When your faithful correspondent was a tyke one of the indications of moving from being a "baby" to being a "big boy" was the ability to tell time using an analog clock or watch. In those days there really was no such thing as an analog timepiece. A watch or a clock always hand the numerals 1 through 12 placed in a roughly circular fashion around the face and hand two or three hands to tell the hour, minute, and sometimes second of the day.
Telling time was a tricky thing for a kid; big hand, little hand, second hand were often confused. After all, an hour is bigger than a minute and a minute is bigger than a second, so the hour hand should be the longest hand (The second hand) the minute should be the middle length hand (the minute hand) and the shortest hand should be the second hand (the hour hand). But most kids got through it and learned that instinct, especially in measurement,was not always the best guide and that the resisting of instinct in favor of certain rules, whether man-made or God proclaimed, were, and are, the mark of a human.
This writer's first watch was awarded to him at the age of five. The watch was a Zorro watch. The face of the watch was black and the numerals and hands were white. Emblazoned just above the center of the face was the word "Zorro." Zorro was a popular children's television program starring Guy Williams at the time. And while yours, at the time of the receiving of the watch, was still a little shaky on the concept of time telling, he enjoyed wearing, winding and listening to the watch.
Upon graduation from high school, this writer was awarded a Gruen chronometer. which was a real prize. Four dials in one watch! It was used several times at the drag races to measure the speed of cars and was used in the Navy to estimate the distance of 5 inch guns being fired from nearby destroyers.
It was at this time that digital watches (first invented by Hughes Aircraft) became popular and it was assumed that the dreary display of numerals on an LED or LCD watch face would soon take over the the analog watch market. At first the digital watches were rather expensive, but new technology always starts out dear. The arguments for buying a digital watch were that the watches were more accurate than digital watches (whether spring driven or electric) and that they could (at least the LED watches) could be easily read in the dark.
At the time such watch companies as Timex (probably the maker of more watches than any other company in the world) and Seiko started tooling up to make digital watches and pretty much considered their analog watches as supply for a niche market. New companies such as Citizen and Casio popped up to make digital watches and seemed to fully expect that everyone would be walking around and telling time by looking at looking at their wrists and seeing LCD or LED numerals telling them that it was 12:35:54 instead of at an analog watch telling them that it was about twelve-thirty.
But guess what? The digital watch, as a wrist watch, pocket watch or even clock, lost out. Well, really it didn't lose out, but it took second place to the analog watch after a short period of supremacy. If one goes to a department store, jewelry store or watch store one will see that the vast majority of watches are of the analog type. Some of them are spring driven and others are electronically driven, but they have hands that point to numerals. Those digital watches that are offered are either very cheap (this writer has seen digital watches for as little as five dollars) or are specialty watches for sailors, runner or hikers. Or anal retentive geeks.
What happened to the great digital watch revolution? This writer posits that the reason is that digital watches are seen as cheap and that they are, in fact inhumanly ugly. Compare the the face of a Casio Yachtsman to a Movado or Rolex Submariner. Also, they represent nothing. They're displays are nothing more than bare numerals that really mean nothing outside the watch or clock. An analog watch, one the other hand, and in a sense, represents the rotation of the earth.
A wrist or pocket watch is a piece of jewelry as well as a time keeping device. The watch says something about the owner and most people are content to know the time of day within plus or minus five minutes and have no need to split seconds while they are driving to work.
This, to your faithful correspondent, shows the triumph of the common man. Despite the ubiquity of digital clocks in cars and on bank buildings, the average man and woman prefers an analog watch or clock to the geekness of digital display. It is a triumph of common sense over marketing, though one sees young people using the clocks on their cell phones instead of watches when one asks them the time of day despite the fact that they are wearing an analog wrist watch. But young people are foolish and are blinded by shiny things and one can only hope that they get some about time. Being within fifteen minutes of the correct time is good enough for most things.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Termites and termite fighters
Our Mussalman friends keep do a good job of keeping a bitch going and a good job of getting those who should know better consider their nonsense seriously:
Islamic fundamentalism promoted on websites at some Muslim schools in the UK, think tank finds - Telegraph
In the above article note that there are some UK officials who defend people who want to do nothing but bury the Union Jack under a pile of rubble.
British Muslims 'providing Taliban with electronic devices for roadside bombs' - Telegraph
One wonders if the British officials are looking for the British orcs who are cooperating with the Afghan orcs in trying to kill British soldiers and marines. Or are they bureaucrats afraid of hurting the feelings of the Islamic "disenfranchised" youth?
Meanwhile, there are several governmental agencies and politicians who are willing to take on the burrowing of the Islamic termite:
Man arrested who has possible tie to bin Laden | charges, authorities, taken, custody, immigration - News - OCRegister.com
Admittedly, the above arrest has more to do with an immigration violation than an attack on the traitorous nature and ramblings of one of our Islamic brothers, but it's a start on the right road.
Gates of Vienna: Viennese School Draws the Line at Schnitzel
Let's think a moment. Pretend for a moment that you want to make a living as a plumber. During your training in the program you are expected to learn how to install and repair toilets and sewage lines. You tell your instructor that you only want to repair sinks and bathtubs and that you find toilets disgusting. Do you think that you'd be receiving your journeyman's card anytime soon?
Gates of Vienna: Geert Wilders’ Speech in Rome
Wilders is one of the few Dutch and European politicians who seem to understand that Islam is a threat to the Western ethos, and he has been treated badly by the Quislings who run the EU. Recently he was barred entry into the U.K. because a Muslim member of the House of Lords pitched a bitch about a film that Wilders produced. Oddly enough, the film was made up of nothing much more than clips of Mohammedans making statements about the West and the Jews.
Sometimes it seems that all is lost, but occasionally there is cause for hope.
Islamic fundamentalism promoted on websites at some Muslim schools in the UK, think tank finds - Telegraph
In the above article note that there are some UK officials who defend people who want to do nothing but bury the Union Jack under a pile of rubble.
British Muslims 'providing Taliban with electronic devices for roadside bombs' - Telegraph
One wonders if the British officials are looking for the British orcs who are cooperating with the Afghan orcs in trying to kill British soldiers and marines. Or are they bureaucrats afraid of hurting the feelings of the Islamic "disenfranchised" youth?
Meanwhile, there are several governmental agencies and politicians who are willing to take on the burrowing of the Islamic termite:
Man arrested who has possible tie to bin Laden | charges, authorities, taken, custody, immigration - News - OCRegister.com
Admittedly, the above arrest has more to do with an immigration violation than an attack on the traitorous nature and ramblings of one of our Islamic brothers, but it's a start on the right road.
Gates of Vienna: Viennese School Draws the Line at Schnitzel
Let's think a moment. Pretend for a moment that you want to make a living as a plumber. During your training in the program you are expected to learn how to install and repair toilets and sewage lines. You tell your instructor that you only want to repair sinks and bathtubs and that you find toilets disgusting. Do you think that you'd be receiving your journeyman's card anytime soon?
Gates of Vienna: Geert Wilders’ Speech in Rome
Wilders is one of the few Dutch and European politicians who seem to understand that Islam is a threat to the Western ethos, and he has been treated badly by the Quislings who run the EU. Recently he was barred entry into the U.K. because a Muslim member of the House of Lords pitched a bitch about a film that Wilders produced. Oddly enough, the film was made up of nothing much more than clips of Mohammedans making statements about the West and the Jews.
Sometimes it seems that all is lost, but occasionally there is cause for hope.
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Juicers Up!
Professional football season has thankfully come to an end. Some team won the Superbowl game and another team has won the Pro Bowl game and now those with any lick of sense, and appreciation for beauty, drama and athleticism, can concentrate on the upcoming baseball season without being accused of being premature in our pondering of how will our favorite team do during this year's campaign. The intelligent person knows many things and one of those is that in team sports Only Baseball Matters. All others are chaff mistaken for grain.
But, as usual, modern life and and science have inserted themselves into the sublimity of the Great Game. It was revealed this weekend that Alex Rodriguez (aka A-Rod) tested positive for the use of steroids during the 2003 season. There's really no surprise in this revelation for those of us who have watched the man over the years. He's shown himself to be hungry for money and for glory, going so far as to attempt to make himself the unofficial leader of the Yankees during his first year with the team.
Mr. Rodriguez, in reply to a query from Sports Illustrated concerning the matter replied that the writers should talk to the players' union about the matter and that he had nothing to say.
