the rounds through the group members, each of whom may view the concept differently.  Even if they view it exactly the same (unlikely if not impossible) each would express  it in a different manner.

“It was a blinding light.”

“The light shone with a cold white brilliance.”

“The dark was shattered by a bright light.”

“The illumination was estimated to be well over one million lux.”

“Damn, but that’s bright!”

Personally, I like the idea that the view that the group develops is different and that the written result does not reflect any one style.  Think of a noteworthy document such as the Declaration of Independence.  Virtually every section of Thomas Jefferson’s draft document was debated, reworded or even stricken.  To the end it even got down to quibbling about whether “unalienable” or “inalienable” was the correct form of the word.

So pride of authorship must often give way so that a better product can be reached.

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Posted in Writing

Busy Day in the Fall

Posted on October 18, 2011 | 1 Comment

It’s been incredibly busy, so here’s a fall wildflower instead of my usual rant.

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Posted in Uncategorized

A Conicidence of Biblical Proportions?

Posted on October 16, 2011 | 1 Comment

With the “Occupy Wall Street” movement and the “Tea Party” in the news this past week, a curious coincidence occurred this morning at Mass. 

The Catholic Church uses a three year cycle of scriptural readings, so at best this was a one-in-three shot, although it’s probably more accurate to call it a one-in-one hundred fifty-six; (three cycles of 52 Sundays.)  Rather than paraphrasing, I’ve copied the reading below.

Gospel, Mt 22:15-21

15 Then the Pharisees went away to work out between them how to trap him in what he said.

16 And they sent their disciples to him, together with some Herodians, to say, ‘Master, we know that you are an honest man and teach the way of God in all honesty, and that you are not afraid of anyone, because human rank means nothing to you.

17 Give us your opinion, then. Is it permissible to pay taxes to Caesar or not?’

18 But Jesus was aware of their malice and replied, ‘You hypocrites! Why are you putting me to the test?

19 Show me the money you pay the tax with.’ They handed him a denarius,

20 and he said, ‘Whose portrait is this? Whose title?’

21 They replied, ‘Caesar’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Very well, pay Caesar what belongs to Caesar — and God what belongs to God.’

 http://www.catholic.org/bible/daily_reading/

The most obvious lesson from this is that the Pharisees sent their loyalists and representatives of the Jewish king, Herod to ask Jesus a no-win question.  If he said the Roman tax should be paid then he would be deemed to be apostate to their faith; if he said it should not be paid, then he could be turned over to the Romans for promoting insurrection.  Jesus answer negated both of these outcomes.

Father Brian’s homily pointed out that the more important message is that we are both citizens of heaven and citizens of the earth.  Our stewardship responsibilities include such matters as politics, from knowing the issues to voting consistent with our values.  We’re responsible to both worlds.

This got me thinking about the current political activities.  The Occupiers of Wall Street don’t have the answer – but then neither does Congress, the President, Economists, Social Scientists, Wall Street or anyone else.  However, when something is wrong, the first thing to do is to admit that there’s a problem. 

I don’t know how things are going to happen in the world of politics over the next 56 weeks (more or less) but it was interesting to have this gospel today.

On the other hand, maybe it wasn’t a coincidence after all.  Could be just one more sign that God is involved in our daily lives.  Now the question is, “How do we respond?”

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Posted in Business, Communications, Culture, Government, People, Philosophy, Politics, Religion, Taxes, Wealthy

A Date with Jupiter

Posted on October 15, 2011 | Leave a comment

I have a telescope I bought at Wal-Mart one year after it was marked down.  Apparently telescopes weren’t big Christmas gifts that year.  Like most cheap telescopes its tripod isn’t as sturdy as I’d like it but the optics aren’t too bad. I confess it doesn’t get a lot of use primarily because of my schedule.  I get up at 5:00 AM so about the time it gets dark I’m ready for or possibly already in bed.

