Tuscaloosa

So far it appears thirty nine people were killed. There are still hundreds missing.
Here are some links to photographs.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-southern-tornadoes-slider,0,4336315.htmlstory
http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=14538110
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20110429/MULTIMEDIA/110429638
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Dato=20110427&Kategori=FRONTPAGE&Lopenr=427009996&Ref=PH&pl=1

Pray for Tuscaloosa and the University of Alabama

I did my graduate work at Alabama. This afternoon Tuscaloosa was hit by a massive tornado. Three confirmed dead so far. The following is from the University website (www.ua.edu)
Severe Weather Advisory
UPDATED 8:03 p.m. - While no structural damage has been reported on the UA campus, power outages are widespread. Areas of the community where many of our off-campus students live have been impacted. The Student Recreation Center is available to students whose off-campus residences are damaged. Counseling services will also be available. Because of the power outages, Lakeside Dining is the only dining facility open on campus. Lines will be long, so please be patient. Please stay away from community areas that have experienced damage. If you must travel in Tuscaloosa, please be extremely careful. Obey all commands of law enforcement. A Crimson Ride bus will be available to transport students in the impacted areas to the Student Recreation Center. Please call 348-RIDE. Students and parents who have questions may call UA's emergency call center at 348-1001 or 877-408-1001.

Just Wondering

If the first commandment in Major League Baseball is "Thou shalt not gamble nor associate with gamblers", why do they allow billboards for casinos?

Jumping the Shark Tank

In television lore, a series "jumps the shark tank" when it loses touch with its premise and begins its demise. This commemorates an episode of Happy Days when a character water-skied over a shark tank.
Actually there is another, more accurate, indicator. After years of research, I have concluded that a television show is nearing the end when they begin introducing new characters. It means that the original concept has been drained of ideas. The examples are numerous.
M*A*S*H spent years as the number one show, lasting four times as long as the conflict it depicted. When Igor (the cook) and Rizzo (the motor pool guy) became characters of interest, it was time to bring the troops home.
Cheers was another long-running sitcom. When story lines developed around peripheral characters Cliff and Norm, the end was in sight. When the show developed love interests for Carla, Woody, and Rebecca, it was time for last call.
Frasier (a spin off from Cheers) had this happen when Daphne's Mom, Niles's lawyer, and Martin's girlfriend become more than one-shot appearances. Office hours are over. (Perhaps another indicator of the beginning of the end is the presence of spin offs).

Culture and Religion

Matthew Arnold. Culture and Anarchy.

Culture is the most resolute enemy of anarchy because of the great hopes and designs for the State which culture teaches us to nourish. (149-150)

Arnold debates important questions about the nature of culture and society that are as relevant now as they were when these essays were first published in 1869. He seeks to find out 'what culture really is, what good it can do, what is our own special need of it' in an age of rapid social change and increasing mechanization. He contrasts culture, 'the study of perfection',with anarchy, the mood of unrest and uncertainty that pervaded mid-Victorian England. How can individuals be educated, not indoctrinated, and what is the role of the state in disseminating 'sweetness and light'?

Unfortunately Arnold is wrong in so many ways, it is difficult to know where to start. Arnold does not realize that he is witnessing the beginnings of a truly materialistic society, one where people place a monetary value on everything. In such a society, the things of 'sweetness and life' are devalued.

Does the State have any part in this? Should the state have a part? Before answering this question, we must first ascertain what is the proper role of the State? This is an area where Conservatives and Libertarians come into conflict. Conservatives (who by their name must be trying to conserve something) believe the State should conserve culture. Libertarians disagree. The State is only there to protect the borders.

Arnold's thesis of culture as the defense against anarchy is wrong and has been proven never more so than at the present time. Culture does not inculcate the value of order. If Arnold looked closely at the culture of his time, he would see that anarchy had begun to infect it. Arnold even states that culture is about self-fulfillment. Self-fulfillment, taken to its logical conclusion, values the self above everything else. Society functions properly when the people practice self-denial. And what is it that encourages one to practice self-denial? Religion, in this case Christianity.

