Archive for February, 2009

Cause and effect

Posted: February 23, 2009 by datechguy in internet/free speech, opinion/news
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We can’t be surprised when we see stories like this:

The Tibetan New Year, or Losar, is normally the most festive holiday of the year, when Tibetans burn incense, make special dumplings and set off fireworks. But this year, Tibetans have declared a moratorium on celebrating their own holiday, saying they will instead observe a mourning period for people killed last year during protests against Chinese rule.

Amazing and I thought everyone loved a holiday!

“Instead of the usual celebrations marked by singing, dancing and other festivities, silence will be observed and butter lamps will be lit in the temples and homes to pray for the deceased,” they announced in a statement last month.

The tactic appears to be driving Chinese authorities crazy. They’re countering with their own campaign of forced merriment, organizing concerts, pageants, fireworks, horse races, archery competitions.

And you VILL haf fun or else:

At Beijing’s Central University for Nationalities, Tibetan students who had applied last year for permission to hold a Losar celebration informed the university recently that they wished to cancel. But the university told them that the party must go on, said a university source who asked not to be quoted by name.

“Celebrating is compulsory,” he said.

And ve haf vays of making you party:

On Feb. 14, a 39-year-old Tibetan monk set off a furor when he walked through a public market in the Tibetan plateau’s Lithang county carrying a photograph of the Dalai Lama and chanting, “No Losar.” Hundreds of people reportedly joined the protests, which continued into the next two days, according to the Dharamsala-based Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy. The group said that Chinese police detained 21 people, some of whom were badly beaten, and that the county has been locked down for the holiday.

Reports say that as many as 20,000 additional soldiers and paramilitary troops have been deployed in Tibetan areas and that in Qinghai province, village leaders were threatened with arrest if they urged people not to celebrate the holiday.

Well its a good think that we are concerned about human rights, aren’t we:

Clinton told reporters covering her tour of Asian nations that human rights violations by China should not stand in the way of cooperation between the two powers on financial, environmental and security crises, The Washington Post (NYSE:WPO) reported.

And we all know how softplaying human rights worked with the Olympics:

Well, advocates of granting the Olympic Games to China all said that having the Games would force the PRC to liberalize. It would be good for human rights, people said. Even Chinese authorities themselves said that the Games would cause them to liberalize!

That was the great selling point.

And what happened? Not only did the Games not have a liberalizing effect; they had the opposite — moving the PRC to crack down all the more. I documented this extensively in a five-part series on this site last August. You can find it in my archive, here.

What a surprise, as the old Cox and Forkum cartoons say: “I’m a communist dictator you fool!”

Update: Darren Hutchinson notices other interesting aspects.

God forbid people are forgiven their sins

Posted: February 23, 2009 by datechguy in catholic
Tags: ,

Via Hot Air Time makes fun of indulgences:

Indulgences are a handy marketing tool for the Church, a way of encouraging people to amp up their spiritual life. But figuring out exactly what they are and how they work can be confusing. “It brings people who aren’t Catholic up short,” said David Steinmetz, a professor of the history of Christianity at Duke Divinity School.

It’s not a “marketing tool” or a very tough concept but the tougher or odder you make it seem the less likely that one will do a devotion. Good works and faithful acts are like anything in life, repetition breeds habit, habit leads one closer to God and that is why it must be made trivial.

Indirect proof time.

Morning Joe The team is back

Posted: February 23, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
Tags:

Joe and Mika are back together, the world is right again:

7:05 a.m. Joe nails it on the Hollywood phony rebel stuff.

7:10 a.m. They talk about unfunded mandates. They note that Jindel has actually read the bill, not sure if ARNULD has.

7:15 a.m. Politically smart to take the money if you want to stay Governor. Smart to reject it if you want the GOP nomination.

7:17 a.m. The unions must know they are losing the fight for card check since their ads are denying that the secret ballot is removed. They claim it becomes the “workers choice” to remove the secret ballot.

7:24 a.m Did a BBC reporter just say that she wants to hear real economists confirm this is good?

7:27 a.m. 40% of GDP, lets play Swedish stimulus.

7:33 a.m. You guys are wild having fun like that. Social security needs to be addressed but its smaller than the heath care stuff say WH budget guy.

7:41 a.m. Will the left be more of a problem for Obama?

7:42 a.m. Todd: The democrats have done a great job demagoguing Social security over the years.

7:46 a.m. Todd: Retirement? We are going to work until we die.

7:57 a.m. John Zigler on Morning Joe, it will be hard to ignore his film after this.

7:58 a.m. Two Morning Joe quotes in the film.

8:01 a.m. Compelling and new story? So was Palin are you suggesting that Palin wasn’t?

8:03 a.m. Mika, she hurt yourself. Example what do you read question. I think that’s a fair point.

8:04 a.m. They were trying to trap her, says Ziegler points to the documentary. They are hitting him hard, but they are being fair.

8:05 a.m. Pat askes if the media was in the tank and what particular networks were. They don’t let him answer and tease Pat for the question, THAT was funny.

8:05 a.m. We will watch the movie and have you back. I thought this was the fairest hearing outside of Fox he will get.

