Points to Ponder:
(On Perceived "Allies", "Adversaries", and Striving For Objectivity In Our Assessments of Others)
It is natural of course to feel an affinity for those we perceive to be our "allies" in a fight and even a kind of operative animosity towards those we believe are opposed to us. These tendencies however should never get in the way of trying as best we can to make as fair an assessment of persons and situations. Otherwise, there is a problem with approaching moral and ethical issues in a uniform standard and more often than not there is the use of double standards. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa October 25, 2007)]
Saturday, February 16, 2008
I have not said much on the inevitable{1}nomination of Senator John McCain yet for the Republicans but President Bush claiming that conservatives should unite behind McCain because President Bush says he is a conservative is laughable. Seriously.
I am not going to claim that Senator McCain either is or is not a conservative in this posting -only that the last person who is credible on discerning this matter is President George W. Bush for reasons I have delved into in the past and probably will in the future. (When I go into my view on Senator John McCain as both a nominee for and possible future President of the United States in light of recent developments.)
As for now though, that is all I intend to say on the matter other than to inaugurate a new weblog category specifically to tag discuss the Arizona senator from here on out which I am also applying retroactively to the archives all things to the contrary notwithstanding.
I decided to take this approach because I do not have time or the desire at the moment to go into my archives to find choice bits for fleshing out this posting either in the body of the text or in footnotes; ergo the creation of this tag so that readers can review our archives and see everything we have said about the senior senator from Arizona over the years on this weblog.{2} And (of course) unlike a lot of people, I do not have anything to hide and my views on the senator at sundry times and divers manners have not always been flattering.
So with that noted, those interested in seeing what I have said thus far about Senator McCain (to get an idea of what I may say in the future) go ahead and have a look. That is all I will say about him for the time being though with a year being an eternity in politics{3} you can be sure there will be more in the months ahead as I am inclined (and have the time) to discuss that subject.
Notes:
{1} At this point.
{2} I did an archive search and tagged everything which was actually posted where I mentioned Senator McCain in any capacity whatsoever.
{3} As I have said so many times on this weblog when talking about politics.
I am not going to claim that Senator McCain either is or is not a conservative in this posting -only that the last person who is credible on discerning this matter is President George W. Bush for reasons I have delved into in the past and probably will in the future. (When I go into my view on Senator John McCain as both a nominee for and possible future President of the United States in light of recent developments.)
As for now though, that is all I intend to say on the matter other than to inaugurate a new weblog category specifically to tag discuss the Arizona senator from here on out which I am also applying retroactively to the archives all things to the contrary notwithstanding.
I decided to take this approach because I do not have time or the desire at the moment to go into my archives to find choice bits for fleshing out this posting either in the body of the text or in footnotes; ergo the creation of this tag so that readers can review our archives and see everything we have said about the senior senator from Arizona over the years on this weblog.{2} And (of course) unlike a lot of people, I do not have anything to hide and my views on the senator at sundry times and divers manners have not always been flattering.
So with that noted, those interested in seeing what I have said thus far about Senator McCain (to get an idea of what I may say in the future) go ahead and have a look. That is all I will say about him for the time being though with a year being an eternity in politics{3} you can be sure there will be more in the months ahead as I am inclined (and have the time) to discuss that subject.
Notes:
{1} At this point.
{2} I did an archive search and tagged everything which was actually posted where I mentioned Senator McCain in any capacity whatsoever.
{3} As I have said so many times on this weblog when talking about politics.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Miscellaneous Threads Worth Reviewing:
-40F
Bitter Cold, Whiteouts Hit Upper Midwest, East...
Chill Map...
Fairbanks has coldest temps in eight years...
All of the above threads are courtesy of Drudge and to serve as a reminder for those who may have forgotten{1} about the stance on global warming of your host at Rerum Novarum.
Note:
{1} On the Fraud of "Global Warming" With Greg Mockeridge and Kevin Tierney (circa April 13, 2006)
-40F
Bitter Cold, Whiteouts Hit Upper Midwest, East...
Chill Map...
Fairbanks has coldest temps in eight years...
All of the above threads are courtesy of Drudge and to serve as a reminder for those who may have forgotten{1} about the stance on global warming of your host at Rerum Novarum.
Note:
{1} On the Fraud of "Global Warming" With Greg Mockeridge and Kevin Tierney (circa April 13, 2006)
Boulder: Impeach Bush? (Rocky Mountain News)
If ever a snapshot of why I hold the hippie contingent in such derision was needed, the above link provides it. I have an idea: how about impeaching the Boulder City Council!!! They have local concerns to deal with and they waste time and energy in moronic notions such as supporting a presidential impeachment where there is no viable case to be made for it. Now it is true that President Bush came close to doing something that a good argument could have been made for impeachment{1}but it had nothing to do with the war in Iraq which was entered into for a variety of reasons -the most significant and concrete of which were the basis of your host's position on the war which was synthesized and blogged five years ago this week.{2}
Indeed I might be willing to go into these matters but for one problem other than lack of time: motivation. I am hardly going to play the kind of last year pig pile on the lame duck incumbent{3} game that is par for the course both this year as well as historically. (It is predictable as well as boring.) And this is also not to say of course that I will avoid criticism when I view it as both applicable as well as serving a viable purpose. But what it does rule out is any plans whatsoever to expend any energy whatsover on having President Bush's back on anything that is for his personal benefit. Or as I noted last July when talking about my unwillingness on these matters:
Admittedly I have lost any remaining motivation to complete it after the last round of trying to pass the illegal amnesty proposal and make it into law. The reason for lacking the motivation now is not because the arguments of the kooks are difficult to dispatch with. (Quite the contrary actually: the hardest part of it is finding the time to dispatch with them piece by piece in reasonable detail.) The problem is mainly that I have no confidence in President Bush to do much of anything right anymore. And since he has shown a lack of concern for having the back of those who have supported him over the years for the most part -or at the very least defended him from unfair attacks- why should anyone have his back now??? [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa July 11, 2007)]
That really sums it up nicely except for one small thing which I will briefly touch on soon. But that suffices for the time being in my view; ergo this posting will be concluded.
Notes:
{1} I have had on the drafting table for quite a while a planned post responding to twenty-five so-called "arguments" for impeaching President Bush. Most of those objections have been refuted in the draft as it is written now but the reason I am not likely to finish it anytime soon is this:
--I am inclining towards the view that the immigration policy President Bush wants to undertake is itself a potentially impeachable offense!!!
I do not intend to set forth the full panopoly of arguments to explain this at the present time. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa June 8, 2007)]
{2} My Definitive Position on the Eventual War in Iraq (circa February 9, 2003)
{3} Though for a lame duck, President Bush had a pretty good 2007. Or as I noted last year when commenting on the progress of President Bush and his Administration as of mid 2007:
On the whole, the Bush Administration is doing better in 2007 than in 2006 or 2005 but sometimes this is in spite of their intentions on some issues rather than because of them. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa July 11, 2007)]
Of course President Bush finished the year as well as he started it shutting down the pretensions of the Democratic congress again and again. If not for the fact that he lacked this kind of spine in standing up to his own party when they were running congress as wannabee big government liberals, I would be quite impressed indeed. But I digress.
If ever a snapshot of why I hold the hippie contingent in such derision was needed, the above link provides it. I have an idea: how about impeaching the Boulder City Council!!! They have local concerns to deal with and they waste time and energy in moronic notions such as supporting a presidential impeachment where there is no viable case to be made for it. Now it is true that President Bush came close to doing something that a good argument could have been made for impeachment{1}but it had nothing to do with the war in Iraq which was entered into for a variety of reasons -the most significant and concrete of which were the basis of your host's position on the war which was synthesized and blogged five years ago this week.{2}
Indeed I might be willing to go into these matters but for one problem other than lack of time: motivation. I am hardly going to play the kind of last year pig pile on the lame duck incumbent{3} game that is par for the course both this year as well as historically. (It is predictable as well as boring.) And this is also not to say of course that I will avoid criticism when I view it as both applicable as well as serving a viable purpose. But what it does rule out is any plans whatsoever to expend any energy whatsover on having President Bush's back on anything that is for his personal benefit. Or as I noted last July when talking about my unwillingness on these matters:
Admittedly I have lost any remaining motivation to complete it after the last round of trying to pass the illegal amnesty proposal and make it into law. The reason for lacking the motivation now is not because the arguments of the kooks are difficult to dispatch with. (Quite the contrary actually: the hardest part of it is finding the time to dispatch with them piece by piece in reasonable detail.) The problem is mainly that I have no confidence in President Bush to do much of anything right anymore. And since he has shown a lack of concern for having the back of those who have supported him over the years for the most part -or at the very least defended him from unfair attacks- why should anyone have his back now??? [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa July 11, 2007)]
That really sums it up nicely except for one small thing which I will briefly touch on soon. But that suffices for the time being in my view; ergo this posting will be concluded.
Notes:
{1} I have had on the drafting table for quite a while a planned post responding to twenty-five so-called "arguments" for impeaching President Bush. Most of those objections have been refuted in the draft as it is written now but the reason I am not likely to finish it anytime soon is this:
--I am inclining towards the view that the immigration policy President Bush wants to undertake is itself a potentially impeachable offense!!!
I do not intend to set forth the full panopoly of arguments to explain this at the present time. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa June 8, 2007)]
{2} My Definitive Position on the Eventual War in Iraq (circa February 9, 2003)
{3} Though for a lame duck, President Bush had a pretty good 2007. Or as I noted last year when commenting on the progress of President Bush and his Administration as of mid 2007:
On the whole, the Bush Administration is doing better in 2007 than in 2006 or 2005 but sometimes this is in spite of their intentions on some issues rather than because of them. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa July 11, 2007)]
Of course President Bush finished the year as well as he started it shutting down the pretensions of the Democratic congress again and again. If not for the fact that he lacked this kind of spine in standing up to his own party when they were running congress as wannabee big government liberals, I would be quite impressed indeed. But I digress.
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Miscellaneous Musings:
(Part Deux)
It is rare that two posts of this type are made in the same day but the earlier posting was six days in the making (requiring some last minute revisions and additions prior to being posted) whereas this one is being written completely from scratch in one take. Nonetheless...
With Mike Huckabee winning Kansas by a large margin and not a few well-meaning persons who have problems with John McCain considering that as a viable option, I feel the need to remind readers of this weblog of what I wrote one month ago today on the importance of geopolitical sanity -particularly for those who claim to be prolife and want to actually be relevant in the near future in advancing their ideals:
On the Candidacy of Mike Huckabee and the Political Stupidity of Pro-Lifers (circa January 9, 2008)
What we noted in that critique goes triple for those who are on the Ron Paul bandwagon both for reasons already enunciated by us{1} and for other reasons{2} soon to be forthcoming on this very weblog.
