Bad News Filters Out

I am reading about the effects of Typhoon Nargis. Unbelievable. They're saying 22,000 dead and 40,000 missing. And in Myanmar, my guess is that "missing" means "probably dead."

I looked up the wind speed. It topped out at 120 miles per hour. In Miami, that's three days without power and one or two deaths. It's amazing how different things are in other countries.

Interesting passage from Wikipedia:

The Christian populations do, however, face religious persecution and it is hard, if not impossible, for non-Buddhists to join the army or get government jobs, the main route to success in the country. Such persecution and targeting of civilians is particularly notable in Eastern Burma, where over 3000 villages have been destroyed in the past ten years.

Here's something from Persecution.org:

Christian persecution is occurring because it is an ethnic issue. Two of the main minority groups are predominantly Christian while the majority of Burma and the majority of the other five minority groups are Buddhist. The government, afraid of the growing collaboration between the minority states, is currently attempting to use religion to re-divide the minority groups. The army offers soldiers 6,000 kyats (their currency) worth of rice to marry a Christian Karenni woman to try to dilute the ethnic group and destroy the culture of the Karenni, which is Christian.

Playing the religion card politically, Buddhism is slightly more tolerated than Christianity. However, Burmese expert, Benedict Rogers told a story of a Burmese army commander, after leading many attacks on Karen villages, summed up the junta's philosophy when he said, after urinating on the head of a Buddhist monk: "I do not respect any religion. My religion is the trigger of my gun". (Catholic Herald Jan. 24, 2003).

Anyway, World Vision is helping. If you want to donate, here's a new link.

More

Some hope that Christian relief money will help reduce hostility to Christianity in Myanmar.

Last year, the government there embarked on an official campaign to eradicate Christianity.

Posted by Steve H. at 12:55 PM | Permalink  

Bad

I assume everyone has heard that the cyclone in Myanmar (formerly Burma) is believed to have killed 10,000 people. And Laura Bush just said something about the military leadership refusing to take US aid. I don't know if that's correct, but I do know that you can get money to Myanmar via World Vision, at this link.

If you're looking for something to pray about today, this is it.

Posted by Steve H. at 3:18 PM | Permalink  

A Chance to Mitigate Your Mistakes

Don't forget; until sundown, today is Yom Ha Shoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day. I'm glad it falls on the first of May. Maybe it will take some of the wind out of the sails of the socialists who use this day to celebrate their cruel, godless, self-righteous, discredited ideas.

If you want someone to pray for, how about Holocaust survivors? They're still with us. In fact, many live in Israel. And thousands of them are poor. You can bless them with a gift, if you want. Here is a link to a webpage describing Guardians of Israel, a program run by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. If you like what you see, you can donate online.

From the site:

The Fellowship's Guardians of Israel program funds hundreds of projects across Israel that assist poor, elderly Jews by providing them with hot meals, home care, basic medicine and travel to and from doctors' appointments, and other essentials.

I will tell you the very personal reason why this program touches my heart. My family is disappearing, and I know I did not always treat my older relatives as I should have. I wish I had another chance so I could make it right. I will never be able to do anything for the people I let down, but people like me can still stand in for the missing or selfish relations of needy elderly people who are still with us. And the Internet has made it so easy.

Why wasn't I thinking about this five years ago? I have no answer.

I can't erase the first forty years of my life, but perhaps I will live long enough, and God will grant me the opportunities, to make something out of the remainder. I hope my mentioning it will help some of you find a little peace and redemption in your own lives.

Posted by Steve H. at 6:40 PM | Permalink  

If They Existed, Surely we Would See at Least One on CSI Miami

Via Lucianne, Humberto Fontova patiently explains (for the thousandth time) that Fidel Castro is evil, and that it isn't cute when ignorant and/or unprincipled American leftists visit him to celebrate his imaginary wisdom and humanity.

My advice? Save your breath, Humberto. This message just will not grow roots. Castro is the Third World Bill Clinton. A showpiece leftists are determined to bring out and exhibit to prove socialism works, regardless of the poverty and misery he brought to his people. When Clinton was committing perjury and losing the codes to our nuclear armament and selling the Oval Office to the communist Chinese, liberals closed their ears and insisted he was a fine man and a kind of martyr. It's the same way with Castro. Torture as policy, the revokation of the most basic civil rights, corruption, thousands of executions without trial...if these things didn't hurt Castro's reputation over the last fifty years, you can't hurt it, either.

I don't really mean that. I may be right to say resistance is futile, but I may be wrong, and in any case, people like Humberto should continue to speak the truth. One thing he needs to write more about is the fundamental question driving the piece to which I linked: how did Cubans become the invisible minority? Was it their financial prosperity, which discredits the notion that all minorities need racist handouts and favors in order to do as well as ordinary white Americans? Was it their overwhelming rejection of liberalism? Part of it, probably, is due to the failure of Cubans to express their frustrations to the wider community, in English. Anyway, it's a very bizarre and unfortunate phenomenon.

Here is Ysabella Brave, expressing what leftists feel when they say goodbye to the Caribbean's Hitler. Close your eyes, and you would swear you were listening to Danny Glover.

I guess regular readers are wondering why I started writing about politics again. I'm not sure, myself. I know the conservative media will never have any use for my work. Their zero-sum attitude is probably getting worse now that conservatism is becoming unfashionable again.

I suppose I just got tired and decided to write what I thought was right and let God worry about whether anyone came to read it.

Let's check some blogroll links.

Virgil has moved to Tennessee. And he is making homemade pizza, which suggests that his recent illness is behind him.

I haven't checked Whacking Day in a long time. Funny picture up.

In case George Moneo is reading, let me point out that Andrea Harris just carted a bunch of her LPs to the dumpster. Steady, George.

Russ Emerson is doing better, and he felt well enough to come up with a Bible passage explaining the bizarre claim that God ordered us to be greenies.

Steve Gigl's neighborhood is being terrorized by a trigger-happy granny with a BB gun. Andrea Harris will have to think about this in about 30 years.

Go read another blog now.

Posted by Steve H. at 11:48 AM | Permalink  

Wot a Chiz

Do I have the greatest friends in the world, or what?

Here is what just arrived in the mail.

This is a Molesworth reference.

And here are the contents.

This came from Aaron, creator of The Mohamsterdance. We met in August of 1980, and oddly, he looks real old now and I don't. I had a birthday recently, and he remembered. I don't tell people my birthday online, because I'm not crazy, but some people already know.

Centrally located, you will see a beautiful Zippo lighter adorned with bowling pins. At first I wondered about this, but then I realized. This is a lighter for a guy who rolls on shabbos.

In the plastic bag, you will see a Blazer Z-Plus butane insert, to turn it into a proper cigar torch. The can is a generous supply of butane.

The brown bottle? Bosco. Signature beverage of Christopher Walken. Who swears he no longer shoots people in the face for drinking Ovaltine.

The white bag...this is unbelievable...chocolate-covered coffee beans from Shkedia, a company which is part of Kibbutz Geva, the kibbutz where I lived in 1984. The plastic container beside the bag contains Shkedia Jordan almonds. Where on earth did he find these? When I was on Kibbutz Geva, I started out in the grapefruit groves and then moved to the almond fields. And on rainy days, I worked at Shkedia. It was like a visit to Willy Wonka. Candy and nuts all over the place, shooting into bags and moving on belts. And the rule was, "Eat all you want, but take nothing home." I believe that was based on the Mosaic prohibition on muzzling the oxen that tread out the corn. It was a system that worked much better in Shkedia than during my time cleaning poop off dishes in the chicken house.

