“Peace, prosperity, liberty and morals
have an intimate connection.”

- Thomas Jefferson

Portia Rediscovered was on this story before I was, even though its happening in my backyard, and challenged me to respond.

The Art of Compromise
BY DOUG BELDEN, Pioneer Press

As violent protests over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad continue around the world, a St. Paul charter school is quietly negotiating the delicate question of how to teach art to Muslims.

Any depiction of God and his prophets is considered offensive under Islam, and disrespectful representations are even worse, as the recent worldwide outrage over the Danish cartoons has shown. But some Muslims also refrain from producing images of ordinary human beings and animals, citing Islamic teaching.

That presented a challenge for Higher Ground Academy, a K-12 school just west of Central High School on Marshall Avenue that has about 450 students. About 70 percent of them are Muslim immigrants from eastern Africa.

Executive Director Bill Wilson said he had concerns for some time about how to reconcile the school's art curriculum with the views of Muslim families, but the departure of the art teacher at the end of last school year gave him a window to act.

This fall, he hired ArtStart, a St. Paul-based nonprofit organization, to offer more options for about 150 kindergartners through second-graders, including visual arts and drumming. But parents were still upset that their children were drawing figures, Wilson said, and some pulled their children out of art class altogether.

Wilson then sat down with teacher and parent liaison Abdirahman Sheikh Omar Ahmad, who also is the imam at an Islamic center in Minneapolis, to work with ArtStart in determining how to meet state standards without running afoul of Muslim doctrine.

"We said, 'Look, we can do better than this,'" Wilson said.

This is a very progressive approach by the school, reaching out to the parents who, though the school is a public charter school, are its "customers". They are trying to find a way to educate the children while being sensitive to the majority's religious tradition.

Of course, no such accomodation would be available to Christian parents who objected to, say, the sex-ed curriculum or to "Heather Has Two Mommies" being on the elementary library shelf. And heaven, or someone, forbid that those two-weeks off in the middle of winter be called "Christmas break", even if 70% of students are from nominally Christian families because that would be insensitive to the non-Christian minority. There's no word in the newspaper story about how the new art curriculum is being received by that school's non-Muslim minority.

Out the window right away went masks, puppets and that classic of elementary school art class, the self-portrait, said Sara Langworthy, an artist with ArtStart. Revamping the curriculum "definitely requires stepping outside of the normal instincts that you fall back on," she said.

In their place came nature scenes and geometric forms and patterns, said Carol Sirrine, ArtStart's executive director. This week, the class was cutting out shapes to make into cardboard pouches. Another project involved taking photographs and mapping the neighborhood around the school.

The conversation about what is appropriate is still open.
In a meeting this week, Langworthy asked Ahmad whether the students can do silhouettes of hands. That's fine, he said.

Ahmad's involvement has put many parents' minds at ease, said Said Jama, father of kindergartner Suhyr Ali Jama. Wilson said Muslim enrollment in art has rebounded since the changes were introduced.
Langworthy said she and fellow teacher Katie Tuma don't police what the students draw, but they do have conversations with students who are drawing figures to make sure it's really OK.

I'm in favor of parents having the biggest say in their childrens' education, and I admire these parents' resolve and ability to get the school to relent. I certainly know many parents, and of parent groups, who's concerns have been dismissed or who have found themselves being lectured for their supposed narrow-mindedness. The schools don't seem that concerned about the number of children who's parents ask that they be withdrawn from an offensive class, though they do demonstrate a tendency to be very forgetful in notifying the parents in advance when these insensitive days are scheduled, even when they've agreed to do so.

At Higher Ground, Wilson said he plans to use ArtStart — which is typically hired for one- or two-week residencies rather than long-term relationships with schools — to expand the art curriculum to grades three through five this fall. And he said once the program is fine-tuned, "we'd like to be able to export this" to any school that is interested.

Wilson said Higher Ground has experience in mediating cultural conflicts because of tensions that have arisen between its majority African population and the rest of the student body, almost all of whom are African American. Certain forms of hip-hop dance performed by African-American students at school talent shows are offensive to some Muslim students, for example, but "we've always accommodated that with lots of discussion," Wilson said.

Principals, faculty and coaches are barred from leading prayer at public schools and even individual students are restricted from offering their own prayers at graduation commencements or school programs — all because of the misguided perception that doing so demonstrates governmental establishment of a particular religion. Somehow, developing and promoting this program isn't a problem, however, and the ACLU is not pouring fire and brimstone down on the school district.

It may surprise some that I don't have a big problem with Higher Ground adapting its curriculum to reflect the values of its population, especially since charter schools are supposed to be able to give administrators an opportunity to try different things. It is interesting to me, however, that such creativity is appauded regarding Islam, and censured if it concerns Christianity.

Further, it's not as if I have a direct stake in this since we avoid such confounding applications by home educating our children, and that's a topic I hope to address tomorrow.

It's a quiet evening around the Night cabin. The Mall Diva is out, which explains part of it, but I've just recognized another phenomenon.

I am blogging from my laptop in our living room. My wife has a Macintosh set up in the dining room and is working on a freelance design project. Downstairs Tiger Lilly is kicking animated butt on the PC. We've never had three computers in the house before, let alone three operating at the same time. Little House on the Prairie, it is not.

Ahh, but wafting from the kitchen is the smell of home-made bread baking, and I've finished the milking of this post.

My wife and I attended our church's Sweetheart Weekend this past weekend — in romantic, exotic Shoreview! The location, actually, was fine. Sure, a "warm and sunny" getaway is a plus but the expense and logistics for a group like ours makes "close and convenient" more of a draw. We were only two nights and 12 miles away from home, but the two of us enjoy getting away from the routine and devoting some time to one another beyond the usual daily newsflashes that pass for communication in a typical week.

(Speaking of getting out of the routine, Saturday night's dinner was a formal affair and my wife wore a lethally stunning, coffee-colored gown confirming that, yes, it is good to be me. The dress and matching shoes were picked out by her personal shopper, the Mall Diva, who found and acquired the garment without her mother being present — and it fit perfectly even though sneezing might have been perilous. The Mall Diva may have been hoping that if I could accept my wife going out in public so attired that my restrictions on her own clothing might soften as well. Dream on, MD, but thanks for the dress.)

We've been to several of these couples events over the years and have always enjoyed them and gotten useful things from the teachings we've heard. In retrospect, however, from my perspective a lot of the teaching has been about how men can show our wives we love them. The assumption has been that women are naturally wired to be love transmitters and receivers. This presumes that women "know" love and understand how important it is to show love to their husbands, but that guys have to work to get on the right frequency. It also assumes that love is equally important to both husband and wife. It's not a bad theory and you can do a lot of good in your marriage as a guy just by knowing that and trying to tune in. There is a missing part of the equation, however, and this last weekend our group was able to put a finger on it.

Every couple at the weekend received a copy of the book, Love and Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs. My wife and I were one of the couples our pastors asked to review the book in advance and we found it amazing: not necessarily because it's well written (though it's not bad), but because the key truth Dr. Eggerichs and his wife had found in scripture has pretty much been hiding in plain sight all along (well, in plain sight if you read your Bible much). Ephesians 5:33 (New Living Translation) says (Paul writing),

So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Ok, that's probably a familiar passage to anyone who's been to a Christian marriage seminar, but again the focus has been on men learning to show unconditional love to their wives, while the women assume they're doing their part by showing unconditional love to their husbands. That sounds like a good formula for success, but what the scripture says and what Dr. Eggerichs recognized is that wives are to show unconditional respect to their husbands. Now, this isn't some "Woman, submit" power trip, but a realization that it there's something different that floats the boat for each sex.

Respect is the currency for men; we grow up with it culturally in sports, in business, in military models. Guys usually are pretty efficient at sorting out which way the respect flows in any situation. True, guys can sound horrific in their good-natured trash talk to each other — in words that would crush a woman's esteem if they were directed at her — but it typically occurs among guys who have sorted things out and know they're all at the same level. Trash talk doesn't go uphill and usually doesn't flow downhill except to make a point. Respect can almost be ritualized as in the mafia expression and practice of "men of respect", and it can be seen in extremis in the gangbanger culture of young men who haven't learned the rules and applications of respect but will kill each other for being "disrespected" (but that's for another post). If you asked a man, would you rather your wife showed you love or showed you respect (and the guy took a few minutes to think about it) most would say that respect is more important. Men are respect-oriented and its important to them to know that they measure up in the eyes of their wives.

That's a challenging idea for women, who are love-oriented. Because love is more important to them they think love is what their husbands want (and we do, but it's #2). A wife can grasp the unconditional love idea and take pride in unconditionally loving her husband, but still not respect him ("Of course I love the big lug, even if he's an idiot, can't hold a job, and can't be trusted to dress himself without my help"). Asking her to unconditionally respect her husband, however, can be a big hurdle, especially if he's been less than respectable ("I can love and forgive, but I can't forget").

Most men, meanwhile, have grown up knowing they're supposed to respect women, especially their wives, and will confer that respect on them even if they're not sure if they love them ("She's great with the kids, I couldn't function without her, I'd never deliberately hurt her, but I don't know if I love her"). This can be especially true if she's been less than loving and respectful in her actions toward him ("I can say 'forget about it', but I don't forgive").

Again, respecting your husband isn't about being submissively obedient any more than a man loving his wife is about being mushy all the time. Differences in opinion and approach are fine when they can be discussed in ways that show he loves and cherishes his wife and wants the best for her and she shows she respects his ability and character. That can mean he is willing to give in on something in order to benefit her and that she doesn't bring past failures or personal critiques into the discussion.

That's just a sliver of what is in the book, and I encourage men and women to read it and evaluate themselves (not their spouses) according to what's there. Some of what's there gets a little too close to psycho-babble to my mind, but I think it's fundamentally and scripturally sound and revelatory so that you sense the truth of it. A lot of what I've written here are things that my wife and I had already discovered in our marriage without realizing it was the love/respect principle in action. That's probably why we've been happy ... and another reason I can say, "It's good to be me."

Last April I posted on the story of Charlotte Wyatt, the British infant whose doctors had gone to court to get a "Do Not Resuscitate" order — over the objections of her parents. The doctors' petition was granted, and to me it as an example of a socialist state demonstrating that it does indeed believe that it owns the children and is also the final arbiter of what constitutes "quality of life." There is now more to report on this story and on some interesting developments closer to home.

In Charlotte's case she is now nearly two and a half years old, despite her doctors' original opinion that she wouldn't live but a few months, and their later predictions that she wouldn't survive each of the many challenges she encountered. (She was born at 26 weeks gestation and today her parents readily acknowledge that she has significant developmental issues; their issue all along is that their daughter has the same right to life as a healthier baby.) The judge's order was never overturned, but it was lifted by the judge last fall when Charlotte's improving health made it unnecessary. Charlotte's parents were able to bring her home for an unsupervised visit last Christmas, and earlier this month the hospital indicated that she might soon be released for good. Now, however, she has caught a cold or picked up an infection in the hospital that has become serious and again the judge has instituted the DNR order.