Culture without the foundation of religion is fluff. It is the house built on sand. Without religion, without the context, a piece of music like Bach's The Passion according to St. Matthew, is a nice piece of music and nothing more.

But now one must consider the role of the Church as the foundation for culture. Is the lack of culture killing the Church or is it the lack of the Church that is killing culture? If the Church does not provide the foundation of order, is culture doomed?

The Second Hand Lions Speech

Another great movie speech: Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things that a man needs to believe in the most: that people are basically good; that honor, courage, and virtue mean everything; that power and money, money and power mean nothing; that good always triumphs over evil; and I want you to remember this, that love, true love, never dies... No matter if they're true or not, a man should believe in those things because those are the things worth believing in.

Rangers-Yankees 2011 part 1

The Rangers opened a three game series in the Bronx tonight before a crowd of over 40,000 people. That's all the Yankees could get? 40,000 on a Friday night? Anyway, the Rangers won 5-3 with eight strong innings from Matt Harrison, and a ninth inning save by Neftali Feliz. The Yankees hitting into six double plays certainly helped Harrison's effort. The most memorable play came in the ninth inning. With one out, nobody on, Alex Rodriguez (our hero) hit a towering shot to left center and immediately went into the home run trot. Another homer with nobody on and the game almost out of reach for A-Fraud, right? Wrong! It bounced off the wall, and he had to hustle just to get a double. No respect for the game.

A Testimonial for Half-Price Books

Monday I went to the main store and found a book that I had been contemplating buying for thirty dollars on Amazon in the dollar clearance bin.

Rangers 9-1

They did it again today. The Rangers shut out Detroit behind the pitching of Alexi Ogando. Twenty five scoreless innings in a row for the pitching staff. I know it is April but the Rangers are winning with both pitching and hitting. By the way, Babe Laufenberg compared Ogando's ERA to Blutarsky's GPA (0.00), a priceless remark only understood by fans of Animal House.

Another Wish I Had Said That

Teaching is very easy if you don't care about doing it right and very hard if you do. -Thomas Sowell

Texas Rangers Update

So far the Rangers are 6-0. The hitting is good, the fielding outstanding, and the pitching looks good enough as long as the bats are hot. What is amazing about this team is how deep it is. The batting order from top to bottom is strong, and the bench is solid as well. Still, it is only April.

Some Reflections

I have just finished reading Larry McMurtry's Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen (part of which I read at the Burger King, ironic?). The subtitle is Reflections at Sixty and Beyond. This book really got me thinking of a lot of things, but first I want to state that McMurtry is fast becoming my favorite non-political, non-theological essayist. I have read four collections of his essays in the last three weeks and have enjoyed them all. In some aspects I feel as if I am reading about myself, especially when he discusses books. More about that at some other time. What really struck me were his reflections on life at age sixty and beyond. I am fast approaching a milestone "0" birthday and have been in a reflective mood of late, especially concerned with my legacy and haunted by the fact that with no children there is so much family lore and legend that will die with me. With McMurtry it was the realization that his father was part of a culture, the cowboy, that has now all but disappeared, and that his own culture, the book scout and collector is now a vanishing breed. I have decided to use this forum occasionally in the future to attempt to put some of my story down in a medium that may last longer than I do.

Scout Has Arrived

A Hero

Do you know who a hero is? Nine times out of ten, a hero is someone who is tired enough, cold enough, and hungry enough not to give a damn. I don't give a damn. -M*A*S*H

Spring Is Here

And the Rangers are 1-0! They beat the Red Sox today 9-5. Homers by Kinsler and Cruz. Darren Oliver gets the win in relief after giving up the tying run. Mike Napoli, an off season acquisition from the Angels via Toronto also homered. Feliz shuts them down. 161 to go.