So later today...at 9 pm I hear...President Trump will announce his pick to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy on the United States Supreme Court. Some names have been discussed: Thomas Hardiman, Raymond Kethledge, Amy Coney Barrett, and Brett Kavanaugh...all currently serving as federal judges...top the list. They are all conservative, likely to side against Roe vs. Wade should a showdown case be considered in a future court. And they're also likely to line up with corporate interests over those of labor and consumers as well as go against the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). For these and other reasons this nomination is being strongly opposed in advance by Democrats and Americans on the left...and even in the political center. My take on this is a little different...
Although I am disgusted with Donald Trump's destructive and offensive demeanor in promoting himself and his agenda, he is the duly elected president at this time whether you want to recognize it or not, and his politics are conservative. Had one of the leading Republican candidates in 2016 like Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio instead been elected and were selecting their picks, I am confident that you'd be seeing a similar list of possibilities...and with a similarly heated level of opposition to them. As far as I can see, these conservative judges now on the Supreme Court and in federal courts are very strong on promoting the First Amendment, something that I sympathize with as an American who was brought up with the notion that, above all, we are a free nation in which its people have the liberty to express themselves without the state persecuting them. The problem is that their critics see this application interfering with other rights, as well as making the courts more activist by overturning laws and established precedents. But a conservative won the election and this is the consequence: we get conservative justices. I will watch the Senate hearing on whomever Trump selects as the next justice with interest, not only to better learn about the nominee, but also to better understand the schism of ideology that is widening between the political left and right. I'd rather be seeing President Clinton nominating someone, but that is not our reality and this is. Getting upset about the composition of the Supreme Court makes no sense to me if people's reactions are just to complain or go out and protest in the streets. In this democratic republic of ours, we go out and VOTE for our chosen servant-leaders to represent us...if we instead decide to sit on our hands when elections come around, we get what we deserve...
Monday, July 9, 2018
Sunday, July 8, 2018
Soccer's 2018 World Cup Down to "Final Four"
Out the original 32 countries competing in Russia for the 2018 FIFA Men's World Cup of Soccer, we now have reached the semifinal stage with the results of yesterday's matches. England shut out Sweden and Croatian penalty-kicked their way past Russia to join France and Belgium, winners of their matches Friday against Uruguay and Brazil, respectively. Although I am disappointed that no Western Hemisphere teams made it this far, I am still happy to see England in there (hey, most of it is technically in the Western Hemisphere, anyway)...and Russia NOT in there. Nothing personal against Russia or Russians per se, but right now I'm not in the mood to endorse anything with that label considering the crap we've had to put up with from Putin's shenanigans for the last few years...with more probably yet to come. So this Tuesday France and Belgium will square off, and England will play Croatia the following day. The finale will be held next Sunday...other than now wanting England to win it all, I don't have any set preferences for the other three teams...
I've been watching the games whenever I had the chance, and I'm glad for the excellent coverage and analysis that Fox has provided...I think I like watching the panelists discussing the day's action and predicting what will happen next more than watching the matches themselves! Well, there are three more matches to go...I may miss all of them since I'll be working those days. It is interesting how, with the exception of England and their great scorer Harry Kane, all the teams with superstars like Brazil (Neymar), Argentina (Messi), Uruguay (Suarez), and Portugal (Ronaldo) have been eliminated. I bet those companies featuring them on their TV commercials aren't very pleased at this, but it just goes to show that soccer is, more than anything, a TEAM sport...
I've been watching the games whenever I had the chance, and I'm glad for the excellent coverage and analysis that Fox has provided...I think I like watching the panelists discussing the day's action and predicting what will happen next more than watching the matches themselves! Well, there are three more matches to go...I may miss all of them since I'll be working those days. It is interesting how, with the exception of England and their great scorer Harry Kane, all the teams with superstars like Brazil (Neymar), Argentina (Messi), Uruguay (Suarez), and Portugal (Ronaldo) have been eliminated. I bet those companies featuring them on their TV commercials aren't very pleased at this, but it just goes to show that soccer is, more than anything, a TEAM sport...
Saturday, July 7, 2018
Just Finished Reading The Travelers by Chris Pavone
The Travelers, by Chris Pavone, is a book I selected from my local public library shelves with one condition in mind: it isn't part of a series...or if it is, then it has to be the first book. It's amazing how much fiction out there is all tied up in series, but easy to understand, I guess, since readers often feel compelled to stick with the series until it ends. That's what I would call a "cash cow" for the author and publisher when it works...no need to create a new set of characters and scenarios, just keep issuing new installments every two or three years. Well, The Travelers fit my criteria and I checked it out...a good story but man, did it have to get so convoluted?
Will Rhodes, the protagonist, works at a traveling magazine as a roaming journalist, visiting places scattered across the world. His boss Malcolm Taylor often hands him packages to give specific people when he reaches his destination (and take other packages back)...the rationale is that computer systems are prone to being hacked and sometimes the old ways are more secure. But Malcolm has a secret room in his office that he goes to, following what appears to be a different agenda than the magazine's...is he a spy, and if so, what is that agenda? Will finds himself sucked into a very complicated world of freelance espionage where the players often are completely unaware for whom they really work...his wife Chloe, a former employee in at Travelers, also seems to have a double life...what is she up to? And what about the characters Elle and Roger who have targeted Will for some purpose...what is that purpose and how well will they succeed? All these questions and many more pervade the story, and it can be difficult to keep up with everything...the only thing for certain is that Will Rhodes has innocently stumbled into something way over his head and is now struggling not only for his marriage but also his very life...
If you like exotic places like France, Iceland, Argentina, and others and are deeply into cloak and dagger tales where you never quite know who the good guys are and who are the bad ones, then The Travelers is the book for you. One thing it opened my eyes to is the world of the independent spy-for-hire, something that in today's world I imagine is more common than ever. The ending of the book implies a sequel, meaning that although I thought I was getting into a standalone novel, sometimes the author has something else in mind. Well, good for Chris Pavone, if he plans to expand it into a series...I may or may not continue with it as this genre of fiction just doesn't resonate very well with me...
Will Rhodes, the protagonist, works at a traveling magazine as a roaming journalist, visiting places scattered across the world. His boss Malcolm Taylor often hands him packages to give specific people when he reaches his destination (and take other packages back)...the rationale is that computer systems are prone to being hacked and sometimes the old ways are more secure. But Malcolm has a secret room in his office that he goes to, following what appears to be a different agenda than the magazine's...is he a spy, and if so, what is that agenda? Will finds himself sucked into a very complicated world of freelance espionage where the players often are completely unaware for whom they really work...his wife Chloe, a former employee in at Travelers, also seems to have a double life...what is she up to? And what about the characters Elle and Roger who have targeted Will for some purpose...what is that purpose and how well will they succeed? All these questions and many more pervade the story, and it can be difficult to keep up with everything...the only thing for certain is that Will Rhodes has innocently stumbled into something way over his head and is now struggling not only for his marriage but also his very life...
If you like exotic places like France, Iceland, Argentina, and others and are deeply into cloak and dagger tales where you never quite know who the good guys are and who are the bad ones, then The Travelers is the book for you. One thing it opened my eyes to is the world of the independent spy-for-hire, something that in today's world I imagine is more common than ever. The ending of the book implies a sequel, meaning that although I thought I was getting into a standalone novel, sometimes the author has something else in mind. Well, good for Chris Pavone, if he plans to expand it into a series...I may or may not continue with it as this genre of fiction just doesn't resonate very well with me...
Friday, July 6, 2018
Quote of the Week...from Charles Krauthammer
To understand the workings of American politics, you have to understand this fundamental law: Conservatives think liberals are stupid. Liberals think conservatives are evil.
Charles Krauthammer
Charles Krauthammer, who passed away just two weeks ago at the age of 68 from cancer, was one of America's foremost conservative commentators and writers, his career in this regard spanning four decades and seven U.S. presidents. He originally had planned to be a physician and was attending Harvard Medical School when he had a life-changing accident while diving at a pool, permanently paralyzing him from the waist down. That I had been completely unaware of his disability until just a year ago is a testament to those around him and Krauthammer himself, who above anything wanted his words to be considered for their own merit and not out of sympathy for his physical circumstances. Since I don't watch Fox News Channel very much, I missed out on a lot of his input about the ongoing political scene. I liked him, though, and am sad that he's gone...