But little ones cannot keep off infections forever, especially in a hospital and in wintertime, and she caught a cold which quickly began to hamper her breathing. In a normal case when your baby is ill the hospital will step up efforts to help. But Charlotte is special, and instead doctors submitted an emergency application to the judge to get permission not to treat her. Yesturday Justice Hedley concurred with them, reversing his previous order. Apparently the baby was on a "downward rather than an upward trend" and therefore not worth saving.

Never mind the vast improvements she had made, the way she had always made stunning recoveries after each of her illnesses, how she had proven the doctors wrong each time. Never mind that she had shown herself a fighter, and with all the strength in her little body was battling for her chance at life.

After all, she was Charlotte, and Charlotte... Charlotte might always be a disabled child. She might never be quite normal, and her joys might never be quite the same as ours. Disabled people aren't like the rest of us, and when they are sick...they have to be allowed to die.

What has our grand world come to when we can do this, and still walk the streets without shame? How can we pretend we are innocent of a great crime? --for are indeed guilty to if we do not protest. And the measure of a society is in how it treats her most defenseless.

Or if you are a child with special needs, is it only if you can manage to never be ill, never show weakness, always be impoving that you will be considered worth having around? When it comes to the difficult times, will your life never be worth fighting for?

As in April, from this distance I can offer no perspective on Charlotte's overall health, medical prospects or quality of life. I stand shoulder-to-shoulder with her parents, however, in saying that her level of care should be up to them and not to the state.

The state's argument, of course, is that it's paying the bills and therefore has the right to decide how and when care is appropriated. This position is coincidentally highlighted by this story from the New York Times reporting that an average of one private (and therefore illegal) health clinic per week is opening in our socialized neighbor to the north, Canada. The clinics are opening in response to demand from citizens willing to pay out of their own pockets to get needed surgery to improve the quality of their lives. As the head of one of these new clinics stated, "This is a country where a dog can get a hip replacement in under a week and in which a human can wait two or three years."

The article also notes that Canada is the only industrialized nation to outlaw privately purchased medical care. The new clinics are encouraged, however, by a Canadian Supreme Court ruling last year that a Quebec provincial ban on private health insurance was unconstitutional when people are suffering and even dying on waiting lists. I suppose if you're one of those people on a list it's probably a good thing for you that drugs are so cheap.

But that's still not the whole story as far as this post is concerned. As Amy Ridenour notes, here's what one of the leading lights of our own "reality-based community", Sen. Ted Kennedy, had to say in a speech last year:

...I propose that, as a 40th birthday [of Medicare] gift to the American people, we expand Medicare over the next decade to cover every citizen from birth to the end of life ...

... I call this approach Medicare for all, because it will free all Americans from the fear of crippling medical expenses and enable them to seek the best possible care when illness strikes ...

... Right-wing forces will unleash false attack ads, ranting against socialized medicine and government-run health care ... Today we are immunized against such attacks by the obvious success of Medicare. It is long past time to extend that success to all...

(You can read Kennedy's entire speech here, but doing so will make you glad you can still buy aspirin over the counter.)

Amy goes on to note that this "successful" plan is currently underfunded for future obligations by $29.7 trillion — more than seven times that of Social Security, and that the system as currently constructed will go broke in 2020, 21 years ahead of Social Security.

We've seen what this system leads to in the UK and in Canada, and what is already happening here. And if mental capacity should become a standard for determining whether someone should be resuscitated or not then Sen. Kennedy should look at Charlotte Wyatt and feel humbled ... and very, very concerned.

See also, 21st Century British Healthcare.

Atticism
(AT ih siz um) noun

Atticism (often with a lowercase a) is concise, superior, polished discourse and diction. The adjective attic describes elegant, subtle, incisive expression and articulation, with a strong admixture of subtle wit. The English poet John Milton (1608 - 1674) wrote:

What neat repast shall feast us, light and choice, of Attic taste...

Attica was the name of a region in the southeasterly part of ancient Greece. It was under the rule and influence of Athens, whose culture reached its height around the middle of the fifth century B.C. — the age of Pericles, the great poets, dramatists, sculptors and architects. The Roman historian Pliny the Elder (23-79) wrote of "sal atticum" (Attic wit — literally, Attic salt; sal (salt) was used figuratively by the Romans to mean "wit"). Attic wit is dry, delicate, subtle wit. The Romans had a verb atticisare ("atticise") to describe the imitation of Athenian diction and expression. Atticism, then, is the art of the elegant, well-timed expression, refined simplicity laced with sophistication and wit. In more modern times, the distinction between these two styles has been described in a learned article by Bryan A. Garne in Volume X, No. 3 of Verbatim, the Language Quarterly, which includes this passage:

English inherited two strains of literary exression, both deriving ultimately from Ciceronian Latin. One the one hand is the plain style now in vogue, characterized by unadorned vocabulary, directness, unelaborate syntax, and earthiness. (This syle is known to scholars as Atticism). On the other hand we have the grand style, which exemplifies floridity, allusivenss, formal sometimes abstruse diction, and rhetorical ornament. Proponents of this verbally richer style (called Asiaticism) proudly claim that the nuances available in the "oriental profusion" of English synonyms make the language an ideal putty for the skilled linguistic craftsman to mold and shape precisely in accordance with his conceptions.

Well may you ask, what has this to do with the attic of a house, the room or story just under thre roof? Here is the answer: In the residences of the rich in old Attica, there was often a small row of columns or pilasters placed on the roof, as a decorative feature. Neo-Grecian architecture became fashionable in England in the 17th century. In error, the top floor of a building fashioned in the Attic style was called the "Attic storey" (story meaning, "floor of a house," has an e before the y in British English). Error, because the Attic feature was a facade, whereas the English imitation was an eclosed floor. In time, the upper case A became a small a, the "storey" was dropped, and we wond up with, simply, attic.

From the book, “1000 Most Challenging Words” by Norman W. Schur, ©1987 by the Ballantine Reference Library, Random House.

My example: There's no better place in the MOB to find atticism practiced than at The Attic which regularly features superior, polished discourse in its more direct and concise form as demonstrated by drjonz or by the more florid and rhetorically ornamental Joey.

I post a weekly “Challenging Words” definition to call more attention to this delightful book and to promote interesting word usage in the blogosphere. I challenge other bloggers to work the current word into a post sometime in the coming week. If you manage to do so, please leave a comment or a link to where I can find it.

The Red Badge of Courage is a John Huston Civil War classic starring Audie Murphy and Bill Mauldin (yes, the WWII creator of the "Willie and Joe" cartoons). Barely over an hour long, the movie pretty much sticks to Stephen Crane's novel and features multiple passages read outloud by the film's narrator. While clearly a war movie about "courage", I found the most interesting embedded message here to be about the untested soldier Henry Fleming's struggles to match his confidence and self-image with what he wanted it to be or hoped it could be and with his perception of the expectations of others. Battle happens to be the ready setting for this story, but the essential conflict could have been depicted in many ways. At the beginning of the story Fleming and his Union comrades in arms have never been in battle and are bored with military life and useless drilling. Itching to fight (each other if they can't get at the Rebels) the men talk boisterously of the feats they will perform under fire and young Fleming joins in while alternately withdrawing into his doubts. He struggles because he's afraid he will be afraid, and because the realization of his fear appears to confirm the worst. Yet he doesn't want to consider himself a coward, or be considered a coward by his fellow troops or his family. He speaks and writes in ways meant to show that he will stand firm, but he has to question himself.

Battle looming or not, untested young men have to deal with the same concerns and hope they will rise to be among the best while fearing they will be among the worst, and the fear of failure can be more motivating than the fear of death itself. This movie is a good opportunity to look at the nature of courage, the influence of others around us in inspiring our best or most craven characteristics, and even to examine the role of faith in giving us a workable handle for grabbing hold of the world. It is also good preparation for young men (or older men) who have not been tested so that they know their doubts or thoughts are not unique to them.

Point to Ponder:
After the Rebels' first brief attack and retreat, and then after the last battle, Fleming and the others saw the world - and appreciated things - in a different way. Imagine yourself in those same moments; how would you describe the sensation?

Questions to ask:

1. Fleming was embarrassed first to have run, and then embarassed to be recognized for his fighting. Why do you think both were embarrassing to him?


2. What was the philosophy of the "happy soldier" (played by Andy Devine) that Fleming met the night after the first battle? Did this have an affect on Fleming?


3. Was it courage or another kind of fear that propelled Fleming into battle on the second day?


4. What effect did the actions of the soldiers who ran and the soldier's who stayed and fought have on Fleming? What consequences did his actions have on others on the first day and then on the second? Which behavior do you think was closest to his true character?


5. The narrator said, "He had performed his mistakes in the dark so he was still a man." If nobody sees what you do does it make a difference?


6. Even when Fleming confessed the truth to his friend he couldn't bring himself to tell the whole truth. Was this another kind of fear? How well did he confront and overcome this challenge? All in all, would you say he was brave, or a weasel, or something in between? Why?

Great quote:
"So it came to pass as he trudged from the place of blood and wrath his soul changed. He had been to touch the great death...and found that after all it was but the great death. Scars faded as flowers and the youth saw that the world was a world for him. He had rid himself of the red sickness of battle."

About Fundamentals in Film: this series began as a class I taught to junior high and high school boys as a way to use the entertainment media to explore concepts of honor, honesty, duty and accountability. The movies were selected to demonstrate these themes and as a contrast to television that typically either portrays men as Homer Simpsons or professional wrestlers, with little in between those extremes. I wrote questions and points to ponder for each movie to stimulate discussion and to get the boys to articulate their thoughts and reactions to each movie. I offer this series here on this blog for the benefit of parents or others looking for a fun but sometimes challenging way to reinforce these concepts in their own families or groups. As the list of films grows each week, feel free to use these guides and to mix and match movies according to your interests or those of your group. I'm also always open to suggestions for other movies that can be added to the series.

... and I'll bet the EckerNet didn't even know it had an airline!

Go here for Pilots Packing Heat.

HT: Portia Rediscovered.

Kevin the meanie tagged me with a meme.

1: Black and White or Color; how do you prefer your movies?
Colorful.

2: What is the one single subject that bores you to near-death?
Listening to discussions about wars in other countries.

3: MP3s, CDs, Tapes or Records: what is your favorite medium for prerecorded music?
CDs. And vinyls so I can kick it old-school.

4: You are handed one first class trip plane ticket to anywhere in the world and ten million dollars cash. All of this is yours provided that you leave and not tell anyone where you are going ... Ever. This includes family, friends, everyone. Would you take the money and ticket and run?
Heck yeah, I'd take it. I won't tell them where I'm going, but once I get there, I'll tell them where I am.
I'm so clever, I can't even believe it! heeheehee!

5: Seriously, what do you consider the world's most pressing issue now?

Well, since there are so many, I'll pick one that doesn't depress me too much:

So many people don't know how to dress themselves.
...okay *sniff*, I promised myself I wouldn't cry...

6: How would you rectify the world's most pressing issue?

I'd give those people my personal shopper business card.

7: You are given the chance to go back and change one thing in your life; what would that be?
Can I bank this one for later when I'm older?

8: You are given the chance to go back and change one event in world history, what would that be?
Adam screwing it all up for the rest of us.

9: A night at the opera, or a night at the Grand Ole' Opry --Which do you choose?
I don't know. Both would be good places to see and be seen! (I am the Diva, after all.)

