Americans need to embrace a more mature and realistic patriotism, one that recognizes that everything is not perfect but that there is still something worth celebrating. We must learn to love America without being blind to its faults. This love must be shown not by ignoring America’s problems but by dedicating ourselves to dealing with them.
Patriotism should not depend on perfection. It should not depend on great leaders. Patriotism is a commitment to a dream that America can be better, that the vision of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law is something worth striving for.
America is a nation of many people, none of them perfect. Christians recognize that we are all sinners, but we are also made in the image and likeness of God.
Can we embrace America as a community of sinners who want to do better, who beg for God’s help and mercy? Can we have a patriotism that is not blind to evil but still celebrates the dream of a better America? If so, then the Fourth of July is a time to celebrate but also to dream.
People on the east side of Manhattan watch a fireworks display, part of Independence Day festivities, on July 4, 2019, in New York. (The Atlantic)
QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK…
• How did crude oil and Christianity combine to make modern America?
Darren Dochuk’s landmark book, Anointed with Oil: How Christianity and Crude Made Modern America, at once builds on this important body of work and represents its most stunning achievement. Authors rarely deliver so fully on their titles. Through the stories of believers hot in pursuit of both God and “black gold,” Dochuk indeed opens a breathtaking new window onto the making of the modern nation.
• What will win the “The Greatest Hymn of All Time” Tournament?
The Elite Eight are: “Holy, Holy, Holy!”; “Be Thou My Vision”; “O Come, All Ye Faithful”; “My Hope Is Built/On Christ the Solid Rock”; “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”; “Of the Father’s Love Begotten”; “Holy God, We Praise Your Name”; and “How Great Thou Art.”
A worker helps prepare for the Fourth of July celebration at the Lincoln Memorial. (Matthew McClain, Wash. Post)
THE PHILISTINES: ANCIENT MIGRANTS
Turns out the Philistines might not have been “philistine” after all. A recent DNA study has linked them to southern Europe, from where they migrated across the Mediterranean to biblical lands.
The ancient Philistines, the Biblical villains whose origins have puzzled scholars for decades, came to the Middle East from southern Europe more than 3000 years ago, new DNA testing has shown.
The genetic findings came from skeletons unearthed by archaeologists in Israel in 2016, including the bones of infants buried beneath Philistine houses, archaeologists said in a paper published on Wednesday.
…”Our study has shown for the first time that the Philistines immigrated to this region in the 12th century (BC),” said Daniel Master, director of the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon, a coastal city where the first ever Philistine cemetery was found.
“We didn’t show it by showing similar styles of pottery, we didn’t show it by looking at texts, we showed it by looking at the DNA of the people themselves,” Master said. “We can see at Ashkelon new DNA coming in from this immigrant population that is really changing the whole region.”
…”This ancestral component is derived from Europe, or to be more specific, from southern Europe, so the ancestors of the Philistines must have traveled across the Mediterranean and arrived in Ashkelon sometime between the end of the Bronze age and the beginning of the Iron age,” Feldman said.
“There would be a lot more that we can say if we had more data, for example we could maybe more precisely pinpoint the source of this migration,” she said.
Earlier work by the Ashkelon team has suggested the Philistines were actually no “philistines”. Excavations of a 3000-year-old cemetery in 2016 found bodies buried with jewellery and perfumed oil.
Freedom Festival Fireworks display, Indianapolis, IN. July 4, 2019 (Indianapolis Star)
THE DEMISE OF MAD MAGAZINE
Like the author of the following excerpt, I was the proper age for Mad Magazine when it was at its peak. I outgrew it eventually, and now comes the news that Mad is coming to an end. David Von Drehle at the Washington Post suggests it is not because the world has likewise outgrown it, but rather because the whole world is now mad!
To be subversive…requires a dominant culture to subvert. Mad was the smart-aleck spawn of the age of mass media, when everyone watched the same networks, flocked to the same movies and saluted the same flag. Without established authorities, it had no reason for being. Like the kid in the back of the classroom tossing spitballs and making fart sounds, a journal of subversive humor is funny only if there’s someone up front attempting to maintain order.
We now live in a time when everyone’s a spitballer, from the president of the United States on down. America elected the world’s oldest seventh-grader in 2016; we knew what we were getting from the earliest days of his campaign. Asked about one opponent, the successful business executive Carly Fiorina, Trump replied, “Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that?” He bullied the rest of the field with stupid nicknames. The hijinks continue to this day. Recently, Trump play-scolded Vladimir Putin as the Russian president smirked in reply. “Don’t meddle in the election, please,” said Trump — as if the two of them had been caught giving wedgies and were forced to apologize. What, us worry?
Today, whether we’re doing history or current events, commerce or religion, we’re awash in iconoclasm but nearly bereft of icons. Everyone’s a court jester now, eager to expose the foibles of kings and queens. But the joke’s on us, because we no longer have authority figures to keep in check. We’re needling balloons that have already gone limp.
Fourth of July. Photo by Keri Logan at Flickr
TECH IS GREAT…WHEN IT WORKS
Drivers with smartphones these days don’t often get truly lost, thanks to navigation services such as Google Maps. But what happened in Colorado is a reminder that even with new technology, some shortcuts can still go very wrong.
That’s how nearly 100 drivers wound up in a muddy field, gridlocked, earlier this week. One of them, Connie Monsees, described the incident to ABC News’ Start Here podcast.
Monsees said she was stuck in traffic on the way to pick up her husband at the Denver International Airport.
“So I pulled out my Google Maps to see if there is a better way to go, and it told me to take the next exit and it would be about half the time,” Monsees said. Naturally, she took it. But the road quickly becomes a dirt road.
