Toyah

Stonehenge

2011-09-22T07:28:00.001-05:00

Just got to the part in Spinal Tap where the tiny stonehenge replica flies in from above the stage and then a pair of midgets (or dwarfs?) dances around it. Absolutely hilarious!

God and Dow Jones

2011-08-10T14:21:00.002-05:00

I work in the finance industry. I contribute to a 401k. One would think that I would have much stronger feelings tied to the turmoil in the stock market over the past couple of weeks. Yet, none of it seems to stir me much.

Doomsday predictions in the economy seem to fall in line with interpretations of "end time" prophecy. Stock prices and 401k balances won't matter much in that case. And if God isn't telling Gabriel to warm up his trumpet, then the cycles inherent in the system will eventually see us riding high again.

How to set up an AT&T DSL modem

2011-07-19T21:41:00.002-05:00

Most of the major Internet providers (Comcast, AT&T, etc.) want you to run a setup CD when setting up their router. The CD activates your account, but often also installs a lot of unnecessary software as well.

I replaced my AT&T DSL modem today, and had to call a tech to activate. The tech nicely walked me through how to set up the modem without using the auto-activate procedure (which would have installed extra software). Note that when activating the modem, the network password is NOT the password for accessing your online AT&T account (although account ID is the same). It's a password that is used only for activating the modem, but you should still write it down somewhere safe in case you need to replace the modem again in the future.

1. Connect your computer directly to the modem (don't go through a router: you can plug the router in after you activate) and direct your browser to 192.168.1.254. An information page will open up: click Disconnect.
2. After you disconnect, the page will ask for your modem access code, which is on a yellow sticker on the bottom of your modem. Enter the access code.
3. The next page will ask for your user ID and network password (again, not the same as what you use to login to the AT&T website: this is why I had to call tech support)
4. Enter the user ID and password, and you'll be done.
5. The page at step 3 will accept your online password, and show you the Internet, but subsequent pages will say that "AT&T has detected a problem." This means the wrong password was entered.

softball

2009-04-24T18:36:00.002-05:00

today was a good friday. one where 2 of the 3 bosses were gone for the day, and the 3rd was involved in the same nonsense as me. i shouldn't say nonsense, though, since we were talking about starting a company softball team for the summer. i haven't played softball regularly since the summer after college. that was one wife, one baby, two jobs, and almost 50 pounds ago. my glove sits in my car just wishing that there was someone that would get me to at least play catch. now there is a chance that i will have a weekly appointment with the sporting activity...woo hoo hoo. now i just have to find 5 or 6 girls that aren't completely awful. irony: we have a couple of girls that played in college and were excited to hear of our attempt to get a team together, but they are both pregnant (both due in july).

talking about softball makes me think of "breaking the speed barrier" and "wooland" and other remnants of past glory!

Thoughts from Matthew 19

2009-04-15T10:55:00.001-05:00

I’m teaching Matthew 19 tonight at church: no, we aren’t studying marriage and divorce. It just happens to be the next chapter as we go through the Matthew DVD (which I highly recommend). In my experience, Christians of today are mostly interested in this chapter because of the marriage and divorce teachings, but in our discussion tonight, I want to look at the bigger picture.

The Pharisees asked Jesus about divorce, but whether it is permissible or not is not Jesus focus: it’s theirs. Instead, he twice refers them to the beginning, when it was not so. They bring up Moses, and Jesus dismisses Moses and the Law by essentially telling them that God’s purpose from the beginning is more important even than the Law.

The key is God’s design from the beginning. That’s the level Jesus wants from his people, which is consistent with all of Matthew: Jesus constantly calls people to be better than the Law, better than the Pharisees, but not by doing more righteous acts. Rather, his followers need to be devoted to being like God---and his plan---from the beginning, when marriage was about closeness, not separation.

And then there were 4

2009-03-23T08:17:00.002-05:00

There's a new Mr. Williams in town! Ethan Gary Williams, 7 lbs 11 oz, 19 1/2 inches, born at 1:56pm on March 10. Went really fast, like about an hour after we got to the hospital. So quick Debbie couldn't get any painkillers at all, but she was quite a trooper.

We probably loitered too long at home that morning---she called me and her mom about 10:30, and we left for the hospital a little after 12pm---but there really wasn't much reason to hurry. She was having contractions, and they were making her take very deep breaths, but she wasn't in much pain and they weren't coming fast. So we took our time and made sure we had everything, then headed to the hospital. The night before they assured Debbie there'd be room, but apparently a bunch of women came in, and when we first got in there were no delivery rooms available. We had to wait 30 minutes or so while they moved someone, and even then it didn't seem to be moving too quickly.

They got her up on the bed, and the doctor broke her water, and after that things started happening much faster, although it wasn't apparent at first. They hooked her up to an IV, took some blood, and said they'd get an epidural into her as soon as the bloodwork came back and the first liter of fluid had gone into her IV. I'm not sure the bloodwork ever came back, but the liter was barely gone when she was really feeling the pain, and the nurses started hurrying. The head nurse told Debbie that the anesthesiologist could give her something through the IV, but about that time she gasped, "It feels like it's coming out!" The nurse said, "Go get the doctor!" and about 15 minutes later, Ethan was out.

So, not an easy birth by any means (she cut my finger with my ring, from squeezing so hard), but much faster and so it was easier, in that sense. Debbie's much less tired than she was after Abigail's labor. But I think she'd take the long labor with the epidural over the quick delivery with no painkillers at all. I'm really proud of her: she was crying out, but no blood-curdling shrieks or anything like that.

Ethan is a shockingly easy baby. Abigail was wailing constantly as they were cleaning her up, and threw multiple fits in the first couple of hours. Ethan, by contrast, had to be coaxed to cry. Even during his bath, he never cried more than about 30 seconds. He's been home for almost a week and half now, and is still pretty easy: lets us know when he is hungry but in a polite sort of way.

Debbie's mom and dad brought Abigail in with them to see the baby, and she did very well. Pointed at him and prodded him a bit, but not too much. It was a positive experience for her (and for everyone, really), so I expected that she'll be fine with him, which has turned out to be true.. Of course she's unhappy when she wants Mommy and Mommy is busy with Ethan, but other than that there's been no jealousy issues.

I posted pictures, and pre-baby video, at One Acre Woods. Updates start at the bottom.

some whatnot

2009-03-22T20:31:00.002-05:00

i have been absent for quite a while. i am not the only one, but the comparison doesn't really say much.

you all should see Sarah. I am sure Anthony has similar opinions about his own progeny. the extent to which she has changed stuff is extraordinary...however, i still watch quite a bit of tv and still sleep like a rock.

now, as promised, some whatnot.

1) my exciting routine:
morning = go to work
day = work
evening = home with jennifer and sarah, church stuff
night = sleep (for me...not so much for jennifer...because of sarah)
weekends = extra sleep (for me), jennifer and sarah, church

2) this weekend i added basketball (twice) and a fantasy baseball draft.

3) I now work in downtown Indy, instead of on the north side. I have a completely different role in the company...it's been one week, and completely weird for me.

4) we have a digital camcorder, but the files are all in .MOD, so i am having a hard time getting them transferred to DVD.

does anyone else notice the connection between obama appearances and the sharp drops in the stock market. we in the great scapegoat known as wallstreet companies certainly have. that is why i appreciate the attempts to be on late night and weekend programs...that, and the fact that i don't really watch those shows.

Visit to Tennessee

2008-11-05T09:07:00.000-06:00

Thursday afternoon we packed up the car and headed for Tennessee. We have good friends down there who used to live in Hillsdale, and they offered to pay out travel expenses. And they hadn't met Abbey yet so it was a good thing. We got to Louisville, KY about 10pm and stopped for the night, which was really the most exciting part of our trip because we first got off the Interstate in the wrong part of town. That is, when we reached the motel at which we were aiming, we found barbed wire around the parking lot. And barbed wire around all the parking lots as far as the eye could see. This was not particularly comforting, so we asked the GPS how to get back to the freeway, and it chose roads that were somewhat sketchy. Bars on the windows, etc. Anyway, so we drove another 20 minutes and found a nice place.

Got to Tennessee a little after noon on Friday and had a really nice visit. They live about an hour south of Nashville, which is central Tennessee. Not mountainous, but considerably hillier than the Hillsdale area, so we enjoyed the change in scenery. Also it was nice and warm down there, unlike the cold fall weather we were experiencing in Michigan. Abbey took to them really well; they were wise and did not try to precipitously play with her, but let her warm up to them. Which she did soon, and then they both made much of her and were a generally a great help to us. Sunday morning Diane got Abbey out of bed and let us sleep another hour or so. :-) Tennessee is beautiful and we think we might like to live there someday, though perhaps farther east (toward the mountains).

We had planned to vote absentee, but I left the ballots on the table (much to my chagrin!). However, we got back to Hillsdale yesterday about 4:30 and voted after dinner. Michigan went very blue this year: Obama won (no surprise), but our Republican Congressman lost, which is a surprise, given how conservative this district is. But the Michigan economy is quite depressed so I imagine that's a lot of it.

Obviously I'm not happy that Obama won, but a) I'm not at all surprised and b) McCain wasn't that inspiring of a conservative. As far as my principles are concerned, he'd have been not much different from Obama, except perhaps on foreign policy. And I don't have any reason to hate Obama, at least not yet. Clearly it's quite a good thing that the USA has elected a black man president, even if he's not "technically" an African-American. I'm quite willing to give Obama the benefit of the doubt and see how he does. And some time in the wilderness could be for the GOP: they haven't been particularly faithful to conservative principles for the last couple of elections. Really, they deserved to lose (though I'm not sure the Democrats deserved to win).

Fallacious Belief of Obama Supporter #1: The World Will Like Us More if Obama is Elected

2008-10-24T14:41:00.004-05:00

One common rallying point for why Barack Obama would be a better leader for America is that America has fallen out of favor with Europe and the rest of the world and that, since they seem to prefer Obama, we can mend some broken fences by electing the world's choice. Liberals need to look no further than the nearest mirror to see why this can hardly be expected.

Rewind to primary season. Which Republican candidates were getting the most love from the crowd outside of the conservative base? One of them was John McCain. The reason? He was viewed as one of the least conservative candidates due to his willingness to break from the party line and actually side with Democrats on certain issues. My liberal friends (here in grad school that means pretty much all of my local friends) would say "you guys should nominate McCain, I think he'd be a good choice... I could live with him!" Translation: if Hillary/Barack loses, then this is the least of all possible evils. Now that McCain IS the nominee it's impossible to get a kind word from these friends about the senator. "McCain's so rich he doesn't know how many houses he has," "McCain voted with Bush too much," etc. All that nominating McCain has done is to shift the ticket's line to the political center, and thus to shift the center of the issues to the left. So what did we, as conservatives, get in return for nominating Democrats' favorite Republican? Nothing but the hijacking of our conservative ideals and a victory for liberals in their battle with conservatives.

So what can we expect from the world if Barack Obama becomes the next president? Will Europeans begin to think that Americans are great and fall in step behind us on all endeavors? I won't hold my breath. The main reason that the world wants to see Obama elected president is that they want what we have: the money and the power. Liberals succeeded in weakening the conservative influence on the American politcal scene, and the rest of the world hopes to weaken the status of the United States as a world power. They look at the two candidates and conclude that Obama will be softer than John McCain. But worse than jealous European "allies" weakening our influence in the world will be the response of our enemies. On election day, for whom do you think that the likes of Putin, Chavez, and Ahmadinejad will be "casting" their ballot: the war hero who isn't afraid to take a stand, or the community organizer who seems more interested in playing nice than playing to win?

Liberals are sure that an Obama presidency will restore the good will that they feel has been squandered by George Bush. What they will get is a weakened America and emboldened enemies. Joe Biden himself said that, if he and Obama are elected to office, America will face an international crisis within six months.

It shouldn't be surprising to hear the truth from a top-ranking democrat; the 180 that liberals pulled on McCain is still fresh in their minds.

remember me?

2008-09-06T11:57:00.003-05:00

hello everyone.
it has been forever since i have been able to post on here, so prepare for non-exciting dallas updates.
-i have been spending a lot of time at home with jennifer and the most beautiful baby ever (can anyone sense my partiality?)
-for labor day the three of us walked the mackinac bridge. jennifer doesn't like bridges, so walking across a five-mile long bridge wasn't her dream vacation, but it was good.
-football has begun. go buckeyes. i am also looking forward to nfl football. my friends from home got together for a live fantasy draft. that was a good time for me, and i got to show sarah off to more people.
-a new boss started at work, but i had the week off, so i haven't found out if that is a good thing or not.
-sarah had her 2-month doctor visit which included multiple parent saddening vaccine shots.
-i have tried to pay a bit more attention to the political world as of late. that hasn't been too hard with the 24-hour convention coverage. al gore served to make the most compelling case for mccain in his speech. he said there could be as many as three supreme court appointments in the next four years. there is no way i would want obama making those choices. the sarah palin stuff has been fun to watch, but the trifling 'controversies' will be annoying to hear about continuously. as part of my effort to maintain political interest, i have signed up to be poll worker in november.

that's all i've got for now.

