Buckley Talk

From an article by George Handlery in the Brussels Journal, concerning his children's accents:

This makes them to be probably the only native speakers that had a “foreign” accent put into their cradle. The drawl is a consequence of a long story. Their dad learned much of his English while watching Bill Buckley’s “Firing Line.” (They also had wrestling on KTLA Channel 5 at the same time but in the end the “man from Yale” won.) Mr. Buckley inculcated in me a love for words even though their pronunciation suffered from some studied neglect.

I know what he's talking about. When I was a leftist punk, I'd listen to Bill Buckley and Gore Vidal debate not for the content (remember, I was a liberal, I had my beliefs handed to me, no critical thought involved) but just to hear the way those guys used words. I'd have the dictionary at hand and I'd write down any word I thought I might want to incorporate into my own lexicon. I think of those days fondly, and I wince in recognition every time I hear some kid twist his sentence in order to inject "anathema" of "aver" into the flow of words. (BTW - I see nothing wrong with doing the same in order to use the word "kerfuffle")

When God's Answer Is No

Got the link via Drudge:

DAPHNE, Ala. -- Worried about the safety of her family during a stormy Memorial Day trip to the beach, Clara Jean Brown stood in her kitchen and prayed for their safe return as a strong thunderstorm rumbled through Baldwin County, Alabama.

But while she prayed, lightning suddenly exploded, blowing through the linoleum and leaving a blackened area on the concrete. Brown wound up on the floor, dazed and disoriented by the blast but otherwise uninjured.

She said 'Amen' and the room was engulfed in a huge ball of fire. The 65-year-old Brown said she is blessed to be alive.

Wise people will tell you that God answers all prayers, "but sometimes the answer is no." And sometimes He adds, "..and don't ask again!"

Too Hot to Work

If I weren't so ruggedly handsome, all this sweat would be off-putting.


Don't know why it is that every year I forget just how miserable it is to work in this heat. I made it through my section of forest today but only just barely. Have you seen that Diet Coke commercial where the office women are all gathered around the window to watch the ripped and sweaty construction worker as he arches his muscled back and pours the chilled beverage down his throat? Well, that's me today except for the office women, and the window, and the muscled back, and everything except the sweaty part.

Bad, Bad, Child

I'm not big on punishment but something has to be done with lumberkid. She came home and asked why it takes longer to build a blond snowman (snowoman) than it does a "regular" snowman (snowoman). Dunno, I said.
"Because you have to hollow out the head," she says. Disrespectful child.

At Long Last

Finally, I think I've found a cat that Lumberdog can chase.




And I'm not even saying Lumberdog could catch the cat -- just that it'd be a fair race. Well, ok maybe we'd have to hobble the cat as well. OK, and maybe put Lumberpuppy on roller-skates and give her a push.

Symantec confirms high-risk flaw

I'm sticking with the drive-a-mac solution.

Researchers have exposed a flaw in Symantec’s corporate anti-virus software, which could allow hackers to gain control of an affected computer....

Tribute To Our Armed Forces

Did I link this before? Probably. Regardless, it's worth
watching again on this day when we remember those who have
given so much so that we can have liberty.
A Tribute To Our Armed Forces

Kharijism

Some history from the American Thinker, attempting to explain why moderate Muslims are so hard to find. And suggesting strategies we might use to communicate with the umma, the Muslim man on the street. What I can't understand is how the umma came to reside on our street. No, I'm not saying, "America/Europa, love it or leave it," I'm wondering what would make someone want to immigrate to a land that is so obviously Muslim-Kansas anymore. Hey, you guys knew Madonna was here before you packed your bags. Gay Disneyland days were a fact of life before you set foot here. So whydja come? Anyway, interesting article:

So what does all this ancient history tell us? It tells us, first and above all, that the common Western belief that the Muslim umma is supportive of or at best indifferent to terrorism is seriously flawed. Muslims possess their own understanding of terrorism, derived from their own history and experience and based on their own principles. The Muslim view of terror, unsurprisingly, concentrates on the effect that it has on Islam and the Muslim community. The impact on the world beyond in strictly secondary.

Sniper Trial

I remember thinking at the time of Malvo and Muhammad's arrest that there must be some kind of tie to Islam. Still, the news downplayed it, maybe rightly so, because Muhammad had tried to use the attacks to extort money. Remember? He wanted millions "put on a credit card," - possibly the stupidest method ever for the transfer of extorted money. There was also a report that he wanted to use the shootings as a cover for the planned murder of his ex-wife. But maybe all three reasons apply to this spectacular loser. From NBC4:

Malvo grew up in the Caribbean and was largely abandoned by his parents. He said a few months after meeting Muhammad, he "basically took me under his wing. He began introducing me as his son."

He said Muhammad introduced him to the Nation of Islam and said he was told that for many incidents in history, "the explanation was that the white man is the devil."

..........Earlier, Malvo testified calmly during Muhammad's second trial related to the October 2002 sniper shootings. Muhammad is on trial on murder charges for six Maryland sniper shootings.

Malvo said Muhammad devised a two-phase plan to shoot as many as six random people each day for 30 days in the Washington area and then target children and police officers with explosives. They planned to place explosives on school buses in Baltimore, kill a Baltimore police officer and then set off explosives packed with ball bearings at the officer's funeral.

Like the SUV Jihadist, Muhammad is just a sick and twisted imitation of a human being, who used Islam as a vehicle to focus his hate, and as an excuse for the killing he wanted to do. Maybe he's just another Jeffrey Dahmer.

Are the Germans Waking Up?

From the Jerusalem Post, a survey finds:

German public opinion believes a "clash of civilizations" is under way between Christians and Muslims that will lead to further domestic and international conflict, a report commissioned by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung finds.

If they think it's a clash between Christians and Muslims; I hope they don't delude themselves that being non-Christian will guarantee safety. I think a better description of the conflict would be "between Muslims and non-Muslims." Some numbers:

The Allensbach survey of 1,076 German adults in early May found that 83% of the respondents associated Islam with "fanaticism," an increase of 8% from a similar poll in 2004.

Over 71% believed Islam to be "intolerant," a rise from 66% in 2004; 62% saw it as "backward," up from 49%; while 60% saw it as "undemocratic," an increase of 8% since 2004. Only 8% of the survey participants characterized Islam as peaceful.
When asked what keyword or phrase they associated with Islam, 91% of respondents stated that Islam implied discrimination against women.

Some 61% of Germans said they believed a "clash of cultures" already existed, while 65% said "they counted on such conflicts" to worsen in the future.

While two-thirds of the survey participants said they blamed religious fanatics, not Islam, for the conflict with the West, 40% of the participants said they would favor curtailing Germany's constitutionally guaranteed right of freedom of religion in order to safeguard national security.

And here's a question, will an increasing threat from radical Islam make it harder to maintain an atmosphere of anti-Americanism? Could it be that Germany will be friendlier towards America -- like in the old days when they were constantly looking East to be sure those Soviet tanks weren't rolling yet?