Traveling

Snow, ice, heater, defroster, coffee, EZPass, trucks, wind, family, hugs, wine, presents, games, pancakes, grilled cheese, Snow, ice, heater, defroster, wife, EZPass, trucks, wind, Highway Patrol, chicken salad, coffee, apple, family, Uncle, buffet, wine, cookie. Snow, ice, heater, wife, Bob Evans, friends, coffee, restroom, Star on Wall, snow, ice, heater,wife, water, apple, Shaw's, sun, traffic, heater, defroster, wife, traffic, water, Glucerna, I-70, I-79, 519, Venetia, wine.

"You have to careful when you are traveling, because if you don't know where you are going, you might not get there"

~ Yogi Berra

Saint Nicholas x 3

On this Christmas Eve, dear reader, I draw your attention to three iterations of Saint Nicholas. The historic Saint Nicholas lived from 247 - 346 and was active in Asia Minor, finally becoming Bishop of Myra. The numerous good works and miracles associated with him caused Nicholas to be elevated to Sainthood. His relics reside in the Basilica of Bari on the Adriatic Coast of Italy. Originally, his relics were housed in Myra (in present day Turkey), but in the 11th Century they were moved to Bari . Throughout that time and in both locations, his relics oozed a clear liquid with the odor of rose petals. The liquid is thought to possess healing powers. Each year the priests of the Basilica of Bari collect a vial of it on Saint Nicholas' Feast Day, December 6.

And then there is St. Nicholas Church in Oberdorf, Austria where on Christmas Eve in 1818, the Church organ was not working. With the important Christmas Eve Mass just hours away, the Priest, Father Josef Mohr and the organist, Franz Gruber met to decide what to do. Father Mohr would write a poem and the organist, who also played the guitar, would compose a melody.

That evening, they presented their little piece of music to the congregation as the special music for the Mass. The carol was called "Silent Night." It's popularity and use quickly spread, and the Christmas carol made its way to the United States with the German migration in the middle of the 19th Century. This afternoon at 5:00pm, many people will gather at a small chapel in Oberndorf to sing "Silent Night" as a tribute to Father Mohr and Franz Gruber, and in recognition of the spirit of the season.

The third Saint Nicholas I bring before the reader is the one in Clement Moore's poem, "Twas the Night Before Christmas" published in Troy, New York, 1823, for it is this description, excerpted below, that defined Santa Claus then and still does today:

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,

With a sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas, too.

---

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

---

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

---

His eyes-how they twinkled! His dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow.

---

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.

He had a broad face and a little round belly,

That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

---

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

Some have suggested that I look like Mr. Moore's St. Nicholas. It is true that young children, particularly this time of year, do give me more than a second look when I wink at them. And, while I do have an innate ability to determine who has been naughty and nice, and, yes, I have on more than one occasion invited women to sit on my lap, I confess to not being able to wrap presents very well. Nevertheless, I leave it to the dear readers to make up your own minds about who is their Santa Claus.

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

~ Clement Moore, 1823

Gifts

The deep snow last Sunday forced the cancellation of the Children's Christmas Pageant at our church. The children had worked hard to memorize their lines and manage the props, and the producer and musicians (three recorders, clarinet, piano and organ) had rehearsed right along with them, as had the parents, of course. And then, there were the costumes -- sheep, donkeys, Angels, stars, Joseph, Mary -- and the Three Wise Men, the Three Kings; that was where I came in, as one of the three kings.


Being one of the Three Kings did not require much rehearsing -- follow the "Star" as she processed up the long center aisle, singing the first verse from memory, and bearing a gift. Then in turn, singing my verse as we presented our gifts to the baby in the cradle:

Gold- a gift for a king
Incense- a gift for a priest
Myrrh- a burial ointment for one who would die

The gifts are prophetic, particularly the last one (my verse) about Myrrh:

Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume

Breathes of life of gathering gloom

Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying

Sealed in the stone-cold tomb

With so much work and interest in the Pageant, it has been rescheduled as one of our five Church Services on Christmas Eve -- the Children's Service at 3:00pm. My costume a gorgeous royal blue sateen with golden stars in the design of the fabric, a crown and a painted wooden cigar box for the gift of Myrrh.

The practice of gift giving at this time of the year goes back to the time of the Romans. For Christians, the custom of giving gifts is traced back to the fourth century and Saint Nicholas of Myra, in present day Turkey. Nicholas, the Bishop of Myra, may also have been responsible for the custom of hanging stocking on the mantle of the fireplace. It seems that to assist a poor family, he placed gold coins in a stocking and threw them down the family's chimney.

Gifts are so plentiful in our society today, that "re-gifting" is becoming a practice and gift cards alleviate the stress and angst of what to give someone who has everything. Last night, our son and his family came over and we had dinner and exchanged gifts. Our Grandson, Jason, who is in Kindergarten, made a 2010 calendar as a gift with a picture of him in a symbol for the month on twelve different pages: Jason as a snowman for December; Jason on the beach with sunburned feet in July; Jason looking out the window of a school bus in September. I think we will enjoy that calendar for many more months than just the twelve months of 2010.

"Love is a gift. You can't buy it, you can't find it; someone has to give it to you."

~Kurt Langner

Ogham Stones

Today, I began writing again on Chapter Two of the third book which is set about the year 1000 AD. In the process, I renewed my acquaintance with Ogham Stones. There are about 400 of these standing stones mainly in Ireland but also in Wales and Scotland. Each of them have "hash" marks on them which, in various groupings, form an alphabet. It is not clear where writing in this style originated, but it is similar to the cipher Runes of Scandinavian origin.

Examples of these stones have been found in the US, most of them controversial. Of the Runic stones, the Kensington Stone found in Minnesota, is perhaps the most controversial since if it were proved to be Scandinavian in origin, the stone's presence in Minnesota would indicate that the Vikings had penetrated inland to the middle of the continent. So far, no credible archaeologist has supported the veracity of it, although the people of Kensington remain passionate supporters. It is housed in a Museum in Alexandria, Minnesota.