In other words, he had neither the courage and honesty to 'fess up and claim that he made a youthful mistake nor the brass to deny the findings of the test and call the charges damnable lies. He, in effect, ran to Mommy and hid behind her skirts. He sees the players' union as his protector instead of manning up, getting on the horse and riding it until he defeats it or falls off.
Now, admittedly, A-Rod is not the most popular members of the Yankees. Noo Yawkers have long known him to be a preening would-be usurper of the Black Adder type without the humor. A-Rod now joins the company of Clemens, Sosa, McGwire, Canseco, Bonds et al who have been proven or heavily suspected of being juicers and thus who's hard work and talent are suspect because the relied on better living through chemistry. And he, and they, have helped to besmirch the great game.
One finds one's self wishing for the days of good, honest cheating: cheating that risked instant detection such as throwing spitters, using corked bats, not touching base. The use of steroids is more underhanded than physically cheating and is thus to be more condemned.
This writer has no solution to the problem. The club owners, in their search to pad their bank accounts, are loathe to enforce the anti-steroid rules. The only thing that would make the owners pay attention to the rule would be if the club were heavily fined for steroid use by its team members as well as the players being fined and/or suspended. But the union covers for the players and greed drives the owners to the expense of the game.
The only thing that the fans can do is shun and mock the juicers and praise and support the clean players. Instead of talking about Roger Clemens' record we should look at the heroic performances of Curt Schilling, razz A-Rod and praise Garrett Anderson, forget McGwire and remember Ted Williams.
Despite what one would think, baseball is not the property of the MLB, the Steinbrenners, the McCourts or the Morenos. Baseball is, and always has been the people's game from the days when it developed from rounders. We may not be able to control the professional game, but we can influence it. We can demand that the game be played clean. Otherwise, if the owners and the dirty players prevail our game will turn into professional wrestling.
But, as usual, modern life and and science have inserted themselves into the sublimity of the Great Game. It was revealed this weekend that Alex Rodriguez (aka A-Rod) tested positive for the use of steroids during the 2003 season. There's really no surprise in this revelation for those of us who have watched the man over the years. He's shown himself to be hungry for money and for glory, going so far as to attempt to make himself the unofficial leader of the Yankees during his first year with the team.
Mr. Rodriguez, in reply to a query from Sports Illustrated concerning the matter replied that the writers should talk to the players' union about the matter and that he had nothing to say.
In other words, he had neither the courage and honesty to 'fess up and claim that he made a youthful mistake nor the brass to deny the findings of the test and call the charges damnable lies. He, in effect, ran to Mommy and hid behind her skirts. He sees the players' union as his protector instead of manning up, getting on the horse and riding it until he defeats it or falls off.
Now, admittedly, A-Rod is not the most popular members of the Yankees. Noo Yawkers have long known him to be a preening would-be usurper of the Black Adder type without the humor. A-Rod now joins the company of Clemens, Sosa, McGwire, Canseco, Bonds et al who have been proven or heavily suspected of being juicers and thus who's hard work and talent are suspect because the relied on better living through chemistry. And he, and they, have helped to besmirch the great game.
One finds one's self wishing for the days of good, honest cheating: cheating that risked instant detection such as throwing spitters, using corked bats, not touching base. The use of steroids is more underhanded than physically cheating and is thus to be more condemned.
This writer has no solution to the problem. The club owners, in their search to pad their bank accounts, are loathe to enforce the anti-steroid rules. The only thing that would make the owners pay attention to the rule would be if the club were heavily fined for steroid use by its team members as well as the players being fined and/or suspended. But the union covers for the players and greed drives the owners to the expense of the game.
The only thing that the fans can do is shun and mock the juicers and praise and support the clean players. Instead of talking about Roger Clemens' record we should look at the heroic performances of Curt Schilling, razz A-Rod and praise Garrett Anderson, forget McGwire and remember Ted Williams.
Despite what one would think, baseball is not the property of the MLB, the Steinbrenners, the McCourts or the Morenos. Baseball is, and always has been the people's game from the days when it developed from rounders. We may not be able to control the professional game, but we can influence it. We can demand that the game be played clean. Otherwise, if the owners and the dirty players prevail our game will turn into professional wrestling.
The Baseball Fan's Prayer
Heavenly Father, most High and Powerful, all Knowing and perfect Umpire,
We confess to Thee our manifest fouls and errors and beg forgiveness through our most gracious Mediator and Advocate Jesus Christ.
We thank Thee for all the blessings Thou hast deigned to give us, especially for the game of baseball, which Thou mentioned in the first words of the Scriptures (In the big inning).
We beseech Thee to give us a season of good, clean baseball and pray that our ash wielding warriors of the diamond will fairly and cleanly defeat our enemies. Lead us not into the temptation of band wagonism, but deliver us from the evil ones called the Yankees. Give us patience during loss and humbleness during victory.
We ask these things in the name of our most blessed Savior, Jesus Christ the Righteous.
Amen and Play Ball
Heavenly Father, most High and Powerful, all Knowing and perfect Umpire,
We confess to Thee our manifest fouls and errors and beg forgiveness through our most gracious Mediator and Advocate Jesus Christ.
We thank Thee for all the blessings Thou hast deigned to give us, especially for the game of baseball, which Thou mentioned in the first words of the Scriptures (In the big inning).
We beseech Thee to give us a season of good, clean baseball and pray that our ash wielding warriors of the diamond will fairly and cleanly defeat our enemies. Lead us not into the temptation of band wagonism, but deliver us from the evil ones called the Yankees. Give us patience during loss and humbleness during victory.
We ask these things in the name of our most blessed Savior, Jesus Christ the Righteous.
Amen and Play Ball
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Some Are Starting To Get and Some Ain't
During the recent Gaza action by Israel resulted in demonstrations in the US, Great Britain and Europe. In Great Britain, France and parts of the US the demonstrations in favor of the Palestinians became violent against against both people and property. The French and the British handled the demonstrations badly. The usual burning of car in Paris and Orcs running through Golders Green in London threatening Jewish owned businesses and smashing windows. The usual Islamic run-a-mok.
In Italy, on the other hand, while there were demonstrations, they remained remained fairly peaceful. But the Orcs managed to push the Italian into taking action against the creeping infestation of non-verbal threats to the Italian way of life: Islam In Action: Italy:Talks of Deportations.
Great Britain, on the other hand, seems to be unable to recognize a threat to it's heritage and form of government. And leading the charge toward the English monarchy becoming a satrap to Mecca is the Church of England, as evinced by the following: Church vows to keep faith with its schools, despite Muslim majority - Times Online. Be not fooled by the title of the piece. The very fact that a C of E school would accept Muslim students and not carry out the religious instruction for all students, Christian or not, in deference to the Muslims shows that the C of E schools have become private schools and not religious schools. The parents of the Muslim students are using the frame work of a Christin education, without the Christianity to give their children superior educations while Christian students, who cannot afford the schools, are abandoned to the state school system.
To get an idea of the gravity of the C of E school problem imagine yourself the parent of a child who you have decided to enroll into a Catholic or Calvary Chapel school. Naturally you expect your child to be given religious instruction. That's part of what you paid for. But suddenly there is an influx of a large number of Muslim students who are not interested in learning the truth of Christianity, but only in the fact that their children will receive a better education than they would at a state school. The school, decides that they prefer the tuition fees instead of the stated goal of the school (Christian education). Religious instruction, Christian prayers and Christian ethos are chucked out the window in order not to offend the Muslim students. In fact, the Muslim students are given opportunities for prayer that the Christian students are not. One can only assume that the school will soon abandon all vestiges of Christianity (examples are Harvard, Georgetown and USC; all founded as religious schools and now secular)and will become nothing but money makers and perhaps elite alternatives to the awful state schools.
It must be remembered that in India, during the days of the Raj, the best educated Indians were educated at C of E schools and underwent Christian education. Not all the Indians who attended the schools became Christians, but they learned a Christian ethos that neither Hinduism, Buddhism nor Mohammedism have. Christian education, explicit Christian education, bears interest for society in a way that secular or Muslim education does not. Namely, the students are urged to behave like Christians.
One wonders if, in Saudi Arabia or Pakistan, there were an influx of the children of Christians into madrassas the the religious education would change to avoid offending the Christians. Not likely.
