Please be wrong, evidence!

More and more evidence seems to be accumulating that we're headed into the second half of a "double-dip" recession.

Instead of a recovery- however sluggish- fears are growing that the economy is going right back into the depths of the dumpster from which it really has never fully emerged.

One thing is clear: even if this is a 'W-shaped recession,' President Obama isn't going to be able to blame W for it. We're well into his watch now.

HT: Real Clear Politics

Why do they bother?

Contradicting two thousand years of scholarship, a Swedish pastor has decided that Jehovah's Witnesses are right about Jesus not having died on a cross.

He disputes the consensus of historians that crucifixion was a common form of punishment in the Roman Empire, and suggests on the basis of a second account of what was described by a Roman writer as a crucifixion which sounds more like an impalement that historians and theologians have been wrong about the way Jesus and many Christian martyrs were put to death.

I know that sometimes there are slow news days. But I never cease to be amazed at how easy it is for any eccentric with a pet theory throwing doubt on some aspect of the Christian Faith to get all the publicity he wants. There's nothing new about this theory, which most experts reject.

By the least of the sons of J.S. Bach

...courtesy of Professor Peter Schickele of the University of Eastern North Dakota at Hoople, the world's foremost expert on that afterthought of an offspring, P.D.Q. Bach:



Quoth Wikipedia:

P. D. Q. Bach was born in Leipzig on May 5, 1807 at age 65, the son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Anna Magdalena Bach; the twenty first of Johann's twenty children. According to Schickele, Bach's parents did not bother to give their youngest son a real name, and settled on "P. D. Q." instead. The only earthly possession Johann Sebastian Bach willed to his son was a kazoo.

In 1755, P. D. Q. Bach was an apprentice of the inventor of the musical saw, Ludwig Zahnstocher (German for "toothpick"). In 1756, P. D. Q. Bach met Leopold Mozart and advised him to teach his son Wolfgang Amadeus how to play billiards. Later on P. D. Q. Bach went to St. Petersburg to visit his distant cousin Leonhard Sigismund Dietrich Bach (L. S. D. Bach), whose daughter Betty Sue bore P. D. Q. a child.

Finally, in 1770, P. D. Q. Bach started to write music, mostly by stealing melodies from other composers.

P. D. Q.'s final words, which were spoken to Betty-Sue Bach, were "Time, gentlemen." The time was exactly eleven o'clock on the evening of April 1, 1742 in Baden-Baden-Baden, Germany.

P. D. Q. Bach's grave was marked "1807–1742".

P. D. Q. Bach's Epitaph reads [as requested by his cousin Betty Sue Bach and written by the local doggerel catcher]:

In the "original" German:

Hier liegt ein Mann ganz ohnegleich;
Im Leibe dick, an Sünden reich.
Wir haben ihn in das Grab gesteckt,
Weil es uns dünkt er sei verreckt.

Translated:

Here lies a man with sundry flaws
And numerous Sins upon his head;
We buried him today because
As far as we can tell, he's dead.

Among the notable other works of P.D.Q. Bach are Wachet Arf (Sleeping Dogs, Awake!), The Unbegun Symphony, and Fanfare for the Common Cold.

Adrianna is missing

Adriana Hope Garcia
DOB: July 24, 1989
Missing Date: December 29, 2004
Missing City: Tulsa
Missing State: Oklahoma
Sex: Female
Race: Hispanic
Height: 5'2" (157 cm)
Weight: 120 lbs (57 kg)
Hair: Black
Eye Color: Brown
Case handled by the NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN
Case Number NCMC1005827

Adrianna- the daughter of one of my Facebook friends- is an endangered runaway. Her photo is age-progressed to 19 years. She may still be in the Tulsa area. Her ears are pierced multiple times. She has copper streaks in her hair. She has a scar between her eyebrows and a birthmark on the right side of her waist. Adrianna may go by the name "Dreena."

The patient isn't getting better

Government "stimulus" spending- the prescription of Dr. Obama and the Left generally for our sick economy- isn't working. The patient isn't getting better- and it doesn't take Greg House to figure out why.

Time to remember the successful cures Dr. Reagan and Dr. Kennedy pulled off when the nation suffered from the same sickness.

HT: Real Clear Politics

Oh, great.

As if the folks at the Des Moines Astronomical Society and Ashton Observatory didn't have enough trouble...

I'm a published poet!

