On the other hand...
Be afraid.
Be very afraid.

Hey Vidad...I got yer anime right here... (this is a cosplayer portraying Major Motoko Kusanagi from "Ghost in the Shell")

Here was our setup at Anime South.


Lotsa purty shirts.

On the other hand, the Hilton is a 20th-Century hotelier

...So I don't have WiFi. I have iBahn. Dialup speedy...thingie. Pricier than my van. ($9.95 per day) I know where Paris' allowance comes from. Though it rather makes sense, eviscerating the proletariat and all. Those who stay at Hilton resorts are of a particular social stratum, and all the add-ons are handleable by the wealthier amongst us. At the same time, they are onerous to those who are more, mmmmmm, budget-minded. It is the same effect as ball park ticket prices, and inflated prices for food and fannish goods like foam fingers.


Look who comes to the park on $5 ticket night.


The resort prices, while profit-oriented, serve another important job. They keep the hoi-polloi out. Now, your humble 'Vark is not acting Above His Station; he was here as a vendor for a convention, and enjoyed convention rates with the Dread Dormomoo. Enjoyed a good weekend of shirt sales, as well. Yaaaaay! CONFETTI!!

Mind you, this is in no way a bigot's screed. We enjoy upward mobility in our country, and you can leave the ignominy of the Cheap Seats for Skybox altitudes, whether your name is Cletus, Lamar, Shonequa, or Jin Woo (though Irish need not apply...). These are just some thoughts a-borning. Money provides a pretty good moat.

Hope you all had an Amazing Christmas Holiday.
We are prepping for Anime South in Destin, Florida THIS WEEKEND. Busy busy, busy.
So no shrewd commentary on the Human Condition today. I'll post from the Con, as I will have my 'Varkmotron laptop logic with me, with WiFi, no less.It IS, after all, the Twenty-First Century.

I am the very model of a modern blogging Aardvark.

---------------------------------------------------

OH! Go here and be amazed!

MERRY CHRISTMAS



Cool Yule, y'all!!


Enjoy the Christmas Cheese.

61%

Become an Ultrasound technician

Tor-pe-do is aw-AAAAAY

Tor-pe-do is aw-AAAAAY


CunningDove over t' Vox's reports:

This morning on Fox & Friends they asked (Ron Paul) for his thoughts on Huckabee's latest commercial with a "cross" in the background. Paul stated that he was reminded of the quote by Lewis Sinclair, "When fascism comes to the United States it will come wrapped in the American Flag and carrying a cross."

There are those thinking this an ill-advised remark, and that Ron Paul has torpedoed himself, and is taking on water. Sadly, I believe that the Esteemed Congressman is right on the money. I recall reading of Hitler wrapping himself in religious and nationalistic bunting, for example.

Allow me to repeat myself: I am a Christian, a Bible-believer (though rarely a Bible-thumper - it wears out the cover). And as a believer, I state categorically that EVERY time I have voted for a politician who has run (at least in part) as being "a Christian", or religious - every time - it has turned around to bite me..

Every


time.


I have been voting since 1975.
I have been a Christian since at LEAST 1971.

This establishes a pattern. I have ALWAYS voted for "the Christian candidate". (Yes, that means that I voted for Jimmuh Carter. If there was a Purgatory, I would spend time there...)
Yes, I have always voted for the "Christian" candidate.
I have always been bitten on the bum because of it.
Mr. Peanut: High ideals from a loathsome leftist >CHOMP<


I voted for Guy Hunt, the Primitive Baptist preacher and former Amwayite (for Alabama Governor). I got Mortimer Snerd >CHOMP<


I voted for Bob Riley, the horsie-riding gubernatorial candidate, who promised no new taxes, and promptly sought a 2 billion dollar tax rise >CHOMP<


I voted for W.


The Lie of the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition is that a united Christian vote Means Something in our post-Christian times. To quote a favorite Lewis character: "Show it me i' the Book!". I find no indication of Jesus or Paul advocating such political activism. To practice same seems antithetical to Christ's explanation to Pilate that "My kingdom is not of this world".