While reading the article about the C of E schools note the statement of one of one C of E woman priest concerning the withdrawing of her child from the local C of E school and the third e-mail response to the article.
It appears that the C of E and the C of E schools are bound and determined to commit religious and cultural suicide.
In Italy, on the other hand, while there were demonstrations, they remained remained fairly peaceful. But the Orcs managed to push the Italian into taking action against the creeping infestation of non-verbal threats to the Italian way of life: Islam In Action: Italy:Talks of Deportations.
Great Britain, on the other hand, seems to be unable to recognize a threat to it's heritage and form of government. And leading the charge toward the English monarchy becoming a satrap to Mecca is the Church of England, as evinced by the following: Church vows to keep faith with its schools, despite Muslim majority - Times Online. Be not fooled by the title of the piece. The very fact that a C of E school would accept Muslim students and not carry out the religious instruction for all students, Christian or not, in deference to the Muslims shows that the C of E schools have become private schools and not religious schools. The parents of the Muslim students are using the frame work of a Christin education, without the Christianity to give their children superior educations while Christian students, who cannot afford the schools, are abandoned to the state school system.
To get an idea of the gravity of the C of E school problem imagine yourself the parent of a child who you have decided to enroll into a Catholic or Calvary Chapel school. Naturally you expect your child to be given religious instruction. That's part of what you paid for. But suddenly there is an influx of a large number of Muslim students who are not interested in learning the truth of Christianity, but only in the fact that their children will receive a better education than they would at a state school. The school, decides that they prefer the tuition fees instead of the stated goal of the school (Christian education). Religious instruction, Christian prayers and Christian ethos are chucked out the window in order not to offend the Muslim students. In fact, the Muslim students are given opportunities for prayer that the Christian students are not. One can only assume that the school will soon abandon all vestiges of Christianity (examples are Harvard, Georgetown and USC; all founded as religious schools and now secular)and will become nothing but money makers and perhaps elite alternatives to the awful state schools.
It must be remembered that in India, during the days of the Raj, the best educated Indians were educated at C of E schools and underwent Christian education. Not all the Indians who attended the schools became Christians, but they learned a Christian ethos that neither Hinduism, Buddhism nor Mohammedism have. Christian education, explicit Christian education, bears interest for society in a way that secular or Muslim education does not. Namely, the students are urged to behave like Christians.
One wonders if, in Saudi Arabia or Pakistan, there were an influx of the children of Christians into madrassas the the religious education would change to avoid offending the Christians. Not likely.
While reading the article about the C of E schools note the statement of one of one C of E woman priest concerning the withdrawing of her child from the local C of E school and the third e-mail response to the article.
It appears that the C of E and the C of E schools are bound and determined to commit religious and cultural suicide.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
3 Links
So this is what it has come down to:
1 in 3 'Christians' say 'Jesus sinned'
Christians are becoming social pariahs in Britain, claims Jeremy Vine - Telegraph
Obama prayer leader from group US linked to Hamas - International Herald Tribune
But after Jan. 20 everything will be "O-tay."
Back to the catacombs.
1 in 3 'Christians' say 'Jesus sinned'
Christians are becoming social pariahs in Britain, claims Jeremy Vine - Telegraph
Obama prayer leader from group US linked to Hamas - International Herald Tribune
But after Jan. 20 everything will be "O-tay."
Back to the catacombs.
Monday, January 12, 2009
A Headline You Won't See in the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times Raises Newsstand Price by 50%:
Minorities and Poor Most Affected!
Minorities and Poor Most Affected!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
This Is Your Enemy
For some reason there are people in the civilized world who support Hamas in the current military action by Israel in Gaza. These are probably the same types of people who adopt rattlesnakes and then are surprised when said snakes have the audacity to bite them despite the fact that the snakes have been fed a nice diet of mice.
Here are two videos showing what Hamas, and, indeed, Islam, is all about:
YouTube - Hamas terrorists kill innocent Palestinian in Gaza (Rare Video) (Must See)
YouTube - Hamas use UN ambulance to smuggle terrorists in Gaza
Also, an interesting thing happened in Italy. As you read the link ask yourself what your local mosque leaders' reaction would be is your church's youth group or prayer groups did the same thing as these people did:
Muslim apology over prayers outside Milan Cathedral - Telegraph
One sometimes wishes that the 1% motorcycle gangs would gather together at a mosque and give the Turks a big moon.
Here are two videos showing what Hamas, and, indeed, Islam, is all about:
YouTube - Hamas terrorists kill innocent Palestinian in Gaza (Rare Video) (Must See)
YouTube - Hamas use UN ambulance to smuggle terrorists in Gaza
Also, an interesting thing happened in Italy. As you read the link ask yourself what your local mosque leaders' reaction would be is your church's youth group or prayer groups did the same thing as these people did:
Muslim apology over prayers outside Milan Cathedral - Telegraph
One sometimes wishes that the 1% motorcycle gangs would gather together at a mosque and give the Turks a big moon.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
What's Wrong With This Picture?
For many years people in the Inland Empire (San Bernardino and Riverside Counties) in California have complained that people moving there from South Central and East Los Angeles to escape crime have done less than escape crime than bring crime with them. The opinion has been met with charges of racism against the Honkie McGills that used to be the mainstay of those counties.
Here is an example of the same thing happening faster in a smaller area. And the reaction is the same.
My Way News - Influx of black renters raises tension in Bay Area
It seems that everyone is wrong but the problem.
Go figure.
Here is an example of the same thing happening faster in a smaller area. And the reaction is the same.
My Way News - Influx of black renters raises tension in Bay Area
It seems that everyone is wrong but the problem.
Go figure.
Saturday, January 03, 2009
A Useful Idiot and an Escape From Idiocy
We here at the Manor have, for the past twenty years or so, considered Rosanne Barr (aka Rosanne or Roseanne Barr Goodman)to be a rather off-putting and stupid woman. She has shown herself to be a classic "celebutard" who thinks that because she has a platform addressing the public as an entertainer she should use the platform to express her political and social views. She has over the years claimed that she was a sexually abused girl-child (claiming that her father was the abuser) but has never taken any legal action, she has claimed to be a lesbian, but has never been seen in public with a girlfriend, she claims to be a practitioner of the Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbala, but has never been seen reading any Kabbalistic books or even speaking intelligently on the philosophy.
With the current action by Israel against the Hamas Palestinians in the Gaza she has deigned that the world should listen to her views of the action.Roseanne Barr blasts Israel as 'Nazi state'
This writer will not bother to cast aspersions on her comments or thoughts. They speak for themselves and they reveal a woman who has the same ability to reach conclusions based on morality and logic as a nutria. In her comments take time to consider that Our Lord Jesus Christ was a practitioner of Kabbala without any supporting documentation. The woman is just plain dumb. And she hasn't been funny in years.
Meanwhile, the Vatican has made a move that is a compliment to it's role as a leader of Roman Catholics: BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Vatican divorces from Italian law To put it in short and easy words, the Vatican has decided that it will not automatically recognize all Italian laws. but will review them and only recognize them when they agree with Roman Catholic law and teaching.
Would that the Christian churches here, whether Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant do the same thing instead of making excuses to lick the hand of the secular master. Christians are to obey secular laws in their secular lives, but they are to hold to a higher law among themselves that is beyond the ken of the heathen.
With the current action by Israel against the Hamas Palestinians in the Gaza she has deigned that the world should listen to her views of the action.Roseanne Barr blasts Israel as 'Nazi state'
This writer will not bother to cast aspersions on her comments or thoughts. They speak for themselves and they reveal a woman who has the same ability to reach conclusions based on morality and logic as a nutria. In her comments take time to consider that Our Lord Jesus Christ was a practitioner of Kabbala without any supporting documentation. The woman is just plain dumb. And she hasn't been funny in years.
Meanwhile, the Vatican has made a move that is a compliment to it's role as a leader of Roman Catholics: BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Vatican divorces from Italian law To put it in short and easy words, the Vatican has decided that it will not automatically recognize all Italian laws. but will review them and only recognize them when they agree with Roman Catholic law and teaching.
