prettylady said...

Darling, I have no wish to contradict you, at all, at all. I am not a Public Policist. But, if I may, I wish to offer a bit of perspective.

The going wage rate in Mexico, the last time I lived there, was 50 pesos a day. This converts to just under five dollars. A day.

The going types of available jobs in Mexico consist primarily of things like breaking rocks with a blunt axe, working in chemical factories with no safety controls which occasionally explode and blow people's legs off, housecleaning for the ladies, and very little else.

There are no such things as 'business loans,' credit cards with which to start one's own business, unemployment insurance, or investments.

Any human being with intelligence and initiative who is born to the campesino class in Mexico is across the border by the time he or she turns twenty-one. These people accept the first minimum-wage or sub-minimum wage job they can, and send the vast majority of their wages back home to sustain their 6 or 7 younger siblings, while their parents continue to break rocks and clean houses.

Some of them eventually manage to save enough money to get an education and start their own business. The ones who make it do so because they work very, very, very hard, with morals and integrity.

It has been my empirical observation that individuals such as these contribute, in real terms, a great deal more to the American economy, in taxes and productive labor, than they extract from it in social services. Most of them are too frightened of deportation to attempt to collect 'benefits'; they're here to work.

Of course it would be best if they all obtained green cards. I do not know if you have ever attempted to navigate the labyrinth of constantly shifting bureaucracy that this requires. Suffice it to say that it is difficult, capricious, highly liable to failure, and too time-consuming for an individual whose family is likely to starve in the meantime.

Obviously, it would be best for all concerned if the Mexicans in Mexico did something about their corrupt and abysmal economy. Unfortunately there are many reasons why this is slow to happen, none of which we, as Americans, have much control over.

I, personally, do not begrudge these heroic people any job in this country that they can earn and perform to their employer's satisfaction. You are perfectly free to disagree with me.

The Aardvark sez:

Y'know, PL, you should start a blog!

I mean, your comment is longer than most of my posts! And excellent to boot! Thank you.

Understood, my sweet, and there are a myriad of injustices in the world at which to tilt. The US is number one in charitable giving, private and government. How much more must we do? (I know the answer; I am Waxing Polemical.)

My concern is law. Without law there is mass rapine, and riots in the streets, and people breaking in and stealing Pretty Lady's pretty things. There is nothing to prevent anarchy, nothing to bring the miscreant to book in a just manner. "Oh," you say, "The Goodness of Mankind!". My Calvinist upbringing is ROFL!

That said, I have to turn to Acts.

Acts 17:24-27, "God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:" (Sorry for the KJV-eth)

Yeppers, I'm one of those dangerous guys who sees Public Policy in the wisdom of the Scriptures. (however, since I do not believe the perverted doctrine of the Left Behind books, and see Revelation as largely fulfilled, save for the resurrection of the dead, Christ's return, and the Day of Judgment, you don't have to worry. My finger wouldn't be on The Button, attempting to Immanentise the Eschaton. Historic Orthodoxy is Much safer.)

What's the point? Borders MEAN something, whether personal or national. I presume that you would feel discomfort were I to meet you as a stranger, and insist upon conversing with you virtually nose-to-nose. Personal boundaries are important. National boundaries are perhaps moreso. That these unlawful trespassers are good workers, and devoted to the upkeep of their families is laudable, but this does not change the fact that they have broken the law on our side of the border. It grieves me that the wages are so poor in Mexico (though cost-of-living is also lower), and that the government is so corrupt, but it is their government. We rebelled against England for far less, and won. This is their option as well.

What of NAFTA? I know that MY industry has relocated most of its factories south of the border-and further south still. SOMEONE is sewing the shirts!

The hard work and Family Values are good things. The situation is duplicated by countless multiples in India, yet many of them manage to complete the requisite paperwork to obtain permission to live here, and work, and buy Mom & Pop motels, make money, and enrich their home villages. The Byzantine bureaucracy serves a purpose, to act as a brake, just as the
bicameral legislature acts to slow down hastiness in governance.

This will not make you a happy panda, but it is the way I understand things. I desire the best for these people, but y'know, I have to obey the law. As do you. Why should they, who are NOT citizens, be given a pass, when we are not? The application of adjectives like "heroic" does not remove the geas of obedience to the law. I welcome all the huddled masses who play by the rules. Those who do not set themselves up as enemies, or at least as thinking they are better than law-abiders, because their need is greater. Then there is the issue of Aztlan. Also here.
An activist movement is well at work here in the US. A movement that is counter to our national identity and sovereignty; a fifth column, if you will. I do not brand all as part of it, but a significant portion is.

Another thing: what utter arrogance fuels these marchers, wrapping themselves in the banner of civil rights. The illegals are not citizens; they have no rights to speak of. Does this make me evil or bad, to speak what is true? I do not hate these folks. I just find the chutzpah of this movement to be utterly breathtaking.

Ask the owners and workers of the California E.R.s that have closed bankrupt because of the illegals flooding the medical system with demands for Government-mandated health care if all are as reticent to seek goodies as the avatars of light which you describe.

"Obviously, it would be best for all concerned if the Mexicans in Mexico did something about their corrupt and abysmal economy. Unfortunately there are many reasons why this is slow to happen, none of which we, as Americans, have much control over."

Back to the book of Acts. Part of the reason for borders, for different countries, is to encourage people to seek God "That they should seek the Lord", as NO political system can provide what only God in Christ Jesus can provide. When they find the freedom in Christ, they then have a true template against which to measure their system, and begin to demand change. (Personally, I believe the corruption and lawlessness in the
US of A is a reflexion of the same in the American churches. When we get OUR act together, then we can demand and effect change in the government. Ooooh. I think that is approaching profundity!)

And please, fellow Blog-o-Verse TM denizenry, note that though PL and I are having a disagreement of sorts, we neither of us has descended to the gutter, nor questioned the other's ancestry. This is called Respect, and Breeding. I am honored to have her commentary here, and, well, she makes me want to blog in a tux.

That said, let me add summat:
If we wish to have a powerhouse economy, with other countries' industries relocating HERE, then we MUST enact the FairTax. Go to the site, learn it, and let's get it pushed through. There would be enough work for all, legal or not.

Just so's you know...

The Aardvark is NOT a rabid racist ideologue.
He has no particular concerns about the color of one's skin.
He does worry about the color of one's card.
As in whether-or-not it is green. And real.
THAT is the point. Legal, NOT racial.
__________________________

It is Easter weekend. Jesus Christ, or Yeshua ha Mashiach for you Judaisers, is celebrated across Christendom for His death, burial, and triumphant Resurrection from the dead. Praise Jesus! Hallelujah, Messiah! I desire to be a good and faithful servant of the Lamb.

__________________________

We have been enjoying the new adventures of The Doctor. Fabulous stories, great players, excellent effects, and CHRISTOPHER ECCLESTON shows the dark underbelly of the heroic Time Lord. BILLIE PIPER, well, I would crawl on my knees over broken glass for her smile.
I hope that Sci Fi smartens up, and begins showing older Dr. Who episodes. They would RULE the ratings for geekdom and Brit fans, especially those who will retch if they have to see ONE MORE RE-RUN of Are You Being Served on their local PBS station.

Our main computer was down for a couple of days, and I have been unable to post.

I saw a sadness last night. Ann Coulter was on O'Reilly, and they could agree on little. He wants a border of National Guardsmen. She wants a WALL (and hire illegals to build it. Cheap labor.)

Oh Really is WRONG. Here's the trick: If you have a Guard at point A, and a Guard at point C, an illegal is donna try to get through at point B.

A-----------B-----------C

See?

We need a wall. We need it twenty years ago. No other nation on earth is as cavalier about its borders. We must have control over our borders, ond over who may cross them, and for how long.

Humpty Dumptification of the issues.

The endless blather about "immigration" continues apace.
The issue is not pro-or-con immigration.
It is illegal immigration.
One who does an illegal thing is de facto criminal.
Not to mention de jure.

""When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less."

That is one of my favorite Lewis Carroll quotes.
It is also a major tactic in the verbal warfare from the wreckers of our Republic.
It is a great Weariness to me. Language is exceeding precious to me.
The English language, for all its quirks, towers in its grandeur and utility.

People, practise what I preach. Use the language clearly and correctly, and insist upon it from those who claim to inform us.

The Dread Dormomoo sussed it out, all right.
The burnout, I mean.
As in me.
Some months back I posted about "not suffering fools gladly". I cannot handle arrant stupidity anymore, including (and O how I loathe the term) passive-aggressive posturing. And, given my previous post, this may give some a completely unwarranted "AHA!"...