Also, as this is the anniversary of when we finally published (after no small degree of thought and reflection) our position on the war in Iraq{3}, it seems appropriate to remind readers since we have not in any substantive way whatsoever{4} moved from that stance and never will the importance of taking a position on non-normative or objective criteria.
The intention of reminding readers of this is not to boast about our prognosticating capabilities but instead to remind people of the importance of making a point with all public statements to seek to ground them on principles which are timeless or solid rather than zeitgeistal or ephemeral in nature.
Notes:
{1} On the Constitutional Standing of Wars Undertaken Without a Formal "Declaration of War (circa December 26, 2007)
{2} [C]onsidering the fact that McCain is now the nominee for the Republicans, the long-worked on thread on the importance of a third way in politics will be forthcoming before the end of this blogging cycle. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa February 9, 2008)]
{3} My Definitive Position on the Eventual War in Iraq (circa February 9, 2003)
{4} There have been differences in application of post war approaches but we did not speak on the matter until after the policies we approved of were enacted and were bearing fruit for reasons we have noted numerous times before (including here) are integral to any position we enunciate publicly on issues.
(Part Deux)
It is rare that two posts of this type are made in the same day but the earlier posting was six days in the making (requiring some last minute revisions and additions prior to being posted) whereas this one is being written completely from scratch in one take. Nonetheless...
With Mike Huckabee winning Kansas by a large margin and not a few well-meaning persons who have problems with John McCain considering that as a viable option, I feel the need to remind readers of this weblog of what I wrote one month ago today on the importance of geopolitical sanity -particularly for those who claim to be prolife and want to actually be relevant in the near future in advancing their ideals:
On the Candidacy of Mike Huckabee and the Political Stupidity of Pro-Lifers (circa January 9, 2008)
What we noted in that critique goes triple for those who are on the Ron Paul bandwagon both for reasons already enunciated by us{1} and for other reasons{2} soon to be forthcoming on this very weblog.
Also, as this is the anniversary of when we finally published (after no small degree of thought and reflection) our position on the war in Iraq{3}, it seems appropriate to remind readers since we have not in any substantive way whatsoever{4} moved from that stance and never will the importance of taking a position on non-normative or objective criteria.
The intention of reminding readers of this is not to boast about our prognosticating capabilities but instead to remind people of the importance of making a point with all public statements to seek to ground them on principles which are timeless or solid rather than zeitgeistal or ephemeral in nature.
Notes:
{1} On the Constitutional Standing of Wars Undertaken Without a Formal "Declaration of War (circa December 26, 2007)
{2} [C]onsidering the fact that McCain is now the nominee for the Republicans, the long-worked on thread on the importance of a third way in politics will be forthcoming before the end of this blogging cycle. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa February 9, 2008)]
{3} My Definitive Position on the Eventual War in Iraq (circa February 9, 2003)
{4} There have been differences in application of post war approaches but we did not speak on the matter until after the policies we approved of were enacted and were bearing fruit for reasons we have noted numerous times before (including here) are integral to any position we enunciate publicly on issues.
Points to Ponder:
The message at the end of the day is vote, if you care enough to bitch and moan about my endorsement of Senator McCain you better not piss away your chance to vote and have your voice be heard. That’s the thing at the end of every day that will and always has separated us from so many countries in this world, for better and for worse. You can write, and I can write, and we can talk and argue about these topics with passion and care, and then we can go home. No one in our families will be jailed for us voicing political opinions, or arguing them, no one gets lynched, shot or raped, or murdered. [Curt Schilling (circa January 25, 2008)]
The message at the end of the day is vote, if you care enough to bitch and moan about my endorsement of Senator McCain you better not piss away your chance to vote and have your voice be heard. That’s the thing at the end of every day that will and always has separated us from so many countries in this world, for better and for worse. You can write, and I can write, and we can talk and argue about these topics with passion and care, and then we can go home. No one in our families will be jailed for us voicing political opinions, or arguing them, no one gets lynched, shot or raped, or murdered. [Curt Schilling (circa January 25, 2008)]
Miscellaneous Musings:
There is a lot to cover but at the moment I want to touch on these bits...
--It seems appropriate in light of the really good Superbowl from Sunday to comment a bit on it and do so before the Pro Bowl is played. Here are your host's initial impressions on the game from Sunday (as written in an email to some friends from the following Monday) when it was all said and done:
That last drive was one of the greatest in Superbowl history. The touchdown pass was of course interesting as the pre-game "we are gonna win" predictor finally came through on after a pretty quiet game when it counted. But the play of the game was that third and long where more than one Patriot had their hands on Manning's jersey and Manning somehow broke free, stumbled to the side, and like a gunslinger threw that pass which the receiver caught and then did a bridge over the player who tackled him holding onto the ball for first down. That was when I was confident the Giants would find a way to win...admittedly I wanted them to win and with 2:39 to go in the game (and after the second Pats touchdown), I hoped they would do it but admittedly was not optimistic about it.
The reason I wanted the Giants to win was to vindicate the NFC as a conference since so many have acted in recent years as if it was somehow not as good as the AFC. Plus, to vindicate the Seahawks performance as a team that lost to a team that lost to the Superbowl champions. More could be noted on that point but at the moment that is all I intend to say about it.
--I will save until after the Pro Bowl my Seahawk analysis thread for what they need to do to get to and win the Superbowl next year. Suffice to say, some of the factors demonstrated by the Giants in that game will factor into our analysis so know that tidbit upfront as a clue on how we may proceed on that subject.
--We decreed in the final week of January the importance of the Mariners making a trade for an ace pitcher -even mentioning Bedard by name{1}- and were pleasantly surprised three days later to find out that it was in the works.{2} As of this writing, it is official so we are pleased to say our outlook for baseball in Seattle for the coming season is pretty rosy now.
--There have been a number of friends who have expressed a degree of shock and even anger at the idea of John McCain as the nominee in November for the Republican Party. Not being a Republican myself{3}, perhaps that is the reason this does not infuriate us as much which is not to say that this was pleasing to us either. In the coming weeks, we may through notes already written to others or in the process of being thought out{4} explain our views on this beyond the sketchy probabilities we have noted up to this point on the weblog.
--The intended post concerning what projects we intend to carry over after the officially announced weblog revision of direction last month will soon be arriving.{5} Also, considering the fact that McCain is now the nominee for the Republicans, the long-worked on thread on the importance of a third way in politics{6} will be forthcoming before the end of this blogging cycle.
--Our concern about Roger Clemens possibly having his legacy tarnished along the lines of what happened to Barry Bonds{7} appears to be not founded. The reason for this is that the person who claimed to have "the goods on Rog" made some pretty absurd statements about also injecting Debbie Clemens (Roger's wife) with human growth hormone (HGH) back in 2003 supposedly at Roger Clemens' request!!! Pardon your host for considering this guy's previous testimony to be a bunch of bovine secretions after this latest claim.
That is all we have time to go into for now.
Notes:
{1} For the Mariners to get a similar vote of optimism from me (in light of their history of messing these things up) they would need to sign a top rank ace for the staff to go along with Felix Hernandez. In a word, they would need to sign Eric Bedard but I am not too optimistic about that happening. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa January 25, 2008)]
{2} I heard about this yesterday afternoon and was in shock folks. Literally. This sort of gutsy move is so unlike the Mariners that I almost was more bold in my phrasing than the text that I went with in claiming it would not happen. Lucky for me, the usual sense of proportion kicked in on even what I thought was a "slam dunk"; otherwise, should this happen[...] I would have another thread to tag with the "mea culpa" tagline and that is a (thankfully) rare categorization indeed on this humble weblog apart from sports predictions. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa January 28, 2008)]
{3} [L]est all of this sound as if I am a party loyalist I reiterate: I identified myself as a Republican in the mid/late 1980's and the early 1990's. Since the 1996 elections, my eyes were opened and I stopped affiliating with the Republicans seeing in far too many of them a profound betrayal of classical conservative principles. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa November 6, 2002)]
{4} As of this writing anyway.
{5} No additional projects will be taken on which have any potential of unduly detracting from our focus in the areas outlined earlier in this posting -though a few posts which are near completion (or are completed and not blogged yet) will be finished and posted in due course. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa January 11, 2008)]
{6} Though mentioned again in the paradigm shifting post of January 11, 2008, this is a post that has been mentioned in blog posts numerous times since last April as being in the works to be completed. It needs a final review and edit before it can be posted though and considering McCain's early presumptive nominee status, the timeliness of this post could not be more appropriate.
{7} Two threads we wrote on this subject or pertaining to it from late last year can be viewed here for those who are interested:
Musings on Barry Bonds' Indictment (circa November 16, 2007)
On Baseball, Recent Milestones, Etc. (circa October 6, 2007)
There is a lot to cover but at the moment I want to touch on these bits...
--It seems appropriate in light of the really good Superbowl from Sunday to comment a bit on it and do so before the Pro Bowl is played. Here are your host's initial impressions on the game from Sunday (as written in an email to some friends from the following Monday) when it was all said and done:
That last drive was one of the greatest in Superbowl history. The touchdown pass was of course interesting as the pre-game "we are gonna win" predictor finally came through on after a pretty quiet game when it counted. But the play of the game was that third and long where more than one Patriot had their hands on Manning's jersey and Manning somehow broke free, stumbled to the side, and like a gunslinger threw that pass which the receiver caught and then did a bridge over the player who tackled him holding onto the ball for first down. That was when I was confident the Giants would find a way to win...admittedly I wanted them to win and with 2:39 to go in the game (and after the second Pats touchdown), I hoped they would do it but admittedly was not optimistic about it.
The reason I wanted the Giants to win was to vindicate the NFC as a conference since so many have acted in recent years as if it was somehow not as good as the AFC. Plus, to vindicate the Seahawks performance as a team that lost to a team that lost to the Superbowl champions. More could be noted on that point but at the moment that is all I intend to say about it.
--I will save until after the Pro Bowl my Seahawk analysis thread for what they need to do to get to and win the Superbowl next year. Suffice to say, some of the factors demonstrated by the Giants in that game will factor into our analysis so know that tidbit upfront as a clue on how we may proceed on that subject.
--We decreed in the final week of January the importance of the Mariners making a trade for an ace pitcher -even mentioning Bedard by name{1}- and were pleasantly surprised three days later to find out that it was in the works.{2} As of this writing, it is official so we are pleased to say our outlook for baseball in Seattle for the coming season is pretty rosy now.