“I’m following this line of cars and my thought was, ‘Well, there’s so many other people going, it must be OK,’ ” Monsees told ABC. “So I went ahead … but the thing was, it wasn’t like you could choose to make a U-turn.”
Days of rain had created a “muddy mess of a field,” she added. Car after car drove in and got stuck.
Monsees had four-wheel drive, so she could eventually get out of the mud. She even picked up two other stranded people and took them with her. But others ended up stuck in the muck for a longer time.
118 thoughts on “The IM Saturday Monks Brunch: July 6, 2019”
If they are falling for dT, is it out of pressure, out of fear? Or something worse, even. ?
I believe it’s the 80/20 Rule.
When consensus in a group reaches an 80% threshold, Groupthink locks in hard and the 20% either Convert to the 80% or get Purged.
Add in the Christian cultural idea of Total Separation from Sin (and the Other in general) and a lot of them will have NO life outside of their church; if they are cast out, they lose Everything. Peer pressure from the 80% and Shunning (and damnation) for the 20%; Which Side Are You On?
After Cheney’s Vice Presidency ended, there was a lot of talk about bringing criminal charges. He looked them in the eye and told his enemies, “bring it, you’ll lose.”
____________
The smart ones finally figured out, he’d kick their butt. They crept away. He would have crushed them in court.
I thought you might come and translate here, as you once did when it was on an earlier post last year. The imagery is stunning, in either language, but I first learnt it in German originally in college and came to love the sound of that German poem read aloud.
(Actually, German is a rough-sounding language to my ears, but THAT poem . . . something about it seemed ‘different’, a kind of ‘recognition’ though I was unfamiliar with Heine’s work before college.)
My father (born 2011, British to the core) always referred to it as soccer as well. He was the only person I knew who did, so I’m guessing it was a generational thing – you certainly don’t hear it now in the UK much. It was a colloquialism for “association football” apparently, to distinguish the game from rugby football …
I think Joe is the only one who has a chance to win nationally.
In the end, it may come down to Joe or Trump, and my bet is on Joe.
The other Dems all have some interesting ideas and strengths,
but Joe has ‘gravitas’ in our country. Yes, he’s got some baggage, but he’s ‘human’ in a GOOD way. I can handle that.
He wouldn’t create a war to ‘wag the dog’ like Trump very likely might do, especially if it looks like he might lose the election. . . . . that ego and narcissism demands sacrifice from innocent people.
StuartB says
July 6, 2019 at 5:19 pm
But only one is the grandson of someone who helped Hitler rise to power and attempted to overthrow the US government.
_____________-
Assuming this is true, what is the point? How does this relate to George W. as president?
Ah, I wish y’all could hear how this sounds… alas, all I can do is translate.
“The sun rose. The fog fled, like specters at the third cock-crow. I again climbed up mountain and down, and before me floated the beautiful sun, eternally illuminating new beauties.”
Thanks, Robert. I’m at the other end of the state – it’s a big state. Didn’t know a thing about the earthquake(s) until I heard on the news.
The seven-something-pointer after-shock is about the same amount of shaking as the Whittier Narrows quake in 1987, when we lived in the San Fernando Valley. I was feeding breakfast to my older two (ages 17 mos & 5 mos). There was a loud, sudden BANG and the earth beneath the street outside our window undulated a couple of times. Nothing fell down in our house. Par for the course out here. San Francisco in 1989 was a little stronger, with more damage because of all the soft land reclaimed from the Bay – shook like jelly. Thank God for building codes, and we enforce them out here.
TED,
I hear you. I had my own bout of conspiracy-theory fever once. It didn’t last long, but at the time, I was very worried about this incident because my savy family said ‘that kind of thing doesn’t just happen’:
some of the Never Trumpers among the Southern Baptists are publicly declaring that they are converting to Trump and it is terrifying to see, as among these people are ministers and missionaries who blog. I might not have agreed with them in many ways, but I do think they are good people. How can they ignore the treatment of those refugee children?
If they are falling for dT, is it out of pressure, out of fear? Or something worse, even. ?
In the meantime, little ones held in refugee shelters without diapers soiling their clothing and no baths and the monster says he thinks the ICE shelters are doing ‘a great job’. . . . .
what kind of ‘base’ supports this? Is there such a thing as mass hysteria?
I’m on the East Coast for another week, and first heard of California Eathquake here. Did some checking online and…
Despite the coverage making it sound like all SoCal has burned to the ground before sinking into the sea, the actual quake was a series of a 6-point-something followed by a 7.1 at the south end of Owens Valley near the town of Ridgecrest and the China Lake Navy Base. That area is sparsely-populated high desert where the High Sierras drop into the Nevada Basin, along the Owens Valley fault (far away from the San Andreas). Ridgecrest is the only town of any size in the immediate area. I know this because I used to use Ridgecrest and Lone Pine for off-season weekend getaways.
I’m a survivor of The Gospel According to Hal Lindsay and Christians For Nuclear War. It kinda warps your head permanently.
At least one thing about being RCC — I KNOW I’m not going to enter St Boniface for Mass and see a giant portrait of Trump In Majesty replacing the big crucifix behind the altar. Evangelicals, though….
I really, really like the commentary (I assume it’s from CM) about Mad Magazine. At my last HS reunion, an old
buddy asked me if I remembered reading and showing him Mad. I didn’t…I also didn’t know I was a subversive!
Remember that the first anti-globalists were leftist anarchists in the Pacific Northwest. And before that, many left-leaning writers thought of the Illuminati as a global plot of right-wingers.