Would that the Christian churches here, whether Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant do the same thing instead of making excuses to lick the hand of the secular master. Christians are to obey secular laws in their secular lives, but they are to hold to a higher law among themselves that is beyond the ken of the heathen.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Two Blogs Worthy of Your Consideration
Those who are personally acquainted with this writer are aware that Bloody Nib Manor is within shouting distance of the Mexican border. There was a time, during your faithful correspondent's youth, that it was not unusual for a person from the Southern California to travel to Tijuana (or Tia Juana or TiaJuana or just TJ) to have one's car re-upholstered, buy cheap junk like flocked ceramic bull figurines or velvet paintings of Mexican banditos, busty putas or Elvis, or look for a little under-aged drinking or to have one's photo taken sitting on a zebra-striped burro while wearing a comical sombrero.
Those days have long passed and the drug wars in Old Mexico have taken their toll on the cheap wallet/belt and strip show market in TJ. The finding of headless bodies in town squares and school yards tends to put a bit of cold water on the tourist trade.
Here's a link to a blog that keeps track of the Mexican Drug Wars: Blog of the Gods
If you do not think that the Mexican Drug Wars have anything to do with you keep in mind that the kidnappings and killings have moved north of the border.
There are some who claim that what Mexico needs to get the situation under control is a strong man on a white horse. Your faithful correspondent is of another opinion. What Mexico needs is nothing less than a moral and religious reformation. This is not to say that this writer thinks that Protestantism will save Mexico from anarchy. But the Mexican people will have to take their Christianity seriously and abandon the quasi-paganism that many of them practice.
We don't think of Russia much anymore except when Putin does something silly. But be aware that Russia and Eurasia are of concern to the US. Check this out and keep informed: WindowonEurasia
There is more to worry about than your shrinking 401(k). We have enemies within who are enemies because of their greed. But we also have enemies without who do not want us to be poor. they do not want us to be.
Those days have long passed and the drug wars in Old Mexico have taken their toll on the cheap wallet/belt and strip show market in TJ. The finding of headless bodies in town squares and school yards tends to put a bit of cold water on the tourist trade.
Here's a link to a blog that keeps track of the Mexican Drug Wars: Blog of the Gods
If you do not think that the Mexican Drug Wars have anything to do with you keep in mind that the kidnappings and killings have moved north of the border.
There are some who claim that what Mexico needs to get the situation under control is a strong man on a white horse. Your faithful correspondent is of another opinion. What Mexico needs is nothing less than a moral and religious reformation. This is not to say that this writer thinks that Protestantism will save Mexico from anarchy. But the Mexican people will have to take their Christianity seriously and abandon the quasi-paganism that many of them practice.
We don't think of Russia much anymore except when Putin does something silly. But be aware that Russia and Eurasia are of concern to the US. Check this out and keep informed: WindowonEurasia
There is more to worry about than your shrinking 401(k). We have enemies within who are enemies because of their greed. But we also have enemies without who do not want us to be poor. they do not want us to be.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Indians Do Something that Liberal Americans Won't Do
Liberal Americans often, when they feel that their rights have been transgressed, ask "Where's the outrage?" Examples are such things are the rejection of homosexual marriage by the voters of California or "man-made global warming." Their interests are very insular and they seem to see themselves as not a part of the larger American culture. They expressed a bit of outrage for about two weeks after September 11, 2001, but it wasn't long before they started calling for the understanding of the terrorists' grievances. In other words, they seem to be bound and determined to commit slow motion cultural suicide. This is the result of people who feel guilty of their comfortable lives and one often wishes that the wealthy and comfortable would take the same stance as European aristocrats in regarding foreigners and other cultures as charming as long as they stay where they are.
During the Thanksgiving weekend a group of Muslim men wrought havoc in Mumbai (nee Bombay), and the Indian elite were not slow in condemning the action. They, and the government, named the men as Muslims and did not try to parse words by calling them "evil doers."
In this way the Indians have shown themselves to be much more men with chests than the average craven American politician. There's something wrong here. The American political and social elite have become so soft and so caring that they are useless for the maintenance of the nation. Everything goes as long as the Muslim hordes don't pee in their pool while the rest of us are subjected to law-fare from CAIR for proclaiming our traditional Judeo-Christian values.
But to get to the point, a group of Indians and Indian-Americans have protested in front of that cancerous institution known as the United Nations against the Muslims involved in the Mumbai massacre.
Atlas Shrugs: INDIA: Protesting Jihad at the UN
Note the placards pointing out the murders of the Chabad rabbi and his wife. And while looking at it ask yourself when was the last time you heard about Leonardo Di Caprio or Peter Coyote protesting the murder of innocents by radical Muslims? There are bastards by intention and bastards by default. American liberals fall into the latter category. They care more for a snail darter or an invert than they do for a family man or woman working an honest eight at a crappy job.
The reader may not care for country music, but there is something in old country music that speaks of the traditional American soul. Here's Granpa Jones singing a song that is more American than anything by Bruce Springsteen or any of the current crop of political singers because it addresses the American love of dogs (which Muslims hate) in an American style: YouTube - Grandpa Jones Old Rattler
The nation has, according to the media elite, become a nation that cares more for the feelings of our enemies than our dogs. That's not right. Our enemies are not only less than dogs. They are less than termites. And they are just as dangerous.
During the Thanksgiving weekend a group of Muslim men wrought havoc in Mumbai (nee Bombay), and the Indian elite were not slow in condemning the action. They, and the government, named the men as Muslims and did not try to parse words by calling them "evil doers."
In this way the Indians have shown themselves to be much more men with chests than the average craven American politician. There's something wrong here. The American political and social elite have become so soft and so caring that they are useless for the maintenance of the nation. Everything goes as long as the Muslim hordes don't pee in their pool while the rest of us are subjected to law-fare from CAIR for proclaiming our traditional Judeo-Christian values.
But to get to the point, a group of Indians and Indian-Americans have protested in front of that cancerous institution known as the United Nations against the Muslims involved in the Mumbai massacre.
Atlas Shrugs: INDIA: Protesting Jihad at the UN
Note the placards pointing out the murders of the Chabad rabbi and his wife. And while looking at it ask yourself when was the last time you heard about Leonardo Di Caprio or Peter Coyote protesting the murder of innocents by radical Muslims? There are bastards by intention and bastards by default. American liberals fall into the latter category. They care more for a snail darter or an invert than they do for a family man or woman working an honest eight at a crappy job.
The reader may not care for country music, but there is something in old country music that speaks of the traditional American soul. Here's Granpa Jones singing a song that is more American than anything by Bruce Springsteen or any of the current crop of political singers because it addresses the American love of dogs (which Muslims hate) in an American style: YouTube - Grandpa Jones Old Rattler
The nation has, according to the media elite, become a nation that cares more for the feelings of our enemies than our dogs. That's not right. Our enemies are not only less than dogs. They are less than termites. And they are just as dangerous.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Scatter Shooting (Hoping to Hit Something)
As those who are familiar with us here at Nib Manor may be aware, we have always been Christians of the Protestant sort. Specifically, this writer is a hard shell Baptist and the ever lovely Lady Nib leans more toward the Evangelical Anglican version of Christianity.
This has not always been the case. A a young man your faithful correspondent was a member of the United Methodist Church. There was a time when the Methodist Church, in the United States, was a very conservative and Protestant church. They had no truck with Roman Catholic liturgies or Roman Catholic practice. The displaying of images of saints or members of what Catholics call the Holy Family (Baby Jesus, Joseph and Mary) on anything but lawn displays during Christmas or on Christmas cards, were considered as indications of idolatry.
Over the years things have changed. The United Methodist Church, in an effort to stem the flowing away of their members to other denominations, has decided to take a stand by not taking a stand. They have decided that sodomy is not such a bad thing, that divorce is just a part of marriage, that abortion is pretty much okay and that Jesus Christ is more of a role model than God Incarnate.
The UMC has also made an effort to attract Latin American immigrants to the denomination has undertaken to change the traditional Protestant Methodist practices to those of a more Latin American Catholic bent. In other words, the UMC is beginning to move toward a "Catholic Lite" theology and practice to attract Latin Americans instead of pointing out the traditional theology of the Reformation and its truth in Spanish. One wonders if the leaders of the UMC think that Latinos are not capable of understanding the Three Solas. Or perhaps the UMC is, in certain geographical ares, sailing under false colors.
What brings this up is that the church that this writer used to attend is now offering a La Posada celebration for its Spanish speaking members. La Posada is a uniquely Latino Roman Catholic celebration. It has never been part of Protestantism.
There used to be a joke that Methodists aspired to be Anglicans once they made enough money to buy a pew. Now it seems that they want to be Latino Catholics without the Pope. One wonders what Wesley and Fletcher would make of it.