--There have been a number of friends who have expressed a degree of shock and even anger at the idea of John McCain as the nominee in November for the Republican Party. Not being a Republican myself{3}, perhaps that is the reason this does not infuriate us as much which is not to say that this was pleasing to us either. In the coming weeks, we may through notes already written to others or in the process of being thought out{4} explain our views on this beyond the sketchy probabilities we have noted up to this point on the weblog.
--The intended post concerning what projects we intend to carry over after the officially announced weblog revision of direction last month will soon be arriving.{5} Also, considering the fact that McCain is now the nominee for the Republicans, the long-worked on thread on the importance of a third way in politics{6} will be forthcoming before the end of this blogging cycle.
--Our concern about Roger Clemens possibly having his legacy tarnished along the lines of what happened to Barry Bonds{7} appears to be not founded. The reason for this is that the person who claimed to have "the goods on Rog" made some pretty absurd statements about also injecting Debbie Clemens (Roger's wife) with human growth hormone (HGH) back in 2003 supposedly at Roger Clemens' request!!! Pardon your host for considering this guy's previous testimony to be a bunch of bovine secretions after this latest claim.
That is all we have time to go into for now.
Notes:
{1} For the Mariners to get a similar vote of optimism from me (in light of their history of messing these things up) they would need to sign a top rank ace for the staff to go along with Felix Hernandez. In a word, they would need to sign Eric Bedard but I am not too optimistic about that happening. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa January 25, 2008)]
{2} I heard about this yesterday afternoon and was in shock folks. Literally. This sort of gutsy move is so unlike the Mariners that I almost was more bold in my phrasing than the text that I went with in claiming it would not happen. Lucky for me, the usual sense of proportion kicked in on even what I thought was a "slam dunk"; otherwise, should this happen[...] I would have another thread to tag with the "mea culpa" tagline and that is a (thankfully) rare categorization indeed on this humble weblog apart from sports predictions. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa January 28, 2008)]
{3} [L]est all of this sound as if I am a party loyalist I reiterate: I identified myself as a Republican in the mid/late 1980's and the early 1990's. Since the 1996 elections, my eyes were opened and I stopped affiliating with the Republicans seeing in far too many of them a profound betrayal of classical conservative principles. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa November 6, 2002)]
{4} As of this writing anyway.
{5} No additional projects will be taken on which have any potential of unduly detracting from our focus in the areas outlined earlier in this posting -though a few posts which are near completion (or are completed and not blogged yet) will be finished and posted in due course. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa January 11, 2008)]
{6} Though mentioned again in the paradigm shifting post of January 11, 2008, this is a post that has been mentioned in blog posts numerous times since last April as being in the works to be completed. It needs a final review and edit before it can be posted though and considering McCain's early presumptive nominee status, the timeliness of this post could not be more appropriate.
{7} Two threads we wrote on this subject or pertaining to it from late last year can be viewed here for those who are interested:
Musings on Barry Bonds' Indictment (circa November 16, 2007)
On Baseball, Recent Milestones, Etc. (circa October 6, 2007)
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Points to Ponder:
(In Remembrance)
"We cannot escape our destiny, nor should we try to do so. The leadership of the free world was thrust upon us in the little hall of Philadelphia. In the days following World War II, when the economic strength and power of America was all that stood between the world and the return to the dark ages, Pope Pius XII said, ‘The American people have a great genius for splendid and unselfish actions. Into the hands of America, God has placed the destinies of an afflicted mankind.' We are indeed, and we are today, the last best hope of man on earth." [Governor Ronald Reagan (circa 1974)]
(In Remembrance)
"We cannot escape our destiny, nor should we try to do so. The leadership of the free world was thrust upon us in the little hall of Philadelphia. In the days following World War II, when the economic strength and power of America was all that stood between the world and the return to the dark ages, Pope Pius XII said, ‘The American people have a great genius for splendid and unselfish actions. Into the hands of America, God has placed the destinies of an afflicted mankind.' We are indeed, and we are today, the last best hope of man on earth." [Governor Ronald Reagan (circa 1974)]
Friday, February 01, 2008
Points to Ponder:
(On the So-Called "Recession" and Common Sense Economic Stimulation)
If we are headed into a recession, these proposed stimulus packages will make little difference. Previous experiences have shown that (1) it takes a long time to enact tax law, making it too late to prevent a recession, and (2) many people save a large portion of any tax rebate. A far more important measure that Congress can take towards a healthy economy is to insure that the 2003 tax cuts don't expire in 2010 as scheduled. If not, there are 15 separate taxes scheduled to rise in 2010, costing Americans $200 billion a year in increased taxes. Adding to the economic effects of that tax increase are the disincentive effects of the measures that Americans will take between now and then in anticipation of those tax increases. According to economists Tracy Foertsch and Ralph Rector, making the 2003 tax cuts permanent will annually add $76 billion to the GDP, create 709,000 jobs and add $200 billion to personal income. [Walter E. Williams (circa January 30, 2008)]
(On the So-Called "Recession" and Common Sense Economic Stimulation)
If we are headed into a recession, these proposed stimulus packages will make little difference. Previous experiences have shown that (1) it takes a long time to enact tax law, making it too late to prevent a recession, and (2) many people save a large portion of any tax rebate. A far more important measure that Congress can take towards a healthy economy is to insure that the 2003 tax cuts don't expire in 2010 as scheduled. If not, there are 15 separate taxes scheduled to rise in 2010, costing Americans $200 billion a year in increased taxes. Adding to the economic effects of that tax increase are the disincentive effects of the measures that Americans will take between now and then in anticipation of those tax increases. According to economists Tracy Foertsch and Ralph Rector, making the 2003 tax cuts permanent will annually add $76 billion to the GDP, create 709,000 jobs and add $200 billion to personal income. [Walter E. Williams (circa January 30, 2008)]
Some Florida Post-Primary Prognosticating:
(With Kevin Tierney)
This discussion took place on the night of the primary. Kevin's words will be in dark green font.
McCain has been declared the winner in Florida with 65% of precincts reporting 35% to 31%
I know [your] the optimist, but Romney is now [toast]
Romney is on the ropes that is true. McCain did in one primary what Romney did in several delegate wise. Rudy is now out{1} as is Edwards.
Huck will compete in the south, McCain is gonna win the NE and Cali. Romney has very little he can do
If somehow Huck can be persuaded to drop out, it would help. Paul is a nonfactor but it is shaping up to be McCain-Clinton: not a paring I like contemplating. I do think we would have a Republican congress two years after a [Hillary] win...not sure that would happen with McCain.
There's still a chance of a murder suicide in the dems primary
You mean of Obama??? Endorsements by JFK's bro and daughter being motivation or whatever?
Even if they make it through triumphant in 08, the dems are in trouble, their identity politics chickens are coming home to roost.
I think this may be the election that carves off a good chunk of black voters for the GOP more than 15%. The treatment of [Obama] by the Clintons has been nausiating.
Though right now, the party of Reagan may have to sit on the sidelines, unless Mccain recognizes he needs conservatives.
There is one factor no one is considering and it is this: McCain made a lot of his deals in a situation where one tries via politics to achieve the art of the possible. (In other words, working with less than ideal circumstances.) It is possible as president that he would be more conservative governing overall than it would appear on the surface to us now and his time in Washington making him less likely to be taken in by the system than others. It is possible so if it happens, you heard it here first.
Note:
{1} For this reason, I have removed the Catholics Against Rudy banner from the side margin of this weblog.
(With Kevin Tierney)
This discussion took place on the night of the primary. Kevin's words will be in dark green font.
McCain has been declared the winner in Florida with 65% of precincts reporting 35% to 31%
I know [your] the optimist, but Romney is now [toast]
Romney is on the ropes that is true. McCain did in one primary what Romney did in several delegate wise. Rudy is now out{1} as is Edwards.
Huck will compete in the south, McCain is gonna win the NE and Cali. Romney has very little he can do
If somehow Huck can be persuaded to drop out, it would help. Paul is a nonfactor but it is shaping up to be McCain-Clinton: not a paring I like contemplating. I do think we would have a Republican congress two years after a [Hillary] win...not sure that would happen with McCain.
There's still a chance of a murder suicide in the dems primary
You mean of Obama??? Endorsements by JFK's bro and daughter being motivation or whatever?
Even if they make it through triumphant in 08, the dems are in trouble, their identity politics chickens are coming home to roost.
I think this may be the election that carves off a good chunk of black voters for the GOP more than 15%. The treatment of [Obama] by the Clintons has been nausiating.
Though right now, the party of Reagan may have to sit on the sidelines, unless Mccain recognizes he needs conservatives.
There is one factor no one is considering and it is this: McCain made a lot of his deals in a situation where one tries via politics to achieve the art of the possible. (In other words, working with less than ideal circumstances.) It is possible as president that he would be more conservative governing overall than it would appear on the surface to us now and his time in Washington making him less likely to be taken in by the system than others. It is possible so if it happens, you heard it here first.
Note:
{1} For this reason, I have removed the Catholics Against Rudy banner from the side margin of this weblog.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
McCain Beats Romney in Florida GOP Race (Breitbart.com)
I will adjust the official delegate counts later on when there is time but it is roughly a tossup now heading into Super Tuesday. And this is probably the end of Guiliani's campaign considering how much he put into this contest. More on this later when I have time to talk about it further.
I will adjust the official delegate counts later on when there is time but it is roughly a tossup now heading into Super Tuesday. And this is probably the end of Guiliani's campaign considering how much he put into this contest. More on this later when I have time to talk about it further.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Miscellaneous Musings:
In light of the news that is in the headlines with regards to the Mariners, it seems appropriate to note something I said on Friday:
For the Mariners to get a similar vote of optimism from me (in light of their history of messing these things up) they would need to sign a top rank ace for the staff to go along with Felix Hernandez. In a word, they would need to sign Eric Bedard but I am not too optimistic about that happening. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa January 25, 2008)]
I heard about this yesterday afternoon and was in shock folks. Literally. This sort of gutsy move is so unlike the Mariners that I almost was more bold in my phrasing than the text that I went with in claiming it would not happen. Lucky for me, the usual sense of proportion kicked in on even what I thought was a "slam dunk"; otherwise, should this happen{1} I would have another thread to tag with the "mea culpa" tagline and that is a (thankfully) rare categorization indeed on this humble weblog aparts from sports predictions.{2}
McCain in SC (Curt Schilling)
One of my favourite pitchers in baseball has a blog and the above thread is his take on John McCain. Whatever else one thinks of what he wrote, this part (among others) is spot on:
I have stated many times before in this blog I want our men and woman to come home, but not until the people in charge of the military forces believe there is enough stability in the Middle east for us to leave and not have to come back. Do you not honestly believe that every time some wing nut like Nancy Pelosi spews about the past mistakes of the Bush administration, the horrific lies told to us at the start of the war about our intents and purpose, there aren’t tens of thousands, if not millions, of hard core fanatical extremists saying “Just a little longer, if we can hang on just a little longer the Americans will leave, and we’ll turn this country back into what we need it to be to allow us to thrive once again".