There are some stones carved by the pre-historic indigenous peoples in North America who were here for thousands of years before the Europeans arrived. One of several examples is the Gaitskill Tablet which was found in Gaitskill Mound near Mt. Sterling, Kentucky in 1920. Many have interpreted the image as a spider with the picture of a human on its back. This tablet has been identified as one produced by the Adena Culture, a woodland group that flourished in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois from 500BC - 500AD (more or less) and built huge earthworks and mounds.

Still in North America, more artwork on rocks can be found in the great Southwest such as at Petroglyph National Monument in New Mexico where there are more than 20,000 images and symbols carved into the rocks, probably created by the ancestor's of the Pueblo Indians. These images are more than art imitating nature, but rather represent powerful meanings to their creators who carefully oriented them.

With all of this, there was no written language left by the pre-historic peoples of North America -- at least not that has been found. Perhaps today with the proliferation of icons substituting for words, we may be migrating back to a day when symbols and images are more important than an alphabet and words.

“By phonemic trans-formation into visual terms, the alphabet became a universal, abstract, static container of meaningless sounds.”

~ Marshall McLuhan (1911 - 1980), Canadian Communications Theorist

My commitment to write a page a day on the third book has fallen by the wayside many days ago. The 13,000 word first chapter needs editing, but I can't resist going on. The second chapter has 1000 words so far, and is a good beginning, I think:

The central character is now 18 and his sister is 16. The sister has confronted him to warn him about how girls flirt with boys. One of the village girls in particular has zeroed in on her brother:

Sister stared me directly in the eyes—“I don’t like her and I don’t like the way you look at her.” Her arms were folded over her chest. She was in her sixteenth season and had an opinion on everything, including which girl I should admire.

Sister,” I answered, “have you never dreamed about having a life with someone in the future? You may see the face of him in your dreams, even though you have never met him. Yet, you are already beginning to feel something for him.”

Sister was looking down at the ground and drawing lines in the dust with her foot.

“Well, I have the same dreams—except now I have met that person. She has a face and a name. Can you imagine how exciting that must be for me? That is what I ask you to understand and feel.”

“Well, I don’t trust her,” Sister persisted, unconvinced. “And neither should you,” she said over her shoulder, as she stomped away, then broke into a run.

I want to get back to it, but realistically will not be able to pick it up until after the New Year, as the music of the season continues with one more Hymns program and a commitment to our Church's Pageant on Sunday. Then it is get ready for Christmas -- dinner with our Son and his Family on the 22nd, dinner with friends on the 24th, visit Daughter's family on the 25th, etc. All of these are pleasant and anticipated.

Maybe on December 27, I can get back to writing the next scene between our central character and his Father, the Chief, in which the 18 year old asks his father for advice on speaking with women; I'll be checking in with Mrs. Giles, frequently, as I write this one!

I'm all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let's start with typewriters.

~ Frank Lloyd Wright (1868-1959)

Unintended Consequences

Several years ago, I was working in Mexico City (before the drug cartels were in power). At the time, it was listed as the most polluted city in the world (population 21 million). Among the reasons for that distinction is the topographical "bowl" shape of its location, the extreme number of cars on the road there, and that the cars on the road were out of tune and/or badly maintained. The Mexican Government decided that they should step in to ameliorate the situation.

To encourage car-pooling or the use of mass transportation and also to decrease the amount of cars on the road and the resulting pollution, the Government made a regulation based on every one's license plate. Since every plate ended in a digit, the Government decided that those cars that had license tags ending in an even digit were the only cars allowed on the road on even numbered calendar days and only those cars ending with an odd number were allowed to be driven on the roads on the odd numbered days of the month. (Allowances were made to the "evens" for the number of times a 31 and a 1 were back to back, and those with a "Zero" at the end of their license plate were counted as an even number.)

The citizens of Mexico City chose to go a different way -- they bought a junker second car, traded with neighbors and family to get the opposite number license plate, so they could drive to work every day, but half of the time they were driving a car that was a worse polluter -- and there were now more cars available to the rest of the family, hence more cars on the road and more pollution ! The pollution in Mexico City increased as the result of the attempt to curb it.

Unintended Consequences !!

The Sociologist, Robert K. Merton (1910-2003), coined the phrase, "unintended consequences" in the 1930's. (He is also noted for creating the phrase "role model" and "self-fulfilling prophecy.") The idea of unintended consequences had been around for a long time, as in, for every cause there is a multitude of effects, not just one.

Quite a thought, eh? We speak of "cause and effect" as if there were only one effect, when there may be many effects to one cause, with most of the effects unanticipated.

*Merton listed five possible causes of unanticipated consequences:

"... Ignorance (It is impossible to anticipate everything, thereby leading to incomplete analysis)

... Error (Incorrect analysis of the problem or following habits that worked in the past but may not apply to the current situation)

... Immediate interest, which may override long-term interests

... Basic values may require or prohibit certain actions even if the long-term result might be unfavorable (these long-term consequences may eventually cause changes in basic values)

... Self-Defeating Prophecy (Fear of some consequence drives people to find solutions before the problem occurs, thus the non-occurrence of the problem is unanticipated.)"* Quoted from VW quote of Merton

And then there is the matter of the "Relevance Paradox." People only seek the information that seems relevant to their quest and are blissfully ignorant of items that are relevant but that do not rise to a level of recognition because the investigator does not see the material as relevant.

Example: A person who is near sighted does not know that their sight is impaired until they put corrective glasses on, but they cannot see where the glasses are in order to put them on.

So, what is this discourse all about, the reader may ask?

The intervention of our Government into people's lives, through regulation, has caused many unintended consequences, most of them negative.

... Social Security, which was set up to be self-funding, is financially unstable because Congress in the 1990's allowed Social Security money to be used in the General Fund. Result -- Social Security will go broke before 2020.

... Well-meaning legislator's thought that every American should own their own home and created lending agencies for the purpose of lending money to risky mortgagees and then threatened banks if they didn't cooperate. Fannie May and Freddie Mac were the results and the whole real estate bubble was caused by the unintended consequence of paving the way for every American to own their own home.

... The War on Drugs has forced minor drug operations to consolidate with others, forming larger drug organizations, centralizing control over the illegal drug industry in the US, making them stronger -- not the intended result.

