North Western Winds

I have a 45 minute commute to work each day. That's 45 in and 45 out. I'm saved by the fact that 2/3 of that commute is through rural areas with few cross streets and almost no traffic lights. And country music on the car radio (no Dixie Chicks please! ). So I enjoyed MT Owens piece on the genre in NRO today. My latest fave is from Tim McGraw . Back When Don't you remember The fizz in a pepper Peanuts in a bottle At ten, two and four A fried Bologna sandwich With mayo and tomato Sittin' round the table Don't happen much anymore We got too complicated It's all way over-rated I like the old and out-dated Way of life Back when a hoe was a hoe Coke was a coke And crack's what you were doing When you were cracking jokes Back when a screw was a screw The wind was all that blew And when you said I'm down with that Well, it meant you had the flu I miss back when I miss back when I miss back when I love my records Black, shi...

Fructus Ventris has a pair of very good links for anyone who's curious about Natural Family Planning. That blog is done by Alicia, who is a midwife and knows a thing or two. I would start with the ' Myths and Facts ' and follow the more detailed link if you really want to get into it. NFP started out as a Catholic thing, but it could and should the ability to spread to other communities. It stands to reason that people who don't like chemicals in their food, chlorine in their water and ozone in their air should be very curious about a method that will eliminate a major alteration in body chemistry. Healthy and cheap... Hmmm...

Social Justice, hypocrisy and Charity You don't hear about them much, but there is such a thing as a religious left, as this critique proves: ... why it is that the current flourishing of religious faith has, for the first time ever, virtually no element of social justice? Why is its public phase so exclusively focused on issues of private and personal behavior? A like minded writer responds: In answering, we should distinguish between what may be true of the Christian revival you mention and what is true of the use that is made of it in our current politics. As far as the latter is concerned, it is noteworthy that the appeals to moral values almost never require any sacrifice on the part of those to whom these appeals are addressed. They are invited to feel good about their superiority to gays, righteous about their opposition to abortion, satisfied about their devotion to family and so on. My response matches this blogger : I want to address the bolded text, because it ...

The EU snobs think that Italy's Rocco Buttiglione wasn't capable of being in the governing class because he said homosexuality is a sin, but one that the law needn't persecute. It's their loss. This letter in The WSJ's Opinion Journal demonstrates a good mind: If you consider that Mr. Bush won re-election in part because of his firm stand on family values and other moral issues, it becomes apparent that Europe and United States are drifting apart not only on foreign policy but also on their vision of a democratic society and of the proper relationship between politics and ethics. One of America's founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton, was convinced that politics needed values it could not produce itself and had to rely on other agencies (mainly the churches) to nurture the virtues civil life needs. The state could therefore not privilege any church in particular but had to maintain a positive attitude to religion in general. Jean Jacques Rousseau thought...

I liked this song by Travis Tritt the first time I heard it (not too long ago), and it's not a bad choice for the theme at NWW. This blog is powered by country music and caffeine, in addition to Blogger and Haloscan, and that first group doesn't get the credit it deserves. " What Say You " by Travis Tritt (with John Mellencamp) I believe that there's a right And I believe there's a wrong And north and south Black and white Can somehow get along What say you What say you I believe that there's a basic good in the heart of every man And I'm not going to criticize what I can't understand. What say you What say you I'm not afraid to say what's on my mind To take a stand, to draw the line To speak my heart and bare my soul I don't like lies I'd rather know the truth Hey, what say you What say you But I'm not ashamed of where I come from With this blue collar on my shoulder And I don't love full hand...

Back of the North Wind has a good post in response to a reader of his who says Atheists can and do live fine lives. I note that Austin Cline, in his critique, while claiming that "You don't need a god to have a reason to live" does not actually provide a "reason to live". In fact, it is difficult to find a root basis for morality, rational thought (how does an electronic event come to represent an external objective reality?), or even just a "reason to live" in a purely materialistic world. We come from supernova dust, we end up as dissipated heat in the entropy death of the universe. What happens between is temporary and has no impact and no possible final consequence. There is nothing more unique about the organization of matter in a human or animal than in a star or snowflake -- no reason to treat one more carefully than the other. Wherefore, then should one care about what happens to neighbor, spouse or children? Perhaps we want to avoid pain,...

I'm exhausted tonight because 1) the dog was barking like a lunatic three times duing the middle of Wednesday night (why do these things happen on the night before a day when I can sleep in? Those are so rare as it is...!) 2) I assembled a largish shelving unit yesterday, and 3) I slept little last night and had a busy day today. So about the only thing I could blog about today is the blog itself. I re-vamaped the blogroll around here in a major way tonight. I finally wised up and inserted the Red Ensign Blog script. Maybe that way I will finally get around to visit more of them more often, especially the new folks. Using the Red Ensign script has the added benefit of allowing me to separate my own bloglist from the Red Ensign group. If you were on my list, you are now only on the Red Ensign list. I didn't see any reason to have double entries. And while my bloglist is called "favourites," no one on the other two lists should feel slighted by that. If I didn...