10: What is the one great unsolved crime of all time you'd like to solve?
The question to the answer of life, the universe, and everything, i.e. 42. Even though that's not a crime. Oh, well.

11: One famous author can come to dinner with you. Who would that be, and what would you serve for the meal?
Lileks!

I'd serve lunchables and Hi-C.

12: You discover that John Lennon was right, that there is no hell below us, and above us there is only sky -- what's the first immoral thing you might do to celebrate this fact?
I'd move out of my parents' house, smoke a pack of cigarettes, get a tattoo and have my belly-button pierced aaand....

I'd make Kevin buy me two beers.


Bonus! Random act of the week: I counted all of my shoes and the census came in ... 33 pairs! (Can you guess who my role model is?)

Great post from Andy at Residual Forces yesterday, deboning the celebration of those hailing the decisions of three Californian anesthesiologists who refused to execute a convicted murderer and rapist on ethical grounds.

These doctors in California who have suddenly gotten ethics and won’t assist with the Death Penalty may be the best example of hypocrisy ever.

Here we have Legislatures demanding that Doctors prescribe the morning after abortion pills, against their will.

That Walmart must sell the Morning After abortion pill against their will.

The Supreme Court says that Doctors in Oregon can euthanize people. (That means assisting them to die)

Abortion are considered a medical procedure worthy of public financing.

Partial birth abortion is still acceptable round most parts.

But these doctors in Cali won’t help rid the world of a convicted x murderer and rapist because of their ethics.

Personally, I may not agree with the decisions these anesthesiologists made, but I respect their right to do so. I endorse so-called "conscience clauses". And as Andy points out, those who are happy by these particular actions might not be so supportive in other circumstances.

If they can stand up to a court order and refuse this, can other doctors refuse court orders and laws and protect other forms of life? Can doctors and pharmacists refuse to abort the unborn now? Will the ethics of every doctor be tolerated now?

On a related topic, go back and check out this classic from Craig Westover.

Noisy parties, stray dogs and the occasional wildlife intrusion by bats, gophers or a raccoon here and there sum up most of the inconveniences where I live.

(Sigh). That's probably why I've gotten so soft, at least compared to this story from the Toronto Globe and Mail:

Bear crashes hockey game, mom saves kids

By Paul Waldie
Toronto Globe and Mail

IVUJIVIK, Quebec — Lydia Angyiou's kids sure won't be giving her much trouble any more, now that they've seen her wrestle a 700-pound polar bear.

Angyiou lives in Ivujivik, a village of 300 people on the shore of Hudson Bay in northern Quebec.

One Wednesday evening earlier this month, Angyiou was walking near the village community center with her two sons when a group of children playing street hockey nearby started shouting and pointing frantically.

Angyiou, 41, turned around and saw a polar bear sizing up her 7-year-old son.

She told the children to run and raced around to get between the bear and her son. Then she started kicking and punching the animal, according to police reports.

In a flash, the bear swatted her in the face and she fell on her back. With the bear on top of her, Angyiou began kicking her legs in a bicycle-pedaling motion. She was swatted once more and rolled over, but the bear moved toward her again.

Siqualuk Ainalik heard the commotion and came rushing over. Seeing Angyiou wrestling with the bear, he ran to his brother's home, grabbed a rifle and headed back to the street. He fired a few warning shots.

The sound diverted the bear's attention from Angyiou just long enough for him to aim and fire again. According to police, Ainalik fired four shots into the bear before it finally died.

...

"I've been here 24 years and I've never seen this before," said Larry Hubert, a regional captain with the police force who arrived on the scene just after the bear was shot. "For sure, she saved the kids' lives."

Hubert has known Angyiou for 15 years and he can't believe she took on a bear. He said the bear measured eight feet in length and weighed at least 700 pounds.

Angyiou "is about 5-foot-nothing and 90 pounds on a wet day," Hubert said with a laugh. "She's pretty quiet. I'm surprised she went and did this.

Angyiou (who suffered only some scratches and a black eye) and Ainalik can join our Neighborhood Watch program any time.

HT: Amy Ridenour's National Center Blog.

I had a little lunch with the Llama Butchers today and found this intriguing link to the SPAM-ku page; a web-site devoted to haiku about SPAM®. No, not the annoying email, but the delightful pork particle product from our own Austin, Minnesota!

Reading through the site which features more than 19,000 poems to SPAM really got the creative (and other) juices flowing. Mmmm, SPAM - the smell, the slimy gelatin coating, the light pink color! Lord help me, but I love it! Here are some of my own SPAM-ku, touched by the processed pig muse:

How I Like It
One quarter inch thick,
Fried crispy on both sides with
toast, lettuce, mayo!

Pilgrimage
The Spam Museum,
a temple to temptation;
revelation comes.



The Monty Python diet
Egg spam spam bacon!
Lovely spam! Wonderful spam!
I like spam a lot!

The Next Generation
Sharing processed pork,
the Mall Diva likes it, too!
My work here is done.

The Food Capital of Southern Minnesota
Go to Austin, MN,
proud city of pork shoulders;
keep your Green Giant.

"After careful review by our government, I believe the transaction ought to go forward," Bush told reporters who had traveled with him on Air Force One to Washington. "I want those who are questioning it to step up and explain why all of a sudden a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard than a Great British company. I am trying to conduct foreign policy now by saying to the people of the world, `We'll treat you fairly.'" (Breitbart/AP)

Um, okay, Mr. President. How about, "Because the British haven't attacked us since 1812?" Not that that has to be the precedent, of course. Hey, I'd be willing to reconsider selling control of six of our largest ports to a Middle Eastern company in, say, maybe half that amount of time.

Update:

Related posts from other blogs: The Impudent Finger, Blogizdat, Bogus Gold, the Psycmeistr and Hammerswing.

Farheen Hakeem, 30, the Green Party candidate for mayor of Minneapolis, pointed out the large number of children at the rally who attend Twin Cities-area schools and said, "We are as much a part of society here as anywhere else in the world. We demand to be heard."

That was from one of the speakers at Sunday's peaceful (and isn't that front page news) Muslim rally in Minneapolis to protest the publication of caricatures of the prophet Mohammed. To their credit, many of those in attendance called for people of different faiths to live in peace, which might be construed as an apparent but gentle rebuke of the more violent Muslims who seem to have no quibble with the caricature they're making of their "religion of peace".

For Imani Jaafar-Mohammed, the sight of more than 1,000 Minnesota Muslims packed into a south Minneapolis gym Sunday for a noisy, emotional rally was exhilarating.

"We are living here among people who don't know anything about us, and we have come together to educate them peacefully," the 26-year-old activist and Woodbury attorney told the crowd, which erupted into passionate, in some quarters tearful, chants of "Peace! No more violence!" and "Allah-u-Akbar!" (God is great!)

OK, you've got my attention, educate me. In particular, tell me what your faith teaches about the character of God and whether grace, mercy and forgiveness are Godly traits mankind is supposed to emulate. Tell me if you believe it is easy to love those who love you, but more sacred to love your enemies or those who persecute you. And while you're at it, answer these questions for me:

1. What do you really think of the efforts this country and other western countries made on behalf of your Muslim brothers in Bosnia?


2. If insulting God is a capital offense, why does God need men to carry it out?


3. If this behavior is required by your religion, why do your brothers kill people who had nothing to do with that insult, in a part of the world that had no connection to the affront?


4. Do you condemn or condone this behavior?


5. Why do you rally now to protest those cartoons, but not earlier to protest the things done in the name of your faith?

Lest this be a one-sided conversation, permit me to offer some information that you might not know. For example, one of the speakers at the protest, Hassan Mohamud, an imam and director of the Islamic Law Institute at the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, had this to say:

"We want to show solidarity with every Muslim feeling pain," Mohamud told the crowd. "We want the U.S. government to take a position on this matter."

You see, the U.S. government already has taken a position on this matter, more than 200 years ago when our Constitution was written. It's the reason why you were able to hold your protest last Sunday with the expectation that the police not only wouldn't attack you, but that they'd protect you. One last question: could I expect the same respect in downtown Teheran, or Riyadh, or in Nigeria?

Readers outside of Minnesota might not be aware that this state is the first place where a group called Midwestern Heroes is running a series of ads featuring Iraq war veterans and families of soldiers killed in Iraq. The vets and families speak out in favor of America's involvement and positive accomplishments in Iraq in an effort to counter the typical reporting and commentary on most MSM outlets.

The local Democratic party is reacting as predictably as Islamists to the publishing of cartoon Mohammeds - and using the same tactics, demanding that the ads not be shown and urging the faithful (the Party faithful, that is) to protest. (The ads can be viewed here.) As succinctly reported on Powerline:

Brian Melendez is the chairman of the Minnesota Democratic Party. This past Thursday Melendez called a press conference and condemned the first of the two advertisements — the one featuring the veterans — as "un-American, untruthful and a lie."

That ad features Lt. Col. Bob Stephenson, who is the co-chair of Minnesota Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission. This is a man, Powerline notes, who has 10 years of active duty experience and is being called "un-American" for publicly supporting the U.S.'s foreign policy.

Apparently, daring to question someone's patriotism is okay after all as long as that person (or persons) disagrees with you. (This will be a great relief to Jeff, who also has this post detailing the advertising controversy and the parties involved.)

The Minnesota Twins, like their spiritual counterparts Faith and Hope, opened training camp today as pitchers and catchers reported. Of course it is all just so much wasted effort according to the team's own Cassandra, Strib columnist Patrick Ruesse, has read the augers and pronounced doom for the lads this season.

This is not unusual for Reusse except that the prophecy comes so early. Usually his storm crow warnings don't begin until around Memorial Day and then hit full-caw around the All-Star break. It seems that the earlier he can make his pronouncement, though, the better he likes it. Last year there was a note of pent-up triumph in his mid-summer requiem, stemming from his failed predictions of the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Fortune-telling is a difficult business, however, and typically an unwelcome one so I won't heap further coals on Patrick's head, especially since he typically produces a good column as often as Nick Coleman produces a bad one.

There is something about baseball however that often leads writers toward the mystical. It's a game of innumerable numbers that somehow still defies statistical prediction, opening the door to divination and talk of curses, hexes and can't miss phenoms. The facts, however, do appear grim for the Twins at this stage.

Their division has gotten better, at least on paper (but we know what happens when that paper gets wet with tears). They had definite, well-known needs coming out of last season and seemingly little to show for the off-season machinations. Where is the power-hitter the team has needed since Kent Hrbek traded his cleats for bowling shoes and fly balls for fly rods? Where is the reliable, cool-headed hand for the hot corner who can both make plays at third and get runners home from there as well? How can the offense strike fear in the hearts of pitchers not already on its own team?

Ah, but faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen (see Hebrews 11:1), and we're certainly hoping for a lot and seeing little at this stage so maybe that's a good sign. Rondell White should replaced Jacque Jones' numbers for less than half the price and may act as if he's actually seen a strike zone and not just heard about it. Tony Batista might have the range of a fireplug at third base, but the durability of one as well - something missing from Corey Koskie's resume. A Kyle Lohse for Hank Blaylock trade was very intriguing to me, but Lohse, for all his maddening inconsistency, is still young and has both experience and upside. With this presumably being Radke's last year the Twins had to think long and hard about parting with such a commodity even with guys like Scott Baker and Francisco Liriano breathing fire and throwing smoke in the wings.