What I like about Schilling more than his ability to dominate a game with his pitching{3} is the way he speaks his mind even when I do not agree with him. (In this case, I agree with him though.) While more could be noted, this is all I have time for at the present time.
Notes:
{1} I still say "should" because years of disappointment with the Mariners have taught me to be pessimistic about them on these matters.
{2} There is a difference between sports predictions and sports prognosticating -I am good at the latter and horrible at the former.
{3} I know Schilling does not dominate games as consistently as he used to as a result of his age (41 is not old ordinarily but in sports it is) lest anyone wonder.
In light of the news that is in the headlines with regards to the Mariners, it seems appropriate to note something I said on Friday:
For the Mariners to get a similar vote of optimism from me (in light of their history of messing these things up) they would need to sign a top rank ace for the staff to go along with Felix Hernandez. In a word, they would need to sign Eric Bedard but I am not too optimistic about that happening. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa January 25, 2008)]
I heard about this yesterday afternoon and was in shock folks. Literally. This sort of gutsy move is so unlike the Mariners that I almost was more bold in my phrasing than the text that I went with in claiming it would not happen. Lucky for me, the usual sense of proportion kicked in on even what I thought was a "slam dunk"; otherwise, should this happen{1} I would have another thread to tag with the "mea culpa" tagline and that is a (thankfully) rare categorization indeed on this humble weblog aparts from sports predictions.{2}
McCain in SC (Curt Schilling)
One of my favourite pitchers in baseball has a blog and the above thread is his take on John McCain. Whatever else one thinks of what he wrote, this part (among others) is spot on:
I have stated many times before in this blog I want our men and woman to come home, but not until the people in charge of the military forces believe there is enough stability in the Middle east for us to leave and not have to come back. Do you not honestly believe that every time some wing nut like Nancy Pelosi spews about the past mistakes of the Bush administration, the horrific lies told to us at the start of the war about our intents and purpose, there aren’t tens of thousands, if not millions, of hard core fanatical extremists saying “Just a little longer, if we can hang on just a little longer the Americans will leave, and we’ll turn this country back into what we need it to be to allow us to thrive once again".
What I like about Schilling more than his ability to dominate a game with his pitching{3} is the way he speaks his mind even when I do not agree with him. (In this case, I agree with him though.) While more could be noted, this is all I have time for at the present time.
Notes:
{1} I still say "should" because years of disappointment with the Mariners have taught me to be pessimistic about them on these matters.
{2} There is a difference between sports predictions and sports prognosticating -I am good at the latter and horrible at the former.
{3} I know Schilling does not dominate games as consistently as he used to as a result of his age (41 is not old ordinarily but in sports it is) lest anyone wonder.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Miscellaneous Musings:
Just a few quick bits as time is short...
--I must admit that I like the proactive approach that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is taking towards the economy. The three quarter point cut in the funds rate done earlier in the week (and a week in advance of the Fed's director meeting for the month of January) is the largest single cut since President Reagan's first term. At that time, the large Fed cut was to facilitate the economic recovery picking up steam (which certainly happened) and this time it is to approach the matter when the status is uncertain rather than waiting until it is.
--Rumour has it that there may be another cut in the funds rate at the Fed's rate at the meeting. I for one cannot say I would have a problem with it -this kind of approach could make the oft-asserted "recession"{1} a very mild one if at all. Certainly it will help in keeping interest rates low and that is not in and of itself a bad thing for a whole host of reasons.
--I am disappointed in both Fred Thompson and Duncan Hunter. In the case of the former, for dropping out prior to Super Tuesday and the latter for endorsing Mike Huckabee. I do not want to reiterate what I wrote recently on the subject of Huckabee and the stupidity of the pro life lobby{2} but in Hunter's case, that is what I see happening. Since Thompson has dropped out, the smartest thing he could do now is not endorse anybody. We shall see in time if that approach is taken or not.
--Much as I have been critical of the absurdities of Ron Paul already{3} and plan to again at least indirectly in an upcoming thread already written{4} but in need of final review (as of this writing). I do want to note that I am glad he is in the Republican race. Some of the issues he is talking about need to be talked about and for that reason alone, he is worth having in there for the duration of the campaign.
--With Mike Holmgren being back for a final season in Seattle, I am finally comfortable putting together my prognosis on what the Hawks need to do in order to get to and win the Superbowl next season. And no folks, my sports diagnosis is not as bad as my sports prognosticating -in the former I actually do pretty well overall. And unlike with the Mariners{5} I actually am optimistic that the Hawks will be able to do what they need to do next year to have a good shot at it.
Notes:
{1} I for one am not convinced there is an actual recession -it looks to me like a market correction more than anything.
{2} On the Candidacy of Mike Huckabee and the Political Stupidity of Pro-Lifers (circa January 9, 2008)
{3} On the Constitutional Standing of Wars Undertaken Without a Formal "Declaration of War (circa December 26, 2007)
{4} A thread first mentioned on this weblog last April and which has been mentioned or alluded to on a few occasions since -including in the excerpts from the archives posted below:
I am not sure when I first mentioned it on the weblog but I believe it was in this posting from April of 2007 which was written as a prelude to it. The idea had been in my mind for quite some time prior to that posting though -the seeds of which were in retrospect planted when I was publicly noting my views on the need for a third party in the United States. (As noted in a pair of postings from 2002, a pair of postings from 2004, and a couple of posts from early 2006 prior to the elections.) Perhaps the time it would take to make the vision as I outlined it occur coupled with the intuition I have had for years that serious fixes are needed and needed now facilitated this approach to the issue in question. Anyway, it has been in the works for some time and hopefully I can put the finished product into the arena of ideas for criticism and/or interaction with soon. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa September 25, 2007)]
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} For the Mariners to get a similar vote of optimism from me (in light of their history of messing these things up) they would need to sign a top rank ace for the staff to go along with Felix Hernandez. In a word, they would need to sign Eric Bedard but I am not too optimistic about that happening.
Just a few quick bits as time is short...
--I must admit that I like the proactive approach that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is taking towards the economy. The three quarter point cut in the funds rate done earlier in the week (and a week in advance of the Fed's director meeting for the month of January) is the largest single cut since President Reagan's first term. At that time, the large Fed cut was to facilitate the economic recovery picking up steam (which certainly happened) and this time it is to approach the matter when the status is uncertain rather than waiting until it is.
--Rumour has it that there may be another cut in the funds rate at the Fed's rate at the meeting. I for one cannot say I would have a problem with it -this kind of approach could make the oft-asserted "recession"{1} a very mild one if at all. Certainly it will help in keeping interest rates low and that is not in and of itself a bad thing for a whole host of reasons.
--I am disappointed in both Fred Thompson and Duncan Hunter. In the case of the former, for dropping out prior to Super Tuesday and the latter for endorsing Mike Huckabee. I do not want to reiterate what I wrote recently on the subject of Huckabee and the stupidity of the pro life lobby{2} but in Hunter's case, that is what I see happening. Since Thompson has dropped out, the smartest thing he could do now is not endorse anybody. We shall see in time if that approach is taken or not.
--Much as I have been critical of the absurdities of Ron Paul already{3} and plan to again at least indirectly in an upcoming thread already written{4} but in need of final review (as of this writing). I do want to note that I am glad he is in the Republican race. Some of the issues he is talking about need to be talked about and for that reason alone, he is worth having in there for the duration of the campaign.
--With Mike Holmgren being back for a final season in Seattle, I am finally comfortable putting together my prognosis on what the Hawks need to do in order to get to and win the Superbowl next season. And no folks, my sports diagnosis is not as bad as my sports prognosticating -in the former I actually do pretty well overall. And unlike with the Mariners{5} I actually am optimistic that the Hawks will be able to do what they need to do next year to have a good shot at it.
Notes:
{1} I for one am not convinced there is an actual recession -it looks to me like a market correction more than anything.
{2} On the Candidacy of Mike Huckabee and the Political Stupidity of Pro-Lifers (circa January 9, 2008)
{3} On the Constitutional Standing of Wars Undertaken Without a Formal "Declaration of War (circa December 26, 2007)
{4} A thread first mentioned on this weblog last April and which has been mentioned or alluded to on a few occasions since -including in the excerpts from the archives posted below:
I am not sure when I first mentioned it on the weblog but I believe it was in this posting from April of 2007 which was written as a prelude to it. The idea had been in my mind for quite some time prior to that posting though -the seeds of which were in retrospect planted when I was publicly noting my views on the need for a third party in the United States. (As noted in a pair of postings from 2002, a pair of postings from 2004, and a couple of posts from early 2006 prior to the elections.) Perhaps the time it would take to make the vision as I outlined it occur coupled with the intuition I have had for years that serious fixes are needed and needed now facilitated this approach to the issue in question. Anyway, it has been in the works for some time and hopefully I can put the finished product into the arena of ideas for criticism and/or interaction with soon. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa September 25, 2007)]
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} For the Mariners to get a similar vote of optimism from me (in light of their history of messing these things up) they would need to sign a top rank ace for the staff to go along with Felix Hernandez. In a word, they would need to sign Eric Bedard but I am not too optimistic about that happening.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
In perusing the drafts folder at this humble weblog in late 2007, I realized there are 505 unfinished drafts there with the oldest ones going back about three years. Now many of them are earlier versions of stuff which was eventually finished and blogged but some of them were pieces which were not blogged for a variety of reasons -either because they are not finished yet or once they were finished the circumstances which originated their composition were too particular and not combining of the same degree of general principles and specific applications that I like to utilize when blogging most of the time.
Sometime soon, a compilation thread will be posted to this weblog containing notification of the various projects from that which I have decided in light of the recently-enunciated-but-long-pondered change in direction that this weblog has officially taken as of recently. The other projects will either be retained for completion at some distant future date or rejected altogether -with my defacto approach being towards the latter for various and sundry reasons. Housecleaning of the drafts folder -a project long in need of being undertaken here at Rerum Novarum- will little by little be done as time or circumstance allows for it.