“I don’t think there are any Russians, and there ain’t no Yanks/ Just corporate criminals, playing with tanks…” — “The Walls Came Down”, by the Call, circa 1983
I can’t fathom why that couple would want to even share their dilemma with the rest of us. It was embarrassingly painful to read. On the other hand, I don’t doubt for a minute that the church plant will be an tony success.
Christiane, I have a good friend who is very left-of-center, also very well educated, probably a genius, and he’s been into some of these conspiracy theories too on his email list which I subscribe to. He’s the one who first introduced me to the 9/11 hoax theory years ago (well, there may be something to that; I’m still waiting for someone to explain Building #7). He’s also into the anti-vax movement, but what’s really odd is that he was early into the Sandy Hook hoax theory, and also believes the moon landing was a hoax.
I’ve given him some pushback, particularly about Sandy Hook (my sister and niece used to live in Newtown, so it’s almost personal) but the theories are pretty well-developed.
I don’t get some of this. It’s not just a right-wing thing.
Intending to get those kids, and the adults too, out of such squalid and horrendous conditions is certainly high on my list of what I’m looking for in a candidate. That such places exist in America under the direction of the U.S. government is a mark of shame on our country.
Ports, my dear Eeyore, ports. No rich and powerful city or state can stay rich and powerful for long without them, nor exist for long. People, nations, and civilizations will risk anything for good ports.
But they would be just that–gaffes, not mean-spirited, malicious, or designed to rile up people against each other. Joe Biden is certainly not my first choice as a presidential candidate, but he would be orders of magnitude better for the country, and for the world as well, than the person occupying the office at the moment. If he’s nominated, I will vote for him, absolutely.
What they said about George W. Bush [ sounds just like what they say about Trump. ]
THE BUSH REICH
A staple of Bush-hating is the portrayal of the president as a Nazi. That has, of course, been a prominent part of other attacks against other presidents, but today it seems to be deployed with particular aggressiveness against Bush. There are thousands of references, across the vastness of the Internet, linking Bush to Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. Do you want to buy a T-shirt with a swastika replacing the “s” in Bush? No problem. Do you want to collect images of Bush in a German army uniform, with a Hitler mustache Photoshopped onto his face? That’s easy. Do you want to find pictures of Dick Cheney and Tom Ridge and Ari Fleischer dressed as Bush’s Nazi henchmen? That’s easy, too.
And it’s not just doctored photos. There is a lot of writing, much of it quite serious, claiming similarities between Bush and Hitler. “It’s going a bit far to compare the Bush of 2003 to the Hitler of 1933,” writes Dave Lindorff in “Bush and Hitler: The Strategy of Fear,” which appeared in February on the far-left site Counterpunch.org. “Bush simply is not the orator that Hitler was. But comparisons of the Bush administration’s fear-mongering tactics to those practiced so successfully and with such terrible results by Hitler and Goebbels . . . are not at all out of line.”
_______
Ironically of course; there is absolutely no moral comparison between George W. and President Trump. George W. was and is a very, very fine man. What his enemies didn’t recognize, he was remarkably well read.7. George W. Bush read an incredible amount during his presidency— he finished 186 books in two years.
In contrast to his reputation, George W. Bush was a prolific behind-the-scenes reader. Despite the fact that he was regularly derided as incurious and unread, Bush has long read a great many books. Karl Rove wrote in 2008, “In the 35 years I’ve known George W. Bush, he’s always had a book nearby.”
Bush read 186 books between 2006 and 2008, mainly history and biography.
The liberals, and perhaps some I-monkers, hated George W. And now some of you hate Donald Trump, another Hitler just like George W. – dryly
And so we end up with Trump, who could never hold a candle to George W.
_______
PS; The one thing George W and Trump have in common, neither of them drink.
“Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow”
“Wade In the Water””
“Go Tell It on the Mountain”
“His Eye is on the Sparrow”
“My Lord, What a Morning”
“This Little Light of Mine”
. . .and dozens more, to which you probably know the words.
I think the first thing we can count on Joe to do is that he and his wife will go to those ICE ‘shelters’ and free those children and get them to hospitals for help if needed and see that they are washed and clothed properly and fed . . . . and that they sleep in beds with pillow and blankets . . . . and sure, a teddy bear or doll maybe
you would think those crazy conspiracy theories would keep all ‘the base’ out of mischief, but no, there was that nut who came to shoot up a pizza parlor thinking it was a pedo operation run by Hilary;
and then that wicked right wing radio host who inspired people to threaten the parents of Sandy Hook victims, thinking that the whole massacre was a hoax conspiring against the NRA
honestly, for some, it is just entertainment, but then you’ve got the REAL crazies, and anything that sets them off or is DESIGNED to set them off, is truly evil
“On the Greatest Hymn, why wasn’t “A Mighty Fortress” not included in the tournament?”
you are RIGHT
My military family would vote for ‘Eternal Father, Strong to Save’, but I am particularly sad that the favorite hymn of my Southern Baptist grandmother wasn’t included:
“The Old Rugged Cross”
she, of blessed memory, would play it on her piano and sing, with her braided blond/white hair coiled and shining as her head nodded . . . . .. and the little girl that was me thought she was beyond angelic
I ponder how one funds a church-plant in that context? Seriously.
As for expensive, yes. But I live in an “expensive” place with soaring rents. It is problematic. On the other hand – there are abundant social services and free activities. There is just more money sloshing around, plus abundant employment opportunities. A new venue opens, posts 120 new positions, and all the other employers groan. A dish washer at a pub has a 401k plan.THAT is very different than many places.