Little did I realize, when I presented a poem in honor of Tycho Brahe to my astronomy club in commemoration of the dedication of our new PortaPotty, that it would some day be enshrined on the Internet!

Oh, wait. I guess I submitted it to that site myself, didn't I? But it's been so long that I'd completely forgotten about it.

Anyway, I trust that everyone will agree that my poetic gifts are quite appropriate, given the occasion.

Another Blackhawks trade

Colin Fraser to the Oilers for a sixth round pick.

Rumors abound that either Patrick Sharp or Steeger- probably the latter- is next.

Keith captures Norris Trophy

Buffy and Ben Eager may be gone, and we won't be seeing Akim Aliu in an Indian head sweater- but there is good news today for Hawks fans.

Defenseman Duncan Keith has- quite rightly- won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman.

Keith- aka "Duncan Teeth," for the seven he lost while blocking a shot with his mouth during the Western Conference Finals- is an essential part of the championship core which the Hawks will retain for years to come.

Oh. For those who are dispirited by yesterday's trade, two words: Kyle Beach.

Remember them. They explain why losing Buffy might not hurt all that much after all.

Oh, #@#$@%$&^%&#^!!!!!!

Well, at least the Blackhawks don't have to worry about the salary cap anymore....

The Hawks have reportedly traded Buffy, Sopel, Eager and solid prospect Akim Aliu to the Atlanta Thrashers for the 24th and 54th draft picks overall, as well as center Marty Reasoner and left wing Jeremy Morin.

Ouch.

Well, nobody said that dealing with the salary cap problem wasn't going to hurt. It's a given that Cristobel Huet will be either waived or banished to Rockford. Together with this move, the salary cap problem , at least, is history.

But... ouch. The loss of Byfuglien is especially going to hurt, and I've always liked Ben Eager. Aliu- who will be, I believe, the NHL's first Nigerian player- is a better prospect than Morin, who projects as a second line forward (Aliu will probably play on Atlanta's first line).

Though not without wincing, I think I would have traded Kris Versteeg, whom the Islanders reportedly wanted, before parting with Buffy. Let's hope Bowman knows what he's doing.

ADDENDUM: I spoke too soon. Seems that the Hawks will have to make even more room under the cap in order to give Niemi, Norris winner Duncan Keith, et al their raises.

In case you folks in other parts of the country haven't been paying attention...

...the Big Ten, which had eleven teams last season, will now have twelve, because Nebraska has joined after leaving the Big Twelve, which- since Nebraska and Colorado (which joined the Pac Ten) have left it- now has ten teams.

To summarize, the Big Ten has twelve teams, whereas the Big Twelve has ten teams, and the Pac Ten has eleven teams. No word yet on plans for the Pac Ten to consist next season only of teams which were in the Atlantic Coast Conference last year.

If you think life puts you through changes sometimes...

...just be thankful that you're not Doctor Who!



Time Lords (humanoid aliens from the planet Gallifrey, who have mastered the art of time travel through devices called TARDISes (Time And Relative Dimensions In Space) are capable of regenerating when they are old or sustain life-threatening injuries. They transform into healthy individuals whose personalities and physical appearances differ from the original, though they remain the same person.

In addition to helping Time Lords cheat death, this ability also enables those with British accents who are the protaganists of television series which have run for close to fifty years to be portrayed by new actors every time the old one decides to leave the show.

There is no regeneration from the Eighth to the Ninth Doctor shown above because the Ninth Doctor was the first of the new series which began production after a seven-year hiatus (briefly interrupted by a TV movie, the only adventure starring the Eighth Doctor- actor Paul McGann- into whom the Seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy, had regenerated in the last episode of the old series. Got that?).

I am really, really going to miss the Tenth Doctor, David Tennant, who in my opinion was the best of them all. The Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton, as well as the Third, John Pertwee, and McCoy's Seventh Doctor also are favorites of mine.

An ominous note, btw: canonically, Time Lords only get twelve regenerations. The Doctor only has two left. But of course, since The Master (who, along with the Daleks, is the Doctor's nemesis) managed to break the rules when he ran out of regenerations, and I'm sure the Doctor will find a way to do the same when the moment comes.

The Eleventh and current Doctor is portrayed by the youngest of the actors to portray the role: Matt Smith, who was only 27 when he took over from Tennant.