On NPR the other day (might have been “Earth-Sky” they mentioned that Jupiter was currently the second brightest object in the sky and was near the moon.  They also mentioned that with a “backyard telescope” one should be able to see some of its moons pass in front of Jupiter.

In my humble opinion, a Wal-Mart telescope bought on closeout should qualify as a “backyard” telescope, so I believe I’m ready.  I dug the telescope out of the closet and tried last night, but Jupiter (which I had spotted earlier in the evening) was too low on the horizon and was blocked by the trees in the neighborhood.  I plan on trying again tonight, so we’ll have to see how that works.

Jupiter Image Courtesy NASA http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090723.html

 

This image courtesy NASA at http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090723.html

Wish me luck.

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Posted in Education, Science

1%ers, Debit Card Fees and Profiling

Posted on October 12, 2011 | Leave a comment

A few random political thoughts today:

 The 1% protesting on Wall Street and other locations?  Almost a year ago I wrote that there would be protests and compared the cultural climate of America to that experienced during the French Revolution, albeit more civilized.  It’s like the movie in which people throw open their window and shout, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!”  People aren’t asking for answers, they’re showing their frustration.  Why don’t they seek answers?  Because they believe that no one really is interested.  What is the potential outcome?  It’s very possible that we’ll see a resurgence in unions; I wouldn’t be surprised to see the healthcare industry unions grow – and that’ll be a very interesting evolution particularly the more fields/professions that join.  It very well might change the organizational dynamics of physicians within the hospital making it in the physician’s best interest to become a team player.  Many already are.  To some of the others this will be anathema.

All the science fiction stories in which money is replaced by various sensors didn’t factor in the concept that banks would see this as one more way to extract a fee from their customers.  Debit cards are cheaper for banks to process than checks, but greed is a powerful force. Oh by the way, ask a 1%er what he or she thinks of it.  I’m sure you’ll get some interesting comments.

Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, the underwear bomber is in the news today, as is Manssor Arbabsiar, the individual who tried to hire the drug dealer to blow up a restaurant to kill the Saudi ambassador.  Then of course there’s Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist who went on a shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas.  I know profiling is politically incorrect, but do you notice anything similar about these people? 

You’d think others whose ancestors hailed from the middle east would start taking these types out behind the woodshed and say, “Your shenanigans are making my life unpleasant and I’m not going to tolerate it.” 

Maybe an Imam should do his impersonation of the old black and white movies’ stereotypical Irish priest.

“Now tell me, Yahya (Johnnie), what’s gotten into you?  I’ve known you since you were a wee tyke and I never expected you to turn out like this.  You’re not only making yourself look bad, you’re making all of us look bad.  Let’s you and me go over to the gym, put on some boxing gloves and I’ll help you work out those frustrations.”

 

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Posted in Culture, Politics

Columbus Day 1491

Posted on October 10, 2011 | Leave a comment

Listen to me, Cristobal, I know what I’m talking about.  This plan of yours is crazy and you’ll regret it.  If people want to go to Asia they can sail around the tip of Africa.  It’s called The Cape of Good Hope for a reason.

You sail west and you’re asking for nothing but trouble.  Queen Isabella hocked the crown jewels to pay for your trip, for crying out loud.  You screw this up and you’ll not only have her hopping mad but you’ll every European with one drop of royal blood all over your back.

It’s not like everyone thinks the world is flat and you’re going to prove it’s round.  If you sail west you’ll probably bump into some islands or a totally different continent.  Even if you do they probably won’t even recognize what you’ve done.  I just can’t believe we’d ever have a continent called “Columbia.”  What if there are two continents – can you just imagine “North and South Columbia?”  Give me a break.

People will probably criticize you for upsetting whatever people already live there.  If one of them gets the sniffles they’ll say you brought in disease.  You can’t win.

Do yourself a favor, Cris.  Go back home to Genoa and get a fleet of boats to trade around the Mediterranean.  You’ll be much happier than if you sail west across the Atlantic.