As for Krauthammer's above quote, I kind of agree with it and I kind of don't. It's true that from my perspective as a registered Democrat with a few conservative takes on various issues, I can look at those in opposition to my beliefs as being either stupid or evil...well evil is a bit strong, maybe insensitive, vindictive, or selfish might be better descriptions. But I don't necessarily see this as distributed differently between conservatives and liberals. The way I see it instead, if conservatives are in power and they're doing things liberals disapprove of, then some liberals will see them as evil...sure, especially nowadays with Trump running the show and all the different protest demonstrations that have been staged in the last couple of years. And I think those protests, overwhelmingly for liberal causes, while making the participants feel like they're doing something positive to change things, really aren't changing anything...except maybe in their own minds...and I think that's foolish. To really change things, liberals need to consistently and dutifully vote, vote, vote...and not just when some idol of theirs like Obama or Bernie is on the ballot...conservative voters understand this to a much greater degree and that's why they have been successful in off-year elections and in state-level races, securing legislative and gubernatorial control of most of the country's states...
Back when the Democrats had the power in the early years of the Obama administration, though, this seeing the other side as "stupid" or "evil" was reversed...let's face it, folks can get scared when their political opposition holds the reins of power and are more likely to ridicule them when their own side controls things. More important, as I see it, is for people to begin to think for themselves and take each issue on its own merits instead of lining up in lock-step about everything with their party or professed political orientation. But I'm a realist and know that the tendency is to treat it all like a game, one side winning and the other losing and we all want to be winners, right?...and how ridiculous people can get about loving or hating their leaders. Let's face it: if the Democrats do make substantial gains this November's election, it will primarily be due to their success in generating negative passion among their voters against Trump, which I admit shouldn't be all that hard to do...
Charles Krauthammer
Charles Krauthammer, who passed away just two weeks ago at the age of 68 from cancer, was one of America's foremost conservative commentators and writers, his career in this regard spanning four decades and seven U.S. presidents. He originally had planned to be a physician and was attending Harvard Medical School when he had a life-changing accident while diving at a pool, permanently paralyzing him from the waist down. That I had been completely unaware of his disability until just a year ago is a testament to those around him and Krauthammer himself, who above anything wanted his words to be considered for their own merit and not out of sympathy for his physical circumstances. Since I don't watch Fox News Channel very much, I missed out on a lot of his input about the ongoing political scene. I liked him, though, and am sad that he's gone...
As for Krauthammer's above quote, I kind of agree with it and I kind of don't. It's true that from my perspective as a registered Democrat with a few conservative takes on various issues, I can look at those in opposition to my beliefs as being either stupid or evil...well evil is a bit strong, maybe insensitive, vindictive, or selfish might be better descriptions. But I don't necessarily see this as distributed differently between conservatives and liberals. The way I see it instead, if conservatives are in power and they're doing things liberals disapprove of, then some liberals will see them as evil...sure, especially nowadays with Trump running the show and all the different protest demonstrations that have been staged in the last couple of years. And I think those protests, overwhelmingly for liberal causes, while making the participants feel like they're doing something positive to change things, really aren't changing anything...except maybe in their own minds...and I think that's foolish. To really change things, liberals need to consistently and dutifully vote, vote, vote...and not just when some idol of theirs like Obama or Bernie is on the ballot...conservative voters understand this to a much greater degree and that's why they have been successful in off-year elections and in state-level races, securing legislative and gubernatorial control of most of the country's states...
Back when the Democrats had the power in the early years of the Obama administration, though, this seeing the other side as "stupid" or "evil" was reversed...let's face it, folks can get scared when their political opposition holds the reins of power and are more likely to ridicule them when their own side controls things. More important, as I see it, is for people to begin to think for themselves and take each issue on its own merits instead of lining up in lock-step about everything with their party or professed political orientation. But I'm a realist and know that the tendency is to treat it all like a game, one side winning and the other losing and we all want to be winners, right?...and how ridiculous people can get about loving or hating their leaders. Let's face it: if the Democrats do make substantial gains this November's election, it will primarily be due to their success in generating negative passion among their voters against Trump, which I admit shouldn't be all that hard to do...
Thursday, July 5, 2018
7/1 Sermon on Upward Habits, Pt. 3
At the Family Church here in Gainesville, worship pastor Sean Taylor, who usually leads the inspiring praise and worship music, stepped in this past Sunday for senior pastor Philip Griffin to continue the ongoing sermon series Upward Habits. Sean's theme was Worshiping God's Way, and he pointed to the Bible and how the Old Testament laid the foundation for worship while the New Testament expressed its application. The Bible verse references for this message were many in number and spanned several books of both testaments...Bible Gateway (click on it) is a good resource for reading scripture...
Looking at the Old Testament first, Pastor Sean focused on the old system of sacrifices to God and how they related to worship. One sought the place God chose for them and brought sacrifices, be they burnt offerings (for consecration), sacrifices for thanksgiving and fellowship, tithes and offerings (including possessions), or firstborn of herds and flocks (sin offerings)...Sean referred mainly to passages in Leviticus and Deuteronomy in this regard. The New Testament application, Sean pointed out, places Jesus as the sin offering and high priest. The burnt offerings are our bodies engaged in acceptable worship. With sacrifices, tithes and offerings, we gladly present...bringing our hearts...our praise, our service, and our giving. Sean stressed two important things regarding worship: the heart does not replace our sacrifices and acts of worship: it precedes them...and in scripture, heart transformation was always accomplished by a readiness for change of behavior and actions. A lot of good stuff to consider and meditate upon...thank you for your message, Sean...
Pastor Sean's message can be seen through the church's YouTube website...just click on the following link: [TFC Videos]. The Family Church, at 2022 SW 122nd Street, holds its Sunday morning services at 9 and 10:30. They feature the weekly sermon as well as praise and worship music, prayer, and opportunities for discipleship and learning. Coffee and treats are available before and between services, and visitors are very welcome. Next week the series continues...
Looking at the Old Testament first, Pastor Sean focused on the old system of sacrifices to God and how they related to worship. One sought the place God chose for them and brought sacrifices, be they burnt offerings (for consecration), sacrifices for thanksgiving and fellowship, tithes and offerings (including possessions), or firstborn of herds and flocks (sin offerings)...Sean referred mainly to passages in Leviticus and Deuteronomy in this regard. The New Testament application, Sean pointed out, places Jesus as the sin offering and high priest. The burnt offerings are our bodies engaged in acceptable worship. With sacrifices, tithes and offerings, we gladly present...bringing our hearts...our praise, our service, and our giving. Sean stressed two important things regarding worship: the heart does not replace our sacrifices and acts of worship: it precedes them...and in scripture, heart transformation was always accomplished by a readiness for change of behavior and actions. A lot of good stuff to consider and meditate upon...thank you for your message, Sean...
Pastor Sean's message can be seen through the church's YouTube website...just click on the following link: [TFC Videos]. The Family Church, at 2022 SW 122nd Street, holds its Sunday morning services at 9 and 10:30. They feature the weekly sermon as well as praise and worship music, prayer, and opportunities for discipleship and learning. Coffee and treats are available before and between services, and visitors are very welcome. Next week the series continues...
Wednesday, July 4, 2018
Ran Gainesville's Melon Run Race This Morning
It's been a tradition for a few years here in Gainesville to hold a three-mile race, on the morning of the Fourth of July. The Florida Track Club organizes it, giving out watermelons afterward as prizes...hence the name Melon Run. I've run it a couple of times, the last one two or three years ago under horrible heat and humidity. Despite warm and humid conditions this morning (77 degrees, 87%), I decided to try it again even though I had worked some overtime until midnight the previous night and am no "morning person". Nevertheless, I somehow managed to get up at the appropriate time and got my butt down to Westside Park, where the race began at 8:00...
I was encouraged to see that the organizers had restored the race's original course eastward through Loblolly Woods Park between NW 8th and 16th Avenues, something that was missing the last time I ran it. This race attracts a lot of runners, ranging from little kids to old folks like me (and older). The course is also pretty hilly, a good test for that kind of running. I decided beforehand to run slow, and I did just that, grinding out a 10:24/mile pace and finishing at 31:12...I was flying at the end, could have gone faster. But that's all right: I finished the race and felt pretty doggone good afterwards...speaking of dogs, there were a few of them as well, not to mention intrepid racing-stroller pushers. I enjoyed the sweet spirit present among the participants and came away from it all wanting to return next year...now if only I can get the weather to cooperate more...