They said "shkedia" meant "almond tree."

I added a couple of other things. The weird glass container is full of items I found while working in the fields. Odd little chips of white stone that had clearly been shaped by human hands, plus bits of ancient pottery. The jar? It's full of Israel. When I got home to Kentucky, I put on the boots I wore in Israel, and I noticed that they were full of Israeli mud. So I scraped it out and put it in this jar. There's a little Kentucky in there, too.

Thanks, Aaron.

More - Holocaust Remembrance Day

As if there were not enough Israel-related emotional material on my plate today, I just learned that Holocaust Remembrance Day is tomorrow. Saw it at Stand for Israel. I suppose I had been in Israel for a little over a month, the first time I participated in the observance. I heard the sirens go off and stood still by my ladder among the fragrant grapefruit trees.

You might consider the Holocaust victims for a moment as you sit down to your evening meal.

More

This morning while reading How Firm a Foundation, by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, I learned some interesting facts concerning Tisha B'Av, the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av. The post about Holocaust Remembrance Day reminded me.

On Tisha B'Av, the following events happened. The first Temple in Jerusalem was razed in 586 B.C.E. The second temple was razed in 70 C.E. In 1942, the first cattle cars loaded with Jews from Warsaw left for Treblinka. I'm sure Jewish commenters can supply other events.

Things to think about at sunset.

Posted by Steve H. at 4:08 PM | Permalink  

Thanks

Lately I've been getting very rewarding emails. Surprising stuff. One lady emailed me asking for a link to an old piece about sexual morality, to show her sons. She also planned to show them a more recent piece. Another guy said he was planning to resume daily prayer because of me. Other people have told me it was encouraging to read about someone else's efforts to improve his relationship with God.

Part of what I feel is surprise, considering the mistakes I've made. Even when I thought I was doing well, I did things I later realized were wrong. I can't hold myself out as a great example for others to follow. Every time I start to feel smug about how I'm doing, I find out about someone else who leaves me in the dust.

One of the things I pray for is that I will be a source of good to other people. I haven't done a great job of that so far. It's easy to spend your whole life being obnoxious and selfish, especially in times like these, when antisocial, self-glorifying behavior is encouraged and rewarded. So when someone tells me I helped them in their faith, it's not just good news. It's an answer to prayer.

There are a lot of things about my work which I would change, if I could. My third book is coming out, and there are things about it I don't like. I would prefer that my fourth book be edifying as well as entertaining. I hope God will see fit to give me the success I need, to get to a fourth book.

Thanks for the emails and comments. I think the people who write them do me more good than I do, them.

With that behind me, let's discuss shooting. My Burris Fullfield II scope needs to be shimmed. It's mounted on my K31 rifle, and at 100 yards, the gun consistently shoots nine or ten inches southeast of the point of aim.

I checked Midway, and they sell shims for a scope bases. But a reviewer says they're crappy bits of plastic, and that you're better off carving something out of a blister pack. What's the best thing to do? I guess I could put something under the rear ring. I'm not sure how to fix the windage error, though.

I'm hoping to crank out some .45 rounds today. I guess I'll have to buy a package of expensive factory rounds as backup. Damn it.

Now that I've covered shooting, let's talk tomatoes. The few I have managed to grow are cracking a lot, from the stem ends. What's up with that?

Sooner or later I have to figure out how to grow tomatoes. I do a fine job with peppers and herbs and limes, but those things won't make much of a meal on their own.

Let's see what's happening in the Blogosphere.

Uh oh. Ann Althouse is displaying her dark side once again. I saw this coming, but no one listened. Look for a new book soon: The Electric Kool-Aid Althouse Test. I have a feeling I made that joke before. Understandable; it's so natural.

Maybe this explains all those colorful photos.

Speaking of photos, Mike Pancier is outdoing himself.

Oh no! A conservative blogger just called Jeremiah Wright a tar baby! It's ON now! Fortunately, the blogger is black, or at least used to be, before she joined the GOP. It's Baldilocks. She makes a point which I have been too lazy to make, i.e., in addition to his other flaws, Wright is a really bad preacher.

Wright has decided--get ready for a shock--that criticizing his racist remarks is the same thing as persecuting "the black church." Dang, I'm glad he told me there were blacks-only churches, before I wandered into one and whited up the place with my ofay Mister Yakub wet-dog-smell pheromones. Like Baldy, I thought the term was "Christian," not "black." I guess we were bamboozled by tricknology.

Someone should print a T-shirt. "When it's Wright, it's wrong."

Elisson invited me to participate on his blog while he was on vacation, and I went over and looked a few times and found the place so busy I couldn't find a place to insert my great wit and wisdom. Then I forgot all about it! Now I'm embarrassed to talk to him. So as a pathetic gesture of contrition, let me link to his piece on the food of the future: whale bacon.

Dennis the Peasant has a new co-blogger, and she's a major babe! But can't we say the same of all radical feminists?

Uh oh. Gradual Dazzle is competing with Mike Pancier for the title of Spiritual Heir to Ansel Althouse.

That will have to do for now.

Posted by Steve H. at 11:18 AM | Permalink  

Semi-Rural is the Way to Go

I am dying here.

I can't quit looking at real estate. Like I keep saying, I want to get out of Miami and get some land under me. And I infected my father with the bug, so he wants to buy, too. At first, I was looking for a moderately priced place for myself, and it turned out my unimpressive money would buy a magnificent place, as long as I got away from the Miami area. Now that the old man is involved, the plan is for him to buy a place big enough for both of us. And he can spend a lot more than I can, so the options are just plain sick. I can't believe how inflated Miami prices are. For the price of a pretty nice Miami house on a smallish lot, you can have a bona fide compound in Indian River County.

My dad likes waterfront. I like inland properties. I used to be a rabid fisherman, but these days I don't care if I ever fish again. I suppose that's because it's so much work. And it's hard to get my friends to go, and I'm always the only person on the boat who knows how to do anything, so I run around like a slave all day, tying knots and showing people how to use the toilets and fixing stuff in the 150-degree engine room. Ideally, when you have a big boat, you end up with a regular crew of friends who know how to take the burden off of you, but my situation isn't like that. Most of my friends are very helpful with cleaning up the boat after we dock, but that's about all they know how to do. And some of them hide when it's time to work. So when we fish, it's a vacation for my father and my guests, but it's two days of hard work for me.

I just found a 10-acre place in Vero Beach for an asking price of $350,000. Looks like it's a former citrus grove, a few miles from the water. I can't believe that. Ten acres! House included! I guess if you live in Iowa or Wisconsin, you're wondering why I'm excited. I just found a couple of similar properties near Miami. Asking prices? One is $1.75 million, and the other is $2.7 million.

I guess there is no point in looking at it, since my father wants to get a place. But damn, what a difference between Miami and the rest of the state.

Think of all the stuff you could do on 10 acres. I wonder if I could shoot out there. Maybe, if I built a berm. Maybe I should get my own place, not too far from his, and divide my time between them. I don't want him to be alone at his age.

I don't know if the current economic problems are going to last. But I suspect that even if things bounce back for a while, we're eventually headed for tough times. And if that happens, a city will be the last place you want to be.

I remember my grandmother telling me that in eastern Kentucky, people didn't really notice the Depression. They were poor before and poor after, but the whole time, they had good food, shelter, and stability. Meanwhile, in cities, people lined up at soup kitchens. It would give me tremendous comfort to know that I could have a garden, some chickens, and a few hogs if I needed them. And the climate a hundred and fifty miles north of here is considerably better. Miami is a bit like Los Angeles. Only livable because technology allows us to conquer the inherent inhospitableness of the environment. If you couldn't have air conditioning around the clock here, plus malathion trucks, living here would be torture.