Don't Play My Music

2008-09-05T11:06:00.004-05:00

John Mellencamp, Van Halen, Heart. All three of those bands/artists (and possibly more) have asked that the McCain campaign not use their songs at events. There are some lawyers in this commune, so I was hoping to get their opinions on whether it's legal to play these songs at campaign events without permission.

On the one hand, anyone can buy their CDs or download the tracks from iTunes and they should be able to play the songs whenever and wherever they like. On the other hand, if songs are to be used commercially then the rights must be purchased. Rush Limbaugh uses The Pretenders' "My City Was Gone" for his theme, and lead singer Chrissie Hynde (a devout liberal) apparently arranged that all royalties go to PETA (how's that for irony?).

It sounds like these artists are simply asking that their songs not be used and that they don't have the power to demand this. Does the campaign have to respect their wishes?

New castle pictures!

2008-06-30T22:14:00.000-05:00

Construction goes slowly, when you rob your Lego budget to pay for the once-a-year canoe trip. Plus, there's only so much you can say about them building another level of bricks. This is the top floor, though.

Wrenstone Castle Start at 10:27pm today.

Highlanders: The Next Generation

2008-06-27T14:39:00.003-05:00

Jennifer and I have had a baby! Thursday, June 19 @ 6:11pm.

Sarah Allison was 8 lbs 6.8 oz and 22 inches long. Her eyes are blue, but you can't see them in this picture.

Jennifer had a C-section after a few hours of labor attempting to deliver Sarah. I watched (no problem). She is doing quite well in her recovery.

Monday I have to go back to work. I am not looking forward to that, but knowing that I have Jennifer at home with the baby feels very good.

On my desk: That Hideous Strength

2008-06-16T20:21:00.001-05:00

That Hideous Strength, by C.S. Lewis (1943)

I started Perelandra years ago, and gave it up: couldn't get into it. But a professor friend of mine said I ought to check out C.S. Lewis' space trilogoy, of which Perelandra is the first, and gave me a copy of That Hideous Strength. The three (the other is Out of the Silent Planet) compliment each other but can be read alone. I was skeptical that I would like That Hideous Strength better, which explains why it has been sitting on my shelf for nearly a year.

I took it down a few weeks ago and started reading. And as I often find, a book I expected to dislike turns out to be an engrossing read. It is the story of Mark and Jane Studdock, who separately get mixed up in something far bigger than they, and (though they are adults) grow up in the process. Mark is a college professor with ambitions to be part of the "in" crowd, which leads him to get involved in the N.I.C.E., an organization with big plans to scientifically improve England. But their real plans seem to be more about remaking England by removing undesirables.

Meanwhile, Jane has strangely found her dreams are strangely prophetic: she knows the news of the day before it happens, through her dreams. She confides her troubles to a kindly older couple, who suggest she talk to a man called only the Director. The Director tells her that he is part of a group of people opposed to the work of the N.I.C.E, and moreover, that the real power behind both himself and the N.I.C.E. are greater powers, which men ignorantly calls "demons" and "angels."

The "angels" whose servant the Director is eventually come down to Earth and set things right, setting Mark free as they do, and he---thoroughly disillusioned from all his philosophical pretensions---heads off to find Jane. The readers don't get to see their reunion, but the implication is that both have cast aside their small-mindedness and are ready for a far deeper relationship.

It's an excellent story: better, I think, than Perelandra (though I never finished it, to be fair). Mark and Jane are not exactly completely drawn characters: both represent Modern Man (or Woman), with philosophical education but no knowledge or appreciation of the spiritual. And the plot is mostly concerned with their redemption through their separate experiences with the N.I.C.E. Clearly Lewis wants to demonstrate the danger of modern philosophies, and their final emptiness. But though it could have easily read like a sermon masquerading as a story, it doesn't: it's mostly a good story that keeps the reader involved in unraveling the complexities of the N.I.C.E., and trying to discover who the Director really is. I enjoyed it.

John McCain in the A-4 Skyhawk

2008-06-10T13:32:00.003-05:00

Wow, Toyah's been quiet for a bit, eh? Sorry about that...though it's not likely to pick up a lot. I'm busy with work + house ownership + wife + baby, so there's not a lot of extra time for blogging.

Still, I occasionally find something interesting. Somewhere on the web today I read an article that state that John McCain flew fighters in Vietnam, and a commenter corrected the author, saying that he'd flow A-4 Skyhawkss, which were not fighters. There seemed to be an implication that flying an attack plane like the A-4 wasn't quite up there with flying fighters.

So I looked up the A-4, and found that it might not have been a true air-superiority fighter, but it was exciting enough to be flown by the Blue Angels (instead of the F-4, because it was so much cheaper). Here's an account of flying with the Blue Angels in a Skyhawk.

Being a pilot (fighter or no) doesn't necessarily qualify you to be president, but it doesn't sound like flying an A-4 way any kind of second-rate flying.

Ready, Set, Pope

2008-04-18T00:08:00.003-05:00

Pope Benedict is currently on a visit to the United States, which is a big deal for a Catholic boy like myself. It's been heartwarming to see the response he's received so far (anti-faith zealots like Bill Maher excluded). This version of The Battle Hymn of the Republic was somewhat moving. It was the first time I had heard the song performed since... the HC choir's rendition at Arnn's installation.

The Pope certainly has a lot to cover in relation to the United States. A lot of Catholics in America are in favor of drastic reforms for the Church. Most of these people probably don't appreciate the magnitude of the changes made by Vatican II, and will be sorry to see that another big reform probably won't be occurring in their lifetime (check back at the next millenium). The low numbers of American priests and, of course, the clergy abuse scandal are big issues that he is addressing / has addressed. No dice that I get to see him on this trip. Perhaps he'll make it up to Michigan next time??? OK, I'll settle for Chicago.

He Said, She Said

2008-03-24T19:12:00.003-05:00

The 2008 Democratic Primary rumbles on and more and more people are getting into trouble for things they say during the campaign. Geraldine Ferraro was cut loose from the Clinton camp for suggesting that Obama's heritage gives him an advantage, Obama had to can a staffer for referring to Hillary as a monster, and this week James Carville is under fire for comparing Bill Richardson to Judas.

All of these quotes, of course, would get a big "who gives a damn" from me, but there are two things of consequence...

1. The left is having to endure the same PC whippings that conservatives have faced in the past. Perhaps this will lead to some general disdain for the whole correctness movement.

2. The primary continues to divide democrats and give McCain an egde in the general election.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend... political correctness to the rescue.

On My Desk: Battle Cry of Freedom

2008-03-04T18:43:00.001-06:00

Battle Cry of Freedom, by James M. McPherson
$13.57 at Amazon.com

Most treatments of the Civil War focus on the battles, but McPherson spends a good deal of the first part of the book discussing all the events that led up to the war. It would be easy to get bogged down in the minutia, or to lose track of the chronology of events, since many chapters have to jump back a few years to trace the history of their topic. So you might finish a chapter on the contentious history of the tariff, ending say in 1860, and in the next chapter have to jump back to 1850 to discuss abolitionism. But I found the pre-war discussion to be engaging and easy to follow, clearly important when attempting a one-volume discussion of the Civil War.

Thankfully, the battles did not suffer by comparison; indeed, they are the most exciting part. Knowing something about Gettysburg, Shiloh, and some of the others, I found McPherson an effective narrator of the battle itself and the effect of the battle on the armies, the Union and Confederate publics, and on the international community, when it affected them. I appreciated the extra details on the fluctuating fortunes of the Confederacy in London and Paris, and was surprised at how close the Confederacy came to achieving intervention from one or both of these powers, several times.

Thus, as a treatment of the Civil War, Battle Cry of Freedom lives up to its reputation as the best concise treatment of the war era. If it has a fault, it is in a too-brief discussion of the post-war period. Some six or seven chapters were devoted to the pre-war situation, but only part of the last chapter address reconstruction to any degree. To be sure, books must end somewhere, and the end of the war is a better ending point than most. Still, it’s a pity that he could not give the post-war era as much attention as he gave the pre-war time.

all things sports

2008-02-25T20:34:00.002-06:00

the lakers are awesome. thank-you memphis
the reds signed some decent starting pitching. thank-you colorado
i work with a girl whose brother is doing quite well at the NFL scouting combine. (Stanford Keglar - LB - Purdue)
fantasy baseball draft is going on as i type.
my nintendo gamecube is home of world series champs and superbowl champs as played by me.

A Lost Face Briefly Reappears...

2008-01-30T20:34:00.000-06:00

Gentlemen,

Despite the fact that I have not posted for ages, I enjoy reading all of your posts. Life seems to be continually speeding up and I hope to stop and catch my breath at the end of July after the Bar examination and post as well. Hopefully, at that point, I can contribute as much as the rest of you have. It seems that there is a lot of fantastic things happening in all of your lives. Matt is getting married, Anthony and Debbie just had a beautiful daughter, Dallas and Jennifer are expecting, Philip is making a name for himself as an attorney in a prestigious Fort Worth law firm and Jeremy is finishing an exciting clerkship in a Federal Court just a short walk from the White House. I love reading about all of your fantastic experiences. I will, as time permits, occasionally flavor the blog with a word or two.

At this point, my life could not be described without the word LAW. I am finishing up my last semester of Law School, I am starting to prepare for the Bar and working at a local law office getting some fantastic real world experience. You could go as far as to say this thing called LAW is pretty much consuming my life. I was, however, able to spend some time over Christmas break finishing an article about WWI Marine Aviators that is going to be published by the Marine Corps in the publication Fortitudine this March. That is the last taste if history I think I am going to be able to have until after the Bar exam. Start the pool now on how long Jim can go without a getting some sort of history fix. I am sure Matt or Dallas can use their mathematical wisdom to whip up the odds.

On a completely different note, I recently read an interesting blog which discusses the legal use of Wikipedia. Courts Selectively Using Wikipedia. If you follow the link to the NY Times article mentioned, it actually mentions Jeremy's employer, the US Federal Court of Claims, and how they see Wikipedia's application. I tend to agree with the Federal Court of Claims' cautious use of Wikipedia, however Judge Posner, whom I greatly respect, seems more open to its use.

Well...until this Groundhog comes out of his hole again searching for his shadow...keep the interesting posts coming.

Warm Regards,

Jim

The One-Acre Woods

2008-01-28T07:42:00.000-06:00

For anyone who's interested, we've started a family blog (ie., Mostly Abigail) where I plan to post pictures on a semi-regular basis. Y'all are welcome to check it out!

it's been a while, eh? let's catch up.

2008-01-25T16:35:00.000-06:00

baby senters is getting pictures taken next thursday. if my child isn't as stubborn as i am, then we get to find out the gender of the baby. jennifer is still fighting the morning sickness, but has more good days than sick days, which makes me very happy.

jennifer and i are no longer regular visitors to the laundromat. i bought a washer and dryer last week. it is amazing to me how awesome it feels to get those items. next item for purchase: new mattress for the bed. we'll get to see how it is sleep on a flat surface.

2008 has not been a great time in sports...the buckeyes provided more fodder for the critics, and the stupid patriots continue to be unbeaten. boo to both of those things.

i have heard that 2008 is giving a lot of people E.D. (electile dysfunction: the inability to get up for any of the candidates)

i have to get my wisdom teeth pulled. i have to figure out if i want to go to the oral surgeon or let the dentist give me valium and nitrous and do it at his office.

there is a schizophrenic update on me. maybe i will get on here again soon and post something fun for a change

Castle update

2008-01-13T18:35:00.000-06:00

The building has gone slowly lately: another layer of bricks doesn't really warrant a photo essay. But the third floor is nearly done now. Sir Walter, Geoffery, and their men have to put in the fourth-floor joists and lay the floor, then they start on the last floor, which will be the suite for Sir Walter and his lady. Then comes the roof.

New pictures: start at the 1/14/08 7:17pm post.

Great Christmas Gifts

2007-12-19T10:24:00.001-06:00

This would be a great gift for me: the LEGO Millenium Falcon. I don't care about the Falcon; I want the pieces, which are the right color for my castle. What, it's only $500!