As others have said, the key to the Twins improvement this year will be the improvement of it's existing young core. Guys like Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Jason Bartlett have to improve but part of baseball's allure for me is that it is a game where you can see steady improvement. This might be the year that power springs from Mauer's bat the way it suddenly burst from Kirby Puckett's after his first couple of slap-hitting years. As for Morneau, baseball has definitely become a year-round game and a healthy and active off-season should serve him better than his ill-fated and illness-plagued 05 off-season. Bartlett is still an unknown quantity but he reminds me a little of the way Greg Gagne played when he got his first opportunities with the team and perhaps he'll emerge as a confident and capable player. Jason Kubel is intriguing but I don't expect much from him this year. He may have recovered from the knee surgery but he can't get back the at-bats he missed last year and with few exceptions you have to have hundreds of these to become a factor.

But, as the poem says, "somewhere the sun is shining..." and right now that is Florida. Baseball season is coming, and I can't wait.

Petard
(pi TARD) n.

A petard was a heavy explosive engine of war, filled with gunpowder and fastened to gates to blow them in or to walls, barricades, etc., to smash them and form a breach. The soldier whose job it was to fire the device was always in danger of blowing himself up as well, in which case he would wind up hoist with his own petard. In Shakespeare's Hamlet (Act III, scene 4) the prince says to the queen:

...'tis the sport to have the engineer
Hoist with his own petar...
But I will delve one yard below their mines,
And blow them at the moon.

(Shakespeare spelt it petar, possibly influenced by the French pronunciation of petard in which the -d is silent.) Hamlet was speaking of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, commissioned by King Claudius to escort him to England and see to his death; but as the play develops, it is they who will be done in, and thus hoist with their own petard. To be thus hoist is to be caught in the trap laid for someone else. This was indeed the fate of certain inventors of torture devices and dreadful places of imprisonment, like the Bastille built by Hugh Aubriot, Provost of Paris c. 1360, where he was the first to be imprisoned. In the Book of Esther 7:9 Haman was hanged on the high gallow he had devised for the hanging of Mordecai, and the witch-hunter Matthew Hopkins, tried for witchcraft under the rules he had set up, was himself executed as a wizard in 1647. Petard has an amusing derivation: via Middle French petard, related to peter (to fart), from the Latin peditum (breaking wind), neuter form of peditus, past participle of pedere (to fart). In this age of jet propulsion, doesn't that derivation give hoist with one's own petard a new twist?

From the book, “1000 Most Challenging Words” by Norman W. Schur, ©1987 by the Ballantine Reference Library, Random House.

My example: The Democrats may have been hoist with their own petard in 2004 when they turned the Wellstone funeral into a campaign rally.

I post a weekly “Challenging Words” definition to call more attention to this delightful book and to promote interesting word usage in the blogosphere. I challenge other bloggers to work the current word into a post sometime in the coming week. If you manage to do so, please leave a comment or a link to where I can find it.

I work at a store that sells formal dresses; and yes, it is located in a mall. While working Saturday, I had my .15 sec brush with fame.

A TV network began filming this show called "Instant Beauty Pageant" today. The idea was that a camera crew would go around the mall and ambush people to be in this pageant, give them money and send them to certain stores in search of a dress, swimsuit, whatever. They would only have two and a half hours to find everything, and the actual pageant would be the next day.

All the girls I work with and I knew that this was going to take place, and we thought we we're ready. We weren't.

I was straightening dresses, and I turned around and BOOM! there they were. A couple of girls and a camera crew (like, three cameras) were invading my space. Being camera-shy, I retreated to a corner of the store I reckoned they wouldn't really be interested in, but nooOOoo, they came right at me with all the cameras pointed at my face, which I'm sure looked exactly like a deer's, caught in the headlights.

After they left (just as quickly as they came, actually), we all took a deep breath and tried to calm ourselves. I told them that we were going to be discovered, and that they would want me to be in a horror movie for them, because I'm so good at facial expressions. Scary Movie: DiVa, anyone?

Any day now a 45-pound bale of a green, grassy substance known to produce a sense of euphoria and a case of the munchies will show up at my doorstep. People in brown or blue uniforms will have been paid off. No, my connection isn't named Raoul (as far as I know) and the transaction won't involve a shoebox full of five and ten dollar bills. It's all been handled online and funds transferred via PayPal.

And it's all because my wife likes sticking it to "The Man."

The bale in question consists of timothy hay, and we're getting it because our guinea pig has a hay habit that makes Cheech and Chong look like a Red Hat Society bridge club. My frugal wife, the Reverend Mother, is also known as the Finance Minister and is our chief procurement agent (that's because one of my titles is Minister of Fritter and Waste). It bugged her to make repeated trips to PetSmart or Petco to buy, well, grass. Especially when she figured out it was costing about $2.50 a pound. OK, that's not much I suppose as pet fodder goes, but it just seemed to her that there couldn't be that much value added to preparing it for resale.

Sure enough, a little poking around on-line and she had a source ready to cut, bale and deliver for just under a buck a pound. You really can get just about anything on the Internet!

Now it's just left to me to imagine the neighbor's reaction when they see this green bale left on our doorstep, or what her new friends on the city police force might say.

Do you think they'll believe us if we say it's for personal use?

Update:

I received a telephone call from a mysterious reader to this blog Sunday night. The caller said, "Hey, man, I've got the stuff."

My response: "Dave's not here."

This week's movie is Conagher. If you're looking for a film to demonstrate certain manly virtues it's hard to go wrong with a movie based on a Louis L'Amour book and starring the laconic Sam Elliott. Elliott plays Conn Conagher, a seasoned cowhand with the highest personal integrity; not looking for trouble, willing to avoid it if he can, but able to deal with it efficiently if the need be. The role could have easily been a caricature but in Elliott's hands (and face) it comes off as note perfect. In fact, the acting throughout the film, originally made for TNT, is first rate: Kathryn Ross (not afraid to show some lines in her face) and veteran character actor Barry Corbin are excellent and there's even a small but significant appearance by Festus himself, Ken Curtis. Shot on location in Colorado, the scenery is spectacular and even the minor characters look as if they've just stepped from a Frederic Remington or Charles Russell painting.

The action revolves around one man, Conagher, making a stand for doing what's right in a wide open land with little "controlling legal authority" where many are looking to take advantage of others any way they can. There's also a strong but largely unspoken love story woven throughout that is heightened by the sense of loneliness and isolation that is well illustrated by the cinematography. For all of Conagher's rawboned toughness, he's also consciously well-mannered and respectful around the widow Evie Teale and her children. His silences and discomfort are not because of boorishness or a lack of confidence, but because he knows himself so well and doesn't think he'd be good for her. As he asks Charlie McCloud (another interesting character study) at one point, "What have I got to offer a woman like that?" To which McCloud replies, "Why don't you let her answer that question?"

As I mentioned earlier, Conagher doesn't go looking for trouble with other folks, but just by the way he goes about doing his business he convicts others of their shortcomings and causes them to feel as if they need to prove themselves - for good or ill - as a result. Conflict and teachable moments abound throughout the movie as a result without bogging down into preachy dialogue. You can watch it with the whole family and everyone will enjoy the story and get something different out of it.

Here are some questions I'd ask a viewer:

1. What did it mean to Conagher to "Ride for the brand"?


2. What does it mean to have integrity in a world with little in the way of effective law enforcement?


3. Chris Mahler, Kiowa Staples and Smoke Parnell were members of the Ladder 5 gang that Conagher was resisting. Aside from the conflict over the cattle-rustling, however, each man was challenged in some way by Conager's personal character. Can you describe what it was that bothered Phillips and Mahler the most, and the way Parnell regarded Conagher?


4. Describe Evie Teale's character. Do you think it makes a difference in the story that the children are her step-children?


5. Describe what kind of men Charlie McCloud and Seaborn Tay are.

Points to Ponder:

• Independence is apparently understood and highly valued in the part of the country where the story takes place. Why do you think that is, and how is this expressed by the different characters?


• Johnny McGivern's father died when he was very young. How would you describe his personality and how these factors influenced his decisions? Do you think Laban might have turned out to be like him as well? Why or why not?

Great Quotes:
Laban: "Who gave you the black eye?"
Conn: "Nobody gave it to me. I fought for it."

Tile Coker (under Conn's gun): "East? But that's a 50 mile walk!"
Conn: "That's the life of an outlaw. Tough, ain't it?"

Today is the one-year blogiversary of The Night Writer and I find myself amazed. Considering that I didn't have more than a general idea of what I was going to write about when I started or even more than one or two ideas on Day 1, I'm amazed that I've made it this far, amazed that it went by so fast, amazed by the number of new people I've met electronically and in person in this time, amazed that there have been 398 posts (counting this one) and amazed that according to Site Meter there have been more than 17,000 visitors to this page. That's a slow week for Mitch Berg (and now JB Doubtless will probably slam me for mentioning traffic - see #55) but I have to admit that it's something I pay attention to.

I know a lot of bloggers say that they blog for their own satisfaction, and that's a big part of it for me as well - if it wasn't amusing me I wouldn't do this. But I'll tell you, if I did this just for my own entertainment there would not have been anywhere near 400 posts here. The thought that someone might read your blog can be enough to get you started; knowing that people are reading it can be powerfully motivating and I've tried to put something of interest here every weekday (and there are good days and bad days). I've said before that since I can't sing or play an instrument this blog is my garage band; my chance to jam and vent my muse. Thanks for being there.

My first post compared having a blog to having a CB radio. I started about the time that Eason-gate was reaching its peak, and I later got my first mini-lanche in writing about Terri Schiavo. I've written about trips I've taken, things my family has experienced (pretty interesting times for us when I stop to think about it), wild animals in my home, wild senators on television and Vikings sex cruises — and enjoyed cruising through the MOB and the other blogs to see what others are writing about. Thinking about it now, I have no idea how many words I've written in the past year. I wonder if I had spent the same amount of time and effort each evening in writing a book if it would be finished by now. It's doubtful because without this blogging experience over the last 365 days I never would have thought I'd have the gumption to come this far. Someday perhaps I'll turn my time and attention to a book and let this lapse, but for now I feel as if I'm in a good vein and I'm going to mine it a bit longer.

One thing I know for sure is that if I hadn't met so many wonderful people through their blogs and the trips to Keegan's I wouldn't have made it to this anniversary. It's fitting that today is also a Trivia Night so I'll be heading over there for sure. Leo, my first blogging buddy, is going to be in town from St. Cloud and I don't want to miss him or any of the other regulars (and irregulars). I instituted a new rule for my blogging daughters (something else I didn't expect when I started this): no Keegan's for them unless they've posted something that week. This must be pretty motivating because they both "got 'er done" before this week was two days old.

Well, another day and another post done. Now, what the heck am I going to write about tomorrow?

Update:

Shucks. Doug noticed it was my blogiversary even before I mentioned it. He's got a sharp eye and, according to my Powerblogs statistics, more people have come to this blog from his than any other external referrer. An extra big slice of blogiversary cake for him!

Update:

Pssst! It's Leo's blogoversary on Sunday!