What ails the LCMS- and the Church catholic

Since leaving Saint Mary, I've been looking for a new church home. I visited what was one of the top contenders Saturday night. It's dropped off the list.

The sermon was about that notoriously sinful woman who "loved much-" who washed Jesus' feet with her tears and dried them with her hair one evening while he was having dinner at the home of Simon the Pharisee. The sermon title was something about how our love flows from being forgiven by Jesus. In short, we seemed all set for a good, strong Lutheran sanctification sermon- one which starts by breaking the hearer with the Law, but then- instead of trying to extort obedience through guilt or threats- recognizes the fact that "we love Him because He first loved us," and that it is the Gospel, and not the Law, that change hearts and causes them to love Jesus.

I'm not sure exactly how we managed to get a sermon on that text and with that title that was at least 90% Law, but we did. I have the feeling that somehow he was trying to say what I said in the previous paragraph. But the sermon was just about entirely about what we need to do to remedy our own lack of love for Jesus.

We were directed, if our love to Jesus isn't what it ought to be, to consider what huge sinners we are. Good start. I think the pastor was on the right track. At one point he even said that if we recognized that we didn't love Jesus as much as we should, we should go to the Cross.

But even that is Law. It's about what we should do. What we needed to hear- what causes us poor, miserable sinners to love Jesus, and changes our selfish, sinful hearts- is hearing about what Jesus has already done for us. And alas, we didn't hear that Saturday night.

We heard a very little bit about how we need to consider what Jesus had done for us. But we heard very little about what He has done for us- and even less about what He has done specifically about our failure to love Him as we should.

We didn't need to simply hear that we should be ashamed for not loving Jesus more. That might make us feel guilty. It might even accomplish the essentially meaningless task so many Pietistic and "Evangelical" sermons strive for- to get us to re-double our efforts to love Jesus.

But I wonder whether that pastor thought his wife would be impressed if he told her, "Honey, I have to admit that I don't love you as much as I should. I promise to re-double my efforts to force myself to love you in the future." I suspect that,rather than being gratified, she would flee to the bedroom in tears and slam the door behind her.

Why do we think that Jesus is any more pleased by our dutiful attempts to force ourselves to love Him?

True, we needed to be broken by the Law. We needed to be accused for our failure to love Jesus. But you can't increase your love for somebody by trying extra hard to love them. Nor can love be produced by guilt.

We needed to hear that Jesus died for our failure to love Him, too. If we do, indeed, love Jesus because He first loved us (and we do), then what will increase our love for Him is not merely hearing what ungrateful creeps we are (and we are!), but rather how much He loves us!

Saturday night I got a reminder of why I left the Missouri Synod in the first place. There are simply too many LCMS pastors who have trouble distinguishing between Law and Gospel in the pulpit. An old-timer who participated in Pastor Siegel's installation at Saint Mary told me after the service that his congregation had been upset with him for a while because a visiting pastor had presented his congregation with an essentially Reformed doctrine of sanctification, and they therefore jumped to the conclusion that he was wrong for not trying to get the Law to do what only the Gospel can do. Patient catechesis straightened that congregation out. But unfortunately, not every LCMS congregation has a pastor with his theological ducks in a sufficiently straight row to understand the relative roles of the Law and the Gospel in sanctification.

Or maybe that's not it. Maybe, like the pastor I heard Saturday night, he sort of understands the theory, but can't quite put it into homeletical practice. In any event, as grave a threat as antinomianism- the failure to preach the Law, or to take it seriously- truly is in this lawless age, let us not miss the point that there are three things which the Old Adam hates even more than being told what we need to do.

It hates being told that we haven't, that we don't, and that we can't make the moral grade.

It hates having to depend on Jesus.

That pastor certainly preached our need for Jesus.

He just didn't preach Jesus. And when an attempt is made to get the Law to do what only the Gospel can, the result is spiritual- and homeletical- disaster. That's a lesson Missouri as a denomination, and the Church catholic as a whole, both desperately need to learn.

Maybe that pastor merely had a bad day. I hope so. But for myself, I need more than to know how little I measure up to the minimum demands of God's Law. And the last thing I, whose heart is desperately loveless and corrupt and finally helpless of myself to become otherwise, needs to hear is what I need to do about it.

I don't just need to hear that I ought to love Jesus more. I need to actually do so- and the only way my sinful heart can be changed so that I do is by contemplating how much He loves me.