Modern Conveniences

2007-12-15T13:14:00.000-06:00

I was just telling Debbie, I love living in these here modern times. About a half-hour ago, I was simultaneously doing four different tasks that used to take my great-grandmother (or maybe great-great) all day. For each. And I was sitting on the couch! The washing machine was washing the clothes, the dryer was drying them, the bread machine was making the bread, and the Roomba was vacuuming the the floor. It's hard to realize it, because you get used to these labor-saving devices, but I can be both more productive and lazier. And I don't have to pay a maid or a cook!

Junior Highlanders

2007-12-14T17:54:00.001-06:00

Last Monday, as we were getting ready for bed, Debbie told me she though the baby might be coming soon and to be ready. About 5am the next morning, she said she thought we ought to head for the hospital. 12 hours later, we welcomed our daughter into the world, Abigail Irene. She weighed 7 lbs 4 oz and was 20 inches long.

Almost two weeks into this fatherhood thing, it's not going too badly. Popular mythology says that your life will be turned upside down and inside out when you have kids, but that's a bit of an exaggeration, as mythology tends to be. Mind you, life does change significantly: you do things like e-mails and web surfing when you can, not necessarily when you want to.

Abbey's a good girl, though she doesn't like much to sleep alone. So far Debbie and I have been trading off sleeping with her on the couch for about half the night each. She is getting better, and we're hopeful that before long she'll sleep at least some time by herself. In the meantime, adjustments to life with kids are going fairly well for mom, dad, and dog. Let's hope that continues!

The British in Iraq

2007-11-26T15:24:00.000-06:00

Wow. Just wow.

Their valor isn't noteworthy because they're British, it's noteworthy because it's valorous.

Happy Monday

2007-11-19T13:14:00.000-06:00

I took today, Tuesday, and Wednesday off in honor of my favorite holiday. I love Christmas and The 4th of July, but Thanksgiving is definitely my favorite. Jennifer and I will be partaking in festivities with her parents on Thursday, and my folks are hosting on Sunday. But today, I have only my DVD player and Nintendo on the agenda. I am planning to watch Amazing Grace (starring the Horatio Hornblower dude). I did manage to be out of bed this morning by 8:00. I know that will shock most of you.

In other shocking news: Jennifer and I are expecting a baby Senters in June. Much speculation has been offered as to how that happened. Rest assured that we are fully aware. The gender of baby Senters has yet to be discovered, but we are planning to find out once that is an option.

Jennifer has experienced the 'joy' of morning sickness. We can also verify that morning sickness is not accurately named. In my wife's case, 24-hour sickness would be more appropriate. During this time I have been banking lots of housework points...points which I hope to cash in for diaper duty.

*I would like to apologize to Phil for proceeding out of turn. You clearly were in line to follow Anthony down the road of padre-hood.

Do you budget?

2007-11-09T08:24:00.000-06:00

Now that half of the Highlanders are married, maybe it's a good time for a post about couples and money. Financial planners say there are tons of studies showing that the number one cause of fights in marriages is money, and the number one cause for divorce is (surprise!) money.

So clearly, if you want a successful marriage, you and your wife or husband need to get control of your money. Here's a good article on setting up a budget that is determined by both of you, and that acts as the controller on your money. As long as you are both accountable to each other, the budget gets the blame when you can't give in to an impulse buy.

Debbie and I have been slowly working towards a) having a budget and b) sticking to it. I was the bill-payer at first, but I hated paying bills (so depressing!) and tended to put it off as long as possible, so eventually we decided Debbie did a better job at getting them paid on time. I had to swallow my pride, but it was a relief for me, and Debbie really does do a better job at it. On the other hand, I am much more interested in long-term financial planning than she is, so I take the lead in formulating a realistic budget, in pressing for regular savings, and making long-term plans like retirement savings or college money for our kids. We've found a way to manage our finances that takes advantage of our mutual strengths.

Budget meetings are still somewhat stressful, at least for me, but ironically the more often we have them the less stressful they are. In the meantime, the net result at present is that we have all our consumer debt paid off (credit cards and cars) and are working on our student loans. We also have a substantial amount in savings, which helps to lower the stress. I have big plans to eventually be entirely debt-free (including the mortgage), although that is certainly a long-term goal. But big successes are only possible through little successes, like spending less than we made this month, so despite the occasional frustration of sticking to a budget, I'm happy with our situation.

On My Desk: The Great War at Sea, 1914-1918

2007-11-05T17:46:00.000-06:00

The Great War at Sea begins with the dreadnought revolution in naval ship design, moves on to the arms race between Britain and Germany, and builds up to the Battle of Jutland. This revolution began with the HMS Dreadnought, which was launched in 1906. She had 10 12-inch guns, more than twice the destructive power of any other warship. Hough’s focus is not on the ships, however. Instead, it is on the Royal Navy, which in 1906 was beginning a massive transformation: from a rather moth-eaten organization still basking in Nelsonian glory, to a modern fighting force capable of the formidable challenge from the brand-new Germany Navy. Two men were key to this transformation: Admiral Jacky Fisher and Winston Churchill. Together, their massive energy removed the rust and age from the Royal Navy.

Despite his accomplishments with the pre-war navy, Churchill in war does not cut a very striking figure. In Hough’s view, Churchill was pretty much a disaster as First Lord of the Admiralty. His micro-management of his commanders was crippling to initiative, and his bombastic temperament made him many enemies, who were at best unsympathetic with his plight after the Gallipolli campaign, where Britain suffered heavy naval losses. In the aftermath, he was forced to resign as First Lord.

Nevertheless, the navy as a whole was a strong force, with generally strong commanders. Churchill said later that Admiral Jellicoe, commander of the Grand Fleet, was the only man who had the ability to lose the war in a single day. That he did not was due to a combination of skill, luck, and bad weather. Neither the British nor the Germans really intended a major fleet action at Jutland on May 31st, 1916: both were planning a trap that would lure part of the other’s battle fleet into annilation, without much risk to their own battle fleet. The plan worked, more or less, for the Royal Navy, but Jellicoe’s caution prevented him from making a decisive attack and the German fleet escaped hurt but far from destroyed. However, the High Seas Fleet never again went to sea in force, and for that Jellicoe deserves praise.

The Great War at Sea is a readable analysis of the state of dreadnought warfare in the pre-war years, and how the theories worked when put to the test in the sea battles of 1914-1916. It conveys particularly well the unknown state of naval war in pre-war years: nobody really knew how a fleet action should be fought with these new ships. Serious students of naval warfare will probably find it lacking, particularly in its relatively light coverage of the submarine war, but I found it an engrossing study and would recommend it, if your taste runs to big steel ships and big guns.

"They said it would be impossible..."

2007-11-04T16:26:00.000-06:00

As someone with a family member who has Down Syndrome it bugs me when abortion is used because doctors think the baby isn't going to make it or that it will be born with a birth defect. Time after time nature shows that life will do all it can to sustain itself, and this story is another element in the list. And to say that a baby with a birth defect would be better off if it had never been born is just arrogant. My Uncle Kevin is constantly joking, laughing, and putting smiles on faces at family gatherings.

You don't always get things the way you want in life. When I have children I will be praying that they are born healthy. But many people that are born normal grow up to be scumbags. Babies with defects often defy the odds and survive to adulthood, and many have a very positive affect on the people in their lives. Bad news is never easy to swallow, but a human life is worth dealing with the situation. Chances are that making the best of things will be a decision that you, and your baby, can live with.

the rest of the list

2007-11-04T14:47:00.000-06:00

Here's the UK Telegraph's final list of the top 100 Most Influential Liberals and 100 Most Influential Conservatives. Who made the top spots? Clinton (Bill) and Giuliani. My prediction was slightly off, but in retrospect, you had to know that Europeans would pick Bill as their favorite--after all, the guy's a celeb in Europe and he's likely to be the consensus european choice for UN Sec-Gen some day.

To my surprise, Hillary isn't even in the top 3--Gore's number 2, and some unknown political strategist is No. 3. The top 4 on the list of Libs looks pretty much like it might have looked about 10 years ago, except that James Carville or John Podesta would have been No. 3.

Also, when you take a look at the rest of the list, there are a few more surprises--I mean, Mike Huckabee (former Arkansas gov and health guru) is in the top 20 for conservatives, and Gov. Arnold (Ahhnold) is number 8 for the Libs. Okay, so maybe not so surprising, but definitely worth a mention.

Free Rice and Superheros

2007-11-02T07:14:00.001-05:00

If you are feeling like you don't do enough to help starving kids in Africa and you are struggling to expand your vocabulary--or of you just need a diversion from work--check out FreeRice.com.

And if you've ever struggled with the question, "Who is the supperest hero of them all?", then this site's for you: The Superest.

(these links are courtesy of the Highlands research and development team, aka, my wife)

Emergencies

2007-11-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

One of the things that really impressed me after Rita/Katrina was the stories of how people managed to take care of themselves (or not) before an organized rescue effort could reach them. Basically, people that had some kind of emergency supplies were just fine: it was the people who had made no preparations that suffered most (and those whose houses were utterly destroyed, of course).

So I did some reading on disaster-preparedness, and all the experts agreed that you should expect to survive on your own for at least a week, perhaps two. Even a perfectly-organized rescue effort can't get there quickly: they have to organize themselves, then they have to clear roads, then they have to actually find you. So you should be able to depend on yourself for at least a week.

Hurricanes aren't much of a threat in the midwest, but we do sometimes get blizzads or ice storms that can knock out power for a few days, and tornadoes come through sometimes. That's about it for natural disasters, so we're safer than much of the country. With that in mind, I spent about $200 on an emergency kit that I keep in the basement, in a big plastic tub. It includes food and water for at least a week (maybe it's two weeks), flashlights (both battery-powered and wind-up powered), a wind-up lantern, a wind-up radio, and a first-aid kit. I think that's all. I also bought an extra propane tank for my barbecue, as I expect to use that as an emergency cooking source, and it wouldn't be much good if it ran out of propane in the middle of winter. The only real need that isn't covered by my kit is an alternative source of heat. My house has no fireplace, so if there is no electricity or gas, there would be no heat. They do make small, flameless propane heaters intended for tents, and that's probably what I will eventually get. We could put it in one of the smaller rooms and stay warm enough, if not comfortable.

I've never had to use my kit yet, of course, but for a mere $200 it's nice to have a bit of security. More emergency suggestions.

The stork has filed his flight plan

2007-10-31T08:30:00.000-05:00

My daughter will be born in one and a half months, assuming everything goes well (and there's no reason to think otherwise). I'm not the kind of father-to-be that carries ultrasound pictures around in my wallet, but it's getting close, and I'm starting to realize that it's getting close. I'm starting to go to bed, and wake up, thinking about how just going to bed and waking up will be different once she's born.

Everyone says life changes dramatically after children, and they also say that even if you think you're prepared, you can't appreciate how dramatically until you experience it. So I'm curious to see how much it changes. I suspect that it will change a lot, and yet not be quite the 180 degrees different that folklore tends to suggest. It's the dramatic stories people like to tell, not the ones about the night(s) that their kids slept all night long and never woke up once. Ask me again in two months and I'll let you know!

We are pretty close to ready. We have a ton of baby clothes: lots of friends randomly gave us things that they found at a garage sale this summer, plus we had two baby showers; one from our church and one from Debbie's sisters. We need to finish painting the changing table, and paint the dresser. My mom and dad sent us the cradle I used as a baby, and for which we only need to buy sheets. The swing is set up (and our dog Striker seems to be okay with it), so we're pretty well ready. Poor Debbie is certainly ready, and she still has six weeks to wait.

My baby girl will be here on or about December 12...

View from UK

2007-10-30T21:13:00.000-05:00

This week the Telegraph of London is publishing a list of the top 100 most influential liberals and top 100 most influential conservatives in the United States. These lists don't really matter that much, but it is fascinating to see a list that includes politicians, celebrities, and academics compared to one another based on their "influence" in a sort of guilty "I read People Magazine" kind of way.

It's interesting, for instance, to see my old boss, Gary Bauer, sitting in the conservative ranks at number 70 between Erik Erikson, a blogger and founder of redstate.com, at number 69, and Chuck Norris, an actor, at number 71. Or consider that Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stephens--a member of the impartial and apolitical judicial branch--at number 64, well above "liberal lion" Ted Kennedy, who's way behind at number 85. (I wonder what Ted thinks about that?) Of course, in interest of full disclosure, Justices Scalia and Thomas are also on the list, and to the extent that anyone is influential among conservative lawyers, they certainly are, though I'm not sure I'd say they're influential in politics, per se.

