Seeing Red, Contemplating Cabbages and Kings

Today was an incredibly busy day and blogging has had to be put on a back burner while I attended to more pressing matters.

It certainly isn't that there is a shortage of things about which I should be blogging. In the few moments that I had to spare, there were matters about which I wanted to blog. One such matter was this:

Netherlands Hospital Euthanizes Babies

There are times when the barbarity, cruelty, stupidity and insanity of the human race fills me with such horror that I would gladly not be part of it.

Through a miasma of revulsion and disgust that had me seeing red, I thought it best if I not blog on that until I have had the opportunity to focus and allow the heat of rage to became icily cold and effective. In the meantime, I'll leave these words for you to ponder:

"Then said he unto the discliples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones."

Turning to other matters, I have been contemplating various things, from "sailing ships and sealing wax" to "cabbages and kings." At one point, I almost dove into the current topic making the rounds of the blogsphere concerning which books people have read more than once. I'm still ruminating and cogitating on that one. I think if I take the bait, my post will more probably be about books I have read which deserve to be read by others at least once.

If you were wondering why the posting was slight today, you've been told and NOW YOU KNOW.

The Weblog Awards and Categorization

When Kevin Aylward of Wizbang announced that nominations were being accepted for the 2004 Weblog Awards, I gave a lot of thought to whom I wanted to nominate and why. I did not want to rush over and nominate a lot of very popular well-known blogs with plenty of exposure and a huge following, simply so that I could say I had jumped on the bandwagon with all their other many admirers. You know how in high school they would have various votes for most popular, or homecoming king and queen, etc.? Remember how it was really a foregone conclusion who would be nominated and who would win? The worst part was when people who didn't really even know the person they were nominating, or for whom they were voting, did so anyway, just because they knew everybody else was going to do so. It was a way of fitting in with the crowd.

Screw that. I wanted to nominate people who are really busting their backsides to have a fantastic blog, regardless of any contest or recognition, and whose efforts show in their excellent results. I wanted to nominate people who deserve not only recognition but exposure. (Notice how I bolded, italicized and put in bright red that last word? If I could have made it flash like a neon sign, I would have done that too.)

What on earth is the point of giving recognition to people who are already recognized? It's equivalent to opening the Olympics to professional paid athletes. Everybody already knows the mega-popular blogs.

Keeping the above in mind, I knew that there were certain blogs that deserve both recognition and exposure, blogs that I feel are so excellent that they are already on their way up, and yet it wouldn't hurt to give them a pat on the back and a nudge of approval.

Knowing all the above, it wasn't difficult for me to choose some excellent blogs that met my own idiosyncratic criteria. The difficulty was in fitting them into the given categories. (By the way, this post is in no way meant as a criticism or a slam against the Weblog Awards or Kevin Aylward. The awards are a marvelous idea. I'm sure that a lot of effort and thought are being put into them and it must have been difficult to come up with the categories. Nevertheless, one has to start somewhere and categories were made.)

Even so, I suppose I wanted more categories, more specific categories, less overlap (a stated aim of the Weblog awards), and darn it, I wanted all my favorite blogs to be nominated and to WIN.

Here was my dilemna: let's start with the truly wonderful blog Protein Wisdom that is written with amazing talent by Jeff Goldstein. If you are familiar with his blog, you already know that it is a conservative blog. (If you are not familiar with it, you should remedy that deficiency right away. I provided you with the link. You have no excuse anymore.) However, should it really be nominated in that category? Does the label "conservative" best describe it? That is the crux of the problem with which I wrestled. After all, one could also make a very convincing case that it should be nominated for "Best Humor Blog." Yes, Protein Wisdom is indeed humorous, witty, satirical, ironic, slapstick, comical and sometimes just plain weird. What then to make of it when it also can be completely, earnestly serious about very important matters? Such matters it can equally present in a sober and dignified manner, in a way that recognizes their seriousness. And what of its topics that aren't necessarily conservative politics or humor? Jeff demonstrates a knowledge of literature, film, music, the arts. He's informed about current events and pop culture. Should he therefore be nominated as "Best Culture Blog"?