I was encouraged to see that the organizers had restored the race's original course eastward through Loblolly Woods Park between NW 8th and 16th Avenues, something that was missing the last time I ran it. This race attracts a lot of runners, ranging from little kids to old folks like me (and older). The course is also pretty hilly, a good test for that kind of running. I decided beforehand to run slow, and I did just that, grinding out a 10:24/mile pace and finishing at 31:12...I was flying at the end, could have gone faster. But that's all right: I finished the race and felt pretty doggone good afterwards...speaking of dogs, there were a few of them as well, not to mention intrepid racing-stroller pushers. I enjoyed the sweet spirit present among the participants and came away from it all wanting to return next year...now if only I can get the weather to cooperate more...
Weekly Short Story: SQ by Ursula K. Le Guin
Science fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin, who just passed away at 88 this past January, wrote the famous story The Lathe of Heaven and well as the Earthsea fantasy series, which I read a couple of years ago. Back in 1978 she wrote the short story SQ, which appeared in the retrospective anthology Donald Wollheim Presents The 1979 Annual World's Best SF. What does "SQ" stand for? Well, IQ stands for intelligence quotient, so...
First of all, let me remark that this story is something of a satirical farce about some trends the author obviously noted going on in the society around her. "SQ" tests, designed to measure one's sanity level, are routinely administered around the world...those scoring 50 or higher are deemed insane and sent to asylums. The man in charge of developing and implementing the examinations, Dr. Speakie, is a "psychometrist" who is gradually building his power as a higher and higher percentage of the population fail the test, and the remaining "free" people in the world are increasingly under his control. The story is told from the viewpoint of one of his fanatical assistants, who sugar-coats the disturbing news: the average SQ test scores keep getting higher, indicating that the world is losing its grip on reality...
I have a couple of reactions to this story. One is the notion that you can accurately measure things as complex as people's intelligence, personality types...or even their level of sanity...by administering multiple-choice tests...complete bull, in my opinion. Apparently, Ursula K. Le Guin agreed with my point of view about this and decided to expose its nonsense. The other is related to this: although SQ was written forty years ago, the situation regarding society's addiction to identity politics has only gotten worse. Many of us have had it repeatedly drilled into us as to our uniqueness and, I'll reiterate, incredible complexity. But this all gets thrown out the window when we insist on seeing ourselves as being members of groups that are often...if not usually...very subjectively defined, and with narratives that we're expected to adhere to. I prefer the idea of seeing folks as individuals who have the power and authority to make their own choices in life and to be responsible for those choices...this classification obsession only creates victim classes and robs us of the dignity and accountability so necessary to us as functioning, mature people...
First of all, let me remark that this story is something of a satirical farce about some trends the author obviously noted going on in the society around her. "SQ" tests, designed to measure one's sanity level, are routinely administered around the world...those scoring 50 or higher are deemed insane and sent to asylums. The man in charge of developing and implementing the examinations, Dr. Speakie, is a "psychometrist" who is gradually building his power as a higher and higher percentage of the population fail the test, and the remaining "free" people in the world are increasingly under his control. The story is told from the viewpoint of one of his fanatical assistants, who sugar-coats the disturbing news: the average SQ test scores keep getting higher, indicating that the world is losing its grip on reality...
I have a couple of reactions to this story. One is the notion that you can accurately measure things as complex as people's intelligence, personality types...or even their level of sanity...by administering multiple-choice tests...complete bull, in my opinion. Apparently, Ursula K. Le Guin agreed with my point of view about this and decided to expose its nonsense. The other is related to this: although SQ was written forty years ago, the situation regarding society's addiction to identity politics has only gotten worse. Many of us have had it repeatedly drilled into us as to our uniqueness and, I'll reiterate, incredible complexity. But this all gets thrown out the window when we insist on seeing ourselves as being members of groups that are often...if not usually...very subjectively defined, and with narratives that we're expected to adhere to. I prefer the idea of seeing folks as individuals who have the power and authority to make their own choices in life and to be responsible for those choices...this classification obsession only creates victim classes and robs us of the dignity and accountability so necessary to us as functioning, mature people...
Tuesday, July 3, 2018
Tuesday's List: My Favorite Movies Starring Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood has been for many decades a very talented movie actor, director, and producer. I've seen a few of his many movies, most of them from earlier in his career when his stardom had taken off...but I haven't seen one made after 1992. So you might say that regarding Eastwood I'm "stuck in time". He's made some acclaimed movies I haven't seen like Heartbreak Ridge, Gran Torino, Mystic River, and Million Dollar Baby...I'm waiting for my cable TV channels to conveniently show them for me when something else I want to watch isn't on. I loved the old westerns he was in, especially the films Sergio Leone directed (I own three of them on DVD). Eastwood's role as police detective Harry Callahan didn't appeal to me as much, which explains why I've only seen two from his Dirty Harry series...I do remember that one line from Magnum Force, though: A man's got to know his own limitations. And I was a little taken aback at his strange appearance at the 2012 Republican National Convention where onstage he went on a disjointed rant against an empty chair that supposedly represented President Obama. His consistently stated political orientation had been Libertarian and it perplexed me that he was entangling himself in one of the two establishment "statist" political parties...
I've always watched Clint Eastwood movies for escapist adventure, which probably accounts for having avoided his later more serious and artistic endeavors, critically acclaimed many of them might be. He often presented the same general character over the different genres, an antihero type who always knew what the bottom line was, took care of himself, spoke softly, defended the weak and persecuted, and dispatched the bad guys with brutal efficiency and accuracy. Here's the list of my fifteen favorite Clint Eastwood movies...
1 THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (1966)
2 A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS (1964)
3 THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES (1976)
4 ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ (1979)
5 HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (1975)
6 FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE (1965)
7 MAGNUM FORCE (1973)
8 EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE (1978)
9 HANG 'EM HIGH (1968)
10 DIRTY HARRY (1971)
11 JOE KIDD (1972)
12 FIREFOX (1982)
13 UNFORGIVEN (1992)
14 PLAY MISTY FOR ME (1971)
15 PALE RIDER (1985)
I've always watched Clint Eastwood movies for escapist adventure, which probably accounts for having avoided his later more serious and artistic endeavors, critically acclaimed many of them might be. He often presented the same general character over the different genres, an antihero type who always knew what the bottom line was, took care of himself, spoke softly, defended the weak and persecuted, and dispatched the bad guys with brutal efficiency and accuracy. Here's the list of my fifteen favorite Clint Eastwood movies...
1 THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (1966)
2 A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS (1964)
3 THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES (1976)
4 ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ (1979)
5 HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (1975)
6 FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE (1965)
7 MAGNUM FORCE (1973)
8 EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE (1978)
9 HANG 'EM HIGH (1968)
10 DIRTY HARRY (1971)
11 JOE KIDD (1972)
12 FIREFOX (1982)
13 UNFORGIVEN (1992)
14 PLAY MISTY FOR ME (1971)
15 PALE RIDER (1985)
Monday, July 2, 2018
Just Finished Reading The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas was a popular nineteenth century French writer who is most famous for his novels The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo. His stories generally feature adventure and romance...I probably should get around to reading more of them. I just finished reading my first Dumas book, the 1850 historical fiction work The Black Tulip. It harkens back to Holland in the seventeenth century, a few decades after their fanaticism with growing and speculating on tulips. The year is 1672 and a mob of angry citizens has just lynched the innocent prime minister Johan de Witt along with his brother Cornelius, both of whom had legally been sentenced to exile. After the deaths, the godson of Cornelius, Cornelius van Baerle, receives an urgent letter from him to burn the contents of a parcel he had earlier given to him for safekeeping, but the young man, distracted by his fascination for tulips and his entry into a nationwide contest to become the first to develop and produce a purely black form of the flower, carelessly puts the letter aside. Authorities soon search his home and find the parcel, which contains secret correspondences between the de Witts and Holland's then-enemy France. Van Baerle is arrested, convicted of treason, and sentenced to a quick execution...since this tale is about him, his romance with the prison keeper's daughter Rosa, and his competition with his (unknown to him) adversary Isaac Boxtel for the black tulip prize...we can assume that the executioner's hand will be stayed. And you, the potential reader of this story, can find out for yourself what happens next and how it all ends...