The huge changes that Congress is making in Health Care, Corporations, Environmental Regulations, Immigration is fraught with unintended consequences -- and I can't imagine all of these unrealized effects will be good.

This rush to legislate social change because the political stars are aligned needs to stop; that is the wrong reason to change. History tells us all too well that the Government's track record of intrusion into people's lives and behaviour does not work -- Prohibition, Welfare, Busing.

The Political Class needs to be broken apart and the citizens of the United States can do that by imposing term limits. Congress would never impose term limits upon itself, of course, so We, the People, need to do it by voting them out of office, every time they come up for re-election. Forget about political affiliation and parties, which used to stand for something; now it does not.

If a Legislator gets elected, make it a one term appointment and then bring them back to the private sector. Vote them out of office every time. They have shown you no loyalty; return the favor. That is the only way to get their attention. (A tip of the hat to LC and RC.)

“Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason.”
~Anonymous

CO2 Is A Danger To You ... and your Wallet

As the Copenhagen Conference on the Climate opened, the Obama Administration announced that Carbon Dioxide (CO2) was endangering the public health and welfare of US Citizens. This finding by the EPA, opens the door to more regulations and more bureaucracies.

Lisa Jackson, the EPA Administrator, admits that our new efforts to regulate Carbon Dioxide will have no effect on climate change. Additionally, our climate has been cooling since 1998, despite the dire predictions. So why is the EPA doing this?

Let's look at who is emitting CO2: Globally, as well as in the US, the largest reason for CO2 is the burning of fossil fuels. The chart to the left is from the EPA and shows statistics as of 2006.

In the US, the largest reason for burning fossil fuels is electricity generation. By far, the fuel most used by power plants is coal. (See below.)

The second largest consuming segment of fossil fuels is transportation, which uses petroleum most. Then industrial uses has a pretty even mix of coal and petroleum and natural gas as you can see from the chart below, also from the EPA.

This finding by the EPA and the resulting regulation will undoubtedly cause the costs of oil, natural gas and power to increase dramatically to you and me, as President Obama has predicted, since the governmental-caused increases in operating costs are always passed on to the consumer.

Rationally, if one were trying to pare back on the use of something -- say, coffee in the morning -- then one would replace the offending commodity with another option -- say a smoothie.

That is not the way of the government, however. They enact a punitive tax which always ends up being paid by the citizens of this country -- and today, there are less and less taxpayers and more and more tax consumers.

Wouldn't a better methodology for the Government be to encourage new substitutes for the offending commodity? Grants to entrepreneurs, prizes, competitions, encouragements to private enterprise -- rather than the very tired cry of "regulate, Regulate, REGULATE."

Back to the question of why the Government would cause another cost to the consumer in a dangerously down economy. I submit that it is self-perpetuation of government disguised as "protecting the people from a dangerous gas." More bureaucracy, more regulators, mean more positions for appointment.

Our Constitution, in Article 1, Section 8, gives Congress the right to levy taxes, duties, imposts and excises -- not the Administrative Branch. I ask you to consider whether or not rising costs caused by Government decisions should be considered taxes -- and if generated by the Administrative Branch, are therefore prohibited under the Constitution which gives that activity only to Congress, which is elected.

The EPA is not an elected office. If my electricity costs go up because of their action, then I am being taxed to pay for something.

Stop it!

Is It Possible?

Are the global-climate assumptions of the 16,500 delegates in Copenhagen correct? Is it possible their assumptions are based on faulty data?

In 1975, the media, the politicians and some scientists were convinced the global climate was headed for an "Ice Age." When the climate began to turn, they all agreed that further study was needed. Wouldn't that be an appropriate decision to make today, especially when the impact of an errant, albeit well-meaning, climate decision could inflict more human suffering and conflict than Co2 emissions will for the next 25 years?

Few people doubt that we need to be better stewards of our planet. Personally, I think that deforestation, particularly of the Brazilian Rainforest, is a bigger problem than Co2 emissions and has more impact on global climate, algae bloom and desert formation than Co2.

Who made the decision that Co2 was a bigger problem than deforestation? A committee from the United Nations? Al Gore?

Fact: The Polar Bear Population is the same today as it was in 1975.

Fact: Greenland was so named by the Vikings in the 11th Century because it was lush enough then to grow crops and not covered by ice as it is today.

Fact: The "Hockey Stick" proof to Climate Change was disproved in 2006.

Fact: The release of the Emails from East Anglia University show that the Climate Scientists there and in the United States manipulated their data to fit their conclusions.

Is it possible that those gathered in Copenhagen Denmark are working from flawed assumptions? Is it possible that in the hysteria of "saving the world," these 16,500 are all behaving like lemmings running off a cliff?

Is it possible that the dimension and scale of this Co2 scare is incorrect?

Is it possible that a tragic new chapter of Hans Christian Andersen's tale, "The Emperor's New Clothes" is being re-enacted in his beloved Copenhagen?

"Everyone said, loud enough for the others to hear: "Look at the Emperor's new clothes. They're beautiful!" "What a marvellous train!" "And the colours! The colours of that beautiful fabric! I have never seen anything like it in my life!"

They all tried to conceal their disappointment at not being able to see the clothes, and since nobody was willing to admit his own stupidity and incompetence, they all behaved as the two scoundrels had predicted.

A child, however, who had no important job and could only see things as his eyes showed them to him, went up to the carriage.

"The Emperor is naked," he said.

"Fool!" his father reprimanded, running after him. "Don't talk nonsense!" He grabbed his child and took him away. But the boy's remark, which had been heard by the bystanders, was repeated over and over again until everyone cried:

"The boy is right! The Emperor is naked! It's true!"

The Emperor realized that the people were right but could not admit to that. He thought it better to continue the procession under the illusion that anyone who couldn't see his clothes was either stupid or incompetent. And he stood stiffly on his carriage, while behind him a page held his imaginary mantle. "

~ From "The Emperor's New Clothes" by Hans Christian Andersen, 1837,
"Fairy Tales For Children"

The Copenhagen Climate Change Conference

The Hot Air over Copenhagen this week may be more of a threat to the climate than the supposed danger they are there to solve. Let's see ...