I confess, I copped out and nominated him for "Best Culture Blog" simply because he defies easy categorization, and yet that appeared to be the best catch-all category. Why couldn't there have been a category such as "Best Variety Blog" or "Most Original Blog" or something else? As I said, Protein Wisdom defies such labels. I've got it; perhaps "Best Eclectic Blog."

Another example of a blog that I knew I wanted to nominate is La Shawn Barber's Corner. Rarely have I come across anyone with such uncommonly good sense as La Shawn Barber. (Sorry, but the phrase "common sense" is an oxymoron. They are mutually exclusive terms.)
Add to that a sparklingly clear writing style, conservative values, and most of all a Christian perspective. I have found no other blog which explains basic Christian tenets in such a concise and easily understandable way and handles liberal and anti-Christian detractors with class and distinction without descending to their level. Do you want to know why being pro-life for the unborn is not contradictory to favoring the death penalty? She will explain it for you in such a way that you will either understand or prove that you are beyond understanding. If there had been a "Best Christian Blog" category, I would have nominated her there in a heartbeat. I suppose the Weblog Awards did not want to cause controversy or alienate people by having such a category. Maybe they also feared that some would insist that they include a "Best Buddhist" or "Best Islamic" or "Best Jewish" blog category as well. Be that as it may, I nominated it for "Best Media/Journalist" blog, and since she is a journalist, that seems fitting. I cannot recommend her blog highly enough.

The Ace of Spades HQ received my nomination for "Best Conservative Blog," though once again he could just as easily have been accurately nominated for "Best Humor Blog." Speaking of which, Jim Treacher of Mother, May I Sleep With Treacher received my nomination for that category. Why not Scrappleface in that category? Because I would hardly call Scrappleface a blog, although it is uproariously funny, and because its creator, Scott Ott, hardly needs exposure.

Steve and Robert of The Llama Butchers received my nomination for "Best Group Blog" (but I have a sneaking suspicion in real life they are Oscar Madison and Felix Unger.) ;) ;) ;) Can you guess which one is the Virgo-ish Felix Unger?

The "Best On-Line Community" that deserves some more exposure is Spleenville.com . Ditto for Tim Blair in the "Best Australia or New Zealand Blog" category.

Wretchard of the blog Belmont Club was the easiest choice for a category that for once truly fits: "Best Essayist." As I went over there just now to get the URL for the link, it proved once again why I think it is the best essay blog; I was caught-up in his latest posting and almost forgot I had only gone there to get the URL!

If only there some more categories for the deserving! I nominated in the categories provided as best I could, but it left some glaring lacunae for blogs that deserve a nomination. So here and now, although it will do little good, I nominate the following blogs which deserve nominating anyway, and I'll make up categories as I go along. I'll leave the fine tuning of the categories to others:

Jeff Percifield of Beautiful Atrocities [Best "Variety Show-esque"Blog?]

Allahpundit of Allah Is In the House [Best "We All Wish You Would Come Back Blog"]

Patterico of Patterico's Pontifications [Best "Curing the Californication of America Blog"]

Dr. Pat Santy of Dr. Sanity [Best "Shining a Psychological Spotlight on the Insanities of Life Blog"]

Tall Glass of Milk of Drink This. . . [Best "There Is Some Class and Brains on the West Coast Blog"]

Stephen Green of VodkaPundit and the Weblog of Tomorrow [Best "Vodka Must Be the Antidote for Kool-Aid Blog"]

Jeff Percifield of Beautiful Atrocities and Steve and Robert of The Llama Butchers [Best Blog Rivalry]

Yes, these blogs all deserve a Weblog Award. Until they get one, they daily earn their readership and they merit you reading them if you don't already.

You've been told and NOW YOU KNOW.

Update: Wouldn't you know that I got Jeff Percifield's name wrong TWICE?!?! Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa et cetera.

Today is C.S. Lewis' Birthday

The great writer, educator, medievalist, philosopher and Christian theologian C.S. Lewis was born on this date over 100 years ago in 1898.

Michelle Malkin's blog alerted me that today is the anniversary of his birth.