Earlier this week a Marine Corps F18 jet fighter, while on practice maneuvers off the coast of San Diego, crashed into a residential neighborhood killing a woman, her mother and her two infants children. It was a tragedy, to say the least. The woman's husband made a public statement that he did not blame the Marine Corps for what happened; it was an accident. The two Senators from California, on the other hand called for an immediate and fast investigation of the incident in order to affix blame.
Here's the problem. Do these two women, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, not think that the Marines will not investigate the causes of the crash without their urging? And do they think that a fast investigation will be better than a thorough investigation? Is there a point at which a politician will not stop grandstanding?
Finally, today an Iraqi journalist threw a pair of shoes at President Bush. The throwing of shoes, in Iraq, is considered a grave insult. Mr. Bush handles the incident well and went as far as to joke that he thought the shoes were size 10. One wonders what Mr. Obama's reaction, as well as the American press' reaction, would be in the same situation. But this writer forgets: no one would throw a shoe at The One.
This has not always been the case. A a young man your faithful correspondent was a member of the United Methodist Church. There was a time when the Methodist Church, in the United States, was a very conservative and Protestant church. They had no truck with Roman Catholic liturgies or Roman Catholic practice. The displaying of images of saints or members of what Catholics call the Holy Family (Baby Jesus, Joseph and Mary) on anything but lawn displays during Christmas or on Christmas cards, were considered as indications of idolatry.
Over the years things have changed. The United Methodist Church, in an effort to stem the flowing away of their members to other denominations, has decided to take a stand by not taking a stand. They have decided that sodomy is not such a bad thing, that divorce is just a part of marriage, that abortion is pretty much okay and that Jesus Christ is more of a role model than God Incarnate.
The UMC has also made an effort to attract Latin American immigrants to the denomination has undertaken to change the traditional Protestant Methodist practices to those of a more Latin American Catholic bent. In other words, the UMC is beginning to move toward a "Catholic Lite" theology and practice to attract Latin Americans instead of pointing out the traditional theology of the Reformation and its truth in Spanish. One wonders if the leaders of the UMC think that Latinos are not capable of understanding the Three Solas. Or perhaps the UMC is, in certain geographical ares, sailing under false colors.
What brings this up is that the church that this writer used to attend is now offering a La Posada celebration for its Spanish speaking members. La Posada is a uniquely Latino Roman Catholic celebration. It has never been part of Protestantism.
There used to be a joke that Methodists aspired to be Anglicans once they made enough money to buy a pew. Now it seems that they want to be Latino Catholics without the Pope. One wonders what Wesley and Fletcher would make of it.
Earlier this week a Marine Corps F18 jet fighter, while on practice maneuvers off the coast of San Diego, crashed into a residential neighborhood killing a woman, her mother and her two infants children. It was a tragedy, to say the least. The woman's husband made a public statement that he did not blame the Marine Corps for what happened; it was an accident. The two Senators from California, on the other hand called for an immediate and fast investigation of the incident in order to affix blame.
Here's the problem. Do these two women, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, not think that the Marines will not investigate the causes of the crash without their urging? And do they think that a fast investigation will be better than a thorough investigation? Is there a point at which a politician will not stop grandstanding?
Finally, today an Iraqi journalist threw a pair of shoes at President Bush. The throwing of shoes, in Iraq, is considered a grave insult. Mr. Bush handles the incident well and went as far as to joke that he thought the shoes were size 10. One wonders what Mr. Obama's reaction, as well as the American press' reaction, would be in the same situation. But this writer forgets: no one would throw a shoe at The One.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Dishonor and distopia
Let's assume for a few moments that you are a member of a gentleman's club. By gentleman's club this writer does not refer to such places as Spearmint Rhino or Boobs Galore where scantily clad women perform pole-dancing routines while men drink over-priced beer and howl like coyotes on the trail of a clutch of three legged rabbits.
Here, "gentleman's club" refers to the classic English club organized and joined by classic English gentlemen such as The Atheneaum or White's (or if one is in a lighter mood The Drone's Club).
Now assume that one, while playing billiards or whist or reading in the library, is "cut" by another member. Said member has said something negative regarding one's (or one's family's) honor. One has two courses of action.
One can either ignore the insult, and thus reap the rewards of showing one's self as a man not concerned about his reputation. Or one can challenge the bounder in one way or another (ranging from pistols at dawn to throwing biscuits into top hats).
What one does not do is start a slanging match that eventually results in one and the insulter sitting down and breaking bread and talking about how much one and the other like and respect one another. One has one's honor to defend or ignore. But one can not honorably sit down with the person who "cut" one (see the Oxford English Dictionary for the definition of "cut" used in this context) and be best mates. To do so is to show one's self as a lickspittle or sickeningly ambitious (both the same things, really).
Honor, in the old sense, in these days seems quaint among a certain segment of the population. But this segment is the same segment that hides the fact that their daughters are slatterns by paying for numerous abortions, allows their under-aged children to get tattoos from a "celebrity" tattooist, and has no problem spilling the most intimate details of one's personal life to a fat black woman or or bald fat white man on national television to get attention and perhaps make a shilling or two.
This past week (or perhaps the week before) Barack Obama and John McCain got together for lunch and afterwards praised one another to no end. Not more than a month ago both men were describing one another as agents of the demise of the Great Republic, idiots, fools and just dumb. But, no that the election is over and the Chosen One has been chosen, they are best buddies.
What changed? Nothing. Then way this sudden love-fest between two men who "cut" one another repeatedly? Who Knows? Perhaps it's a game for them.
This writer has noticed that politics seems to mean much more to the electorate than to the elected. To us it is serious business that effects the fate of the Great Republic. To them it's a job interview. And if they fail the interview they can pick up a higher paying job as a lobbyist.
There's something wrong with this.
Those in the know are aware that Nib Manor is in California and that during the last election the citizens of the Golden State voted to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman instead of a man and a man , a woman and a woman, or a freak and a cow.
The reaction among the homosexual crowd (this writer refuses to use the words "gay" and out of a sense of propriety the words "sodomite" or "invert")has been that of spoiled children denied their second bowl of ice cream at 11:00 P.M. There have been mass demonstrations outside Mormon churches (and oddly enough not outside Catholic churches despite the fact that the official Catholic position is against homosexual marriage, or black churches despite the fact that blacks voted overwhelmingly for heterosexual marriage) with a lot of heat and not much light. The word "hate" was bandied about freely and boycotts were called against businesses that had supported exclusively heterosexual marriage.
The homosexual community is outraged, but people who are wrong are often outraged. Outrage is not a logical, or even decent argument. This writer was outraged years ago when his parents would not give him a Vincent Black Shadow for his sixteenth birthday.
The people, through the initiative process (as questionable as that process may be), and if the vote had gone the other way the homosexual crowd would be crowing about the validity of the popular vote. Since they lost they are angry. There is really nothing new there. Every loser is angry that he lost. Just spend a few minutes at the tables at the Luxor and one can see that.
But here's the real story about the whole thing. Our homosexual friends, relatives and strangers are really angry because the passing of the the Yes vote on Proposition 8 reveals to them that homosexuals and homosexuality is not as popular among the populace of the state as they had assumed. In other words, and to make it short, most people in the state would prefer that homosexuals would just go away to someplace else like New York or Boston or Amsterdam.
The passage of Proposition 8 hurt their feelings and that's what gets them so angry.
And the reason that they've gone after the Mormons instead of the Catholics, the black churches, or even the Scientologists, is because the Mormons are seen, by the majority of the population as somewhat hickey (are they really Christians?); they are easy to beat up on because they are outside the mainstream. Their neglect of the Scientologists is due to, this writer thinks, the Hubbardists fondness for lawsuits. The Catholics and black churches, being accepted in society are considered part of American society and are, despite being minorities, are in the mainstream of society. And they might fight back.
Years ago this writer read the opinion of another writer that the homosexual lobby was working on a progressive plan. First the lobby would call for tolerance. Once the concept of tolerance was established the lobby would call for acceptance of homosexuality. And once the acceptance of homosexuality was established in a society was established then the lobby would call for mandatory homosexuality for a period of time for young people (perhaps a semester in high school). The passing of Proposition 8 has shown that the voters in the state are not willing to go beyond the first the first step.
Here, "gentleman's club" refers to the classic English club organized and joined by classic English gentlemen such as The Atheneaum or White's (or if one is in a lighter mood The Drone's Club).