Part of the reason so much accumulated was the limits of time and the recognition on my part that sometimes things take longer to complete than would be ideal and/or a change in my mood made shelving the project until I wanted to discuss it again happened. But as we noted with implementing such principles as Pareto's Principle, this kind of approach has to be set aside if we are to give primary focus to the areas where we intend to focus the lions share of our efforts and energies.
More on this will be noted as time, circumstances, and the mood to discuss them present themselves but that is all for now.
Sometime soon, a compilation thread will be posted to this weblog containing notification of the various projects from that which I have decided in light of the recently-enunciated-but-long-pondered change in direction that this weblog has officially taken as of recently. The other projects will either be retained for completion at some distant future date or rejected altogether -with my defacto approach being towards the latter for various and sundry reasons. Housecleaning of the drafts folder -a project long in need of being undertaken here at Rerum Novarum- will little by little be done as time or circumstance allows for it.
Part of the reason so much accumulated was the limits of time and the recognition on my part that sometimes things take longer to complete than would be ideal and/or a change in my mood made shelving the project until I wanted to discuss it again happened. But as we noted with implementing such principles as Pareto's Principle, this kind of approach has to be set aside if we are to give primary focus to the areas where we intend to focus the lions share of our efforts and energies.
More on this will be noted as time, circumstances, and the mood to discuss them present themselves but that is all for now.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
A Primary Update, Vindicating a Previous Proclamation, and Briefly on Fred Thompson:
First in the interest of reminding the esteemed gentleman from Michigan about something he and I said in a previous conversation about the New Hampshire primary won by Sen. John McCain:
me: I think Romney can lose NH and still be the nominee
Kevin: no he can't
me: but he needs to win elsewhere. Wyoming. Michigan. Somewhere in an early primary. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa January 8, 2008)]
As Romney won in both Wyoming and Michigan and leads in the Republican delegate count by a significant margin{1} while his closest in the delegate count{2} has peaked already and the other major challenger at the moment having less than a third of the count thus far{3}, it should be obvious that New Hampshire will not be the deciding factor in the Republican nomination. Or as I noted over lunch earlier today in a short chat with my esteemed colleague from Michigan on the matter:
me: any time you want to admit your error is fine with me ;-p
Kevin: which one? where am i in error? lol
me: how's that for an intro?
I believe I predicted that Mitt would not be out of it if he did not win NH. you said he would [and] ironically your state was the pivot.
Kevin: well i didn't say he would drop out, just that he'd be crushed. I was wrong lol. now mitt has a ticket to super tuesday but he still needs to win Florida I think.
me: I was listening to him on Glenn Beck today. i must say, [Romney] appears strategically astute. Beck noted that he was behind in SC. Mitt admitted that but noted that he believes he will win Nevada which has more delegates than SC.
Kevin: it does and there's a chance he will. SC is more symbolic though.
me: my point is, Mitt is counting delegates, not keying in on specific primaries. he already leads in that area and is looking to build on it more even if the states he wins are not symbolically huge.
Kevin: well if he survives until super tuesday with a good running, McCain is in trouble, since these primaries are party only.
me: agreed. [Chat circa 12:30pm today]
Despite his second place spot in delegate count, by all appearances Huckabee has peaked. He did well in winning Iowa where he got 17 of his 19 delegates but he has done poorly since. McCain got half of his delegates in New Hampshire and the others from a fourth place finish in Iowa and a second place finish in Michigan.
In other words, though Huckabee has more delegates than McCain, there is no evidence that Huckabee has any momentum at all. Compared to candidates with lower delegate totals who have not won a primary (i.e. Thompson with 6, Paul with 2, Guiliani with 1, and Hunter with 1), by all appearances, they could catch fire on Super Tuesday whereas Huckabee appears to have used up all his momentum.{4}
With regards to one of those candidates who your host is hoping will show some sign of catching on soon, here is a bit that we wrote in a combox thread on him in dark green font -the words of the person we were responding to will be in italics...
I wonder how much of the "lack of energy" is media fabricated...
An "energetic executive" is what we need but the media's idea of "energetic" and the Founders' idea are significantly different.
I would not give the msm's dictums on that too much credit -remember all that talk about Reagan "sleeping through cabinet meetings"??? Compared to the relentless minutiae-focused approaches of his predecessor and successor, I would prefer a president who "slept through cabinet meetings" even if Reagan did that and he rarely did that in reality.
Thompson is in my top tier of candidate preferences. I would not have a problem voting for him if he can get a fair shake from the msm to present his message. I fail to see what the msm is worried about -both Thompson and Hunter are treated as Tancredo clones when they quite obviously are not.
And though Paul is a complete loon, I think he should be allowed into the debates too -if these candidates are to fall then it should be of their own making, not the media proclaiming, pronouncing, and defining as dogma that they have when primary and caucus season has only just begun.
Readers will also notice that we are going solely off of actual delegates thus far, not projections. So for all that talk about Clinton having twice the delegates as Obama (190 vs. 103) and Edwards (51) half of Obama, those are projections and not actual counts. When we look at the actual counts they are nowhere near that.{5} So make sure you read the fine print before accepting any msm source on the matter in question. Well that and/or just remember to read Rerum Novarum when we deign to post anything here of course. Our non-sports prognosticating is usually pretty accurate on the whole after all.
Notes:
{1} As of this morning, Romney has 48 delegates.
{2} As of this morning, Huckabee has 19 delegates.
{3} As of this morning, McCain has 15 delegates.
{4} This is not to say that he will not get more delegates of course, only that traditionally a candidate that starts off as he did and then declines is usually done whereas a candidate who starts off weak can catch fire later on traditionally.
{5} The actual counts of delegates for the Democratic candidates thus far are as follows:
Clinton: 28-29
Obama: 28-30
Edwards: 21
The reason for the range on the first two is it is unclear which number is correct from our sources as of this writing.
First in the interest of reminding the esteemed gentleman from Michigan about something he and I said in a previous conversation about the New Hampshire primary won by Sen. John McCain:
me: I think Romney can lose NH and still be the nominee
Kevin: no he can't
me: but he needs to win elsewhere. Wyoming. Michigan. Somewhere in an early primary. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa January 8, 2008)]
As Romney won in both Wyoming and Michigan and leads in the Republican delegate count by a significant margin{1} while his closest in the delegate count{2} has peaked already and the other major challenger at the moment having less than a third of the count thus far{3}, it should be obvious that New Hampshire will not be the deciding factor in the Republican nomination. Or as I noted over lunch earlier today in a short chat with my esteemed colleague from Michigan on the matter:
me: any time you want to admit your error is fine with me ;-p
Kevin: which one? where am i in error? lol
me: how's that for an intro?
I believe I predicted that Mitt would not be out of it if he did not win NH. you said he would [and] ironically your state was the pivot.
Kevin: well i didn't say he would drop out, just that he'd be crushed. I was wrong lol. now mitt has a ticket to super tuesday but he still needs to win Florida I think.
me: I was listening to him on Glenn Beck today. i must say, [Romney] appears strategically astute. Beck noted that he was behind in SC. Mitt admitted that but noted that he believes he will win Nevada which has more delegates than SC.
Kevin: it does and there's a chance he will. SC is more symbolic though.
me: my point is, Mitt is counting delegates, not keying in on specific primaries. he already leads in that area and is looking to build on it more even if the states he wins are not symbolically huge.
Kevin: well if he survives until super tuesday with a good running, McCain is in trouble, since these primaries are party only.
me: agreed. [Chat circa 12:30pm today]
Despite his second place spot in delegate count, by all appearances Huckabee has peaked. He did well in winning Iowa where he got 17 of his 19 delegates but he has done poorly since. McCain got half of his delegates in New Hampshire and the others from a fourth place finish in Iowa and a second place finish in Michigan.
In other words, though Huckabee has more delegates than McCain, there is no evidence that Huckabee has any momentum at all. Compared to candidates with lower delegate totals who have not won a primary (i.e. Thompson with 6, Paul with 2, Guiliani with 1, and Hunter with 1), by all appearances, they could catch fire on Super Tuesday whereas Huckabee appears to have used up all his momentum.{4}
With regards to one of those candidates who your host is hoping will show some sign of catching on soon, here is a bit that we wrote in a combox thread on him in dark green font -the words of the person we were responding to will be in italics...
I wonder how much of the "lack of energy" is media fabricated...
An "energetic executive" is what we need but the media's idea of "energetic" and the Founders' idea are significantly different.
I would not give the msm's dictums on that too much credit -remember all that talk about Reagan "sleeping through cabinet meetings"??? Compared to the relentless minutiae-focused approaches of his predecessor and successor, I would prefer a president who "slept through cabinet meetings" even if Reagan did that and he rarely did that in reality.
Thompson is in my top tier of candidate preferences. I would not have a problem voting for him if he can get a fair shake from the msm to present his message. I fail to see what the msm is worried about -both Thompson and Hunter are treated as Tancredo clones when they quite obviously are not.
And though Paul is a complete loon, I think he should be allowed into the debates too -if these candidates are to fall then it should be of their own making, not the media proclaiming, pronouncing, and defining as dogma that they have when primary and caucus season has only just begun.
Readers will also notice that we are going solely off of actual delegates thus far, not projections. So for all that talk about Clinton having twice the delegates as Obama (190 vs. 103) and Edwards (51) half of Obama, those are projections and not actual counts. When we look at the actual counts they are nowhere near that.{5} So make sure you read the fine print before accepting any msm source on the matter in question. Well that and/or just remember to read Rerum Novarum when we deign to post anything here of course. Our non-sports prognosticating is usually pretty accurate on the whole after all.
Notes:
{1} As of this morning, Romney has 48 delegates.
{2} As of this morning, Huckabee has 19 delegates.
{3} As of this morning, McCain has 15 delegates.
{4} This is not to say that he will not get more delegates of course, only that traditionally a candidate that starts off as he did and then declines is usually done whereas a candidate who starts off weak can catch fire later on traditionally.
{5} The actual counts of delegates for the Democratic candidates thus far are as follows:
Clinton: 28-29
Obama: 28-30
Edwards: 21
The reason for the range on the first two is it is unclear which number is correct from our sources as of this writing.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Friday, January 11, 2008
Reviewing Past Site Intentions, Some Current Tidbits, and Weblogging Policy For the Indefinite Future:
(Musings of your humble servant at Rerum Novarum)
[Prefatory Note: Most of this was written and arranged on the evening of November 17, 2007. However, a few bits were added subsequently as we reviewed the text when time allowed for it and thought of additional points that were not covered in the original drafting which were fleshed out in the thread below. -ISM]
Readers may recall that a year and a week ago last Wednesday, we wrote on the subjects of the then coming year (2007), a bit on foundational presuppositions, on warmer climates and the like. The post itself{1} was far more systematically laid out than the brief description just given but we want to touch very briefly on those key elements here as they play no small factor in what has been prevalent in our mind to a more explicit degree as last year unfolded.{2} They contribute to a proper understanding of what the future of this weblog's activity will involve from this point on in perpetuity. Without further ado...