When I first became aware of C.S. Lewis' writings, I was captivated and enchanted by his supremely beautiful Christian allegory in his "The Chronicles of Narnia" series of books.

Since then, I have been fortunate to have read his other works and to appreciate him as a medievalist (my area of specialty) and as a great mind in Christian thought.

If you have not heard of him before, now is your opportunity to acquaint yourself with his works. If you have heard of him already, but perhaps only know him through the film or play "Shadowlands" now is also a good time to discover his writings further.

Here is a brief excerpt from an article titled "The Prophecy of C.S. Lewis" by Chuck Colson for www.townhall.com :

"The problem is not that modern evangelicals are less intelligent than Lewis. As Mark Noll explains in his book The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, the problem is that our sharpest intellects have been channeled into biblical scholarship, exegesis, and
hermeneutics. While that is a vital enterprise, we rarely give the same scholarly attention to history, literature, politics, philosophy, economics, or the arts. As a result, we are less aware of the culture than we should be, less equipped to defend a biblical worldview, and less capable of being a redemptive
force in our postmodern society—less aware, as well, of the threats headed our way from cultural elites.

You and I need to follow Lewis’s lead. We must liberate ourselves from the prison of our own narrow perspective and immerse ourselves in Christian ideas “down the ages.” Only then can we critique our culture and trace the trends.

The best way to celebrate Lewis’s birthday is to be at our posts, as he liked to say—with renewed spirits and with probing and informed minds." [Emphasis mine.]

That is your task. Be at your posts with renewed spirits and with probing and informed minds. You've been told and NOW YOU KNOW.

Update: Steve and Robert over at The Llama Butchers have a nice tribute to C.S. Lewis as well titled "Happy Birthday, Sir!" Go check it out.

Oliver Stone's Director's Cut

As the miserable reviews of Oliver Stone's movie "Alexander the Great" keep rolling in, Jeff Percifield of Beautiful Atrocities uses his keen perception to put his finger right on the crux of the problem with the film.
See his update to his post of Saturday, November 27, 2004 titled People Are Talking About Alexander.

It's the best movie review punch line I've ever heard. If you were wondering why the movie sucks so bad, you've been told and NOW YOU KNOW.

Michael Moore and Oliver Willis Explained At Last

Here's an interesting article by John Fauber of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel titled Research Links Fat to Loss of Brain Size . Excerpted from the article:

"In one study, a Medical College of Wisconsin researcher and scientists in Sweden found that being overweight throughout adulthood raises the risk of brain atrophy.

. . . Those who were overweight at various points throughout the study were significantly more likely to have a loss of brain tissue in the temporal lobe, a part of the brain involved in several cognitive functions, including language, comprehension and memory.

. . . The researchers found that for every one-point gain in BMI, the risk of temporal lobe atrophy increased 13 percent to 16 percent.

. . . There are several possible explanations for how being overweight contributes to brain cell loss. Excess fat likely contributes to a "vascular milieu" that is unhealthy for the brain, Gustafson said."

So there you have it. Regarding Michael Moore and Oliver Willis, that explains a lot. You've been told and NOW YOU KNOW.

Porter Goss of the CIA and the 5th Labor of Hercules

Once upon a time (according to the Greek writer Apollodorus) the great hero Hercules (aka Heracles) had to accomplish 12 monumental labors. One of these seemingly insurmountable tasks was to clean out the Augean stables. Augeas was king of Elis and he had many herds of cattle:

"King Augeas was cheap, and while he was rich enough to own many, many herds of cattle, he had never been willing to pay for the services of someone to clean their mess. The mess has become proverbial. Augean stables is now synonymous with 'Herculean task,' which is itself the equivalent of saying something is all but humanly impossible."

As the story goes, "Hercules was next instructed to perform a smelly service that would benefit mankind in general, but especially King Augeas of Elis, son of Poseidon." [Emphasis mine.]

Demigod that he was, Hercules succeeded in this labor of mucking out years of accumulated excrement and filth that was piled high and deep and reeked to the high heavens.

Let's hope that Porter Goss can succeed in the same caliber of task. God knows that after years of funding cuts and mismanagement under the Clinton administration, the current CIA that Goss is inheriting is more full of loads of manure than ever the Augean stables were.