Now assume that one, while playing billiards or whist or reading in the library, is "cut" by another member. Said member has said something negative regarding one's (or one's family's) honor. One has two courses of action.
One can either ignore the insult, and thus reap the rewards of showing one's self as a man not concerned about his reputation. Or one can challenge the bounder in one way or another (ranging from pistols at dawn to throwing biscuits into top hats).
What one does not do is start a slanging match that eventually results in one and the insulter sitting down and breaking bread and talking about how much one and the other like and respect one another. One has one's honor to defend or ignore. But one can not honorably sit down with the person who "cut" one (see the Oxford English Dictionary for the definition of "cut" used in this context) and be best mates. To do so is to show one's self as a lickspittle or sickeningly ambitious (both the same things, really).
Honor, in the old sense, in these days seems quaint among a certain segment of the population. But this segment is the same segment that hides the fact that their daughters are slatterns by paying for numerous abortions, allows their under-aged children to get tattoos from a "celebrity" tattooist, and has no problem spilling the most intimate details of one's personal life to a fat black woman or or bald fat white man on national television to get attention and perhaps make a shilling or two.
This past week (or perhaps the week before) Barack Obama and John McCain got together for lunch and afterwards praised one another to no end. Not more than a month ago both men were describing one another as agents of the demise of the Great Republic, idiots, fools and just dumb. But, no that the election is over and the Chosen One has been chosen, they are best buddies.
What changed? Nothing. Then way this sudden love-fest between two men who "cut" one another repeatedly? Who Knows? Perhaps it's a game for them.
This writer has noticed that politics seems to mean much more to the electorate than to the elected. To us it is serious business that effects the fate of the Great Republic. To them it's a job interview. And if they fail the interview they can pick up a higher paying job as a lobbyist.
There's something wrong with this.
Those in the know are aware that Nib Manor is in California and that during the last election the citizens of the Golden State voted to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman instead of a man and a man , a woman and a woman, or a freak and a cow.
The reaction among the homosexual crowd (this writer refuses to use the words "gay" and out of a sense of propriety the words "sodomite" or "invert")has been that of spoiled children denied their second bowl of ice cream at 11:00 P.M. There have been mass demonstrations outside Mormon churches (and oddly enough not outside Catholic churches despite the fact that the official Catholic position is against homosexual marriage, or black churches despite the fact that blacks voted overwhelmingly for heterosexual marriage) with a lot of heat and not much light. The word "hate" was bandied about freely and boycotts were called against businesses that had supported exclusively heterosexual marriage.
The homosexual community is outraged, but people who are wrong are often outraged. Outrage is not a logical, or even decent argument. This writer was outraged years ago when his parents would not give him a Vincent Black Shadow for his sixteenth birthday.
The people, through the initiative process (as questionable as that process may be), and if the vote had gone the other way the homosexual crowd would be crowing about the validity of the popular vote. Since they lost they are angry. There is really nothing new there. Every loser is angry that he lost. Just spend a few minutes at the tables at the Luxor and one can see that.
But here's the real story about the whole thing. Our homosexual friends, relatives and strangers are really angry because the passing of the the Yes vote on Proposition 8 reveals to them that homosexuals and homosexuality is not as popular among the populace of the state as they had assumed. In other words, and to make it short, most people in the state would prefer that homosexuals would just go away to someplace else like New York or Boston or Amsterdam.
The passage of Proposition 8 hurt their feelings and that's what gets them so angry.
And the reason that they've gone after the Mormons instead of the Catholics, the black churches, or even the Scientologists, is because the Mormons are seen, by the majority of the population as somewhat hickey (are they really Christians?); they are easy to beat up on because they are outside the mainstream. Their neglect of the Scientologists is due to, this writer thinks, the Hubbardists fondness for lawsuits. The Catholics and black churches, being accepted in society are considered part of American society and are, despite being minorities, are in the mainstream of society. And they might fight back.
Years ago this writer read the opinion of another writer that the homosexual lobby was working on a progressive plan. First the lobby would call for tolerance. Once the concept of tolerance was established the lobby would call for acceptance of homosexuality. And once the acceptance of homosexuality was established in a society was established then the lobby would call for mandatory homosexuality for a period of time for young people (perhaps a semester in high school). The passing of Proposition 8 has shown that the voters in the state are not willing to go beyond the first the first step.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Baby Talk
How many times have you found yourself sitting in front of the television set on a late afternoon or late night waiting for a ball game, the news or your favorite needlepoint or gardening show only to find yourself watching some nonsensical program like Access Hollywood or TMZ because you're just too damn lazy and comfortable to take the effort to punch a button on the remote control. And then, before you know it some "reporter" specializing in celebrities, such as Mary Hart, appears on screen to breathlessly announce that a female actress, singer or celebutard is showing a "baby bump" which means that said woman is with child, pregnant or, to use the current patois, "preggers."
If you are anything like your faithful correspondent the use of the term "baby bump" is like dragging a nail across a blackboard when the term is not used while speaking to children ("No, honey. Maria is not gotten fat. She has a baby bump.") or by children ("Mommy? Is that lady going to have a baby? She has a baby bump." "No, Junior. That old cow just has a beer belly.")or by people who seem somewhat retarded or just trying to be cute. The same goes for the word "preggers." The word "preggers" is a term best used, and should be only used, by adolescents in describing their schoolmates who are about to drop out of school and go on welfare and become regular customers of the local WIC center.
To hear a person in the media, who apparently is an adult with a college education, use the term "baby bump" and the word "preggers" is not unlike when this writer was a callow youth hearing the local gray-haired news reader use the word "groovy." It was just silly and made the user sound and look silly. It was tantamount with one's father, a veteran of the Marines in the Pacific during World War Two, wearing paisley shirts and bell-bottomed Levis to church because he wanted to be "with it." Just embarrassing. Thank God that Baron Nib never did any such silly thing. He was always a proper gentleman in his behavior and dress.
This writer has noticed an infantilization of the spoken and written word that he finds disturbing. It goes beyond "baby bump" and "preggers." All too many times he has heard a person on television or radio, or read articles in the newspaper in which the reporter describes a frightening incident as "scary." In the old days such incidents were described as "frightening", "terrifying", "horrifying" or "disturbing." The word "scary" was a children's word that could be used of anything from falling off a skateboard to fighting off an ax murderer or watching a horror movie. It seems that a certain segment of society has not progressed from grade school descriptions of emotions because they have neither matured or they feel that the viewers are rather stupid.
If one listens or reads the outpourings from the news media and popular culture one can find many instances of baby-talk put forth by people, who by their educations alone, should know and (one would hope)desire to speak and write in an adult manner. And these people seem to show no embarrassment about using terms and words that were heretofore used exclusively by children. It's a wonder.
Other words or terms that have come into common usage in the media are "poo" instead of feces or offal (one wonders when Katie Couric will break new ground by saying "poo-poo","poopy" or "do-do"; "doing the nasty" instead of making love, mating or fornicating; "bad guy" instead of criminal, enemy, jerk or idiot. The list goes on and on.
Language changes over the years and centuries, but usually it becomes more sophisticated instead of degraded and infantile. This writer would suggest that news writer and reporters, before using words that they feel might be somewhat suspect (and they DO know unless they are complete idiots) that they look in a Roget's Thesaurus, the King James Bible or Shakespeare to find an adult word to replace the baby talk that they have been babbling to us for the past twenty years.
One shudders to think of what the next twenty years hold for the language. Perhaps a spoken form of text messaging. CN U DG IT?
If you are anything like your faithful correspondent the use of the term "baby bump" is like dragging a nail across a blackboard when the term is not used while speaking to children ("No, honey. Maria is not gotten fat. She has a baby bump.") or by children ("Mommy? Is that lady going to have a baby? She has a baby bump." "No, Junior. That old cow just has a beer belly.")or by people who seem somewhat retarded or just trying to be cute. The same goes for the word "preggers." The word "preggers" is a term best used, and should be only used, by adolescents in describing their schoolmates who are about to drop out of school and go on welfare and become regular customers of the local WIC center.
To hear a person in the media, who apparently is an adult with a college education, use the term "baby bump" and the word "preggers" is not unlike when this writer was a callow youth hearing the local gray-haired news reader use the word "groovy." It was just silly and made the user sound and look silly. It was tantamount with one's father, a veteran of the Marines in the Pacific during World War Two, wearing paisley shirts and bell-bottomed Levis to church because he wanted to be "with it." Just embarrassing. Thank God that Baron Nib never did any such silly thing. He was always a proper gentleman in his behavior and dress.