There is a lot of political intrigue in The Black Tulip, and Dumas seems to lay the blame for the brutal deaths of the de Witt brothers at the feet of that country's Prince William. Whether this is historically true I don't know, but the author's version of the incident did open up for me an area of European history about which I did not previously know. I did know of the tulip craze in Holland, though, and being someone who never was all that interested in flowers...or even horticulture in general, I couldn't grasp how anyone could be so lost in his interest of flowers and gardening like young Cornelius van Baerle to the point where he simply ignored his dire situation and allow himself to be apprehended like that. Even after his imprisonment, van Baerle continued to act as if his special tulip bulbs were more important to him than anything else in the world, an impression sadly not lost on poor Rosa, who was deeply in love in him...
Will I count The Black Tulip among my favorite books? I doubt it, but it's still a worthy investment of your reading time should you undertake it...especially if you, like me, have an interest in history. Oh, I failed to mention in an earlier review of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables that the book I read was a translation into English from the original French text...the same is true here for The Black Tulip by Dumas...
There is a lot of political intrigue in The Black Tulip, and Dumas seems to lay the blame for the brutal deaths of the de Witt brothers at the feet of that country's Prince William. Whether this is historically true I don't know, but the author's version of the incident did open up for me an area of European history about which I did not previously know. I did know of the tulip craze in Holland, though, and being someone who never was all that interested in flowers...or even horticulture in general, I couldn't grasp how anyone could be so lost in his interest of flowers and gardening like young Cornelius van Baerle to the point where he simply ignored his dire situation and allow himself to be apprehended like that. Even after his imprisonment, van Baerle continued to act as if his special tulip bulbs were more important to him than anything else in the world, an impression sadly not lost on poor Rosa, who was deeply in love in him...
Will I count The Black Tulip among my favorite books? I doubt it, but it's still a worthy investment of your reading time should you undertake it...especially if you, like me, have an interest in history. Oh, I failed to mention in an earlier review of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables that the book I read was a translation into English from the original French text...the same is true here for The Black Tulip by Dumas...
Sunday, July 1, 2018
My June 2018 Personal Running Report
In June my running mileage increased to 84 total miles, reflecting my general good health and a renewed commitment to running longer distances. I gradually went on longer and longer runs, my best one being 5.1 miles: an improvement over the past few months, but still much lower than the level I want to reach. I ran on every day of June...so far, so good...
On the Fourth of July in Gainesville they have an annual three-mile race, at Westside Park, called the Melon Run. I've run it a couple of times in the past, but was disappointed the last time...they had altered the course to confine it to repeated laps around the park, plus the humidity was an unbearable 89% with the morning temperature in the low 80s. I'm thinking, though, of trying it again this Wednesday…I believe I'm in better shape now than the last time I ran it. Since this will be the only race for me until the fall, I thought it might be a good idea to take advantage of this opportunity, short race though it is. We'll see...in the meantime my plan for July is to stay the course with my running and keep gradually building up my distances and endurance...
On the Fourth of July in Gainesville they have an annual three-mile race, at Westside Park, called the Melon Run. I've run it a couple of times in the past, but was disappointed the last time...they had altered the course to confine it to repeated laps around the park, plus the humidity was an unbearable 89% with the morning temperature in the low 80s. I'm thinking, though, of trying it again this Wednesday…I believe I'm in better shape now than the last time I ran it. Since this will be the only race for me until the fall, I thought it might be a good idea to take advantage of this opportunity, short race though it is. We'll see...in the meantime my plan for July is to stay the course with my running and keep gradually building up my distances and endurance...
Saturday, June 30, 2018
2018 FIFA Men's World Cup of Soccer Begins Knockout Rounds Today
Now that the group stage is over and half of the FIFA Men's World Cup of soccer's teams are down to sixteen survivors, it is time for the "knockout" stage of the tournament, whereby countries face off each round in single elimination until only two are left to play the championship match. Most of the favorites in the group stage made it this far, the stunning exception being defending World Cup champion Germany, a favorite this year as well, losing their final group stage match to South Korea 2-0, with Sweden that group's surprise winner. Also unexpected, albeit not as much of a shock, was Japan surviving their group while Poland went down. Well, that's over and it's time for some more exciting high-level international soccer...starting later this morning (this article was published shortly after midnight Saturday, June 30). Here's the schedule for the eight matches in the "round of sixteen" for the next four days, with the starting times given in Eastern Daylight Time...
Saturday, June 30: FRANCE vs. ARGENTINA, 10 am
URUGUAY vs PORTUGAL, 2 PM
Sunday, July 1: SPAIN vs. RUSSIA, 10 am
CROATIA vs. DENMARK, 2 pm
Monday, July 2: BRAZIL vs. MEXICO, 10 am
BELGIUM vs. JAPAN, 2 pm
Tuesday, July 3: SWEDEN vs. SWITZERLAND, 10 am
COLOMBIA vs. ENGLAND, 2 am
Fox and Fox 1 Sports channels are showing the games live...I've enjoyed watching the World Cup so far. It's hard to tell at this point which teams will keep playing well enough to advance, but at least in the group stage Croatia, Uruguay, and Belgium have impressed me the most. Brazil should be playing better than they have, and this is doubly true with Argentina, which just barely passed the group stage. We'll see whether they can get their acts together as they face stiffer competition than ever before. I'm a bit disappointed in the matchups this week...I wanted both Brazil and Mexico to advance far into the tournament: instead they're playing each other. The same is true for Colombia and England. The one team I'd really like to get booted out the most is Russia, the automatic entry because it is the host nation. Nothing personal...and I really love the Russian language, music to my ears whenever I hear it...but it's bad enough that this country, which has been interfering in our politics while threatening or invading its neighbors, is getting all this free positive publicity...
Saturday, June 30: FRANCE vs. ARGENTINA, 10 am
URUGUAY vs PORTUGAL, 2 PM
Sunday, July 1: SPAIN vs. RUSSIA, 10 am
CROATIA vs. DENMARK, 2 pm
Monday, July 2: BRAZIL vs. MEXICO, 10 am
BELGIUM vs. JAPAN, 2 pm
Tuesday, July 3: SWEDEN vs. SWITZERLAND, 10 am
COLOMBIA vs. ENGLAND, 2 am
Fox and Fox 1 Sports channels are showing the games live...I've enjoyed watching the World Cup so far. It's hard to tell at this point which teams will keep playing well enough to advance, but at least in the group stage Croatia, Uruguay, and Belgium have impressed me the most. Brazil should be playing better than they have, and this is doubly true with Argentina, which just barely passed the group stage. We'll see whether they can get their acts together as they face stiffer competition than ever before. I'm a bit disappointed in the matchups this week...I wanted both Brazil and Mexico to advance far into the tournament: instead they're playing each other. The same is true for Colombia and England. The one team I'd really like to get booted out the most is Russia, the automatic entry because it is the host nation. Nothing personal...and I really love the Russian language, music to my ears whenever I hear it...but it's bad enough that this country, which has been interfering in our politics while threatening or invading its neighbors, is getting all this free positive publicity...
Friday, June 29, 2018
Quote of the Week...from Senator Chuck Schumer
Our Republican colleagues should follow the rule they set in 2016: not to consider a Supreme Court justice in an election year. Charles Schumer.
Charles "Chuck" Schumer is not only the senior United States senator from New York, but is also that body's minority leader for the Democrats. He was there under ineffective then-minority leader Harry Reid when majority leader, Republican Mitch McConnell, decided to announce only some three hours after learning of Justice Antonin Scalia's death in February 2016 that he would flatly refuse to consider any replacement nominee from then-Democratic president Barack Obama...in spite of the president's strongly expressed desire to work with the Republican Senate leadership to come up with a nominee more fitting to their ideological orientation. This unprecedented (and, in my opinion, disgraceful) shunning paid off for McConnell and his party...at least in the short run... after Donald Trump unexpectedly beat Hillary Clinton in the November presidential election and the winner nominated very conservative Neil Gorsuch for the position. Obama, following the refusal of McConnell...and Senate Judiciary Committer Chairman Charles Grassley...to respect the U.S. Constitution regarding their duties in this regard, had gone ahead anyway and nominated Merrick Garland, a federal judge with no ideological trail to speak of. McConnell wouldn't even show the common decency of meeting with this distinguished judge, at least for the sake of politeness, when he visited the Senate after being nominated. So with this disgusting spectacle behind us, why is it then that I totally disagree with Schumer's statement? Well, it's like this...