I could have handled the schmaltzy final hymn from Lift Up Your Hearts, to the tune of The Church in the Wildwood (the words, at least, weren't half bad, even if I do think it's a mistake to give even an inch to the would-be Reformed Evangelicals in our midst by aping their inferior and sentimental musical style). I could have handled the pastor's verbal play-by- play on the liturgy, telling us what we would do now and which page it was on (thereby disrupting the flow of the service and distracting from the impact of the Word of which the historic liturgy consists), and even the reprehensible practice (which I myself, I'm sorry to say, followed through most of my career in the ministry) of having the prayers, not led by the pastor, but prayed by the congregation in unison (the current confusion in WELS, the ELS, and parts of Missouri over the nature of the pastoral office is responsible for the widespred character of this regrettable habit).

But I need the Gospel. I am too big a sinner to waste my time wallowing in the gravity of my sin. I need to be lifted up out of the mud- and only Jesus can do that.

To the miserable and inadequate extent to which I love Him, it is solely and completely because He first loved Me. And what I need more than anything else is a deeper and more profound understanding of how much He loves me.

That's what you need, too.

And now, the problems with Obamacare become manifest

Even this early in the preparartions to impliment Obamacare, it's becoming clear that we're not getting the program we were told we were getting.

As someone without health insurance- but with large medical bills- I am very much in favor of something major being done to ensure universal health care- even free health care, to those to can't afford it. In fact, it has always seemed to me to be inherently immoral for anybody's access to health care or legal assistance to depend on their financial situation. No matter what the Republican mantra may have been during the health care debate, health care- and justice- are basic human rights.

But this expensive, patchwork program isn't going to work. And now, it seems, it isn't even going to give us the control over our own health care choices we were told we would have.

Perhaps some of these choices may have to be given up in order to get to a workable plan. But we ought to get the plan the democratic system produces, and not be surprised by liabilities we were told during the debate that the plan didn't have.

We ought, in short, to get the health care plan Congress says it's giving us when it votes for it. There shouldn't be unwelcome surprises like the onces we seem to be facing.

HT: Real Clear Politics

Not to say "I told you so," but...

Der Spiegel wonders whether Barack Obama is turning into "the Jimmy Carter of the 21st Century," and Mort Zuckerman observes that the world increasingly sees him as "incompetent and amateur."

HT: Drudge

The Cubs win a series!

Sonuvagun.

The Champs on Leno

Boy, how I wish I'd been home for the celebration...

Seems the Hawks have decided that it's nice to share...

The moment we waited 49 years for

... and Toews passes the Cup to Marian Hossa, who had a three year wait of his own:

Conn Smythe to Captain Serious

Jonathan Toews is named the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs MVP:

Highlights of the Hawks' victory parade

Estimated attendance: two million.

JR responds to the Hawks winnning the Cup

Wish we could have won it the year you made it to the Finals too, Jeremy.

Patrick raises Kane, and the Hawks raise the Cup

When Mush March scored the overtime goal that won the Stanley Cup for the Blackhawks in 1938, they didn't present the Hawks with the Cup. The Toronto Maple Leafs were so highly favored that nobody took the chances of the Hawks winning that night seriously, so they didn't bother having it in the building.

Last night, when Patrick Kane scored the overtime goal that won the 2010 Cup for the Hawks before the biggest television audience to see an NHL game in 36 years, the Cup was duly presented. They just didn't turn on the goal light. Everybody but Kane himself, it seems, momentarily lost track of the puck, and only he realized that it was in the net.

Macht nichts, as my grandmother would have said. The forty-nine year wait is over, and the Chicago Blackhawks are again the world champions of professional hockey.

My dad saw three Blackhawk Stanley Cups. By that standard, I still have one to look forward to. Actually, despite the fact that the Hawks will have to dump some key personnel this summer to get under the salary cap, this Hawks team may well win more than one or two more. There are some promising youngsters in the pipe to take the place of whoever has to go, and the Bowmans successfully managed to maneuver Detroit's roster so as to keep the Wings under the cap during their recent run. Hopefully they'll be able to do the same for the Hawks.

In the meantime, if people in heaven are allowed any clue of what's happening here on earth, my Dad- who was there for the Hawks' Cupless Cup victory in 1938- is sipping celestial champagne right now, perhaps with old Mush himself, and with Johnny Gottselig, the man who did back in 1934 what March did in 1938 and Kane did last night. And Mom is probably just as happy about her Hawks' triumph, even though she wasn't much for the bubbly. She and Dad courted in the First Balcony at Chicago Stadium.

