Ben Stein's "Expelled" Isn't Finding Conservative Acceptance

The release of Ben Stein's peculiar effusion has provoked a flurry of conservative kerfuffle, with a camp on the "ID is being persecuted" side and another camp over on the "hello, this is crackpot crazy" side of the ranch.

A fairly influential conservative columnist who is appearing on the Denison campus tomorrow night has tried to broker a dialogue, with the results reminding me of the old saying "blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be spat upon by everyone." Or something like that.

Anyhow, in pushing back against the idea that ID should be taken on with other conservative baggage from the evangelical/fundamentalist rack, Jonah Goldberg has picked up a fair amount of flack, though he is not alone in trying to block the entry of anti-evolutionism from the temple precincts.

This recent post by him at National Review's widely read blog might be of interest:

Relativism V. Relativity [Jonah Goldberg]

A lot of readers seem to be reading me as actually saying that relativity and relativism are justifiably linked. That wasn't my point. Rather, it was that people often look to science to confirm their preconceived philosophies and prejudices. People were convinced everything was relative long before Einstein's theory of relativity arrived on the scene. They took the confirmation of his theory as confirmation of their political and philosophical views. Similarly, many atheists insist that evolutionary theories of one kind or another prove that God doesn't exist. Many ardent believers say that science proves an intelligent designer. (And lots of people reside somewhere in the vast murky middle.) Take an example far afield from all this stuff. Many liberals think conservatism is a kind of insanity. So, they look to science to confirm that conservatism is a kind of mental defect and have been doing so for decades now. I'm not saying that science can't confirm someone's point of view — of course it can. But we should be on guard for the use of science as a rationalization of perspectives that science doesn't speak to very well, just as we should be on guard for the use of religion as a justification for agendas that don't have much religious salience.

Gnomes, their origins, care & feeding

50 years ago this summer, my parents went on their honeymoon down to Chattanooga and up to Rock City, where they met their first gnomes on the Enchanted Trail. We may have more gnome-related fun this summer in honor of the golden wedding anniversary, since gnomes may have more of a line on finding gold than any of the four Gill kids have managed!

http://www.gnometownusa.com/blog
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnome
http://www.seerockcity.com/Flash/About/generalinfo.htm
http://www.waltlockley.com/rockcity/rockcity.htm
http://www.ambassaden.net/bfr/julkort/2002/en/the_tomten.en.swf

Obama Backlash

This blog post preceded the release of a recording from inside which triggered "Bittergate," and i have to say it's more off-putting to me, in summing up the atmosphere around the fundraiser, than the quote itself did --
http://www.zombietime.com/obama_visits_billionaires_row

The interesting thing is, it really looks like that

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Zion_National_Park_poster_1938.jpg

North of Kayenta . . .

. . . and the last scene of "My Darling Clementine":
http://imagesoftheworld.org/GrandCircle/capitan.html

Athenians, or Visigoths

http://www.ditext.com/postman/mgs.html

"It is immoral that people have to die"

See what you think: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/03/garden/03destiny.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

A Place of Peace

http://christdesert.org/images/Category/130-Monastery%2520in%2520the%2520snow%25202.JPG

In warmer months, it looks a bit more like this:

Two stories of unexpected faith

On the death of Gary Gygax, creator of D&D:
http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds/news/2008/03/ff_gygax?currentPage=all

And from Pearl Harbor to the Doolittle Raid to . . . well, read it:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/us/23deshazer.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

Signals stolen from the bullpen at Wrigley Field

As Holy Week is over, but the Holy Season is about to begin -- this baseball meditation:

Atheists want to play, but they don’t want an Umpire.
Calvinists believe the game is fixed but play hard anyway.
Arminians think you can take runs off the scoreboard.
The Mormons are in left field, while the New Agers should play catcher; no matter how wild the pitch they’ll grab it.
Catholics want the Pope to play shortstop; they claim he’s never made an error.
Amish won’t swing and they walk a lot.
Televangelists sometimes get caught stealing.
The Dunkers are down by three.
Premillenialists expect the game to be called soon on account of darkness.

Joyce, You Really Should Stop & Read This

As in right now, because it is work related to the max for you:
http://www.mindingthecampus.com/originals/2008/03/recently_i_sat_down_with.html
Apparently, this is an industry, like the tobacco industry, or the military-industrial complex . . . only not as honest.

On the other hand, i think i'll go to this

http://www.newarkadvocate.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080324/UPDATES01/303240017

Is this where the US mainline is going?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080322.wchurch22/BNStory/National/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20080322.wchurch22
If so, can i get my transfer ticket now? I'd like off this particular train.