One of the plans for the new year (though not officially a resolution) is to figure out a way to live part of the year in a warmer climate. Seattle is fine about eight months of the year (and great about six of those months -particularly the summer months) but the first two and last two months of the annual cycle are the pits weather wise. Adjusting my business to being almost completely mobile will help in that way -by the end of the month I should be able to run virtually everything by a laptop, cellphone, and fax machine.
That assessment was overly optimistic. It is true that the present writer has gotten to the point as of this writing where his main business can be run almost completely mobile -though state regulations being what they now are, he is to some extent still having to do a few things in a fixed office. However, that fixed office can technically be anywhere as long as there is proper licensing. The idea of living part of the year in a warmer climate{3} as far as being put on track towards being a practical reality took some time to jell into a cohesive plan. Nonetheless, as of roughly July of 2007, the outlines have finally solidified for us to make that desire a reality at some point in the new year.{4}
What has also formulated within the present writer is the steely resolution to make this happen. Little by little, steps have been taken to set that plan into concrete motion including the critical assessing of our current business templates which once everything is taken care of with the state compliance-wise will aid greatly in achieving our intentions in this area. Everything will be overhauled essentially and made a lot more efficient and productive along the lines of what was noted back in an October 2007 weblog post touching on Vilfredo Pareto's principle of economic efficiency.
Furthermore, other factors have since presented themselves which will further assist in this{5} but with enough ado on those points, the time is at hand to revisit what was written a year ago today and how it relates to what will be transpiring in the present writer's life in the near future on many fronts.
By this time next year, I will be thirty pounds or more lighter presuming there is no serious injury or some other significant unforeseen development.
Well, we are at that point now so an assessment of that intention can be viewed for what it is. To start with, this may seem like a minor point but often the life of your humble servant has seemed to have an almost dualistic element to it where the physical and mental elements interplay. And predictably perhaps (based on life precedents), the concern for setting down a template to make the warmer climate non resolution an eventual reality resulted in your host not giving the weight loss resolution the focus it needed. As a result, he gained six pounds between the writing of those words and his birthday in late October.
The process was started the day after the birthday (October 22nd) counting calories, protein and other factors (such as water intake/regulation) as we did back in 1998 when three times the weight we are aiming for now{6} was lost both rapidly and with no evidences of massive loss whatsoever. After a setback over the weekend in which this posting was substantially drafted (November 17-18), things got back on track and we finished the Thanksgiving week strong -including a 1000 calorie elliptical session on Thanksgiving morning to offset our modest turkey consumption later in that evening. The bottom line was that your host still lost weight on Thanksgiving and over the following weekend -almost five pounds for that week incidentally enough all of which was lost in a five day period.
As of Sunday November 25th, the present writer was the lightest he has been in over six years having lost fifteen pounds in less than a month's time (thirteen in the first twenty four days of November), held steady through December where two more pounds were lost. That put us over halfway to meeting the unofficial goal for the year that was set down a year ago last Wednesday with all of it being done in a little over a month's time.{7} Christmas was an unavoidable diet train derailing but suffice to say, body and mind as well as resolve are on track together as of this writing being posted and not in opposition to one another as has been the case oftentimes in the past ten odd years.
Some would view only reaching the halfway point of that non-resolution-but-stated-intention as a "failure" but your host does not as the process reaffirmed something he has known for many years and has written on at sundry times and in diverse manners on this weblog{8} and elsewhere; namely, the power of the mind to achieve the seemingly "impossible" when it has access to the correct information on methodology, the tools in place to assist, and the will to see it through.
I anticipate the following year will involve a greater exploration into the realm of foundational presuppositions than I have done in years past -how much more I am not certain as of this writing.
This area in many respects was tended to -sometimes in ways not anticipated when writing those words originally. But our focus has been here in a direct fashion more and more over the years with a particular focus in a number of subject threads written in 2007. The present writer wants to take this moment to call attention to three topics in particular which were composed as a direct result of both public as well as private correspondence on key issues which affect proper dialogue.
As one who has seen certain disturbing patterns over and over again in many dialogues on a variety of subjects, it is only natural that eventually attention would be called to them by us in proportion to how little they were recognized by the parties utilizing them. That pattern started in late 2003, picked up steam in 2004, and then really came to fruition in 2005 and 2006 publicly in a number of postings as well as privately at times with certain individuals. We had presumed (naively in retrospect) that not a few people who should have known better would realize upon having those matters pointed out to them but some of them quite evidently did not.{9}
When considering that some of the persons in mind who were running afoul in key areas were not unintelligent, it struck us that the subjects in question would do well to be fleshed out individually in a series of postings dealing directly with certain approaches to argument in general rather than merely addressing them in the sequence of longer posts on other subject matters which was previously our wont. For one thing, in the latter form, they may not be as evident to a casual reader of those threads due to how many other interconnected issues were dealt with. But without further digression, here are four examples of exposition on often overlooked key factors that can impede authentic dialogue on a whole variety of subjects in order from oldest to newest:
On the Difference Between Objective Meaning and Subjective Intention (circa February 27, 2007)
On the Appeal to Authority and Distinguishing Between Valid and Fallacious Appeals Thereof (circa March 8, 2007)
More on the Appeal to Authority and Distinguishing Between Valid and Invalid Appeals Thereof -Dialogue With Jonathan Prejean (circa March 24, 2007)
On Ad Hominem, Revisiting Argumentum Ad Vericundiam, and Considering the Core Principle That Is Behind Any Argumentation/Logical Fallacy (circa June 1, 2007)
Included in the above threads is a discussion thread from an astute friend who provided us with both some appreciated criticisms as well as the opportunity to clarify a couple of additional key elements in the overall matrix of the oft misused "appeal to authority" (Lat. argumentum ad vericundiam) in argumentation.
While those threads are hardly the only ones which could be noted, they were nonetheless significant in that the subjects they covered are almost never discussed directly. As a result of that informational lacuna, the problems the posts outline are rarely realized by those who fall prey to them: a failure that results inexorably in said problems being perpetuated across a broad continuum of subjects discussed. (To the detriment of authentic and potentially productive dialogue on subjects where passionate diversity of opinions can often persist.) Anyway, that is another example of what was meant in the bit quoted above and also in the paragraph to follow.
It has been my goal over the years to try and move those I have spoken with towards reassessing their foundational presuppositions or the filter through which they strain all information that comes their way from divers sources. While doing this though, I have rarely done more than mention a few bits in passing about why I go about things this way but the long and short of it is this: it has the potential to save a lot of time and effort by cutting down on the ratio of useless discussion. This alone can help pave the way for much more potentially fruitful dialogue to take place. Plus, I simply loathe talking points approaches to subjects and always have[...] viewing such things as shutting off the thinking mechanism and creating an environment detrimental to the cultivation of one's intellectual capabilities.
One of the reasons we made the dialogual offer on the incendiary subject matter of the atomic bombings in 2007 is encapsulated in the above paragraph. The principle behind it is the same as all other subjects which could be mentioned: to promote potentially fruitful dialogue. If it can be conducted on a subject such as that, then by logical extension it should be able on a host of lesser troubling issues be able to be similarly handled.
One of my resolutions for the new year is to try and sketch these elements out in greater detail as circumstances may lend themselves to it. Of course that is the key really: events and circumstances have to lend themselves to discussing these matters and the treatment needs to be both contemporary to the subject matter and circumstance at hand as well as contain general principles which are timeless in their validity.
It is not always easy to properly mix the two but we certainly do what we can here at Rerum Novarum as part of an ongoing effort to cultivate reason and logic and help people come to see just how helpful those God-given natural lights really are. So another resolution for 2007 is to focus more on foundational presuppositions behind various philosophies as we run across them in the arena of ideas.
As was noted in that posting, these matters would be (and have been) dealt with in accordance with events and circumstances which lend themselves to dealing with them -even if sometimes the posts that get written are delayed for a variety of reasons for being posted as quickly as would be ideal.
Nonetheless, as this writer noted at the beginning of the present posting, there will be for the indefinite future a change in blogging approach here at Rerum Novarum with the focus being first and foremost on what will facilitate the host's ability to live part of the year in warmer climates. This means that even with more time for blogging when we finish solidifying and streamlining life overall in accordance with Pareto's Principle, that the time for blogging will by necessity be reduced as well. For the rest of the year at least if not indeed for longer still, the postings here will be not much less in number{10} even if they are overall noticeably shorter in length: following an overall pattern that longtime readers may have noticed was happening bit by bit as the last two years (particularly 2007) unfolded anyway{11} -at least as a rule.
The "miscellaneous threads for reviewing" vehicle (along with the "miscellaneous musings" one) will probably make even more appearances than in a normal blogging cycle up to this point because they both facilitate the coverage of a variety of subjects in a briefer fashion than the kinds of expository cogitations that have been a feature of this weblog to varying degrees almost from day one.{12} There are a variety of subjects that we have wanted to touch on as time allowed but are no longer going to allow for them in the indefinite future. Plus, that this is an election year that factor will be more in play than in most other election years -with a mixture of material of both timeless principles and contemporary significance which has been a longstanding goal of this weblog.{13}
Now we will still blog here at Rerum Novarum of course but to noticeably less of an overall extent than has been our wont even in recent years when we scaled the blogging back significantly from where it once was.{14} But what needs to be formally recognized at this time is that as demands on time increase and the various outside projects to which focus must be given priority have multiplied dramatically over the past year. For that reason, inexorably something has to give.
When they hit a point in time where they attain explicit cognizance of where various factors spanning an expanse of time finally are converging, it is at that point when a choice to needs make akin to what Robert Frost denoted in a poem of his which we blogged recently.{15} And said persons will either embrace that direction or they move from it. Your humble servant at Rerum Novarum has chosen the former route and that makes prioritizing an even greater factor than it has been to this point.
More could be noted and may be on this but for the time being this will have to suffice except for one more thing:
No additional projects will be taken on which have any potential of unduly detracting from our focus in the areas outlined earlier in this posting -though a few posts which are near completion (or are completed and not blogged yet) will be finished and posted in due course{16} with a list of them to be made in a "notifications" style posting to be made (if possible) in the coming week.