It is also interesting to see the view of American politics from across the pond. The very fact that such a list exists certainly speaks to America's influence and power--I mean, who from overseas would really care to know the top 10 American partisans, much less the top 200.

So far the list has numbers 61-100. The rest of the lists will be revealed later this week. I'm betting Rudy and Hillary will be Numbers 1.

finally, Dallas has returned to Toyah

2007-10-26T19:12:00.000-05:00

Merrill Lynch thinks that posting to Toyah is the same as posting to chat rooms and message boards. I apologize for not making my presence felt more frequently.

-I loved the story about the cross-country driver. That was awesome. I love driving fast, but there is no way that I would be able to do that.
-Today there was a lot of buzz in the financial world about Merrill Lynch and its CEO. I don't really see much coming of all the mess, but the news stirred up my Friday.

I hate the Red Sox. I hate the Patriots. It is funny that I pulled for those teams when the Yankees and Rams were the big boys of the leagues. Don't get me wrong....I still hate the Yankees and Rams, but now the Red Sox and Patriots are too loved by ESPN.

It is time to get off of this computer...I have a wife that requires attention. Keep your minds out of the gutter.

Scary, stupid...incredibly stupid!

2007-10-16T13:02:00.001-05:00

But amazing, too!

Driving New York to LA in less than 32 hours...

So glad I wasn't on any of those roads when they were driving.

For Map Geeks

2007-10-05T09:32:00.000-05:00

As a map geek, I find one of the most useful products of the current internet age is the instant online map. From the humble beginnings of MapQuest and TerraServer, to Yahoo and Google maps, to the incredibly advanced Google Earth, we have seen a dramatic revolution of online mapping software. Although Google Earth can do almost anything, there are still a few other sites out there that are worth a mention. Other cool map services include Social Explorer, which uses Census data (I think) to give you demographic representations for geographic areas, Zillow.com, which shows you how much your neighbor's house is worth, and USANaviguide, which gives you detailed overlays of Zip Code areas on Google maps. And if you like historic or more detailed maps, check out The University of Texas PCL's online map collection, which has scanned versions of historic and current maps from all over the world. If you know of an online maps service I might be missing, please pass it along!

Target: Blackwater

2007-10-05T06:51:00.000-05:00

You might recall that I posted back in January on Blackwater, the private security contractor founded by Hillsdale College graduate Erik Prince. It seems Blackwater's back in the news, now as a target for those whose life's ambition is to assure an American defeat in Iraq.

Indiana Jones and the Quest for the Ready-made Library

2007-10-05T06:48:00.000-05:00

Books in Bulk, from the New Yorker.

On my Desk: Caesars of the Wilderness

2007-10-03T21:09:00.000-05:00

Like my last book report, this one comes courtesy of the Free Book table at Mossey Library. Peter C. Newman is a journalist by a trade, and apparently one of Canada's more respected ones at that. Clearly he has spent much time researching the Hudson's Bay Company: there are three volumes covering its history from beginning to present. Caesars of the Wilderness is the middle book.

He said the title reflects both the conquering nature of the HBC, as well as the wildness of the land they tamed. This book focuses mostly on the rivalry between the HBC and its most serious competitor: the Northwest Fur Company. Between them, the two companies set the stage for western Canadian civilization, or so he argues. And I find it hard to disagree. One major point that he often emphasizes is the relationship between the HBC white men and the Indians. Unlike in the American West, they were mutually beneficial to each other, and therefore Canada saw few instances of bloody Indian/white violence. The relationship was not exactly equal: the whites always regarded the Indians as inferior, and the fur trade was clearly detrimental to the Indians in the long run. But largely due to this amiable relationship, the Canadian west was settled in a generally peaceful manner.

It's hard not to notice a bit of pro-Canadian bias showing through, most notably in the comparisons he draws between the American and Canadian wests (though they may well be valid). It hardly detracts from the story, however, which is chiefly a recounting of the extraordinary exploits and labors of the fur men over centuries of HBC dominance. I can't even imagine working as hard as they did: paddling an overloaded canoe upstream at 45 strokes a minute? 60 strokes a minute if it was an express canoe! And that was the easy part: the streams and rivers were linked with frequent portages, where a man was expected to carry 90 pounds of furs or trade goods along the trail, which might be as long as 15 miles. All this on a bit of pemmican.

I don't think I've ever met anyone who knew anything about the Hudson's Bay Company, except that it existed. If you've never spent some time with them, you're missing out: in a large part they created western Canada, and contributed much help even to the early settlers of American Oregon and Washington. Besides, Caesars of the Wilderness is a rollicking good read!

And Michigan?

2007-09-28T09:02:00.001-05:00

Despite no longer living in the Great Lakes State, I keep up with the news out of the Automotive capital very regularly, mostly by reading the Detroit News Online: detnews.com. As those of you in MI surely know, the state is facing a government shut down caused by the state government's inability to reach a budget agreement, which is further exacerbated by the dreadful state of its economy. Although I can't really weigh in with my own views, I thought I'd post a few links to editorials from the Detnews from the past couple of days to give you a sampling of views.

Engler's income tax cuts aren't too blame: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070927/OPINION01/709270322/1008

The good old Mackinaw Center for Public Policy:

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070927/OPINION01/709270316/1008

Leave it to an MSU professor to say:

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070927/OPINION01/709270315/1008

The old "just get it done" pep-talk:

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070928/OPINION01/709280388/1008

There's a short sampling for you. Sometimes we do get a nice view of what the founders had in mind when they set up a government divided by the balance of power and bicameral legislative bodies.

Hmmmm

2007-09-21T09:03:00.000-05:00

In channel-surfing last night, I happened upon the Democratic AARP debate. Present were Clinton, Biden, Dodd, Richardson, and Edwards (Obama was absent). I watched for about 10 minutes before getting bored and moving on. I realize a) I'm not the target audience and b) they were speaking to AARP members, but is health care really the key issue of our time?

Live-blogging from NRO, here.

Law Profs Say the Darndest Things

2007-09-14T10:07:00.000-05:00

I'm going to post a, for lack of a better word, "article" from the USC Law Magazine, 2007 spring/summer edition. The issue is entitled Race, Rap and Redemption. Appearing below is "Call me a nigga" by Prof. Jody Armour of Gould School of Law at USC.

--I vividly remember the day I fully embraced my nigga self. I was invited to talk about unconscious racism to the prison guards and administrators at Terminal Island in San Pedro, CA. I toured the cell blocks and grounds. Without exaggeration, nearly all I saw was black and brown faces.

Of course, as a law professor I knew the statistics about the staggering disproportionate rate of minority incarceration, but nothing viscerally registers the reality of those abstract numbers like looking through the cages into the eyes of the young men behind the statistics. I saw in their faces the eyes of the kids I'd grown up with (most of whom did or are doing time)--Junebug, Popeye, P-Comet, Roach, Dede, Money. Each new face was a looking glass, for without serious government intervention in my life (Upward Bound, A Better Chance), there surely go I.

I also saw in those cold, raw cages the face of my father, who was a prison inmate for most of my youth.

Just before my tour of the Terminal Island I saw a tape of a popular Chris Rock routine in which he distinguishes between "black folk" and "niggas," reserving the term "niggas" for blacks who commit crimes. I even started seeing bumper stickers proudly proclaiming, "I love black people but I hate niggas."

I had also just read a popular book by Harvard Law Professor Randall Kennedy, in which he called fro a "politics of responsibility," wherein the black community should sharply distinguish between "good Negroes" (law-abiding blacks) and "bad Negroes" (blacks convicted of crimes, those Rock referred to as "niggas"). By this logic, because 56 percent of young black males in Baltimore and 33 percent of those in the state of California are in prison, on probation, or on parole, that percentage of young brothers in those jurisdictions is by hypothesis "niggas."

There is class bigotry in the politics of responsibility, also. (Consider the vitriol that black Brahmin icon Bill Cosby levels at low-income blacks.) Because the crime rates among middle-class blacks and middle-class whites are indistinguishable, most of the black folk committing street crimes are poor. Thus, the "good Negroes" are disproportionately above the poverty line while the "niggas" are disproportionately below.

You might think people are poor because they are "bad," but perhaps they are "bad" because they are poor. Their wrongdoing may not be something that can be entirely attributed to their "bad choices" or "bad character" -- abject poverty, unemployment, crumbling schools and other external pressures they cannot control share responsibility.

"So that's how they look at my dad and the brothers I grew up with, " I thought, "bad Negroes and niggas." Then it struck me: "Because they say the apple never falls far from the tree, and birds of a feather flock together--and above all because there but the grace of God go I--I guess that makes me a nigga, too."

When I say "call me a nigga" I am saying in the strongest possible language that I reject Kennedy's and Rock's and Cosby's invitations to play a politics of respectability and distinction by regarding impoverished brothers and sisters locked down in cells and prison yards as so much toxic human waste.

Not that I don't feel sympathy for the victims of crime. But as Glenn Loury, Directer of the Institute on Race and Social Division at Boston University, has observed, "the young black men wreaking havoc in the ghetto are still 'our youngsters' in the eyes of many of the decent poor and working-class black people who are often their victims. . . . For many of these people the hard edge of judgment and retribution is tempered by sympathy for and empathy with the perpetrators."

I find the politics of distinction both odious and futile: Odious because it invites and encourages the rest of us to disown and condemn astonishingly high percentages of our own community; futile because the practice of racial profiling (part of what I've referred to as "The Black Tax" a tithe that binds us all together) means that for police and other social actors "respectable Negroes" and "niggas" are cats of the very same hue.

"Call me a nigga" both proclaims my solidarity and internally willed identification with the poverty-stricken pariahs in the black community and acknowledges the externally imposed risks we all share--irrespective of our zip code, pedigree or tax bracket. --

Translation: those people blaming us for the crimes "we" committed, they're bad people, bigots even. Black people who don't commit crimes ("uppity ----") are bad too, because they don't like black people that do commit crime, this makes them bigots as well. So, we should all embrace our criminal brothers and something magical will happen, perhaps a giant government program, and our problems will be solved.

Astonishing really. With the truth so clearly right under his nose--middle class black families have the same crime rate as middle class white families--he misses the point and tries the "blame everyone else" gambit once again. Sorry professor, your bit has been trumpeted before, it's still being tried, it still doesn't offer any (read absolutely none) solutions. Your grade: F.

On my Desk: Six Hundred Years Ago

2007-09-07T21:20:00.000-05:00

A Distant Mirror, by Barbara W. Tuchman
1978, Alfred A. Knopf, New York

I picked up A Distant Mirror from the discard table at the Hillsdale College library, thinking the 14th century is a dark spot in my grasp of history. And I knew Barbara Tuchman from her more popular The Guns of August.

Tuchman’s concern in this book is basically the history of the 14th century, which in her eyes was a pretty disastrous century for Europe. It was dominated by the Black Death and following plagues, the Hundred Years War between France and England, Muslim conquest of southeastern Europe, and the slow but steady decline of the knights.

Primarily, she focuses on one knight: Enguerrand VII, the Sire de Coucy, one of the greatest peers of France, and one of the few knights not wholly corrupt or wholly stupid. Coucy managed to be involved in nearly every major event during his lifetime (1340-1397) and usually acquitted himself well, unlike so many others with which he interacted. Stupidity is one of the strongest themes of the 14th century as told by Tuchman: stupidity of kings, princes, lords, and above all, of the knightly class.

It was to this stupidity that she credits the Christian defeat at Nicopolis in 1393, when an alliance of French and Hungarian knights, with other crusaders, met the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Bajazet. Sigismund, the King of Hungary, advised waiting a few hours to allow scouts to observe the Turkish army, but the French nobles (against the advice of Coucy), refused to wait and charged headlong into the Turkish vanguard, with no military plan other than a frontal charge. Predictably, most died in the fighting that followed, although they took many Turks with them. Coucy himself was captured and died shortly after being ransomed. The loss of the Battle of Nicopolis, summed up by Tuchman, “lodged [the Turks] firmly in Europe, ensured the fall of Constantinople, and sealed their hold on Bulgaria for the next 500 years (p561).”

Tuchman’s treatment of Nicopolis and other battles of the 14th century is solid so far as I know. Her writing in other places leaves a bit to be desired, with abrupt changes of subject and a narrative that sometimes wanders. On the other hand, she writes a good story and keeps the reader interested, unlike so many real-life Professor Binns. Her analysis of the 1300s is also probably a bit dated, being written 30 years ago. Still, when more than 600 years separate us from the Sire de Coucy and his companions, 30 years of scholarship is unlikely to learn much more, and A Distant Mirror is a good introduction to an often-forgotten century.