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Posted in Culture, History, Humor

Prayer is Funny

Posted on October 9, 2011 | 3 Comments

There are a number of ways to pray, the two most basic being liturgical prayer and informal prayer.  Liturgical prayer is very common in the Roman Catholic Church in which I grew up.  Certain prayers are memorized and then repeated at appropriate times.  Informal prayer is a conversation with God and is more personal.  Each has its advantages and disadvantages.

For the most part I prefer informal prayer because I have to actually think about what I’m going to say.  If each morning I would greet my wife and children with a memorized greeting, I think they might suspect my sincerity or else my sanity…

“Good morning, dear.  Good morning, children.  I hope you have a wonderful day.”  It might work for HAL in 2001, but it wouldn’t work around here.

Liturgical prayer has its place, however.  Sunday Mass or services works much better with some structure – especially for those parts that are sung.  If each member of the congregation sang their own personal heartfelt message according to their own melody I suspect it would not produce something “Pleasing to the Lord.”

On the other hand, informal prayer calls for a discipline that is more difficult.  I try very hard to be good at praying, but the results are not quite phenomenal.

“Thank you God for my family.  Thank you for my wife and my kids.  Oh that reminds me, Adam outgrew his shoes, so I need to get him new shoes before the band concert.  What day is that concert?   Is it at his school or the high school?  I’m not sure.  Do they have to be black shoes or are brown okay.  He’ll probably only wear them for the two band concerts before he outgrows them because he always wears sneakers.  I can’t believe how expensive dress shoes are.

“Sorry, Lord, I got distracted…”

I’m sure God understands, but I do wish I could be better at prayer.  Sometimes I do best when I take a liturgical prayer and actually contemplate what it means.  Two major prayers for us Catholics are the Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary.  For those of you who are not Catholic, the Hail Mary is basically the message from the Angel Gabriel followed by Elizabeth’s response to learning of Mary’s pregnancy.

The Lord ’s Prayer is interesting for many reasons, the first of which was that Jesus was asked how people should pray.  His response led to the Lord ’s Prayer.  If you look at scripture (Matthew 6:9-13 or Luke 11|: 2-4 ) you’ll notice that we do not say it word-for-word although the thought is pretty much the same.  Catholics use a shorter version that does not include the doxology (“For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory now and forever”) although at Mass this is added after the priest says “Deliver us not into temptation and save us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”

When I pray the Lord’s Prayer, I try to think of what each part means.

“Our, Father, Who art in heaven” – God is our true Father and his home is in heaven, where we hope to be some day.

“Hallowed be Thy name.” – God is so perfect, so holy that even His very name is sacred.

“Thy kingdom come.” – God has not yet claimed what it is His – but He will.

“Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” – His will is supreme.  Everything turns out the way He has planned.  Heaven responds more quickly and efficiently, perhaps, but even here everything goes according to His will.

“Give us this day our daily bread,” – Everything we receive.  Every bite of food, every sip of drink, every breath is given by God.

“And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” – We ask forgiveness according to how we forgive others.  In order to be forgiven we need to forgive others.

“And lead us not to into temptation” – We know that when we are tempted we often give in, so we ask not to be placed in the position to be tempted.

“But deliver us from evil.” – We know there is plenty of evil, so we ask to be able to avoid it.

It’s easy for me to just say the words, but when I think about what they really mean it takes a lot more effort.

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Posted in Philosophy, Religion

Excuse

Posted on October 8, 2011 | Leave a comment

Honest, I’m really working on something but we’re doing soccer tournament for both kids this weekend and went to the opera (Aida – a great performance) last night so I’ll keep working on it and post it later.

Or, if you prefer a “works in progress”….

{Premise, lots of facts presented in an entertaining fashion, conclusion followed by witty rejoinder.}

Just fill in the blanks.

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Posted in Uncategorized

It’s Only a Dream

Posted on October 6, 2011 | Leave a comment

After all these years, you’d think my wife would tell me those words I’ve always longed to hear.