I think real estate will continue to tank for at least six months. The supply of new housing and foreclosures is just too big, and a lot of new places are not available for occupancy yet. Once they are, rent prices will collapse, and that has to affect sale prices. But sooner or later it will be safe to shop.

Posted by Steve H. at 12:43 PM | Permalink  

ACLU Continues Expanding the Frontiers of Wrongness

Liberalism is a bizarre melange, combining totalitarianism in some areas of life with mindless anarchy in others. I guess, then, it makes sense that liberal California is in hot water for threatening to check its existing DNA database against crime scene samples, to see if they can find relatives of unknown criminals. And Moxie is in favor of it. Naturally, because it involves common sense and the possibility of jailing violent criminals, the ACLU is considering opposing it.

I don't see what the fuss is all about. The idea works like this. California already has a database. They're not going to force random citizens to become part of it. When they have DNA belonging to a person involved in a crime, and they don't know who that person is, they plan to compare it to the database DNA to see if they can locate relatives. They hope information on relatives can point them in the direction of the unknown persons. I don't say "criminals," because I suppose it's possible to find DNA from an unknown victim or witness.

To simplify, it looks like California is planning to look at information it already has, in order to solve crimes. Is that considered draconian now? Are they supposed to pretend they don't have the information? I know I'm getting forgetful, but we do want to solve crimes, right?

This is kind of like the way we solved the world's energy problems with safe, cheap, clean nuclear power, and then went on to mope about how we had no solution to the energy crisis.

I don't have much sympathy for the folks whose DNA is already in the machine. I've been fingerprinted over and over, even though I've never been charged with a crime, and you can bet the government will use my records against me if they ever get the chance. I have a few government-issued licenses which required me to submit fingerprints. If I have no right to complain, why should I listen to people whose information entered the system because they're burglars and rapists?

The Florida Board of Bar Examiners has forced me and everyone else who has taken the bar exam to leave a thumbprint on the test papers. That's much more degrading than having your fluids tested after you leave them on a bedspread belonging to a twelve-year-old.

If the ACLU wants to sue to get my fingerprints deleted from the government's computers, maybe I'll listen. Until then, shaddup.

Yesterday's sabbath or Lord's Day or whatever was great. I read the books of Colossians and Thessalonians I, and I got through Genesis up to the point where they loaded up the truck and moved to Egypt, and I read about the Jewish holidays in Rabbi Eckstein's book, How Firm a Foundation.

I've been trying to figure out how strict the sabbath should be. For Jews, there is a list of 39 types of activity which are totally forbidden, starting, of course, with "rolling on shabbos." But Paul cautioned about forced observance of the sabbath. The theory behind Christianity is that the Holy Spirit writes God's laws on your heart, helping you to decide what is right or wrong. However, that doesn't happen overnight, and it doesn't make you infallible, and it doesn't mean you do whatever you want. And you're expected to read the Bible a lot, to draw guidance. And it's obvious that a good Christian will observe a fair amount of the law, regardless of whether he is considered totally bound by it. You can't murder. You can't commit adultery. And those are commandments; parts of the law. At the very least, I would expect a Christian to observe the Noachide Laws, which are so clearly correct, it would be impossible for a person who believes in God to dispute their validity.

I figure it's okay to deal with an earthly need once in a while, as long as it's not a significant distraction. Or if you just need a break. At one point I picked up some groceries, and I also took a few minutes to blast my sick mamey tree with copper spray. I think that's all right. You'll go cross-eyed if you just sit and stare at the Bible all day.

Let me recommend The Spirit-Filled Bible once again. The explanatory material is like a built-in Talmud, helping you figure out what's going on.

I also wonder if it's okay, on the sabbath, to give alms and offerings and so on. I assume it is, since every church in America passes the collection plate on Sundays. Jews don't handle money on the sabbath. I read somewhere that they may give offerings the day before, prior to sundown. But that doesn't work too good on a schedule in which days begin in the morning. You'd make an offering and then eat dinner and go to bed, and then like sixteen hours later, the sabbath would begin, pretty well breaking the connection between sabbath and offering.

Speaking of Rabbi Eckstein, he is letting Jimmy Carter have it. Highlights follow. Hat tip to Stand for Israel.

After his meetings with Hamas, Carter immediately began trumpeting his accomplishments. At a press conference in Jerusalem, he assured the world that "There's no doubt that both the Arab world and Hamas will accept Israel's right to exist in peace within 1967 borders."

Khaled Mashaal, who Carter met with just days before, immediately contradicted Carter. "We agree to a (Palestinian) state on pre-67 borders," he said, "with Jerusalem as its capital with genuine sovereignty without settlements but without recognizing Israel."

Behind all of this, of course, lies a larger reality that Carter seems determined to ignore. Hamas is a terrorist organization. The primary reason for its existence is the elimination of Israel. As long as Hamas holds this position, any efforts at peacemaking are doomed to failure.

Read the rest yourself.

This guy is starting to look like Emperor Palpatine. I don't know how anyone can look at his record and not come away with the conclusion that he has something against the Jews. It's a very sad way to end a life of public service. He could have redeemed his failings as President by doing something truly worthwhile in his autumn years. Instead, he is doing everything he can to assure that history views him as an unusually prominent anti-Semite. Were I already past the life expectancy of an American male, I would have my day of judgment on my mind, and I would be very hesitant to persecute God's people and obstruct the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham.

By the way, am I the only one who has noticed that there seems to be a trend of natural disasters striking places associated with sin? Now Reno is getting hit by earthquakes. I'm sure glad I don't live in South Beach.

Let's see what's happening in the Blogosphere.

First off, something that didn't actually happen. I had a crazy dream last night. I was at a gathering of bloggers at a university somewhere, and a bunch of us were in a big room, talking. And the actress Michelle Trachtenberg yelled for everyone to be quiet and then asked me to be her prom date. Naturally, I was pretty confused. Then her older sister, Sondra K., said she had no idea what was wrong with her.

This makes Sondra Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Funny, I see her as more like Glorificus.

We did not go to the prom.

Hmm...Agent Bedhead has the hots for the Rock. I love this guy's work. It really upsets me that his movies have generally crapped out. How is it that Vince McMahon can get better work out of him than a professional movie director?

But I think Agent B. likes him for other reasons.

Beth is upset with Jeremiah Wright. Who can blame her? He's helping HILLARY CLINTON.

Here's upsetting news. Michael Bane was in a pistol match, and he shot badly, partly due to a habit of snatching the trigger. I sort of had this hope that with practice, I would quit doing that forever. It's a bummer, seeing a seasoned shooter do it.

Mr. Minority has a controversial theory as to why terrorists are rude and hostile. I dunno. There may be something to it.

Finally, Kathy Shaidle has encountered a problem which may drain her entire defense fund. However, given that she is being attacked for opposing the Religion of Peace and Terrorism, I kind of like the nature of the items she is considering buying. They would definitely make her yard safer from Muslim kooks.

Posted by Steve H. at 12:33 PM | Permalink  

Ahhh

Shabbat shalom, sort of. I still can't figure out why so many Christians call Sunday the sabbath, but I think we're stuck with it.

Thanks for the positive responses to last night's post. Sorry if the tone was just a tiny bit critical. I was feeling somewhat crabby. I am working to take the crabbiness out of my personality, but I am concerned that once it's gone, nothing will remain but a big blank space.