The whole controversy about McConnell's 2016 decision to stonewall Obama's Supreme Court nominee was based on it being a presidential election year. After all, every two years all of the House of Representative seats are up for election, as well as one third of the Senate seats...under Schumer's suggestion justices should only be nominated in odd-numbered years, an asinine idea. I sympathize with the minority leader's criticism of McConnell...but I also feel it is completely legitimate to go ahead with the nomination and hearings process for the nominee to replace Anthony Kennedy, who just announced his retirement. Trump will doubtless pick the next justice from a much-publicized list that is full of very conservative judges and politicians likely to vote to overturn Roe vs. Wade and Obamacare, among other issues...here is the crux of where the Democrats are concerned, not the timing: it is unlikely, in my opinion, that the upcoming election will see them take the majority from the Republicans...if anything McConnell's GOP will probably increase their margin of control, so stalling this nomination until after the election is just delaying the inevitable...
McConnell's action in 2016 to me smacks more of personal animosity against President Obama than any desire to be "fair". Obama was the duly, constitutionally elected president when Scalia died and vacated his seat, and was thus the one who legitimately had the duty to select Scalia's replacement, just as the Senate in turn had the duty to consider his nominee through advice and consent. As for precedents in history, when Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. retired early in 1932...also a presidential election year...Republican president Herbert Hoover wasted no time in nominating a liberal Democrat, Benjamin Cardozo, to replace him. That process went smoothly...Obama was conducive to something similar in 2016 but McConnell's spitefulness went so far as risking a much more liberal justice later being installed by Hillary Clinton, who at the time was leading the polls. My concern about all this, and the true test as to whether Senator McConnell is a hypocrite as Chuck Schumer just accused him of being, may come in 2020...
In 2020, the next presidential election year, the Republicans under Mitch McConnell probably will still have the majority in the Senate. Should a Supreme Court justice die or resign during that year, will the majority leader stay true to his stated principles he claimed to follow in 2016 by delaying any Trump replacement pick until after that election? Now that's a cut-and-dry indicator of McConnell's integrity level...I expect him to try to weasel out of it all with a lame excuse should that scenario develop, considering his long record of cloaking political expediency in "principles" he makes up as he goes along...
Charles "Chuck" Schumer is not only the senior United States senator from New York, but is also that body's minority leader for the Democrats. He was there under ineffective then-minority leader Harry Reid when majority leader, Republican Mitch McConnell, decided to announce only some three hours after learning of Justice Antonin Scalia's death in February 2016 that he would flatly refuse to consider any replacement nominee from then-Democratic president Barack Obama...in spite of the president's strongly expressed desire to work with the Republican Senate leadership to come up with a nominee more fitting to their ideological orientation. This unprecedented (and, in my opinion, disgraceful) shunning paid off for McConnell and his party...at least in the short run... after Donald Trump unexpectedly beat Hillary Clinton in the November presidential election and the winner nominated very conservative Neil Gorsuch for the position. Obama, following the refusal of McConnell...and Senate Judiciary Committer Chairman Charles Grassley...to respect the U.S. Constitution regarding their duties in this regard, had gone ahead anyway and nominated Merrick Garland, a federal judge with no ideological trail to speak of. McConnell wouldn't even show the common decency of meeting with this distinguished judge, at least for the sake of politeness, when he visited the Senate after being nominated. So with this disgusting spectacle behind us, why is it then that I totally disagree with Schumer's statement? Well, it's like this...
The whole controversy about McConnell's 2016 decision to stonewall Obama's Supreme Court nominee was based on it being a presidential election year. After all, every two years all of the House of Representative seats are up for election, as well as one third of the Senate seats...under Schumer's suggestion justices should only be nominated in odd-numbered years, an asinine idea. I sympathize with the minority leader's criticism of McConnell...but I also feel it is completely legitimate to go ahead with the nomination and hearings process for the nominee to replace Anthony Kennedy, who just announced his retirement. Trump will doubtless pick the next justice from a much-publicized list that is full of very conservative judges and politicians likely to vote to overturn Roe vs. Wade and Obamacare, among other issues...here is the crux of where the Democrats are concerned, not the timing: it is unlikely, in my opinion, that the upcoming election will see them take the majority from the Republicans...if anything McConnell's GOP will probably increase their margin of control, so stalling this nomination until after the election is just delaying the inevitable...
McConnell's action in 2016 to me smacks more of personal animosity against President Obama than any desire to be "fair". Obama was the duly, constitutionally elected president when Scalia died and vacated his seat, and was thus the one who legitimately had the duty to select Scalia's replacement, just as the Senate in turn had the duty to consider his nominee through advice and consent. As for precedents in history, when Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. retired early in 1932...also a presidential election year...Republican president Herbert Hoover wasted no time in nominating a liberal Democrat, Benjamin Cardozo, to replace him. That process went smoothly...Obama was conducive to something similar in 2016 but McConnell's spitefulness went so far as risking a much more liberal justice later being installed by Hillary Clinton, who at the time was leading the polls. My concern about all this, and the true test as to whether Senator McConnell is a hypocrite as Chuck Schumer just accused him of being, may come in 2020...
In 2020, the next presidential election year, the Republicans under Mitch McConnell probably will still have the majority in the Senate. Should a Supreme Court justice die or resign during that year, will the majority leader stay true to his stated principles he claimed to follow in 2016 by delaying any Trump replacement pick until after that election? Now that's a cut-and-dry indicator of McConnell's integrity level...I expect him to try to weasel out of it all with a lame excuse should that scenario develop, considering his long record of cloaking political expediency in "principles" he makes up as he goes along...
Thursday, June 28, 2018
6/24 Sermon: Upward Habits, Pt. 2
At the Family Church here in Gainesville last Sunday, senior pastor Philip Griffin continued his series Upward Habits with a sermon titled Meditation on Scripture. For the scripture of focus he used Psalm 1...click on it to read it through Bible Gateway. Meditation is a word bandied about a lot in our society...Pastor Philip used the term in its Christian context: the object of meditation is to consider God's word and to be filled with it...
Pastor Philip, in looking at meditation on scripture through Psalm 1, listed four outgrowths: true contentment, joyful obedience, lasting stability, and genuine prosperity. With contentment, he noted that our culture ties happiness and contentment to superficial, transitory, and circumstantially-based things and makes "happiness" a goal...but it isn't really a goal, is it, but rather a product...a product of a relationship with God lived out. With obedience to God, Our pastor pointed out four things that will change: the advice we follow, the way we live, the conclusions we settle into, and the desires of our hearts...and those desires fulfilled, i.e. our delights, will change as we meditate on scripture. For stability, Philip painted a word picture of a tree standing strong and stable in the desert because its roots go down into streams of water...we need to be rooted in Christ's living water. And with prosperity, its genuine form is not the material wealth we sometimes claim to be important but rather the blessings God gives us, especially through hard times which he uses to strengthen us, and the assurance that he has a place and a great use for us, both in this world and beyond...
As Pastor Philip concluded his message, he stressed that meditation is not the way to become righteous...only through faith in Christ is that possible. What meditation does accomplish is to make us spiritually mature as we seek what God has in store for us...
You can watch this message on the church's YouTube video website: [TFC Videos]. The Family Church, at 2022 SW 122nd Street, holds its Sunday morning services at 9 and 10:30. They include the sermon, praise and worship music, prayer, fellowship, and discipleship and learning opportunities. Snacks and coffee are provided before and between services, and there are always friendly folks around to talk with and get to know. The series continues this Sunday...
Pastor Philip, in looking at meditation on scripture through Psalm 1, listed four outgrowths: true contentment, joyful obedience, lasting stability, and genuine prosperity. With contentment, he noted that our culture ties happiness and contentment to superficial, transitory, and circumstantially-based things and makes "happiness" a goal...but it isn't really a goal, is it, but rather a product...a product of a relationship with God lived out. With obedience to God, Our pastor pointed out four things that will change: the advice we follow, the way we live, the conclusions we settle into, and the desires of our hearts...and those desires fulfilled, i.e. our delights, will change as we meditate on scripture. For stability, Philip painted a word picture of a tree standing strong and stable in the desert because its roots go down into streams of water...we need to be rooted in Christ's living water. And with prosperity, its genuine form is not the material wealth we sometimes claim to be important but rather the blessings God gives us, especially through hard times which he uses to strengthen us, and the assurance that he has a place and a great use for us, both in this world and beyond...
As Pastor Philip concluded his message, he stressed that meditation is not the way to become righteous...only through faith in Christ is that possible. What meditation does accomplish is to make us spiritually mature as we seek what God has in store for us...