“Die Sonne ging auf. Die Nebel flohen, wie Gespenster beim dritten Hahnenschrei. Ich stieg wieder bergauf und bergab, und vor mir schwebte die schöne Sonne, immer neue Schönheiten beleuchtend.” (Heinrich Heine)
Dana Ames and all other California iMonks, hope you have not been badly affected by the earthquakes…I see an even worse one than a few days ago hit yesterday.
If I hear any idiot talk about this as God’s judgment on liberal California, I may do something rash.
I doubt “Joe” could surpass the current Occupant for gaffes, contradictions, or any other misspeaking, although the POTUS has certainly set a precedent for future presidents to emulate, and use as an excuse for their own. “What aboutism” in its Trump version will certainly surpass all other versions of “what aboutism”.
His supporters don’t care about his ignorance of history or any other matter of fact. Actually, it’s something they love about him, that he’s like them and/or not like the so-called “elites” and experts, and yet prevails in the world supposedly engineered by the same. No amount of ignorance of facts, no contradictory action on his part, will cut off their support; it’s the triumph of the irrational. Walt Whitman famously wrote in “Song of Myself”, “Do I contradict myself? Very well then, I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes…” –Trump is the large-scale embodiment of the demonic underside of that all-too American characteristic.
“Americans need to embrace a more mature and realistic patriotism, one that recognizes that everything is not perfect but that there is still something worth celebrating.”
The way I put it is that I wholeheartedly believe in American exceptionalism. We therefore should hold ourselves to a higher standard. Sadly, the actual application all too often is that since we are the good guys, it follows that whatever we do is good.
Dear dearest Abigail,
Yesterday we began our assault on Newark International Airport. We lost many brave men near baggage claim but managed to take the high ground on Concourse B. near the Cinnabon.
I hope to becoming home soon, keep an eye on the horizon for my UberX.
What, no African-American Spiritual derived hymns in the Elite Eight of contenders for “The Greatest Hymn of all Time” Tournament? Were any of the hymns listed written by African Americans? Very Eurocentric.
I have read that the Philistines came from the island of Crete following a tsunami that crippled the Minoan civilization. It was the explosion of the island of Thera (Santorini) that caused the commotion.
Also have read (I think) that that occurred about the same time as the Hebrew exodus from Egypt, and that the arrival of the Cretans (Philistines) into Palestine, which gets its name from them, was a cause of the Hebrews’ 40-year wandering before they finally arrived in the land. According to that, the Philistines were a problem from the get-go.
Fun fact (but can somebody verify this?): The Iron Age (rather, the carburized steel age) began with the Philistines and they were very careful about guarding the secret from the likes of the Hebrews and others. Hence, espionage and treachery, the likes of Samson and Delilah.
I’ve more or less stopped watching films, even the good ones, because I found they almost invariably left me feeling blue at the end, whether they were comedies, action-adventure, “serious films”, or whatever. Same and more so with entertainment television (actually, at this point we don’t watch TV at all, and we don’t even have connection with TV providers).
Okay, I give. What is the point of the story about the choice the church planter couple made for housing? To me, all three choices seem similarly expensive in range, certainly beyond my reach, and one is just a little more expensive than the others. Was I supposed to draw some socioeconomic conclusion about their religious beliefs based on their choice?
Somehow got to this site googling women’s soccer. Love to watch soccer and think the USA is in for a tough game.
You guys are all over the place with comments. Thought I would add to the mix. Hope you all can watch the championship match.
We turn the smugglers posse trashing shipments in Boston Harbor, to protect their cartel, into the Sons of Liberty opposing taxation without representation. Bo-o-o-o-o-o-gus.
“….the chief business of the American people is business.” President Calvin Coolidge
The Denver International Airport-Google Maps incident was no accident. The AI singularity has been attained, and is conducting experiments on human subjects to assess its new power. In the words of Skynet, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
Shrug. His speech is roughly as accurate as the American History we do teach in school.
We turn the smugglers posse trashing shipments in Boston Harbor, to protect their cartel, into the Sons of Liberty opposing taxation without representation. Bo-o-o-o-o-o-gus.
History is two thirds spin.
It feels a bit Lutheran to me; to paraphrase: If you are going to Lie, Lie Boldly.
It properly got submitted under “Ein Feste Burg is Unser Gott” and the judges got confused. We know you Lutherans have trouble with English sometimes. 😉
Along the same lines… A recent study has found a positive correlation between the amount of entertainment television someone watches, and whether or not they vote populist. The original paper (downloadable for free) is linked in the article.
On the Greatest Hymn, why wasn’t “A Mighty Fortress” not included in the tournament?
On Mad Magazine, I quote that great American philosopher Alfred E. Neuman: “What, me worry?”
On a separate issue, I am waiting to hear that we must revise American history text books to include several key facts that be included the following facts of the American Revolutionary War: “It took over the airports. It did everything it had to do. And at Fort McHenry, under the rockets’ red glare, it had nothing but victory. And when dawn came, their star-spangled banner waved defiant.”
I spent my Baptist youth in ‘Fanny J Crosby’ he- uh purgatory, 5000 hymns and not a single melody. And I heard so many awful performances of How Great thou Art…let’s just say I would be a poor judge for this contest. Chuck’em all and put on Cristobal de Morales’ Missa Pro Defunctis or any of Olivier Messiaen’s wonderful organ pieces.
The Internet Monk Archives 
I believe it’s the 80/20 Rule.
When consensus in a group reaches an 80% threshold, Groupthink locks in hard and the 20% either Convert to the 80% or get Purged.