Thought I'd point one more thing out. The odd folks who said I had no business buying a progressive reloading press were even more wrong than I suggested last night. None of the problems I've had have had anything to do with the nature of the press. Figuring out how the dies work is what drove me crazy, and they're the same dies you use on a single-stage press. I wondered about the die order, but that wasn't a major problem.

This is my third observant Sunday in a row. It's growing on me. I really look forward to it on Friday and Saturday. I guess the Jews are right about giving one day a week to God; if you try it, you may like it. The best thing about it is knowing I have nothing to worry about until tomorrow.

I think I need to simplify food preparation on Sundays. I don't think I'll burn for turning on the stove, but spending hours cooking on a Sunday seems like a mistake. I should work harder on Saturday to prepare.

Once again, I encourage you to try this yourself. Christians may not be under the Mosaic law per se, but that doesn't change the fact that a lot of this stuff is good for you.

My only regret is that I got so close to making ammunition, and now I have to wait until tomorrow. But as sacrifices go, that's pretty small.

Og says he had a knee operation, so pray that he heals up good. I'm surprised he didn't fix his knee himself. Probably couldn't do it because he doesn't have a Workmate.

Posted by Steve H. at 11:17 AM | Permalink  

Tell me This is Not Happening

According to Stand for Israel, PM Olmert has decided to give back the beautiful Golan Heights. To a terrorist nation Israel just bombed. In exchange for...wait for it...peace.

What a brilliant strategy! How come no one thought of this before?

If Israel keeps this nonsense up, eventually they'll have so little land, they'll have to put a giant ladder on their last remaining square foot, for everyone to climb and hang onto.

Sooner or later, we are going to have to admit that imperialism is often a very good thing. The civilized nations of the world are going to have to unite and take over states like Syria and Iran and put everyone on an allowance.

I'll say it again. Liberals believe battered wives aren't fit to be trusted with handguns, but they think savages are fit to handle huge armies and nuclear weapons. Someone explain the logic.

Posted by Steve H. at 12:10 PM | Permalink  

Fixed my Bumper...

Agent Bedhead is in love with Quentin Tarantino. I find him entertaining but annoying. But today she managed to find a photo that may force me to rethink my views.

It suggests a buddy flick we could both really enjoy.

Posted by Steve H. at 6:18 PM | Permalink  

New Comment!

Leah Friedman has returned to my comments! She just posted this:

Thank you so much your prayers have helped me more than you will ever know. Therapy sucks and at times is brutal. But each day I get a wee bit stronger. Steve I am sending you a virtual hug. In time I will reply to everyone, just this post is taking me a very long time. B'Ahavah Leah

It was nothing, Leah. God is doing all the work. I just take the credit.

I'm so glad you're writing and talking again.

Posted by Steve H. at 3:24 PM | Permalink  

A Pilot You Will Never See

I saw an interesting post over at Lashawn Barber's blog the other day. She was commenting on her self-imposed celibacy.

In the interest of touting my own virtue, I would like to remind everyone that I, too, am celibate. However, I didn't do it on my own. I had a lot of help from the world's 3 billion women. They seem only too eager to assist.

She obliquely refers to Sex and the City, one of the most revolting TV shows in recent history. Four women with absolutely no sexual morals, aging as they try to fornicate their way to a happy marriage. And wondering why it's not working out.

I have never understood the appeal of this show. It's gross. It's trashy. And it's depressing. The statistics on sex and marriage are sad enough as it is. Do you really need to see the problems exaggerated on situation comedies?

You can't find Mr. Right by becoming the perfect sexual toy. Men are programmed to want sexual variety, so no matter how great you are, you will eventually be less exciting--from a purely sexual standpoint--than someone less attractive whom he hasn't had yet. That's just the way it is. Lust diminishes. To hold a man's interest, you have to offer him something beyond sex. Something of lasting value. Something he won't get tired of. The funny thing is, even men don't understand this. They sleep around trying to find the sexiest, best-looking woman available, on the theory that only a woman like that can satisfy them for the remainder of their lives. But every woman will eventually seem less sexually inviting, regardless of how attractive she is at the start. Look at Hugh Grant.

Aside from that, women tend to become less physically attractive after marriage, in absolute terms. They get fat. They have babies. They get stretch marks. They have less interest in sex, or they get tired of pretending to have interest. Keeping the product fresh and appealing is a full-time job, and most women fail at it. It's unnatural, anyway. You should be worrying about more important things. You don't have to be a supermodel, if the foundation of your marriage is strong.

Lashawn mentions a few of the by-products of fornication. Illegitimacy, for one. It's funny how blind people are to the exorbitant cost of sex. Illegitimacy is just the tip of the iceberg. Prisons are full of men who killed because of problems related to sexual sin; for example, they kill their unfaithful wives and their lovers, or they kill the husbands of the women they sleep with. Over twenty million people in Africa are dying of a hideous incurable disease, because Africans are very promiscuous. Here in the US, medical treatment is better, but there are still people with AIDS and herpes and HPV. Over half of young black women have HPV! Think about that the next time you're in a bar. America is full of broken homes. We have kids who don't know their fathers. We have kids who become criminals because they grow up that way. And we kill unborn babies by the thousands, primarily because we're too lazy to use birth control. And then there's the cruelest form of fornication, with its horrible costs: rape.

Somehow we still defend promiscuity. We don't listen to common sense, or to God. We listen to the herd. Everyone around us is doing it, and we have to do what they do, because otherwise we'll be weird. We do what our peers do, because we think they're smarter than God. And we talk about abstinence as if we were being asked to cut off our legs. It's impossible! It's insane! It can't be done!

And yet millions of Americans manage it, every year. I guess they're superheroes or something. Magical powers the rest of us lack.

Mankind is funny. Life used to be full of obvious perils which followed our misdeeds closely. And they tended to drive us to repent. Then technology helped us soften the blows. And it has made us feel safe from judgment, so we continue doing wrong. It used to be that if you got VD, you died in misery in a pretty short time, or you became sterile, or you went blind or insane. Now we cushion the blow with medicine. Many times we prevent the consequences entirely. So we think we're getting away with something. But are we? You can't think so, if you're religious. If God exists, the evil that you do will affect your life adversely, sooner or later. Unless you turn from it. The price may not be as obvious as it used to be, but it still exists.

Yet people like Lashawn Barber are labeled kooks. I don't get it. Sex just isn't that wonderful. We've convinced ourselves that it's the most pleasurable activity in existence. Do you find that to be true? A good percentage of women don't enjoy it or want it, and an awful lot of men have bad sex. You have to worry about pregnancy and disease. And even good sex often comes with a huge burden of guilt, especially if you're a man and you lie to get women. And the more you sleep around, the more boring sex gets.

I remember a documentary about a professional wrestler who was a drug addict and sexual adventurer. In middle age, he complained that he couldn't have relationships, because he had seen so much, he couldn't be excited by the prospect of normal sex. He indulged his fantasies until he got so spoiled, he couldn't enjoy what a decent woman could offer him. I don't think he's unusual at all. I think he's completely normal. If you're a woman and you marry a man who has slept with a lot of other women, you may be getting someone just like him. And you have to wonder: can he quit?

Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of soup. I admit, sex is usually better than soup. But fornication is still no bargain. I wish I could undo my own mistakes.

I don't think Lashawn Barber is a kook for abstaining. It's something we should learn to be proud of. You wouldn't be ashamed of having the sense not to jam your finger in an electric socket. The risks of extramarital sex are a whole lot higher.