Here's a truly hilarious quote from a news article titled Turmoil at CIA As Goss Lays Down the Law by Katherine Pfleger Schrader of the Associated Press:

"There are those who view Goss' early moves as a purge. They worry that the Florida Republican who led the House Intelligence Committee until August is bringing a partisan background to an agency that traditionally has tried to avoid politics." [Emphasis mine.]

(Sorry. I should have warned you. I should have given you a spew alert in case you were drinking something at the moment you read that.)

From all the liberal CIA leaking that has been appearing in the equally liberal MSM designed specifically to hurt our president, his administration and indeed this country, it is clear that the agency has not for quite some time "tried to avoid politics."

Have you ever noticed that liberals call the farthest freakiest fringiest leftist ideology "neutral" and "non-partisan"? The closing quote from the same article exemplifies my point perfectly:

"In a letter to Goss, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said she feared the 'politicization of our intelligence services.'"

No. What she (and all the other moonbats and muckadoos) fear is that Goss will actually succeed in cleaning out the lefty leakers just as Hercules cleaned out the Augean stables. Now, if only Goss could figure out a way to divert the Potomac river through the CIA . . .

If you were not previously aware that you should be rooting for Goss' success, you're aware now, because you've been told and NOW YOU KNOW.

The Role Model for Moonbats, Demoncrats and Various Other Assorted Rats

Read this article titled Mother Turns in Suspect in China Killings by Joe McDonald of the Associated Press:

Here are some key excerpts from the article, but read the whole thing:

"BEIJING (AP) - The mother of a 21-year-old man accused of slashing as many as nine boys to death as they slept in their high school dormitory turned her son in after he attempted to commit suicide, a news report said.

. . . Yan broke into the central China dormitory at 11:45 p.m. on Thursday and "chopped eight people to death," Xinhua said. The China News Service cited a survivor as saying that during the attack, the man with the knife said, "Don't blame me."

. . . It was the fourth knife attack reported at a Chinese school or day care center in as many months. The earlier assaults left one child dead and 42 people
injured.

. . . Last month, six men were arrested in Beijing in a knife attack at an Internet cafe that left 14 people bloodied. News reports said the attackers wanted revenge on several men they had met at the cafe and when they couldn't be found slashed customers at random.

. . . In August, a man with a history of schizophrenia killed a student and slashed 14 children and three teachers at a Beijing kindergarten.

. . . In September, a man armed with a knife, gasoline and homemade explosives broke into a day-care center in the eastern city of Suzhou and slashed 28 children before police stopped him. Police haven't disclosed a possible motive."

And the money quote from the article:

"Fatal bombings, mass poisonings and other attacks are reported frequently, usually blamed on people trying to hurt business rivals or seeking revenge in often minor disputes. Firearms are rarely used because private gun ownership is illegal in most parts of China. " [Emphasis mine. ed.]

Now isn't communist China a lovely role model for all the anti-gun, anti-Second Amendment raving lunatics of the left? See how effective gun control laws are in protecting people? Don't you think that it is much more preferable to die by being stabbed, slashed, blown up, set on fire or poisoned than it would be to die by being shot? See how much more civilized it is to die a horrible violent death when guns aren't involved? Ain't it just peachy? And of course, if someone were ever to attack you or your family or loved ones, you wouldn't want any guns around for protection. No, they would just get in the way and somebody, such as your attacker, might get hurt! We couldn't have that now, could we?

Believe it or not, my pure sarcasm above, as ridiculous as it sounds, is exactly the kind of reasoning that is used by the gun control advocating morons today. And no, they are not just a fringe of the far left liberals. They are indeed everywhere and constitute not only the entire left but also many so-called moderates as well. Even that turncoat bastard traitor John McCain has been jumping on the gun control bandwagon and getting all chummy with them.

Wake up people! The only ones that are ever "protected" by gun control laws are the criminals and crooks who won't be obeying them. Meanwhile it leaves law abiding citizens defenseless against the dregs of society. It leaves law abiding citizens defenseless against even their own government. Oops! Sorry, that's redundant isn't it?