8:09 a.m. Mika gave Joe an opening to talk more about Ziegler and he passed; interesting.

8:12 a.m. The Gibbs saying he doesn’t know what he is talking about clip and it looks like the Mika-Paris Hilton business.

8:38 a.m. Harry Reid: This is going to stimulate the economy republican governors helped pass this.

8:40 a.m. Reid: It’s not Nationalization, Brokaw: Yes it is. Reid: There are a lot of good things going on, the government has always been involved in the private sector

Sunday Random thoughts

Posted: February 22, 2009 by datechguy in baseball, employment, fun, gaming, personal
Tags: , , , ,

I have a job interview tomorrow. The big grey beard is now gone so perhaps the extra 10 years it seems to add to me being shed will help.

Also got a letter from somewhere that I interviewed back in December. Was expecting a straight rejection but instead was informed the position was placed on hold. With endowments drying up I expect a lot more of this.

Today is Washington’s Birthday. Powerline reminds us of a person who actually deserved the amazing praise a nation gave him looks like.

Was at the dollar store day before yesterday picked up The Stark Truth a book on the most over and underrated players in Baseball history. It appears to be the best buck I’ve ever spent on a hardcover book.

Today’s sermon at Mass was one of the most solid I’ve heard in a while. It was on how Christianity is the religion of positive affirmation not waffling. You are obliged not to waffle on belief and morality. Christians and Catholics sometimes forget this.

Romano’s Market has finally entered the 21st century as their web site has gone up written by the young lady at the register who is majoring at Com Si at a local college.

Speaking of Romano’s they are getting ready for the annual St. Patrick’s day Corned Beef rush. That little place will go though thousands of pounds of corned beef and they work like dogs to get it all ready.

Next door to Romano’s is the Ole Time Luncheonette. I mentioned this place before, it actually opened it the middle of the power outages and the ice storms. The last three days they have been packed. The two ladies and their husband that run the place are there seven days. Drive 25 miles to get there and work hard. I sure hope this keeps up. They deserve it.

And their Fish and chips is the best in town. Just in time for Lent.

Speaking of Restaurants, one of my favorites the Boarder Bar and Grille in Leominster. I was informed by a friend that their appetizers (with minor exceptions) are half price weekdays between 3-6 p.m. and after 9 p.m. as well. As they are rather filling I think this will be the way we manage to hit the place every now and then with money tight.

Do you know the sound the plastic container of Hershey Syrup makes when my son is trying to squeeze the last bit out is exactly the same as the sound of my cat coughing up a hairball? We never had that problem with the old cans.

This story at Gateway Pundit about Witchcraft being the fastest growing religion in the country reminded me of this quote from the Screwtape letters:

I have high hopes that we shall learn in due time how to emotionalise and mythologise their science to such an extent that what is, in effect, belief in us, (though not under that name) will creep in while the human mind remains closed to the Enemy [God]. The “Life Force,” the worship of sex, and some aspects of Psychoanalysis may here prove useful. If once we can produce our perfect work–the Materialist Magician, the man, not using, but veritably worshipping, what he vaguely calls “Forces” while denying the existence of “spirits”–then the end of the war will be in sight.

My witch friends (and I mean that literally) might dispute this; but a lot of people are making large mistakes that they will regret for the rest of their deaths.

And if you like Screwtape and John Cleese you just have to find his reading of the Screwtape letters on tape. He is perfect in the role. We sampled it on this post. Four of them on youtube here.

Speaking of error not two days after my son decided on Fitchburg State College we were surprised to get a letter from the Bishop of Worcester recommending Anna Maria. In view of my visit I was astounded and have typed a response. I’ll post it in full after it is mailed and received. I will give you a taste:

We were very excited when Sam was accepted at Anna Maria and even more excited when they offered the largest (in dollars) scholarship of any of the nine colleges that have accepted and attempted to recruit him. We looked forward to the visit to the college and felt pleased that it would expand both his faith and his educational horizons.

Then we actually visited the college.

The rest they say is history.

We are coming closer and closer to the opening of the baseball season. We are also two weeks away from the World baseball classic. I think I must be the only guy who thinks the latter is worthwhile.

The Red Sox open against the Devil Rays. Two years ago that wouldn’t be much of a deal. Now this has a chance to grow to a mini-Sox Yankees as these teams just plain don’t like each other.

And wasn’t that series in the playoffs just first rate?

Played a game called In a Pickle. It was cute but I wouldn’t recommend it with 8 as it is rated for 6. It’s not a bad party game but I don’t think I’d buy it.

And I have a bigotry against games that de-emphasize winning in the rules.

I don’t think I will ever get sick of watching Ken Burns series “The Civil War.”

I don’t think I will ever not be sick of reality TV. If I wanted reality I get plenty of it every day.

And finally we’ve had days of the media nonsense attacking the New York Post on a cartoon that has absolutely nothing to do with race. Now the NAACP has gotten involved and are talking real nonsense. There was a time when the NAACP was the one of the most respected organizations in the US. Their hyperbole shows that those days are long gone.

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