• 140 Private Planes are scheduled to land


• 1,200 Limos have been ordered for the delegates (only 5 are "green" because Denmark taxes new technology so highly that nobody is encouraged to build or import "green" vehicles.)


• 15,000 Delegates


• 5,000 journalists


• 98 World Leaders

What happened to video-conferencing to save the planet?

There is such an influx of people into Copenhagen that the "Sex Workers Union" -- yes, such activity is unionized over there (imagine a government bailout hearing on that one where "too big to fail" takes on a whole new meaning) -- has promised free sex to anyone with a Conference Pass; the Sex Workers Union is banking on repeat business, I guess. Video-conferencing does have its limitations.

While this is really all about the US and China coming to an agreement, the developing countries of Africa are demanding 8 billion a year to help them offset their costs till they are "developed." I'm certain that any money earmarked for that purpose will all be spent for that purpose, aren't you?

Al Gore has cancelled his visit -- too busy, I guess, to save the world at Copenhagen, or maybe he is concerned about the pollution his private jet would emit. Those concerns are not shared by a list of celebrities headed to Copenhagen on their planes -- Leonardo DiCaprio, Daryl Hannah, Helena Christensen, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Prince Charles -- all there to be photographed...

...uhh help...

the delegates save the world...

...uhhh issue a statement of intent to save the world by ...

...uhhh 2050, yeaaahh 2050, that's it...

(when none of them will be alive to answer for their actions.)

Mr. Gore will sit back and wait for his Carbon Trading Company to benefit from all of the "Cap and Trade" activity, soon to begin in the US and then the world; no need to attend a conference now.

There should be conferences like this, but they should be organized by Scientists, whose motives are supposedly purer than politicians. The Climate Change Industry is the next financial bubble to be thrust upon the world by the political class.

In the meantime, there will be no progress despite the nightmares being predicted (and the polar bears being killed by you and me by driving our Civics and Priuses.) Next, an international plea will be raised by the politicians, requiring "one currency," followed by the need for a "one world government" promising "peace in our times."

Lock your billfolds up, now. These politicians know best how to protect the climate and harness the power of "scientific consensus," such as they did in 1975-76:

"... seemingly disparate incidents represent the advance signs of fundamental changes in the world's weather. The central fact is that after three quarters of a century of extraordinarily mild conditions, the earth's climate seems to be cooling down. Meteorologists disagree about the cause and extent of the cooling trend, as well as over its specific impact on local weather conditions. But they are almost unanimous in the view that the trend will reduce agricultural productivity for the rest of the century. If the climatic change is as profound as some of the pessimists fear, the resulting famines could be catastrophic."

~ Newsweek Magazine, April 28, 1975 -- "The Cooling World," article by Peter Gwynne

The Scientific Method and Climate Change

"No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong" ~ Albert Einstein

I do not profess to be a scientist or to employ the scientific method on any project I undertake. I believe, though, that the method is an organized quest for Truth which is why when science states it, we accept the statement as truth, because they have been rigorous in their examinations and experimentations

Einstein stated what many have come to accept as the basis for the scientific method -- "falsifying." No one has ever found evidence nullifying Einstein's Theory of Relativity, therefore, it is accepted as true, but is still listed as a theory.

In the several examples of falsifying, there is the story of "The White Swans." The scientist believes that there are only white swans in the world. What the scientist believes is true as long as he only sees white swans. He may have desperately wanted there to be only white swans in the world and invested a lot of his time, effort, reputation, and money in that belief. Then he sees his first black swan. Truth vs. Belief.

With the release of Climate Change emails from scientists in England and scientists at the University of Pennsylvania -- leading authorities on the subject -- revealing that they were refusing to acknowledge data that falsified their conclusions, the whole subject of Climate Change has been called into question.

The reader should not conclude that I am a nay-sayer on the matter of environmental concern. It only makes sense that we should take care of the planet. Each should do what they are able.

My concern here is that these Climatologists in their effort to preserve something about themselves -- reputation, grants, position, income -- have called into question the whole Scientific Method in which we have come to ... believe.

If the method and Science are to be trusted, then the Scientific Community needs somehow to rescue itself from those who have compromised the method.

As to the idea of Climate Change, I leave you, dear reader to decide for yourself whether this is another Ice Age we are entering since the global climate has been cooling since 1998, or whether it is Global Warming that is melting the icebergs off "Greenland."

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday centered on giving thanks to God for the abundance of our lives. It is sometimes difficult to explain this holiday to our brothers and sisters in other countries -- Pilgrims, Indians, eating together from the bounty of the harvest, no matter how small, thankful in every way.

Over the years, I have missed three Thanksgiving celebrations with our family -- 1986, when I was in West Chester, PA as the shopping network QVC premiered; my family was in Pittsburgh while I supervised the first hours of the network's television operation. The loneliness of the holiday-away was somewhat offset as two of my staffers and one spouse gathered and gave thanks around a meal that she prepared.

The second missed Thanksgiving was in 1996 while I was in Dusseldorf, Germany, this time working as a consultant with QVC as we prepared for the launch of QVC Deutschland. There were a number of Americans working with me and I organized a Thanksgiving celebration at the Steigerwald Hotel where I was living. The Chef was most obliging and understood everything except the concept of "seconds."

The third missed Thanksgiving was the next year when I was working as a consultant in Sydney, Australia, once again preparing for the launch of a TV Shopping network for Australia.

As I had done in Germany, I organized a Thanksgiving celebration for the Americans there which was highlighted by a verbal argument over a business matter between the CEO and the Director of Marketing; very verbal and entertaining, at the time.

This year, we will have members of our family missing from the table -- some are in Thailand, teaching music at a university there; others with family in Connecticut. They will be remembered in a toast.

However large or small our celebration, we are reminded every day in ways large and small of the abundance of our living -- the roof over my head, the running water from my faucet, the food in my refrigerator.

How grateful; how thankful!

Truth

It is hard these days to find the truth. Statements are always garbed in shades of gray, leaning this way or that way. We live in a non-committal world, fearful of taking a stand or not wanting to have our head handed to us for taking a position.

Our legalistic tradition requires the witness on the stand to "tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth" as a way of eliminating all the possibilities of falsehood.

Political Correctness forbids us from speaking our minds for fear that we may either offend someone or that we will end up losing something ourselves in the shoutdown resulting from our true feelings.

Politicians and their staffs have become so skilled at shading the truth that we now have a new term -- "Spin" -- to describe what we all know; the truth is in there but it is either not the whole truth or maybe not nothing but the truth or perhaps both.

Somehow, "spin" has become acceptable -- not just for the political class, but also for the rest of us. And, we are doing that with our children: no child ever loses; everyone gets a medal or a trophy, every graduate excelled at something.

We even tried that with housing -- everyone should have a house, riiight? This is a great country and everyone deserves to own a house. Somehow, we failed to realize that not everyone in our society can afford all that goes with a house -- like a mortgage and taxes; we failed or did not want to accept ... the truth.

I did not set out to have this blog be full of political commentary, so please do not, dear Reader, take this as such, but aren't the politicians once again, failing to accept the truth about "the stimulus?" When all the stimulus money is spent, won't people get laid off again? We were paying for them to be employed, but now there are no more funds to supplement the payroll. The "shovel-ready" projects are all half-done, but the stimulus money runs out. It's over.

The truth.

If you stimulate my heart to keep it beating and then the battery causing the stimulus runs out of power, what happens? The heart stops. Truth.

We need to get back to a basic honesty with ourselves and our society. Legalism, Rationality, Enlightened Thinking, One Worldism, Spin -- all ignore the fact about human beings:

WE ARE FLAWED.

I want to be better, I want to do better, I strive to make the world today a better place than it was yesterday. But, calling our foibles something other than the truth of what they are, may make us feel better, but we are deluding ourselves and being deluded willfully and knowingly by others. Feeling better? Is that what all this illusion is about?

Spinning the truth to make it fit an agenda or to avoid full disclosure is deception, sleight of hand. Doing so may make the spinner feel better or feel clever, but in small ways or large ways, it harms those being deceived.

We should get back to the truth -- sooner, rather than later.

How many legs does a dog have if you call his tail a leg? Four; calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg.

~ Abraham Lincoln

Innocent until Proven Guilty

Ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat -- "The proof lies upon the one who affirms, not the one who denies."

The presumption of innocence is a backbone of our legal system. Some scholars have traced its origins earlier than England, past Rome, beyond Greece to the Book of Deuteronomy.

The seriousness of the concept is expressed in the number of countries and international organizations that have adopted this concept. Over the years, many learned scholars have expressed the same sentiment as the highly regarded jurist, William Blackstone, in the 18th Century:

"... it is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer."
~ William Blackstone, Commentaries on The Laws of England, 1764

Over the years, even though I have never come close to needing the protection of innocent until proven guilty, I have always been comforted that, should I need that protection, it would be there.

Now, I am not sure.

The Attorney General and his boss, the President of the United States, are promising that Khalid Shaikh Mohamed, the admitted mastermind of the 9/11 attack, will be convicted in a US criminal court. Really?

What happened to his Miranda Rights? He was not "Mirandized." If you are going to try him in a US Criminal Court, isn't that cause for dismissal?

"Failure (to convict) is not an option," said Attorney General Holder. Really! So that presumes that the Defense Attorney in THIS trial is just going to roll-over and play along with the Prosecutor? Since when? Can anyone say OJ Simpson? The Defense Attorneys rolled over there, right?

Doesn't the Attorney General's remark prevent any impartial Jury from being seated? Why would a Jury deliberate in a meaningful way, when the outcome is already determined?

What happened to my promise from our Government of presumption of innocence by the practice of law in this country, if the Attorney General can predict the outcome? Isn't that a sham, a "rigged" trial? Is a Jury needed any more if the Attorney General can guarantee the outcome?

By sending this case to a criminal court in the US where Miranda Rights are guaranteed, where another country interrogated the suspect, and arrested the suspect but where our standards and protections will be extended to what was then a military operation -- all violations of our civil guarantees -- won't those violations of our Civil Courts and our rights, guarantee an acquittal for KSM?

But -- if a fair trial isn't guaranteed by the Attorney General's actions and a verdict of guilty is rendered as promised by Mr. Holder, haven't all of our rights in the Civil Courts been trampled upon -- by our own Government?

Bread

Each year, the family gathers at our house for Thanksgiving. For the past 15 years, part of the weekend activities has been a wine tasting on Friday and with the arrival of Grandchildren -- now seven -- we integrated a Juice tasting into that event as well, with the children giving their reviews and tasting notes on the various juices. This year they will taste and comment on Mango, Pineapple, Banana Nectar, Passion Fruit and V-8 Fusion Tropical Orange while the adults compare the qualities of five Pinot Gris from five countries.

With the Wine and Juice Tasting, we also feature three cheeses and three breads. This year, the cheeses will be Fromage d'Affinois, Morbier and a Chevre with raspberries while the breads will be a Russian Black Bread, an Italian Tomato and Basil, and a San Francisco Sourdough.

I do a little write-up of each of the wines, juices, cheeses and bread each year and this year, in my research, was stopped by a note about Sourdough Bread. Sourdough has been around since around 1500BC -- 3,500 years. It was the first agent for leavening bread and remained the only leavening agent for 3,000 years, until the Europeans began using the fermenting foam from beer -- called Barm -- as an additional leavening.

Today, many of us in the US take bread for granted; there are so many choices in the supermarkets -- soft, organic whole grain, rustic, rolls, buns, bagels, high fibre, seeded, unseeded. And yet, for centuries Bread has been a basic substance of living.

Bread is so woven into our existence that it is the subject of many quotes:

• He who has no bread has no authority -- Turkish Proverb


• Give us this day, our daily bread - The Bible


• Man shall not live by bread alone - The Bible


• Cast thy bread upon the waters - The Bible


• Acorns were good until bread was found -- Francis Bacon


• The greatest thing since sliced bread -- anonymous


• Anytime a person goes into a delicatessen and orders a pastrami on white bread, somewhere a Jew dies -- Milton Berle, comedian


• A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government. -- Thomas Jefferson

While bread has been a basic necessity of life, it has also become the source of slang -- bread to many means "money". "Dough" likewise means money. Or other euphemisms: "Breadwinner," "Putting bread on the table," "Breadbasket," "Bigger than a breadbox."

Bread has probably been a part of human living since Neolithic times. And for most of those 12,000 years, it was a central concern of every day. In our world of iPods and gigabytes, bread is no less important, but amongst all the technology, it has faded far into the background of our lives -- until you have a really good, fresh piece of it. And then your DNA does a little dance of joy.

You know that Pepperidge Farm Bread? It is fancy. That stuff is wrapped twice. You open it and it still ain't open. That's why I don't buy it; I don't need another step between me and toast.

~ Mitch Hedberg, comedian

The Jonestown Massacre, November 18, 1978

Thirty one years ago today, a grim scene was revealed in a remote area of the South American country of Guyana -- 912 bodies were found scattered among a settlement known as Jonestown. Each of them had apparently voluntarily drank cyanide-laced grape Kool-Aid. The leader of this group, "Reverend" Jim Jones, had shot himself in the head.



At first, this looked like a mass suicide, but then as this organization, officially titled "The People's Temple" was examined and determined to be a cult, the act was changed from suicide to "massacre."

The People's Temple had been founded in 1955 in Indianapolis by a self-styled minister who had no theological training, James Warren Jones. Jones' message and philosophy was a blend of socialism and religion whose theme of communalism appealed to a number of people. Jones moved his organization several times, ending up in San Francisco in 1971. There, his People's Temple grew to some 20,000 members.

Jones and his radical "Temple" became the subject of several investigations in San Francisco: voter fraud for having busloads of followers driven from polling place to polling place to vote multiple times; fraudulently using donations for his own personal use; and a manslaughter investigation for sending a box of candy with a bomb in it to a political candidate that was critical of Jones.

In 1977, Jones moved again, this time to an isolated area in Guyana, so that he and the 1,000 followers who went with him, could live in peace -- and so that he could avoid prosecution.

In 1978, a California Congressman, Leo Ryan, made a fact-finding visit to Jonestown. As he was leaving with several "rescued" followers, Ryan and four of his party were shot and killed by the Temple's security guards.

The next day, Jones orchestrated the largest mass suicide in recent history.

Of the victims, over 400 unclaimed bodies were buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Oakland, California where each year at 11:00am on November 18, people gather for a memorial service.

Hope is both the earliest and the most indispensable virtue inherent in the state of being alive. If life is to be sustained hope must remain, even where confidence is wounded, trust impaired.

~ Erik H. Erikson, psychologist

The Tangled Woods

Earlier this Fall, the leaves, while still on the trees, produced a spectacular display of colors. This was particularly true along the Brandywine River nearby.

Gradually, with wind and temperature and driving rain, the leaves have fallen from the trees, revealing the structure of each tree and each limb.

In the woods behind our house stand several trees -- mainly oak and walnut -- with very large trunks; they stretch perhaps 100 feet into the air. The majority of the trees, however, are tall but with smallish trunks, affected by competing with the larger trees for sunlight. All of them are rooted in a thin layer of soil over the rocky substrata of the area. When a Nor'easter blows up the coast from the South, one or two of the trees will lose their footing in the thin dirt and begin leaning. Seldom do the trees topple over, though, because they end up leaning on their neighbor, producing a tangled look.



Families are like that.

It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanates from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit.

~ Robert Louis Stevenson

Challenge Coins

Yesterday, the President and First Lady attended a very solemn memorial service for the thirteen men and women killed at Ft. Hood. Among the many traditions on display there -- the helmet, the gun, the dog tags and ... the boots -- President Obama placed a "Challenge Coin" on each of the markers of the fallen.

I did not know of this tradition.

There are many stories about the derivation of Challenge Coins, but the one told most often originated in World War I. Airplanes were a daring and somewhat romantic new technology then, with the first flight having been recorded only 14 years earlier. Many young men enrolled in the Army Air Corps to be a pilot. Among them, a wealthy student from an Eastern college who, in a generous burst of collegiality had bronze coins made for each of his fellow pilots in the squadron. Each coin contained "USA" on one side and the squadron's number on the other. The Pilots began carrying this coin with them as good luck pieces.

One of the US Pilots was shot down over France and captured by the French Army who could not determine if he was an ally or a German Pilot that could speak English. When they decided to treat him as a German, the Pilot remembered the Squadron coin and showed it to the French soldiers. It proved to the French that he was an American and he was dispatched back to the US Forces.

The tradition of the coins continued on into Viet Nam where it was used in drinking games -- if you couldn't produce your coin, you had to buy the soldier or group of men challenging a round of drinks. After Viet Nam ended, the tradition mostly disappeared until Desert Storm and has gained in popularity since. As a a side note, when the soldier would carry their coin in their billfolds, it often looked like they were carrying a condom, which produced some interesting "challenge" stories when the ring indentation was noted by the military spouse.

Each member of the Executive Branch has Challenge Coins, but the Presidential Coin is the most coveted. Here is the coin that President Obama placed on each of the thirteen memorials yesterday as a sign of respect from the Commander in Chief.

Allow the People to use the Internet to VOTE

The Frenetic antics of Congress has caused me to finally suggest out loud what I have quietly whispered for some time -- let the people vote on important legislative decisions using the Internet.

Give us your reform measure one decision at a time and let us vote on it, item-by-item. If the Health Care Bill is so important that it has to be voted on by the end-of-the-day, end-of-the-week, end-of-the-month, end-of-the-year -- hurry, Hurry, HURRY -- but won't be implemented until 2013, then with all this wackiness, the people need to get involved. Let us vote via the Internet!

If I can bank via the Internet, if I can purchase goods with my credit card via the Internet, if I can buy stock via the Internet, surely, I can vote securely via the Internet.

Representative Democracy was chosen as our form of government when the demands of growing your own food and clothing your family required the majority of one's time in a day. It was also the age of the horse as transportation, so traveling the 260 miles from, say, Boston to Philadelphia, at 20 miles per day on Nellie would have taken 23 days. That is obviously not the case today.

In my view, most of the Congressional Class has forgotten that they are "hired" by us to represent us. Instead, they have a view that they are there to take care of us in all ways, because they know better than we do.

Congress needs to listen to the will of the people of this country, not some poll where the fix is in due to the phrasing of the question and the make-up of the respondents.

The Internet is this tool, but it must be legislatively mandated to become an instrument of the governance; there is the rub. Legislators will not allow it to be used, so a Constitutional Amendment is required originated by the people. We can do that!!

There is reform needed of the Congressional Branch of our government.
... We need term limits on these Nabobs.
... We need to eliminate their earmarks.
... We need Congress to have the same Health Care System that they shackle us with.
... We need to be allowed to vote on important issues using the Internet.

What do you think? Will you join me in mounting a call for Internet use by the People, as a part of the governance of this Country?

"Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad with power. " ~ Charles A. Beard, Progressive Historian

Frost

The first hard frost of the season fell overnight. The only vegetable in the garden still producing yesterday were the peppers -- Hungarian and Bell; the frost will have stopped that. Many of the trees have already dropped their leaves -- the ash, the walnut and the poplar -- while the maples out my window still retain many of their red leaves. The cherry trees lining our driveway have left a pleasant number of leaves on the asphalt, making walking to the mailbox a pleasant chore.

The roses on the Southern side of our house seemed to have missed the frost which means that my out-of-control Morning Glories will be spared also. All will need to be pulled and trimmed and cut and raked and swept -- as do we.

Back to Chapter Two, instead.

Besides the autumn poets sing,

A few prosaic days

A little this side of the snow

And that side of the haze.

~Emily Dickinson

The First Chapter Is Finished

Well, maybe not totally finished. The 13,000 words will have to be gone over by my chief editor -- lovely wife Joan -- and I will have to accomodate her corrections and suggestions by re-reading it and touching practically every space. It is an arduous task for me since I am anxious to plow on. But if I do not correct it now, the process will get away from me.

Among the challenges, is that the first chapter is in the voice of an eight year old boy. Plus, it is set 1,000 years ago. So, the adult terms, expressions and contemporary meanings must be excised and more appropriate words chosen. I leave the reader with these final paragraphs of Chapter One. The scene is between the young boy and his father, who has just been made Chief.

“Having said that to you, I now must confess something to you, my son.” Father knelt down on his one knee as he had in the town square to accept his headdress. We were eye-to-eye.

“I never want to lie to you, or participate in what appears to be a falsehood, so I admit this in truth to you. Tomorrow night, I will lead a war party out of this village in search of the young girls taken from us. This is what is expected of me—that I should find them. But if we do not find them, I will be forced to take girls from another village—a village that we suspect of having abducted our girls—to replace what has been taken from us. This will send a signal to other marauders that we are not to be taken lightly. Hit us and we will hit you back!”

Father knew and I knew that only days earlier, he had said to me that our village did not take young girls from other tribes. But now that he was Chief, he might actually lead such a raid. He was turning his own statement into a falsehood.

Neither of us spoke; I did not know what to say. “I ask you not to judge me, my son, but rather to know that I have such deep respect for you that I would tell you this,” he said, quietly.

There was more silence between us. “May the Great Spirit be with you and be your guide,” I said, not knowing where the words came from.

Father looked me in the eyes and opened his wide arms. I went to him and embraced him and he embraced me in return. His chest heaved and he sighed loudly and his face was warm. He whispered, “I love you, and always will, no matter what may come."

The Pennsylvania Turnpike

Yesterday, Joan and I returned from our daughter's house near Venetia PA to our home in Eastern PA. Counting lunch, it took five hours to travel the 282 miles. The fall colors were spectacular and the day was gorgeous -- in the lower sixties. I havetravelled the Turnpike many times since moving to Eastern PA for my work at QVC in 1986, and although I knew something of its history, I decided to look further into the matter -- after all, I was a History major at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.

George Washington was a proponent of building roads into the interior of the new country, to encourage commerce and to facilitate the travel of settlers; In Pennsylvania, there were early "log roads" or Pikes, the longest being 62 miles from Philadelphia to Lancaster. It wasn't until after the Civil war, however, that massive projects were undertaken.

In the 1880's William Vanderbilt and Andrew Carnegie began the construction of a private railroad bed from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh through the Allegheny Mountains, which posed an enormous barrier to railroad expansion. Before his project was abandoned, his company had built over half of the two-track roadbed and had started over seven tunnels. Twenty-six people lost their lives in the effort, known as "Vanderbilt's Folly."


In the early 20th century, automobiles and trucks were becoming the favored method of transportation. Yet it wasn't until the Great Depression that the Turnpike idea became a reality. With planning starting in 1935, ground was actually broken in 1938 and in 20 months, a 160 mile stretch of "Super Highway" was constructed, stretching from Harrisburg to Irwin, just North of Pittsburgh. Much of it followed the Vanderbilt route and completed the seven tunnels they had started or that were being used by contemporary railroad companies. The Turnpike was also known as "the tunnel road" because of these holes through the mountains rather than roads over them. The original seven tunnels were -- Laurel Hill, Allegheny, Ray's Hill, Sideling Hill, Tuscarora, Kittatinny and Blue Mountain -- and they were two lane tunnels; the twin tunnels would come later.



The original estimates of Turnpike usage were wildly underestimated. On a beautiful Sunday afternoon in October 1940, so many black sedans were on the Turnpike that they ran out of the dime tickets and resorted to handwritten paper tickets. The toll plazas were backed up for miles and the congestion did not ease up until 10:30 at night. The problem wasn't getting people on -- it was getting them off the Turnpike. 25,000 vehicles drove on the turnpike that day when they had projected 5,000. In the first year, the planners had calculated 1.3 million vehicles would use the Turnpike; actual usage was 2.4 million or 85% more vehicles than they had predicted.






