Miscellaneous Notes:
Briefly on several points...
--I want to thank Steve Dillard for taking a more nuanced and objectively correct approach to a certain subject of no small degree of controversy at his Catholics Against Rudy website. I had endorsed the site back on July 12th and something additional was posted after that date whch had me concerned and reconsidering my public stand. And while I will write a bit soon on what I feel needs to be touched on to flesh out Mr. Dillard's amendments to a fuller extent; nonetheless, what is up there now in the form it is in{1} is sufficiently nuanced to maintain our endorsement here at Rerum Novarum.
--As time allows for it, I am working on a few posts on various subjects including sports, geopolitics,{2} and possibly some more material on ethics. (I am also toying with the idea of reformatting a couple of emails for posting to this weblog in lieu of certain profoundly disappointing and inexcusable attitudes taken by friends of mine.)
--The long long planned{3} (but for various reasons delayed) "third way in politics" material I hope to have ready by Labour Day or (at the latest) in late September. As noted previously on this weblog{4}, the delay is not due to length of prose as much as complexity of the subject matter and my motivations to tackle it at a given point in time.
--I plan in the coming week or two to put up the final installments in the Founding Fathers "points to ponder" series to put up as well. For those who were following this series of threads, here is a brief recapitulation of the threads in the series thus far:
Points to Ponder From Benjamin Franklin (circa July 7, 2007)
Points to Ponder From George Washington (circa July 11, 2007)
Points to Ponder From John Adams (circa July 12, 2007)
Points to Ponder From Thomas Jefferson (circa July 27, 2007)
Points to Ponder From Gouverneur Morris (circa July 30, 2007)
As the Founding Father series is being done in order of the age of the Founding Fathers, the next up is James Madison and it will conclude with Alexander Hamilton.
--It has been a long time since I remember concurring so significantly with a societal analysis of Mark Shea's but I have to confess that he wrote something back on August 9th about the "emergent church" which I can actually say "bravo" to. (Even broken clocks are right once to twice a day after all depending on if they are digital or have traditional hands but I digress.) Ironically, I was saying something eerily similar in a private conversation around August 11th unaware of what Mark had written two days earlier: the serendipity of this cannot be emphasized enough therefore.
--Today former Yankees player and announcer Phil Rizzuto died at the age of 89. He was a tenacious player{5} and an even better announcer.{6} Interestingly enough, I found out from one of the Seattle radio stations which gave him a "memorial" of sorts by playing a song that he supplied baseball commentary for back in 1977. I refer here to the Meatloaf song Paradise By The Dashboard Light from the 1978 album Bat Out of Hell where the baseball commentary was...I should not have to explain this so I will not. Rest in peace Phil.
--I also wanted to take a moment and note here for those who are interested that my previous dialogual challenge on the subject of the atomic bombings of 1945 has met with a respondent who has fulfilled the material requirements I noted in that posting from July 22nd.{7} The person in question is one whom I am somewhat familiar with and after further private conversations believe not only has the intelligence but (even more important) the proper disposition towards dialogue in general and responding to criticisms. As it sits now, the scheduled start date for this endeavour is August 30, 2007. More will be noted as it is known but for now that will be sufficient.
Notes:
{1} If it has to remain there at all of course.
{2} Including the new Bush Administration plan to crack down on illegal immigrant workers and what I believe may be the psychology behind what appears to be no insignificant about face policy-wise.
{3} The first explicit mention of the intention to write on this subject was back in April of this year in this thread:
On Slavery and the Founding Fathers of America (circa April 17, 2007)
It had (of course) been on our mind to write on the subject for some time prior to that.
{4} It was noted last month that your host planned to write on the Founding Fathers, some of the principles and systems that shaped their outlook, and also to point out what he believes is a serious problem of imbalance in the modern political climate.[...] That intention is being worked through bit by bit as we have both time to and also are in the mood to write on that subject. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa May 15, 2007)]
{5} He was mainly known for his defensive abilities and as a hustler but he did have a career .273 average and have over 1500 hits. He was also voted an AL All Star 4 times and lead the league for four years (1949-1952) in a stat that I believe is important but does not get much mention: sacrifice flyes.
{6} Among his most famous announcer moments were the calling of Roger Maris' 61st home run on the last game of the 1961 season and the pennant winning home run in the 1976 playoffs.
{7} I refer to reviewing the minimal reading requirements to get an overview of my outlook as well as the procedural postings I noted in the aforementioned posting. They also are aware of what I do not want to see happen and have assured me that they will do their best to approach this subject in an ethical and principled fashion for which I am pleased.
