Memorial Day.

• A speech recalled.
• Memorial ways, a little history.
• Of two wars.
• Of poppies.
• Another speech of note.

• Considering intelligence.
• Cool. (HT: engadget)
• Farm bill.
• I prefer to pedal (only).
• The Giro d’Italia and a podium girl interview … who we discover got her degree in biomedical eingineering during her 10 year modeling career.

Macro and Micro economics normally look at the economics of nations (and I’d think multi-nationals) vs the economics of individuals and smaller corporations. There is less discussion, as far as an outsider like myself, in making similar distinctions about Macro and Micro political theory, that is the theory of the body politic at the small scale (family/village/precinct) vs the theories of the same at the larger scales. In this essay, I’m not going to talk about the continuing dystrophy evident in the micro-political in America and how that anticipates movements towards autocracy at the macro-political level. For there is another “macro” to be discussed. That of time.

If we imagine the goal/end of government is to establish a small subset of Goods for its people, e.g., Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness for not just tomorrow but larger timescales. The Ancient Coptic society and it’s form of government lasted for an astonishing length of time, from about 3000 BC through until about 500 BC and Assyrian conquest (although “officially” it really fell in 31 BC when Rome conquered it). The point is, right now our leaders and thinkers about policy and politics do not try to imagine America and its democracy and how their policies might fit into a nation lasting for millenia. Heck, given medicare and social security and demographics and a little math and logic it is hard to imagine that they think much beyond the next election [ed: There is of course the possibility that they do in fact “think” beyond the next election but because of fundamental innumeracy the term “think” deserves scare quotes.] However this is not just their fault for very few people do consider the consequences of policy and praxis, of custom and lifestyle and how that will play out if repeated (and perhaps amplified) for 1,000 generations or beyond. Read the rest of this entry

• On oil.
• Jihad and the Jew.
• Belfast, post-GFA.
• Benedict on St. Romanus the Melodist. These two podcasts are also of interest (one and two).
• Critique of the GOP.
• Abortion and sex-selection.

In the 50s there was a tuna cannery that used an advertising campaign based on

“Our tuna will not turn black in the can.”

Now, no tuna by any manufacturer did not turn black in the can, however this campaign was highly successful. The trepidation and uncertainty generated by the thought that the other canneries never seemed to mention “turning black” in the can left them to wonder on that possibility. This sort of advertising is today illegal.

However it is not apparently illegal on the campaign trail. Mr Obama campaigns as the candidate of “hope” and that he is a “uniter.” ….

This is exactly the same sort of argument/campaign as claiming “will not turn black in the can.” It implies, by omission that the other candidate(s) are the candidates who will turn black in the can.

Mr Obama has announced that his campaign is a “higher” more ethcial sort of campaign. Yeah, right. It’s a campaign that uses advertisting tactics which have been illlegal for decades.

• On Gender and Prince Caspian, specifically women in medieval combat situations (part one, part two). I’ve never seen feminist theory really addressing the anabolic action of testosterone. Back when physical labor was required in all walks of life, the physical strength of men and women would be far more separated than it is in today’s modern world which requires very little manual/physical strength. In the picture on the second post for example, Lucy would have difficulty pulling a 100 pound bow I think.
• Iran and Mr Obama.
• Spider-bot.
• Geometry (specifically topology) is really cool. Do watch the youtube videos.
• Theotokos in China, our Lady of Sheshan.

Prayer for the Terminally Ill

Lord Jesus Christ our Savior: You were born for us; You hungered and thirsted for us; You suffered and gave Your life over to death for us. You have caused Your servant, Theodore Kennedy, to share in Your sufferings: Now cause him to share in Your grace. Let Your precious blood wash away the stains of his sins; let Your righteousness wash away his unrighteousness. Look upon his faith rather than upon his works when he stands before You as the Judge. As his life draws to a close, surround him with Your grace. Do not let his faith waver, nor his hope fail, or his  love grow cold. Do not let the fear of death cause him  to lose his  faith in You, or trust in anything other than You. Let him look to You steadfastly, so that saying “Into Your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit,” he may enter into Your everlasting Kingdom where You reign with Your Father Who is from everlasting, and Your all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

a second prayer

Lord and Master, Ruler of all and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: You do not desire the death of sinners, but rather that they may turn from their wickedness and live, willing that all should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. We pray that You will loose the soul of Your servant Theodore Kennedy from every bond and free him from every unfulfilled pledge which he has given, granting him forgiveness of all the sins he has committed from his youth until now, in word and in deed, knowingly and unknowingly, both that that he has confessed and those which he has concealed through forgetfulness or shame.

