Ends of Civilization

Here is a tip for all of you overstimulated masses:

If you are having lunch with someone and you...

a) have iTunes blaring down your eardrums
b) are googling stuff via Wi-Fi
c) are both talking on cell phones to different people
d) are partaking in any combination of the previous three options

...then you are not having lunch with anybody but yourself!

Discuss.

{This post based on observations made by a certified Neanderthal at 12:15pm today in downtown Princeton}

What a Boar!

This is what I get for reading my hometown newspaper. Not much is going down in Princeton, so I thought I would greet everyone with this story.

Coincidentally, I recently watched Bowling for Columbine with my wife. I was expecting a passionate if misguided rant about gun control. What I got was a brief conversation about how strange American culture really is about guns, hunting, and violence, along with a minor rant about gun control.

Anyway, I am not saying that you have to agree with Mr. Moore (sheesh, what a nut this guy is). But after reading this article, I must agree with him that we Americans are a bit off. And the picture is priceless.

One Last Fall

This is my penultimate semester at Princeton Theological Seminary. What a long strange trip it has been. To keep you informed and prepare you for the subject of my rantings for the next few months, here is my fall lineup.

The Doctrine of Election> Hey, c'mon now, don't start hacking on me. Everybody has one even if they do not believe in predestination. Stellar readings in everything from Augustine to Calvin to Barth and back.

The Theology of Paul Tillich> To do theology in America, you have to know two names: Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich. I am doing Niebuhr in the spring and Tillich now. Initially I am not inclined to be a tremendous fan, but I am sure that I will find something instructive.

Marriage and Family during the Reformation> All these weddings taking place the past few years have got me thinking: "What the heck are we (am I) doing here?" I am going to go back to the source of the Protestant wedding craze and try to sort all this out before we (I) screw it all up.

Foundations of Missional Theology> Where else would I get to throw around words like "post-Christendom" and hang out with other baptists?

The Theology of John Howard Yoder> My fall gem: an independent study with a professor I admire on a topic I love. May be a launching pad to further study, or it may convince me to abandon the academy altogether. Stay tuned to find out. (PS> Yes, I am a pacifist).

That is where I am coming from.

Who ARE These Guys? pt II

Here is some more news, finally from an American source, about those private contractors and they trouble they cause.

Check it out here and then tell me what you think.

Who ARE These Guys?

Let's see how deep this rabbit-hole goes.

I am getting pretty fed up with the media and their coverage of Katrina and the chaos in New Orleans. Will somebody just shot me straight and tell me how bad it really is? GWB and USAToday.would have me believe that things are getting better and we may soon be swamped with aid. This is only a few days after Newsweek told me that all was lost and no one had lifted a finger. While no one is surprised that the media still sucks, one thing did catch my eye.

I have had to resort to reading foreign newspapers because they seem more interested in actual news than the political spin. If I want to know what is going on there, I have to read what a reporter for the Sydney (Australia) Times has to say. What I read there worried me more than a little and made me even more angry at our media.

There is an innocuous little paragraph in this story that made a little light bulb come on in my head:

"Some homeowners have hired companies such as Blackwater USA, whose contractors protect Americans in Iraq at a fee of $US1000 ($1300) a day."

Blackwater USA? Private Contractors in Iraq? Are these the (in)famous paramilitaries running around in Iraq that our media never seems to mention BY NAME? These "private contractors" have been a mystery to me, and a concern, for awhile. And now they are going to New Orleans.

I am severely concerned about the government hiring privately trained mercenaries in Iraq, but I am even more troubled with the news that they are also being sent to New Orleans. As you can see from Blackwater's website, these guys are indeed highly trained military personnel who can carry out rescue operations, provide security, and then help rebuild (?!?!?!?!). But their continued existence as a business depends upon another insurgency or another war or another occupation or another disaster. It is bad enough when we use our military for purely economic concerns, but a privately owned military operated for purely economic profit cannot be a good thing. Let's hope our own media gives this some attention soon.

17-10: My Nemesis

I am now a college football free agent fan. At least until the following happens:

1) OU rediscovers its heart and starts playing real football.
2) Michigan wises up and fires Lloyd Carr and finds a head coach with some guts.
3) The rest of the Big 12 decides it should really try to be competitive again on the football field.
4) Contrary to #3, OSU fans should give up on ever trying to be competitive.

Regarding #1, it might happen soon. Or it may take years. As for #2, I have been throwing things at Loyd Carr's image on the TV set for YEARS (ask my wife). I have never been a fan of conservative football from a team that is loaded with talent. He has got to go. #3 is a real embarrasment when I watch the ESPN guys go on and on about how good the SEC is. Of course, they never mention ESPN's TV deal with the SEC. And I apologize for #4, but after listening to people try to put a positive spin on putting away (barely) Florida Atlantic late in the fourth quarter, I am beginning to wonder if OSU fans watch the same game the rest of the world does.