Chicago, the only city in the last quarter century which has had a world champion in all four major professional sports, will be holding a parade for its Stanley Cup champs tomorrow. Regrettably, I'm in exile here in Des Moines. It would be an even better day than most to be back home.

Ok.... one more time!

Do one thing tonight, Hawks, and the Cup is yours

Fight.

I love it!

Meet Chrissy Pronger!

I could watch this over and over...

A lake of methane larger than the Caspian Sea

Sunlight glints off Kraken Mare, a lake on Saturn's moon Titan that is larger than the Caspian Sea- and composed entirely of liquid methane!

New close-ups of the huge lake, not yet released, have been taken by the NASA/ESA probe Cassini.

More good advice for the guys in the Indian head sweater

Remember who you are.

Haugh has good advice for the Hawks

Don't read the newspapers- and don't be too impressed with how unbeatable you were last night.

In other words, stay hungry. Letting up at all is a sure route to defeat in Game 6- and you don't want the Flyers to have a shot at a Game 7.

The Flyers handle adversity well. Just ask the Bruins. But the Hawks don't handle prosperity well. After victories in the first two games, it took two drubbings in Philly to produce last night's effort by the Good Guys.

Oh, and btw... Michael Jordan showed up last night- sure enough, wearing a Jonathan Toews sweater, just like his statue outside the UC.

Apropos of last night's game...

Take THAT, Pronger!

Love, Buffy

The Hawks find an answer

Several, really.

Mix up your lines. Make sure that Buffy plays at times when Pronger isn't around, so he can use his muscle around the Flyers' goal without obstruction. Make sure Buffy plays at times when Pronger is around- so he can knock him on his rear and give him back what he's been dishing out. Stay out of the penalty box. And above all, play with energy.

And outwork Philadelphia. One of the Chicago sportswriters- I forget who- commented a few weeks ago that the Hawks figured to win any game of a previous series in which they simply worked as hard as their opponent did. Same applies here. The Hawks are a better team than the Flyers; when they aren't outworked, they win. And last night they didn't let the Flyers outwork them. The result: they were winning the battles along the boards they were losing in Philadelphia. And beating the Flyers, 7-4

As long as they follow that formula, they'll win. I am expecting a seven game series-with the Hawks winning the Cup at home- simply because the Flyers will be home Wednesday night with their backs to the wall, and it may be hard to match their intensity under those circumstances But if the Hawks play with the discipline, determination and work ethic they displayed last night, it could very well end on Wednesday night even so.

ONE GOAL!

If we lose tonight...

...I think we're toast.

Kinda looks that way, doesn't it?

Michael Goodwin of the New York Post makes the point that it's getting harder and harder to avoid the conclusion that, hype and the cult of personality aside, President Obama just isn't up to the job.

HT: Real Clear Politics

An all too familiar feeling for Chicago fans

Trib sportswriter Bob Rosenberg has it exactly right: it's not the best team that wins in the playoffs. It's the team that plays best- and right now, it's the Flyers.

The gaffes and the undisciplined play on the part of the Blackhawks are getting embarassing. More to the point, the Hawks are taking a series they had in hand, and by all rights should win, and doing to it pretty much what the Cubs did in 1969, 1984, 2003, 2007, and 2008.

It's hard to avoid the word "choke." And now it's reached the point that in the Trib's poll of its readers as to how the series is going to turn out, a plurality says that it'll be the Flyers in six.

I hope not. Sunday's game, of course, will tell us a great deal. If the Hawks lose again, this time at home, it's over. If they win, there's still a fighting chance.

One thing, however, it certain: if the Blackhawks pull a "Cub" after raising the hopes of Chicago's hockey fans so high, it will be a long, long time before enthusiasm for the Chief's band reaches the heights it has this Spring again. The Hawks won't go back to being the civic joke and afterthought they were when "Dollar Bill" was mismanaging the team, and nearly killing it. They'll continue to sell out night after night.

But the theory has been advanced that hockey fans are sort of like opera fans: that there are really rather few of us, but that we give the impression of being more numerous because of our enthusiasm. The Blackhawks captured the imagination of the entire city this Spring. If they complete the choke, that imagination will prove elusive in the tuture.