This writer has noticed an infantilization of the spoken and written word that he finds disturbing. It goes beyond "baby bump" and "preggers." All too many times he has heard a person on television or radio, or read articles in the newspaper in which the reporter describes a frightening incident as "scary." In the old days such incidents were described as "frightening", "terrifying", "horrifying" or "disturbing." The word "scary" was a children's word that could be used of anything from falling off a skateboard to fighting off an ax murderer or watching a horror movie. It seems that a certain segment of society has not progressed from grade school descriptions of emotions because they have neither matured or they feel that the viewers are rather stupid.
If one listens or reads the outpourings from the news media and popular culture one can find many instances of baby-talk put forth by people, who by their educations alone, should know and (one would hope)desire to speak and write in an adult manner. And these people seem to show no embarrassment about using terms and words that were heretofore used exclusively by children. It's a wonder.
Other words or terms that have come into common usage in the media are "poo" instead of feces or offal (one wonders when Katie Couric will break new ground by saying "poo-poo","poopy" or "do-do"; "doing the nasty" instead of making love, mating or fornicating; "bad guy" instead of criminal, enemy, jerk or idiot. The list goes on and on.
Language changes over the years and centuries, but usually it becomes more sophisticated instead of degraded and infantile. This writer would suggest that news writer and reporters, before using words that they feel might be somewhat suspect (and they DO know unless they are complete idiots) that they look in a Roget's Thesaurus, the King James Bible or Shakespeare to find an adult word to replace the baby talk that they have been babbling to us for the past twenty years.
One shudders to think of what the next twenty years hold for the language. Perhaps a spoken form of text messaging. CN U DG IT?
Sunday, October 12, 2008
We're All Socialists Now
We here at the Manor have always made it a point to play by the rules.
We never built up mountains of debt, tried to pay for our cars with cash and have managed to pay off the mortgage and pay help without taking out a second mortgage. We have tried to save as much money as we can.
When we were young the very idea of taking out a loan of any size was considered shameful. One was expected, except in the case of the most dire emergency, to be self reliant as much as possible. One would borrow money from family members before going to the bank.
Now, due to the current financial "crisis" we find that the federal government is bound an determined to bail out everydamnbody who behaved in a less than wise financial manner. In other words, the government is bound and determined not to allow people fail who really should fail. It is like the indulgent mother of a gang member who has been arrested for shooting a slug from another gang crying, "My boy is a good boy" while the cops take the gun from the woman's son's hand and toss him into the squad car.
In other words, in the name of national interest the government has decided to institute what are, in fact, socialist measures to prevent the possibility of a "meltdown." Those who have behaved badly will be saved and those who have behaved responsibly will have to pay for it.
This writer fell asleep one night in a capitalist nation and woke up in a socialist one. And he never heard a shot fired or saw a ballot cast.
We never built up mountains of debt, tried to pay for our cars with cash and have managed to pay off the mortgage and pay help without taking out a second mortgage. We have tried to save as much money as we can.
When we were young the very idea of taking out a loan of any size was considered shameful. One was expected, except in the case of the most dire emergency, to be self reliant as much as possible. One would borrow money from family members before going to the bank.
Now, due to the current financial "crisis" we find that the federal government is bound an determined to bail out everydamnbody who behaved in a less than wise financial manner. In other words, the government is bound and determined not to allow people fail who really should fail. It is like the indulgent mother of a gang member who has been arrested for shooting a slug from another gang crying, "My boy is a good boy" while the cops take the gun from the woman's son's hand and toss him into the squad car.
In other words, in the name of national interest the government has decided to institute what are, in fact, socialist measures to prevent the possibility of a "meltdown." Those who have behaved badly will be saved and those who have behaved responsibly will have to pay for it.
This writer fell asleep one night in a capitalist nation and woke up in a socialist one. And he never heard a shot fired or saw a ballot cast.
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Blame it on the Computer
Recently one of the judges for the Nobel Prize for Literature stated that he saw no chance for any American writers to be considered for the prize. The reason, he said, is that American writers are too "insular."
To be absolutely honest, this writer does not know exactly what he means considering the fact that the last American writer to receive a Nobel Prize for Literature was Toni Morrison; a woman who has made a career about writing exclusively about the lives of black people in America. There is nothing universal, despite what literature professors in Ivy League and Ivy League "wannabe" schools say in Morrison's writing.
But your faithful correspondent is in complete agreement that there is no American writer on the horizon, perhaps barring Joyce Carol Oates*, who deserves to even be nominated for the Prize. And the reason is simply this: contemporary American writers, even the literary ones, just can't write worth a damn. This is not to say that they cannot make themselves understood. But their writing is lacking in style and substance. It all seems to be cleaned up first drafts; the first expression of an idea is used without thought of using other words to make the thought deeper, funnier, sadder, more poignant, etc. But that may be their intention. We live in a world where first thoughts trump pondering and the exhibiting of raw emotion is considered being "real" while taking time to have a second thought is considered artifice.
Be that as it may, this writer blames much of the problem on the computer; specifically, the word processor. The use of a computer is the most artificial form of story telling. It verges on the writer almost becoming an android with the machine. Because of the ease of spell checking and the use of cut and paste features the machine becomes an assistant instead of a tool.
The best literary writing has been done by hand or by type writers. Compared to writing on a computer the use of pen or type writer are slow and messy. And it is the slowness and messiness that improve the writing. The hand writer and type writer have to constantly look over their work to fix spelling and grammatical errors, and in doing so they see how they can make their writing better by changing, adding or removing words, sentences or paragraphs. On a computer, on the other hand, the words are on a screen and with a press of a key all words can be properly spelled, and in some cases the grammar fixed, per style book rules. With a computer the writer depends on the machine to fix the flaws instead of going through pages, reading and re-reading, looking for and marking errors with pencil in preparation for typing up or writing the second draft. It is the reading and re-reading and re-reading again that makes the author ponder his or her story and writing. The computer makes the very act of writing too easy, and easy writing is not often good writing. There is no need to re-read and re-read the writing. The words magically appear on a screen and, in this age of television, what appears on a video screen must be good.
Your faithful correspondent has seen copies of first drafts by famous writers written by hand or on type writers and he has also seen what are called first drafts written by writers on computers. The difference is striking. The first drafts of the manual writers (hand and type writer) are marked up with spelling corrections, phrase, sentences and paragraphs marked out and hand written notes crammed into the margins. The computer based writers, on the other hand, change a word here or there and perhaps add a phrase. The manual writers bled over their work. The computer writers just tweak. The difference, to use a vulgar illustration is like that of a person building an engine for a top fuel rail based on a Chevy big block engine and tuning up the family SUV.
At this point you may be asking the following questions:
"But Lord Nib, how can you say such things? Do not writers in other nations not use computers to write their literature? And you yourself use a computer to write the Bloody Nib. Does that mean that the Bloody Nib is bad writing?"
This writer has the misfortune of being able to read only one language, and that language is English. The problem may hold true for other languages and probably does. Americans, Canadians and the English take to technological advances much faster than do other peoples and in taking to the technologies they sooner become dependent to them. It will soon become a flaw in the writings of non-English writing writers that writing becomes a co-operative effort between man and machine.
And yes, the writing on the Bloody Nib is bad writing. If this writer pounded out the entries on this blog on a typewriter as he once pounded out a monthly magazine on a typewriter the writing would be much better.
At the top of this post are photos of two writers, now deceased and much writers of much different style and substance who, each in his own way, were masters of unique styles that have yet to be matched.
On the left is William Faulkner, a writer of stately and ponderous prose who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949. He is, in the photo, working on a Royal desk type writer while wearing a collar and tie.
On the right Mickey Spillaine, the creator of the Mike Hammer novels, among other. Hard boiled, slangy and fast. His attire reflects his writing; casual and muscular. He is working on a Smith-Corona desk machine.
Neither man would have benefited from the use of a computer. In fact, a word processor would have probably ruined their writing because the word processor does not call for the sweat and blood that a type writer does.