Posted by Steve H. at 12:18 PM | Permalink  

Barbecue: New Opiate of the Masses

I have let a few emails slip through the cracks. Sorry about that. I'll try to fix it.

First, I have to look at my weekly Winn-Dixie ad!

Rump roast is on sale again. I have to find out if that stuff is any good.

Brisket, $2.49 a pound. I need to barbecue!

Chicken leg quarters, 69 cents a pound! Oh, man. Barbecue is looking even more tempting.

Lamb chops, $2.49! Last week I used my recipe for lamb shanks with orzo to fix some sort of low-budget WD lamb chops, and they were fantastic. I removed the orzo, since it's pure carbs. Still well worth eating. I was thinking the orzo could be replaced with rice or beans. Rice is not quite as horrible for my gut as pasta. But the worldwide famine is beginning, so I may have to learn to live without rice.

Spare ribs, $1.99 a pound. Are they trying to FORCE me to barbecue?

Whole pork shoulder, 79 cents per pound. This now amounts to coercion.

What else is happening? Hillary beat Snob-ama in Pennsylvania, but it wasn't a rout. But some of the pundits who said she needed a rout are now saying she's still in the race. Have we been lied to, or what? I don't get it. Maybe they're reluctant to announce her demise because it will mean fewer opportunities for them to appear on TV.

Tony Snow thinks there isn't much difference between Obama and Hillary. He's nuts. Hillary has no convictions. She'll be as conservative as she has to be to gain and maintain power. We've already seen it, from her as well as her husband. Conservatives rammed a lot of policies down Bill Clinton's surprisingly eager throat, and we can do the same thing to Hillary. Obama, on the other hand, is not sharp enough to compromise. He's a true far-left fringer. And man, does he love taxes and gun control. And he wants to gut the military. I don't think Hillary would be brave enough to do that, in the current climate. She and Bill reduced our soldiers and sailors to beggars in the past, but that was before 911.

Obama has stated publicly that he wants to cripple arms development. Not just nukes, but conventional arms. Even Carter was too smart to do that. Obama wants to lower our pants and then invite our enemies over for tea.

He's also a huge gun-grabber. He wants all ammunition labeled. He backed a bill that would have made ammunition sales virtually illegal, by banning sales within five miles of a park or school. Get out a map and try to find a place that isn't within five miles of a park or school. We would be buying ammunition on a barge in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico.

Obama has been endorsed by a new gun-grabbing organization fraudulently named the American Hunters and Shooters Organization. It was put together by far-left kooks with long histories of anti-gun activism. You wait and see. If he gets elected, he'll pack the Supreme Court and the federal courts with judges who think the second amendment only applies to militias, and gun-grabbing organizations will file suit after suit, trying to get the Supreme Court to reverse its recent decision that the right to own and carry guns is an individual right.

And if he gets the justices he wants, they'll do it.

That will be nice. He'll destroy our national defense, and he'll disarm us so we'll be easier to invade. And he'll destroy the economy with high taxes and a revived welfare state, so the current recession will last ten years. Violent crime will take off. The whole country will be like the District of Columbia.

Hillary will be awful, but Obama would be considerably worse. He's not smart enough to understand how international relations or the economy works, and he's a true socialist. And he worships at a church run by an anti-Semite. Kiss Israel goodbye. They won't have the 1967 borders. They'll have the 1947 borders.

I truly hope he wins the Democrat nomination, because he'll be easy to beat. All we have to do is tell the truth about him, and the public will run screaming into the booths and vote for McCain. Hillary is much better at fooling people.

We're in for a depressing four years no matter what. But Obama would be a catastrophe. A sick cross between David Dinkins and Jimmy Carter. A vacant suit masquerading as a messiah. There is nothing to this guy. He got into college and law school in an atmosphere of extreme affirmative action. He accomplished nothing in the private sector, beyond what perfectly ordinary lawyers do all over the US. He has no history as an effective politician. He has no business in the White House. He isn't even fit to be a cabinet secretary. And what little record he has tells us he wants to impose worn-out, destructive, completely discredited socialist policies on us. If "change" means going back the Johnson administration, change is what this guy is all about. Ralph Nader is more credible.

Oh, well. I can't control the world. I guess I better pray for McCain and focus on taking care of myself.

Posted by Steve H. at 12:24 PM | Permalink  

Time to Find a New Registrar

Scroll Down for Info on Godaddy's Explanation

I registered a domain name at Godaddy.com, on a lark. Then it lapsed. It was a com name. After it lapsed, I decided to see if I could revive it.

Their site said it was not available, so I registered the net version. Then I sent an email asking what was going on with the com domain, because their site said something about a redemption period. I just got a reply. They're holding it hostage. They'll give it back to me for ninety dollars. I told them to keep it.

I've registered more domains than I've actually used. Sometimes I get a domain idea I like, and I register it for the hell of it. Until now, I reflexively went to Godaddy. But they can forget my business from now on. I hope they enjoy their worthless domain more than they would have enjoyed my continued patronage.

One unfortunate thing about Internet hosting and domain businesses is that they have no oversight. There are no ethical rules binding these people, and a lot of them are creeps. They should consider their customers clients and look out for their best interests, but they don't have to. I'm surprised that a well-known outfit like Godaddy would resort to something resembling extortion, but I'm sure it's completely legal.

I'll be moving all my domains to my current hosting company as they near expiration. It's time for Godaddy to go, go, go.

Glad I learned this lesson with a domain I don't care about.

More

Godaddy now says "the registry" charges them $80 to "redeem" a domain name, and that this is why the fee is so high. I don't know who they're talking about. All I know is, somebody is trying to charge me a ton of money for a worthless domain which has never been associated with a website, and which would cost about six bucks to register, were it new.

Evidently, there are companies above Godaddy in the food chain. Googling around, I come up with one name: Verisign. Are there others? I don't know. All I know is, they're the folks who get the bulk of the cash.

Here is what I suspect. "Redemption" consists of clicking a check box on a website somewhere or typing a few characters into a form and pressing "Enter." That's how complicated most of the processes associated with creating a website are. If redemption is different, you have to wonder why. I'm still thinking "ransom."

I also wonder why Godaddy doesn't mention this when you email them about redeeming a domain. You would think they would want customers to know they're not the ones applying the screws. It looks like I was mistaken and Godaddy is not evil after all. But it sure looks like somebody is milking this.

Even More

It looks like expired domain names are auctioned off on a site at tdnam.com. So I suppose what you're paying for is the service of having your site yanked off the auction site. However my expired domain isn't on the site. So I wonder what I would be paying for.

Hmm...someone on Metafilter claims a Godaddy affiliate called Wild West pounces on expired domains and buys them for ransom purposes.

I don't know what the deal is, and I don't care. I take care of the domains that matter. This one was just a whim.

Posted by Steve H. at 7:43 PM | Permalink  

She Writes!

Great news! Leah Friedman is writing now!

As you know if you read my blog, Leah suffered respiratory arrest related to a heart condition, and she was comatose for a while, and now her brain has to recover from the insult. A bunch of my readers have been praying for her, and it's working. I hope she won't mind me posting this.

Hi, Everyone: I'm Home! I am able to type, very slowly. My brain still has trouble getting the message to my fingers. In time the doctors say it will return. I have some memory loss and walking is very difficult, therapy is three times a week. I have so many emails and comments from all of you, THANK YOU for refuah shleimah. As energy permits I will write to everyone. G_d Bless!