Or, we could've tried mitosis

2007-09-05T21:28:00.000-05:00

Debbie and I started birthing classes tonight, skipping church to do so. I figure I've gone to thousands of Wednesday night bible classes, but never had a baby before.

Lots of people: 22 people, I think? One or two due at the end of October who likely won't make it to the end of the six-week class, but most are due in November, with a smattering of Decembers like us, and one or two Januarys.

Today we took a tour of the OB floor, and the LDRP (Labor, Delivery, Recovery, & Post-partum) room, which is just a fancy name for the room where everything will happen. They also pointed out the spot where the Support Person should stand. After the tour, discussion focused on normal versus not-normal feelings, like tiredness, nausea, back ache, etc. One woman had her uterus twist, cutting off a nerve, which was extremely painful. This is considered not normal.

Thankfully for Debbie, she's had an extremely normal pregnancy so far, almost boringly so (but not!). Even among the normal discomforts of pregnancy she's gotten off lightly. If anyone's been praying for her, thank you, and keep praying!

Wrenstone Castle pics

2007-08-27T22:53:00.000-05:00

Sir Walter finds out that really good help is hard to find.

Anarchy and Risk

2007-08-15T09:33:00.000-05:00

I was reading an article the other day about the benefits of anarchy, which I'm still rather dubious about, but it did get me thinking about my experience playing Risk.

Yes, those two things---Risk and anarchy---really are related. Risk is a simple game of world conquest, determined by good strategy and lucky rolls of the dice, unencumbered by too many rules. What isn't included in the rules, but is always important, is the role of diplomacy in the game, which has always been my favorite part.

Diplomacy matters because in a game of six players, no one player is strong enough at the beginning to fight everyone, which means that you must negotiate various temporary truces and alliances with your enemies. Just like in real statescraft, these alliances shift as power changes: weaker powers ally against stronger, then turn on each other.

Now, there's no rule that says you can't conclude an alliance, and then backstab your partner. Many a successful campaign has done just that: as long as you win, there's no punishment, but rather reward. Anarchy means that there is no government to enforce the treaty, and the loser is simply the loser.

But, in my college and highschool days, I found that anarchy really doesn't mean that, because in the world of Risk, you tend to play with the same players, and those players have memories. And everyone, not just Bob, remembers that you broke your treaty with him last game, and therefore no one will trust you. So it's actually in your interest to keep your word, even in the anarchic world of Risk.

Playing with the same people imposes other checks too: my brother used to have a very successful North-America-first strategy, and he would win nearly every time that my friends and I played with him. And he bragged loudly about it, not without reason. So one day we other players allied together on the very first turn, and took every country he owned. I don't think he even got to play. It was a bit cruel, I admit, but he told me later that he learned circumspection from that experience.

In short, the anarchy in Risk tends to produce order, contrary to expectations. I don't know that the world of Risk can be entirely extrapolated to the real world, but it may be that anarchy is not quite so anarchic as it seems.

neither is this one

2007-08-09T18:14:00.000-05:00

US public sees news media as biased, inaccurate, uncaring: poll (breitbart.com)

this is not a political post

2007-08-09T17:39:00.000-05:00

Don't you know this headline is shocking some folks in the main stream media:

Poll: Americans worried but reject higher taxes to fix bridges (CNN.com)

Nearly half of all Americans are worried about the collapse of a bridge somewhere in the United States, yet nearly two-thirds reject higher taxes to inspect and fix them, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Thursday.

Now, you tell me who's the party that's out of step with the average American?

Mr. and Mrs. Dallas

2007-08-05T22:01:00.000-05:00

The ranks of Highland bachelors are getting smaller: exactly half of us are now married. I visited Indianapolis Saturday to watch Dallas say "I do" to a beautiful blonde named Jennifer. Like Phil's bride Bekah, I only got to meet Jennifer at the rehearsal dinner, but I can see why Dallas likes her: she clearly has a great sense of humor (she used her bouquet to hide the kiss at the end of the ceremony), though I have a feeling she's no pushover. I think they make a good couple.

At any rate, Phil, myself, Matt and Lia, and Nick and Stacey made up the Hillsdale contingent. Phil and I came in early on Friday (and yet, were still almost late to the wedding, due to construction delays), and met the others at the ceremony. A good time was had by all during dinner (excellent barbecue pork), and much catching-up was done. We wondered together what we will do to get together after we're all married, but perhaps we'll find something.

countdown

2007-07-27T10:26:00.000-05:00

we are getting down to crunch time on the wedding.

jim has declined to come. jeremy hasn't received an invitation, because we were so sick of invitations that i don't think we sent him one after i finally called to get his address. (sorry jeremy). that leaves phil, matt, anthony, and nick from the 'dale...+ guests, not a shabby group. i am looking forward to seeing all of you, especially if you're in town friday night.

decorations and reception food are supposed to be sured up tomorrow.

i just got off the phone with the jeweler, letting us know that our wedding rings are ready. i haven't worn a ring in a long time...not since my high school class ring...10 years!

this week i will have worked A LOT of overtime (tonite i am scheduled to be here until after 1am) due to changes in the office phone system. i think i will enjoy that paycheck.

I have read the book, and it is good

2007-07-22T20:27:00.000-05:00

Got to Vegas about 5:00 Vegas time, and met several of the group at the airport (there were 11 of us in total), and then the rest at the hotel. Went to dinner and from there to the bookstore, where by dint of good planning AND good luck were in the first group to get the book. The bookstore didn't manage the crowd especially well, but still it only took us an hour to get everyone's book.

We got back to our hotel suite at about 1:30am and everyone settled in to read. About half of us read it straight through: the others dropped off to sleep (or went to bed before they dropped off) at various times. I finished the book at 9:30am, the third to finish. I didn't think I'd make it, but I did, reading it in about 8 hours.

As a whole, I liked it. She managed to answer most of the outstanding questions, and was not too predictable in doing so. A few of her solutions I disliked, but even those were well-written, and I could like the story even if I didn't like that particular part.

We mostly slept and waited for the slow readers, Saturday afternoon, and then finished up our weekend with another scrumptious dinner and a viewing of The Order of the Phoenix at the IMAX, with 3D! Since we were in the very front row, the IMAX effect wasn't so great, but the 3D was.

Those of you who haven't bought it yet...buy it! And read it, so I can talk about spoilers! :)

harry potter: movie and book

2007-07-21T23:08:00.000-05:00

We just got back from seeing the new Harry Potter movie, and I think it's really terrific. Of course, it's been a couple of years since I read "The Order of the Phoenix," but I think the movie does a spot-on job of sticking to the important things without getting bogged down in detail. Delores Umbridge is perfectly evil (though B thinks she comes across as even more despicable in the book--not as much of that annoying throat-clearing in the movie), and the battle scenes are brilliant.

As for the Deathly Hallows, I've generally waited to read the other books until they came out in paperback, mostly for money reasons. After seeing the new movie, however, I kind of want to read the new book now, and I may just have to cough up the change and buy the hard back. Or as B quite sensibly suggests, perhaps I should consider borrowing it from the library (she's so smart!).

By the way---looking forward to hearing A-Train's update on his Vegas-Potter adventure. But no spoilers, please.

UPDATE: B went and checked, and there are at least 22 people ahead of us to check out the book, and 31 ahead of us to check out the book on tape. Let's see; I think I've got some frequent flyer points that can be converted to Amazon.com credit lying around here somewhere . . .

things i hate

2007-07-19T13:40:00.000-05:00

-when there is no good music on the radio
-everyone in sports talking exclusively about michael vick's (alleged) dog fighting
-drivers that don't keep up with the flow of traffic during rush hour
-cleaning up the details on a large project
-the slow moving hours of the afternoon when lunch is over, but home is still a long way off
-the yankees
-people wearing their neckties with an oversized knot and the tie only half-way down the shirt
-faux hawks
-soccer
-morbidly obese people trying to dress sexy.....(full body shiver...ughhh)
-losing (especially to people that think they're better than they are)
-reality tv shows
-when alex trebec tries to show off his linguistic skills
-when stupid people hurt a good cause by attaching their idiot-ness to it

Kudos to Skil

2007-07-17T09:03:00.001-05:00

I've sometimes posted about products or companies that I've had problems with, so it's only fair that I also point out companies that have given me good service.

Sometime in February or March, my Skil cordless drill stopped switching into reverse. I e-mailed Skil customer service, which directed me to contact my regional Skil service center (annoyingly, the regional service centers are not listed on Skil's website). I called the center a few weeks ago (procrastination on my part) and they said they'd do a warranty repair as long as the problem wasn't too major, since it was just a few months out of warranty. I shipped the drill off late last week and got it back yesterday, working fine. I was impressed with how quickly it came back. There's so much bad customer service out there that a good experience is always worth reporting.

The Road Less Traveled

2007-07-15T16:17:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Debbie and I intended to spend the afternoon at the Hot Air Balloon Festival in Jackson, after attending a 50th anniversary open house in Milford, north of Ann Arbor, but we got up there late and ended up running out of time. We passed a lot of construction on 14 and 23 on the way north, and looked for an alternate route on the way home.

The easiest thing to do would've been to take a different Interstate, but instead we simply got off the highway before the construction and randomly followed roads south, including one that was a dirt road for awhile. We ended up on Pontiac Trail, which leads right into downtown Ann Arbor, and is surely a more picturesque road than U.S. 23 anyway. Taking the road less traveled can be a fun adventure, although better attempted if one has plenty of time and daylight.

In other news, the new Harry Potter book comes out a week from yesterday, or next Saturday the 21st. I'll be in Las Vegas with 11 other very committed Harry Potter fans. We plan to go to dinner, then line up for the book, come back to our hotel suite, and read through the night (and day, most likely). Well, that's the plan: I doubt my will to find out what happens to H. Potter will keep me from falling asleep about 5am. It's the last book, and it'll be fun to read it with a group of fellow fans.

I'm Gonna Let You Go

2007-07-14T14:03:00.000-05:00

I don't mean to make Toyah a place for my pet peeves, but another one of them just surfaced the other night and I need to get this off of my chest.

When I'm on the phone with a friend and I want to end the conversation, I usually say "I need to get back to work" or "I'm going to get some dinner, I'll talk to you later." Something along those lines. Something that says "I am deciding to end this conversation because I think we've got nothing left to talk about or I have something more pressing to do." When someone ends a phone conversation, 99.9% of the time these are the reasons.

Now, when somebody says "I'm gonna let you go," they are merely trying to shift the burden of ending the conversation to the other person. They are attempting to paint the picture: "You want to end the conversation, so I'll end it for you. You're welcome." No. If you want the talk to end, then be a man and end it. You're not doing me a favor when I feel like continuing to talk and you end things. I can handle you needing to go do other things... you're not going to hurt my feelings. It is belittling for you to suggest that you need to make my decisions for me.

So when you're ready to move on, remember it's you that is cutting things off, not your friend on the other end of the line. They know it and you know it, so don't try and shirk your duty as the conversation killer.

What you don't want the Judge to say about your legal writing

2007-07-13T13:34:00.000-05:00

Yesterday the Court's bar association hosted a brown bag CLE luncheon that was sort of an overview of the Court of Federal Claims and its jurisdiction. Three judges spoke along with several practitioners. One of the judges, Judge Firestone, gave some comments on the importance of professionalism, including brief (legal) writing. She read the second paragraph of an opinion and order that had just recently been filed. It was a scathing review of the plaintiffs' lawyer in the case. I took it upon myself to look up this opinion and now I want to share some of the highlights with you.

The opinion and order was written by Judge Christine Miller (interestingly enough probably the only judge in America to have been appointed by both Presidents Reagan and Clinton) and is en captioned Locke v. United States, Fed Cl. No. 06-629 (July 10, 2007). This is what you do not want to the Judge to say about your legal writing:

As an initial matter, the court is compelled to point out that the pleading and brief filed by plaintiffs' counsel were deficient in almost every respect. Some egregious errors include incorrect case citations; case names without any citations; statutes that have either been repealed or never existed; unclear and confusing facts purporting to support plaintiffs' claims; and arguments based entirely on conjecture.

Id. at 1. The court then, in agreement with the defendant and in response to plaintiffs' first argument, characterizes plaintiffs' argument as, "a 'resounding non sequitur.'" Id. at 9. Shortly after that, in response to plaintiffs' third argument and citation to a specific case, Citadel Industries Inc. v. United States, 314 F. Supp. 245 (S.D.N.Y. 1970), the Court states:

It should have been apparent to plaintiffs' counsel from the case citation that the court in Citadel Industries was the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, not the Court of Federal Claims. Second, the first line of Judge Weinfeld's opinion establishes that subject matter jurisdiction was never an issue in [the case].