You can watch this message on the church's YouTube video website: [TFC Videos]. The Family Church, at 2022 SW 122nd Street, holds its Sunday morning services at 9 and 10:30. They include the sermon, praise and worship music, prayer, fellowship, and discipleship and learning opportunities. Snacks and coffee are provided before and between services, and there are always friendly folks around to talk with and get to know. The series continues this Sunday...
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Weekly Short Story: The Waveries by Fredric Brown
I have read The Waveries, a 1945 science fiction short story by Fredric Brown, a number of times. Its ramifications are especially important in our digital era...but perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself. Since the rest of this article will probably give away the story, I suggest you first read it for yourself...it's now in the public domain, so you can read it online...just click on the following link: [you-books]. I also recommend the book From These Ashes, which is the collected short science fiction of this terrific author whose works I have enjoyed since I was about twelve and began reading his stories from a couple of cheap old paperbacks my father had. But back to The Waveries...
Back in 1945 there was no internet, and computers were a project in the early stages of development. But electricity and radio had been around for decades, and society had dramatically transformed itself wherever in the world they had taken hold. It's a funny thing about us humans: whenever a great new innovation comes into existence, like the telephone, radio, automobile, airplane, television, computers, smart phones, the internet, and so on, we marvel at it in the very beginning but then very quickly adapt ourselves to its use to the point where it is taken for granted as being an absolute necessity. When The Waveries came out 73 years ago there was no internet or smart phone and computers were in their primitive, fledgling stage of development. But they still had radio and electricity (and automotive travel, which depends on electricity). If they were suddenly gone, we're talking about a major stepdown in our civilization, right? Fredric Brown comes to a different conclusion as an exotic form of interstellar life that feeds on radio waves and electricity is attracted by signals coming from Earth and descends upon the planet, causing no direct harm to our life forms but putting a permanent end, first to radio transmissions and then anything depending on electronics or electricity...even lightning from storms gets eaten up by these strange entities. How the author portrays humanity reacting to this apparent calamity seems counterintuitive, but I kind of liked it anyway. Do we really need all this "stuff" that keeps coming out, or are these "needs" artificial creations of our consumer-based society that marginalizes those who either refuse or are unable to keep up with the trends? I strongly suspect that the latter is closer to the truth...
Back in 1945 there was no internet, and computers were a project in the early stages of development. But electricity and radio had been around for decades, and society had dramatically transformed itself wherever in the world they had taken hold. It's a funny thing about us humans: whenever a great new innovation comes into existence, like the telephone, radio, automobile, airplane, television, computers, smart phones, the internet, and so on, we marvel at it in the very beginning but then very quickly adapt ourselves to its use to the point where it is taken for granted as being an absolute necessity. When The Waveries came out 73 years ago there was no internet or smart phone and computers were in their primitive, fledgling stage of development. But they still had radio and electricity (and automotive travel, which depends on electricity). If they were suddenly gone, we're talking about a major stepdown in our civilization, right? Fredric Brown comes to a different conclusion as an exotic form of interstellar life that feeds on radio waves and electricity is attracted by signals coming from Earth and descends upon the planet, causing no direct harm to our life forms but putting a permanent end, first to radio transmissions and then anything depending on electronics or electricity...even lightning from storms gets eaten up by these strange entities. How the author portrays humanity reacting to this apparent calamity seems counterintuitive, but I kind of liked it anyway. Do we really need all this "stuff" that keeps coming out, or are these "needs" artificial creations of our consumer-based society that marginalizes those who either refuse or are unable to keep up with the trends? I strongly suspect that the latter is closer to the truth...
Tuesday, June 26, 2018
Tuesday's List: US Senate Seats Up for Election in 2018
Every two years, we Americans who actually bother to get out and vote elect one third of the United States Senate (about 33-34 seats). This November most American voters will have the opportunity to either reelect their senator, vote for the opponent, or in three races, pick a brand new one. Although the Republicans currently hold a narrow 51-49 majority in the United States Senate over the Democrats (and their two Independent senators), this coming election sees a whopping 25 Democrats standing for reelection while the Republicans are trying to hold on to just 8 seats...a monumental challenge for the Democrats who face many difficult contests in states that Donald Trump handily won in 2016. Besides these races there are special elections in Minnesota and Mississippi to determine whether the appointed senators, one from each party, will retain their seats. Three Senate seats are open through retirement and are guaranteed a new senator: Arizona, Tennessee, and Utah...
The following list uses information from the great website RealClearPolitics, which I've found to be the best source of polling results. They rated each of the Senate seats for the upcoming election as being "safe", "likely", "leaning", or "toss-up"...
DEMOCRATIC SEATS
"SAFE DEMOCRAT" (13 seats)
California: DIANNE FEINSTEIN
Connecticut: CHRIS MURPHY
Delaware: TOM CARPER
Hawaii: MAZIE HIRONO
Maine: ANGUS KING (Independent)
Maryland: BEN CARDIN
Massachusetts: ELIZABETH WARREN
Minnesota: AMY KLOBUCHAR
New Mexico: MARTIN HEINRICH
New York: KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND
Rhode Island: SHELDON WHITEHOUSE
Vermont: BERNIE SANDERS (Independent)
Washington: MARIA CANTWELL
"LIKELY DEMOCRAT" (7 seats)
Michigan: DEBBIE STABENOW
Minnesota: TINA SMITH (special election)
New Jersey: BOB MENENDEZ
Ohio: SHERROD BROWN
Pennsylvania: BOB CASEY
Virginia: TIM KAINE
Wisconsin: TAMMY BALDWIN
"LEANING DEMOCRAT" ( 1 seat)
Montana: JON TESTER
"TOSS-UPS" (5 seats)
Florida: BILL NELSON
Indiana: JOE DONNELLY
Missouri: CLAIRE MCCASKILL
North Dakota: HEIDI HEITKAMP
West Virginia: JOE MANCHIN
REPUBLICAN SEATS
"SAFE REPUBLICAN" (4 seats)
Mississippi: ROGER WICKER
Nebraska: DEB FISCHER
Utah: open seat (Orrin Hatch retiring)
Wyoming: JOHN BARRASSO
"LIKELY REPUBLICAN" (1 seat)
Mississippi: CINDY HYDE-SMITH (special election)
"LEANING REPUBLICAN" (1 seat)
Texas: TED CRUZ
"TOSS-UPS" (3 seats)
Arizona: open seat (Jeff Flake retiring)
Nevada: DEAN HELLER
Tennessee: open seat (Bob Corker retiring)
So when you consider how many more Senate seats the Democrats have to defend than the Republicans, it is actually pretty amazing that of the most contested races...the ones that could go either way...Democrats have only five races like this while Republicans have three. Of course, a lot can change between now and November. But assuming for now that those races labeled "leaning", "likely", and "safe" go as predicted, we're left with eight toss-up contests that will ultimately determine the composition and control of the Senate. For the Democrats to regain control, they will need to win at least seven of these eight elections, not impossible but highly improbable. At this point in time I'm seeing a Republican pickup of two or three Senate seats, regardless what happens in the House of Representatives...some believe that the Democrats will regain control of that legislative body...
The following list uses information from the great website RealClearPolitics, which I've found to be the best source of polling results. They rated each of the Senate seats for the upcoming election as being "safe", "likely", "leaning", or "toss-up"...