I don't think there's a bigger freeze baby in the state than my wife. Flannel-lined pants, three or four layers of shirts and sweaters and afghans strategically placed around the house are standard for her between Labor Day and Memorial Day. During this time she's likely to say that my best feature is the BTUs I put out. This report suggests that our retirement years might be golden but cold.

Scientist predicts 'mini Ice Age'

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- A Russian astronomer has predicted that Earth will experience a "mini Ice Age" in the middle of this century, caused by low solar activity.

Khabibullo Abdusamatov of the Pulkovo Astronomic Observatory in St. Petersburg said Monday that temperatures will begin falling six or seven years from now, when global warming caused by increased solar activity in the 20th century reaches its peak, RIA Novosti reported.

The coldest period will occur 15 to 20 years after a major solar output decline between 2035 and 2045, Abdusamatov said.

Dramatic changes in the earth's surface temperatures are an ordinary phenomenon, not an anomaly, he said, and result from variations in the sun's energy output and ultraviolet radiation.

The Northern Hemisphere's most recent cool-down period occurred between 1645 and 1705. The resulting period, known as the Little Ice Age, left canals in the Netherlands frozen solid and forced people in Greenland to abandon their houses to glaciers, the scientist said.

Man, I hope this won't interfere with my golf game.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I've always liked Valentine's Day.

In school (when I actually went to school) we would always have what we called "Love Week". Each day would have a different theme, e.g. Dress-up Day, 70s Day, Western Day, Clash Day. There would be a contest for the best costume, and I (Me! The Mall Diva!) actually won clash day one year.

You can keep your snide comments to yourselves.

During the week sometime, we would take a field trip to the bowling alley and spend the afternoon there in our crazy get-ups, which got us some strange looks.

Today, my girl-friends and I went bowling to keep the old tradition alive. It was pretty fun, and apparently it's pretty amusing to watch me bowl, according to my cousin. Pssh. What-ever.

Anyway, I betcha can't guess who my Valentine is.


Random Thought of the Week:

Lucky Charms-"They're Magically Delicious!"

Hmmmm....

Because they're not delicious on their own, so they have to be magically enhanced? They also cause thieving behavior in small children, just ask Lucky.

I'm keeping my eyes open for a good cell phone deal. It's mind-boggling to keep track of all the features that are available now: camera-equipped, web-ready, text messaging, GPS, walkie-talkie, hands-free, digital, tri-mode, biodegradable.

Biodegradable?

From Zblog:

In 2004, the University of Warwick, Motorola and materials firm PVAXX developed a biodegradable cell phone case with a hidden sunflower seed in it. When the phone died, users were instructed to plant the case and simply wait for the summer bloom. Needless to say, the prototype generated a great deal of enthusiasm from environmentalists across the globe and they have been waiting patiently for its official release in the stores.

So where is the biodegradable cell phone today? It turns out, Japan got the job done first. Made from potatoes, corn and kenaf, the outer shell of the NEC N701 rots and then completely decomposes when you toss it in the compost pile. For those of you pining for your very own, you might have to wait just a bit longer. The NEC N701 is only available in Japan but a similar model will probably be hitting European markets next year, just in time for the fall harvest.

Made from potatoes and corn? What a great phone for the Minnesota emergency survival kit in the trunk of your car! If you break down on a remote section of our tundra you can use the phone to call for help. Out of range of a cell? Eat the phone!

I can't believe how big a deal is being made of Dick Cheney accidentally shooting someone while bird hunting, and the fuss about the "news blackout." Now, if he'd shot Scooter Libby I could maybe understand it, but this seems a tad out of proportion.

I thought about making a list of people that I'd like to see added to the VP's guest list for future hunts, but I'm really not comfortable wishing harm on anybody. Instead, here's another little list; which of the following would you least like to do:

• Go bird-hunting with Dick Cheney.


• Play golf with Jerry Ford.


• Sit in a boat with Jimmy Carter while being attacked by a rabbit.


• Have sushi with George Bush, Sr.


• Play "Truth or Dare" with Bill Clinton.


• Watch cartoons with Osama bin Ladin.


• Go for a drive with Teddy Kennedy.

That's all for tonight, folks. I've got three lovely ladies expecting creative hand-made (or computer-made) Valentine's Day cards tomorrow.

I went rock climbing on Sunday.

To do it I had to beg and plead mom to take me (even though she wanted to go as well as me). Then I had to sit through a looong car ride (luckily I had a book.) When we finally got there, we found out that you have to make an appointment before you come. Oh the humanity!

Fortunately the lady at the front desk took pity on us and found someone who would belay me. (For some odd reason, Mom didn't want to climb the 42-foot-high rock wall.) With many squeaks of fear when I looked down, and a lot of asking about where I should put my foot next, and many outrageous responses ("Oh, you only have to put your left foot about 4 feet up and 2 feet over!") I reached the top. I conquered the 42-foot-high wall!

The guy who was belaying me said to "knock on wood for luck" when I reached the top. That wasn't in the job description! The wood was 2 feet above me! Somehow I managed it and rappelled to the bottom. Mom was so proud. (In state fairs, whenever I tried rock climbing, I only got about a third of the way up.) And the best part (besides reaching the top) was that we didn't even have to pay!

Ciao for now,
Tiger Lilly.

Umbrageous
(um BRAY just) adj.

Umbrageous has two entirely distinct meanings. Its principal meaning is "shady," in the sense of creating or providing shade, like the famus "...spreading chestnut tree..." (in the poem by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1807-1882) under which "...the village smithy stands..." An umbrageous tree, then, is a shade tree. But an umbrageous person (umbrageous here refers back to the word umbrage, a feeling of offense, resentment, and annoyance, usually found in the expression to take umbrage) is one quick to take offense. When umbrageousness reaches the point of mental disorder, it becomes paranoia. Umbrageous is from Latin umbratus, past participle of umbrare (to shade or overshadow), and it may be the feeling of being overshadowed that creates the umbrage. Umbrageous trees provide shade; umbrageous people feel overshadowed.

From the book, “1000 Most Challenging Words” by Norman W. Schur, ©1987 by the Ballantine Reference Library, Random House.

My example:People with umbrageous tendencies should avoid reading editorial cartoons.

I post a weekly “Challenging Words” definition to call more attention to this delightful book and to promote interesting word usage in the blogosphere. I challenge other bloggers to work the current word into a post sometime in the coming week. If you manage to do so, please leave a comment or a link to where I can find it.

You can trust a Robert Louis Stevenson tale to work in plenty of swashbuckling action, hair-breadth escapes ... and moral clarity. Kidnapped doesn't disappoint, and this 2004 made-for-tv adaptation (don't confuse it with the earlier PBS version that plays fast and loose with history and the book) delivers a rollicking story with plenty of villains and heroes. Young Davie Balfour (Brian McCardie) is the rightful heir to the Shaws estate in the Lowlands but his miserly and covetous uncle conspires to have Davie kidnapped for eventual sale into slavery in order to keep the estate for himself. On the ship carrying him away he meets another traveler who didn't intend to be there, Alan Breck Stuart (Armand Assante), a supporter and agent for the Scottish king in exile, Bonnie Prince Charles. Stuart is a fugitive from the English trying to smuggle gold to Charles from his still loyal subjects after the failed Jacobite rebellion. Together they make a plan and escape the ship and its evil crew and find themselve cast up again on the shores of Scotland.

Stuart is a man of action and experience, while Davie is quiet and well-educated. They make an unlikely, and sometimes unwilling, team as they try to stay one step ahead of the British soldiers, complete Stuart's mission and regain Davie's inheritance. Despite their different backgrounds and circumstances, both are clearly men of honor who thereby bring out the worst in those who would harm them. Greed drives many of the actions of others, while some are in it for power. Stuart remains steadfast to his cause and his loyalty to his king, while Davie is "betwixt and between" in his political sentiments but committed to acting honestly and justly.

This version is nearly three hours long and Assante's Scots brogue is as uneven as the terrain the men find themselves traipsing around, but the story is fun and the on-location scenery is spectacular. It is an entertaining movie for the whole family with several good talking points on the role and importance of honor, duty and honesty. It also has a stirring recitation from Psalms 35 from an innocent leader condemned to die.

Points to Ponder:
The role of clan feuds and long-standing enmity between the people of Scotland and the role this has played in the country's history.

Questions to answer:

1. Why did Davie not open the envelope his father left, even though it had to do with him?


2. What question did Stuart ask Campbell the Red Fox that put him on the spot and proved that Campbell was lying to him? Why wouldn't Campbell answer him?


3. Why did James of the Glen surrender himself to Mr. Reed, the agent of King George? Why was this necessary?


4. Describe the life of Uncle Ebenezer and the use he got out of his wealth.


5. How did Davie change over the course of his adventures, and in what ways did he not? What affect, if any, did he have on Alan Breck Stuart?

Great quotes:
(Despite my politics) "As a gentleman, it is my duty to see justice done if I can." (Davie Balfour)

Oh great, the week that Bogus Gold links this film series turns out to be a week when I've been behind the 8-ball at work and tied up at home. As such I haven't gotten all the way through this week's film, a 3-hour version of Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped.

I've got the day off to do birthday things with Tiger Lilly, but we're just about to go to Barnes & Noble for her present — a shopping spree! That will keep her occupied afterwards for a little while (she reads at a faster wpm than I do!) and I hope to finish this week's film.

For what it's worth, I'm seriously thinking about re-starting a version of the Fundamentals in Film class that was the genesis for this series a couple of years ago. There's another crop of young teen boys that have come along and I have an idea for a regular (perhaps as often as bi-weekly) father/son hoagie-and-a-movie (plus discussion) gathering. Guests or regular participants outside our group will be welcome. If you'd like to get on a mailing list for upcoming movies and times leave a comment or email me and I'll be happy to keep you in the loop as I try to get this going.

Nearly four years after our first miraculous birth (and here), my wife and I decided to have a second child. We brought the topic up with our eldest at dinner one evening.

"Mall Diva," (she wasn't the Diva yet, of course), "we've decided to ask God for another baby."
"Oh good, a little sister!"
"Well, no, we might ask for a little brother."
"Too late."
"Too late?"
"Yeah, I already asked Him for a little sister."
"Oh, what did He say?"
"Fine!"

Well, rather than have a crisis of faith at such an early age, we decided that we would agree with her for a sister. We did have some other specifications in mind, however, so we made our list and took it God. We asked for a little girl with a sweet disposition and many of the same characteristics we'd been blessed with (without asking) in her sister. Almost as an afterthought my wife threw in, "Oh, and God, red hair and blue eyes would be really cute. Amen!" My wife then went off of the Pill and we awaited developments, which weren't long in coming.

Over the ensuing months people would ask us if we knew what we were going to have. Our response was always, "We asked God for a girl." Usually we'd get a response such as, "Uhhhh-huh. So, what do you think about what's going on in the Middle East?" Suffice it to say that we seldom went on to say, "Oh yeah? Well she's going to have red hair and blue eyes, too!"

Came the day twelve years ago (actually, nearly two weeks past her due date) our little special order was induced to appear. Sure enough, a little girl and, oh my, not just a dusting of maybe reddish-colored hair but long, thick (for a baby) carrot-bright hair! I told my wife, but she couldn't see for herself because the nurses wrapped our daughter right up and pulled one of those little stocking caps over her head. It was a couple of hours later when things had settled down a bit and my wife had some quiet time to nurse that she decided to pull the stocking cap off and gasped. Misty-city, as a friend of mine used to say.