OK, enough sports raving. Classes start Wednesday, so I promise something of substance soon.

PS> Go Red Sox!

Maize & Blue+Crimson & Cream= Dilemma

I would love to camp out & watch TV all weekend. Yankees v. Red Sox tonight becomes Michigan v. Notre Dame tomorrow afternoon becomes Texas v. Ohio State tomorrow night, with OU v. Tulsa mixed in with the US Open (for you, Brent) somewhere. But instead, I will have to watch it all save Mich v ND. "Why?" you ask. Because I did not look at the college football schedule when my pastor search committee set up our candidate interviews. Oh well. These candidates had better be worth missing such an event.

What I won't miss is UT v OSU. But I must say I am less than excited about it. As a native Okie, I despise the Texas Longhorns (team colors: vomit orange & panty-waste white) more than any other team in the land. Except for maybe the Ohio State Buckeyes (team motto: Yeah, we never really liked Maurice Clarett either). So what am I to do? I have finally accepted the fact that ONE of them must win, but which one should I favor?

I am now considering arguments as to which team deserves my allegiance. Tell me what you think. And if you think this is all silly, remember this: I may have single-handedly brought the Red Sox back from oblivion against the Yankees last year. I missed games one thru three but saw every precious inning of four thru seven. The rest is history.

So: Hook 'em Horns (yic) or Go Buckeyes (ugh)?

I'm Ready for My Retinal Scan

Hurricanes, pennant races, wars, threats to national security, Supreme Court battles, college football disasters, and impending re-immerison into academia, and I choose to blog about this. I am out of my mind.

I went to that middle school. I know those people mentioned in the article. I have many fond memories of prowling the hallways during school... uh, wait. Let me think. No. No, I don't think I remember doing that. Sure I was a "good little kid", but I don't even remember much trobule being caused in the hallways during class. Now, the five-minute passing period was when all the action went down. I remember this one kid beating this other kid to a bloody pulp because of a ripped jacket (I never saw the rip). Yikes.

Don't get the wrong idea. I was not in a violent school. But keeping track of the date and time that every student leaves and returns to class sounds kind of Orwellian. Has it gotten that bad at ol' CMS?

One upside is that some smart kid is going to figure out how to forge a planner. Maybe sell blank pages and the means to insert them into the book as needed. That smart kid would get rich overnight. OK, maybe not rich. But he would never get beaten up again.

This blog entry dedicated to Stick & KDK.

East Coast

I am gearing up for the old routines again. Soon I'll be setting an alarm to get up, eating breakfast before noon, and reading the actual news rather than just checking on the pennant race. Actually, the changes to be made soon are not that drastic. I have been working full time all summer. In a library. So maybe working is the wrong word. Regardless...

I think to reacquaint myself with blogging, I will give a rundown of my summertime journeys up and down the east coast. Here goes:

1) My travels began with my birthday present. Michelle scored some tix for a pleasant evening at Fenway Park. I had already fallen in love with Boston (and my wife, incidentally). And the Red Sox are near and dear to my heart as a Yankees-hater. The game was great. The city is perfect. Boston is old enough that it predates the Americn urge to build skywards when you can't build out. The result: you can see the sky! I could do urban if urban was Boston. And Michelle picked up a souvenir for the car in the parking garage. But don't ask about that!

2) The day after returing from Beantown, it was off to Philadelphia for the 4th of July. I am not one for crowds, and I am not one for hot weather, and I am not one for Elton John. So this evening was basically a disaster. Too hot, too crowded, and too late. Philly is just not my cup of tea anyway. I don't drink tea. Jersey has its problems, but at least it is not as depressing as Philly.

3) Our nation's capitol, where the license plates read "Taxation Without Representation", comes next. I had been here before (8th grade trip and last summer), so nothing special. We met some family in front of the White House. Lucky for us it was Vietnamese Armed Forces Day. Protests were still quiet, and we made our way elsewhere ASAP. Washington D.C. is nice, though. Not sure I would want to live there.

4) Next, mom & pop came up (finally). So I punished them with a weekend in New York City. Never have I been to a city so loud, so expensive, so crowded, and so abusive to the senses than NYC. And I have been to Beijing. If this is the center of the universe, then the universe sucks. Two days is all I can handle before I feel like a paranoid schizophrenic. And by that I mean a local. And did I mention that I hate the Yankees?

5) And most recently, Atlanta was home for an extended weekend. Michelle's family has collected there, so we drove down to see them. ATL has nothing in common with the previously mentioned cities except for its location near the Atlantic. It has a more distinctive Southern feel to it. This means real BBQ and Mexican food, and it also means that city planning had come a long ways when they built the place. Traffic in ATL is 30 mph on a 6-lane highway. Traffic from Jersey north is stop and go on a two-lane road. Pick your poison, but I would at least like to see potential for movement. Thankfully, we drove out the morning Katrina came in.

That was the summer you all missed. Now that I am heading back to school Sept 14 you may hear more from me. Or not.