Id. at 10. Two pages later: "Not to be deterred by statute, binding precedents, or logic, plaintiffs contend that . . . ." Id. at 12. Two paragraphs further: "Pride in crafting legal arguments takes a holiday when plaintiffs argue that this court may grant 'equitable and extraordinary relief . . . after the amending of the Tucker Act.' . . . . Had plaintiffs' counsel consulted the cited statutory provision, he might have noticed that it was repealed by Congress in 1996." Id. (quoting Pls.' Br. filed Apr. 5, 2007, at 16) (internal citations omitted).

I will spare you many of the other less amusing but oh so devastating pronouncements of the Court. It is sufficient to say that the opinion reads like a road map to a malpractice suit. While the Court declined to sanction plaintiffs' counsel, it did state that this dismissal should "signal the last of these actions filed by this attorney in the Court of Federal Claims." Id. at 15. I just wanted to share with you some highlights of this little opinion that brightened my day yesterday and left me scratching my head that this lawyer was still in business.

Post script: in case you are wondering, the plaintiffs in this case were attempting to recoup money from what they allege was a wrongful tax levy. They may also have been seeking to enjoin the levy, but I'm not sure. In any event, fyi, In tax matters, the United States Court of Federal Claims has jurisdiction over tax refund suits only, meaning you have to paid your taxes in full before you can bring a suit here. If you are subject to a tax levy, you have certainly not paid your taxes in full. From what I can make of the facts of the case, reading between the lines, it appears that one of the reasons that the plaintiffs were subject to the levy is because their lawyer absolutely failed to send an offer of compromise in a timely fashion to the IRS Office of Appeals.

happy fourth of july and other dallas stuff

2007-07-10T15:20:00.001-05:00

last week i only worked monday and half a day on tuesday.

wednesday jennifer and i drove to toledo and then went from there to the tigers/indians game with my jennifer, my brother and his wife, my friend scott and his wife, and dug's sister-in-law (who has/had a crush on scott). the game was fun, even though the tigers won, and the fireworks were very cool. they lasted a lot longer than i thought they would when i saw the platform pulled out onto the field.

thursday wasn't very eventful, although i did stop in and see my parents before going back to greenfield.

friday was full of wedding-related items. jennifer and i got our marriage license. we went and looked at flowers. we picked up some music for the ceremony. then i ticked her off by not being very thrilled about veil shopping. we didn't purchase the veil that afternoon.

saturday morning, however, i went and bought the veil. that was a good move. i mowed the lawn at the church that afternoon. i had sunblock on, but didn't put any on the parts of my legs that stuck out from holes in the knees. i have some interesting sunburn from that. we had a couples shower from friends at the church that night.

i will spare you all any more dallas-play-by-play, because it is time for me to go home from work.

New Pictures!

2007-07-10T11:56:00.000-05:00

For fans of Wrenstone Castle, the chronicler has posted new pictures.

Live Earth Bomb

2007-07-05T18:26:00.000-05:00

Click here for a list of musical artists from whom I will not be purchasing music, at least not in the near future. Thankfully, there are very few truly purchase-worthy artists in this lineup to begin with; I'd hate to have to give up U2 or Nickle Creek. Is this really the best Al can do?

I really liked this article's assessment of the event: global yawning.

BOOOOO!

2007-06-28T12:12:00.000-05:00

making news in indiana are the new laws that go into effect (in either july or august).

one example is a hike in cigarette taxes...i don't care.

the other high profile new law is the one that irritates me. indiana is extending the 'click-it-or-ticket' garbage to include every passenger in every seat in every vehicle. this doesn't make any sense to me. motorcycle riders still can choose to go without a helmet, but every auto passenger can't choose to go without a seatbelt?! it is not the job of the police to enforce personal safety...i don't care how many lives it saves. politicians make grandiose statements about having more police officers to lower crime and then give them more tickets to hand out. last time i checked, giving me a seatbelt ticket does nothing to stop the shootings on the other side of town. i understand child seat laws (even though i don't like them) because they serve to protect individuals that aren't responsible for personal safety. it is my opinion that the new round of seatbelt crud is a result of insurance companies looking to increase their profits, and with an eye towards more municipal income, i.e. $100 tickets.

my indignation has done precious little for my writing skill, but i felt that a rant was in order.

Squeezing in an update...

2007-06-26T08:37:00.000-05:00

I keep meaning to post, but have been too busy to write a properly grammatically-correct entry. So I will have to make do with a bulleted list of unconnected points:

# Still constantly working on the apartment, but the painting is 99.9% done now. I'm going to pull out the old nasty bathroom sink and vanity tonight, and redo some of the wiring.

# So we're more-or-less on schedule to list the house in July, w00t!

# Still so much stuff to do though. But, all smaller projects than what we've done so far.

# I did some research on backyard orchards a few days ago, because that's one of the things we want to do at our next house. Apparently you don't really need that much space for fruit trees: up to 4 can go in one "hole", i.e., a 2-foot square space. And for a backyard they should be pruned very short, no taller than as high as you can reach. We could plant some at this house, if we were going to stay long enough for them to start bearing. Anyway, we're really looking forward to having space for a garden and fruit trees.

# Debbie's feeling better now that she's into the second trimester. And everything is still checking out completely normally and healthy, so yay for us!

A Tale of Two Princes

2007-06-22T08:58:00.001-05:00

On Monday, I watched the much hyped Matt Lauer interview of their royal highnesses, Princes William and Harry. It was an hour well spent.

The interview was prompted by the upcoming 10th anniversary of Princess Diana's death, but the topics covered during the interview were much wider. I thought Lauer did a great job directing the interview and intermixing fluff with serious questions. He also avoided asking them about Britain's involvement in Iraq. He did ask each about the possibilities of them being sent to Iraq - I didn't even know that Prince William was in the military, but he is. Currently he has an administrative post, while Harry actually has an infantry command. It's quite clear that William would never be sent to combat, not the heir to the throne, especially not since he is wide perceived as being the future savior of the British monarchy, a monarchy that has been recently rather shaky. Harry presents a different sort of problem for the crown. Since the modernization of of the British monarchy, the royals have tried to seem more "normal" and connected to the lives of their "subjects." There is only so much that a modern, democratized society can take when it comes to a stale, pompous vestige of a feudal (sorry Moy!) past.

I think that the crown and military have made the right choice with Harry by not sending him to Iraq. It would truly be a crisis if he were to be captured and hate to say it, but the Neville Chamberlains would be coming out of the woodwork to get Britain out of Iraq and to give in to any demands that his captors might have. This would then present another GIGANTIC image problem for the monarchy, in that the threatened life of one prince was enough to cause Britain to leave, while the lives of 100's/1000's of regular lads was not. Maybe I don't give the Brits enough credit, but that's how I see it playing out.

The princes came across as quite well spoken, very likable, fairly knowledgeable and an excellent mix of bloke and nobility. They were quite open and honest and not on edge. They were asked what they thought of America. They both said they loved it and that it was so vast and had so much to do and see. Apparently they haven't been rotted by the prevalent attitude of Europe's elite: the feux-contempt for all things American. I think Prince William will be a piece in the continued closeness of the Anglo-American alliance.

It was very clear that they both loved their mother and really do want to honor her memory. They were naturally asked about the intense media and tabloid scrutiny surrounding first their mother and now them. I thought they handled those questions quite well. Prince William did not openly blame them for his break-up with Kate nor for the death of his mother. They said they didn't like the intense scrutiny, but that they understood it and realized that people make a living doing that and that they just had to accept it. It was a very poised and graceful answer, becoming of royalty and yet with an air of "we're just a couple of blokes and things happen."

All in all, an hour well spent. I have to say the princes really impressed me and they were fantastically prepared in such a way as to appeal to an American audience, in my opinion anyway. It will be very interesting to see how the House of Windsor handles itself during my lifetime; I'll be watching.

afternoon update

2007-06-21T12:18:00.000-05:00

today has not been a busy work day. i am not complaining, except for the fact that the afternoon is going to take forever unless something comes up to make the time go. i have already taken care of yesterday's reports, today's deposits, today's document control, checked and adjusted my fantasy team, read the most recent report on the stupid kobe vs. lakers situation, and eaten lunch. some of those activities are supposed to come later in the day, so that the afternoon feels shorter.

i am looking forward to the weekend. the tigers weekly baseball game is set for saturday. i am hoping to help continue the winning tradition of the 'weekly' squad. i also would like to repeat the glory last year's MVP performance (preferably with some offense to go along with the glove work).

jennifer and i are expecting wedding invitations to be in this week, so i will develop writer's cramp soon. phone calls to verify addresses should be expected.

One Month To Go

2007-06-19T14:30:00.000-05:00

It's just over one month, now, until the final installment of the Harry Potter series hits the shelves in America. At this time two years ago I had read zero Harry Potter books. By the end of that summer I had read all six. Having seen the first three movies I thought I would give the books a try. I found them to be fun, easy to read, and impossible to put down. By the end of my binge I had had enough and felt ready for the wait. In a way I am quite glad that I read the first six and had to wait for the last book to come out. I'm sure I will appreciate it much more.

My only concern is my wild-card roommate Justin. The guy plays the role of the imp who cracks jokes on his friends... not big jokes that really get you in trouble, but little jokes that annoy you almost to the point of actually being mad. Justin has vowed to read the book in one night and then tell me the ending (much like when Phil read me the last paragraph of Orwell's 1984 as I was halfway through). I fear that I am doomed to this fate, as there is no way I will finish the book before him. He reads like Johnny Five and usually follows through on his threats. Plus I haven't the time to read it ASAP and I would like to re-read the other books as it has been two years.

The end of a hit series always comes with a little bitter taste, but all good things (Dallas, Seinfeld, The Sopranos, baseball season) must come to an end. The question is; will J.K. Rowling continue to have a successful career?

the worst thing about working with women

2007-06-14T08:57:00.000-05:00

drama...

over nothing...

and then hearing them tell every person that comes by about the drama...

and then hearing the one end of a phone call where they call someone to tell them about the drama...

Exciting Weekends in Michigan

2007-06-12T21:11:00.000-05:00

Back when I was single, or dating, weekends were a time of fun, recreation, and relaxation (and also, sometimes, boring or merely filled with never-ending homework). Now that I am married and own a house, they can be...otherwise.

Saturday we got up early and pounded the streets for an hour or two, hanging door hangers for our VBS that is starting this Thursday and runs until Saturday. Once we were done we headed for Home Depot, which is around 30 minutes away in another town, to pick up our solar-powered streetlamp and look for a new weed-whacker and a new screendoor. Found the weed-whacker, not the screendoor: apparently we will have to special-order the door. Then we came home and crashed for the rest of the afternoon, as neither of us slept well Friday night. No idea why, but that meant our poor dog spent most of the day in his kennel, a most unjustified sentence.

Sunday we did the usual church things, and Monday I stayed home from work to get some serious work done on the house. I intended to spend the morning installing the streetlamp and the afternoon painting the apartment. But as usual, circumstances did not cooperate. Did you know cast-iron is pretty much impossible to cut? I didn't realize the pole was cast-iron: I thought it was steel. Now I think it is cast-iron, because when I went to cut off the top of the pole to make the top flat (if you've forgotten, this is the tall rusty pole with no light on it that has been an eyesore for years)...well, I used a sawzall, and it took 3 blades and four batteries to cut it. I should've used a circular saw with an abrasive blade or something like that, but by that time I was halfway done.

The pole is 4 1/2 inches around, while the lamp has a base that is 3 1/2 inches around, designed to sit over a smaller pole. So I thought I could just sit the lamp base down inside the pole, which indeed worked quite well. To fasten it, I planned to run a bolt through the pole and lamp. But, as I say, the pole is cast-iron. My drill, an 18-volt hammer drill with titantium bit, barely scratched it. So I scrapped that plan and tried an epoxy, since the lamp doesn't need to be held extremely tight, just enough to keep it from wobbling. But naturally, the fit is not tight enough for the epoxy to connect. So I'm still looking for a way to set the lamp securely in the pole. I'm now contemplating wrapping the bottom of the lamp---the hidden part---in tape until it's thick enough to jam down into the pole. Not very elegant, but the friction grip might be enough, and it won't be evident.

So anyway, today my arms feel like lead, from using the sawzall while standing 15 feet high on a ladder. But the lamp looks nice! The light's not quite as bright as I wanted it, but it'll work. I did also get a fair bit of painting done upstairs. If I can, I plan to keep taking Mondays off for a couple of weeks until the apartment is done.