Dean's in a ranting mood (if you don't like cursing, pass on the link): Am I a conservative, a "right winger?" Sure, I guess so, if you count someone who's pro-choice on abortion, is flabbergasted at the selfishness and mean-spiritedness of anyone who would put someone in jail for smoking pot, favors gay marriage, supports human rights organizations, and would love to see a world united in democratic governments a "conservative right-winger." I think what bemused me most when reading your missive, Mr. Barlow, was your description of the young man who was probably popular and on the football team and supported Bush, while you the nerdy outsider supported Kerry, and you saw the whole thing through some sort of 50s-vs.-60s lens. Nothing could show me just how insular so many on the left have become than that. Few of the war supporters I know fit such stereotypes at all. "Think for yourself, question authority" is something a lot of us s...

A non Catholic woman discovers Natural Family Planning : On average, for us, using NFP means abstaining about ten days per month (in a row). So about 2/3 of the month is fair game. But since we're not Catholic (and this is where I throw out some of the chapters in the aforementioned book , though I did weigh them a good deal first), we still do other stuff that can't result in the conception of a child. It forces us to be more creative and romantic--I even prefer it when we abstain from the overtly sensual and stick with affection, massages, etc. And when we do the deed itself, it's actually more enjoyable because of the fact that we can't do it whenever we want. It's like we appreciate it more. As for the notion that women feel the strongest urges on their fertile days, there is some truth to that (another reason why not being a Catholic comes in handy...ahem...), but overall, I don't find my hormones being the driving force behind the desire to consummate o...

There is an interesting post and subsequent discussion about Liberalism and abortion going on at Imago Dei . The argument builds off this premise: "One of the goals of classic liberalism is to protect the weak from the powerful." From where I stand, the reason liberals are usually not pro life is that they want to pick and choose who is weak and who is powerful . In other words, their naturalism and their radical autonomy do them in. Those elements don't lead one to embrace freedom, they lead to isolation and to tyranny. But then, I've said that before.

I caught a bit of a CBC show exposing Benny Hinn last night. If you don't know Benny Hinn from Benny Hill, well, they are about equally serious. Hinn is a nasty character. Joe Bob Briggs has a description of a typical BH show in the satirical magazine, The Door : Hinn's services, for example, follow a strict pattern that's calculated for maximum emotional impact and, not so coincidentally, maximum offering collection. From the time the crowd enters the arena, they're massaged with mood lighting, repetitive music, responsive chanting, group gestures, group singing, various forms of choral and instrumental entertainment, all leading up to the moment Hinn makes his entrance. The song sung for the entrance is "How Great Thou Art," making convenient use of an ambiguous personal pronoun. "There's power here, people!" Hinn will typically say. "Lift your hands and receive it." All dutifully lift their hands. "You will ...

Julie at Happy Catholic shares some reading she has done about Genesis. And it is interesting reading. Check it out. Christina Hoff Summers asks: Are we are living in a moral stone age ? This goes some way towards explaining the low level hostility towards Universities (and educators in general) that seeps out of my keyboard from time to time. In a similar vein, Dennis Prager has some advice for the Democrats . Living Catholicism has The Third Catholic Carnival . I have not had a chance to read it yet, but I'm sure there's good stuff to be had. Now that our merchants have taken down the Halloween stuff, skipped remembrance day altogether and set about sucking the life out of Christmas again, here are some ideas on how to keep the holidays holy, inexpensive, and fun . Also from Living Catholicism. Dawn Eden has been taking a blow torch to Planned Parenthood's website for children, teens and animals (yes). You won't believe it. Sounds like Firefox 1.0 ...

Feel the paranoia dripping from Lynne K. Varner in the Seattle Times: The other day, I found this frightening pronouncement from a stay-at-home mom writing for the Institute on Religion and Public Life's Web site: " If our society is to be revitalized, the committed, religious, stay-at-home mother will have to be at the forefront ." I'm not sure what I, the committed, religious working mom, ought to do? Pack my handbasket for that trip to hell? I shouldn't joke. The reality is, I'm uncomfortable with the strict lines being drawn in our society under the pretense of a return to values. We're getting close to passing the kind of judgments and challenging the kinds of freedoms that made the Puritans leave England. I agree that stay at home moms can - and do!- have a big positive impact in the neighborhoods they live in, and not just one their own kids. They are often active in schools and can help to look after kids who do not have anyone at home. What...