B'Avahav,
Leah

Here is her blog, if you want to comment.

Posted by Steve H. at 9:07 AM | Permalink  

"Bulletproof" Real Estate Starting to Slide

As usual, I am starting the day with Drudgebart.com.tv. I've finally learned my lesson about clicking the blind video links. I used to find myself inadvertently watching one disappointing video after another, before realizing what I was doing. Now when I see "breitbart.tv" in the link, I avoid clicking.

One interesting story: Miami luxury homes are finally dropping in value. A LOT. The story has to be horrifying for speculators. Among the examples: a property that sold for $2.75 million in 2005, selling for $500,000 at auction. I knew the prices of ordinary homes had dropped something like 20 percent. But 80%? Wow. The story says the deal still has to be approved by the seller. I think I'd hold on and try to squeeze more out of it, before I'd eat a $2.25 million loss.

I know a realtor who got caught up in the tulip-bulb frenzy when it started, and for a while he made good money. Unfortunately, instead of merely selling real estate, he bought a bunch of spec properties he couldn't afford. If I recall correctly, one of his loans has an interest rate of 18%. Why? Because "experts" were saying the interest rates didn't matter. If you make a 50% return in six months, what do you care about an annual rate of 18%?

Now he's trying to unload his own house, to save his credit. He may have to quit real estate. He hasn't made a payment in months, and the only reason he hasn't been thrown out on the street is that his lender is even more scared than he is. Better to have a nonpaying owner living in a house and taking care of it than to let the house go unoccupied and fall apart.

This neighborhood is looking more and more like a ghost town. There are several "for sale" signs on every block. There are vacant lots all over the place. When you drive down the street, you see one empty house after another. Houses that should have gone up two and three years ago aren't going up at all, or they're finally starting, after terrible delays. I would hate to buy one of these places. They're being built to sell, in a county where construction is illegal-immigrant-built junk even in the best of times.

And people are RENTING here. That's unusual. Anything to get the houses filled, I guess. If the economy gets a lot worse, this neighborhood could easily become a collection of unoccupied homes subject to vandalism, squatting, and arson.

Here's what I wonder. Where did everyone go? Many, many houses are empty. They had to go somewhere. Maybe they did what I want to do. Maybe they moved north.

According to the story, things are going to get a hell of a lot worse here. A huge number of apartments have been built, and they're going to get their certificates of occupancy soon. When that happens...WHEEEEE, you'll be able to rent a nice place for three hundred bucks a month. For owners, that means no more positive cash flow. You won't be able to charge 2x in rent and pay x on your mortgage and expenses. And that will drive selling prices down even farther.

It's amazing how bad people are at math. Professional investors seriously believed home prices could increase 25% for year, for eternity. Someone do the math for me. What would a hundred-thousand-dollar house be worth in twenty years? Fifty million dollars? Some ridiculous number. I'm too lazy to figure it out. Wait, I found an online calculator. Looks like it would be worth roughly nine million dollars. Yeah, that'll happen. With income increasing maybe one-fifth as fast. Assuming a five percent annual increase in income, which we're not really getting, your income would increase by a factor of 2.65. So your house's price increases by a factor of nearly 90, and your income goes up by a factor of less than three. Maybe in Bizarro World.

I know almost nothing about economics, but for at least two years I've been pointing out that we were headed for a cliff. The free market didn't cease to function simply because a lot of misinformed people got into house-flipping. Sooner or later, the money to pay for a house has to be earned. And if it can't be earned, the price has to drop.

Does this mean we're headed for a buyer's market? I dunno. The prices will be low, but a low price doesn't make a good investment. We have a lot of other problems hurting us. Oil prices, food price increases caused by the ethanol scam, increased competition from India and China. Real estate may drop to a plateau where people feel safe buying and then it may plummet even farther. I guess the only good reason to buy a home these days is to have a place to live.

My instincts tell me the credit crisis has to hurt real estate badly. Not just because it will reduce the number of loans, but because it will make buying more unpleasant. If people have to pay more for homes up front, they'll feel the pain much more directly. Credit is like insurance. It takes the suffering out of high prices, driving prices up. I would venture to guess that the more money people have to put down, the more prices will drop. Here in Miami, small, ordinary homes have been selling for four hundred thousand dollars. It's one thing to put fifty grand down and pay a thousand a month. It's another to come up with a hundred thousand or even the whole cost of the home. Those little houses are going to stop looking like bargains soon.

Ironically, Miami has been blessed by the dollar's slide. Foreigners love it here, and the dramatically increased buying power of their currencies lured them to buy homes. That's all over now. With Sotheby's withdrawing home after home, without a bid, the flow of foreign cash is going to dry up fast.

I'll tell you one thing I've learned. You never try to surf a wave all the way to the beach. When I was in law school, I traded stocks, and I paid a big chunk of my tuition that way. When the techs started looking bad, I quit. And I kept my capital. A lot of people lost their retirement money, because they seriously believed the NASDAQ could double in value every year until Judgment Day. Sometimes you should be satisfied with a really, really good return. Otherwise, you're like a gambler who stays at the table until he craps out. I'm sure there are people who got rich flipping properties. They're the ones who got out two years ago.

I know I'm no expert, but the experts are losing their homes, going broke, and jumping out of windows. And I'm not. If anyone asked for my advice, I'd say the same thing I said two years ago. Stay out of this mess.

Posted by Steve H. at 9:43 AM | Permalink  

Try It

I had a pretty productive day today. I read the book of Galatians, and I studied up on the Trinity, and I read a fair amount of Such a Firm Foundation, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein's book relating Christianity to Judaism. And I created a new pork recipe. I wasn't planning to do that, but I had to fix something to eat, and I had a lump of Costco tenderloin, and I threw something together.

Here's the basic idea. Cut a tenderloin into medallions and marinate it in a little Marsala, garlic juice (solids strained out so they won't burn and stink later), several sliced cayenne peppers, and salt. Cut up a big white onion. Fry the onion in butter until it starts to clear, and then remove the onion from the butter. Add more butter if needed, or even if not needed. Fry the pork in the butter to brown it. Splash a little Marsala in while frying. When you have a pile of browned medallions, fry the onions a little more and add them.

The Trinity is an interesting concept, because it's one of the main things Jews cite when they criticize Christianity. Even though Islam is a bigger threat to the Jews, Islam is considered less heretical than Christianity, because Islam is purely monotheistic. Christianity has the Trinity, which appears polytheistic to Jews. And to a lot of Christians, I might add. I didn't know until recently that many Jews consider themselves forbidden to enter a church or even walk in front of one, whereas mosques pose no problem.

I tend to think Christians have screwed up the Trinity concept. While Jesus is clearly divine, it's also clear that He considered himself completely subordinate to Jehovah. As for the Holy Spirit being a person separate from Jehovah, I'm not so sure. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was referred to as "the Spirit of God," and it was no threat to monotheism. I see it as an extension of the life of God into the human body, just as a plant's life extends into a leaf. I think it's part of Jehovah. If it was not considered a polytheistic concept in Samson's time, it shouldn't be any different now.

Rabbi Eckstein's book is informative. I've read the first chapter, and so far the obvious underlying message is, "It is a waste of time to try to convert us." He talks about the way the Judaic legal system works, the way a modern legal scholar might explain the American legal system. And it's impressive. There is no doubt about that. First there was the Pentateuch. Then the rest of the Hebrew Bible. Then there was oral law, supposedly dictated to Moses but not reduced to writing until the time of Jesus. Then there were endless commentaries, and commentaries upon commentaries. And there are immutable procedures for resolving questions, and man--not God--is considered the final arbiter.