Have you ever felt as if God was winking at you? That was what I felt like. I "knew" in my mind that He answers prayer because of what we'd already experienced in our marriage, but this was an extra little touch at once exhilarating and humbling. The day that we had her dedicated at church I told the congregation that God had now sent me two confirmations to bolster my faith that I'd never be able to forget. I compared it to God leading the Israelites through the wilderness with a cloud by day and a fire by night - and left it to them to decide which of my daughters was which.

My cookie! My cookie! Geez, this guy's been nothing but trouble.

Which one was the pumpkin?

And, of course, He is a God of abundance. We not only got everything we asked for in spirit and temperment (and hair and, yes, blue eyes), but even more than we could have hoped. Despite her blogging persona, Tiger Lilly has the most amazing and compassionate heart, quick to obey and eager to serve others without even thinking about it. She was strong enough to hold her head unsupported the day she was born, and stood up and started walking without fanfare - or warning to her parents - when she was ten and half months old. She's always been curious about everything and adventurous and ready to try just about anything (except where food is concerned).



We couldn't have asked for more. We couldn't be more proud. Happy 12th birthday, Tiger Lilly!

A normal but nasty strain of flu is circulating (see here and here ). It appears to run its course in a couple of days but with flu there is also a risk of getting a secondary streptococcal infection leading to pneumonia, bloodstream infections or meningitis, which can be deadly. In fact, with concerns about an avian flu pandemic it is worth noting that many of those who died in the 1918 Spanish Flu outbreak (to which the avian flu is closely related genetically) actually died from pneumonia that set in with the flu.

While pneumonia has been effectively treated with antibiotics in the past, the disease is becoming more resistant. The strongest protection now may come in the form of pneumococcal vaccinations. These won't prevent the flu virus, but can stop secondary pneumococcal infections from taking advantage of an already weakened victim. The Minnesota Department of Health does an excellent job of providing information about pneumonia shots as well as information on how this can affect the impact of the avian flu.

(HT: Z-Plus Partners Blog).

I think the redesign of this blog is finished, unless my behind-the-scenes designer has more tweaks or alternative templates in mind. I love the clean, orderly new look (that reflects nothing of the state of my mind or my desk). Mucho thanks to my friend Tom at The Jestus Company (graphic and web design) for the much needed facelift.

You've probably heard that there are three elements to any job: quality, speed and affordability - and you get to pick two. I'm pleased to say Tom is a good bet to go 3-for-3. Check him out.

If my review of the documentary Beyond the Gates of Splendor was interesting to you and you happen to be in the vicinity of the Miracle Centre church at the intersection of 21st Ave. South and Southview Boulevard in South St. Paul tonight, we'll be showing this film to our youth group. Feel free to drop in, we'll start promptly at 7:00 p.m.

This documentary is the predecessor to the movie now in theaters, End of the Spear, and was produced by the same people who did the movie.

HT: Chris Muir's Day by Day.

DFL state senator and blogger John Lesch of St. Paul is supposedly on his way home from Iraq after a shorter than expected, self-sponsored fact-finding trip that has earned him more than a few incredulous looks — and a couple of official butt-chewings according to an article in today's St. Paul Pioneer-Press.

Lesch set off with a few contacts, a satellite phone, a laptop, no visa and barely any cash, making his way to Baghdad via Amsterdam and Damascus - spending some tense hours with Syrian security police before being allowed on a flight to Baghdad. Upon arrival there he was almost immediately deported by Iraqi officials before getting permission to enter the country. He's been reporting his misadventures on his blog, Down the Rabbit Hole, but his hopes of going largely unnoticed while in country seem to have failed.

State Rep. John Lesch of St. Paul reportedly left Iraq after a lecture from an angry Iraqi official — and just a week after he flew to the Middle East to tour the war zone on his own.

Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a U.S. military spokesman, confirmed Monday that Lesch had left, but offered no further information about where the 33-year-old, two-term DFLer was heading. Neither Lesch's brother, Jim, nor friends in Minnesota who had been in contact with the lawmaker knew his whereabouts Monday.

But Iraqi and U.S. officials expressed their relief he had left the country the United States invaded in 2003.

"This grandstanding has no place here," Johnson said. "Stay home."
Had something happened to Lesch, he added, untold numbers of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers would have been obliged to endanger themselves to help him.

Mithal Alusi, founder of the Democratic Party of the Iraqi Nation, said he spoke with Lesch shortly after he arrived last week in Baghdad and quickly reprimanded him. Alusi has been a victim of violence since the invasion and has dodged several assassination attempts. His two sons were slain in January 2005. "Do you know what would happen if the terrorists took you as a hostage? Kalashnikov to your head. You with your passport, crying. And all of the world in danger. Just because of you!" Alusi recounted in an interview with Knight Ridder.

"I told him, 'You are crazy.' I don't like to talk to politicians this way, but he made me very sad."

Alusi asked if Lesch had any hobbies and said Lesch answered that he liked watching movies: "I told him you have watched too many James Bond movies."

Alusi said that had a U.S. state lawmaker been taken hostage, it would have exhausted the country's strained resources.

"We are so lucky he didn't die" here, he said. "Can you imagine what will happen here? … I told him, 'Don't do it again!' "

After reading Lesch's blog posts I can tell you that he is an excellent writer — and an idiot. His account is both funny and as horrifically compelling as watching a blind child trying to cross the interstate. It will also convince you, if you had any doubts, that there is a God as Lesch constantly ran into people who went out of their way to help him out and tried to keep him alive. While he did take some precautions he largely abandoned his fate to the winds.

While the U.S. authorities have confirmed Lesch has left Iraq, no one is certain if he is indeed heading home. Given his posts so far, it is not unimaginable that he might still try to get to Mosul or Kirkuk. If I were to run into him in St. Paul I don't know whether I'd kick his ass or buy him a beer or both, but I sincerely hope his adventure is short-lived. Better it than him.

Update:

The link to Down the Rabbit Hole has been fixed.

Update:

The PiPress has an update. According to a spokesman, Lesch will not try to re-enter Iraq and will instead spend time travelling in Europe before heading home in time for the opening of the legislative session March 1. My guess is he might run into more than a few Muslims there - or he might want to check out New Brighton.

I was driving around running errands last night, pretty much tuning out the commercials as they came on the radio when the absurdity of something being advertised struck me like, well, like a falling star.

The radio commercial was advertising the ultimate romantic Valentine's Day gift: for just $54 you can name a star after your beloved. Not that this is new, this idea has been around for some time and the ads pop-up this time of year on schedule along with the ones for beauty spa gift certificates. (Nothing shows your lady how lovely you think she is like giving her an all-day pass to a beauty spa. Why not just get her a pair of pants and say, "I thought you'd like these because they won't make you look fat.")

Back to the star thing. $54? For what? I mean, what exactly is the company delivering here? Just like those pork belly futures you bought, a star is never actually going to show up on your front porch (though if either should happen, run!). So what we're talking about here is a certificate, some flowery language and a nice envelope. Dang, I know I can do that for my readers, and it would only cost you, oh, about $34.95. Sure, they throw in a "star map" and directions for finding "your" star but even Peter Pan can do that and besides, how are you really going to know? It's not as if you're ever going to be able to drive by and look at it, or use it as collateral on a loan.

Oh sure, they tell you your star is registered with the International Star Registry, but don't you kind of question the jurisdiction of something that's merely "international"? Wouldn't you feel better if it was the "Galaxy-wide Star Registry"? Furthermore, that's just darn right presumptous. How do we know they have legal title? What if some operation on another planet has already claimed that particular star? Are you going to have to go to court on Betelgeuse to resolve your claim?

Look, if you want to offer her some grand, intangible gesture then just tell her you had her name tattoed directly on your heart, rather than over it. If she doesn't believe you, give her a certificate.

Who said it?


Just like in the movie, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, there's more to the crime than meets the eye. The "cartoon intifadeh" started last week over some cartoons that appeared in European papers back in ... September. Perhaps someone has been keeping the raw meat in the freezer until it was needed. Who? Who might do such a thing? And why?

The answer (or part of it) might be in this article from today's Washington Times. The story also features a photo of another cute couple: Syrian Pesident Bashar Assad and radical Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

As Jessica Rabbit might say, "Why don't you do right, like some other men do?"

The thing that makes the Super Bowl one of the biggest social events of the year are the commercials. Yeah, a championship football game is a big deal and but it is the commercials that attracts the non-football fan to the party, or at least gives them a way to participate in the day if they've been dragged along. Plus we all know the big bucks that get lavished on these ads so we hope to see something really distinctive: either super funny or ground-breaking...or spectacularly bad so we can feel smarter than the people who just threw promising careers out the window.

Humor has the biggest appeal and there were several ads that were laugh outloud funny this year, but after awhile I started to notice a common thread to gags that got the biggest reaction. I'll list these, and you see if you can pick it out:

• FedEx Caveman


• Hidden Bud Lights


• Bud Light Grizzly (save yourself)


• Michelob Ultra touch football


• Kick Ass Scarecrow (Coke)

The pay-off on all of these is something violent happening to someone (or something). The Sierra Mist airport metal detector ad was funny, too, while merely implying an unfortunate event about to happen.I know, people have been slipping on banana peels since the days of Vaudeville, and in these commercials the gags are well set up, but it just seems as if the advertising pendulum has swung from bouncing breasts to bouncing people off of things. Chalk it up to Terry Tate, office linebacker, I suppose and a certain amount of boob saturation. That's not necessarily a bad thing but it does make you kind of wonder why these got such big laughs (or maybe it was just the group I was with). Of this group, my favorites were the FedEx and Bud Light grizzly ads.

Best ads
The ads I thought were the best overall, however, include the commercials from CareerBuilder (chimps and jackasses) and the Ameriquest "Don't judge too quickly" ads, one featuring a fly and a fibrillator and the other dealing with unfortunate airplane turbulence. The humor in both the Ameriquest ads revolves around social awkwardness instead of outright pain and destruction - but again we're laughing at someone else's discomfort. Both actually made me think of the Southwest airlines "Want to get away?" series that has been running for the past few years. My favorite ad of the day, however, was the Budweiser Clydesdale football game, this year with a "streaker" (though, like the cowboy said, "I didn't need to see that.")

Worst ads
I've been in and around the advertising business for many years, so I know that you don't get asked to do a Super Bowl commercial unless you've demonstrated some serious chops. Still, I've got to wonder what was going through people's heads when they approved some of these ads for this year's game. For one, I can't stand the weird King in the Burger King ads, probably in the same way some people are freaked out by clowns. This particular ad, with the Whopperettes dressed as Whopper ingredients was jaw-droppingly bad. Par for the course for BK, however, as they have historically had some of the worst commercials in history (anyone remember Herb?).

Likewise the Diet Pepsi can ads were overblown productions of very thin concepts. Maybe if you're already a Diet Pepsi drinker you might enjoy seeing your little buddy mixing with celebrities, but nothing in these efforts gave me any reason to try the beverage. And don't get me started on "brown and bubbly" - what's the product benefit of that? Maybe if you're selling laxitives (I told you not to get me started).