In light of all we need to do in a variety of areas -only some of which{17} are noted above or will be in the aforementioned forthcoming "notifications" posting- something must give and in our mind, it is the blogging as well as any other side activity that impacts our overall focus to any significant extent on the areas which to us constitute the greatest possible importance.
All things to the contrary notwithstanding.
Notes:
{1} On the Coming New Year, Warmer Climates, Foundational Presuppositions, Personal and Blogging Resolutions, Etc. (circa January 2, 2007)
{2} As with so much of what we have undertaken here at Rerum Novarum, deeper meanings are later found in even simple seeming matters such as these. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa December 31, 2007)]
{3} Your host loves Seattle but at the moment he does not like Seattle if that makes any sense -and since last winter (with the exception of the warmer weather of summer and the sunny weather of part of fall this year) that has been our view of the matter.
{4} There is not as of this posting a precise date planned for it but rather a range -that is all that will be said on the matter until a few currently-nebulous factors in the equation solidify into something of a definite nature.
{5} Including an offer to run a couple divisions of an additional business alongside the current one. There is also an additional business to be started up in the early part of 2008 -divisions which may well eventually be in different states from one another as well and has the capacity of both servicing clientele anywhere in the country as well as responding to a few areas of a timely nature insofar as the way the economic climate has been shaping up for quite some time now.
{6} We do not want to delve into this subject at the moment except to say that what was done was what by most "conventional wisdom" accounts of weight loss was next to impossible. This is much the way in years past your host was able to make the kinds of progress in the gym which "conventional wisdom" would see as next to impossible if all the factors of the equation are looked at. Or to quote a bit from the archives on the matter:
[We] used proper methodology and therefore were able to make progress predictably and constantly: two factors which conventional wisdom would claim cannot be done without (i) favourable genetics or (ii) chemical enhancement. Those who wonder why I have little use for "conventional wisdom" in any field: it all goes back to this. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa October 21, 2003)]
As noted before, if there was more focused on certain key factors at the time, the results would have been even greater still but enough digression on that.
{7} Fifteen pounds in thirty days thirteen pounds of which were lost in the last twenty-four days (nearly five of those in the week of Thanksgiving including on turkey day). This is said not to boast but to show what can be done when one sets their mind to achieving a goal, focuses on the productive elements involved, disregards the inefficiencies which frequently creep into the mix, and is willing to go all out in goal attainment.
{8} To note a couple of the threads in the past year or so that have touched to various degrees on this subject:
Notes on the Indictment of Barry Bonds (circa November 16, 2007)
On Vilfredo Pareto and Notes on Applying A Basic Economic Principle to Life In General Including Blogging (circa October 13, 2007)
On the Intensity/Duration Equation, Physics, and Trying to Understand Engineering Majors With Tim Tull (circa December 17, 2006)
{9} Frankly, at least a couple of them probably still do not but at the very least, these matters are explicitly sketched out now for future reference if necessary.
{10} Your host does have a kind of self-imposed monthly blogging cycle quota which he has explicitly been aware of and followed for a bit over two years now. (Implicitly it was followed from day one and has only not been met once once: though we were not conscious of it at the time.)
{11} This was dictated as much by circumstances as it was any conscious intentions to do so on our part otherwise.
{12} However, despite the reputation for lengthy cogitations that we have had over the years, even strictly by the numbers, a majority of the postings to this weblog from the beginning have been of a briefer nature than the longer postings. This makes to some extent what we will be doing a kind of blogging ressourcement movement now that we think about it.
{13} [L]ife itself is a process of growth and development across a broad continuum. This includes weblog writing and interests. We have no problem admitting that it took a bit of time before this weblog really started to take a discernible shape and some of the features and/or principles which have become standard or typical over time were in the "finding their feet" stage early on...back before your host sought to as much as possible make this weblog's contents have both a timeless and general applicability and also a particular circumstantial one.[...] But that is all that this writer intends to say on the matter at the present time except to say that yes, we have even categorized the obsolete or otherwise no-longer-of-any-real-value chaff from the archives. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa May 15, 2007)]
{14} Those familiar with this writer's stuff from prior to the blogging days know that even more volume used to be involved back then than has as a rule subsequently been the case for a variety of reasons (including conscious efforts by your host to economize in this area overall).
{15} The Road Less Traveled From Robert Frost (blogged on November 26, 2007).
{16} We will make a note of most of them in a posting to follow this one at some point -unless some of them are finished and posted before that post is tended to of course (at which time the draft currently written for that purpose will requires some editing before it is posted).
{17} Another of the "outside projects" we have decided to focus on dovetails with something we wrote on over the years -most recently back around Thanksgiving and Christmas of 2007. To quote from the latter posting briefly:
I want to remind readers of what I wrote at this time last year about the Christmas season and giving. And while this season is one where giving has a special place, it should not be the only time of year. Try at whatever time of year though to do what you can to avoid taking any more of the spotlight than you have to. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa December 22, 2007)]
For reasons noted in the Christmas posting of 2006, no details will be given on this weblog unless they are specifically to solicit the assistance of others. It is an ambitious project and one if brought to the attention of the readers would be specifically to request their assistance rather than in any way call attention to ourselves on the matter in question. (In following the principles we have expounded on before at sundry times and in divers manners at this humble weblog.)
(Musings of your humble servant at Rerum Novarum)
Readers may recall that a year and a week ago last Wednesday, we wrote on the subjects of the then coming year (2007), a bit on foundational presuppositions, on warmer climates and the like. The post itself{1} was far more systematically laid out than the brief description just given but we want to touch very briefly on those key elements here as they play no small factor in what has been prevalent in our mind to a more explicit degree as last year unfolded.{2} They contribute to a proper understanding of what the future of this weblog's activity will involve from this point on in perpetuity. Without further ado...
One of the plans for the new year (though not officially a resolution) is to figure out a way to live part of the year in a warmer climate. Seattle is fine about eight months of the year (and great about six of those months -particularly the summer months) but the first two and last two months of the annual cycle are the pits weather wise. Adjusting my business to being almost completely mobile will help in that way -by the end of the month I should be able to run virtually everything by a laptop, cellphone, and fax machine.
That assessment was overly optimistic. It is true that the present writer has gotten to the point as of this writing where his main business can be run almost completely mobile -though state regulations being what they now are, he is to some extent still having to do a few things in a fixed office. However, that fixed office can technically be anywhere as long as there is proper licensing. The idea of living part of the year in a warmer climate{3} as far as being put on track towards being a practical reality took some time to jell into a cohesive plan. Nonetheless, as of roughly July of 2007, the outlines have finally solidified for us to make that desire a reality at some point in the new year.{4}
What has also formulated within the present writer is the steely resolution to make this happen. Little by little, steps have been taken to set that plan into concrete motion including the critical assessing of our current business templates which once everything is taken care of with the state compliance-wise will aid greatly in achieving our intentions in this area. Everything will be overhauled essentially and made a lot more efficient and productive along the lines of what was noted back in an October 2007 weblog post touching on Vilfredo Pareto's principle of economic efficiency.
Furthermore, other factors have since presented themselves which will further assist in this{5} but with enough ado on those points, the time is at hand to revisit what was written a year ago today and how it relates to what will be transpiring in the present writer's life in the near future on many fronts.
By this time next year, I will be thirty pounds or more lighter presuming there is no serious injury or some other significant unforeseen development.
Well, we are at that point now so an assessment of that intention can be viewed for what it is. To start with, this may seem like a minor point but often the life of your humble servant has seemed to have an almost dualistic element to it where the physical and mental elements interplay. And predictably perhaps (based on life precedents), the concern for setting down a template to make the warmer climate non resolution an eventual reality resulted in your host not giving the weight loss resolution the focus it needed. As a result, he gained six pounds between the writing of those words and his birthday in late October.
The process was started the day after the birthday (October 22nd) counting calories, protein and other factors (such as water intake/regulation) as we did back in 1998 when three times the weight we are aiming for now{6} was lost both rapidly and with no evidences of massive loss whatsoever. After a setback over the weekend in which this posting was substantially drafted (November 17-18), things got back on track and we finished the Thanksgiving week strong -including a 1000 calorie elliptical session on Thanksgiving morning to offset our modest turkey consumption later in that evening. The bottom line was that your host still lost weight on Thanksgiving and over the following weekend -almost five pounds for that week incidentally enough all of which was lost in a five day period.
As of Sunday November 25th, the present writer was the lightest he has been in over six years having lost fifteen pounds in less than a month's time (thirteen in the first twenty four days of November), held steady through December where two more pounds were lost. That put us over halfway to meeting the unofficial goal for the year that was set down a year ago last Wednesday with all of it being done in a little over a month's time.{7} Christmas was an unavoidable diet train derailing but suffice to say, body and mind as well as resolve are on track together as of this writing being posted and not in opposition to one another as has been the case oftentimes in the past ten odd years.
Some would view only reaching the halfway point of that non-resolution-but-stated-intention as a "failure" but your host does not as the process reaffirmed something he has known for many years and has written on at sundry times and in diverse manners on this weblog{8} and elsewhere; namely, the power of the mind to achieve the seemingly "impossible" when it has access to the correct information on methodology, the tools in place to assist, and the will to see it through.
I anticipate the following year will involve a greater exploration into the realm of foundational presuppositions than I have done in years past -how much more I am not certain as of this writing.
This area in many respects was tended to -sometimes in ways not anticipated when writing those words originally. But our focus has been here in a direct fashion more and more over the years with a particular focus in a number of subject threads written in 2007. The present writer wants to take this moment to call attention to three topics in particular which were composed as a direct result of both public as well as private correspondence on key issues which affect proper dialogue.
As one who has seen certain disturbing patterns over and over again in many dialogues on a variety of subjects, it is only natural that eventually attention would be called to them by us in proportion to how little they were recognized by the parties utilizing them. That pattern started in late 2003, picked up steam in 2004, and then really came to fruition in 2005 and 2006 publicly in a number of postings as well as privately at times with certain individuals. We had presumed (naively in retrospect) that not a few people who should have known better would realize upon having those matters pointed out to them but some of them quite evidently did not.{9}
When considering that some of the persons in mind who were running afoul in key areas were not unintelligent, it struck us that the subjects in question would do well to be fleshed out individually in a series of postings dealing directly with certain approaches to argument in general rather than merely addressing them in the sequence of longer posts on other subject matters which was previously our wont. For one thing, in the latter form, they may not be as evident to a casual reader of those threads due to how many other interconnected issues were dealt with. But without further digression, here are four examples of exposition on often overlooked key factors that can impede authentic dialogue on a whole variety of subjects in order from oldest to newest:
On the Difference Between Objective Meaning and Subjective Intention (circa February 27, 2007)
On the Appeal to Authority and Distinguishing Between Valid and Fallacious Appeals Thereof (circa March 8, 2007)
More on the Appeal to Authority and Distinguishing Between Valid and Invalid Appeals Thereof -Dialogue With Jonathan Prejean (circa March 24, 2007)
On Ad Hominem, Revisiting Argumentum Ad Vericundiam, and Considering the Core Principle That Is Behind Any Argumentation/Logical Fallacy (circa June 1, 2007)
Included in the above threads is a discussion thread from an astute friend who provided us with both some appreciated criticisms as well as the opportunity to clarify a couple of additional key elements in the overall matrix of the oft misused "appeal to authority" (Lat. argumentum ad vericundiam) in argumentation.
While those threads are hardly the only ones which could be noted, they were nonetheless significant in that the subjects they covered are almost never discussed directly. As a result of that informational lacuna, the problems the posts outline are rarely realized by those who fall prey to them: a failure that results inexorably in said problems being perpetuated across a broad continuum of subjects discussed. (To the detriment of authentic and potentially productive dialogue on subjects where passionate diversity of opinions can often persist.) Anyway, that is another example of what was meant in the bit quoted above and also in the paragraph to follow.
It has been my goal over the years to try and move those I have spoken with towards reassessing their foundational presuppositions or the filter through which they strain all information that comes their way from divers sources. While doing this though, I have rarely done more than mention a few bits in passing about why I go about things this way but the long and short of it is this: it has the potential to save a lot of time and effort by cutting down on the ratio of useless discussion. This alone can help pave the way for much more potentially fruitful dialogue to take place. Plus, I simply loathe talking points approaches to subjects and always have[...] viewing such things as shutting off the thinking mechanism and creating an environment detrimental to the cultivation of one's intellectual capabilities.
One of the reasons we made the dialogual offer on the incendiary subject matter of the atomic bombings in 2007 is encapsulated in the above paragraph. The principle behind it is the same as all other subjects which could be mentioned: to promote potentially fruitful dialogue. If it can be conducted on a subject such as that, then by logical extension it should be able on a host of lesser troubling issues be able to be similarly handled.
One of my resolutions for the new year is to try and sketch these elements out in greater detail as circumstances may lend themselves to it. Of course that is the key really: events and circumstances have to lend themselves to discussing these matters and the treatment needs to be both contemporary to the subject matter and circumstance at hand as well as contain general principles which are timeless in their validity.
It is not always easy to properly mix the two but we certainly do what we can here at Rerum Novarum as part of an ongoing effort to cultivate reason and logic and help people come to see just how helpful those God-given natural lights really are. So another resolution for 2007 is to focus more on foundational presuppositions behind various philosophies as we run across them in the arena of ideas.
As was noted in that posting, these matters would be (and have been) dealt with in accordance with events and circumstances which lend themselves to dealing with them -even if sometimes the posts that get written are delayed for a variety of reasons for being posted as quickly as would be ideal.
Nonetheless, as this writer noted at the beginning of the present posting, there will be for the indefinite future a change in blogging approach here at Rerum Novarum with the focus being first and foremost on what will facilitate the host's ability to live part of the year in warmer climates. This means that even with more time for blogging when we finish solidifying and streamlining life overall in accordance with Pareto's Principle, that the time for blogging will by necessity be reduced as well. For the rest of the year at least if not indeed for longer still, the postings here will be not much less in number{10} even if they are overall noticeably shorter in length: following an overall pattern that longtime readers may have noticed was happening bit by bit as the last two years (particularly 2007) unfolded anyway{11} -at least as a rule.
The "miscellaneous threads for reviewing" vehicle (along with the "miscellaneous musings" one) will probably make even more appearances than in a normal blogging cycle up to this point because they both facilitate the coverage of a variety of subjects in a briefer fashion than the kinds of expository cogitations that have been a feature of this weblog to varying degrees almost from day one.{12} There are a variety of subjects that we have wanted to touch on as time allowed but are no longer going to allow for them in the indefinite future. Plus, that this is an election year that factor will be more in play than in most other election years -with a mixture of material of both timeless principles and contemporary significance which has been a longstanding goal of this weblog.{13}
Now we will still blog here at Rerum Novarum of course but to noticeably less of an overall extent than has been our wont even in recent years when we scaled the blogging back significantly from where it once was.{14} But what needs to be formally recognized at this time is that as demands on time increase and the various outside projects to which focus must be given priority have multiplied dramatically over the past year. For that reason, inexorably something has to give.
When they hit a point in time where they attain explicit cognizance of where various factors spanning an expanse of time finally are converging, it is at that point when a choice to needs make akin to what Robert Frost denoted in a poem of his which we blogged recently.{15} And said persons will either embrace that direction or they move from it. Your humble servant at Rerum Novarum has chosen the former route and that makes prioritizing an even greater factor than it has been to this point.
More could be noted and may be on this but for the time being this will have to suffice except for one more thing:
No additional projects will be taken on which have any potential of unduly detracting from our focus in the areas outlined earlier in this posting -though a few posts which are near completion (or are completed and not blogged yet) will be finished and posted in due course{16} with a list of them to be made in a "notifications" style posting to be made (if possible) in the coming week.
In light of all we need to do in a variety of areas -only some of which{17} are noted above or will be in the aforementioned forthcoming "notifications" posting- something must give and in our mind, it is the blogging as well as any other side activity that impacts our overall focus to any significant extent on the areas which to us constitute the greatest possible importance.
All things to the contrary notwithstanding.
Notes:
{1} On the Coming New Year, Warmer Climates, Foundational Presuppositions, Personal and Blogging Resolutions, Etc. (circa January 2, 2007)
{2} As with so much of what we have undertaken here at Rerum Novarum, deeper meanings are later found in even simple seeming matters such as these. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa December 31, 2007)]
{3} Your host loves Seattle but at the moment he does not like Seattle if that makes any sense -and since last winter (with the exception of the warmer weather of summer and the sunny weather of part of fall this year) that has been our view of the matter.
{4} There is not as of this posting a precise date planned for it but rather a range -that is all that will be said on the matter until a few currently-nebulous factors in the equation solidify into something of a definite nature.
{5} Including an offer to run a couple divisions of an additional business alongside the current one. There is also an additional business to be started up in the early part of 2008 -divisions which may well eventually be in different states from one another as well and has the capacity of both servicing clientele anywhere in the country as well as responding to a few areas of a timely nature insofar as the way the economic climate has been shaping up for quite some time now.
{6} We do not want to delve into this subject at the moment except to say that what was done was what by most "conventional wisdom" accounts of weight loss was next to impossible. This is much the way in years past your host was able to make the kinds of progress in the gym which "conventional wisdom" would see as next to impossible if all the factors of the equation are looked at. Or to quote a bit from the archives on the matter:
[We] used proper methodology and therefore were able to make progress predictably and constantly: two factors which conventional wisdom would claim cannot be done without (i) favourable genetics or (ii) chemical enhancement. Those who wonder why I have little use for "conventional wisdom" in any field: it all goes back to this. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa October 21, 2003)]
As noted before, if there was more focused on certain key factors at the time, the results would have been even greater still but enough digression on that.
{7} Fifteen pounds in thirty days thirteen pounds of which were lost in the last twenty-four days (nearly five of those in the week of Thanksgiving including on turkey day). This is said not to boast but to show what can be done when one sets their mind to achieving a goal, focuses on the productive elements involved, disregards the inefficiencies which frequently creep into the mix, and is willing to go all out in goal attainment.
{8} To note a couple of the threads in the past year or so that have touched to various degrees on this subject:
Notes on the Indictment of Barry Bonds (circa November 16, 2007)
On Vilfredo Pareto and Notes on Applying A Basic Economic Principle to Life In General Including Blogging (circa October 13, 2007)
On the Intensity/Duration Equation, Physics, and Trying to Understand Engineering Majors With Tim Tull (circa December 17, 2006)
{9} Frankly, at least a couple of them probably still do not but at the very least, these matters are explicitly sketched out now for future reference if necessary.
{10} Your host does have a kind of self-imposed monthly blogging cycle quota which he has explicitly been aware of and followed for a bit over two years now. (Implicitly it was followed from day one and has only not been met once once: though we were not conscious of it at the time.)
{11} This was dictated as much by circumstances as it was any conscious intentions to do so on our part otherwise.
{12} However, despite the reputation for lengthy cogitations that we have had over the years, even strictly by the numbers, a majority of the postings to this weblog from the beginning have been of a briefer nature than the longer postings. This makes to some extent what we will be doing a kind of blogging ressourcement movement now that we think about it.
{13} [L]ife itself is a process of growth and development across a broad continuum. This includes weblog writing and interests. We have no problem admitting that it took a bit of time before this weblog really started to take a discernible shape and some of the features and/or principles which have become standard or typical over time were in the "finding their feet" stage early on...back before your host sought to as much as possible make this weblog's contents have both a timeless and general applicability and also a particular circumstantial one.[...] But that is all that this writer intends to say on the matter at the present time except to say that yes, we have even categorized the obsolete or otherwise no-longer-of-any-real-value chaff from the archives. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa May 15, 2007)]
{14} Those familiar with this writer's stuff from prior to the blogging days know that even more volume used to be involved back then than has as a rule subsequently been the case for a variety of reasons (including conscious efforts by your host to economize in this area overall).
{15} The Road Less Traveled From Robert Frost (blogged on November 26, 2007).
{16} We will make a note of most of them in a posting to follow this one at some point -unless some of them are finished and posted before that post is tended to of course (at which time the draft currently written for that purpose will requires some editing before it is posted).
{17} Another of the "outside projects" we have decided to focus on dovetails with something we wrote on over the years -most recently back around Thanksgiving and Christmas of 2007. To quote from the latter posting briefly:
I want to remind readers of what I wrote at this time last year about the Christmas season and giving. And while this season is one where giving has a special place, it should not be the only time of year. Try at whatever time of year though to do what you can to avoid taking any more of the spotlight than you have to. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa December 22, 2007)]
For reasons noted in the Christmas posting of 2006, no details will be given on this weblog unless they are specifically to solicit the assistance of others. It is an ambitious project and one if brought to the attention of the readers would be specifically to request their assistance rather than in any way call attention to ourselves on the matter in question. (In following the principles we have expounded on before at sundry times and in divers manners at this humble weblog.)
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