DEMOCRATIC SEATS
"SAFE DEMOCRAT" (13 seats)
California: DIANNE FEINSTEIN
Connecticut: CHRIS MURPHY
Delaware: TOM CARPER
Hawaii: MAZIE HIRONO
Maine: ANGUS KING (Independent)
Maryland: BEN CARDIN
Massachusetts: ELIZABETH WARREN
Minnesota: AMY KLOBUCHAR
New Mexico: MARTIN HEINRICH
New York: KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND
Rhode Island: SHELDON WHITEHOUSE
Vermont: BERNIE SANDERS (Independent)
Washington: MARIA CANTWELL
"LIKELY DEMOCRAT" (7 seats)
Michigan: DEBBIE STABENOW
Minnesota: TINA SMITH (special election)
New Jersey: BOB MENENDEZ
Ohio: SHERROD BROWN
Pennsylvania: BOB CASEY
Virginia: TIM KAINE
Wisconsin: TAMMY BALDWIN
"LEANING DEMOCRAT" ( 1 seat)
Montana: JON TESTER
"TOSS-UPS" (5 seats)
Florida: BILL NELSON
Indiana: JOE DONNELLY
Missouri: CLAIRE MCCASKILL
North Dakota: HEIDI HEITKAMP
West Virginia: JOE MANCHIN
REPUBLICAN SEATS
"SAFE REPUBLICAN" (4 seats)
Mississippi: ROGER WICKER
Nebraska: DEB FISCHER
Utah: open seat (Orrin Hatch retiring)
Wyoming: JOHN BARRASSO
"LIKELY REPUBLICAN" (1 seat)
Mississippi: CINDY HYDE-SMITH (special election)
"LEANING REPUBLICAN" (1 seat)
Texas: TED CRUZ
"TOSS-UPS" (3 seats)
Arizona: open seat (Jeff Flake retiring)
Nevada: DEAN HELLER
Tennessee: open seat (Bob Corker retiring)
So when you consider how many more Senate seats the Democrats have to defend than the Republicans, it is actually pretty amazing that of the most contested races...the ones that could go either way...Democrats have only five races like this while Republicans have three. Of course, a lot can change between now and November. But assuming for now that those races labeled "leaning", "likely", and "safe" go as predicted, we're left with eight toss-up contests that will ultimately determine the composition and control of the Senate. For the Democrats to regain control, they will need to win at least seven of these eight elections, not impossible but highly improbable. At this point in time I'm seeing a Republican pickup of two or three Senate seats, regardless what happens in the House of Representatives...some believe that the Democrats will regain control of that legislative body...
Monday, June 25, 2018
Just Finished Reading The Outsider by Stephen King
Once when I was in the seventh grade in school, an unknown kid a couple of years ahead of me suddenly approached me with a giant, friendly grin on his face, erroneously recognizing me as an old buddy of his. As I watched his face change from joy to confusion to downright anger and contempt, I realized how generally stupid my classmates were...it wasn't my fault that he screwed up. After all, we could have ourselves ended up becoming friends. I'm relating this because it does happen from time to time that some of us...including myself...find ourselves mistaken for another, a "dead ringer". Alfred Hitchcock's terrific 1955 Henry Fonda movie The Wrong Man is a case example of this, with serious consequences. Yet Fonda's character, wrongfully accused and convicted of a bank robbery mainly through the mistaken testimony of eyewitnesses, suffers little in comparison to The Outsider's Terry Maitland, who is directly implicated in the brutal murder of a little boy...
The question Stephen King raises in The Outsider is this: when two diametrically contradictory scenarios are presented, where will people come down when it comes to making judgments? Terry Maitland has not only been identified by eyewitnesses as being around the scene of the crime when it occurred, but was also seen wearing bloody clothing. The van he was seen in also bore his own fingerprints, as well as those of the victim...and DNA samples matched as well. Pretty convincing, except that at the time of the crime Terry Maitland had an ironclad alibi, being many miles away at a writers' convention with even himself shown on video asking a question from the audience to the speaker. Yet police detective Ralph Anderson simply refuses to believe in Maitland's innocence...after all, he has evidence supporting his guilt. And so the story progresses as the town seems to have tried and convicted the accused in advance, with Maitland's wife and kids being shunned by former friends. And it is here that I'll let you read what happens for yourself. I will say this much: an old, familiar character from some of Stephen King's more recent novels resurfaces and provides a sense of sanity to it all...
As a sidelight, The Outsider discusses the caves of Texas that are in the vicinity of Austin. As a recent visitor, I was impressed: I actually stepped down into one while I was there last year...I wonder how Stephen King, whom I had previously stereotyped as being just an expert on Maine and Florida (his summer and winter homes), managed to get into Texas caves...of course, the dude by this time has had many folks willing and able to perform some adroit advance research on whatever he wanted to write about...
Going off on a little tangent, I find it interesting how, in our country, one is supposed to be presumed innocent of a crime until convicted in a court of law...yet our law enforcement sometimes sees itself as judge, jury, and executioner. Numerous television series show us the criminals in their heinous acts, so as viewers we already know they're guilty without the need of a trial: we just need to bring on the cops to settle the score, right? Wrong! The police can arrest and charge...and use force, even lethal force, to protect themselves and the public. But they are not there to judge others and carry out their judgments. I remember the first Superman movie when Christopher Reeve catches a cat burglar climbing the outside of a skyscraper. After startling him, Reeves flies down and catches him just before he splats on the ground. Our hero then hands him over to a cop, telling him to "lock him up"...say what? Yet that's how a lot of us see our police...but not me. Unfortunately, Ralph Anderson, the police detective in King's story, is one of those who feels the need to exercise his moral judgment over others is rightfully within the bounds of the exercise of his duty. Sure, what results in The Outsider is fictional, but I believe that this sort of thing goes on all the time around us...
The question Stephen King raises in The Outsider is this: when two diametrically contradictory scenarios are presented, where will people come down when it comes to making judgments? Terry Maitland has not only been identified by eyewitnesses as being around the scene of the crime when it occurred, but was also seen wearing bloody clothing. The van he was seen in also bore his own fingerprints, as well as those of the victim...and DNA samples matched as well. Pretty convincing, except that at the time of the crime Terry Maitland had an ironclad alibi, being many miles away at a writers' convention with even himself shown on video asking a question from the audience to the speaker. Yet police detective Ralph Anderson simply refuses to believe in Maitland's innocence...after all, he has evidence supporting his guilt. And so the story progresses as the town seems to have tried and convicted the accused in advance, with Maitland's wife and kids being shunned by former friends. And it is here that I'll let you read what happens for yourself. I will say this much: an old, familiar character from some of Stephen King's more recent novels resurfaces and provides a sense of sanity to it all...
As a sidelight, The Outsider discusses the caves of Texas that are in the vicinity of Austin. As a recent visitor, I was impressed: I actually stepped down into one while I was there last year...I wonder how Stephen King, whom I had previously stereotyped as being just an expert on Maine and Florida (his summer and winter homes), managed to get into Texas caves...of course, the dude by this time has had many folks willing and able to perform some adroit advance research on whatever he wanted to write about...
Going off on a little tangent, I find it interesting how, in our country, one is supposed to be presumed innocent of a crime until convicted in a court of law...yet our law enforcement sometimes sees itself as judge, jury, and executioner. Numerous television series show us the criminals in their heinous acts, so as viewers we already know they're guilty without the need of a trial: we just need to bring on the cops to settle the score, right? Wrong! The police can arrest and charge...and use force, even lethal force, to protect themselves and the public. But they are not there to judge others and carry out their judgments. I remember the first Superman movie when Christopher Reeve catches a cat burglar climbing the outside of a skyscraper. After startling him, Reeves flies down and catches him just before he splats on the ground. Our hero then hands him over to a cop, telling him to "lock him up"...say what? Yet that's how a lot of us see our police...but not me. Unfortunately, Ralph Anderson, the police detective in King's story, is one of those who feels the need to exercise his moral judgment over others is rightfully within the bounds of the exercise of his duty. Sure, what results in The Outsider is fictional, but I believe that this sort of thing goes on all the time around us...
Sunday, June 24, 2018
Looks Like a Long, Hot Summer in North Florida (Again)
It looks like we're in for a long, hot summer here in northern Florida...including the nights as well as the days. Last night on the 11 o'clock local news they said the current temperature in Gainesville was 83...ouch! The morning lows have been dipping lately only to the upper 70s...time for around-the-clock air conditioning! On the other hand, I am a lifelong Floridian who grew up in a non-air conditioned home in south Florida, so I'm well accustomed to enduring sweltering summers. And I've been known in the recent past to go out on long distance runs when the temperatures were climbing into the 90s, so my level of discomfort in the heat is largely psychological. Still, I do always carry with me some Powerade or Gatorade when I'm running and take care not to unduly exert myself whenever hot conditions combine with excessive humidity...a toxic brew with the air moisture conspiring to impede proper perspiration, causing body temperatures to surge to possibly dangerous levels. At work we're often presented with talks about heat stress...although they're intended primarily for employees working outdoors, the principles are still applicable to everyone. It's good to get outdoors and experience the wonderful summertime weather...but I admit to enjoying "hunkering down" in a well-cooled room as well afterwards...now where did I put that remote?