Add in the Christian cultural idea of Total Separation from Sin (and the Other in general) and a lot of them will have NO life outside of their church; if they are cast out, they lose Everything. Peer pressure from the 80% and Shunning (and damnation) for the 20%; Which Side Are You On?
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And you admire him for that?
The same was certainly said about Pilate.
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If you were an enemy, you really, really didn’t want a piece of Dick Cheney.
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After Cheney’s Vice Presidency ended, there was a lot of talk about bringing criminal charges. He looked them in the eye and told his enemies, “bring it, you’ll lose.”
____________
The smart ones finally figured out, he’d kick their butt. They crept away. He would have crushed them in court.
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Thanks, Dana
I thought you might come and translate here, as you once did when it was on an earlier post last year. The imagery is stunning, in either language, but I first learnt it in German originally in college and came to love the sound of that German poem read aloud.
(Actually, German is a rough-sounding language to my ears, but THAT poem . . . something about it seemed ‘different’, a kind of ‘recognition’ though I was unfamiliar with Heine’s work before college.)
Thanks, again. 🙂
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For what it’s worth – Prescott Bush Wiki
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Born 1911. Duh.
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My father (born 2011, British to the core) always referred to it as soccer as well. He was the only person I knew who did, so I’m guessing it was a generational thing – you certainly don’t hear it now in the UK much. It was a colloquialism for “association football” apparently, to distinguish the game from rugby football …
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They’re paying attention to the wrong parts of the Scriptures — for instance, texts about herem.
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it was Cheney who was the Nazi
the Republicans knew he was nuts.
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I think Joe is the only one who has a chance to win nationally.
In the end, it may come down to Joe or Trump, and my bet is on Joe.
The other Dems all have some interesting ideas and strengths,
but Joe has ‘gravitas’ in our country. Yes, he’s got some baggage, but he’s ‘human’ in a GOOD way. I can handle that.
He wouldn’t create a war to ‘wag the dog’ like Trump very likely might do, especially if it looks like he might lose the election. . . . . that ego and narcissism demands sacrifice from innocent people.
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oh Robert, I’ve not heard of this before,
thanks for the link !
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StuartB says
July 6, 2019 at 5:19 pm
But only one is the grandson of someone who helped Hitler rise to power and attempted to overthrow the US government.
_____________-
Assuming this is true, what is the point? How does this relate to George W. as president?
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There must be. I just can’t fathom why anyone with a passing knowledge of the Scriptures could say that this was okay.
I really feel for you Americans at this time, us Brits are not having an easy time of it, but at least we don’t have Trump.
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LOL!
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Looks like the Curse of Oil is universal; only it hit America in a completely-different form than Saudi, Venezuela, and Russia.
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I don’t think he was singling out only public schools for inaccuracy in teaching American History. How do you get that from his comment?
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I’m sure that somebody could’ve said “that kind of thing doesn’t just happen about this incident, too.
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I won’t. You can do the research as well as I can. This is all public record and history anyways.
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Ah, I wish y’all could hear how this sounds… alas, all I can do is translate.
“The sun rose. The fog fled, like specters at the third cock-crow. I again climbed up mountain and down, and before me floated the beautiful sun, eternally illuminating new beauties.”
Dana
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Thanks, Robert. I’m at the other end of the state – it’s a big state. Didn’t know a thing about the earthquake(s) until I heard on the news.
The seven-something-pointer after-shock is about the same amount of shaking as the Whittier Narrows quake in 1987, when we lived in the San Fernando Valley. I was feeding breakfast to my older two (ages 17 mos & 5 mos). There was a loud, sudden BANG and the earth beneath the street outside our window undulated a couple of times. Nothing fell down in our house. Par for the course out here. San Francisco in 1989 was a little stronger, with more damage because of all the soft land reclaimed from the Bay – shook like jelly. Thank God for building codes, and we enforce them out here.
Dana
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Please provide support for your statement.
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when she sang, a hymn became a prayer that brought people to tears
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TED,
I hear you. I had my own bout of conspiracy-theory fever once. It didn’t last long, but at the time, I was very worried about this incident because my savy family said ‘that kind of thing doesn’t just happen’:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_United_States_Air_Force_nuclear_weapons_incident
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I here you . . . . . God have mercy !
some of the Never Trumpers among the Southern Baptists are publicly declaring that they are converting to Trump and it is terrifying to see, as among these people are ministers and missionaries who blog. I might not have agreed with them in many ways, but I do think they are good people. How can they ignore the treatment of those refugee children?
If they are falling for dT, is it out of pressure, out of fear? Or something worse, even. ?
In the meantime, little ones held in refugee shelters without diapers soiling their clothing and no baths and the monster says he thinks the ICE shelters are doing ‘a great job’. . . . .
what kind of ‘base’ supports this? Is there such a thing as mass hysteria?
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I’m with you on this one Robert.
I still think Baez did the best ‘Swing low..’ ever on Yasgur’s farm (1969):
My breath still catches in my throat when she boldly exclaims AMEN! at the end.
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The land down under calls it soccer too!
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But only one is the grandson of someone who helped Hitler rise to power and attempted to overthrow the US government.
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I’m on the East Coast for another week, and first heard of California Eathquake here. Did some checking online and…
Despite the coverage making it sound like all SoCal has burned to the ground before sinking into the sea, the actual quake was a series of a 6-point-something followed by a 7.1 at the south end of Owens Valley near the town of Ridgecrest and the China Lake Navy Base. That area is sparsely-populated high desert where the High Sierras drop into the Nevada Basin, along the Owens Valley fault (far away from the San Andreas). Ridgecrest is the only town of any size in the immediate area. I know this because I used to use Ridgecrest and Lone Pine for off-season weekend getaways.