For You alone loose the bonds and restore the oppressed; You alone are the hope of those in despair, with the strength to forgive the sins of every creature that puts its trust in You. Lord and Lover of mankind, bid him to be released from all bonds of sin and of the flesh. Receive in peace the soul of Your servant Theodore Kennedy and give him rest in Your eternal dwelling with all Your saints, by the grace of Your only Son our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, with Whom You are blessed together with Your all-holy, gracious and life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

• Joe Carton on gay marriage.
• Obama and Moloch. (HT:Irenaeus) And an Orthodox prayer for the women who’ve aborted a child.
• Not just a few scientists against global warming … and a sad list of the prominent members for.
• Why we need intolerance.
• Two pyramids and the Resurrection.

• The French and Hamas.
• California marriage and satire.
• Advice for the budding theologian.
• Pointing out a free-market straw man.
• A map.

• Watching a meme.
• On race.
• So. Now the “reality based” party will all be pro-death penalty?
• On the slippery slope.
• A young lady and trouble seen.

• Aphorisms sprouting on the Christian highlands. Some in the wind.
• Some from a bit further back, via Chesterton.
• Marx and Jesus.
• Top 10 lists … I recently considered military generalship, here is one on fictional villians. I think if one excluded fantasy/sci-fi the list would be more interesting (only two four are from outside that genre, I think). Perhaps a project for tonight?
• A feast day, I really do find the new Coptic iconography affecting. More on that same said Saint here.
• Another view on the Mississippi elections, which begs the question, if the Mississippi democrats are pro-life, pro-gun … etc. Why caucus with the Senate democratic party. What do they have in common with Obama or Kennedy?

I realize the above news clip will not please my Roman Catholic readers, thus I hope they’ll further forgive me for the following by Fr Chrysostom MacDonnell, taken from “An Orthodox view of Church History” …

A few years ago I met an Anglican clergyman who was married to a Greek Orthodox lady. They once went to Greece for a holiday and visited her home village. Naturally, she introduced her Anglican husband to the local Papas (the Greek Orthodox parish priest,) who spoke a little English. At the time there was a little old Greek lady standing beside them who asked the Greek priest who this visitor was.

“He’s an Anglican Christian,” the priest responded in Greek.

“What’s an Anglican?” the old lady inquired.

“They’re Protestants,” replied the priest. “You know, like Roman Catholics.”

From Orthodoxie.

• Today’s kids and appropriate dress.
• Dress again, in church.
• 5 Christian humor/satire sites.
• Hybridizing men.
• St. Julian. A hero.
• Assumptions and the google search engine.

• Global warming, a non-issue for the election as all three are going the loopy route.
• Virtue, lost.
• For the bibliophile, two for Tuesday. One. Two.
• A realistic prediction for the Smart.
• Zizek, Obama and the American Church.
• Gas.

Recently, I noted a discussion about homosexuality and other things which didn’t get a response (in all fairness I did get a lively one here). I’d like to return to the idea of repugnance and ethics. Consider the following two examples:

Questioning and interrogation in the next 10 years takes a pharmaceutical turn with the perfection and development of a drug which prevented the transference of short term to long term memory. Coupled with the refinements on the early infamous waterboarding which enabled technicians to trigger primal basic primitive organic fears every person held to break the conscious will. In part these refinements included the monitoring method which insured that no organic damage whatsoever would be incurred by the subject. Within 6-8 hours after questioning the subject had no physical or biological/mental memory of the questioning. From the point of view of the subject, it never occurred.  Because of this factor this questioning is now viewed as humane.

This is wrong. It is repugnant and evil. But why? Repugnance is not the reason why it is wrong. It is a cue that there is a problem here. What exactly is wrong with it? In that prior post, I noted that a consequentialist would/should have no problem with either. In fact, a utilitarian argument would, I’d think, encourage and applaud this in a lot of cases not just involving National security but those involving, quite likely, an ever expanding list of crimes for which accurate interrogation of a hostile witness is deemed necessary to get to the truth.

Biblical ethics would, however, reject both. The essential problem with this method is that it rejects the dignity of man. Torture is not wrong because it inflicts pain, because we remember it, or because it is dehumanizing for the practitioner. It is wrong because it strips man of dignity.

Cross posted @Pseudo-Polymath.