At Home On Piety Hill

For my summer vacation, Denise and I are spending a long weekend with her brother, sisters and their families in South Lake Tahoe. Last night I scouted out a spot to “camp out” with all my gear and relax, doing what I like to do on a vacation — study The Apocalypse, write to our family in Uganda, people watch, read some news and blog. So, here I am at Alpen Sierra Mountain Roasted. It’s a very hospitable coffee hut with the following amenities:

• The coffee is good. I would rate it an 8 on a scale from 1-10 with Flour Garden being a 1 and Java John’s right up there around a 9. I don’t know if I could really give anything a “10″, because that would be perfect.
• The view is nice… there’s someone’s log home right across busy Hwy 50 (see photo)
• They have free high-speed WIFI access.
• The moment I walked in, I was greeted by the winsome face of a G4 iMac, which demonstrates the establishment has style (see photo)
• The place has a nice ambience and the baristas (hip lingo for sales associates) are friendly and helpful.
• A guy chased his son in the front door, calling him by name: “Sequoia!”
• A young, GAP accessorized woman walked through the door announcing to the person on the other end of her cell phone (21st century version of a string with two tin cans at either end), “I just got out of the car and I’m going in.”
• Some decent reggae… this could be a plus or a minus, depending upon the artist

Ah, yes… vacation in paradise South Lake Tahoe. So, what am I doing blogging on vacation in “God’s Country?” Well, this is what I like to do. Donna and Brian went off mountain biking and I really enjoyed that before my little misfortune. Now, the nerve damage to my right arm (and a little in the left, too) gets too painful with the jarring to the front fork and handlebars.

Well, then how about tennis? I literally loved tennis… it’s the closest thing to playing linebacker I’ve ever found. “Watch the eyes,” like you would watch a quarterback; nine times out of ten, where the eyes go, that’s where the ball will go. I also enjoyed sending the ball deep and then charging the net and set-up… just like looking for the running back to come through the line… all adrenaline and all raw reaction… no time for thinking. Anyway, I can barely hold the racket now and, with my shoulder muscle wasted, my backhand is non-existent.

Okay, so how about fishing? I actually got into fishing to be social with my buddies from work in Nevada City in the 1980s. I really enjoyed that. I like the strategy and skills… particularly using lures and feeling the spinners reach that perfect frequency, which tells a trout: “Hey, I’m a little fish and I’m running scared!” But, fishing requires patience and an expensive license. So, that’s one of about 100 hobbies I’ve tried and abandoned over a lifetime.

When you get to be my age it’s a good idea to narrow your focus and make the best of what you’ve got, especially when you’re on vacation. Right now, that’s studying The Apocalypse, writing to our families in Uganda, people watching, reading some news and blogging.

BREITBART.COM - Just The News: “BREITBART.COM - Just The News
War Protests Continue Near Bush’s Ranch
Aug 19 5:24 PM US/Eastern

By ANGELA K. BROWN
Associated Press Writer

CRAWFORD, Texas

Dozens of war protesters camping near President Bush’s ranch held a prayer service and other activities as planned Friday, a day after their leader had to go home to California to be with her mother in the hospital.

Cindy Sheehan, who started the camp Aug. 6 to protest her son’s death in Iraq, flew to Los Angeles after learning that her 74-year-old mother had a stroke. She hopes to return to Texas soon.

The other grieving families and peace activists vowed to keep camping out for the chance to question the president about the war.

‘Cindy put a face on this movement, but the rest of us are all in that movement as well,’ said Pat Vogel of Barrington, Ill. ‘Many people have turned this whole camp into a well-oiled machine.’”

I think the opening line of this Associated Press (!) story pretty much says it all:

“Dozens of war protesters camping near President Bush’s ranch…”

Dozens of protesters is a lead news story for, how long, a couple of weeks? These nine words sum up the state of the modern peace movement in the US, which would completely evaporate without the Neanderthal media to carry their water. The press-ploitation of the grieving mother in this episode is as shameless as Moore’s profiteering from another mother’s loss of a son in Iraq in Fahrenheit 911.