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Adam, our dear leader is the product of elite private schools. You can’t blame our public school system for this one.
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I’m a survivor of The Gospel According to Hal Lindsay and Christians For Nuclear War. It kinda warps your head permanently.
At least one thing about being RCC — I KNOW I’m not going to enter St Boniface for Mass and see a giant portrait of Trump In Majesty replacing the big crucifix behind the altar. Evangelicals, though….
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I really, really like the commentary (I assume it’s from CM) about Mad Magazine. At my last HS reunion, an old
buddy asked me if I remembered reading and showing him Mad. I didn’t…I also didn’t know I was a subversive!
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Evidently. At least one of them is an interior decorator. That should save them a bundle.
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Remember that the first anti-globalists were leftist anarchists in the Pacific Northwest. And before that, many left-leaning writers thought of the Illuminati as a global plot of right-wingers.
“I don’t think there are any Russians, and there ain’t no Yanks/ Just corporate criminals, playing with tanks…” — “The Walls Came Down”, by the Call, circa 1983
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….and they both love the Saudis, in a very cozy way.
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It was all over, until the Revolutionaries developed the atom bomb first.
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Most millennials have a very different idea of privacy than older people like us, Clay. Things have changed.
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Move along folks…..there’s nothing to see, no anthropogenic climate change happening here….just move along….
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Fake news. Everyone know that.
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I can’t fathom why that couple would want to even share their dilemma with the rest of us. It was embarrassingly painful to read. On the other hand, I don’t doubt for a minute that the church plant will be an tony success.
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hello Headless . . . . . yikes! I wasn’t thinking in THOSE terms! Was I ???
but come to rethink it . . . . . . actually, I don’t believe in those crazy end-time fundamentalist images
but then to reconsider, now that there is ‘Trump’, who knows
well, there goes the last of my peace of mind . . . . . thanks a lot, Headless LOL
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Always.
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Christiane, I have a good friend who is very left-of-center, also very well educated, probably a genius, and he’s been into some of these conspiracy theories too on his email list which I subscribe to. He’s the one who first introduced me to the 9/11 hoax theory years ago (well, there may be something to that; I’m still waiting for someone to explain Building #7). He’s also into the anti-vax movement, but what’s really odd is that he was early into the Sandy Hook hoax theory, and also believes the moon landing was a hoax.
I’ve given him some pushback, particularly about Sandy Hook (my sister and niece used to live in Newtown, so it’s almost personal) but the theories are pretty well-developed.
I don’t get some of this. It’s not just a right-wing thing.
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Intending to get those kids, and the adults too, out of such squalid and horrendous conditions is certainly high on my list of what I’m looking for in a candidate. That such places exist in America under the direction of the U.S. government is a mark of shame on our country.
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Alaska, where it was over 90 degrees yesterday….record-breaking.
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Ports, my dear Eeyore, ports. No rich and powerful city or state can stay rich and powerful for long without them, nor exist for long. People, nations, and civilizations will risk anything for good ports.
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“Give me Jesus”
“Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”
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But they would be just that–gaffes, not mean-spirited, malicious, or designed to rile up people against each other. Joe Biden is certainly not my first choice as a presidential candidate, but he would be orders of magnitude better for the country, and for the world as well, than the person occupying the office at the moment. If he’s nominated, I will vote for him, absolutely.
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And to 80% of Christians(TM), “He Is LOOOOOOOORD!”
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What they said about George W. Bush [ sounds just like what they say about Trump. ]
THE BUSH REICH
A staple of Bush-hating is the portrayal of the president as a Nazi. That has, of course, been a prominent part of other attacks against other presidents, but today it seems to be deployed with particular aggressiveness against Bush. There are thousands of references, across the vastness of the Internet, linking Bush to Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. Do you want to buy a T-shirt with a swastika replacing the “s” in Bush? No problem. Do you want to collect images of Bush in a German army uniform, with a Hitler mustache Photoshopped onto his face? That’s easy. Do you want to find pictures of Dick Cheney and Tom Ridge and Ari Fleischer dressed as Bush’s Nazi henchmen? That’s easy, too.
And it’s not just doctored photos. There is a lot of writing, much of it quite serious, claiming similarities between Bush and Hitler. “It’s going a bit far to compare the Bush of 2003 to the Hitler of 1933,” writes Dave Lindorff in “Bush and Hitler: The Strategy of Fear,” which appeared in February on the far-left site Counterpunch.org. “Bush simply is not the orator that Hitler was. But comparisons of the Bush administration’s fear-mongering tactics to those practiced so successfully and with such terrible results by Hitler and Goebbels . . . are not at all out of line.”
_______
Ironically of course; there is absolutely no moral comparison between George W. and President Trump. George W. was and is a very, very fine man. What his enemies didn’t recognize, he was remarkably well read.7. George W. Bush read an incredible amount during his presidency— he finished 186 books in two years.
In contrast to his reputation, George W. Bush was a prolific behind-the-scenes reader. Despite the fact that he was regularly derided as incurious and unread, Bush has long read a great many books. Karl Rove wrote in 2008, “In the 35 years I’ve known George W. Bush, he’s always had a book nearby.”
Bush read 186 books between 2006 and 2008, mainly history and biography.
The liberals, and perhaps some I-monkers, hated George W. And now some of you hate Donald Trump, another Hitler just like George W. – dryly
And so we end up with Trump, who could never hold a candle to George W.