Don't let Pessary Rottw*t C*nton, Nancy Pelosi, Ted "Chappaquiddick" Kennedy, and even John McCain take away your right to keep and bear arms.

Your choice is to let communist China be your role model in this, or to let our Constitution, our founding fathers, and even (dare I say it?) highly un-common sense guide you.

You've been told and NOW YOU KNOW.

Two Early Christmas Gifts from Google

A good friend e-mailed me an article from the NY Times about 2 new and exciting services being offered by Google:

As I was explaining to another friend who does not use computers, not a day goes by that I do not use Google for something.

The 2 new services are free and they are:

scholar.google.com

and

print.google.com

Check out the NY times article and the two web addresses provided above (just click on the links) for all the details.

Scholar.google.com promises to be a veritable gold mine for researchers. If you think that you'll never have any use for it, think again. You don't have to be a university student or professor to find it of use. "How so?" you may ask. Use your head! There are plenty of bloggers who write about current events, politics, economics, etc. and there is a wealth of information to be found. For example, I did a search on scholar.google.com for "Charles Krauthammer" and 187 citations were returned!

Print.google.com is every bit as intriguing and promises much for the future. As more and more books are scanned by Google and added to their database, readers everywhere will be able to utilize this to their advantage. As the details indicate, one will not be able to read a scanned book cover to cover, but it does give the page from the book on which the information for which one searched appears, as well as the page which immediately precedes it and the page which immediately follows it.

Get the word out about these 2 new features and start using them. If you don't, it's your loss and a pathetic one at that.

You've been told and NOW YOU KNOW.

My Thankfulness This Thanksgiving

As we who love God and are grateful for His blessings and mercies gather today to render our thanks to Him, I want to express my thankfulness for the following:

I am thankful for my health and wholeness while mindful of those who suffer from illness, disease or injury.

I am thankful for a roof over my head while mindful of those who are homeless.

I am thankful for food while mindful of those who are hungry.

I am thankful for clothes on my back and shoes on my feet while mindful of those less fortunate.

I am heartily grateful that all my needs are met, and in the abundance of God's love I have more than I need.

I am grateful for my education and for having received my Master of Arts degree this year. I am grateful for the Lord having blessed my thesis.

I am thankful for good neighbors and friends.

I am thankful for those in the military who are fighting for our security as well as the freedom of others.

I am thankful for our president.

I am thankful that I can still give thanks to God.

I hope and pray that you may be blessed and that you may have reasons for which to give thanks to the Lord our God as well.

If you also are living in the United States of America, I'm sure that you do have things for which to be grateful. Please remember to thank Him from Whom all good things come. You've been told and now you know.

P.S.
And for some lighthearted Thanksgiving humor, this piece in the Washington Post is an oldie but a goodie from Art Buchwald:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11965-2004Nov25.html?referrer=emailarticle

Pardon The Look of This Blog

Please excuse the way the layout of the blog currently appears. The template that was provided was supposed to show the text of the main body of the blog side-by-side to the right of "Recent Posts" and "Archives." Unfortunately, as you can see, the way it was supposed to appear is not the way that it is currently appearing.

I am looking into how this may be fixed. In the meantime, I apologize for the appearance.

Just in case you were wondering about it, you've been told and now you know.

Cell Phones: A Modern Social Disease

There is a news article titled Exploding Cell Phones a Growing Problem .

Oh, really? The fact that the cell phones are exploding is the problem? I consider it a public service. Lord save me from having to put up with any more rude, obnoxious, self-centered idiots who are determined to make me listen to their one-sided private conversations in which they are publically engaged!

Here is a newsflash for all the guilty parties (and you know who you are!) -- No one, and I do mean no one, wishes to be subjected to you babbling publically over your cell phone to some unknown private entity. No one wants to hear or see you doing this in a grocery store. No one wants to hear or see you doing this at a mall. No one wants to hear or see you doing this in a restaurant. No one wants to hear or see you doing this in any other public place! It is the height of rudeness and inconsideration for you to be doing so.