“Baby, I’m actually outrageously wealthy but I just wanted to wait until just the right moment to tell you.”

Sigh

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Posted in Uncategorized

After These Brief Words

Posted on October 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

“This forum will come to order!” The noise in the assembly hall slowly diminished and heads began to turn to the podium. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, wlecome to the United States Economic Summit.  We have (POP) assembled (SQUEAK) some of the greatest minds in economics, finance and business from the world of academia, Fortune 500 businesses and (GROWLLLLLL). 

“I apologize for the PA system noise. We seem to be having a problem and we expect the technician to be arriving shortly to repair the system.  As a matter of fact I believe I see him now.”  The crowd briefly broke into a smattering of applause and laughter as a middle aged gentleman made his way from the back of the room to the table near the dais where all the sound equipment was located.  He smiled and waved good naturedly to the crowd. 

“If you don’t mind, we’ll try to continue as best we can while you fix whatever is making that awful racket.”  The repairman gave a smile and a thumbs up as he opened the case containing his tools.  

“And I thought my teenagers’ music was hard on the ears,” the speaker offered, which was once again met by laughter from the crowd.  

The meeting began with a panel of experts who each presented their view on why the country was in such terrible economic straits.  Several blamed the deficit.  Others blamed the housing bubble.  Naturally there was talk about the need to cut taxes so that businesses would create jobs.  Others proposed raising taxes and there was talk of the government’s role in creating “shovel ready” jobs.  Each speaker was politely listened to.  Those who agreed applauded enthusiastically while others were responded politely and professionally.  The feedback and crackling from the public address system steadily decreased. 

After an hour, no particular consensus had been reached and the discussion consisted of each camp rehashing its same argument in slightly different words.  It was obvious that no progress was going to be made.  It was almost merciful when the repairman walked over to the podium.

 “I hate to interrupt, but I think I’ve gotten everything fixed and we need to reset the levels.”   The speaker motioned him over.

 “I need to keep talking while Bob over their makes the adjustment.”  He looked out at the audience, most of whom had taken to carrying on conversations with their neighbors.

 “Now I’m not as smart as all you experts but I’m pretty good at what I do.  When something gets broken, I fix it.  I don’t talk about fixing it.  I don’t call a press conference and tell the newspaper or TV reporters that I’m going to fix it.  I just fix it.

“I’ve been listening to the discussion while I was working.  The economy is broke.  I say ‘broke’ rather than ‘broken’ to indicate that it’s broken AND it’s out of money.  Now I don’t think the way you do.  I can’t imagine a billion dollars, much less a trillion, and I’ve got a pretty good imagination.  I think on a much smaller scale, but I believe the principles are the same.

 “The country’s in debt.  We all understand that.  I’ve been in debt.  I went to college, so I started my working life with huge student loans hanging over my head.

 “I knew that I needed to pay for food, rent, and transportation and of course, my student loans.  Imagine if I had tried to solve my problem by cutting my expenses.  I was already living on Ramen noodles and peanut butter sandwiches so I couldn’t cut my food expenses.  I was living in the cheapest apartment I could find and taking the bus.  If I couldn’t cut expenses then it was obvious that I had to earn more.  Like today, it was a tough employment market so options were limited.

 “It might surprise you to learn that my college degree was in electrical engineering, and I had an entry level position with a large corporation.  My solution? After working my day job I began to do repair work in the evenings to earn extra money.  Some might think that repair work is beneath someone with a B.E.E. and I agree.  However, it is not beneath a B.E.E. who needs the money.  Four years of college and I was designing high tech equipment by day but I was also fixing toasters and stereos at night.  I put that money toward the debt and I was able to get my finances in order in two years rather than ten.

 “I know that our elected representatives have spent more money than we can imagine and I’m not excusing that.  If my kids caught me acting like that, they’d put me in a home where someone could keep an eye on me.  It’s illegal to shoot politicians and every election cycle it seems like we end up with a batch that’s even worse than the bastards we throw out. 