Today, the original 160 miles has grown to 512 miles of Turnpike and yearly usage is now at 156 million vehicles. Yesterday, Joan and I were one of those traveler/statistics, glad to be home and happy not to have had to use the old Lincoln Highway -- Rt. 30 -- or the National Road -- Rt. 40-- but instead availed ourselves of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Immutable

Today is Reformation Sunday, marking one of the important events in Western History. Although Jan Hus in Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) had stood fast against the Catholic Church and was burned at the stake, it was Martin Luther a century later who nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the church in Wittenburg who finally initiated the separation from the Catholic Church.

The years since Luther's solitary act in 1517, were filled with change and the change continues today. Throughout the years of exploration and Renaissance and Revolution and Industrialization and World Wars, the pace of change has quickened. The technology of 20 years ago seems as dated as saying my computer is a Commodore 64.

Today the cycles of change interacts with each other as the ripples in the water from various pebbles, creating confusing merging half-circles. Social Engineering, Human Engineering, Governmental Philosophy, and Technology are all proceeding in a rapid collision course with each other.

Throughout all of this, the concept of "immutability" has sustained many people. These people believe that the passage of time is the real agent of change and that those of us who live in a temporal world will always be subject to change. These people also believe that God is eternal and outside time, not subject to change, and that God is immutable. Therefore in times of rapid change, these people can take solace in the immutable God; I am one of these people.

"Time is God's way of preventing everything from happening at once."
~ Anonymous, quoted in "Cottonwood Pass" by Ronald D. Giles

Special Places -- Special Joys

As a kid, occasionally, I would place a blanket over the back of the couch and stretch it over to the window sill. Then I would crawl on the floor in the space between the back of the couch and the wall. Laying inside, I would feel, well ... nice. It was my special place, provoking a warm emotion.

As an adult, we have many special places. Some special places are geographical or travel related like Artist's Point in Yellowstone or Uluru in Australia or Westminster Abbey in London.

Of course, there are personal special places that make us quiver, convulse and shake with pleasure or special events such as funerals or weddings or births that can evoke tears of sadness or tears of joy. Even the special place in minds devoted to memories can trigger the same emotions, causing us to laugh or smile or tear up.

And then there is the special place created by being held in someones arms. The gentle hug of a three year old can melt the heart of a 280 pound NFL linebacker or the comforting embrace of your lover can ameliorate the most distressing news.

In this world of increasing empiricism, I have to ask "how is it that we are possessing of these emotions?" They are precious gifts, not accountable by any science. Every human, from Aleut to Congolese share these same feelings. Education, experience or philosophy cannot purchase them; they are innate -- a gift from our creator.

My own special places and the joys they provoke are therefore -- to me -- Divine.

On Birthdays

Yesterday was my birthday, and it was the best one yet -- cards from family and friends, singing phone calls from friends, greetings from my children, friends on Facebook, Internet greetings, taken to lunch, gifts and a birthday dinner at home with my son and his family. And it isn't over. In Pittsburgh tonight, I will be with my daughter and her family and we will go to dinner. It is almost overwhelming.

As I was dressing to go to lunch, I thought about my parents. I was an only child. Mother said that they had hoped for more children; I was every one of their hopes rolled up into one. They lavished positive energy upon me and gave me a lot of love, common sense and values.

We lived together for 21 years, a long time, really -- and yet, in the scheme of things, not very long, really.

In my heart, I carry my parents with me each day, wherever I go. Yesterday, on my birthday, I wore Dad's watch.

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."

~ Lao Tzu, Chinese Philosopher (600BC-531BC)

The First Chapter Continues

The first chapter of my third book continues to get larger, having passed 11,000 words or about 40 book pages. I am finally past the toughest slogging and have the end of the chapter in sight -- a dramatic moment when the Council of Women throw out the old leader and install a new one, the main character's father.

The final straw for the council came when the former chief took his guards on a ceremonial junket and while they were away, the village was raided and five young women were taken captive, not to be found again.

"An author should ...
12. Say what he is proposing to say, not merely come near it.
13. Use the right word, not its second cousin.
14. Eschew surplusage.
15. Not omit necessary details.
16. Avoid slovenliness of form.
17. Use good grammar.
18. Employ a simple, straightforward style."
~ from "The Literary Offenses of James Fenimore Cooper"
by Mark Twain

A Day of Music

Yesterday, Joan and I were up early for a rehearsal at 8:45 am. She was accompanying three men's four-part pieces and I was one of the seven singers. Two of the three selections were difficult but beautiful; the third piece was a Canon or round, in four divisions. The church was in 1723 stone barn, converted to a sanctuary. The service lasted until 11:15.

Then we were off to a three hour rehearsal with a Lutheran Church Choir, filled with 80 energetic singers. The rehearsal is for a Christmas concert on the afternoon of December 6.

Throughout the day, I was reminded of the debate in the early days of the Reformation about the best way to present church music -- either as Unison singing or singing in parts.

John Calvin was against singing in parts, which he thought distracted from the words. The best vehicle for a text, he thought, were many voices - male and female -- singing as one.

Others who had thoughts on the matter -- such as Martin Luther -- encouraged singing in parts, believing that the beauty of voices in harmony, emphasized the meaning of the words.

The debate went on for over 200 years. John Wesley, who with his brother Charles Wesley, founded the Methodist Church, was a proponent of Unison singing -- that is until he heard Handel's "Messiah" performed in London in 1742, with the composer conducting. After that, he thought that "fugueing" was acceptable.

Joan and I were exhausted when we finally returned home at 5:00, collapsing on our accepting couch and love seat for the remaining football games. Running through our heads from nine hours earlier, though, were the strong strains of "Contate Hodie," meaning "sing today." And Joan was still complaining about having to play the piano accompaniment in four sharps (the complaining started two weeks earlier and will continue on into the new week) although she handled it beautifully. Sleep was close at hand.

An English singer (named, Gordon) complained of Handel's method of accompanying during the Messiah. If Handel persisted in accompanying him in this manner, the noted singer threatened to jump on Handel's harpsichord and smash it to pieces. Handel is said to have replied:
"Oh! Let me know when you will do that, and I will advertise it.
For I am sure more people will come to see you jump, than to hear you sing."