There is another thing that has reduced the quality of American writing and that is the falling out of common knowledge of the Bible, Shakespeare and Homer not by the reader, but by the writer. These three sources have been, for centuries, the ground of literature, the sources of themes, phrases and ideas. Since they have fallen out of favor the ground has shifted and keeps shifting. There is no place to stand. And if there is no place to stand the is no place to locate a lever with which to move ideas.
For those who question this writer's presentation of the term "type writer" instead of "typewriter," please know that the original patent for the machine called the machine a "type writer."
And please know that this writer prefers the indented beginning to a paragraph to the current practice of starting the paragraph at the left hand margin.
*Joyce Carol Oates writes her novels longhand and then writes the final draft on an electric type writer.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
The Bail Out
Apparently our "leaders" have come to an agreement about how to handle a bail out of the misdeeds and idiocy of the Solons of Wall Street and the banking industry.
This writer does not claim to have any expertise about economic matters. His financial plan is based on the thoughts of John Wesley: Make as much as you can, save as much as you can and give as much as you can. But this writer thinks that the bail out plan is a bad idea simply because there is no Constitutional mandate for the federal government to bail out any one, let alone Wall Street and the bankers.
The speed with which this deal has been pushed through the halls of Congress reminds your faithful correspondent of the sale of a questionable used car. In other words, the salesman tells you that the car is great and if you don't buy it now someone else will be it and you'll be getting to work on the bus. Then, after you buy it, you find out that you have to spend as much as the car is worth or more to get the thing safely on the road.
Also, this writer is of the opinion that the businesses who partied at our expense have no business expecting us to suffer the hangover they caused.
Would the failure of the government to bail out the banks and investment houses result in a recession or depression? Perhaps. But that may be the very thing that we need to instill financial discipline on business and the populace.
This writer does not claim to have any expertise about economic matters. His financial plan is based on the thoughts of John Wesley: Make as much as you can, save as much as you can and give as much as you can. But this writer thinks that the bail out plan is a bad idea simply because there is no Constitutional mandate for the federal government to bail out any one, let alone Wall Street and the bankers.
The speed with which this deal has been pushed through the halls of Congress reminds your faithful correspondent of the sale of a questionable used car. In other words, the salesman tells you that the car is great and if you don't buy it now someone else will be it and you'll be getting to work on the bus. Then, after you buy it, you find out that you have to spend as much as the car is worth or more to get the thing safely on the road.
Also, this writer is of the opinion that the businesses who partied at our expense have no business expecting us to suffer the hangover they caused.
Would the failure of the government to bail out the banks and investment houses result in a recession or depression? Perhaps. But that may be the very thing that we need to instill financial discipline on business and the populace.
Calling All Screen Writers
Here's a story that hasn't gotten any attention from the television, radio or newspaper reporters: Mystery surrounds hijacked Iranian ship - The Long War Journal
One can almost look forward to the pulp novel based on this incident. Never mind the Robert Ludlam or Tom Clancy nonsense. This story deserves the Sax Rohmer ( writer of the Fu Manchu novels)or Maxwell Grant (writer of the Shadow novels). One can almost see a Republic Studios serial starring Clayton Moore in the story.
One can almost look forward to the pulp novel based on this incident. Never mind the Robert Ludlam or Tom Clancy nonsense. This story deserves the Sax Rohmer ( writer of the Fu Manchu novels)or Maxwell Grant (writer of the Shadow novels). One can almost see a Republic Studios serial starring Clayton Moore in the story.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
The Financial Crisis
Your faithful correspondent does not claim to know a whole lot about economics.
But he does know this:
If this writer conducted his financial affairs in the same way that the CEOs, CFOs and executives of the major banking, investment and insurance houses have he'd be living in a tent by the BNSF railroad tracks instead of softly descending with a golden parachute.
And this writer knows that no one would bail this writer out of his trouble except, maybe, his family. The federal government would give yours the big California "Howdy."
Socialism. Brought to you by Wall Street.
But he does know this:
If this writer conducted his financial affairs in the same way that the CEOs, CFOs and executives of the major banking, investment and insurance houses have he'd be living in a tent by the BNSF railroad tracks instead of softly descending with a golden parachute.
And this writer knows that no one would bail this writer out of his trouble except, maybe, his family. The federal government would give yours the big California "Howdy."
Socialism. Brought to you by Wall Street.
The Trouble With Tattoos
Those who know your faithful correspondent well are aware that he is a tattooed man. At one time he would have been considered a heavily tattooed man. At that time four tattoos or more on one person were considered to be the datum of a heavily tattooed person. Never mind how many tattoos this writer has because it is not to the point.
Let us just say that most people who know yours are not aware that he is tattooed at all. This is not due to any embarrassment on the part of this writer, but due more to discretion and the personal nature of said tattoos i.e., names, dates and symbols. The tattoos were not, not are not, for public consumption. They were and are personal images only of import to this writer and his loved ones.
But, in recent years, this writer has noticed that many young people seem to be using tattoos as fashion statements. They have become some sort of trend that the bearers may one day later grow to regret. Some, in fact, seem to be aspiring to get jobs with the circus sideshow as "Tattooed Men" while working as salesmen at Circuit City or preachers.
"Back in the day" tattoos were the purview of servicemen (usually sailors), roughnecks, bikers and anyone who, having drunk too much, wandered by a tattoo parlour thinking of "Mom." Tattooed people were a sub-culture who. Their tattoos were personal statements, not fashion statements.
And their tattoos made sense. They expressed sentiments or philosophies or experiences. They were not "tribal" or fashion. A hula girl or globe and anchor denoted memories of Hawaii or the Corps.
Nowadays it seems that every damn clerk at the local Wal-Mart or CVS is sporting some sort of "tribal" tattoos going from their shoulder to their wrist when the only tribe they ever belonged to was the generic white guy or gal. The tattoos mean no more to them than make up or tennis (or is it athletic?) shoes. What these young sprite do not seem to realize that one day they will be fifty years old with tattoos that reflect nothing more than a fashion. Does any young woman who has a "tramp stamp" tattooed on her lower back realize that one day she will be a granny hiding that thing from her dear little angel grandkids? Or does a future IBM executive realize that he will be wearing long sleeves at work until his retirement because he has a screaming skull in flames etched on his arm?
What has happened is that the youth of the middle and upper classes have taken over an art that has heretofore been the purview of the military, the working class and the lower class. They've, in effect, taken on something that is not theirs to present themselves as us. And they will one day regret their decision much to the delight of plastic surgeons. And they have made tattoos common and have made them less special to those who have had them for years.
Idiots.
Let us just say that most people who know yours are not aware that he is tattooed at all. This is not due to any embarrassment on the part of this writer, but due more to discretion and the personal nature of said tattoos i.e., names, dates and symbols. The tattoos were not, not are not, for public consumption. They were and are personal images only of import to this writer and his loved ones.
But, in recent years, this writer has noticed that many young people seem to be using tattoos as fashion statements. They have become some sort of trend that the bearers may one day later grow to regret. Some, in fact, seem to be aspiring to get jobs with the circus sideshow as "Tattooed Men" while working as salesmen at Circuit City or preachers.
"Back in the day" tattoos were the purview of servicemen (usually sailors), roughnecks, bikers and anyone who, having drunk too much, wandered by a tattoo parlour thinking of "Mom." Tattooed people were a sub-culture who. Their tattoos were personal statements, not fashion statements.
And their tattoos made sense. They expressed sentiments or philosophies or experiences. They were not "tribal" or fashion. A hula girl or globe and anchor denoted memories of Hawaii or the Corps.
Nowadays it seems that every damn clerk at the local Wal-Mart or CVS is sporting some sort of "tribal" tattoos going from their shoulder to their wrist when the only tribe they ever belonged to was the generic white guy or gal. The tattoos mean no more to them than make up or tennis (or is it athletic?) shoes. What these young sprite do not seem to realize that one day they will be fifty years old with tattoos that reflect nothing more than a fashion. Does any young woman who has a "tramp stamp" tattooed on her lower back realize that one day she will be a granny hiding that thing from her dear little angel grandkids? Or does a future IBM executive realize that he will be wearing long sleeves at work until his retirement because he has a screaming skull in flames etched on his arm?
What has happened is that the youth of the middle and upper classes have taken over an art that has heretofore been the purview of the military, the working class and the lower class. They've, in effect, taken on something that is not theirs to present themselves as us. And they will one day regret their decision much to the delight of plastic surgeons. And they have made tattoos common and have made them less special to those who have had them for years.
Idiots.
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