Political doings have been my life for twenty years. Vote Christian! Sadly, EVERY putatively Christian candidate for whom I have voted has bitten me on the bum, from Jimmuh Cahtuh on.


As far as activism, I remember well the parties in the streets that followed the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Do you remember where you were that day; remember how our Representatives listened to the majority outcry for the unborn, moved by the peaceful, hymn-singing, praying marchers standing for innocent lives?


Behold the spectacle of the American Church NOT speaking as Nathan to Washington's David, but wavering and keeping silent so as to maintain 501c3 status, for we all "know" that American Christians will contribute, not because cheerful giving delights their Lord, but because they can deduct their "charity" from their Income Taxes. Maybe my right hand should not know what my left is doing, but by Goo, Washington will.


But I digress. The Fear of the Left is of a Christian Theocracy running the country into lacklustre greyness. They would be willing to sell our country out to the mullahs' Islamic Allah-ocracy, and dhimmitude for all, just to avoid the HORRORS of an ascendant Biblical culture.But the Gospel does not call for a "Christian Government".

It calls for Christians to govern themselves, and to teach others to do the same. ANY candidate who wraps himself in the Christian Flag, whilst waving the American one, bears gimlet-eyed scrutiny. Dr, Congressman Paul is right.

Compassionate (Christian) Conservatism has yielded a landmark diminution of civil liberties, from rampant phone tapping to "Campaign Finance Reform".

Ron Paul is VERY Right.

There is another medical furor a-brewing. The Dread Dormomoo and I were listening to the radio box this AM, and a medical show came on. A new study indicates that overweight MAY not be as dire in individuals as was thought. This gives me hope, as your Aardvark more closely resembles a grocer than a burglar.The war is "Overweight vs.Obese".

People who are overweight but not obese have a lower risk of death than those of normal weight, federal researchers are reporting today.

The researchers - statisticians and epidemiologists from the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - also found that increased risk of death from obesity was seen for the most part in the extremely obese, a group constituting only 8 percent of Americans.

And being very thin, even though the thinness was longstanding and unlikely to stem from disease, caused a slight increase in the risk of death, the researchers said.

WOW. Wowee wowow WOW! Perhaps the rubric "Your fat's bad; mine's not." applies.
I mean, who could POSSIBLY object to such gladsome tidings (except perhaps Victoria's Secret models)?

[insert menacing blare of trumpets]

THE FAT POLICE!

Grumping like a Golden Corral customer whose steaks were overcooked, the Fat Police are whining about the methodology of the study.

Now the new study says that obesity and extreme obesity are causing about 112,000 extra deaths but that overweight is preventing about 86,000, leaving a net toll of some 26,000 deaths in all three categories combined, compared with the 34.000 extra deaths found in those who are underweight.

Dr. Donna Stroup, director of the Coordinating Center for Health Promotion at the C.D.C., noted that the previous study had used different data and different methods of analysis.

"Counting deaths is not an exact science," Dr. Stroup said.

Miz Dr. Stroup, we understand. Math is hard.

One complaint is that the new study diminishes the sense of danger engendered by the older "fat is BAD, your heart will explode" studies. On the radio report, one female science person referred to the old findings as "intuitive". C'mon, everyone KNOWS that a BMI above 3 is hazardous. Yeah, and I look terrible in Speedos.

(*child, tearfully shrieking*"Momeeee, what's THAT?"

"Look away Timmy...it's only a ....I don't know...I mean, I THINK it's... O dear Heaven...it has a MOUTH.... *snatches up Timmy and beats a retreat to the hotel*).

(The preceding was an exercise in self-deprecating fantastical humor, and no, I never even look at Speedos)

Read the article. The radio report presented the standard model as "If you ARE overweight, then you will BECOME obese". This understanding begets fear, and thus a measure of emotional control by the Anti-Fat League. One doctor (again female) was concerned that the new data would give a false security to those with a few extra pounds. In short, the OLD fear-mongering data is better, because it enables the Fat Police to better exert control through press releases and pressure upon Makers of Public Policy.

Nanny Science. Any data that contradicts the bad news, even if it is accurate, is to be discounted because the People need to be controlled by the fear of Death By Eclairs.

I received what may be the best email subject line EVER.

Apparently Vladimir Putin is ramping up hostility toward the West with a new tactic:

Hello, Beautiful Russian women waiting to meet YOU! mausoleum

I have an oddness for you.


Years ago, in the annals of the Tinfoil Hat Brigade, I heard a theory that there are areas on the planet where nuclear reactions won't work. Richard C. Hoagland was never mentioned, but it sounds like it is similar to some of his "hyper-dimensional physics" ideas.

Have any of you heard of this concept, or was it just a fever-dream?

I love chasing this kind of quasi-conspiracy stuff, but I haven't asked Google the correct question, apparently.

I discovered "Slice of Laodicea" blog tonight. I recommend it.

One of the entries concerned the woes at ORU, and the less-than-connubial bliss of Richard and his missus. It linked to a worldling who has a clearer picture of How Things Should Be than do most church folk.

To drub the equine carcass again, The Local Church is the basis of the work of the Kingdom of God. The Scripture says it is the church for whom Christ died. The local church is the platform from which our Kingdom work is to done. Church giving is always a local affair, except in the case of Paul collecting offerings from multiple churches to aid the Jerusalem church during a time of famine. The local congregation maintains the local work, and elders (pastors, shepherds) are paid from thence, if they choose to receive it. The local church model is to train and send out "apostles" (sent ones) to plant other local congregations, establish mature church leadership, and then report back home.
There is no New Testament model for a congregation "hiring a preacher" to either lead the church, or do a majority of the teaching / preaching / community work.

Sorry, it is NOT in there. Even Timothy and Titus do not indicate that their position was "pastoral" in the current sense; rather they were to establish an eldership and diaconate based upon the character attributes listed in their epistles from Paul. Read the book of Acts, and the "Timothy and Titus epistles" to get a sense of the New Testament way of doing the work of the church.

The modern church (local congregation) is few and far between, that measures up to the New Testament model.

As has been said elsewhere, there is no Biblical command or example for "para-church" evangelistic associations, missionary societies, or (shudder) TV ministries. The local church is to accomplish all the goals set before it by the Lord, itself. God has gifted, instructed, commanded, and equipped the church to do the work, if we will but DO it.
We have been suckered into following a foreign model, foreign to Divine Will. We thus open the door to deception.

Deception like that of hearing the cries for money to send to teachers and preachers who purport to be doing God's Work for us.(Of course as "partners", so we get credit as well!) Individuals send money to people who only offer their word that they are doing God's Work. Whole congregations send money to "ministries" to help do Kingdom work. Good idea, but not according to Hoyle.

Church, you are wasting your (and God's!) resources to support Home Offices, and ministries with lavish expenses, when YOU (and I) are to be doing the work, ourselves, at home. Try giving locally to accomplish God's work God's way. You may be surprised at the results. I believe God might be pleased if you do things His way, as well.

He writes so well he makes me feel like putting the quill back in the goose.

— —Fred Allen

I had NO idea that Fred Allen read my blog.
FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE!!!

Chez Aardvark is undergoing some renovations. The much-used garage is being Converted.

YAY-uss. Say BAY-bee!

IT began as a standard roll-up door garage in 1986. In January 1991, we had the front closed in, and it became the Factory Floor for Lifetees, the first incarnation of our t-shirt printing biz. Since then, I have moved the business out of the garage, and it became a weight room, then a wait room, as in "Wait 'til I find it out in the garage.". We have cleared it out, and the front third is becoming a den.Separate and apart, the rear third is a combo laundry room and darkroom for exposing and washing out the screens which give "screenprinting" its name.

Blogging will be spotty for a few days, then...PICTURES!

"I was curious."

OK, here's the thing. (Mrs. Pilgrim, you'll like this.)
It is in vogue to be gay.
It is tres chic to be bi.

We are deluged by gayosity in our media, our sitcoms, our general culture, and even if it's a joke at the gay guy's expense, it's OK, because the message is gettin' out.