Sunday Afternoon in the Park

2007-06-11T23:29:00.000-05:00

I had the pleasure of attending my third Tigers game of the year this Sunday. It was also the third time that I saw them play the New York Mets, but it had been ten years since the last time I saw this matchup. The day was unique in that the field was inhabited with a flock of seagull-looking birds. The birds would do their thing during the normal play, but the crowd cheering really riled them up.

It was a hot day in the sun, but the Tigers made it worth my while. After falling behind 3-0 in the first they broke out the bats and pounded out a 15-7 win. Lia and I attended this game with a large group of teachers (& friends) from her school. Two little kids in the group were seeing their first game. Little Kirsten was cute... I hope I didn't ruin the picture...

I still remember my first game: a 3-2 win in a night game over the Cleveland Indians. I told Kirsten about how much fun I had at that game and that I had correctly guessed the game's attendance. She seemed like she may be a fan someday. She asked me a few questions about the game which I was happy to answer.

For you non-baseball fans I direct you here. There is still time!!!

Quaero

2007-06-10T13:23:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I was supposed to being posting on Fridays, but others have posted on Friday, so I think it's ok that I'm posting a bit late.

Anyway, the subject of my post is the French and their fear of American hegemony via Google, yes, Google. In a short little article I found in the Journal Exchange of the WSJ from January 18, 2007, there is an article that originally appeared in the Daily Telegraph from Jan 14; it's a little blurb about a book entitled "Google and the Myth of Universal Knowledge" by Jean-Noel Jeanneney (wow is that French). Jeanneney argues that Google's claim of "universalizing knowledge" is false, because it is an English-speaking run company, and thus it will be organizationally biased towards English literature in its digitalizing of the world's libraries.

He postulates that knowledge cannot be independent of its organization. For instance, "Google might digitalize books in a way that provides language advertisers could link to, rather than the clearest possible copies." Ok . . . so he is saying that hyperlinks are inherently indicative of American hegemony. Yes, and the world is flat and France is the center of the universe. This is just silly. Google is an international for-profit business, ie, they are going to do whatever makes the most money. What makes the most money for Google is having the fastest, best operating search engine in the world. (In fact, I'm waiting for the day that Google revolutionizes online legal research). As we good Hillsdalians understand, what this means is that, provided that France is a worthy market, Google will adapt to make its searching and digitalizing of French and other non-English literature as effective as it can to meet the needs of the French market.

Now, if France is not a worthy market, well then maybe it needs to wake up and join the 21st century, possibly dropping the 35 hour work week and un-socializing its economy. We will see what the new PM can do with that.

Mr. Jeanneney concludes that "[o]nly a government project can overcome such biases and deliver truly universal knowledge." Yes big brother, yes. Seriously, did anyone else laugh when they read that? As we know and as history has shown over and over, only the free market defeats institutional bias, which may be why Mr. J needs a government project, after all, I doubt he is too willing to let go of his anglophobia.

The little blurb concludes by noting that Germany has recently pulled out of a joint venture attempting to create the "Google-killer" named "Quaero. " The dispute that caused the crumble was over how many media the search engine should search. Of course Google would never collapse over such a dispute. With the free market behind it, Google says "search them, all of them."

Family News

2007-06-08T08:05:00.000-05:00

This is as good a time as any, and possibly a bit late, but Toyah readers may be interested to know that the A-Train family is expecting an Junior A-Train in December. Mrs. A-Train has been experiencing some morning sickness (really, more like all-day sickness), but all things considered she's been handling it pretty well.

We were hoping to be moved into better and bigger house before getting in the family way, but the renovations to make it sellable have taken too long. We are still hoping to get the house on the market this summer, but even if it takes another year or so that should be okay: Junior A-Train won't take up that much extra space right away.

USA Today 25's

2007-06-07T14:49:00.000-05:00

USA Today is printing lists of 25 as part of the 25-year anniversary of the newspaper.

I found these lists very entertaining. I always like the end-of-year and all-time lists that different sources create. I almost always find fault, but the discussion is the fun part.

-The quote from the Challenger caught my attention. Does anyone remember if "major malfunction" was a phrase coined by that incident or if the NASA guy used a famous phrase in his response to the incident?

-Also, as big a sports fan as I am, I found the NFL draft list a bit out of place.

Check them out and see the majority of our lives summarized in 11 (so far) lists of 25.

Life In Academia

2007-06-05T07:52:00.000-05:00

Upon graduating Hillsdale I chose to forego the real world in favor of graduate school (just like Phil and J-Rock). While those two guys have long since finished their three-year commitment I am going to be entering my sixth year starting in the fall.

Life in academics is actually pretty nice. I've been working harder than ever this summer, both trying to publish a paper and preparing for my August comprehensive exam. But it's not so bad. The work schedule is very flexible as you pretty much work on your own stuff. If I feel like working from home, that's ok once in a while, but I'm usually on campus at my advisor's office.

The math department is full of people that are up for extra-curriculars. Wednesday nights we bowl a couple of games and that usually spills over into a trip to a local watering hole. We are currently in the graduate softball league (3-1 record, not as good as The Highlands; our name is the Liouville Sluggers, named after mathematician Joseph Liouville) and there is usually a get-together once a week at someone's place.

Unlike law school, graduate school in mathematics offers opportunities to teach each semester, covering tuition and providing one with a modest living. Like Anthony, I've begun to put away some money for the future, though it's not the maximum.

A lot of people, when they hear how long I've been in school, give me the "How can you go to school that long? I'm so done with school!" If school were the only thing going in my life and I was paying college rates to be here, I can assure you I'd be teaching at a community college by now or working as an actuary. The flexible work schedule, the variety of weekly activities, the good people I work with, and the steady-state $$$ situation keep Matt a happy boy. But I promise, provided I pass my comprehensive exam this August, I'll be done in two years. Then I'll have to enter... academia somewhere else!

Planning for the Future

2007-06-03T19:06:00.000-05:00

It's not my goal in life to become rich, but I do think that planning for the future is an excellent idea. To that end, I've been contemplating on money management lately, and it seems to me that getting rich is not that hard, even if you're just an ordinary average middle-income family.

The most important thing is to pay off debt. Not long ago, I was thinking about budgeting some money for investment, above what goes into my 401k, but every investment advice on the subject I could find advised paying off debt first, because the interest you lost on debt is higher than the interest you gain on investments. Which is probably true, but a lot more boring.

The second thing is to live below your means. Just because you can afford it, doesn't mean you really need it. Living below your means doesn't mean being a cheapskate, or never ever spending money on a luxury, but it does mean that luxuries are the exception.

Third, if you are living below your means, you should be able to save some money. Save as much as you can, and don't blow it all when you do dip into the savings. Save it wisely too: your bank's interest rate for savings may not be the best available. Last month, following advice from the Bank Deals blog, I found a good deal from GMAC Bank and moved the bulk of our savings over to GMAC. Setting up the account was not as easy as it should've been, and took a good 4-5 weeks, but it has an interest rate of 5+%, and transferring is fairly easy, so the money is still quite accessible.

I can't predict the future, and it could be that terrible disasters will befall me that no amount of prudent planning can deal with, but on the law of averages: paying off debt (and not accruing more), living below our means, and saving our money should eventually result in something like wealth. Of course, for any of this to work comes the fourth and hardest part: lots and lots and lots of patience.

The Duke

2007-06-01T07:16:00.000-05:00

John Wayne's 100th birthday was last weekend. Though westerns are not appreciated like they were in heyday of The Duke, even those of us who are not cultured in the western can appreciate the impact and prominence John Wayne has had on and in American culture. I've been reintroduced to JW recently through Peter Schramm and his podcasts on westerns with John Marini of the University of Nevada-Reno. After listening to their discussions, and after reading a book on the Parker family in Texas (Quannah Parker and his mother, Cynthia Ann, were the most famous members), I've recently taken time to watch The Searchers (loosely based on Cynthia Ann's story) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Both films, directed by the great John Ford, are terrific and worth a look. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is especially rich in veiled and not-so-veiled lessons in American political and democratic philosophy. (To fully appreciate the significance of the west and Wayne's character in Liberty Valance, I recommend that you listen to the Dec. 11 and 15 Schramm podcasts before you begin watching the film.) At any rate, I'm developing a better appreciation for The Duke and, through the miracle of blockbuster online, I am slowly working my way through the John Wayne repertoire.

More on Wayne and Westerns:

Schramm has a post and link to a bio of The Duke by Ronald Reagan on the Ashbrook Center's No Left Turns blog. Check it out.
There's also a good article at Claremont by Marini on the significance of westerns, with some reference to John Ford.

youtube is the devil

2007-05-31T12:24:00.000-05:00

i really don't have much to say about that, except that i waste plenty-o-time watching youtube videos. (i recently watched a terrible comedian named dan whitney, who is really terrible, but at some point becomes larry the cable guy, who is really terrible)

some have asked for updates on the wedding plans.

invitations have yet to be ordered, much less sent. however, people who called the highlands home (or home away from home) during the period from fall 2000 to graduation 2002, you are probably invited. if you need information from me in order to make plans, or if you wonder if you are the exception to the above blanket statement, please send me an email at work. actually, everyone should send me emails at work. i'd rather read them than do my job, and i don't have many email addresses since hotmail gave me the boot.

jennifer says we don't need to get cable once we move into the place we will live. as most of you know, this is not a big deal, since i don't care about tv.

Cleveland vs. Detroit

2007-05-28T18:07:00.001-05:00

This week and the week previous, the rivalry between Cleveland and Detroit is being given a chance to develop. Both cities' athletic teams are experiencing good times and the paths of their basketball and baseball teams are currently crossing. So far things are pretty equal.

The Tigers and Indians met this weekend at Comerica Park and will face off in Cleveland this coming weekend. The Indians came in a half-game behind the Tigers but swept the series on the strength of their outstanding hitting and good pitching. The teams are expected to compete all season for the American League Central title and both have a great chance of making the post-season. The two teams have rarely been good at the same time. In the 80s the Tigers were perennial contenders while the Indians dwelled in the cellar. The 90s belonged to the Tribe, as they won the first five AL Central titles but could not win the World Series.

The bright spot, so far, for the city of Detroit has been the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA. Last year the Pistons beat the Cavaliers in seven games in the conference semi-finals. This year they are playing for the conference title and the script looks similar. The Pistons won two close games in Detroit to take a 2-0 series lead, but LeBron James had a great Game Three and the Cavs have tightened the series with a win in Cleveland. The image of the two teams are quite different. The Pistons are, along with the Spurs, one of the most team-oriented clubs. Cleveland's success is much more contingent on the play of their star, LeBron.

The two cities, though geographically very close, have little history of rivalry. There is Michigan/Ohio State, which is believed to be the fiercest rivalry in college football, but those colleges aren't in those towns. The Lions and Browns are in separate conferences, the Tigers and Indians (as mentioned) are never good at the same time, the Pistons and Cavs are finally playing some meaningful games, and Cleveland never got on board with hockey. These cities should be natural rivals, and this year could do a lot to get things going. Then the tete-a-tetes with Dallas will get really fun!

Books on my Desk

2007-05-27T22:42:00.001-05:00

For years I've been looking for a book that would discuss and define the major heresies of the early church, preferably in a down-to-earth way and in a size that wasn't intimidating. Although it wasn't originally recommended to me for that purpose, one of the best books I've read lately (and I'm not quite done) is The Cruelty of Heresy by C. FitzSimons Alison, retired Bishop of South Carolina.

He affirms orthodoxy, but manages to do so in a way that doesn't make it boring. Orthodox doesn't have to be staid and stiff. Rather, he demonstrates that all the heresies have a measure of truth to them, yet all go too far in one direction or the other, ultimately becoming unbalanced and thus destructive to their own adherents. His take is thoughtful, sensitive, and extremely readable: readers unversed in theology or church history should not be afraid to read it.

I like his style: short chapters, easily explained and digestible, yet very thought-provoking. He isn't interested in the "Catholic" perspective: rather, he understands that God's way---the orthodox way---is the only path that can avoid all the pitfalls and traps of man's own wisdom. As such, I recommend it to anyone who wants a better grasp of the ancient heresies, and what exactly is so bad about them.