I simply abhor doing business with women. Especially the sort who place their bad behavior upon me, as though it is all MY fault. I refer to it as "throwing their sex at me" (and not in a good way). The Dread Dormomoo has a handy talent for art. She was an artist for years, and then she discovered the airbrush, and made quite a nice bundle painting upon shirts and surfboards, tailgates, walls, skate cases, and ball helmets. Helmets are the current craze, and DD has quite the crazed and happy following for her work.
Invariably, the Special Jobs, the ones that require Special Handling, and Shoving Ahead of Other Work, these are the stuff nightmares are made on. She had to completely re-color the helmet to a sky blue (we thought the enamel would never dry), and then paint a softball on the front, with lovely pastel-shaded angelic wings trailing on either side of the helmet, and the child's name across the front as well. This is all done freehand, BTW.
The mother in question stolidly walked in with her daughter in tow. The little girl was enraptured. She LOVED the wings. They were the sort of wings one would get if Barbie became an angel. Her Mater was less enthused. "I had something different in mind." I had to fight not to inform her that we both flunked telepathy. Then she told The Lie. She said to her daughter "As long as YOU like them...". I recognised that she had slipped into Impossible To Satisfy mode. She began the Interminable Scan of the helmet. "The name isn't even straight." I gently pointed out that it was following a curve, but she HAD to be right, and pointed out an inconsistency in the freehand script, whereupon I offered to have it re-done, but it would take a few days. "Oh, no, she HAS to have it tomorrow." So I Made a Decision. It is clear that she is unused to having a man Make a Decision. I abruptly said "Well, take it, and bring it back next week." This is a reasonable solution to the problem. She had already decided, though, that she would NOT be satisfied, and that I had NO solution for her. So I told her to just take it. Period. Whereupon she accused me of being rude. Honestly, it had been a beastly day, but my temper was in check; I was merely being sudden in my decisions. No, she said I was rude. No, I said I wanted her to be satisfied. Contretemps. I gave her the opportunity to NOT PAY, JUST TO TAKE IT. She insisted upon dashing off a check, I assume to maintain the Moral High Ground. Then, she would not speak to me, or answer me at all. She took her broodlet to her SUV, and I cheerily wished her safety in the inclement weather coming.


I love my wife (and not just 'cause I'm commanded to!). I love my daughter (ditto). There are many women whom I love, or am fiercely fond of, or look forward to seeing again at the Next Convention; in short, friends. I have no trouble with customer service gals at the various vendors I frequent. I am NOT a misogynist.
I guess that I just cannot abide the ones who have no breeding, no manners, who cannot Maintain the Polite Fiction. Bad behavior disguised as "being honest" Trouble is, there are SO MANY of them, that I worry that I am becoming the "M-word".
I find that I cannot smile and just TAKE it anymore.
We are mailing the check back, with a sweetness-and-light note.
It's worth the $25. I paid Dormomoo out of my pocket, so she's not out; but she has so nailed it.
I used to be able, no matter my humor, to "put on my shop face" and be Mr. Rogers.
I can't anymore. I did not yell at this woman, or behave badly, but she sure picked up my on vibe.
Maybe she didn't flunk telepathy.
As for me, I'm just tired of women who cannot behave themselves in a civil manner. God bless her husband.
If this type of behavior was the norm historically, there would have been no Oldest Profession, and no human race to speak of, either.
Maybe I need some work, too. One thing I know, I am utterly ready to quit.I'm tired of these people.

It has been an...unpleasant week.
Work has been worky.
People have been a trial.
Memories have stunk.
The worst part of hell will be the regret. Having to relive over and again the time you ultimately rejected Grace. And the times you made an utter and complete ass of yourself before the watching world.
An unpleasant week.

As to memories, I recall my upbringing, and the seemingly contradictory life I live today. My father was a homosexual, and a drunk. (Spare me the idiocy: "Well, YOU'RE here..." Think of me as an experiment in an alternative lifestyle.) His mother was a moderating-and perhaps causative- influence in his life, and upon her death, when I was in ninth or tenth grade, all bets were off. The charming, genteel, delusions-of-mint-juleps-on-the-veranda disappeared into a bottle. I say drunk because though he did the AA and State Hospital trip, he schmoozed his way through to release. He was charming, and knew how to answer the questions, and after his vacation, he would return to the bottle. Bottles. I lived with him. I know.

Couple this with his degeneration into crudity. The Pop Media Machine seeks to cast homosexuality in a soft-focus shot. Romantic, even. I have seen the Wine and Roses, and it is cheap vodka and tobacco and the twisting of the most innocent comment into sexual innuendo.
I have been propositioned by his pals -how sweet- and pawed at like the farmer's virgin daughter. Sophisticated and cosmopolitan, I'll say. The sheer ruttishness of what he became haunts me to this day, and I avoid my extended family mostly because of all the memory triggers involved. And let me tell you, there is nothing to establish one's self-worth like seeing your dad's exploits on your high school bathroom wall. Suffice to say that I give precisely zero pass to the "lifestyle".

As to my contradictory life, well, I have a surprisingly large number of homosexual friends and acquaintances. Good friends, who love and appreciate me, even with my being a believer, and all. I treasure them, pray good for them, and they know that they can call on me at need. I say this not to do the Pharisee Dance (blow the trumpet, watch me prance...what a GOOD person am I...), but rather to marvel at the redeeming work of Christ. I'm not whole, but I'm a lot less broken! Where hatred could dwell, there is...something better.

I also share this to show that Bad Upbringings can be triumphed over.

The endless litany of "We don't have enough buses" to handle a mass deportation of the criminals who have entered our country illegally is a fine example of "the dog ate my homework" thinking.
The Media Whine Machine is now at a fever pitch, especially since the invaders have marched 500,000 strong waving May-hee-can flags.

How long has the hoary old Greyhound carried people to-and-fro in our great nation? The media mugs are behaving as though you can only make one trip with a bus. (Ohhh! We took a load...we gotta scrap that bus and get a new one.) There is no reason not to deport the illegals. We have the buses, trains, and donkey carts to send all of them back to the NAFTA heaven south of our border.
Just load 'em up at the next protest march. They are foreign interlopers on our soil, waving a foreign flag. Use the National Guard.

But WAIT, there's MORE!
The Dread Dormomoo made an interesting observation.
Many of 'em walked in.
Line 'em up, and march them right back home. Our guys can ride in jeeps.

On the other hand, perhaps you think that this is all a load of donkey fazoo.
Your opinions, comments or flames would all be helpful, or at least amusing.

(...perhaps if we ignore him, he'll go away...NO, no, don't make eye contact...Shoot! Now he's coming over....)

Sometimes I feel like the George Costanza of the Blog-O-Verse TM .

I shall be gone to Columbus, Ohio this week-end. Anime Punch is the reason. We shall be in the Dealer's room selling our most excellent tees and stuff, so come see us.

While you're here, don't be shy. Click on the little "comments" thingie and say what's on your mind. Meet the other folks who comment, and enjoy yourselves. Maybe leave a little blog fodder for me to write about later.

Have a grand week-end!

Allow me to posit that a majority of Conservatives and Libertarians are a gutless lot. Allow me to put it more plainly. They are cowards. They lack the courage of their convictions. Certainly it takes true daring to listen to talk radio, and perhaps to call in occasionally. It surely takes a spine of steel to blog from the safety of your home. Beyond that, though, their fortitude is not much in evidence.

Were I to attend a church where the preacher proceeded to ridicule me for believing the Scriptures, and the elders insisted upon turning my pockets out to get at the money and lint therein, and then went on to hire hookers with it to "spread the love of God", well, I would beat a hasty retreat, and were I to ever return, I would bring no money with me, even though the Scriptures say to be a cheerful giver. Why? Because they were taking my money, and using it in a manner not authorised by the Word of God.

I ask you, then, O Dittohead or Boortzite, when in their careers have your representatives represented YOU? When have they used the better part of the money extorted under threat of reprisal in a manner authorised by the Constitution? If the answer is "Rarely" or "Never", well, why do you continue to contribute? If you are a pro-life person, why do you support the government which supports the wanton murder of millions? If you disagree with the war, why then do you continue to fund it? If your concern is the sub rosa warfare being waged upon our nation by foreign insurgents from the South, why do you continue to subsidise the government which openly ignores the call of its own citizens to protect our own borders?

When have they kept their promises?