Oh, and by the way, there have been some other protests lately, which never made the nightly news. They were substantially larger than the mob loitering down in Crawford, but these people embrace a cause, which doesn’t resonate with the opinion shapers at the AP and The New York Times. They just don’t seem to get it… they no longer have a monopoly on news or opinion. I’m sure they influence a few here and there, but the rest of us will retain our principles and plough through the chaff of misinformation they throw up to confuse the issues.

I found this site linked at Pyromaniac and I was immediately smitten with Keith Drury’s essay, I’m a Camp Meeting Reenactor - are you?

I have a college buddy, Ken O’vell who is a Civil war reenactor. He spends summer weekends dressed up like a Union soldier and shoots his musket as he and others reenact old Civil war battles. As for me, I’m a Camp Meeting reenactor. Most every summer since I’ve been a lad I attend camp meeting services and get to experience camp meetings pretty based on the pattern of the 1800s. Camp Meetings are just a hair over 200 years old and their history is rich and informative. Actually experiencing an Old Fashioned Camp Meeting tells me more about who my denomination is than reading about a 1700’s up tight Anglican cleric, John Wesley. So I like camp meeting reenactments.

This guy is a published writer, but I’m captivated by his witty posts and good-natured pokes at the pop Christian culture on his blog. For example, take point # 7 from his emancipation proclamation of July 28, 2005 - I’m tired of being young— I’m gonna’ start being an old man today:

7. I’m gonna’ laugh more and take things less seriously. Everybody in the church is too serious—even young people. As a young man I’ve taken myself far too seriously and acted at times like the church was about to collapse. As an old man I now know that the church will survive all kinds of things. I’ve seen it survive past “emergencies” like holy laughter, WWJD, KJV-RSV, the Church Growth movement and the Prayer of Jabez so I now know it will make it through Purpose-Driven pot-holders. It survived Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and Tammy Faye so I know it will survive Brian McLaren, Rob Bell and Joel Osteen. And in the interest of being lighter I plan to make fun of things more and poke fun at people—especially Baptists and Nazarenes, who are my most frequent readers. Actually I think I’ll poke fun at people in the exact order of my readership. In fact I may have to make fun of lots of my own past writing too—I was far to serious a writer as a young man.

I hope you enjoy Keith’s stuff. Also, I added a few things to the left column today.

Jesus said “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

I have battled some kind of low-level depression or anxiety ever since I can remember. Perhaps it began with the concussion I received playing soccer in the eighth grade. Who knows? Thirty years later, after I recovered from that other soccer injury, I noticed a dramatic decrease in serious bouts of depression. I wondered if, somehow, my blood chemistry had been altered in a positive way.

Today, I had a sudden rush of anxiety, triggered by a very small setback… car trouble. But, it seems that I was carrying around quite a bit of worry and concern for a lot of friends and family… serious troubles or situations they are facing. I felt like, if I heard about one more heartbreak or distress…

Denise wasn’t home tonight and I needed to study a few points for my study in The Apocalypse or Revelation, so I got into the Bible and my “silent wise counselors,” my books and commentaries. What a wonderful tonic for the heart! I am amazed at how this study has affected my soul, giving me a greater sense of God’s majesty and His love for me. The letter to the Christians at Smyrna reminded me that suffering is “the norm” for the followers of Jesus in this world.

Jesus told the church in Smyrna, “I know your afflictions and your poverty — yet you are rich! Revelation 2:9

I needed to be reminded of that. Polycarp, a friend of John the apostle, would later serve as an elder at Smyrna, where he would be put to death for his faith. It was good to be reminded that my troubles are small and my cares are few, compared to those who have gone before. And, Jesus has been faithful to them and me. When faced with the prospect of death, Polycarp made a touching confession:

But when the magistrate pressed him hard and said, ‘Swear the oath, and I will release thee; revile the Christ,’ Polycarp said, ‘Fourscore and six years have I been His servant, and He hath done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King who saved me?’ From The Martyrdom of Polycarp

At two score and ten years, I must also confess that my King has “…done me no wrong…” He has overcome the world, so I can be of good cheer.

No sooner than I get rolling again and a widely published poet, Mishegas Master, drops in with one of the most incoherent rants I’ve seen in a while. Of course, I’ve never claimed to “get” poetry, so maybe it’s time to get back to school, so I can decipher “opaque comments that would bug most people” (to quoet a poet I do “get”). Anyway, here’s the comment, with my responses interlaced with the rage :

you fascist

Hmmm. That’s original. Let me see… a fascist would advocate fascism; from the Italian fascismo, from fascio or “bundle:” a political philosophy, movement, or regime that advocates a centralized autocratic government, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.

That sounds a lot like modern liberalism and the institutions they control, such as the academy, social welfare and the arts. Econonic and social regimentation cannot occur in a free market society, where individual freedoms, such as property rights, are cherished. Rather, history has shown that fascism incubates and thrives in socialist states (Germany and Italy) or Shinto and Buddhist countries (Japan, Cambodia, China, etc.).

For example:

nazi

No, I am not now and never have been a National Socialist or Nazi. I lean to the right politically, so I think socialism is a dangerous system, which may actually be a form of incipient fascism.

jesus disciple pig!

Ah, now we get to the real issue. It’s Jesus… it always is. Here, the writer is obligated to condescend to me; “I don’t have a problem with Jesus, it’s his followers I hate.” That’s a pretty disingenuous argument… Jesus said that if people receive Him, they will receive His disciples. If they reject His disciples, the reject Him. Jesus doesn’t disown his followers, who are pigs like me:

We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” Romans 15:1 - 3

And, Jesus welcomes non-Christian pigs, too!

how dare you criticize helen thomas, just because she doesn’t agree with your politics!

Now here’s a fine example of the fascist attitude… “How dare [I] criticize…” In this poet’s world, I have to “dare to criticize,” because I am not an enlightened progressive. The intelligentsia are untouchable… they are above criticism by someone like myself, from the lower castes.

If you will notice, however, I critiqued Helen’s boorish conduct… She acts like my kids did, when they were thirteen (and the way I did until I was about twenty). It’s pathetic to see a person, advanced in years with an illustrious past in journalism, regressing to the behavior of one of those teens at the mall wearing a “Porn Star” tee-shirt.

are you a former burnt out reporter that holds grudges simply because you couldn’t advance in your illustrious media career?

Huh? Do I look like a reporter?

your simple minded view of the world is typical of the way most of you republicans think.

Wrong again… I’m a Democrat. I suppose this poet lives in the black and white world where, if you critique someone who makes a fool of themselves attacking Bush, you must be a Republican.

if cheney were to run in 2008,

That was part of the joke… my bad. Cheney will not run in 2008 and I don’t know why Thomas doesn’t know that. The man’s heart is a ticking time-bomb and he’s made it clear, this is his last Civil Service job.

the only way he could win is if the party steals the election by rigging machines and paying off big-city crime bosses to count dead citizens like they did ohio in 2004!!!

I think this person confused the urban legends of voter fraud in Ohio in 2004 with the historical episode in Chicago, when JFK won the presidency with votes cast by dead people.

ps-you spell borscht this way, not the way you spelled it. if you’re going to represent the media online, at least learn how to spell words properly, you twit!!!

Okay, so I may be a twit. But, I checked my post and I spelled borscht, b-o-r-s-c-h-t. Unless I’m missing something, we used the identical spelling. Is there some inflection or emphasis a poet would add to this word, when spoken, that I should have indicated? Or, did the widely published poet read my post with such blinding anger and hatred for my ideological bent, that it rendered him/her dyslexic for one brief moment? This person may want to take up writing or some other therapeutic pursuit.