Volkskrant crushes dissent in Holland Dutch authorities have destroyed a piece of public art meant to memorialize slain filmmaker Theo van Gogh because it included the phrase "Thou shalt not kill." ... "In the year 2004, this commandment is considered too sensitive in our multicultural society," wrote the Volkskrant. Officials ordered the immediate removal of the artwork from the public space, Radio Netherlands reported. According to the newspaper, when a local television team showed up, the police ordered the crew to stop filming the painting and hand over the film. A reporter who tried to stop the destruction of the painting was jailed for three hours. These are the kinds of things that I have in mind when I say that I oppose government sponsored multiculturalism. I don't care who you are or what you look like, that is not the issue. The issue is that the community needs some minimal standards of what civilized behavior is. People flee places where ...

Alpha Patriot has some interesting information about the recent U.S. election. And The Tiger in Winter alerted me to a funny look at Democratic pundits reacting to the news that their advice was rejected. Jonah Goldberg notes that they're not taking it well: "[Dowd's] op-ed page real estate hits your desk like a bucket of vomit with some Body Shop potpourri sprinkled across the surface." Jane Smiley does little better. I pity anyone with someone like her in their family. Finally, Jonah - smart guy that he is (for a Republican)- concludes that: What Maher, Raines, and Smiley fail to grasp is that all morality is based upon transcendence — or it is merely based on utilitarianism of one kind or another, and therefore it is not morality so much as, at best, an enlightened expediency or will-to-power. It is no more rational to vote based on a desire to do "good" than it is to vote based on a desire to do God's will . Indeed, for millions of people thi...

Robert Louis Stevenson, 1888 Four Reformers met under a bramble bush. They were all agreed the world must be changed. "We must abolish property," said one. "We must abolish marriage," said the second. "We must abolish God," said the third. "I wish we could abolish work," said the fourth. "Do not let us get beyond practical politics," said the first. "The first thing is to reduce men to a common level." "The first thing," said the second, "is to give freedom to the sexes." "The first thing," said the third, "is to find out how to do it." "The first step," said the first, "is to abolish the Bible." "The first thing," said the second, "is to abolish the laws." "The first thing," said the third, "is to abolish mankind." In the 1880's they were ' Reformers .' In the 1920's and 30's, they wer...

Mark Steyn and Victor Davis Hanson on the U.S. election. Good stuff.

Since that is emerging as the 'official' story of Bush's election victory, now is a good time to examine what is that Christians expect from politics. It should surprise no one that it is not the same things liberals expect. The Liberal critique of the Christian in politics involves an unwitting projection of their own thoughts. The Maverick Philosopher writes: Nobody wants a theocracy in the U.S. except the Islamo-fascists, and they want it everywhere. The fear among some leftists that the re-election of G.W. Bush is moving us towards theocracy shows just how delusional their thinking is. The problem with leftists is not so much stupidity as their ideological fixations . The latter prevent their minds from functioning properly. They see threats that aren't there and fail to see the ones that are. They ignore the very real theocratic threat of militant Islam, all the while fabricating a Christian theocratic threat. Hostility to religion, especially institutionali...

I've been away at my parents' all day, setting up their computer, installing software, doing .NET passports and so on, so mentally I'm a little beat tonight. It's the first computer that they've ever bought new, and although they have had hand me downs from me for years, those computers mostly collected dust. Like more than a few older people, they have had difficulty in seeing what a computer could do for them. They're not into gaming or real time chats, and things that might have been useful, like e-mail or on-line banking and shopping were too scary to worry about. My Dad, however, has always loved photography, and now that cameras are going digital in a big way, he wants to make better use of the digital camera he got last year. So I've been trying to show him how Windows works, and he's making progress, probably because he is, for the first time, motivated. But he has a lot to learn and so every time I visit, we go over it again, and try to add n...

Mark Shea, again I like this so much I'm gonna quote it , and not just link to it. "You can't legislate morality" is such an empty phrase to me. What on earth is law but legislated morality? We think it immoral and wrong to oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow and so we pass laws protecting immigrant workers, street kids, and 9/11 widows, for instance. We believe the purely mystical doctrine "all human beings are created equal" (a doctrine which, to Aristotle, would have been completely contradicted by the empirical evidence of the senses) and pass laws against slavery and giving women the vote. Voila! Legislated morality. Good government or social engineering? The only basis from which to judge is the basis, ultimately, of natural law and revelation. Otherwise it's whatever the majority thinks it is, according the whim of the zeitgeist . It does not follow from this that all morality should be legislated. I don't want a law making ...