Governments are changed by either violent or subtle means. Starvation is far more subtle.
Why do you feed the beast? Why continue to feed the beast? Fear of reprisal?
It's OK. You can still turn on the radio and do your part, just like always.

See how much things have changed for the better already!

Got back from Gulfport MS last night, late. Riatsila and I went to CoastCon 29, the Little Con that Could. The Con Katrina Couldn't Kill.

Guys 'n' dolls, you done GOOD! We had Sharon Green at the con, author and Teller of Great Stories. Check out the CoastCon site for all the guests. Cynthia the Con Queen, Tex: Dealer Room Coordinator Extraordinaire, all the rest, all did an amazing job of putting this historic SF convention together in a month's time. It had frankly become moribund the last couple of years, but the predations of the hurricane stripped away the dross, and left a glittering pearl on the Gulf Coast. Well done. We did an amazing amount of biz. The fans had lost their collections of SF goodies, and descended hungrily upon the dealer's room. DVDs, t-shirts, toys, music, books...all things Fannish.

Oh....and Herb McCaulla was there, too. Hi Herb. Love ya!

The Case of the Murdered Minister

Where is Perry Mason when you need him? The woman who killed her preacher husband MAY be a victim of The Toxic Church. Now, your gentle Aardvark is also a communicant of the Church of Christ persuasion, and knows whereof he speaks.
The congregation where we fellowship is a very unusual one, where we strive to maintain unity where some significant differences of understanding exist; a very neat arrangement. I'm not talking doctrine-breaking selfism, just an understanding that we are all at different places on the continuum of faith to faith, and glory to glory. But the recent history of the Lord's church in general is marred with legalism, and haughty elitism, and thus establishes my thesis.

One of the earmarks of the Restoration Movement is the plea "to speak where the Bible speaks, and to be silent where the Bible is silent"; in other words, to insist upon a "thus saith the Lord" in all matters of faith and practise. Where this ideal is earnestly sought and apprehended, liberty and personal growth is assured. However, where mens' opinions are put forth, or their personal preferences or "druthers" hold sway, then oppression and legalism of the worst sort arise, the sort of church-splitting importances like whether to use one cup or many for communion, or the relative evils of Women in Pants. (Please don't laugh. Think of Trekkies, only arguing church polity rather than the Rules of Acquisition.)

One preacher put it thusly:

"We don't act like everybody else...we don't dress like everybody else...and that's just the way it is."

Ummm, overall, this is OK, except for the "and that's just the way it is."
It isn't. Things in the church are to be "just the way God says it is". He is the First Cause. Not "Just". Just results in Opinion and Legalism, 'cuz "that's just the way it is". Just becomes the Final Arbiter. The Scripture teaches against Drunkenness.
"Just" says

"But if you don't take that first sip, you'll never have to worry about getting drunk."

Spoken from the pulpit, this carries the imprimatur of the Oracles of God, whereas it is merely an opinion, and (perhaps) good advice. Legalistic opinions box one in, and effectively shield against the freshets of the Spirit of God.

In a legalistic system, one can easily feel trapped.
If you cannot assuage your angst with a bit of the "wine which maketh glad the heart of man", or self-medicate with tobacco or even an OD of comfort food...ooooooh, gluttony....your choices diminish. The stigma of "the preacher's wife" going for therapy or taking anti-depressants, say, is one not easily borne. The Ministerial Family must be shiny and happy.

Now, I know NOTHING about this family, or the dynamics of its violent breaking.
I know that the husband was "popular", and that the police report that infidelity was not a motive, so I suspect that there is something "bent" in the wife's mind. Given the possibilities, I am deeply concerned that she was hemmed in by Opinion and "Justs". Not giving a pass for murder...just seeking a Reason for the unreasonable.

Tomorrow's headlines may blow the application to this sad family away, but the thesis remains. Perhaps even a Cruel Angel's Thesis. The freedom from sin and legalism which Jesus brings is precious. The Cruel Angel seeks to bring the Free back into Bondage. I hate him for it.

Bat Boy (c) WWN

I am so incredibly thankful to live in such an age of Wisdom and Revelation. With the internet, at the click of a mouse I can command the Secrets of the Ages. I can find the long-buried TRUTHS we so desperately need to get us through these days of darkness:

• Monogamy is a white mans' lie. The Truth lies in multiple wives. The Church has hidden this truth for 2000 years... just The Man stickin' it to the little guy.
• Jesus taught reincarnation, (wink,wink, we know what "ye must be born again really means!) The Church hid this vital doctrine from the laity at the Council of Nicaeia in the 400's, so that the priesthood could keep control. Just The Man stickin' it to the little guy.
• Jesus did not get crucified. Instead he married Mary of Magdala, and founded the Merovingian line. It must be true. Tom Hanks is starring in a movie about it.
• Bat Boy enlisted to aid our troops during Shock and Awe, and quitted himself like a Hero!
• Redbook and Cosmo reveal "Sex Secrets" in every issue. Where have they been hidden? Who kept these secrets, and why did they blab now?
• Snopes.com is the Textus Receptus of all that is Important.

What an age in which we live.
I love the internet! I love our culture.

Does this disturb you as much as it does me?

Busy...with a DIFFERENCE!

Your humble Aardvark must awa' for the weekend. Some scheduling things came up, and I will be filling in at MomoCon in Atlanta this weekend. Sophomore year for the con. 10am-12pm Sat. and Sun. at Georgia Tech. Be there, and come see us in the Dealer's Room. Aardvark's Anime Commandos.

Pete, I see you peeking in here. Hi to Duchess and All!
You too, Pretty Lady. I'll be redoing the place here...putting in new vinyl seat covers... *snifffff*...
smell the summery wading-pool newness! Over THERE will be the chea...errr economically framed picture of Dogs Playing Poker. Never gets old, does it? (You know I love you!)

Happy and prosperous weekend to all!

VOX quotes Peggy Noonan today. In the comments, I write:

I'm really startin' to wonder myself if the black helicopter crowd have a point on this- ans I'm not washing Vox with the same rotor, here- that from primaries up, the choices have been made by The Machine, be it the CFR, Skull and Bones, the Jesuits or QVC, and that the National Elections are an elaborate dog-and-pony show, busywork to give the proles a sense of participation, and that all the decisions were made months or years before in the smoke-filled rooms. I'm not signing up to this YET, but my suspicions grow by the day.

Does it mean ANYTHING?
Does our vote mean anything anymore?
Is voting third party any more of "a waste" than voting for the other two?
... AND [Hammond organ sting] what about Naomi?

.

The madness continues apace. I can understand how the core of a fission bomb feels.
We are getting an impossible amount of work in. This of course means that it WILL get done despite. It's fine. I am not complaining! This is a huge blessing, but I'll be REALLY happy to get an automatic press installed by summer.

And of course if YOU need tees printed, contact us via the weblink to the right. There is a quote page on our site.

Whist I'm here, let me tell you about this. I discovered Tortilla Blanco in Athens AL. This business is a corn and flour tortilla manufacturer on the north end of town...the Li'l Mexico and Li'l Guatemala end of town. It is also a taqueria, serving excellent take-out tacos, burritos, and such.
It is run by a couple of Anglos, and is as authentic as can be.

It's kind of like the question of why some of the best Italian places are run by Greeks.
An example is the late lamented Saks Pizza in Myrtle Beach. Back in the early 80's, we would live there after work- I managed "Dr. Feelgood's Old Time Photos". Everything at Saks was homemade, fresh cut, and perfect. The lot of us would decide we were hungry, so we would "go to have group Saks". Utterly wonderful. And run by Greeks. So there you go.

I so miss having Saks.

...but why are you doing it?

The "random act kindness" concept was kind of neat, but sad, too, in a self-limiting kind of way, rather like the Boy Scout business of "do a Good Deed daily". Is there not sufficient need or opportunity to do more than merely one? ( This reminds me of a virtually unknown cartoon from Terrytoons, "Good Deed Daly", a happy little Boy Scout from 1955. This is virtually all to be found online about it. Good deeds, even with Unintended Consequences, are apparently poor cartoon fare) Perhaps the good feelings one has upon Doing such a Deed will encourage one to do another, then another, until your whole day is spent satisfy the Good Deed jones one develops. "C'mon lady, lemme mow your lawn again..you KNOW I'm good for it!"

Motivation comes into the picture. Paul says in Romans that if you do good to your enemy, you heap coals of fire on his head. However, this is a result; it is not intended to be the motivation: "Here is a cup of cold water in Jesus' name...feel the BURN, jerk."