Oh well, you can review all of these ads for yourself here. Which did you like best, or hate the most?

[Updated with photos! Scroll down.]

The Super Bowl has been a part of my life since I started playing organized sports. I missed the first two editions of the game because I didn't know much about it. I do, however, remember my Dad delaying going out with my mother for New Year's Eve in order to watch the end of the famous Packers "Ice Bowl" NFL Championship game against Dallas in '67 prior to Super Bowl II. The next year I was playing youth football in the local Optimists' league - for a team named the mini-Packers.

I watched in dismay that year as Joe Namath and the Jets dismantled the Colts in III, and lost my first sports wager the next year when my Uncle Carl bet me the Vikings wouldn't beat the Chiefs. Since then I've missed watching only two Super Bowls: 1971 when my parents made me go with a church group to tour the local police stations (I was plenty upset, but it turned out to be no great loss as it was the awful Baltimore 16, Dallas 13 game) and 1979 when I was in England (even if there had been something called a "sports bar" back then they wouldn't have been open at that hour). I also remember having friends sleeping over before VI and us calling a late-night talk show to confidently predict Dallas crushing the Dolphins (correct) — and then laughing our adolescent butts off when a later caller angrily suggested that kids shouldn't be up at that hour calling radio programs.

I'm sure there are other memories I could dig up with a little more thought, but most of the games kind of slide through my mind in a slurry. The last 10 years or so, while I love the game, it's been more about the people I spend it with than the teams that are playing — especially if it's with a group of fans who know when to pay attention. Yesterday we were pleased to have a convivial and well-trained bunch over, consisting of a few friends from church and some new friends from the blogging world who I never knew existed at this time last year.

I moved the TV into the living room because it had the most sitting space and because it was handy to the kitchen and dining room where the food was laid out and the people who only wanted to see the commercials hung out. It was easy for us veteran football watchers to alert the other group to impending commercial breaks, usually setting off a mini-stampede that turned into a threat to smaller and larger children also on the premises. It was a rowdy time that left me feeling a little hungover this morning, and I wasn't even drinking yesterday (except for about a liter and a half of Coke to chase Kevin's salsa).

Steeler fans Policy Guy and Gal were there to discuss a fisking of Sid Hartman's column about the wonders of all the new stadiums Michigan has paid for. I fixed a smoked brisket, while Surly and Sweeter brought a salmon log and a blue cheese mousse. There was also an abundance of bruschetta, brownies, taquitos and all manner of chips and some guacamole. (Speaking of guac, wouldn't it have been fun if Kermit, riding his bike down the road to promote Ford's hybrid SUV, had been run over by the Hummer H3 from the monsters-in-love commercial?)

Oh, and Uncle Ben dutifully brought his behind (and salsa) over so it could be stomped by the Mall Diva at Dance Dance Revolution. At least he did get a free haircut for his pain (from the dancing, not the haircut, that is).

First, the haircut. No blood or brain damage was seen.

Then, on to the Dance Dance showdown. At no time did their toes ever leave their feet, but the Mall Diva had an extra leg available as a back-up (one of the advantages of being the "home team").

By the way, the Steelers won.

I'm trying to spiff this place up a bit in time for the imminent blogiversary party. As such, some reconstruction is going on in the template.

There are a couple of hiccups when viewing in Internet Explorer, but I think overall it's looking pretty darn good in that browser. For some reason there are more problems when viewing with Firefox. I hope by the time you read this the issues will have already been worked out. If not, bear with us; I think the changes in store will make this blog more readable (well, the words will at least look better) and easier to browse.

Update:

Cabin fever must be going around: it looks as if I'm not the only one revamping my look. The Llamabutchers have a cool new Miami Vice homage skin.

I was reminded of something this morning as I thought about the loathing the secular world has for Christians compared to the fear and loathing it has for radical Muslims. Nope, it wasn't a scripture, but a short bit of dialog from Star Wars, Episode 4 when the droids are playing holographic chess with Chewbacca.



When Chewie protests a legal move by R2, C-3PO responds:

C-3PO: He made a fair move. Screaming about it can't help you.
Han Solo: Let him have it. It's not wise to upset a Wookiee.
C-3PO: But sir, nobody worries about upsetting a droid.
Han Solo: That's 'cause droids don't pull people's arms out of their sockets when they lose. Wookiees are known to do that.
Chewbacca: Grrf.
C-3PO: I see your point, sir. I suggest a new strategy, R2: let the Wookiee win.

Hmmm, was there ever a time in any of the six movies when C-3PO had a good idea? I mean, every time the cowardly appeasing "protocol droid" suggested a course of action, or whined about someone else's action, wasn't it always 180 degrees opposite of what needed to be done?

That said, I'm not surprised at the U.S. State Department condemning the publication of the Mohammaed caricatures. As much as it might (might) support free speech, anything further stirring up emotions in the Mideast can't be too helpful for the mission. Since Osama bin Laden endorses a truce, however, the concept must be acceptable to the faith. Therefore, let's propose a truce: We'll urge the Western media to stop using images of Mohammed (and all insensitivities to all faiths) if the Muslim media will stop producing dramatizations of the "Protcols of the Elders of Zion" and running editorial cartoons depicting Christians and Jews as devils.

Deal? I didn't think so.

Update:

A very interesting chronology of this cartoon intifadeh over at Shot in the Dark.

Numinous
(NOOH muh nus, NYOOH-) n. adj.

Anything described as numinous is spiritual, has a sacred quality, is mysterious and awe-inspiring. Numen (NOOH mun) is literally, "nod" in Latin, related to the verb nutare (to nod, or keep nodding), and by extension came to mean "divine will" (as indicated by the nod of a god). Numen was taken over intact, to mean "divine power" or "spirit," and gave rise to the adjective numinous, which denotes a quality that is divine, especially in the sense that it is beyond human understanding. There is something numinous in the late quartets of Beethoven. Dark forests have a numinous quality that inspires reverence and awe. The Roman satirist Juvenal (60-c. 130) wrote that if people had foresight, Fortuna wouldn't be a goddess — she would have no numen.

This selection is taken from the book, “1000 Most Challenging Words” by Norman W. Schur, ©1987 by the Ballantine Reference Library, Random House.

My example: Violent Islamists claim to be acting upon a numinous mandate. One has to wonder, however, how much numen their god possesses if he needs their intervention to settle his scores.

I post a weekly “Challenging Words” definition to call more attention to this delightful book and to promote interesting word usage in the blogosphere. I challenge other bloggers to work the current word into a post sometime in the coming week. If you manage to do so, please leave a comment or a link to where I can find it.

There are countless opportunities for us right-wing fundie evangelicals to take offense and grow wroth with the culture. Television, movies, magazines, the NEA, Clinton presidencies — it’s almost as if there are elements out there deliberately looking for sticks to poke us with. Each time X, Y or Z causes an uproar, my pastor has a common reminder for our congregation: “God didn’t fall off of the throne because of X, Y, Z.”

His point is that God is still in charge and undismayed and unthreatened by such goings on, and even laughs at the thoughts and plans of men. He’ll often go on to point out that we shouldn’t be shocked when sinners sin. The reason he does this is not to say that we shouldn’t be concerned about what goes on, but to help us change our perspective to see the big picture: how do we get the revelation of God’s grace and mercy to those who seem bound and determined to test it.

With the news this week detailing the reactions of Muslims – rioting, threats of violence, kidnapping and other intimidations – to their prophet being depicted in editorial cartoons it seems that there may be a fundamental difference in the way Christians and Muslims view the power of our God. I believe a Christian perspective is to hope that those who oppose us will live long enough to see the error of their ways and repent well before a final judgment; the Islamist approach appears to be to try and yank as many as you can to judgment right away.

It’s also interesting to note that our own culture and media are willing to celebrate, in the name of free speech, crucifixes soaking in jars of urine, religious icons smeared with dung or Kanye West portraying himself on a magazine cover as the crucified Christ, yet it cowers in the face of Muslims being outraged over a few cartoons. The mainstream press and television will pull the cartoons, or pixilate them, or fire editors and reporters for running the images and claim they do so out of a desire to be “sensitive” to their Muslim audience. No such sensitivity appears to be available to Christians who, despite the fears and portrayals of many, are not generally given to violence. Meanwhile, look cross-eyed at their faith and you’d think Muslims are a bunch of frenzied liberals reacting to Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell whenever she departs from the dogma that Democrats have nothing to do with the Abramoff scandal. (see photos of the banners Muslim protestors are carrying here).

Okay, deep breath. God is still on the throne.

I have done things in my life that were deeply disrespectful to Christianity and Christians. I did them at the time with little fear or awareness of possible repercussions though by the standards of the rioting Islamists God had every right to strike me dead. Actually, I agree with them – God had every right and more than enough power to do just that. Instead I lived long enough to meet Him and Jesus Christ in miraculous ways and to profoundly repent. Furthermore, the revelation that I have been spared helps me to see others, no matter how offensive, in a different light, even the same light that God sees them in: “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

Some Muslims (and Christians) may think that God wants us to take heathens, pagans and infidels out; I believe he wants us to bring them in.

I want to go in a little different direction with this week's movie. Instead of a classic movie or a more contemporary film that illustrates strong values and virtues I want look at the documentary Beyond the Gates of Splendor. This documentary is the factual and very well done basis for the new movie in theaters now, End of the Spear (both were produced by the same people). This is a very intense film that tells the story of the massacre of five missionaries in the 1950s by a primitive tribe of people in the jungles of Ecuador, and the subsequent and near miraculous actions of the families of the men to continue the work that they began — with the same tribe and individuals that killed their husbands and fathers.

While the story is nearly forgotten today, it was a major sensation at the time it happened. While it took place in the 1950s there are enough people still alive today to offer first hand accounts of the events. There is also a lot of home movie clips shot by the men that have been worked into the film. These accounts and film clips are especially moving and compelling elements of the documentary. The time that has passed also provides an interesting perspective when discussing how similar and different the world is now compared to then.

Beyond the Gates of Splendor begins almost as a National Geographic program as it details the primitive life of the Waodani tribe. It is a violent life where murder is the expected and accepted way of settling disputes. With six out of every 10 adult deaths attributed to homicide, the tribe is spearing itself into extinction. Then the focus shifts for a time to the background of the missionaries and their families. The five men — Nate Saint, Jim Eliot, Ed McCully, Pete Fleming and Roger Youderian — will certainly challenge the image some may have of what a missionary looks like. They were all young, handsome, fit, energetic and resourceful. They were leaders in everything they did and drew people to them; truly the flower of a generation. They literally could have done or been anything they wanted yet their hearts were for people in distant lands.

The second half of the documentary details their efforts in Ecuador and Peru and their initial and ingenious method for making contact with the Waodani and early successes. All is well until a young Waodani, to cover his own misbehavior, lies to the tribe about the men, resulting in the fatal assault party. If the film stopped here it would still be compelling, but the real story is just beginning as the wives, children and friends of the men continue to minister to the tribe over the next generation, leading to a spectacular turnaround — so much so that at one point one of the missionary’s daughters is baptized at the same spot in the river where her father was killed, with two of the men from the group that killed him participating in the ceremony. My kids were completely mesmerized by Beyond the Gates of Splendor and while it can be emotionally challenging at times, it is a stirring depiction of vision, commitment and faith.