Well, it appears that BlogThis! is working again, now that I have the latest version of Firefox. I’ll have to try it with Safari. I even found an old blog post I had begun back in July, finished it and published it today. I hope Dan and Sadie like it.

No, what better way to innaugurate this feature than by reporting this tidbit of good news. It looks as if folks are finally starting to see that Newsweek and TIME are not news magazines, produced by journalists, but tabloids publishing editorials disquised as news.

Newsweek Drops Issue, Cites Poor Ad Sales @ Media Buyer Planner: “Newsweek Drops Issue, Cites Poor Ad Sales

Due to low ad pages during late summer, Newsweek is trimming the number of issues it publishes by one, opting for a double issue dated Aug. 29-Sept. 5, Mediaweek reports.

Through July 19, Newsweek’s ad pages have fallen 15.6 percent this year, to 970. It’s not alone. A lack of spending in the technology and automotive sectors has hurt the whole newsweekly category with ad pages falling 10.5 percent, to 6,332 through July 19.”

Let’s see…

I’m ecstatic!!! My Blogger Dashboard is working in Firefox 1.0.6! I can Save As Draft again. I can’t wait to BlogThis! I’ve been without my favorite blogging tools for months. This can only mean one thing… tons of posts! I like to BlogThis! or begin posts and save them as drafts. Without this feature, I have to sit down and write / edit the entire post at one time. This discourages me from taking on any serious stuff. Hmmm. Perhaps that’s a good thing. Anyway, here goes.

Well, it looks as if Helen Thomas’ off the cuff remarks set off a flurry of filings by Republican exploratory committees across the country, seeking to gauge what kind of support they might find for a Dick Cheney presidential bid in 2008.

Albert Eisele in a column he wrote for The Hill: The Newspaper for and about the U.S. Congress, quoted Thomas:

Calling him “the most powerful vice president in recent times, perhaps in U.S. history,” she said that Cheney “certainly could campaign on the theme that he has had experience in running the White House.”

“The day I say Dick Cheney is going to run for president, I’ll kill myself. All we need is one more liar.” She says I shouldn’t have quoted her “because we all say stuff we don’t want printed.”

Thomas has the reputation among the cloistered and incestuous Washington press as the dean of the White House press corps. The rest of us find her antics at White House press briefings irritating, sophomoric and rude. She and those other self-important windbags, Walter Cronkite and Daniel Schorr, should consider aging gracefully out of the public eye, rather than flailing around in a panic, as they watch their ideological achievements being systematically dismantled by a new, better informed generation of news consumers. The 6 O’clock News, broadcasting the same borscht over three networks, has lost its monopoly. Their glory days are over.

While I think it is an important feature of a civilized society to render respect to elderly ladies and gentlemen, cranky old coots, who continually inject themselves into the public discourse via the media, push news and opinion seekers beyond the breaking point and open themselves up to ridicule. After Thomas labeled Condoleeza Rice a “monster” and a “… g–damn liar,” Ann Coulter derisively referred to her as “that old Arab” and now thousands are hoping Helen will make good on her “campaign promise” in 2008.

I remember the day when older folks, like my grandmother, would correct angry teenagers and undisciplined children for that kind of talk or behavior. Now, it seems that the elderly among us are the sullen, foul-mouthed hotheads, seeking validation and significance.

Denise has been busy again. Not only did she completely remodel our bathroom, but also she found these cool matching, gender-specific, lamps for our retro nightstands. She was originally bidding on some 60’s “atomic lamps,” but decided these actually coordinated with the rest of our “grandma” era porcelain knick-knicks. Her lamp looks like Marie Antoinette and, ironically, arrived with the head broken off at the neck. Well, she fixed her up and you can barely see the guillotine-width crack around her throat. My lamp is really cool, except that the Cavalier fellow is wearing a little too much eyeliner for my taste. The lipstick, however, is tastefully done.