Perception is another thing. One thing I have noted before is that passive-aggressive behavior has become de rigueur in the Christian community. I can't hit you, but by goo I can sure annoy you. Unfortunately, this colors the whole spectrum of good deeds done by a believer. I have noted in some blog comment threads elsewhere that when Bible-believers and non-believers get at loggerheads over Issues such as abortion or Intelligent Design, after things heat up, often the believer says summat like "This is really getting us nowhere. I'll pray for you." Now, nine times out of ten, this is likely a sincere statement of intent, that I shall intercede with the Almighty for good things for you, or for clarity of thought. But the perception is: "I'm SO over you, better than you, and Jesus may love you, but he doesn't like you very much!". Unfortunately from what I see in the Blog-o-VerseTM
and in REAL life, the perception may not be far off the mark at times.

Some things come to mind: first, the Scripture says: let not your good be evil spoken of. Consciously avoid even the perception of emotional taint. As far as is possible with you, be at peace with all. Jesus said to not parade the good things that we do before others...
Matthew 6:2, "Therefore when you do your alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Truly I say to you, They have their reward."

The point is that the DOING is the important thing, not the TELLING. If you are going to pray for someone- especially someone with whom you are at odds- just do it. Don't announce it. Don't do a Pharisee dance. Just do it. There is no opportunity to be misinterpreted, and every opportunity for God to do His work.

A note to all my reader....

Hello!
I do in fact have a Real Life other than the Blog-o-Verse.
Considering my output here, this will likely cause you to sleep easier, without those nasty nightmares of Your Humble Aardvark living in a box in the alley like a homeless guy in a Dean Koontz novel, waiting to have his keister kicked every morning by the Ratman.

This is our Christmas season. Really. Between Conventions, ball uniforms, prom shirts, and all, we are gonna be utterly covered up business-wise. Likely running two shifts at the shop. Wow.

Consequently, my blogging time will be at a premium. I have worked to reach even this level of readership, and I do not wish to go backwards, so please keep checking in a couple of times a week for new goodies. I shan't abandon the blog, or you. So sleep well.

The Aardvark shall continue to scan the horizon.

It is as I suspected all along.
Oscar Wilde was a hack, a culture whore. Google for Oscar Wilde quotes.

"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative."

He used a Pithy Quote Generator TM .

Blank is the blank blank of the blank.

Nowadays he would write Star Wars novels.

Short shots

Vox is being lambasted, yet again, for taking a Scriptural stance on things, to wit, the authority relationships in the marriage covenant. If you play according to the rules of Texas Hold'em, then you must not be playing Monopoly. If you are going to assume the trappings of the Christian faith, then you should play according to the rules. Feminist dogma is not equivalent to Biblical doctrine.

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

In the name of Honesty, let's just rename Valentine's Day to "Conspicuous Consumption of Chocolate Day" or "Plush Teddybear Day" or "Cheap and Tarty Lingerie Day". "Hallmark Day" may also work.

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

SiteMeter says that I am gaining reader in Australia. WOOTNESS! G'day, shrimp on th' barbie, and other moribund Dundeeisms to you! (Don't you just HATE pop culture sometimes?)

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

Going to CoastCon in two weeks. The venerable old SF convention rises from the muck of Katrina like some amazing walking catfish, though, alas not in Biloxi. Gulfport, MS is the current host town. We aren't printing the con shirts, 'cos they have no clue as to the attendance, so a local guy is setting up to print on demand. This is a GOOD thing, no pouting from this Aardvark.
It takes considerable pressure off, given the MORE than considerable local work I have to do in the same two weeks. We WILL be taking our not inconsiderable stock of shirt designs. WHAT designs, you may ask? See HERE.

Home again, home again!

The Starfleet Summit has come and gone, and a Good Time was had by all.
Whilst I have spoken of this before, I shall do so again. I'm middle-aged, and thus entitled to repeat myself occasionally. Starfleet...well, think of the Jaycees in Star Trek uniforms. They have created a civic organisation around the Star Trek philosophy and ethos. Members have meetings, raise money for charities. Rank is gained by mastering subjects, being tested, and performing various duties.

There are far worse things.

I am not a member, however. My time is spent with other pursuits, many involved with the acquisition of gold-pressed latinum, or whatever currency works! But no, I'm not a member.
More of the Ferengi-at-large. I print the convention shirts, and sell my other designs in the dealers room. I'm the fun uncle who comes to the party. I guess.

Had a GREAT time.

The Aardvark will be Purveying his Wares (insert Charles Nelson Reilly laugh) at the Starfleet Region 2 Summit in Birmingham, AL this weekend. I will detail my adventures upon my triumphant return.

And no, I do not have Spock ears.

One should knock first.


The recent discussion- and a civil one at THAT! - at amsiriano.com has involved whether-or-not we should be in Iraq.

I have been drawn to the comments as a moth...never mind. Truth is, I am astonished at what is coming from my keyboard. Not amazed at my perspicacity and debonair turn of phrase- nor will you be- but by the thoughts. I didn't realise that I am as isolationist as I appear to be. Or as pessimistic about the State of Things.

On the flip side, I surely believe that we should help Where we are asked to.
It's just so seldom that anyone asks.

THIS is a Nixie tube clock.
I want one, badly.
Soon.....soon....

Real Aardvark Birthday Update

(Don't sing the song...I don't wanna pay royalties)

Had my wife and our children over for lunch.
Spinach rolls, pizza rolls, and fajita meat for the fromage-o-phobe.
Spinach rolls? Pizza dough, filled with steamed spinach with ricotta, mozzarella, and pepperoni.
Fold, seal, drop in Fry Daddy. It's like a calzone.

Birthday cake: Scratch golden cake (It's really white, but has whole eggs.) Fudge icing (scratch, natch) which was as smooth as tourist trap marble-slab fudge.
Breyers Natural vanilla ice cream.
The Dread Dormomoo cannot handle eating wheat, so she has experimented with oat and rice flours. She baked an oat flour cake with the rest of the regular ingredients, and so enjoyed cakey goodness with the rest. (I tasted a bit. She missed nothing! It is a GOOD recipe!)

Now to the goodies:

A dinner and movie out with my daughter!

DVD: The Adventures of Mark Twain (Will Vinton's Claymation tour de force) You can read the characters' lips. Available at willvinton.net or Wal-Mart. This has long been a family favorite, now on DVD! This is ME being happy!

The Chronicles of Narnia OST on CD. Faboo!

2 Luminarc martini glasses

7-piece cocktail set, with shaker and all.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So my bid to become the Most Hated Christian Blogger continues. Martini...Christian...cocktail sets...Bible and prayer....Does Not.... Compu............BOOOOOOM!

It's called occasional self-medication. Like Prozac, but cheaper. Government intrusion has made the medical field outrageously expensive. This isn't. Besides, it's the only civilised way to consume olives.

Wait, I'm hearin' it...the whispers....
"He NEEDS it like medicine...you know what THAT means...! Of course we are only discussing this so we can PRAY for him..."

Thanks for the prayers. Can the rest.
The Scripture teaches against drunkenness.
Not occasional imbibing.
Got a problem, go to God with it. He wrote the Book.

Hey, it's my BIRTHDAY! I'm practising being CROCHETY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME (Tomorrow!)

Can it get any better?
I have dodged the Reaper's Scythe for forty-nine years, now.
Where has it GONE? The years, I mean. I have no interest in the Scythe.
NONE.

I am a Christian. I believe in Eternal Life. I believe in heaven. Most importantly, I do not believe heaven is the Eternal Pew, with hymn sings on the hour. There is ample indication that the Believers of today, will be the fellow regents of the new heavens and the new earth after the Day of Judgment. We will have Meaningful Work in running the Redeemed Creation.

I'm just not ready to GO yet! I could get all spiritual and talk about all the Work to do...all the Teaching I could do by sticking around, what a powerful Example I could continue to be...you may all stop going LOL, now... but really, I'm just having too good a time NOW.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is a Link of Sadness

Shucks, here is the text:

To: Time Warner

We the Undersigned do whole-heartedly disagree with the moral overtone, or lack thereof, of Cartoon Network's "The Grimm Adventures of Billy and Mandy."

The hints of paganism, the coining of a phrase from Aleister Crowley's "The Book of Law," which is steeped in satanism, is completely uncalled for in a cartoon which is marketed to children and young teenagers, as is "The Grimm Adventures of Billy and Mandy."

Therefore, by signing this petition, we speak as one voice to the management of Cartoon Network, Turner Entertainment, a division of Time Warner, Inc. that this show MUST be taken off the air immediately.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

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

Where to start...?

