McCarthy Conservatism

Andrew Sullivan has a good post on it and its application by Nixon, and in 2008 here.

Sunday Sunday

Today the Apple and I got up early and went to Home Depot. We needed to buy a rake so we could gather up the leaves that insist on falling from our trees. We also needed some new air filters for the house, as it's been 3-4 months since we changed them. It was nice, and the Apple enjoyed tooling around the store.

After raking the leaves, the kids helped me gather them. I kind of wish the wife had come out with a camera to catch them doing yardwork as it was nice to see them all getting along and accomplishing something together. But she was getting ready for church.

Today was the first Sunday in Advent, so I wanted to get the children in to get some more exposure to church. We're not Easter and Christmas Christians, but we aren't Every Sunday folk, either.

The rest of the day entailed watching football, taking a nap and listening to the kids play/fight. It was a good day.

Oh, and we had leftover Bulgoki for lunch - yum.

I like the holidays. I wish we got snow for the kids (and me), as that makes Christmas even more fun. But, when you move to Texas, you sacrifice a few things, like good weather and working with people who don't have drawls - I think the Apple has a nice one brewing, fun.

Anyway, that's what's happening here right now. Tomorrow we're back to the grind. Can't wait.

Some Evening

We had fun this evening. The Bulgoki turned out good, even the shrimp bulgoki was good - a new twist I added for my pescatarian friend. He seemed to enjoy it.

We played Pinochle again - more fun, and the kids seemed to enjoy themselves, as well. All things considered, it was a nice day.

If only I had more friends who liked to come over for bulgoki...

Bulgoki

In celebration of the coming end of the year, I will be serving Bulgoki this afternoon for the last time in 2008. Perhaps we can put together a New Year's party where Bulgoki could be served, but that will need coordination and communication. In the meantime, Everyone is invited over at 3 this afternoon for Bulgoki.

Christmas Shopping

I've finished about half of my Christmas shopping. I'm somewhat proud of myself, but really, I'm finding that I'm having more difficulty each year figuring out what to get the kids for the Holidays.

All I want for Christmas is a Lexus. Or an Infinity. Or a Cadillac CTS.

At Least We Didn't Torture - Oh, Wait

The explanation for the release. (source: The New York Times) over 770 detained at Guantanamo, only 23 of whom have been charged, over 500 released. And the explanation given on the rationale for their release is astounding.

Has the clock struck 13 yet?

Random Trivia, Happy Thanksgiving Style

I first posted this on Thanksgiving in 2005.

Every year, Americans gather together with their families to celebrate the bounty of the year and to give thanks for all that we have on the Fourth Thursday in November with a huge Turkey and all the fixin's, a tradition that started in 1621 with the Pilgrims, Squanto, and the Wampanoag Indians, right? Well, not exactly. We'll look at some of the history of the holiday today.

First, it's true that there was a day of Thanksgiving in 1621, but, it doesn't look as though there was one in 1622. The harvest wasn't as good, there were many new settlers that needed housing and whatnot. The Pilgrims probably weren't in the best of moods for celebrating.

Second, The First Thanksgiving most likely wasn't in November. It was probably much closer to the harvest in September/October. Anyone who has spent any time in Massachussetts in November would tell you it's not exactly the best weather for celebrating.

Third, the Pilgrims didn't call themselves Pilgrims. They called themselves Saints.

Fourth, The letters and journals of the time indicate that Turkeys were not the big ticket item. The colonists came from England, where the lords greatly restricted hunting, and thus most people had never had venison before. In the states, where deer was plentiful, venison was very prominent at the first Thanksgiving.
- So where did Turkey come from? It appears as though it was a product of marketing in the late 1800s. Turkey was a much more profitable than other birds, so the lobbyists advertised immensely, showing pictures of a family gathering around a table with a big turkey in the middle. It caught on, and the picture printers (Think Currier and Ives) followed suit, with pictures of Pilgrims and a big Turkey.

So, if there was no second Thanksgiving, how the the 4th Thursday become the day? Well, Abraham Lincoln. In 1863, after the victory at Gettysburg, President Lincoln declared a national day of thanksgiving on the 4th Thursday of November. In 1864, after the victory at Antietam, they had another Day of Thanksgiving on the 4th Thursday. In 1865, President Lincoln was shot and killed. President Johnson decided to follow the Thanksgiving tradition set up by President Lincoln, and it became the holiday it is now.

Everything is fine and dandy right? Not quite. You see, in the 1930s one year, There were five Thursdays in November. Since Thanksgiving had traditionally been the last Thursday, (usually there are only 4), this posed a problem. The lobbyists for the big department stores wanted Turkey Day to be the 4th Thursday, because it gave people more time for Christmas shopping. Traditionalists felt that this undermined the historical significance (unaware as to the actual history of the holiday), and pushed for it to be on the Last Thursday. There was some fallout from that, with some states going on the 4th Thursday, and some going on the last. Colorado had a Thanksgiving Week, and another state had 2 thankgsivings. Thankfully, Congress intervened, and passed a law in 1941 signed by President Roosevelt that established Thanksgiving as the 4th Thursday in November. And The Lions have been playing ever since.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving

And, as usual, the Lions are going to play.

I was listening to sports talk radio on the way home from work today, and the folks on the radio were bitching about the Lions being on. They suggested that perhaps the Lions should not have a monopoly on Thanksgiving, in part because they stink. Yes. The Lions are bad. But they haven't always been bad, and they have even won a few times on Turkey day, just not since they hired Matt Millen.