Points to Ponder:

• The Waodani society was based on two key values: egalitarianism and autonomy. No one could consider himself better than anyone else, but also, no one could get away with wronging another. With no institutionalized way of settling disputes, murder was the recourse of choice, often sparking a cycle of retribution. Does this sound familiar to other parts of the world or cities you know?


• What is your conception of the mission field today? Do you think it is the same or different from 50 years ago?


• What would you have done?

Questions to Answer:

1. How did the men go about introducing themselves to the Waodani? Why did they do it this way?


2. Nate Saint said “They’re not ready for ready for heaven, and we are,” in explaining why the men had decided not to use guns even to defend themselves. What did he mean by that?


3. What were the circumstances that led up to the attack? Could they have been prevented?


4. Why did the women return to the Waodani?


5. What effect did all of this have on the Waodani?

New St. Paul mayor Chris Coleman kept a campaign pledge by signing the U.S. Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement committing the city to align itself with the Kyoto accords. According to an article in the Strib:

The agreement will require the city, by 2012, to reduce pollution from cars and power plants to 1990 levels. What the city must do to get there will be hammered out in the next six months.

"We no longer can pretend this is not a serious issue or one that we don't need to address," Coleman said.

Although his predecessor, Randy Kelly, criticized the agreement during the 2005 campaign as "useless symbolism," Coleman defended it as a way to try to "force leadership on a national level."

Coleman joined mayors in 200 cities around the country who have signed the agreement, including those in Minneapolis, Apple Valley, Eden Prairie and Duluth.

The agreement challenges cities to meet or beat the conditions of the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement to address climate change that took effect in February 2005.

People say Coleman will be spectacularly ineffective but I think he can really pull this off. By the time he institutes smoking bans in private businesses and raises taxes to pay for the environmentally friendly initiatives he'll have so gutted the city that hitting the emissions targets will be a snap. Think of it, no reason to go downtown, so fewer cars — and just think about how nice it will be without all those people exhaling carbon dioxide everywhere! Furthermore with less business and fewer people there'll be less need for power and therefore fewer nasty power plant emissions!

Another one of the objectives from the agreement is to "reduce sprawl and increase open space." Done! There will be lots of wide, open space in St. Paul.

Oh well, I suppose I need to be more realistic. Given the "success" that those progressive and green-thinking Europeans have had in meeting (not) their targets (see here) the objectives won't be reached. Not that the city won't die trying, though.

If Coleman is really serious about cutting emissions in our capitol city a good start would be cutting the amount of time the state legislature is in session by half. Signing a decree to that effect will have about as much impact as what he signed yesterday.

Three network news and talk shows, including the all-woman show, The View, may have declined to interview Dame Judi Dench because she was too old. At least, that is the claim of Harvey Weinstein, co-founder of Miramax Films and head of the company distributing “Mrs. Henderson Presents”, for which Dench received an Oscar nomination earlier this week.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Harvey Weinstein says Judi Dench was snubbed by three network talk shows because of her age while promoting “Mrs. Henderson Presents,” according to New York magazine.

Dench, 71, was nominated Tuesday for an Oscar for her performance in the film, which was distributed by Weinstein’s new production company, The Weinstein Co.

Weinstein, who co-founded Miramax Films, says Dench was turned down for interviews by NBC’s “Today” show and ABC’s “Good Morning America” and “The View.”

“They said that she didn’t fit their demographics,” the outspoken movie mogul tells the magazine in this week’s issue.

This could be a calculated claim on Weinstein’s part to create more buzz about the film, and the full text of the above article includes statements from The Today Show, Good Morning America and The View disputing (somewhat nervously) that age is the reason they declined opportunities to interview the actress who previously won an Oscar for Shakespeare in Love.

Would The View turn it’s tailored back on an older woman? You wouldn’t think so, not with Barbara Walters (who’s 40+ years in the business would mathematically make her much closer to Dame Judi than the target demographic) as co-host, co-owner and co-executive producer. If so, however, this is almost cosmically laughable. Surely there must have been some other reason? Perhaps the ladies were trying to hold a space open for James Frey.

Here at the villa of the Night we like cordless phones with a base unit and extra handsets because when you’ve got two daughters and three floors of living space it’s handy to not be tied to the wall when you talk on the phone. It’s also good exercise for me to run around the house trying to locate what pillow or piece of furniture the handset is under when the phone rings. Cordless phones are convenient, loaded with features and let us roam our home.

Around our house they also have about the same life expectancy as a pan of warm brownies.

Over the years we’ve had many, many cordless phone sets. Some were made by big brand name companies, others made by company names that appear to have been written by a dyslexic Korean. Regardless of name, each one seems to last only about 12 to 18 months. This was a great source of annoyance to me for awhile and then I actually started to pay attention to the kid working the cash register at Best Buy when he tried to sell me the “extended product replacement contract.” The standard deal is for that magic $9.99 number you can get whatever you purchased replaced free if it stops working in the next two years. (Note: very few things are fixable anymore, at least where electronics are concerned. It’s usually more cost effective to throw something away and replace it than to repair it).

Yeah, my grandfather (“use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”) would have a fit if he knew this is what things have come to, but that’s progress. For some time now when the kid at the counter goes into his warranty spiel when I’m buying a phone I no longer think to myself, “Blah, blah, blah, whatever and no, thank you.” Now I think “Bwa-ha-ha! You’re mine!” At least the last three cordless phone sets we’ve owned have had this extra protection and the result is that for my original $100 investment and a couple of $9.99 “insurance premiums” I’ve had multiple new phones. So last week when the basement handset started dying regularly halfway through “Hello,” it may have made people calling us think I was swearing but I was really pretty mellow. I gathered up the entire set and headed back to the Return counter at Best Buy.

I did not realize at the time that this happened to be a particularly hardy telephone; it had outlived the replacement agreement by 36 days. While such an achievement might otherwise have caused me to organize a celebratory parade and to buy stock in the maker’s company, I instead felt betrayed. Oh well, I can afford another phone and just chalk this up to being one of those times where life gets the last laugh, except that I also had another phone mission in mind with this particular trip to the Big Blue Box.

My wife and I have had cell phones for the last 8 or 9 years with one of the big wireless network providers. The original contract was cheap, cheap, cheap and we’ve done pretty well by renewing it whenever we needed new phones and the provider had an enticing promotion. The result is that we now pay barely $30 a month for our two lines and a “puny” 300 minutes, which suits our needs fine because I think we’ve exceeded our minutes maybe once in all this time. Our current phones are now more than four years old however, and mine no longer connects properly with the battery charger. We have to charge the battery in my wife’s phone, switch it my phone and put my battery back into her phone to recharge. Not overly inconvenient but, you know, why not look at getting a new phone? Especially one of those new camera phones because, as a blogger, I never know when I might run into a situation with great blog fodder such as, say, a car loaded with Wellstone bumper stickers gets booted right before my eyes.

Equipped with the Best Buy gift certificate I received at Christmas, I wandered over to the cell phone counter where several phones supported by my provider were being advertised with little signs saying, “Free” or “Just $25.99” and similar. I knew I’d have to sign a new 2-year contract, go through the rebate hoo-doo and maybe have to pay a little more for the monthly service but I thought it was worth checking it out. The knowledgeable and helpful young man waiting on me helped me find a couple of phones that would fit my admittedly low-demand cell phone lifestyle and then entered my account into his computer.

“Dude,” he said, “how long have you had that phone?”

It turns out that he can’t sell me any of the phones he had unless I upgraded my contract. Ok, again, not unexpected. Smiling dismissively I said, “Yeah, yeah, so what’s the damage? What’s the cheapest monthly family rate to have the network behind me?”

$80.

Have I ever mentioned that I'm Scottish, or even at that, that my wife is the really frugal one in the family?

Of course, for that I’d get an extra 100 minutes a month that I wouldn’t use; at least not as much as I’d use the extra $50 they wanted to charge me. I guess I’m keeping my current cell phone a bit longer as I ponder the lessons of this night’s technological transactions: being cordless doesn’t mean there aren’t strings attached.

I didn’t blog last night because I was watching an incredible movie that left me feeling simultaneously too wired and too wiped out to write when it was over. The movie was Flight 93 (A&E channel), a dramatization about the 9/11 passengers and crew who fought back against the terrorists to prevent the jet from being flown into the White House or Capitol Building. Based on research, interviews and facts from the public record, the movie has a disconcerting realism that wrapped me in feelings that were equal parts outrage and helplessness.

When I first heard that a made-for-tv movie about this was going to be on I didn’t have a very positive reaction. I thought it would either be overly sappy or, worse, try too hard to “understand” the terrorists. I didn’t watch when it debuted Monday night, but heard positive reviews so I decided to check it out when it was rebroadcast Tuesday night (remaining re-broadcast schedule at the end of this post).

Even knowing the ultimate outcome (or maybe because I knew) I found my heart pounding from the opening, quiet moments of the movie. There’s no back-story on any of the people involved although a few things are hinted at in snippets of conversation or in glimpses at carry-on items; you don’t “meet” anyone anymore than you do when boarding an airplane. The story essentially takes place within the timeframe from the beginning to the end of the flight. As a viewer you get a vivid sense of how surreal the situation was as passengers, families at home, the citizenry, the media and the authorities all tried to wrap their minds around what was happening. Sometimes I almost wanted to shout at the television because it was so frustrating to see elements of the big picture already in my head revealed bit by bit and wanting the people in the film to understand. That same sense, however, also helped me to marvel at how quickly the people on board ultimately were able to not only understand but process, accept, adapt and act on that understanding. Can you imagine what it would take for you, going about your daily business, to completely re-order your reality to the point where you are making life and death decisions within a span of a couple of hours?

Adding to the compelling eeriness of the film is that it is so brightly and cleanly lit. No “Bourne Supremacy” type of dark edges and stylized blurred action; we see the bright light and clean lines we’re accustomed to in modern jets and the sunny, “just another day” weather around the homes of families talking to their doomed loved ones on the telephone. It all certainly heightens the “how can this really be happening” sense of everyone involved. It’s heart-breaking to see the families trying to cope while hoping for the best, and to think what it must be like for these same families to see themselves and their loved ones portrayed in this film.

While certain parts of what actually happened have to be conjecture, there is a remarkable amount of information available because of the communications that were sent and received, and it’s hard not to be caught up in the story or to imagine how you yourself would be reacting in the same circumstances. 9/11 wasn’t the day the world changed; that happened long before. It was, however, the day we realized the world had changed. Flight 93 is a timely and gripping story without patriotic rants and Boris Badinov cartoon villains and it resonates in these days when so many seem determined to forget the hard lessons learned that day.

Rebroadcasts this week (all times EST) on A&E:

Wednesday, Feb. 1 — 9:00 pm
Thursday, Feb. 2 — 1:00 am
Saturday, Feb. 4 — 12:00 pm
Sunday, Feb. 5 — 12:00pm

Update:

Welcome to visitors following Amy Ridenour's National Center link to this post. I'm honored by Amy's link and appreciate your interest.

Encouraged by this development, I've submitted this post to this weekend's Open Trackback Alliance collection via the OTA portal at The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns.