Baseball Summer

This time of year the days get shorter, youngsters everywhere head back to school, and the boys of summer bid adeau' as we welcome the lads back to the gridiron. Before we throw ourselves into football focus, here's a few words about baseball. Yes I know the Pennant races are heating up and there's a healthy chunk of baseball left to be played but once that pig-skin is kicked off everything in the wide world of sports falls under it's shadow.

As it stands now the Texas Rangers trail in the A.L. West by 5 games to the Angels, while slugging it out with Bean town's Red Sox for the Wild Card race. I sometimes query first baseman Hank Blalock (he sits on my bookshelf) on just how far he thinks the Rangers might go this year. He hasn't yet given me an answer. Is he angry that he can't find his bat? Does he think the question is rhetorical? Perhaps he is envious that the younger Chris Davis is back playing first base again. Well regardless Of this years' outcome one cannot deny the roller-coaster thrills of the diamond. Whether it's young Mr. Holland throwing a two hitter in over 8 innings and striking out 10 batters, watching little leaguers scrap with each other for fouls balls during a Roughriders' outing, or waiting out an Arlington monsoon with 40,000 of your closest friends, this is undeniably summer's greatest pastime.

So as Baseball closes up shop for yet another season, I must acknowledge just a few. Take a bow you stadium vendors for showing restraint when I asked if the Ian Kinsler jerseys come with dirt. I tip my hat to you Blue Dot; I always bet on you even though I was told otherwise. Take a curtsy ladies if you attend the ball game without donning your high-heels. Oh- and Hank before I start my fantansy football draft, I promise to move the book shelf and retrieve your bat!

http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/
http://ridersbaseball.com/

Wild West Fears

This week the Texas Senate passed a resolution that would allow college students to carry concealed handguns on their respective campuses. The usual suspects such as the Austin American Statesmen are expressing concern (not surprisingly).

Driving around in any Texas town one is likely to see some small sedan with a sticker declaring "Keep Austin Weird". The same car probably includes other decals such as "Free Tibet", "Change We Can Believe In", and the one word "Che". Or perhaps one visits a northeastern city striking up a conversation with a long haired hippy who upon being told that you are from Texas, responds "You mean like, Austin?"

Sen. Jeff Wentworth R-San Antonio, the author of the bill said the following referring to the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre; "I would feel personally guilty if I woke up some morning and something like this had occurred in Texas. They were picked off like sitting ducks ... in Virginia. It does happen very rarely, but when it does, it is catastrophic." Every time a bill is passed reinforcing a peoples commitment to the 2nd amendment the folks down in Austin have the same predictable response. The Austin American Statesman showed their arrogance; "Do we need more legally armed but not professionally trained people wielding concealed weapons in public places?" They leave out the fact that these students would already have to have a conceal and carry permit. The permit itself makes an individual a 'professional' in the area of hand gun responsibility. One can already envision the leftist mantra put to a chant:

"Tight jeans and eye-liner,

Make our boys pretty!

But don't turn our schools,

Into Dodge City!"

The Bill sits in the House and it's future is uncertain. If it makes it to the Governor's desk he will likely sign it. If the the bill passes and becomes law it will not only be a victory for advocates of the second amendment but also for all those who embrace the ability of the individual to govern himself.
http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/05/23/0523guns_edit.html

Antidote to Spring Showers

With the arrival of spring we can expect soggy weather. In many regions around the country the showers linger well into May. Perhaps the promise of a warm summer has failed to cheer your dampened spirits stuck inside on a Saturday, and if the constant dripping doesn't kill you, the pure boredom just might. More likely though one might suppose that you are tired of giving an online, minute by minute update of your personal day timer and you finally come to your senses; "Why should I care that Johnny is enjoying a latte'?"

Through a rain soaked weekend consider a Dororthy Sayers mystery novel as an antidote. All Ms. Sayers' mysteries starr her chief sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey. Lord Wimsey is an amateur detective but working independently always seems to be one step ahead of Scotland Yard. Mr. Wimsey is much more 'earthy' and relatable than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.

Dorothy Sayers wit knows no bounds in her novel "Murder Must Advertise". In the story his Lordship Wimsey takes on an alias and lands a job with a London advertising agency on the heels of a mysterious death. Peter Wimsey becomes taken with his new 'job' and is even at times reluctant to put it aside to crack the case; "He sought out the gentleman (Wimsey), who was, for once, in his own room , singing soup slogans to himself.

'A meal begun with Blagg's Tomato

Softens every body's heart-oh!

Hubbies Hold those wives most dear

Who offer them Blagg's Turtle Clear.

Fit for an Alderman-serve it up quick-

Rum-ti-dy, tum-ti-dy, Blagg's Turtle Thick.'

"Rum-ti-dy, Tum-ti-dy,' said Mr. Bredon (Wimsey). 'Hullo, Tallboy, what's the matter? Don't say Nutrax has developed any more innuendos.'

The story twists and turns through drug dens, company cricket matches, and a series of murders, but never loses it charming humor. "Murder Must Advertise" is not only recommended for those who are mystery buffs but to anyone who loves good literature.

Ms. Dorothy Sayers was born in 1893 and passed on in 1957. She was one of the first women to be awarded a degree from Oxford. She was a noted Christian author and theologian, but is most remembered for her mystery novels. She wrote her first mystery novel in 1923.

Another of Dorothy Sayers' great works is "Gaudy Night". In the novel we are introduced to Ms. Harriet Vane who is a mystery writer attending her college reunion. While attending Ms. Vane receives a threatening note. She is hesitant to reveal the note to anyone until many more are discovered. She begins an investigation but soon finds herself too overwhelmed and appeals to Lord Peter for assistance. At this point the nature of Wimsey's association with Ms. Vane is alluded to, but not until later is it revealed in full. A fun packed thriller, "Gaudy Night" shows a great battle of wits between Wimsey and Vane while revealing the darker parts of the human condition. Unlike many dime store mystery novels written today one really does grow to admire the characters.

Governor Perry, Colonel Travis and Bick Benedict

Leading up to the I.R.S. holy day of April 15th it appears that Texas may have actually found her Patrick Henry.

In a speech yesterday Gov. Rick Perry (R-Texas) re-asserted Texas rights under the 10th amendment of the U.S. constitution which states "The power not delegated to the United States by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." The Governor boldly stated "Millions of Texans are tired of Washington, D.C. trying to come down here to tell us how to run Texas." The governor went further "I believe that our federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state." Not unlike Col. Travis at the Alamo, Gov. Perry has drawn a line in the sand. Liberty and Independence is alive and well down here in the republic.

In the novel "Giant" (written by Edna Ferber in 1952 made famous by the motion picture with the same title starring Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, and Rock Hudson), lead character Bick Benedict (Rock Hudson) expresses the same view as Gov. Perry; "If it's freedom you want, come to Texas. No one there tells you what to do and how you have to do it."

Texas has once again poked a much needed finger in the eye of an oppressive federal government. Indeed north easterners and left coasters are probably 'tisking' while rolling their eyes and muttering to themselves "There they go again!"

Down here Texans love their individuality. Here The Lone Star flag is revered as much and in many cases more than the flag of the union. Values are embraced here which are scoffed at elsewhere. On Sundays businesses still close, waitresses still call you 'honey' and no one ever orders a steak 'well done'.

Gov. Rick Perry's actions of the last few days have brought another famous Texan to mind. In 1833 as a congressman from Tennessee, David Crockett opposed President Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Act with the following statement; "I bark at no man's bid. I will never come and go, and fetch and carry, at the whistle of the great man in the White House no matter who he is."

www.youtube.com/watch?v=blgUvlqLOmE

Where's our Daniel Hannan?

A couple of weeks ago, Daniel Hannan M.E.P. (Member of European Parliament for southeast England) slammed P.M. Gordon Brown and the Labor Party 'goons' for tanking the British economy. Mr. Hannan's comments were enough to make any patriot cheer. But between the 'atta boys', and the 'Hip Hip Hoorays!' one can't help asking; Where is our Mr. Hannan?

Outside of talk radio and the 'new media' no one has had the courage to stand against the 'bailout' orgy that's enslaving our culture. Are there any politicians willing to be statesmen? Is there an individual willing to stand on the rights of 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of property' regardless of the next election? This week Alabama congressman Spencer Bachus stated that 17 of his colleagues are in fact socialists. Mr. Bachus stopped short of naming them. Now it's a fair bet that if you are still reading this that you could identify to whom the congressman was referring. If only he had shown a little more courage.

The answer is in the hearts and minds of the people. So turn off 'American Idol', and go join a tea party!

Rediscovering Patrick

As winter ends and March begins to slip into the rear view mirror, let's take a look back (albeit belated) at the hero of the month.

To many people March 17th means little more than clover, Irish crosses, and Guinness. On this day very few actually stop to consider the influence and contributions made by St. Patrick.

Author/historian J.B. Bury tackles the saint in his 1905 biography "Ireland's Saint-The Essential Biography of St. Patrick". Mr. Bury who was formerly professor of Modern History at Cambridge walks us not only through the life of Patrick from his birth through his captivity, and his ultimate conversion, but also gives us a "mind blowing" look at Ireland both before and after the Patrick's life. As professor Bury states; "To understand the conversion of Ireland, we must take it first as an episode in the history of Europe, glancing first at the general conditions of the early propagation of the christian idea."


Patrick was born to a Briton deacon in or around 389 a.d. . He was taught the scriptures but not until much later did he embrace them. At the age of 17 a group of Irish raiders landed, plundering menservants, maidservants, and of course Patrick. He was taken to Ireland and forced into slavery and it was at this time that he turned his eyes to the Lord. We pick up here with professor Bury; "He had never given much thought to his religion, but now that he was a thrall among strangers, 'the Lord' Patrick says 'opened the sense of my unbelief.' The ardor of religious emotion, the 'love and fear of God,' so fully consumed his soul that in a single day or night he would offer a hundred prayers. And he describes himself, in woodland or on mountainsides, rising form his bed before dawn and going out to pray in hail, rain, or snow."


Patrick continued to fasting and praying through his captivity when on a certain night he heard a voice telling him that his ship was waiting on the coast, and that liberty was at hand. He then made his way to the sea ( Mr. Bury conjectures that he probably went 180 miles to the port town of Wicklow). It was here that he gained passage on a ship and eventually found himself on the Lerins Island on France's southern coast. On Lerins Patrick joined the monastery. Among the Monks of Lerins Patrick had his first exposure to Monastic living. He stayed among the monks for several years before returning to England.

Mr. Bury explains "Then Patrick returned to his old home, his kin welcomed him 'as a son.' In using the expression 'as a son', Patrick shows that parents was intended to mean kinsfolk, not parents, because it is most likely that his parents were dead by this time. They implored him to stay and never leave them again. But if he had any thought of yielding to their persuasions it was dismissed when he became aware all at once, that the aim of his life was determined. The idea of laboring among the heathen, which may have been gradually though quite unconsciously gathering force and secretly winning possession of his brain..."

As Mr. Bury points out, the seeds of Irish Christendom had already been planted before Patrick landed on the shores. But Patrick with tenacity, and a vision changed the hearts of his people.


Mr. Bury's biography is imperative for those who want to understand Ireland's entry into the christian (and dare I say 'modern') world. the Professor lays out a fascinating view of the social and religious climates both before and after Patrick's reformation.


Professor Bury passed on in 1927 and much more of St. Patrick's life has since been uncovered. In the latest printing from 'Parclete Press' noted author and editor Jon M. Sweeney has added some footnotes and made some minor grammatical changes which he explains in the introduction. This book is paramount not only for those who are eager to understand one of the least understood reformers of all time, but also for those who want to see the fulfillment of a vision.

"It's all just a little bit of History Repeating..."

Mr. Noah Webster defines History as "A narration of events in the order in which they happened, with their causes and effects.

I am generally not one who would subscribe to the view that history is simply a cycle that goes round indefinitely without meaning, purpose, or design. However I couldn't help but rethink my view of history this week. If you saw President Obama's town hall style meeting in Fort Meyers, Florida you too may have been experiencing a little De'ja' vu. Julio Oseguedo, a 19 year old college student donning an Obama t-shirt complained that he had been employed at Mcdonald's for 4 1/2 years unable to get another job and wanted to know what the President could do for him.

If you are a political junkie the name Denton Walthall may sound familiar. I'll give you a second to rattle your brain! No- you got nothing!!O.K. Mr. Walthall was the gentleman who reared his 'pony-tailed' head at the 1992 presidential debate in Richmond Virginia to ask then President George H. W. Bush, Governor Bill Clinton and Millionaire Business man Ross Perot to imagine that the president of the United States is the father of us all and essentially went on to ask the same thing as Julio.

I find it maddening that leftists refuse to live up to the words of the one they revere more than any other. "Ask not what your country can do for you..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMJM4GoDOXM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01MNZBTt4K4

'Facts Are Stubborn Things'

During the heat of last summer's presidential campaign, Senator McCain's senior economic adviser (fmr) Sen. Phil Gramm said that the American people were 'a bunch of whiners'. Mr. Gramm was promptly thrown under the 'straight talk express'.
After doing some research on our great founding fathers I can't help wondering if Mr. Gramm was right. You decide...
(I include everyone from Jefferson to Adams discussing various aspects of Liberty. I even threw one in from William Pitt who served as Britain's Prime Minister from 1783-1801 and again from 1804 until his death in 1806. *see last picture)

"Any people that would give up liberty for a little temporary safety deserves neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin

"I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I traveled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer." Benjamin Franklin

"... God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty.... The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Thomas Jefferson

"Can the liberties of a nation be sure when we remove their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people, that these liberties are a gift from God? Thomas Jefferson

"Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." Thomas Jefferson

"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." Thomas Jefferson

"You have rights antecedent to all earthly governments; rights that cannot be repealed or restrained by human laws; rights derived from the Great Legislator of the Universe"
John Adams

"We have a government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest chords of our constitution as a whale goes through the net. Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." John Adams

"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they can not alter the state of facts and evidence." John Adams

"Government is not reason; it is not eloquence. It is force. And force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." George Washington

"We base all our experiments on the capacity of mankind for self-government." James Madison

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves." William Pitt

Faithless Conservatives?

For those of us that embrace liberty there has been little for which to be cheerful. When our friends and neighbors so willingly grovel at the feet of the 'nanny state' I can't help but wonder what's next for those who claim the birthright of freedom.
We've elected a new president who seems to be quite enamored with the notion that the state controls all things so well that perhaps they should try their hand at health care. In Congress The controlling party sees at as their prerogative to tell good American folks what talk radio shows are acceptable.
So how can we as conservatives win against the tide of environmental tyranny, greater access to abortion, and a foreign policy run by 'Amnesty International'? Speaking to the graduates of Christendom College in 2003, then Senator Rick Sentorum (R-Pennsylvania) said the following; "I want to challenge each and every one of you to be a radical, to be a rebel, to rebel against the popular culture. Your task will not be an easy one. You must overcome the temptation of silence." Mr. Sentorum went on to state that "God hasn't called us to be successful, He has called us to be faithful."
Can we expect to be successful rolling back a rising socialist tide? The answer is probably not. Someday however we will stand in the arena surrounded by a strangely familiar host. I hope to God that those words ring clear in my ears. "Well done good and faithful servant!"

A Humble Critique of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Hollywood seems to be undergoing a midlife crisis. Indeed the box office seems to be yearning for the day gone by with 'recent' pictures such as 'The Day the Earth Stood Still', 'The Poseidon Adventure', and the upcoming montage of horror flicks including the new 'Friday the13th'.

The recent Christmas season brought us another Hollywood 'remake' titled "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" which is loosely based on a very intriguing short story by the great F. Scott Fitzgerald. Now for those of you folks that are still eager to see this you may want stop reading now!! Last Warning!!

At the risk of sounding like that pretentious friend that we all have (let's call him Howie) that says "Oh the book is so much better!", I have to agree with Howie.

The Premise of the story is that a man is born old and ages backward until he passes as an infant. The movie is set at turn of the century in New Orleans where Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) is deserted by his father onto the steps of a nursing home with a small wad of cash. Benjamin undergoes all the hardship that may be expected of a young man in his eighties. He naturally has a difficult time relating to 'youngsters' his age. He falls in love with a young girl 6 years his junior (he appeared of course to be much, much older than she). He falls out of love with her, ends up in Europe, and decides to have an affair with the wife of an English diplomat. After a while he goes back to New Orleans looking much younger still and rekindles the love of his youth (enter Cate Blanchet). The movie goes on at a slow and very predictable pace until Benjamin dies as a baby with a keen sense that he has been there before. The film tries to make us sympathise with Benjamin but I felt nothing but complete indifference. The directors try to tug -nay yank at our emotions, but all I felt was boredom.

I've also heard certain 'gushy' critics compare Benjamin Button to Forrest Gump. What is it that we loved about Forrest? We didn't love him for his handicap. We loved him because he overcame his handicap to achieve amazing feats and did so without a touch of malice.

A much better version of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is Mr. Fitzgerald's. The story is hardly recognizable and much more comedic with a touch of whimsy.