The GOP and TNG

2007-05-22T07:07:00.000-05:00

I just can't resist sharing Steven Hayward's comparison of Ronald Reagan and the current field of GOP presidential front runners to the differences between the old Kirk-dominated Star Trek and the newer Star Trek: The Next Generation. When I was in junior high, I often tried to make it home from school by 4:00 so I could watch Picard and the gang take on the next set of Borg or battle it out with Q. In truth, I never really liked the old Trek, probably because, compared with TNG, it looked so fake and was so cheesy. TNG, on the other hand, had cool graphics and co-starred LeVar Burton, the Reading Rainbow host. In fact, I think I started watching TNG because LeVar once went "behind the scenes" of TNG and showed things like how they used a model of the Enterprise to film scenes, and how the Enterprise's doors were actually operated by real people pulling ropes. I was disappointed to hear the "swoosh" sound of the doors opening was made by a synthesizer and not some cool futuristic door-opening mechanism. After elementary school, TNG was a natural next step. Of course, I was too young to appreciate the fact that, as Hayward points out, TNG was a very watered down version of the old Star Trek, in that, by virtue of the "Prime Directive," every other civilization, no matter how barbaric, was not to be meddled with; a primer on multicultural relativism. So, in sum, I'm a nerd, and political lessons drawn from Star Trek are so rare that I had to point this one out.

what's not to hate

2007-05-21T11:29:00.000-05:00

i had another blog on blogspot for quite a while, but today i decided to delete it. due to inactivity, hotmail purged my account. my history is no longer recorded on the internet, save for toyah's account.

Random Things

2007-05-16T08:04:00.000-05:00

In an attempt to remind the world that Toyah writers still exist, I present the things that have been going through my head lately:

- Apparently there was a big debate last night between all 1,553,561 Republican presidential nominees. Although I pay more attention to politics than most, I didn't know about it. I suspect that says more about the nominees than it does about me.

- Building a church is a lot of work. It isn't merely growing by adding new members, it's also holding on to what you have, developing weak Christians into strong Christians, and managing many divergent, even contradictory, personalities along the way.

- I think I'd like to learn to play the violin. I need a new challenge, and music is a rather underdeveloped part of my character. Why the violin, when we already have a piano? I'm not sure, though I suspect it's the romance of the violin. I looked into taking lessons at the college once, and I can't remember why I chose not to at that time. I think I decided I ought not to commit to such a large and potentially expensive hobby on a passing whim. If I'm still interested in the fall, I should look into it again.

- I am not sure what people do after work, who don't have home improvement projects to do. Last summer we painted the outside of the house: this summer I am remodeling/repairing the apartment that is the upper story. We've reached the painting stage, which will be followed by the carpet/vinyl laying stage, and then the sink-replacing stage, ended by the outlet/switch replacing stage. And then there are about 10 smaller projects lined up behind that one...

The Quick Left

2007-04-23T22:01:00.000-05:00

Here's a trend that I've noticed on the roads of East Lansing.

At some point it became acceptable to make a left turn as soon as the traffic light turns green... even if there are cars across the intersection that are going to be going straight. This move is the equivalent of cutting in line and I can't wait to see the first person get pulled over for doing it. The intersection I see it happen at the most isn't even that busy. I don't know why, but things like this infuruate me. It's up there with the people who don't merge until the last second near construction zones so that they can cut in front of others who are waiting. I should start carrying a bag of rocks in my car...

End of an Era at the 'Dale

2007-03-29T14:03:00.000-05:00

The 'Douma era' has come to an end for the Hillsdale College Mens' Basketball Program. Here is the page to read the press release: http://www.hillsdale.edu/chargers/mens/basketball/. I have to say that I am saddened to hear of this loss and I do call it a loss. In my opinion, coach Douma was an institution in and of himself and the sort of icon that could define a program. Douma is quoted as saying: "When coaching starts to become less enjoyable, it's time to move on and make room for someone younger." What we do not see here is the normal retirement quote: "I want to spend more time with my family, travel, dog, whatever . . . ." I suspect money or personality clashes (perhaps Lawrence of Academia) had something to do with. Though, I hope that was not the case. Douma was the iconic coach with an unwavering commitment to excellence and doing things the right way at an institution that preaches the very same commitment.

If Douma did truly just retire then I can't begrudge him or the school of that, goodness knows he earned it. So while the refs are breathing a collective sigh of relief, as is the guy that has to repaint the coaches box, those of us who harbor many fond memories of the past nine seasons of Charger Basketball at the Jesse Phelps Arena (or on the road with the Pep Band) sigh knowing that it will never be quite the same.

Wrenstone Castle updates

2007-03-27T22:35:00.000-05:00

Time and money (and parts!) have come together, so I did some work on Sir Walter's castle tonight, and had time to arrange a work party so I could take pictures, too. You should start with today's 10:15pm post.

work stuff

2007-03-22T16:44:00.000-05:00

my office has been short a person for the past 2 months. this week our new co-worker started, and the difference is immense. i have 2 months of work that i need to catch up on, and since our new person is picking her duties up quickly i am able to do catch up stuff.

i made a mistake by picking up my phone after work hours and got tangled into a "very important" situation...which means that the person i am helping needs me to bail them out of something that they screwed up, and want me to take ownership of it...boo.

Tactics for Prayer

2007-03-19T13:20:00.000-05:00

Toyah's been quiet lately, hasn't it? Apparently everyone is too busy to spend time musing in front of a computer!

If you're a Christian, you probably think that part of a successful Christian life includes daily Bible reading and prayer. The challenge I have always faced is finding a way to consistently do that. I just don't seem to be enough of a morning person to get up early enough to have time to read and pray. I have finally found a way to address the reading question: I listen to Bible podcasts from the Bible Podcast on my way to work each morning, and can usually get in a least one chapter each day.

But I still struggle (mostly unsuccessfully) with daily prayer. What ways have you found to incorporate daily Bible reading and/or prayer into your life?

Happy Texas Independence Day!

2007-03-02T07:44:00.000-06:00

The Texas Declaration of Independence was signed on March 2, 1836 at Washington on the Brazos.

School Choice

2007-02-28T17:11:00.000-06:00

Is there a better argument for school choice than the picture of families lining up hours early just to get their kids on a school transfer list?

Wealth of Nations

2007-02-24T10:58:00.000-06:00

Adam Smith is finally getting the kind of recongnition he deserves---he's replacing composer Edward Elgar on the Bank of England's £20 note. Cool. By the way, who ever heard of Edward Elgar, and what did he do to get on English money in the first place?

super-indy XXVII

2007-02-05T13:14:00.000-06:00

my 2 favorite teams are non-contenders (although the niners could've possibly made the playoffs...weak nfc west), and i now live in central indiana, i have some history that fits the colts pretty well...
edon high school: blue and white
hillsdale college: blue and white
indianapolis colts: blue and white
last night was pretty cool to watch, and i must say that i would rather have an office full of giddy bandwagon fans than a bunch of sour-grapes/i-knew-they-would-choke/whiners in the office today.

yeah, the superbowl wasn't #27, but i am today.

No Whites for Black Caucus

2007-01-23T15:56:00.000-06:00

via The Drudge Report...

A white congressman who wished to join the Black Caucus has given up that bid due to the wishes of members who wish to keep the caucus all-black.

(Stephen) Cohen (D-Ten.) said he became convinced that joining the caucus would be "a social faux pas" after seeing news reports that former Rep. William Lacy Clay Sr., D-Mo., a co-founder of the caucus, had circulated a memo telling members it was "critical" that the group remain "exclusively African-American."

Other members, including the new chairwoman, Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, D-Mich., and Clay's son, Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., agreed.

"Mr. Cohen asked for admission, and he got his answer. ... It's time to move on," the younger Clay said. "It's an unwritten rule. It's understood. It's clear."

The bylaws of the caucus do not make race a prerequisite for membership, a House aide said, but no non-black member has ever joined.

Anybody out there expecting Martha Burke to protest the Black Caucus? I won't hold my breath.

save the date!

2007-01-19T15:09:00.000-06:00

that's what all the 'experts' say to tell your friends and loved ones.

AUGUST 4, 2007

that is the date. it has been written on my calendar...in ink. we have blocked hotel rooms for all those of you interested in that side of the planning and i have all that information if you need it.

as far as wedding planning goes, that completes my job, right?
ring...check
ask....check
announce....check
block rooms...check
now all that is left is to dress up and show up. it's great being a guy.

Interesting... Oil Demand is Falling

2007-01-19T10:27:00.000-06:00

According to the Wall Street Journal:

Mild winter weather has something to do with it. So does heavy selling by financial funds. But a largely overlooked factor in the recent plunge in oil prices may portend an end to the multiyear rise in crude: For the first time in years, the developed world is burning less of it.

Fresh data from the International Energy Agency show oil consumption in the 30 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development fell 0.6% in 2006. Though the decline appears small, it marks the first annual drop in more than 20 years among the OECD countries, which drain close to 60% of the 84.4 million barrels of oil used globally each day.

As demand rises, prices rise, until they rise so high that demand starts to fall, after which the price will fall to keep up (keep down?) with demand. Sound familiar? It's not rocket science.

This is probably not big news. Oil is so versatile that it will be a very important commodity for a very long time, I predict. But it's interesting, nonetheless. And it suggests to me that there is no such thing as an "oil addiction", just a normal supply-and-demand relationship. In other words, the best way to deal with the oil problem is to leave it to the market.

No more secret earmarks!

2007-01-18T10:38:00.000-06:00

Some amazing political shenanigans have been going on in the Senate in the last few weeks. If you haven't been paying attention, basically Harry Reid proposed a very light pork-reform bill, which would have subjected about 5% of existing pork to public scrutiny. So Sen. DeMint proposed adopting the new House earmark rules (proposed by Speaker Pelosi) instead. Reid and some of the old-bull Democrats (like Ted Kennedy) fought hard to defeat that move, but they lost. The irony is rich here...

This won't make earmarks or corruption disappear. It will make it harder to secure funding for special pet projects, but Congresspeople and/or lobbyists will find other ways. And earmarks aren't illegal now, they're just visible. But it's a step towards better management of public money.

If you think about it, send a thank-you note to Senators DeMint and Coburn, who have been championing this cause since at least last summer.

MLK Day @ MSU

2007-01-14T22:09:00.000-06:00

A State News poll as of 11PM Sunday evening.

S'News Polls 'U'

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Are you going to attend a seminar, lecture or event to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day?

Yes

9%

No

77%

I don't know

5%

I don't care

8%

total: 319

My favorite part is the 8% who answered the inappropriate "I don't care." Though the university is NOT closed on MLK Day, the students are given the day off so they can celebrate. Now, given the results (and I think these numbers are fairly accurate even though only 319 people answered), it seems another day of the year might be better suited to have off. If the U really felt that MLK Day was worthy of celebrating, it seems that they should close, thus giving all employees the chance to attend events. If they are giving this day off only because they want to accomodate those that wish to attend events, why not pick another day... one where greater than 14% of students are likely to take advantage of the day off? Examples: Election Day, Good Friday (or some other religious day of observance), the day of MSU's first round NCAA tournament game, the first day of hunting season, St. Patrick's Day, this Wednesday when the Tigers will be at the Breslin Center.

I'm sure there are more out there. And if you think the inclusion of St. Paddy's Day is ridiculous, I've had classes of students give me the sob story for having homework due or a quiz on March 17th. Certainly there is a good reason to take MLK Day off, but if the U really wanted to honor King, they would close entirely. If not, those students that are passionate about the day won't mind cutting classes to honor the man (just like I wouldn't mind cutting class to vote, attend Mass, veg out out in the Ethan Allen room, shoot a deer, enjoy a few pints, or meet Mike Maroth).

Christmas in the mountains

2007-01-13T08:33:00.000-06:00

Bekah and I enjoyed a week off at Christmas in New Mexico with her family. I am blessed with some incredible in-laws, and we had a terrific time skiing, shopping, and hanging out. I've got a few random pics to post.

Bekah and I at the top of the mountain overlooking Red River, NM.

We went snowmobiling, and I experienced my first Napoleon Dynamite moment in over two-and-a-half months.

A road sign near Eagle's Nest, NM on the way back home. We left in the middle of a blizzard.

Doing military the Hillsdale way?

2007-01-13T08:03:00.000-06:00

This is an interesting article about Blackwater USA, the world's largest private military contracting company, founded and owned by a Hillsdale College alum.

I had some things I wanted to say about Hessians and privatization of the military and the like, but I think I'll just say this: can you imagine having enough money to create your own private army? It's like something from some Bond movie where the evil over-lord has his own army of ominously dressed and disposable henchmen, except this one is in the hands of the good guys. I guess it is therefore a little more like the A-Team or Airwolf, or any other show where the heroes are a paramilitary force whose mission is to rid the world of bad guys and their 1969 Dodge Chargers and 1973 Monte Carlos.

2007-01-01T13:11:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year!

It is the Year of the Pig, in case you were wondering.

There were 106 posts on Toyah last year. The most posts were in May (15). We talked about politics, gas, books, Legos, painting, Friday, alcohol, Sharpe, engagements, and laundromats.

I wish all my friends a successful, productive, happy 2007!