Seven Stanzas at Easter - John Updike

Make no mistake: if He rose at all
it was as His body;
if the cells' dissolution did not reverse, the molecules
reknit, the amino acids rekindle,
the Church will fall.

It was not as the flowers,
each soft Spring recurrent;
it was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled
eyes of the eleven apostles;
it was as His Flesh: ours.

The same hinged thumbs and toes,
the same valved heart
that — pierced — died, withered, paused, and then
regathered out of enduring Might
new strength to enclose.

Let us not mock God with metaphor,
analogy, sidestepping transcendence;
making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the
faded credulity of earlier ages:
let us walk through the door.

The stone is rolled back, not papier-mache,
not a stone in a story,
but the vast rock of materiality that in the slow
grinding of time will eclipse for each of us
the wide light of day.

And if we will have an angel at the tomb,
make it a real angel,
weighty with Max Planck's quanta, vivid with hair,
opaque in the dawn light, robed in real linen
spun on a definite loom.

Let us not seek to make it less monstrous,
for our own convenience, our own sense of beauty,
lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour, we are
embarrassed by the miracle,
and crushed by remonstrance.

-- John Updike (1932- )

Rest In Peace, Arthur

An elegant, brief story you may have read but would surely appreciate, from a science fiction giant who passed away a few days back at 90 in Sri Lanka, Arthur C. Clarke of "2001: A Space Odyssey" fame -- http://lucis.net/stuff/clarke/9billion_clarke.html

A blessed Holy Week to all!

Where many hearts are turned these next few fateful days . . .

[koff] Ahem . . . [koff]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88520025

Um, is it "no warming" as your instruments say, or "less rapid warming" as you try to reframe it?

The more folks try to insist global climate change is dangerously warming based entirely on models, and in the teeth of their own data, the more i start to edge over with the skeptics . . . Bjorn Lomborg is not exactly disreputable company, industry councils and business institutes aside.

Me, i think Peak Oil has more science and data going for it right now than "Global Warming: The Phenomenon."

David Mamet Was Already My Hero

And it isn't like he's decided to send a donation to the George W. Bush Presidential Library or something. But he may get treated like he did when this gets around:

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0811,374064,374064,1.html

I knew there was something about the man who created "State & Main" that valued tradition and integrity . . . call it progressive conservatism or conservative progressivism or whatever you want, David. Glad to be pulling on the same oar with you.

Having Argued With a Smart Person On This Last Year . . .

. . . i'm just gonna copy it right into my blog here immediately:

Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Some Perspective About War
Posted by Philip @ 11:55 am CDT
[from http://thinklings.org/?post_id=4468]

From a report published last year for Congress by the Congressional Research Service
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32492.pdf

Table 4. U.S. Active Duty Military Deaths, 1980 Through 2006
Part I, Total Military Personnel

Year Total Deaths
1980 2,392
1981 2,380
1982 2,319
1983 2, 465
1984 1,999
1985 2, 252
1986 1,984
1987 1.983
1988 1,819
1989 1,636
1990 1,507
1991 1,787
1992 1,293
1993 1,213
1994 1,075
1995 1,040
1996 974
1997 817
1998 827
1999 796
2000 758
2001 891
2002 999
2003 1,228
2004 1,874
2005 1,942
2006 1,858

Total Deaths under Reagan 1981-1988 - 19,593
Total Deaths under Bush I 1989-1992 - 6,223
Total Deaths under Clinton 1993-2000 - 7,500
Total Deaths under Bush II 2001-2006 - 8,792

Deaths due to Hostile Action – from Table 5
1980-82 0
1983 18
1984 1
1985 0
1986 2
1987 37
1988 0
1989 23
1990 0
1991 147
1992-95 0
1996 1
1997-2000 0
2001 3
2002 18
2003 344
2004 739
2005 739
2006 753

Comparison of Deaths in Modern American Conflicts – from Table 6
World War I 116,516
World War II 405,399
Korea 36,578
Vietnam 58,209
Gulf War 382
Afghanistan 352
Iraqi Freedom 3,091

I put the above numbers together myself from the original source. There is lot of fascinating statistics there and I would encourage you to go read it.

And let us never forget that each number represents a precious human life.

And I want to personally thank anyone reading this who has ever served, or who has had a family member who served. Words are not adequate to express my gratitude.

Da-da-datdah, da-dadahhhhh

http://indianajones.lego.com/en-US/Games/Default.aspx