And in the meantime, we few, we sappy few, we band of brothers who followed the Hawks both through the dark days of Dollar Bill and through the disappointments of past Stanley Cup Finals lost will spend our summer meditating on the same theme we Cub fans have been left to ponder on those repeated occasions when our hopes have been raised and then dashed at the last, cruelist moment: wouldn't it have been better, finally, not to have had them raised at all?

Tonight, we need

...to stay out of the penalty box.

Serendipity and photography

Now THIS is art!

Hopefully...

...tonight the Blackhawks can put paid to this nonsense about Philly having a chance in this series, open up a 3 games to 1 lead, and set up a clincher at the UC Sunday- with yours truly in front of the TV, wearing his Indian head jersey.

ONE GOAL!

The Onion offers advice to both teams in the Stanley Cup Finals

Didn't know they did sports.

The insight is amazing.

A living fart?

Something is consuming hydrogen and acetelyne on Saturn's fascinating, atmosphered moon, Titan.

It could be some sort of mineral catalyst.

Or it could be methane-based life...

True, dat

Wherein the NHL's best defenseman lays out in plain English the one thing the Hawks have to do to beat the Flyers.

They didn't do it last night.

Well, that and start winning the match-ups.

And the faceoffs.

Gee. That's three things, isn't it? But let's start by doing as Duncan Keith recommends.

ADDENDUM: And Bret Sopel agrees with him.

Former Gov. Branstad up 15 points over Gov. Culver

No surprise here.

No wonder the Democrats are putting out anonymous attack ads against Branstad before the Republican primary Tuesday!

It's all good

OK, so the Hawks lost 4-3 to the Flyers last night in overtime. I never thought we'd sweep these guys anyway, and now- provided we win Game 4 Friday night- we'll be in a position to win the Cup at home- on NBC, so that those who, like yours truly, do not have cable will be able to watch at home, too.

Now where have I heard THAT before?

Nostalgia time, folks.

You know the Al-Tipper seperation? CBS reports that, according to family friend Sally Quinn, it's George W. Bush's fault.

For beating Al in 2000, that is.

HT: Ida Flo

And to think that a few years ago hockey was almost dead in Chicago!

Sweet Home Chicago has, by all accounts, gone hockey mad. Even the fountain in the Civic Center Plaza (the plaza with the Picasso sculpture wearing the Patrick Sharp helmet in it) is spouting red water. And landmarks all over the city have taken on a distinctly red, black and white tone, with images of The Chief and hockey helmets and sweaters bearing them appearing in the most unlikely places.

I was searching the internet for pictures of all the ways in which Col. McLaughlin's team has popped up all over town, but I just came across this slide show, which does a pretty good job of hitting the highlights.

And no, I don't think either Michael Jackson or the ghost of Piccaso mind a bit.

Personally, I think that helmet makes the Picasso in Civic Center Plaza look Sharp (you may groan now if you like).

What's it all about (hic), Alfie?

In 1938, the 14-25-9 Chicago Blackhawks won the most improbable Stanley Cup championship in history- so improbable that nobody bothered to have the Cup there the night they won it. And one of the Hawks' stars in the series was Alfie Moore, a minor league goalie who was under contract to the other team at the time and who had prepared for the game by downing "ten or fifteen drinks."

Great recap of the story here.

Tavis Smiley needs to get a clue

PBS's Tavis Smiley is almost a poster child for mindless politically correctness. But when he goes ballistic because a Christian author "idealizes" Christianity and turns people away from Islam, he's being mindless even for the politically correct set.

Christianity and Islam are two different religions which- the sentimental, brain-dead insistence of the unthoughtful and ill-informed to the contrary- worship entirely different deities (I have yet to meet or hear of a Muslim who worships the Holy Trinity, or who does not consider the entire concept of this foundational tenet of Christianity to be blasphemous at best). They do agree that there is only one god; they disagree entirely, however as to his identity, his nature, his character- and absolutely as to the basis upon which he may be approached.

In short, the truth claims of Christianity and Islam are absolutely irreconcilable and mutually exclusive. Christianity has as its foundation its assertion of Christ's divinity; Islam not only denies Christ's divinity, but regards its assertion as a fundamental sacrilege. Christianity has as its constitutive proclaimation Christ's atoning death for the sins of the world; Islam not only denies that His death redeemed the world, but it denies that He ever died! If one were to construct a mirror image of Pauline Christianity, Islam- the religion of works par excellence- comes pretty close to what you would come up with.