• PRAY FOR THE HEADS OF TIME WARNER! Don't write foolish petitions that waste your time and energy. You feel like you have Done Something Important.

But you haven't.

• Do your homework. From twenty years ago. The Billy and Mandy writers did not coin the phrase. They QUOTED it. And by writing this, You look Stupid. And since I am a Christian, you make ME look stupid, too!

Thanks.

• "...This show MUST be taken off the air immediately." Ummm, WHY? Because a quote in a cartoon show made grownups get upset and put together an online petition? The economy of the Western World trembles. Remember how quickly Captain Planet was yanked? Remember?
  

• "we speak as one voice to the management of Cartoon Network". How about speaking as one voice to the WORLD about the Kingdom of God, and The Love that Jesus showed in dying for us? Have you written invitations to a home Bible study, where the Gospel is taught, and how to Live it, rather than lookin' for the Beast, and wondering when the Rapture is gonna take us away from the heathen Turner execs? I'm betting that your time and energy could be better spent.

My time is running out. The little Nixie tube clock that times out my life has less time on it than it did before, so don't waste my time with inconsequentiae. What did Jesus teach, to preach the good news, or to write whiny little petitions about shows that will vanish in a couple of years anyway?

Besides, I have my own work cut out for me. I'm hunting down the covens of young people driven to witchcraft by their watching Scooby-Doo. Haven't found any yet, but I KNOW that they are out their. Kids ALWAYS do what they see on TV.

That's why I'm a starship captain!

Much has been written on art, and much has been written on the Christian faith. However, when the two collide, you don't generally get Reesey goodness. At least, not today.

An amusing cartoon: a car bumper on display on a pedestal, behind velvet ropes. On the bumper is a sticker that says "Honk if you love Jesus!". The caption reads "Christian Art, circa 1980".

Or not so amusing. "Christian Art" at the beginning of the Twenty-First Century tends toward the light-limned landscape- kind of a New-Agey Norman Rockwell thing, or the whole doves-and-crosses motif. It tends to be Art with a Purpose: Hello! Art to witness with, kind of a canvassey Jesus fish. Somewhat of a change from Michelangelo and Durer.

I recall Larry Norman getting in trouble with fellow evangelicals for deigning to insist that his art, his excellence in it, was witness to Christ and His excellence. Reformed brethren tend to sling accusations of heresy fairly freely (ask Walt Hibbert). That is the level of vituperation brought against Larry "I Wish We'd All Been Ready" Norman, if my Teflon memory serves.
He moved on from doves-and-crosses music to more subtle work, and some folks react poorly to change. (For my money, "Jesus Music" ended when The Second Chapter of Acts disbanded.)

I print t-shirts for my livelihood. We started the business back in our sojourn through Flandersville, and our intent was to provide believers with super-cool-and-groovy Witness Wear. Thing was, people were more interested in our printing caps for their businesses, shirts for their poker runs, youth groups, and conferences. We had to serve our customers, and our Lord, with the excellence of our work, whether it had a 3:16 on it or not. The formula has worked for fifteen years.

1 Corinthians 10:31, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."

Colossians 3:17, "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him."

Works for me.

The Aardvark awards his seal of approval to Pretty Lady for her offering:

Read it!

There is wisdom here, people.

Piling on.

Ooh! I used a sports term!
I did not awaken to a Morales-free world today, and I am in a quandary. Biblically, I see no problem with capital punishment. (Hmmm...death by puns.) I do have trouble with our current corrupt State having the ability to put people to death. Worrisome. But the judicial piling-on against this execution was breathtaking. The Court insisting upon a medical person to administer the barbiturate OD was breathtakingly obvious. Unless you defrost Kevorkian, you are unlikely to find a doctor ethically able to push the plunger. There are apparently some vestiges of Hippocrates left. Maybe call a veterinarian.


AHA! Call in an abortionist! No medical scruples to worry over, plenty of experience in tissue destruction.

It's good to have skillz.

Here is another favorite photo of mine. I took it at the Bethea Reunion, Dillon SC, back in 1976.
This is Georgia Bethea, The lady who worked as housekeeper for my grandparents, and helped to raise my father and his brothers. She liked to be called "Mammy Georgia", and was, by generations of young'uns who loved her.

The serenity in her face has been sought by many for their lifetimes, yet never found.
Photo (c) 1976 W.B.Hardy

Talk radio.

Yuk.

I've mostly given it up. Really. But I catch bits and pieces. Here are some thoughts.

Ellis Henican- Stick with stupid cartoon voice work on AdultSwim. He listens to what the other person says, returns to his original point as if validated by the caller.

Michael Medved- I liked him once. He tends to make polemical straw men of his opponents' points, then interrogates them like the Army-McCarthy hearings. Unpleasant.

Sean Hannity- I live in the town where he got his radio start. Call it Bethlehem. He is the template Three Monkey Republican, and he offends me. How can you determine that one is a "Good American" by saying "Hello!" to them on the 'phone? He talks the party line, but I don't think he can think creatively.

Rush Limbaugh- Not. Fun. Anymore.

Mike Gallagher- Not. Too. Bright.

G.Gordon Liddy- Boy, I wish he was on here again. And I hope I look that good when I'm his age. He's smart, logical, Jesuit-trained- oooooh conspiracy!!

Vox Day has long posited the mommiefication of our culture, due to the "successes" of the feminist agenda. Two current egregious examples are

• The fuss over scenes in the Curious George books.

Yes, Robin Roth, a California high school teacher (who also runs an "animal rights" website) is mumphing over the monkey. She complains that Curious George teaches animal abuse (keeping critters in zoos) and poor parenting (The Man in the Yellow Hat is George's parent? I guess it takes a jungle).

• The banishment of dodgeball and now tag from schoolyards.

The widdle kiddies musn't get hurt, or "feel threatened" in public school. Ah, I guess they've figured out a way to banish bullies, too.

Because so many of the feministas are not, or cannot be mommies, they must anoint the entire culture with their oozing maternal instinct. Having made the Western world safe for abortion, they must now enwomb all of society, 'til we are all safe, warm, and sterile as they.

I was going to go on about suckling at the dry teat of feminism, but became too disgusted at the image to continue the thought.

Questions no-one responds to.

• WHY is an abortion a GOOD thing? I know that it is The Most Important Thing In The World, but why is it a good thing?

• How can anyone seeing this kind of insanity passing for governance in good conscience pay a dime to support it anymore?I did not say "out of fear". I said "good conscience".

"Lawmakers want to know why a federal panel allowed a state-owned United Arab Emirates shipping firm to pay $6.8 billion to acquire six major American ports -- including critical ones in New York, Baltimore and Philadelphia -- despite its home country's glaring ties to international terrorism. But the White House is yawning."

The hills are alive with the sound of crickets...

Ephemeral art.

All is vanity and striving after wind.
We strive for our fifteen minutes of fame, or fifteen hits a day, or fifteen hundred, on our blogs.
Yet all of our efforts are only for the day. Yesterday's entry is old news, old hat, and of little interest to the Gentle Readers. There are no conservatives in the Blog-o-Verse. The Old is never Good Enough.

So to keep you happy, and thus attain our small fame, and strokes for our fragile egos, we write.
Inconsequentia, ephemera, the odd non-sequitur. Anything that wanders across our field of vie...oooooh look, a KITTY!

Blogging is an odd sort of beast; not like a book or magazine. Even with archives, the old rarely does a lot. It all has to be now.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Dread Dormomoo was reflecting on men and women:

Women multitask well in everything but men.
Men don't multitask well in anything but women.

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

Abbadee, abbadaa, that's all, folks!
At least it was new.

Deadeye Dick's True Crime.

People, not even Matt Drudge has this one.


I hear from reliable sources, to whom I have promised anonymity, that the REAL crime that VP Cheney committed is so heinous that The White House is covering it up at all costs.
I may not be here long after revealing this...may have to join Fred in Mexico.

It seems that before Dick Cheney brutally shot his friend Harry Whittington with birdshot in the heart...


Cheney made him wear panties on his head.

OK, I couldn't resist.
A second contest.
Best caption in my opinion. You win an Aardvark Tees shirt of your choice.
This is one of my favorite photos ever. The bright artifacts around the tree in the centre are actually in the photo, and probably make it Art Bell worthy.
(c) 1976 W. Hardy

The Aardvark used to be quite the shutterbug, even making something approximating a living at portraiture and product photography. Other things included album cover art and interior design shots. My love was candid work, as well as odd nature work, as you see here. (photo (c) W.Hardy 1976)

So, tell me what it is! The first person to guess correctly, shall win a shirt off of our website, linked to the right. Contest runs 'til 25 February, 2006.