The peculiar thing about man being the final authority is that it places his interpretation of scripture and commentaries and so on above even divine revelation. Rabbi Eckstein relates a story in which a group of rabbis have a dispute, and God speaks from heaven, giving them the answer, and they reject it, because tradition says they're supposed to vote. And God agrees, even though their answer disagrees with His, and He says they've beaten Him! And He's happy about it!

How do you convert people who believe things like that? We rely on faith and the action of the Holy Spirit; modern miracles, if you will. And Jews are trained to distrust these things. It's not unreasonable; they've seen fraudulent messiahs come and go for centuries. And they haven't had a prophet in over 2000 years.

Jewish scholarship is much deeper and older than ours. Christians tend to reinvent the wheel every time a church becomes unsatisfactory. Jews--at least the Orthodox--build on old foundations and don't abandon them. If you look at it from an intellectual standpoint, you can hardly blame them for thinking they're on firmer ground. It's remarkable that any Jew with a religious education ever comes around. I suppose they only convert when they decide they see Jesus in the Bible, so convincingly that they're willing to disregard the bits of the Talmud that were created after the advent of Christianity. I haven't read the Talmud, but it's my understanding that it's not a document that could ever be used to support the divinity of Jesus. To put it lightly.

I'm not concerned. If Jesus is the Messiah, then creating intellectual barriers is like like building a house of straw to protect yourself from the Big Bad Wolf. Illuminating reading, however.

I can't figure out whether Rabbi Eckstein is Orthodox or Conservative. I assume he must not be Orthodox, since he is willing to speak in churches. He hasn't burst into flame yet.

Wonderful day. I recommend the "sabbath" observation to one and all.

Posted by Steve H. at 10:18 PM | Permalink  

Vacation

It's Sunday, so once again I'm going to rest and give the day to God. No Nowlive show. I don't know when I'll get back to Nowlive, if ever.

I've noticed a few things about keeping the "sabbath" (I'll bet there's a better term for a Christian's Sunday observation). The Jews are right when they say it's something you look forward to.

When I was a kid, I thought it was a day of punishment and misery; you put on an uncomfortable suit and sit on a hard bench and listen to a boring guy talk about how rotten you are, until you think your head will explode. Then you go home, and you find out about all the fun bad things your friends have been doing all morning without you. I wrote a screenplay in which one of the characters says his mother told him God would take him to heaven as long as he allowed God to "rurn" all his Sundays.

I don't see it that way any more. If you're a believer, you presumably have moments when you feel God's presence, or moments when your faith is confirmed, and they're very enjoyable. You miss those sensations when they're not with you. They give you strength and encouragement, and they reassure you that the choice you have made is right. During the week, earthly concerns tend to make those moments happen farther apart. You have too many other things to worry about. So by the time Sunday rolls around, you are very anxious to revive the sensations.

Also, Sunday is the only day when you really know what you're doing. During the rest of the week, you have a variety of things to worry about, and things come up unexpectedly. On Sunday, you rest, you pray, you read the Bible, you watch religious programming, you spend time with your family, maybe you do good deeds, and that's about it. It's a relief to have that other stuff off your back, and to know that what you're doing is correct and profitable.

When Jews compare the sabbath to a vacation or a holiday or an oasis, they're right on target. You should try it. If you believe in God, you can't believe it's a net loss. Surely He will repay you more than you're giving up.

Anyway, I'm off to enjoy the day. Hope your day goes as well as mine.

More

If you like beginning your Sunday with an offering, you may be happy to learn that World Vision now has eightfold matching donations set up for malaria prevention and treatment.

Posted by Steve H. at 10:38 AM | Permalink  

Scary Nemesis of Brave Islamist Warriors Now Able to Sit up and Eat

Leah Friedman continues to improve. Prayers still needed.

Hope the death threats from the extreme regions of the Religion of Peace have stopped.

Posted by Steve H. at 6:01 PM | Permalink  

Artists Now Scarier Than Serial Killers

I have been busy dealing with an HVAC guy. Until I get it together, check out Moxie's new pro-abortion art project.

Warning: the images are horrifying.

Posted by Steve H. at 11:51 AM | Permalink  

Don't Forget to Write

I got a call from a friend to whom I was very close in college. We hadn't talked in years. He said my sophomore roommate was trying to put together a contact list for a bunch of us who shared a floor my freshman year. And the friend relaying this information wanted to come to Florida and charter a boat and take me and my father fishing.

Does that seem appropriate to you? It occurs to me that once you've been out of touch with someone for years, unless it's someone very special, that person shouldn't call you up and demand that you participate in a weekend of fishing, as if you were still tight. A person like that isn't really a friend any more. He's an acquaintance. And you wouldn't call a mere acquaintance up and expect him to act like a pal. You wouldn't ask to borrow money. You wouldn't expect him to be an usher at your wedding. You wouldn't ask him to be the godfather of your child. Dinner, maybe. Or lunch. Talk about old times. That's about it. Say hi, fight over the check, and part for another ten years.

He was saying I should crash class reunions, even though he and I both graduated apart from our freshman class. Crash reunions? Hell, I'd hide if I spotted most of those people. My family was a mess when I was in college. I went through hell. Those guys would just remind me and make me feel all those sensations over again.

I gave him my contact information via email, but I told him not to give it to anyone else, and that there was no way I would participate in an email list or reunions. And I explained that I didn't enjoy reliving college. I was polite, but he hasn't responded, and I'm not going to follow up. Now I'm the bad guy, I guess, but it doesn't matter, because things weren't going anywhere anyway.

I belonged to a group of six close friends when I was in college. I guess we thought we'd be friends for life. Out of the six, the two I still treasure are Aaron and old gay Dave. One other is okay, but I can't say I miss him much. The others, I chose to allow to drift away. One I just don't like or respect any more, and the other wore me out by disappointing me too many times. I won't say which one called.

I drop people right and left. No warning. Poof, you're gone. I've always been that way. I try to treat people very well, and when I realize I'm not going to be repaid to any real extent, I just close up. Or if I realize a person is an incorrigible bad influence. And I am especially bad about dropping people who tell me what to do. That's degrading, especially when it comes from a younger friend or a friend who knows I'm smarter than he is. People shouldn't be like chickens, always trying to establish a pecking order. Friends should be equals. I don't do well with competitive friends. If you're insecure, spring for therapy. Don't abuse me to inflate your ego; buy yourself some Tony Robbins tapes and watch Stuart Smalley.

A friend isn't a tool. A friend isn't something you use to achieve goals that benefit you. A friend is someone you like and respect, even if there is nothing he can do for you, and whom you try to help however you can. You take pleasure in the good things that happen to your friends, even if good things aren't happening to you. You only criticize friends when you feel you absolutely have to. A friend improves you and helps you succeed and enjoy life. If you disagree with this stuff, you have no idea what friendship is. You probably have no real friends. You may be a psychopath. At best, you're underdeveloped, and you need to grow up.

Maybe I should work harder to keep friends and change them. Maybe that's one of my shortcomings as a friend. But I think you can tell when a person is willing to change and when he's not. And now that I think about it, I know I've talked to friends many times about issues we've had. I should be better about going to them first instead of complaining to other people, though.

On balance, I think I'm right about letting friends go. No one has more than four or five friends. Regardless of what they think. The rest are just extras. Nice to have around, but not to be relied upon.

I feel like a friend ought to be able to tell when I'm no longer excited about the relationship. If I never call you back, or I never take you up on your invitations, you say we should do this or that and I always change the subject instead of answering, or you find yourself carrying the entire weight of the friendship, you ought to realize things have changed. Am I wrong? Sometimes you have to end romantic relationships very explicitly, maybe in some cases with tear gas and a bean bag gun, but I've usually found that friends don't have to be told when things have frozen over.

I don't want to spend the weekend with this guy and his kids. I don't want him spending $1500 on a fishing trip for me. There is no way I'd spend that kind of money on him. I'd spring for dinner, sure. But I hope he doesn't expect me to show up or send presents when his kids get married. I'm sorry to say it, but I wouldn't pay for an airline ticket to go to his funeral. If it was across town, sure. But fly? No way.

Dinner would be fine. I'm really glad he's doing well; he has earned it, and he has a family to support. It would be nice to hear from him every couple of years. But this is like appearing on someone's doorstep after twenty years and yelling "ROAD TRIP!" Like everything will be fine if we just start texting each other every day. The lack of communication isn't the problem. The problem is, I've changed.

Asymmetrical relationships are so uncomfortable.

Posted by Steve H. at 8:49 PM | Permalink  

I See, I Buy

I had another fine experience at Costco today. Rib eyes were selling for $5.59 again, so I had to buy. They're aging in the beer cooler now. Picked up some pork tenderloin as well.

They have really good Mexican blackberries, and what person from Kentucky could pass a blackberry up? So I nabbed those. Plus really cheap grape tomatoes. I think supermarket grape tomatoes are a little better, but I only eat the damn things for my health, so I don't care. I bought a jar of assorted nuts for my gall bladder, and those were very good, too. And I got navel oranges. I have to eat fruit once in a while, and navels are easy to deal with.

I saw one item which I did not fully appreciate until I got home. A gigantic Crescent tool set. It had all sorts of stuff in it. Like 118 pieces. I know Crescent is a brand not known to explode immediately when you try to use them, so I figured it had to be worth the $29 price. But I didn't think I needed them. Then after I got home, I realized: for $29 plus $5 for a Home Depot toolbox, I could have had a pretty decent emergency kit for the car trunk.

They also had Stanley tripod flashlights on sale, so I had to have one.

I managed to resist the truly stupid items this time. That's always a challenge. And they were out of kosher Coke.

I would love to make a blackberry cobbler. That would be fantastic. I haven't had that in years. I can't believe my grandmother has been gone for half a decade.

They also had Pinch for $24 a fifth, but I didn't buy any.

I think I'm starting to get the hang of Costco.

Posted by Steve H. at 4:22 PM | Permalink  

We are Going to Have to Develop a Taste for It

It's Winn-Dixie weekly ad day again. My joy is without limit. Let's see.

Skirt steak, $4.99 a pound! Not bad!

Winn-Dixie sausage, two for $4.00! They make really nice breakfast sausage. No boar taint.

Boston Butt, $1.49. Ground chuck, $1.99. Wings, $1.79. I only wish they'd put rib roasts on sale again.

Al Gore has worked his magic for a second day in a row. It is a bone-chilling 60 degrees here, or at least it was when I checked. I am loving this global warming. I hope the cold weather, which indisputably proves that the planet is warming up, continues into May.

The other day I was web-surfing, and I saw some information about Edgar Cayce, the "sleeping prophet." This guy used to lie down and say things he claimed were supernaturally inspired. My mother thought he was fascinating. On a web site touting his predictions, it said that in 1934, he foresaw that Hitler would rise to power! Wow! Incredible! Then I checked, and guess when Hitler became Chancellor of Germany? Uh...1933. So it looks like you can be a great psychic, just by predicting stuff that already happened. Al Gore is even worse. He predicts the opposite of what actually happens, and once it starts to become clear that he's wrong, he continues to predict it.

Al, please...predict a sharp increase in oil prices. Predict defeat in Iraq. Predict that Keith Olbermann won't retire.

I'm really hoping this weather will score me some more tomatoes. If I could get Brandywines, my life would be complete.

Speaking of crops, have you noticed the increasing furor over the ethanol scam? This is one of those great unifying scams, because the perpetrators are both conservative and liberal. Liberals started it, and conservatives realized the public was hopelessly brainwashed, so they went along with it. And now the liberal press is raising hell, because it's starving people. Unfortunately, being liberal, confused journalists are now starting to tell us that the answer isn't more energy. It's not more refining capacity, responsible drilling efforts, and plentiful, clean, safe, cheap nuclear power. Oh, no. The answer is to give up meat, because livestock eat grain.

So instead of progress, in the form of more energy, lower energy prices, and increased industry and commmerce--the only things that can save us--the left wants us to eat an unhealthy diet which conforms to their bizarre and unpopular prejudices. In other words, leftism caused the energy problem, by denying us oil and nuclear power and coal and God knows what else, and they caused starvation by pushing ethanol, and now instead of taking responsibility and admitting their ideas are backward and wrong, they are using the situation to promote another backward and wrong leftist idea. So far, we are being starved by environmentalism, and we are expected to suffer more, in the name of animal rights. I'm wondering...when do we reach the point where this can somehow be used to promote Wicca and gay marriage? The hook has to be in there somewhere.

Toplessness. Maybe our problems can be solved by public toplessness. By women ill-suited to the practice. Liberals resorted to this to end the war in Iraq, so I guess it will also end the grain crisis.

The world is down to a three-month supply of grain right now. I sure hope our harvests are good until we reach the inevitable conclusion that ethanol is a sick joke.

Posted by Steve H. at 11:35 AM | Permalink  

Love Thy Neighbor as Thy Doormat

Miami is unbelievable. Sometimes the rudeness is like something you would expect to experience in a federal prison.

I just went to Best Buy. They had a waiting area cordoned off. It was very obvious. You stand in the area, and the cashiers call you as they become available.

I arrived right after a lady with a big cart. She had her kids with her. Immediately, a man pushed his cart into the area in front of her, studiously avoided looking at both of us, and waited for a register. I was trying to be a Christian and not get into fights over trivia, and I guess she was, too, because we both let it go. Then someone with him--his son, I suppose--joined him with another cart. Still doing his best to pretend we didn't exist, looking in one direction while he acted in another, as if looking in our direction would turn him to stone, he moved things from the other person's cart to his and pushed the other cart directly in front of this lady, so she couldn't get out of the waiting area unless she moved it.

"Nice manners," I could not resist saying, very clearly and loudly. And she agreed wholeheartedly as she pushed the cart out of the way. Then another man and boy appeared, and they were headed for the register, when she flagged them and pointed out the big, conspicuous waiting area. They came and stood behind us, babbling with irritation, pretending to believe the waiting area was somehow irrelevant and that the proper thing to do was to barge ahead of other people. I could tell she was exasperated. Trying to get out of the store with her kids and her stuff, without killing anyone. "Miami manners," I said. "Only in Miami," she agreed.

She got a register, and the man behind me came and stood beside me, staring at the registers. I wondered if I was going to have to have a discussion with him. Imagine, acting like that in front of your kids. Teaching them to be trash. That other people are props in the grand dramas of their lives, to be used as needed. But he thought better of it and backed up.

I lived in New York, and while the people were nothing to brag on, you could generally count on them to wait in line at stores. In Texas, in a line dispute, the problem would be trying to convince the other person he was ahead of you.

I miss Texas so much. The people were wonderful. But I could say the same thing about other places I've lived. If you've lived in Miami and you've lived anywhere else in America, you know what I mean. Two kinds of people defend Miami manners. Peop