True, Christians have often acted badly down through the ages. That is exactly what the Christian dogma of original sin would predict. Of course, in some cases- the Crusades and Martin Luther's alleged Hitler connection come to mind- that ill behavior has fallen considerably short of what the propagandists of a dogmatic secularism claim. Even the Inquisition was not at all times and in all places the unmitigated horror we are told it was, and- despite the proclivity of Lisa Miller and other religious Leftists, agnostics, and atheists for mischaractrizing the relationship between the Bible and slavery- it would be hard to find an impact on history which Islam itself (as opposed to Islamic culture) as positive as Christianity's role in slavery's eventual abolition, its contribution to the Civil Rights movement, and- to make a long story short- its responsibility for just about every cultural reform in Western history over the past 2,000 years. However reactionary one may regard the attitude of some branches of conservative Christianity toward women as being, when was the last time you saw a Baptist woman wearing a burka? Next to what prevails in the Middle East, the fashions in vogue among Amish women are positively daring, and the freedom enjoyed even by Fundamentalist Christian females is something of which Iranian and Afghan women can only dream.

And it's been a long time since Christians have flown airplanes into any skyscrapers, bombed any subway systems or trains, or beheaded people on videotape while reciting the Apostles' Creed. That's what makes Tavis Smiley's bizarre assertion that Christians have blown up more buildings than Moslems so odd, as well as so malicious.

And then, there's Logic 101. To be a Christian is to regard one's faith as true, and Islam as untrue- and vice versa. Christ is either God, or He is not. If He is not, then Christianity is false. And if He is, then Islam is false.

Love your enemy? Avenge yourself against your enemy? Tavis Smiley may not have noticed, but these are very different concepts. And yes, there is a difference in the ethical merit of these two injunctions.

Hate to be the one who breaks it to you, Tavis, but a person who believes that his is the true religion (and if he doesn't, he doesn't believe in that religion, and it therefore isn't his) by definition believes that: 1)it is preferable to other religions whose truth claims are irreconcilable with its truth claims; and 2) that those religions, precisely because his own is true, must of necessity be false. A Christian by definition "idealizes" Christianity, and a Muslim "idealizes" Islam- because by definition a Christian believes that Christianity is true, and a Muslim believes that Islam is true, and that the other religion- which must be false if his religion is true- is something from which people should be "turned away."

This is simply another way of saying that it's his religion.

Tavis.... get a clue, eh? The hostility of PBS toward "sectarian" (i.e., substantial) religion is well-established. But even hostility need not be quite so intellectually vapid.

HT: Ida Flo

ADDENDUM: Kathy Shaidel of the David Horowitz blog reports that the PBS ombudsman has smacked Mr. Smiley's wrist over his bizarre comments, which included the assertion that more Christians than Moslems blow up buildings.

Yes, that's what he said.

What if...

A real shame

Al and Tipper Gore are seperating after forty years of marriage.

The couple, whom the former vice-president once claimed served as Eric Segal's model for Oliver and Jenny of Love Story, seemed to be one of the most solidly connected couples in public life. Most of us recall the steamy kiss he planted on her just before accepting the Democratic presidential nomination in 2000. And whatever one may have think of Al's politics, Tipper was for many years an outspoken critic of violence and obscenity in popular culture, a true advocate of the besieged American family.

They have my prayers and best wishes. Here's hoping that they eventually work everything out.

Before you vote next week, Iowa Republicans....

...consider this.

Those negative TV (and web) commercials about former Gov. Terry Branstad's "comeback express" supposedly "colliding" with his record are not, as most of us have assumed, sponsored by the Vander Platts or Roberts campaigns.

They're the work of a Democrat who historically has been in the corner of incumbent Democratic Gov. Chet Culver, and are apparently aimed at preventing the strongest potential opponent for Culver- Branstad- from being nominated.

Think about it.

91.1%

That's historically the percentage of teams that have won the first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals that have gone on to win the Cup.

Of the 33 cases in which a team has won the first two games in the Finals, it has gone on to win the Cup in 31 of them.

The Blackhawks beat Philadelphia in Game 1 on Sunday night by a score of 6-5, and in Game 2 last night by a score of 2-1.

No time for glory

It's a day late- I couldn't get to a ocmputer yesteday- but this song (made famous by Robert Heinlein in Starship Troopers) captures the essence of what Memorial Day is all about: