Happy Thanksgiving!

The Aardvark is thankful for a number of things which he shall enumerate in part:

• Thankful that the Dread Dormomoo does not say "mani-pedi".
• Thankful that his family remains remarkably intact for the era.
• Thankful that he is not allergic to turkey.
• Thankful that people like our work.
• Thankful to live in a loving community of faith.
• Thankful for Breathe-Right strips.
• Thankful for all his many reader.
• Thankful for the Nation, tho' the Ship of State appears to founder.
• Thankful for a place for /b/tards to go.
• Thankful for Vox and the Ilk.
• Thankful to not have giblet gravy.
• Thankful having infinitives to split.
  
• Thankful for the IntarWebs.
• Thankful that few have used the term "Turkey Day" in his presence.
• Thankful for you

Have a blessed Thanksgiving

Boortz is fulminating about this:

The Associated Press

Published: November 25, 2008

Florida Gulf Coast University Bans Yule Decorations

FORT MYERS - Employees at Florida Gulf Coast University are protesting a campus ban on Christmas decorations in common spaces.

The Staff Advisory Council voted on Monday to send university leaders a letter explaining employees' concerns. The university administration has said employees can decorate their desks but not common areas. It also canceled a greeting card design contest and renamed a giving tree for needy preschoolers a "giving garden."

In a memo to faculty and staff last week, President Wilson Bradshaw said public institutions "often struggle with how best to observe the season in ways that honor and respect all traditions.

Precisely the enlightened response to the holidays I would expect from a President of Higher Learning. NOTE: They are not banning ALL displays, "just" the public ones. The irony of the warfare being waged over the birth of the Prince of Peace is not lost on your Aardvark.

The Dread Dormomoo naturally comes at this from an off-beat tangent. She is curious as to the national celebrations of other countries, religious and secular. The question she raises disturbs me. When a nation tries to quash public displays of a religious festival, but celebrates holidays of death ( annual remembrances of the OK City bombings, the World Trade Center attack, the Pentagon attack....) what does it say about that country.

What does it say about us?

Denny Crane!

Your Aardvark feels the gnawing of the economic wolves at his hindquarters. This is not to say that they are about to repossess the baby's shoes, neither is foreclosure in the forecast. For some months I have apparently been whistling in the dark as to the state of our economy. Our anime convention sales are in the tank. we have two cons this weekend, one in Orlando, and one in Massachusetts. They have reeked. The Orlando show is the melding of two FL cons, one of which is a comic convention. I really should have nixed it because historically comic shows are the kiss of Death for us. The MA show has done little better (up to the reports I had last night.

John McCain said that the fundamentals of our economy are sound. As far as the words he used, the statement is correct. The UNSOUNDNESS lies in the pee-pul, exacerbated by the opinionated newsreaders they listen to, and the representatives they vote in.. Seizing upon the smallest downturn, the newsies flog it into a prophecy ot impending Depressions and global-warming induced Dust Bowls.

Where is Henry Fonda when we need him?

The ardent listeners hear the prophetic utterance, and fearfully strive to fulfil it. "Can't spend...I might lose my JOB." Fear begets its object. If we don't spend, then others will lose their jobs. Then, they can't buy from you, which means you may get downsized.

This is what would happen if everybody did.

Dave Ramseyites, I am not talking about credit-carding the nation into prosperity. Congress, and Helicopter Ben Bernanke have proven the lie in that remedy, though they do not seem to recognise it. "Let's print and spend more...HARDER!" I am saying that where one is able, one should behave rationally. Buy three presents instead of five. Eat at home rather than out, as much. But eat, and gift, and take some joy from your toil. Our household is budgeting Christmas strictly, but we are not Scrooge-ing.

Proverbs 10:24, "The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted."

Proverbs 29:25, "The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe."

Job 3:25, "For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me."

Fear is running our economy, and it is touching many people. Economies are essentially barter with an added step. If I buy something from you, then you can buy from me. If either of us fails, it upsets the ecomomy. Low sales = ultimate layoffs. The economy is not that bad, yet. If we behave like it is bad, then it surely will be.

Don't over-extend yourself. Don't over-spend, but do NOT succumb to fear. Keep saving, buy silver and gold when you can. Be thankful, do not fear.

On Life Day and Other Sorrows.

I was speaking with the Dread Dormomoo of the ungrateful reaction Some have had to my heartfelt (or maybe it is just reflux) Holiday offering. She has not seen the Star Wars Holiday Special, and I have not shown it to her, as I live under the same roof with herself (though I AM certain that our marriage could take it, with a year-or-two of counseling. After all, I took her to see Laserblast a few months after we were married...)

The DD, upon hearing the list of actors who appeared in the Holiday Special commented
upon them as "lemmings jumping the shark".

She REALLY should blog, you know.

On the original point, it is fascinating to me that I have never heard a solitary soul admit to LIKING the SWHS. It could be a real tool for peace. Sec'y of State Rodham declares to the whole Mid-east" You people get along together, or we will SO make you watch the Star Wars Holiday Special .".

I'm quite surprised that Reagan didn't use the tactic, though that could be why the Iranian hostage situation ended when he was sworn into office. I suspect that they play it at GITMO. Makes the detainees beg for waterboarding.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

I just got in the spirit of the thing.

Here's why....

Also THIS.

(Please don't hurt me.)

I am watching A&E's "Andromeda Strain". What a sorry remembrance of the work of Michael Crichton.

AMC is doing a remake / reboot of Patrick McGoohan's seminal work "The Prisoner",
with Jim Caviezel as No.6, and Sir Ian McKellen as No.2. Not real happy at the prospect.

I wish to share a joy with all my Reader.

I present: the incomparable Robert Benchley:

THIS CHILD KNOWS THE ANSWER—DO YOU?

We are occasionally confronted in the advertisements by the picture of an offensively bright-looking little boy, fairly popping with information, who, it is claimed in the text, knows all the inside dope on why fog forms in beads on a woolen coat, how long it would take to crawl to the moon on your hands and knees, and what makes oysters so quiet.

The taunting catch-line of the advertisement is: "This Child Knows the Answer—Do You?" and the idea is to shame you into buying a set of books containing answers to all the questions in the world except the question "Where is the money coming from to buy the books?"

Any little boy knowing all these facts would unquestionably be an asset in a business which specialized in fog-beads or lunar transportation novelties, but he would be awful to have about the house.

"Spencer," you might say to him, "where are Daddy's slippers?" To which he would undoubtedly ]answer: "I don't know, Dad," (disagreeable little boys like that always call their fathers "Dad" and stand with their feet wide apart and their hands in their pockets like girls playing boys' rôles on the stage) "but I do know this, that all the Nordic peoples are predisposed to astigmatism because of the glare of the sun on the snow, and that, furthermore, if you were to place a common ordinary marble in a glass of luke-warm cider there would be a precipitation which, on pouring off the cider, would be found to be what we know as parsley, just plain parsley which Cook uses every night in preparing our dinner."

With little ones like this around the house, a new version of "The Children's Hour" will have to be arranged, and it might as well be done now and got over with.

The Well-Informed Children's Hour

Between the dark and the day-light,

When the night is beginning lo lower,

Comes a pause in the day's occupation

Which is known as the children's hour.

'Tis then appears tiny Irving

With the patter of little feet,

To tell us that worms become dizzy

At a slight application of heat.

And Norma, the baby savant,

Comes toddling up with the news

That a valvular catch in the larynx

Is the reason why Kitty mews.

"Oh Grandpa," cries lovable Lester,

"Jack Frost has surprised us again,

By condensing in crystal formation

The vapor which clings to the pane!"

Then Roger and Lispinard Junior

Race pantingly down through the hall

To be first with the hot information

That bees shed their coats in the Fall.

No longer they clamor for stories

As they cluster in fun 'round my knee

But each little darling is bursting

With a story that he must tell me,

Giving reasons why daisies are sexless

And what makes the turtle so dour;

So it goes through the horrible gloaming

Of the Well-informed Children's Hour.

--Love Conquers All, by Robert C. Benchley

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The REAL "Children's Hour" poem is by Longfellow:

There is also a Librivox audio release of "Love Conquers All". Enjoy!

io9 has a picture of the new old Enterprise from J.J. Abrams' prequel due out next May.

Meh. The nacelles look like Dollar Store ray guns. The Engineering hull shows where the Enterprise-D designers went wrong.

Otherwise it's pretty cool, I guess. I'll see the movie. It's Trek. I've gotta see Kirk cry.

GROUNDED

This is the SUPERCAR episode which also marked the debut of the characters of Harper and Judd: a pair of villains who were, sadly enough, used too little. When one considers the knockabout clown antics of Masterspy and Zarin, Harper and Judd must have sometimes seemed like a breath of fresh air. Especially with Harper, who was perhaps consciously designed to possess a cool, reptilian demeanor

.
It's good to see the years have been kind to Harper, though the type-casting is regrettable.

OK, I have summat to say. I had better not hear a single numbskull utter the syllables of "America is a RA-cist nation" ever again. It will NOT be pretty.

What's funny is that most of the race-whiners are white, and belong to the party that supported slavery.

On the other hand, Abraham Lincoln was a Republican.

Remember the Dixiecrats? The "crat" is an important syllable.

Just sayin'.

Well, all I can say is, maybe "Rev." Wright was right.

Happy New Regime.

Fear and Loathing in North Alabamastan.


I am in the midst of a Long, Dark Night of the Soul. I have written precious little about the political end of things, but I have serious fears for our Republic. Now, I recognise that it sounds like I'm late to the party, there, but I have tried to maintain some optimism about the country. It is increasingly hard so to do. I was in school when the Pledge of Allegiance was important, when the thought of defiling a flag was abhorrent to any but the most politically perverted. (Now Billy Mays mends a ripped flag with his Wonder Fabric Glue, and hawks his product with the fixed flag fluttering in a wind tunnel affair. Remember when you were to burn a flag if it touched the ground or became damaged or worn out?) I was on the tail end of the "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"-style patriotism, before the cynical '60s took their toll. I was a Goldwater fan during the LBJ candidacy, in the fourth grade. I remember huddling in the school halls during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The 4-H TV Action Club was on ETV, and we learned about fallout. Yaaaay! Mr. Atom is our Friend!

Despite the misbehavior of politicos from time-to-time, there still seemed to be a modicum of honor, a gravity to the realm of Public Office. Now it appears it's all a game. Maybe it always was, but the stagecraft was certainly handled better. I voted today. I don't know if it means anything, but I did. The Republic is safe once again.

I am REALLY fascinated at the pundits and talk mavens, even the hard-core ones like Cunningham and Savage, who cannot seem to cross the divide and recognise the Power of Positive No. I mean, if the Obamanoids, Pelosites, and Reidians have their way, talk radio as currently formatted is toast. Dry toast. Therefore, it's not like they will have anything to lose by telling the populace: When they come for your guns, when they come for yet more your money, when they come for your livelihood, when they come for your children to indoctrinate them against what you taught them, when they come for your preacher because he dared speak truth, or your elders for refusing to bow the knee to Caesar, When they come, SAY NO ! No more. No representation, no more goodies.

Why is this such a hard thought to wrap your brains around? Wait...I hear "Romans 13" twittering in the breeze. I don't have a king here in the YouEssofAy. At least in theory, the PEE-pul are the government, so exegete that for me.
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As the day progresses, I find myself falling into a deeper funk. It is as though all hope is lost...no matter WHO wins. These things are important, and so few can see beyond class warfare. YEAH! Stick it to the Corporate Fat Cats!! Raise those corporate taxes!
(Then wait until prices on Doritos, Barbies and WWE DVDs go up at Wal-Mart.) Corporations don't pay the taxes (beyond writing a check). The consumer does, through higher prices. The corporation, not being a Charity, passes the tax increase on in to YOU. Why can't people turn off American Idol and Alabama football and bloody THINK??!?

Oh, and I started the second round of shots on Tuesday last. Hmmmm....

Do I hear the haunting strains of "If My People"? 2 Chronicles 7:14 is lovely, and utterly Old Covenant. If you drag that out, you may as well rebuild the temple and start hunting for a Red Heifer.

Sorry guys. If this is the real me, then maybe I'm not as loveable as I might wish.

To quote Marvin the Paranoid Android:"I'm so-o-o-o depressed."
Good thing I'm not emo, or I would need a transfusion by now.