I must admit, Pretty Lady inspired my putting up a photo.

I'll be sharing more 'varky artistic goodness betimes.

Ben Bernanke Slugged Me!


Many have rubbed shoulders with greatness.
I had to rub my own shoulder.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke was a friend of mine.
Well, we went to the same school.
Ok, I was in Jr. High, and he was a Junior.
But we WERE in the Dillon High School Band. He was a Sax, I was a lowly third trumpet. He was one of the whip-cracking overseers employed by Miss Helen Culp, the uber band directrix. He cracked with the best of them. He was...tolerant of me and my ilk, and regaled us with his repository of "Hopkins" stories -essentially travelling salesman yarns with an English butler instead of Willy Loman. He was HI-larious.

Ben's parents owned the JayBee Drug Store in Dillon, SC. Bought my first pipe there. Tons of sulphur and saltpetre for pyrotechnic experiments. Great store! They were The Jewish Family in town-there were more, but EVERYONE knew the Bernankes. Dillon also had a number of Lebanese families named Saleeby. "Saleeby's" was a notable men's shop in Dillon. I bought Paula A. a choker there, but that's another story...

We were at the marching camp in late summer, and Ben had been cracking wise, so I began to dither about his name...I couldn't remember it, quite.
Then I said "Ahhhh, Bernanke...I always confuse you with the Saleebys!".

He looked at me, grabbed me, and punched me in the arm. Hard.


Twice.


But it was worth it. I got 'im!

In keeping with the masthead of this effort, I would like to look at the the way things SHOULD be.

I have noted for longtimenow the coarsening of our culture, and especially church culture, Christian culture. People whom I KNOW were not brought up to do so, not taught to speak thusly, are seemingly caught in the grip of coprolalia.
It's not just the idle word bit of "damn" this, and "to Hell with" that. I mean the random and frequent dropping of F-bombs in everyday situations, not in extremis, as well as the expostulary questioning of one's parentage. But bad language is only a part (actually a small, prodromal part) of the malaise. Witness:

"(Betty) Friedan was a Marxist, a myth-maker and a moron. I'll urinate on her grave if I ever happen to stumble across it. She was one of the most ruinous public figures of the 20th century and it's truly a shame her mother wasn't an abortionette like the vast majority of her followers."

I shan't attribute this, but it does serve as another example of the ruinous trend that concerns me here. Suffice to say that it is from a Christian blogger. Now, I remember a time- and I am not yet fifty- when "gosh" was a worldly euphemism, and "darn" was worse...and NOBODY'D better hear you say "durn". That "u" is an exponential intensifier, I guess. And no-one would even consider speaking of the dead so. They could not defend themselves, and so such was bad form.

To wish abortion, even on an ardent foe, was imponderable. Personally, I have no trouble with "Friedan was a Marxist, a myth-maker and a moron". She was demonstrably these and more, but the rest is just nasty.

It is reported that Gary North, that Y2K worthy, said that when he heard of Friedan's shuffling off this mortal coil, he went out to dinner. This may be the unfortunate juxtaposition of two separate events, but the implication is celebratory.
This too seems nasty to me. I'm picturing Jesus dancing a jig, and shouting "w00t" upon hearing of Judas' hempy end.

When has abject nastiness become a hallmark of Christian discourse? Paul made a few improvident comments, and is not praised for them. I do not call for a Pollyanna
environment...the thought sickens me, and reminds me of certain fellowships wherein you did not have a church "potluck dinner". You had a "Pot Bless"...
The gospel is in no way a tapioca thing...it has teeth, the better for the hound of heaven to bite you with, my dear. But it does not look like the world. It proclaims that whilst we are in the world as Christians, we are not OF it. Is profanity trendy? Perhaps. Is having unpleasant attitudes and expressing them? Clearly. But when were we called to be the hip, with it bunch?

Oooooh, you're JUDGING......

Just checking the fruit, ma'am. and I also speak as one of the repentant afflicted, who is aware of the discontinuity between "ought" and "do".


I believe that it is time to put out a call...A call for Christians to be Christians first, and political animals second, lest the world look on, and being unable to see the purity of our hearts, find us indistinguishable from themselves.

A sort of braglet...sort of.

Is it bragging, when you acknowledge that it's not your fault?
Our little family business has been putting along since around 1990.
We print t-shirts. Shirts for little rural ball teams, shirts that are becoming nationally known,
shirts for anime fans, gamers, political shirts, snarky shirts.

Shirts for you.

We have chugging along, primarily doing custom t-shirt printing: school, church and business shirts.
We began selling generic Sci-Fi and fantasy shirts of our own design at conventions, as well as swapping dealer space for printing official con shirts. People liked our stuff. Above was an early favorite. Didn't matter if we were at a con, or at a craft show next to ladies who sold wooden cutouts of cows...people loved that shirt.

But SF con business remained fairly flat, and ultimately became moribund.
Meanwhile our personal interests moved East. Far East. we discovered Japanese animation, or anime. Then we learned of Anime conventions, so we followed our formula, developed general anime and Japanese culture designs, and offered our printing services to convention promoters.

Sonotori!

Enter the realm of exponents! Our business has grown amazingly, and for the main reason that the original Sci-Fi cons existed: the fans have no better place to go! The conventions serve as a kind of cultural church, an ecclesia of the odd. School acquaintances don't relate to the people who would rather watch Totoro, and dress like Witch Hunter Robin. The need to be with fellow fen drives the trend. That, and the fact that it is a convenient place to get stuff: DVDs, soundtracks, toys, models, costumery. Our shirt designs are in fact ours for the most part, and no-one else has 'em. Our shirts and staff are developing a fan following of their own.

And that's a real kick!


We are astoundingly thankful to our Father, and to our many customers and fans, who have enabled us to have a livelihood that we truly enjoy! Thank you! We'll keep doing cool stuff.

Of Toons and Men.

The current Muslim furor over editorial cartoons in the Danish press is a bell-wether of Things To Come. Lookit, the grumpy followers of Allah's Religion of Peace are living in an essentially freethinking society. Freethinking begets ridicule of things that don't track, that are not consistent.
They are strangers in a strange land, guests who are insisting on Their Own Way.
In short, the Muslims are insisting that the Danes follow Sharia law. Now, I realise this is NOT a shocking revelation to some, but to most, well, we need to think this through.

Muslims guesting in a Land Not Their Own are insisting that their hosts follow Muslim Law: No pictures of Mohammed. Threats and death are being leveled at the infidels, who by definition do not believe what the Muslims believe. Besides being impolite, and just bad form, the followers of the hirsute prophet are demanding that their hosts follow the Religion of Peace, at least in form.

If the Danes-or any other enlightened European country- knuckle under to this pseudo-religious thuggery, it will be a Sign of Apocalyptic proportions to the American Left, which of course they will not get. All of the years spent worrying, all of the forests levelled for paper to print editorials and other rants, all the polls and phone campaigns to strike fear of...fear of...

THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT taking over,

and making us all watch Superbook and Jerry Falwell, and making our women look just like televangelists' wives; all the effort will be wasted, as they spent their time fighting what could be the only real counter against the Islamic predation of American Freedom.

Yes, the Gospel, the essentials of which form the basis of Western Civilisation, and Western Thought (read Schaeffer's How Should We Then Live...or watch the video series), forms a bulwark AGAINST mindless kneejerk Following. Even IF the "Christians took over" which can't happen, the regime would be far more benign than the most mellow mullah's demands.

But who in his right mind would want such a thing? I guess that the left-of-centre will have to start practising:
"Allahu Akbar....."

When you repeat the Lie often enough, it becomes Truth.

"Ye shall be as gods."
"The Jews run everything, and it's all their fault."
"The Late Great Planet Earth"
"The 16th Amendment was duly ratified."
"It's Tax Time, and you need TaxPhraud software!"

Repetitive ummmm, repetitions cause me worry. The worry that I am Being Had;
That I am being Convinced of Something against my better judgment, like believing
"pasteurized process cheese food" is in fact food. Or that instant coffee is good to whatever drop. Or that it is coffee.


The endless ambient drumbeat of H&R this, and TaxAct that, and April 15th is coming soon just leaves me suspicious that I am being sold a very expensive tale, one that I am to accept without examination. We hold this Truth to be self-evident, that You Owe US.