_______
PS; The one thing George W and Trump have in common, neither of them drink.
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Unless you inherited a rent-controlled apartment from your father, who inherited it from his father.
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The most Expensive one, of course.
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While all the Christians chorus “AAAAAAA-MENNNNN!!!!!”
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Well, there is that.
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+10
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“Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow”
“Wade In the Water””
“Go Tell It on the Mountain”
“His Eye is on the Sparrow”
“My Lord, What a Morning”
“This Little Light of Mine”
. . .and dozens more, to which you probably know the words.
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My Southern-though not Baptist (she was one of the Pentacostal Holiness folks)–grandmother’s favorite, too.
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We are exceptional. We’re dumber, less mature and less realistic than anybody!
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the whole Pacific Rim . . . . May God help them
(and my youngest is moving to Alaska)
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that makes you a Viking
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The Germans got away with that sneak attack because our Revolutionary Army was busy shooting down the British Royal Air Force.
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Well why don’t you suggest some then?
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Basically there are no earthquake free zones in CA.
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I think the first thing we can count on Joe to do is that he and his wife will go to those ICE ‘shelters’ and free those children and get them to hospitals for help if needed and see that they are washed and clothed properly and fed . . . . and that they sleep in beds with pillow and blankets . . . . and sure, a teddy bear or doll maybe
yeah, I’m voting for that possibility, sure
at least Joe has a heart and an Irish one at that
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you would think those crazy conspiracy theories would keep all ‘the base’ out of mischief, but no, there was that nut who came to shoot up a pizza parlor thinking it was a pedo operation run by Hilary;
and then that wicked right wing radio host who inspired people to threaten the parents of Sandy Hook victims, thinking that the whole massacre was a hoax conspiring against the NRA
honestly, for some, it is just entertainment, but then you’ve got the REAL crazies, and anything that sets them off or is DESIGNED to set them off, is truly evil
the evil game:
‘let’s you and him go fight’
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“On the Greatest Hymn, why wasn’t “A Mighty Fortress” not included in the tournament?”
you are RIGHT
My military family would vote for ‘Eternal Father, Strong to Save’, but I am particularly sad that the favorite hymn of my Southern Baptist grandmother wasn’t included:
“The Old Rugged Cross”
she, of blessed memory, would play it on her piano and sing, with her braided blond/white hair coiled and shining as her head nodded . . . . .. and the little girl that was me thought she was beyond angelic
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you couldn’t rent a closet in Manhattan for less than 2K
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we’ve finally reached a time when reality IS stranger than fiction
chaos reigns . . . . ‘the Lord of Mis-Rule’ calls all to the dance
it’s like peering down into the abyss and realizing that the bad guy is standing right behind you
I hope we make it out of this mess, but I have a feeling it’s gonna get MUCH worse before it gets better
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gotta watch out for them soccer moms
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I ponder how one funds a church-plant in that context? Seriously.
As for expensive, yes. But I live in an “expensive” place with soaring rents. It is problematic. On the other hand – there are abundant social services and free activities. There is just more money sloshing around, plus abundant employment opportunities. A new venue opens, posts 120 new positions, and all the other employers groan. A dish washer at a pub has a 401k plan.THAT is very different than many places.
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If “best of” and “greatest” is not qualified it always means “white”. 🙂
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and of the poets, those dear beloved poets
“Die Sonne ging auf. Die Nebel flohen, wie Gespenster beim dritten Hahnenschrei. Ich stieg wieder bergauf und bergab, und vor mir schwebte die schöne Sonne, immer neue Schönheiten beleuchtend.” (Heinrich Heine)
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How about “It’s God’s judgment on people for being dumb enough to build a massive metroplex on an inter-continental rift zone”? 😛
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this, I love
LOL
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Maybe we are – if only because we are the ONLY NATION that calls it “soccer”. 😛
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What is the Riddle of Steel?
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Dana Ames and all other California iMonks, hope you have not been badly affected by the earthquakes…I see an even worse one than a few days ago hit yesterday.
If I hear any idiot talk about this as God’s judgment on liberal California, I may do something rash.
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“The problem with quotes on the internet is that they often are not true.” – Abraham Lincoln
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You and he are on first name basis?
I doubt “Joe” could surpass the current Occupant for gaffes, contradictions, or any other misspeaking, although the POTUS has certainly set a precedent for future presidents to emulate, and use as an excuse for their own. “What aboutism” in its Trump version will certainly surpass all other versions of “what aboutism”.
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Of course if we elect Joe, the gaffes should double.
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His supporters don’t care about his ignorance of history or any other matter of fact. Actually, it’s something they love about him, that he’s like them and/or not like the so-called “elites” and experts, and yet prevails in the world supposedly engineered by the same. No amount of ignorance of facts, no contradictory action on his part, will cut off their support; it’s the triumph of the irrational. Walt Whitman famously wrote in “Song of Myself”, “Do I contradict myself? Very well then, I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes…” –Trump is the large-scale embodiment of the demonic underside of that all-too American characteristic.
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“Americans need to embrace a more mature and realistic patriotism, one that recognizes that everything is not perfect but that there is still something worth celebrating.”
The way I put it is that I wholeheartedly believe in American exceptionalism. We therefore should hold ourselves to a higher standard. Sadly, the actual application all too often is that since we are the good guys, it follows that whatever we do is good.
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German is, after all, the language of God and the prophets.
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April 14, 1775
Dear dearest Abigail,
Yesterday we began our assault on Newark International Airport. We lost many brave men near baggage claim but managed to take the high ground on Concourse B. near the Cinnabon.