Saturday, June 23, 2018
Just Finished Reading Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie
Death in the Clouds is a 1935 mystery novel by English author Agatha Christie (1890-1976), featuring the mustachioed, soft-spoken Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot, more widely known in stories like Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile (neither of which I've read). It's a pretty standard story in this genre, with the setting and the particulars of the characters being the innovations: someone is murdered and there is a list of people who could have been culpable, some more suspicious than others. After going through the different clues revealed over time, Detective Poirot comes up with the unlikely murderer and reveals his train of thought in solving the mystery...totally different than what the author had been leading us poor reader dupes to believe. In Death in the Clouds, the crime takes place on a plane flight from France to England, in the rear passenger compartment involving only eleven possible people. One of the passengers, a woman with a cryptic past who has recently made a fortune lending money, is found dead by one of the stewards...a wasp had been seen flying around, could she have died from its sting? But Poirot discovers a poisoned dart beneath her seat, and this turns out to be the murder weapon. But who blew it...all sorts of misdirection ensues, with the good detective himself being suspected by some...
Death in the Clouds is not intended as much to enlighten us about history, society, philosophy, human nature, relationships, or the other sorts of themes present in great literature. Instead it serves as an enjoyable game, a puzzle to be solved. The trick is to catch on to the trail of the guilty party before Poirot spills the beans...I admit that this time Hercule beat me to it. Still, I got a kick out of this story, and plan to delve further into Agatha Christie's bibliography, in which many other tales have been written around Hercule Poirot and another detective, Miss Marple. Other than a short story I read many years ago, it's amazing that I'd never gotten around to Agatha Christie's large collection of works before...
Death in the Clouds is not intended as much to enlighten us about history, society, philosophy, human nature, relationships, or the other sorts of themes present in great literature. Instead it serves as an enjoyable game, a puzzle to be solved. The trick is to catch on to the trail of the guilty party before Poirot spills the beans...I admit that this time Hercule beat me to it. Still, I got a kick out of this story, and plan to delve further into Agatha Christie's bibliography, in which many other tales have been written around Hercule Poirot and another detective, Miss Marple. Other than a short story I read many years ago, it's amazing that I'd never gotten around to Agatha Christie's large collection of works before...
Friday, June 22, 2018
Quote of the Week...from Isaac Asimov
People think of education as something they can finish. ---Isaac Asimov.
Isaac Asimov (1920-92), author of the science fiction Foundation, Empire, and Robot series, is one of the most beloved science fiction writers of the twentieth century. Besides these fictional works and others, he wrote many books on general science, math, and other topics, with a targeted audience of adults. Asimov was one of the early proponents of life-long learning and did not believe that one's education ends upon graduation from school, crystallized by the above quote. And while I agree with this notion wholeheartedly, I still feel a bit out of place whenever I'm in public and begin to practice writing out sentences in Chinese or Russian, or start to work on math problems in...say, linear algebra or probability. That's because once you're out of school, you can nowadays still be "allowed" to be learning things...only they need to have some sort of "application" in your life that you can justify your learning to others, as if there were really any need for an excuse...
But aside from the cognitive reverie that I find myself in from time to time, along with quirky interests like foreign languages or treating math problems as fun puzzles to solve, I also keep up with events around me and their historical foundations and causes. After all, I am a voting participant in this representative form of society called a republic and to fully be able to understand the important issues of our time and how they affect me. my family, and my country, I need to be continually studying and learning. I do also read a lot as well as engage in daily practice expressing my thoughts on this blog...that's all part of lifelong learning. And I also firmly believe that keeping myself informed and interested in the news helps to protect me from demagogic politicians and media figures who play upon people's fears and prejudices in order to build up support. But beyond this, I have a natural curiosity about things and like to learn...applications or not. I consider it all as simply being a necessary, basic element of life...
Isaac Asimov (1920-92), author of the science fiction Foundation, Empire, and Robot series, is one of the most beloved science fiction writers of the twentieth century. Besides these fictional works and others, he wrote many books on general science, math, and other topics, with a targeted audience of adults. Asimov was one of the early proponents of life-long learning and did not believe that one's education ends upon graduation from school, crystallized by the above quote. And while I agree with this notion wholeheartedly, I still feel a bit out of place whenever I'm in public and begin to practice writing out sentences in Chinese or Russian, or start to work on math problems in...say, linear algebra or probability. That's because once you're out of school, you can nowadays still be "allowed" to be learning things...only they need to have some sort of "application" in your life that you can justify your learning to others, as if there were really any need for an excuse...
But aside from the cognitive reverie that I find myself in from time to time, along with quirky interests like foreign languages or treating math problems as fun puzzles to solve, I also keep up with events around me and their historical foundations and causes. After all, I am a voting participant in this representative form of society called a republic and to fully be able to understand the important issues of our time and how they affect me. my family, and my country, I need to be continually studying and learning. I do also read a lot as well as engage in daily practice expressing my thoughts on this blog...that's all part of lifelong learning. And I also firmly believe that keeping myself informed and interested in the news helps to protect me from demagogic politicians and media figures who play upon people's fears and prejudices in order to build up support. But beyond this, I have a natural curiosity about things and like to learn...applications or not. I consider it all as simply being a necessary, basic element of life...
Thursday, June 21, 2018
6/17 Sermon: Upward Habits, Pt. 1
On Father's Day last Sunday at the Family Church here in Gainesville, senior pastor Philip Griffin delivered his first message in a new series, titled Upward Habits, and tied it around Psalm 63, which you can read via Bible Gateway by clicking on the passage. In Psalm 63, King David of Israel has been overthrown by his own son Absalom and has fled to the desert. His attitude toward his circumstances, his own role as a father, and his relationship with God form the basis of this message...
As Pastor Griffin said, David knows that he bore responsibility for Absalom's rebelliousness from his own earlier sins. He could have let himself be overcome by fear, worry, or anger: instead he focuses on his relationship with God...and provides some direction for ourselves in our times. As Pastor Philip pointed out, when we ask ourselves the questions "what is our deepest need, our most valuable prize, and our greatest hope", we can...like David...choose to answer them according to either our earthly circumstances or from our deep spiritual thirst for an experiential relationship with God. As for the need, desiring rescue, strength, and courage are all legitimate but fall short of the ultimate need, our Lord. The prize we should seek is God's love...it is more important than life itself. And about that hope, Philip explained that our mistakes do not define us since, from our relationship with God, he has forgiven us: our living hope is with God...
Pastor Philip used this inaugural sermon in the new series to begin within the congregation a program whereby we purpose to develop the habits that will make God first in our lives, be they expressed within our hearts, the start of our days, in our daily considerations, or with our finances. Using the Gospel of John and providing a reading plan suited to morning devotions, the hope is to inculcate a spirit of trust and reliance on God instead of letting the world dictate our needs and hopes. This sixty-day challenge is to change habits, and to direct them "upward"...
You can watch the video of this sermon on the church's YouTube video website...click on the following link: [TFC Videos]. The Family Church, at 2022 SW 122nd Street, meets Sunday mornings at 9 and 10:30 for its weekly services, featuring the message, praise and worship music, prayer, and discipleship and fellowship opportunities. A hospitality room has coffee and treats before and between services, a place to get to meet some friendly and interesting folks. Let's see what the message will be this coming Sunday...
As Pastor Griffin said, David knows that he bore responsibility for Absalom's rebelliousness from his own earlier sins. He could have let himself be overcome by fear, worry, or anger: instead he focuses on his relationship with God...and provides some direction for ourselves in our times. As Pastor Philip pointed out, when we ask ourselves the questions "what is our deepest need, our most valuable prize, and our greatest hope", we can...like David...choose to answer them according to either our earthly circumstances or from our deep spiritual thirst for an experiential relationship with God. As for the need, desiring rescue, strength, and courage are all legitimate but fall short of the ultimate need, our Lord. The prize we should seek is God's love...it is more important than life itself. And about that hope, Philip explained that our mistakes do not define us since, from our relationship with God, he has forgiven us: our living hope is with God...
Pastor Philip used this inaugural sermon in the new series to begin within the congregation a program whereby we purpose to develop the habits that will make God first in our lives, be they expressed within our hearts, the start of our days, in our daily considerations, or with our finances. Using the Gospel of John and providing a reading plan suited to morning devotions, the hope is to inculcate a spirit of trust and reliance on God instead of letting the world dictate our needs and hopes. This sixty-day challenge is to change habits, and to direct them "upward"...
You can watch the video of this sermon on the church's YouTube video website...click on the following link: [TFC Videos]. The Family Church, at 2022 SW 122nd Street, meets Sunday mornings at 9 and 10:30 for its weekly services, featuring the message, praise and worship music, prayer, and discipleship and fellowship opportunities. A hospitality room has coffee and treats before and between services, a place to get to meet some friendly and interesting folks. Let's see what the message will be this coming Sunday...
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