I begin to question this...stridency.
The Founding patriots decried taxation without representation.
Fellow American, are YOU being represented?

We have raised four kids, the Dread Dormomoo and I, and that means that we have gone through a lot of Easter Egg hunts. One thing we noticed early on, having a Liberal Arts Education and all, is that little kids, two, three and four years of age, will see where another child finds an egg, and will then go to that precise spawn spot to find an egg, too! gasp! No egg. An older cousin finds another egg! Zip, zam, zowie and SWOOSH! Little 'un rushes over there, expecting an egg, again. Looking for a payoff where someone else got theirs.

Behold the Entertainment Industry. The Japanese animators have made a yen-machine of cartoons; the entire country is anime crazy. Police dramas. Police comedies. Giant robots. Martial arts sentai teams, Harem farces. Science fiction epics. Giant monsters. Vampires. Magical girls. Girls you'd think were magical. All with the whole big-eyes-small-mouth thing going on.

So now we have American studios producing fauxnime (r), these phony-baloney cartoons with the look, but not the substance. Dumbed-down anime. Much as I love the Warner Bros. animated Superhero mill...Teen Titans is just not there. Like-Totally Spies, fer shure.
Samurai Jack in all its PC-itude (hint: real anime would have had blood, not sparky, 'splodey
robots.) Just so you know the Aardvark is not a Japan-o-snob...Megas XLR ROCKS!

On the other hand...Winx. Does the planet REALLY need Eye-talian fauxnime?

I watched a 1994 episode of The X-Files today. Really watched it, and I discovered summat.
I really miss the paranoia of the Nineties.
The Cold War was over, but Bad Things were happening. Weird Bad Things. Art Bell
was in his heyday. Saucers , mutilations, earth changes;
the overarching feeling that Something Strange Is Going On, and The Government Is Probably Behind It All.

On top of it all, I was mildly insane at the time: undiagnosed clinical depression, with a soupcon of manic sprinkled on, so it was all really weird. When I watched the X-files and Millennium on telly,
I had some difficulty distinguishing their storylines from REALITY, not in a hallucinatory way, but in the hair on the back of the neck, out of the corner of your eye sort.

In the not-so-new normal, where the enemy is robe-clad, bearded, and is a Member of the Religion of Peace and Love, things are just too in-your-face. No subtlety, no mystery.

At least I have 24.

Miyazaki, anime, and....like that.

Walt Disney provided entertainment to the masses, a distraction from the everyday, whether during the Depression, World War II, the Cold War, or the angst of the VietNam era.

Hayao Miyazaki, provides a Call back to Japan's cultural and spiritual roots, and takes us along for the ride. His winsome back-looking to a simple, family centred Japan is genuine, and the gorgeous, lush backgrounds make one want to live in the movie. I don't find his tendency to "re-use" faces to be a problem. It is rather like finding a favorite actor in yet another keen role.
So many of his female characters bring out my Daddy streak. I just want to hug them. The sweetness of his stories is never treacly, and when I find myself with a tear in my eye, I don't feel as though I have been cheaply manipulated, like Disney or Spielberg's movies seem. Miyazaki-san touches me. Disney and Spielberg push my buttons.

Now, I may depart from some of my reader, but I do not have problems with the "spirituality" of Miyazaki's films. C.S. Lewis posited that a culture's myths and folklore are imperfect reflexions of the Real. The English preacher Derek Prince echoed this in his belief that the giants of Genesis 6 are the basis for the Greek Titan myths. The Biblical testimony of there being myriads of angels (one teacher suggests 100 trillion, based upon numbers in the Book of Revelation) makes me think that there must be more going on in the Heavens than an Eternal Hymn Sing. If we have guardian angels (Matthew 18:10), and nations are overseen by angels
(Daniel10:1-21), I wonder if perhaps there is spiritual oversight of the realm of nature, and the concept of benign forest spirits, or even soot sprites, may be an imperfect picture of Reality. I am not being an animist or a pantheist. I'm just thinking.

If I found a Totoro in my wood, I would not worship it. I would politely bow, and thank God for His wonders.

Anime!

We have been reveling in the work of Hayao Miyazaki, each Thursday night on TCM.
One can almost overlook the Tedster's madness, since he provided the venue for such a treat.
My Neighbor Totoro, Nausicaa, The Cat Returns, all such wonderful masterpieces! He is so far beyond Disney in story and art. That Miyazaki-san is very conservative endears him even more to me. He wistfully calls Japan back to gentler tradition and honor.

To continue to open an earlier vein, as much as I detest Sci-Fi conventions now, with all their attendant loutishness and boorish behavior, to that precise degree I adore and enjoy enjoy anime conventions and fans. And the stars, as well.

First: the stars. Voice actors, not faces. They are eminently approachable. The SF-con Guests tend to be....Removed and Above It All. Papal, really. You may See them at the assigned Times, and they will Allow you to approach and hand them documents on which they Affix their Imprimatur (often, for coin..."When the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs."), whereupon you are Ushered Away. You may not afterward Go Out and Hoist One with them. They are ushered back to Whence They Came. Later you may hear them speak, often sharing whimsical anecdotes detailing the Stupidity of their Fans, and how the Show was Not that Great, Really. Inspirational.

Not so with the stars of anime...You may SPEAK to them, shake 'em by the hand. They will often buy(!) YOUR wares in the dealer's room, and when you GIVE 'em something in your most up-sucking way, just because you appreciate their work, they appreciate it.

I consider Scott McNeil a buddy...he may consider me a nuisance, but he bears it well. We are on "Sees you, points and grins broadly" terms at cons. This little con, PersaCon
is more like a family reunion, where Guests and attendees can just enjoy! Voice actors really appreciate being appreciated. The artists, likewise. Manga (Japanese comics) and anime artists will often draw summat Just For You...sometimes for coin, sometimes just 'cos!

A HUGE difference with the anime crowd is that they are polite! The con-goers not only like those Japanese cartoons, they also absorb the manners of the culture! Some may be "just for show", but at the very bottom of it all, aren't MOST manners like that? Not hypocrisy, but the surface lubrication that enables us to get along with each other without snarling and biting.I mean, not even Martha Stewart is "It's a good thing" ALL the time. These kids put on their manners, and treat one another- and me- in a more courtly fashion than, say, the average SF con-goer of similar age.

The cosplaying that the fans do is very cool, and oh-so-varied. C'mon people...hasn't Star Wars been DONE TO DEATH? The variety of anime series provides a massive kaleidoscopic palette from which to paint costume masterpieces. You may have three "Eds" from Cowboy Bebop at a con, done with varying degrees of excellence, but you ALSO have half-a-jillion other characters being cosplayed as well. Many beautifully.

More later...

Well, here's my turn at being petulant.
I spent literally all day yesterday (Wednesday) wrestling.
There was an incursion of gnosticism on Vox's blog, and several of us stood for the Faith Once Delivered, some more, ummmm, sedately than others, but all capably. My beef is that whereas we supply objective "thus saith the Lord" Scriptural proofs, and do so politely, the opposition provides "I feel" subjectivism, and then often resort to the passive-aggressive "You poor benighted thing...your dogma blinds you to My Sublime Truth:


"the rest was the usual that one expects to see when dealing with Dogmatic Religious zealots. Free will.... God's greatest gift... I respect all for that... I voiced my opinions, they voiced their's.....you can lead a horse to water........ many have come before, many will come later, all receive the same, including the one we call Christ. They wait for him to come but just as before I doubt they would even recognize him or accept him. Human pride and arrogance is a powerful sin."

(Arrogance=Not taking my word for it)

The objective versus the subjective: God has His ways vs. whatever Feels Good or Seems Right.
The eternal tension.
There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end is death.
I'm sorry, but if an angel rides up to me on a green bicycle, I am gonna ask to see some ID.
Bottom line: I am called to teach the truth. Each Christian is. You share 'til no-one listens anymore. Then you stop 'til the next time.
Besides, when someone quotes Borges, the discussion is over! ;^)

There has recently been a thread on Vox's wherein the Course in Miracles was discussed a bit.
This is curious. A couple of atheist professors suddenly begin channeling new messages from Jesus.

They are selling their revelations for a tidy sum.

I teach the original Gospel of Jesus for free.

Curious.

The subjective terrifies me....

The subjective terrifies me.
Anything can happen.
Monsters can come out from under your bed.
Atheist professors can channel Jesus.
God can put the kibosh on a city with a hurricane.

The tyranny of the subjective horrifies me.
I have nothing to go by.
I must figure phenomena out for myself.
Why do plants grow NOW, and not grow THEN?
Why does the Moon disappear into limitless darkness each month?
What must I do for it to come back?
Can I do anything to bring it back?
Why am I happy?
Why am I sad?
Will the Sun rise tomorrow?
Can I do anything to insure its rising?
Will the Dark ever go away?

Behold the rule of the subjective, the experiential. It is harsh. It is scary. It is incomprehensible, especially when my feelings become entwined with natural process, that I do not recognise as process. The World just...HAPPENS to me.

Many religions have arisen from man's attempts to suss out the subjective. Ancient worshippers of Baal and Ashtoreth figured out that if they coupled for their gods, the gods would get turned on, and do the same, thus bringing fertility to the land. Thus was born the first lay ministries.

Enter Yahweh, or Jehovah, as the German theologians dubbed Him. He didn't wait for folks to figure Him out. He was proactive, was Yahweh. He revealed Himself by speaking rationally.
Not oogah-boogah, but "Come let us reason together...". He let it be known what he wanted of the world that He made. He gave us an objective yardstick, a plumbline, as it were, against which to measure. Alas we are measured and found wanting. How can I appease this Deity?
No problem, he set up a plan whereby ultimately we can be like Him, redeemed from our bad selves through His Son Jesus the Messiah.

God, in providing the Objective, freed us from the tyranny of the Subjective.
Katrina, and Ariel Sharon's stroke?
God's not tryin' to tell us Jack...

"God, who at different times and in different manners spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;" Hebrews 1:1-2

"God has in these last days spoken to us by his Son." The Gospel of Jesus is how God speaks to us today. Not by smite buttons or plagues, but by His Son. We are free, baby!

Happy Birthday, my love!

The Dread Dormomoo, my sweet, is @&(* this day.
The varklets took her and us all to Mikawa, the wonderful Japanese restaurant in Huntsville tonight. We had a tatami room and everything! Mikawa is NOT a "hibachi circus" restaurant.
I sometimes think that the culinary clowns that places like Shogun or Benihana employ must grind their teeth at the baka gaijin they must entertain by debasing the art of Japanese cooking to the level of a Happy Meal, and would rather douse the customers with vodka, rather than the grill, and then set them alight.

A grand time was had, and she was given a lovely set of placemats as a birthday present by the manager, who prizes us highly, and treats us royally. The waitress, a sweet lass, tripped, and anointed my shoulder with green tea at the beginning of the meal. Hot green tea. Thankfully, it was not as hot as it really should have been, so all my shoulder got was soggy and warm. She was dreadfully sorry, and then the manager found out. We instantly had another server, a waiter. This was not our choice, and we did what we could to downplay the incident. It was no problem, merely a gaffe amongst friends. I grew concerned that I might find her head on a pike outside when we left, but no, she was OK. The manager, M***, was almost frantic at the time, and even brought some lovely beef, egg and miso soup to try.
Mikawa, in Huntsville, AL. Oishii!
We all had sushi, red dragon (tuna), black dragon (unagi, freshwater eel) Philadelphia roll, and a Rainbow roll, as we had such a gay time. In the classic sense. We shared grilled squid, various lovely tempura (this place has the GREATEST tempura. It is very light and not-oily.) and teriyaki, beef and chicken. And miso soup. Such miso we had!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! We love our Dormomoo!

I picked this up from a blog link:

"I grew up the only child of two academics, a feminist English professor and a moral philosopher."

This is the saddest sentence ever written.

ChattaCon Report.

Oh, boy! Science fiction fandom is getting older and crabbier.
Science fiction fandom is getting younger and jerkier!

We got back from Chattanooga a little while ago. The trip over all was fun. The business was less than stellar.
Of course, a small dealers room with three big t-shirt vendors-disparate though they be- results in major dollar dilution. The venue was great, though. The Chattanooga Choo-Choo complex was our playground.

I have come to understand why I dislike SF cons after twenty-six years of being a huckster...AHEM...dealer. It is a known quality of SF fandom that it has by-and-large rejected religion (shoot, the Christian faith...any New-age / Old occult "alternative spirituality" is embraced, or at least smiled upon indulgently) and self-consciously revels in its release from outmoded morality. This has resulted in a toxic smugness with which I have no patience, a tony agnosticism which seeks no truth, as there is none to seek. The cultural niceties of politesse can easily be done away, as they only obfuscate "honest relationships".

So, one can always count upon a sound sleep being interrupted by people shouting outside your window, slamming doors, and yelling in the hall of your hotel. Always. As well as lording their intellect over you and your merchandise by "fixing" the sayings on your t-shirts. (Read The Aardvark's Illustrated Guide to Not Being An Obnoxious Customer)

I mean, these folks are the intelligentsia, the Brain Trust, the elite. They have cast from themselves the oppressive shackles of "religion". What should prevent them from indulging in rapine, pillaging, and the burning of the benighted meeting-houses of the deluded? They are free of moral stricture, and are free to do as they will!


Thus, they choose to shout, slam, and yell in the hallways.


Such is beyond my limited capacity for reason.


Addendum-

I met Bruce Bethke and his wife (he is The Original Cyberpunk).
He is a brick. Very nice guy, and is not to be included in the above
diatribe. AND he liked our offerings as they were, thank you very much!
My largest regret this weekend is that I had no time to sit and enjoy some manner of beverage with him, so as to solve all problems in the Blog-o-Verse.

The Aardvark has arriven!
He arrove yesterday, he thinks.

Sorry, I LOVE playing with words, using the General Rules of English to fiddle with the strays, the non-conformists.
Teach becomes taught.
Preach should become praught.

Anyway, I have arrived. How so?
A.M.Siriano has linked to my site. Not just a little clickable citation in the margin, no sir.
He is featuring my blog right on his page.

Thanks, A.M.
I'm blessed to be included.

Dear Varksters, I must awa' for the weekend.
I'm going to ChattaCon with Ian McLeod and Loen.

We'll hang out with Bruce Bethke, enjoy some Killian's Red, maybe some Shiner Bock, and fix everything that's wrong in the Blog-o-verse.

No, Fix Number One is NOT deleting the Plumbline.
>Jack Benny voice<
Don't be fresh!

Jack Abramoff, show us the way!

We have a real opportunity here. I heard on Rusty Humphreys
this weekend that a Democrat leader said that he "didn't know of ONE Democrat (in the Senate) that had taken money" from Abramoff, the uber-lobbyist. There isn't one. There are forty-five, according to Rusty.
Figure in the number of Republicans so tainted, and you will have a majority in the Senate who are-or will be-revealed as having accepted bribes.

This is an unprecedented opportunity to wipe the Senate clean and start over, if we can gin up the will and outrage so to do.

Let it be said that it began here.

The Dread Dormomoo speaks...


We were talking, the Momoovark and I, and as usual a pearl of wisdom graciously fell from her lips (this does happen quite often, and we must pick them up instanter, lest someone slip on one and hurt himself).

For all who are like-freakin OUT about Alito and Co. stealing the Most Important Thing In The World from the women of Amerika, think on this:

It doesn't matter WHO the majority party is, nor who inhabits the Ovoid Orifice, nor even the teeter-totter makeup of the Supremes. Not a bit does it matter. Roe v. Wade is the Law of the Land, if not de jure, then certainly de facto. Abortion on Demand is set in stone, more firmly than Judge Moore's Tablets. Unless the Son of God splits the sky, and slays the malefactors, the "doctors", then that's all she wrote.

WHY, pray tell, would we even countenance such a proclamation? Because it is in the Federal Government's best interest that it be so. Think of all the poor benighted women, the real estate agents, the investment advisors, the middle-and-upper management chicas, the tenured feminist studies professors,
who would likely be in the home, raising little ones, and NOT paying gobs of withholding taxes, if abortion was not available at one's whim. Worse, if they were NOT married, then they might be on the dole, buying Chee-tos, bologna, and Wonder bread with their EBT cards, not merely being non-producers, but entrenched takers from the system.

Now Vox and crew can likely trot out numbers to give the lie to our little exercise here, but that won't matter, either, because from the FedGov point of view, it WOULD be a loss, just as trimming a percentage of increase is spun as a net loss.

Democrat, Republican, conservative, liberal, moderate, "independent", it matters not a whit.
The purpose of government is to perpetuate itself. It will brook no interference.

I'm just grumpy.



I write on the substantive...
I write on the whimsical...

I write on pop-culture...

On things spiritual...

On the sacred, and the profane.

I need feedback, lest I think it is all for nought.
Lemme know SOMETHING, please.