My family and I go to anime conventions as part of our business, and we see lots of kids who think they are gay. Loli girls walking around holding hands, bishi boys with their yaoi pals.
Lots of teen kids, convinced of their homosexuality. (Heteros, fear not, there are PLENTY of active couples in our teen culture as well.)

I have pondered this a lot, having children of my own, and a childhood of my own, and I believe that I have An Answer. I may not be a Mensa member, but this just makes sense. Our hyper-sexualized culture is yielding fruit.

When I was twelve or so, I was a voracious reader. Summer came, and I was devouring every book and magazine I could find. Worked through a ton of Reader's Digests and National Geographics, and needed more. I found a stack of large mags like McCall's and the Saturday Evening Post, and as I looked through the stack, I found a stratum of different magazines. Naked guy magazines. Intrigued by the novelty, I flipped through one, and...and...suddenly, the Gallant Salute. Now, I had friends in school who had the Naked Lady decks of cards, and I had no aversion to the female form undraped, but this reaction was unexpected and worrisome. (I was aware of my father's "alternate lifestyle", as they say; these were his mags secreted in a nondescript stack of Ladies' Home Journals. Oh, the Irony.)

Brothers and sisters, I was not ho-mo-sexual! My body did not react to male or female. It was reacting to the stimulus of the erotic. That is in main what these confused kids are reacting to. The yaoi and yuri manga, the sexual displays at every turn, the raging changes in their own bodies, hormonal, emotional; it is all about the erotic. If a young teen girl gets tingly at the sight of a nubile form, or if a guy responds to the sight of a naked male, this is not de facto evidence of homosexuality, but the gay publicity mill makes them think that they are. They are reacting to the erotic, nothing more.


This is a major reason for the call to modesty in the New Testament. Modest dress is helpful to those around, as it reduces distraction. The unclothed human body is fantastic to enjoy in the proper context (read: marriage). Frankly, when I saw a "news" report on Fox about Victoria's Secret (sales are off 40+ percent), I saw the undulating fem-flesh on the runway as more amusing than titillating. (as an aside, it seems culturally that breasts aren't special any more. No mystery, just pneumatic display.The VS models become anorexic Macy's Parade balloons.)


Homosexuality is a practice. It involves what you do. An involuntary reaction is one thing. Turning it into "lifestyle" and practice is another entirely. Let your kids know the difference, please. You could save them a world of worry, and yourself a load of grief.

Sunday night was a TREAT!


The much ballyhooed debut of "Tin Man" graced the aetheric flux tonight, thanks to the SciFi channel. It will be three two-hour events. Alan Cumming plays "Glitch" the cerebrotomized analogue to the Scarecrow of "The Wizard of Oz", and for the life of me, he sometimes channeled the moves and looks of Ray Bolger in that immortal role, and it didn't come across like mere mimicry. Think of The Scarecrow by way of an 80's discotheque. That's the look.


Zooey Deschanel, on the other hand (remember the Love Interest in "Elf"?) should be billed as the "Wooden Woman" of Tin Man. Gerry Anderson got better emotions out his actors. Ms. Deschanel plays "DG" whose dreams presage her journey to OZ, or as they say...the "Outer Zone".


You can read IMDB as well as I can, so I shall not belabor the plot points. This is a work produced by the Roberts.Halmi, the creative team who brought us the "Noah" mini-series, that had Lot and Noah as contemporaries. Noah picks Lot up from a raft in the middle of the Flood. (Cue God doing Don Adams voice in echoe chamber: :Missed it by that much!".)


This really plays like "Wizard of Oz meets Flash Gordon meets BioShock", and I mean the current SciFi channel Flash. The next seismic event you feel will be L. Frank Baum spinning in his grave, likely approaching relativistic speeds.


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Neal Boortz hates Glenn Beck. Beck's middle-America goofy cheer is to Boortz like having a root canal done with a slow Black & Decker drill and a rusty nail.



A bent one.



It is a shame that Boortz is in bed with Beck in mutual antipathy toward Ron Paul.
And why? They are both beating the neocon drum of "fighting the Terrace threat of Islamofascism" or somesuch. In fact, Boortz is behaving like the one-issue voters he decries. Really Neal, you gotta stop acting like a pro-lifer!