Here's what I think: The entire league was approached some 60-odd years ago about doing a game on Thanksgiving. Everybody passed except the Lions. Now that the league is seeing what a coup it is, they want a piece of it. Hence the 3rd game (The Cowboys got the second one after the league volunteered it). These teams had their chance. Tough shit that you passed it up in the past. It would be like telling IBM that they get a piece of Microsoft because it turned out to successful after they passed on it the first time. Cry me a river.

I know that I would likely have a somewhat different view on this if I wasn't a Lions fan, but darnit, someone has to be.

He's a Socialist! No, He's a Marxist! Wait, He's a Communist!!!

Or perhaps Barack Obama is the centrist he campaigned as. Crazy thought, I know. And I know we won't know until he's governed for a while, but I think the socialist label need not be applied yet either, even by Fox news.

Happy Anniversary Honey

I'm going to love you forever. Song courtesy of Randy Travis. Sentiment mine.

45 Years Ago Today

The Zapruders caught on video the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

RIP, JFK.

Nokia N96 - Bruce Lee Ping Pong

Enjoy

The Palin Turkey Video

I will not show it here.

I think it was in bad taste to do the interview where she did, and I think the circumstances around it are cause for ironic humor, but it's not something that needs any more attention. It happened. It's over. Move on.

What's My Type?

This website lets you type in your blog (or LJ, if you are not ready for the big-time), and get an analysis of your personality, or rather your blog's personality. I typed in the binjo ditch, and got this:

The Mechanics

The independent and problem-solving type. They are especially attuned to the demands of the moment are masters of responding to challenges that arise spontaneously. They generally prefer to think things out for themselves and often avoid inter-personal conflicts.

The Mechanics enjoy working together with other independent and highly skilled people and often like seek fun and action both in their work and personal life. They enjoy adventure and risk such as in driving race cars or working as policemen and firefighters.

Now I don't know about racing cars or fighting fires, but I thought this was interesting.

Spanish for "Doesn't Go"

We don't watch PBS often anymore, because we got the digital converter boxes and for whatever reason, PBS does not show up when the boxes are turned on. We do, however, still get it through analog, which we have when the VCR is on.

Last night we watched a show on PBS about the origins of the Israelites. It was fascinating. I would massacre a retelling, but in a nutshell, the show used scholars who studied the region (from U.S. and Israeli universities, inter alia) to discuss where the Israelites came from and who wrote the bible. They hypothesized that the Bible was not written in chronological order, but rather over a period of time. They also supposed that the Israelites (at least most of them) may not have migrated from Egypt during the Exodus, but rather were made up of Canaanites who adopted a new identity for themselves, aided by a few individuals who may have come from Egypt.

The show displayed evidence that indicated David and his house did rule Israel, as well.

All in all, it was a really good piece. I should like to see it again someday.

I Knew There Was Something I Didn't Like About Him

He ain't one uv us. The Borowitz Report. (From an e-mail sent to me by Photog).

The Spin

A source from the Obama camp has stated that no charges are likely to be filed against the individuals who engaged in harsh interrogation techniques (or torture, if you'd prefer).

The article notes that there are Constitutional legal scholars who believe charges should be filed to help restore our international standing, such as Michael Ratnor, of Columbia Law school, who is also President of the Center for Human Rights. From the article: "The only way to prevent this from happening again is to make sure that those who were responsible for the torture program pay the price for it," Ratner said. "I don't see how we regain our moral stature by allowing those who were intimately involved in the torture programs to simply walk off the stage and lead lives where they are not held accountable"

Additionally, the article mentions that President Bush could issue pre-emptive pardons to protect those who were following orders.

This latter option sort of annoys me, because, if you consider what happened at Abu Ghraib, the very same thing could have happened and the individuals such as Private England could have been protected for following orders that they are not allowed to question. There should be consistency there.

I've said several times that I believe there should be an inquiry into what transpired during the Bush administration and whether what he and/or his staff, including Cheney, have ordered or authorized, explicitly or implicity, was legal under American Law and under the standards used for trying war criminals such as the Germans after WW2 and the Serbs after Kosovo. If there is found to be violations, then there needs to be repurcussions for those violations of the law as high up as they go. It's the best way to proceed.

The Auto Industry

Some of you may know that I was born in Michigan and have family that has worked, and does work, in the auto industry. To my knowledge, none of them are corporate members, or have been, but they work for the Big Three nonetheless. I have a certain affinity for American carmakers and wish them success. I don't want to see Detroit continue to fail.

Right now, Face the Nation is on, and Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) discussing whether or not to bail out the automakers. Of the two, I thought Shelby's answer was closer to what I would support, that Chapter 11 might be the best way to go - go through a restructuring, get out of the bad contracts, and require the industry to start over with new corporate structure. What concerns me is something I read on at least one other blog (I can't recall which), which essentially said that because of the credit freeze, the automakers would be unable to get bankruptcy loans (when there's a chapter 11 filed, there's a hold on all assets, so the day to day operations would need to be financed through loans) to meet expenses during a restructuring. What this means, as I understand, is that the automakers would face considerable difficulty in steering through a Chapter 11.

Now, I'm a little skeptical about that explanation, as I think the auto industry is big enough that money would find its way to them. But, that does not mean that there is not a risk there. The big question is, would Detroit be able to shift enough in philosophy to make a restructuring worthwhile?

There is a lot of finger-pointing over what's gone wrong over the past 20 years, but I think all can agree that continuing with the status quo is not the solution.

Groupthink

Most people see echochambering as a problem. If this report is correct, Right Wing Talk Radio hosts are not part of that group. (From the Liberal Journal)

It's a Sin!

A Catholic Priest in North Carolina has told parishioners that they should forgo communion and seek penance for voting for Barack Obama.

Apparently voting for a candidate who supports the right for someone else to decide whether or not she should have an abortion is placing one under divine judgment. I did not know this.