 I guarantee you that if Congress passes a bill to stop spending money there will be at least a half dozen provisions to fund pork projects back home buried in it somewhere.  You just might have to do what I had to do – earn more.

 “When I work, I pay taxes and when I earn more I pay more taxes.  It would seem that if more people were working, more of them would be paying taxes.  If they had good jobs, they’d pay more.  There’s a place to start.  Personally I don’t care who creates more jobs, just as long as there are enough to go around.

 “Speaking of taxes, maybe if people could understand our tax system it might be a little more tolerable.  Something like sales tax – it’s 5% for everybody.  Warren Buffet pays sales tax, Bill Gates pays sales tax and we all pay sales tax.  If everybody pays it, it might not have to be set so high.  Just a thought.”  He looked over at the young man at the table with all the sound equipment who gave him a thumbs up.

 “Levels all set?” he asked.  “Good!” and he began walking away from the microphone.

 “No!” replied the young man.  “The thumbs up was about what you said.”

 

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Posted in Business, Culture, Government, People, Philosophy, Politics, Taxes

I Don’t Like, You Don’t Like, He Doesn’t Like…

Posted on October 3, 2011 | Leave a comment

The advantage of having children between the ages of 10 and 20 is that they will freely tell you in great detail what they don’t like, what irritates them, what they don’t want to do and what’s unfair in the world.

I don’t like that I only have a little time to blog and it irritates me but I don’t want to skip it even when I’m short on time so it’s unfair.

On the other hand, I enjoy my family, my job and my blog.  I enjoy knowing that as my children enter each phase that they will grow past it, learning on the way.  I love seeing their accomplishments, which I might not notice if they didn’t tell me how hard it is to get them done.  

I know these things because I’ve spent enough time on this Earth to figure a few things out.  I guess that the Grateful Dead were right when they said “Every silver lining has a touch of grey.”

While this may be a short blog, I enjoyed writing it.  Oh and all the things that I said I don’t like.  Disregard those as merely being there for dramatic effect.

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Posted in Blog, Family

Theories

Posted on October 2, 2011 | Leave a comment

Recently scientists believe that they have observed a neutrino – a subatomic particle –traveling faster than the speed of light.  Now as “everybody” knows, nothing can exceed the speed of light.  This was a theorem postulated by Albert Einstein himself.  As nearly as I can understand, as speed increases, so does mass and at the speed of light, the mass approaches infinity.

 

So much for Weight Watchers.

 

If the observation is accurate, also so much for Einstein’s theorem.  Of course when you’re observing sub atomic particles, there is margin of error issues.  These start with the fact that you can’t actually see the neutrino because of its infinitesimally small size so you’re observing an effect caused by something, caused by something else, caused by still something else.  It’s kind of like playing the childhood game of telephone with a bunch of physicists.

 

A theorem is an idea.  We theorize that Pi is man infinite number that never repeats.  That means we have evidence that contributes to that belief, but it remains a theorem because it cannot be proven.  The beauty of a theorem is that it continues to challenge us.  It is still worth thinking about, because there may well be something not yet discovered associated with it.  In a nutshell it remains a challenge.

 

Too many allegedly scientific people have lost the joy of discovery and traded it for ego.  “I proclaim that [Fill In the Blank] is absolutely true even though I cannot prove it.  Don’t bother questioning it anymore, and most certainly do not question ME!”

 

If Einstein’s theories are still subject to clarification or even refutation, it’s hard to believe that others are so much smarter than him that their pet theory is irrefutable without proof.

 

Discovery and intellectual pursuit, like life, are journeys – not destinations.  Revel in the wonder of learning and exploring.  Be joyous that you aren’t so smart as to have figured it all out.  Life’s a journey, but a short one; enjoy the wonderment.

 

 

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Posted in Culture, Education, Future, Philosophy, Science