Archive for December 13, 2008

Fight faith with faith.

Posted: December 13, 2008 by datechguy in Uncategorized
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Via The Captain, The Anchoress makes the correct argument in a column at Pajamas media today:

To secularists and avowed agnostics who work to expunge all religious language from governments, that idea is anathema. I doubt it makes many Christians or Jews happy, either. But the war on terror is as much about ideas and ideals as about security and strategy. If one side’s ideas are mayhem in service to transcendence and the other side is thinking about meetings and signed papers, then secular Western diplomacy is boxing with one glove.

Silencing the language of faith in public discourse and policy weakens the West’s ability to engage and defeat an enemy entirely motivated by relentless theology. By failing to speak in the same language, it has no weapons for victory, short of destroying whole cities.

Well she wanted to know what we thought. I think this is exactly right, since we don’t want to have to use the “Sherman” option. Faith is highly respected in the Islamic world as Christians as “People of the Book” should take advantage of this. I would think that our secular friends would not care how the war is one as long as it is, and any tactic that would decrease the need to kill should be plan A or at least plan B. I see no reason why it should generate the hate mail it apparently has.

Her blog is always a worthwhile read particularly if you are a Catholic like me although I must admit I did forget today was the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. As our Hispanic population has increased it has become a bigger Catholic feast here in the US and will continue to do so. The story is here.

A day without power is not a day without Mighty Subs

Posted: December 13, 2008 by datechguy in Hiwired, Uncategorized
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Well the ice slammed into us really good. No power (or heat) in the house, no power in the neighborhood, no power for most of the city (although as of this writing two sections of town have lights) and a good chunk of central mass is totally dark.

Tonight I’m writing from a friend’s house in the former Fort Devens. Our friend insisted we come to a place where the lights burn brightly.

I have my laptop with me and once I get a chance to read about today’s news I’ll have things to say but I’ll just go with a few observations:

People seem to be taking the lack of power in stride.

Trees are down everywhere, very large branches were blocking my driveway we cleared enough to pull in and out but there are huge trees and power lines all over the place.

The bright side is with school out we were able to make a trip to my favorite haunt in the days of HiWired: Mighty Subs in Needham (where you would never know a storm took place). Art and Karen have been together since high school and have run this place for decades. Their motto is “Our small is their large” and they aren’t kidding.

If you are EVER in the Needham Massachusetts area give them a visit, they are only open weekdays till 4 and serve a full breakfast as well, but it is their Mighty Subs that are the star of the show.

There is a fair amount of pleasure just reading a book or staying under the and not worrying about the rest of the world.

It’s days like this when you really have to appreciate the Police, Fire and Utility people. When the chips are down they work like there is no tomorrow.

You know at least one Christmas its a good idea to buy your wife $300 worth of Yankee Candles. Not only will she not need any more for years but some dark day it might pay off.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, nobody has a better group of friends than me that you can count on. I’m really blessed.

And destructive as it was, those trees covered in ice, particularly the view of a tree covered hillside is one of the most beautiful sights you will ever see.

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