We are not favorably impressed because you own a cell phone. The novelty of them wore off long ago. If you think that we are impressed by the sight of your cell phone, you must believe that we are positively ga-ga over you having finally discovered what toilet paper is. We are in no way misled into believing that you are a VIP because you have that cell phone attached to your ear so much that it has begun to graft to the side of your head.

We are particularly disgusted with you selfish, careless pigs of the world who engage in cell phone use while you are operating any motor vehicle. You are not paying attention to your driving and you are endangering the life and limbs of those of us who care about other motorists, cyclists and pedestrians, not to mention those of us who care about our own life.

In short, watching you engage in your cell phone social disease behavior is about as appetizing as being forced to watch you defecate, urinate or regurtitate in public. It is as charming as being forced to hear your flatulence and eructation at the dinner table. It is as appealing as being exposed to you engaging in your sexual proclivities in public. You are equivalent to the toothless, decrepit old man wearing nothing but a trench coat while masturbating to shock or elicit a response from innocent passers-by.

The news article to which I have linked above ended with the following statement from the mother of a 13 year old boy whose cell phone exploded: "It took my son two months to decide to even be near a cell phone," said his mother, Cris. "But he needs one."

Excuse me, you retarded rodent of a mother, but your 13 year old boy does not need a cell phone. The truth of the matter is that even most adults don't need a cell phone. You flatter yourselves that you are all so important that the world would come to a screeching halt and life as we know it would be obliterated from the face of the earth if you were to be "deprived" of your beloved aural masturbatory device. Please allow me to disabuse you of that erroneous notion. None of you are, to my knowledge, the leader of the free world. You are simply not important enough to require that you be in constant communication with the world 24/7. You are not the president of the United States and that cell phone is not your hotline, the only thing protecting the rest of the world from nuclear annihilation.

So take that damned thing away from your ear and put it some place for emergency use. (N. B. Calling your spouse to ask what to pick up from the grocery store on the way home from work does not qualify as "emergency use.") If you can pry it away from your face for longer than ten seconds, you might actually be able to pull your head out of your rectum without the added obstruction of that electronic impediment.

You've been told and NOW YOU KNOW.

The Debut Post of Now You Know

Greetings! Welcome to the debut post of my experiment with humanity. As an introduction to this blog (and inconsequently as an introduction to its author) the following information may prove beneficial.

This blog has been created by one who has been converted to misanthropy and misogyny by all the usual suspects. The attentive and observant reader will note that there is no place for readers' comments on this blog and there is no contact information for yours truly. There is a reason for that; namely, it is a blog wherein its creator will share knowledge and information freely with an unknown public. It will not be a forum for that unknown public to reciprocate. So sorry, but you see, when I am seeking knowledge or information, I do not seek it from strangers off the street, much less from anonymous individuals over the internet.

Instead, gentle readers, here you may find in the near future all sorts of topics presented and expounded upon, including current events, politics, literature, history, language, religion, and whatever else strikes my fancy, but not necessarily yours.

For those who dislike not being able to respond (or more accurately for those who dislike not being able to retort) there can be but one remedy:
surf on back, away from these pristine shores, back whence you came.

There is a reason for this blog's title. Often I have wondered about the old adage that "Ignorance of the law is no excuse." My wondering concerns not jurisprudence per se, and not lawyers or attorneys at all. My wondering has been whether "Ignorance of the law" is considered an excuse by God. The Catholic Church has a specific teaching about a certain type of ignorance called "invincible ignorance" which does excuse one before God. However, ultimately, rather than one counting on ignorance to excuse oneself before God, wouldn't it be better to be aware? Wouldn't it be better not to be ignorant?

And so . . .

And so, in this hypothetical situation of appearing before the throne of God on judgment day and excusing yourself with a plea of ignorance, THIS BLOG, or rather, THIS BLOGGER has every intention of making a pre-emptive strike against such a plea.

No, by the grace of God, you will NOT plead ignorance. You will NOT testify that you never knew any better because know one ever taught you anything better. You will not plead that you were never told.

On the contrary, yes, you have been told or you will have been told here, and I'm the one who is or will be doing the telling.

Here and now, in the only here and now that there is, you've been told and NOW YOU KNOW.