I hope to becoming home soon, keep an eye on the horizon for my UberX.
Your loving husband Thomas
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those Dutch folks, all that bicycling they do and all the milk they drink . . . strong built
it will be a great battle
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I can’t even imagine it. But then, I can’t even imagine being able to afford or live the average middle-class lifestyle.
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No point really. Just giving you all a chance to play “House Hunters NYC” today.
And to ponder how expensive it is to live there.
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Yet another conspiracy theory to tack onto Denver Airport. 😉
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What, no African-American Spiritual derived hymns in the Elite Eight of contenders for “The Greatest Hymn of all Time” Tournament? Were any of the hymns listed written by African Americans? Very Eurocentric.
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I’m a Celt too — my parents and grandparents came from southern Italy.
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I have read that the Philistines came from the island of Crete following a tsunami that crippled the Minoan civilization. It was the explosion of the island of Thera (Santorini) that caused the commotion.
Also have read (I think) that that occurred about the same time as the Hebrew exodus from Egypt, and that the arrival of the Cretans (Philistines) into Palestine, which gets its name from them, was a cause of the Hebrews’ 40-year wandering before they finally arrived in the land. According to that, the Philistines were a problem from the get-go.
Fun fact (but can somebody verify this?): The Iron Age (rather, the carburized steel age) began with the Philistines and they were very careful about guarding the secret from the likes of the Hebrews and others. Hence, espionage and treachery, the likes of Samson and Delilah.
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I’ve more or less stopped watching films, even the good ones, because I found they almost invariably left me feeling blue at the end, whether they were comedies, action-adventure, “serious films”, or whatever. Same and more so with entertainment television (actually, at this point we don’t watch TV at all, and we don’t even have connection with TV providers).
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Maybe a crazed soccer mom nation?
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Okay, I give. What is the point of the story about the choice the church planter couple made for housing? To me, all three choices seem similarly expensive in range, certainly beyond my reach, and one is just a little more expensive than the others. Was I supposed to draw some socioeconomic conclusion about their religious beliefs based on their choice?
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https://pluralist.com/uswnt-equal-pay-controversy/
Somehow got to this site googling women’s soccer. Love to watch soccer and think the USA is in for a tough game.
You guys are all over the place with comments. Thought I would add to the mix. Hope you all can watch the championship match.
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That’s my favourite hymn, for both the music & the lyrics. But then I am a Celt, well, over 50% of me is.
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a few swift starlings
turn tight circles in the air
chasing the center
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“….the chief business of the American people is business.” President Calvin Coolidge
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The Denver International Airport-Google Maps incident was no accident. The AI singularity has been attained, and is conducting experiments on human subjects to assess its new power. In the words of Skynet, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
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your Celtic spirit is emerging
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> No more MAD Magazine. Don’t that beat everything?
It appears it did beat everything.
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They knew that is where the Feta Cheese was, that was enough.
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Hmmm. Looping back all the way to Putnam, I suspect the correlation is indirect.
The more entertainment television you watch, likely, the lonelier and less affiliated you are.
Loneliness and social isolation make you simple minded.
Also physical inactivity has a strong link to Depression.
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Shrug. His speech is roughly as accurate as the American History we do teach in school.
We turn the smugglers posse trashing shipments in Boston Harbor, to protect their cartel, into the Sons of Liberty opposing taxation without representation. Bo-o-o-o-o-o-gus.
History is two thirds spin.
It feels a bit Lutheran to me; to paraphrase: If you are going to Lie, Lie Boldly.
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“He’s rolling.”
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IST Unser Gott. Apparently autocorrect also kann nicht spreche Deutsch.
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It properly got submitted under “Ein Feste Burg is Unser Gott” and the judges got confused. We know you Lutherans have trouble with English sometimes. 😉
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Along the same lines… A recent study has found a positive correlation between the amount of entertainment television someone watches, and whether or not they vote populist. The original paper (downloadable for free) is linked in the article.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/07/does-tv-makes-you-dumber-and-more-populist/593287/
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The fix is in!
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We’ll also need to add in the part when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor.
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On the Greatest Hymn, why wasn’t “A Mighty Fortress” not included in the tournament?
On Mad Magazine, I quote that great American philosopher Alfred E. Neuman: “What, me worry?”
On a separate issue, I am waiting to hear that we must revise American history text books to include several key facts that be included the following facts of the American Revolutionary War: “It took over the airports. It did everything it had to do. And at Fort McHenry, under the rockets’ red glare, it had nothing but victory. And when dawn came, their star-spangled banner waved defiant.”
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“the Philistines might not have been “philistine” after all. A recent DNA study has linked them to southern Europe”
That’s Greek to me. 😛
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As a Lutheran I am protesting the absence of “A Mighty Fortress.” Clearly the fix is in!
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BE THOU MY VISION – More for the music than the lyrics
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I don’t think I would call the US a soccer crazed nation.
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Surely the place with a “Lola” window…
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Definitely will check out Prof Dolchuk’s book.
Holy Holy Holy beat out Amazing Grace? Jeepers!
I spent my Baptist youth in ‘Fanny J Crosby’ he- uh purgatory, 5000 hymns and not a single melody. And I heard so many awful performances of How Great thou Art…let’s just say I would be a poor judge for this contest. Chuck’em all and put on Cristobal de Morales’ Missa Pro Defunctis or any of Olivier Messiaen’s wonderful organ pieces.
No more MAD Magazine. Don’t that beat everything?
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The Dutch team is really good, if they win it will be an upset but “not an upset for the ages.”
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