Synova

This is my Plumberry Glow "York". I had to go back to 2005 to get a picture, but it's still hanging on to the threads of life and pushing out a couple of red flowers on a regular basis. It's fragrant only at 1pm. Orchids are so funny. The second picture is a Paph that I bought at the grocery store. Itmanages to bloom every year and has for about four years in a row now. This year it bloomed from Thanksgiving to after Christmas. The picture is pretty bad and doesn't show the plant. I should have set it in the sun for a better photo.

It was too late by the time anyone had called the fire department. That can't be changed and one man is dead in a house fire, the tragedy for his family and loved ones irreparable. I get an e-mail from my home-town paper and the headline caught my eye. Small, small home town, everyone knows everyone... certainly I used to. It was a long time ago. I quick clicked through and skimmed until I found the name. Not familiar. Thank goodness. And then I read more carefully. The call came at 12:30 am. Someone driving by saw the farm house in flames. My childhood is full of memories of the daily noon siren that could be heard for miles around. It would raise into a wail and then die off again. Other times it would wail on and on, eight times or nine. And the men would stop what they were doing and get into their cars and trucks and rush to the fire station to go to fight the fire. They even came to our farm once, when a trash burn got away from us. My mom, ...

If this isn't dug out at the roots we're not going to get very far defending even something as basic as freedom of speech. The roots, the foundation of the rot, is in the notion that the purpose of the Constitution is fairness rather than freedom. You know, actually... it's pretty close to exchanging some feel good "What would Jesus do?" for study of scripture and doctrine. (I know that some people think that's useful, but it's *lazy*.) What the Constitution actually says, matters. Liberty and freedom actually matter. The defense of our liberty matters. But people have become lazy. Instead of adhering to the words and principles that are there they've exchanged it for what seems fair or sounds right. If something isn't *fair* then the Constitution can't actually mean that's the way it's supposed to be, right? Wrong. Lazy and wrong. But that's what we've seen over the last how many years beginning with laws criminalizing speech a...

I'm watching this on Hulu.com. So far it's fun and I think it's got some really great potential. I don't know where it normally airs. I will say that the musical score and particularly the opening theme song sucks. Maybe something rocking would have been a bad choice, but they've gone orchestral. The rest though... enough fights and action to make me very happy. And I like the three principles very much, at least so far. The main character is really attractive, but I think I like the computer/corporate specialist better. So far he is really my favorite. I really like what has been shown of each of their characters and struggles and their interaction. And also, for what it's worth... I like that they are all guys. Now, that may be because this is supposed to be a guy show, but I like that they didn't feel like they had to have a female partner. At least not yet. For female guest characters they've had a high-powered engineer hard...

But not necessarily fit for polite company. Which isn't a *bad* thing. "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell The Warrior Song.

As a science fiction writer and a Christian, the idea that religious faith can not withstand the discovery of intelligent alien life really gets on my nerves. Instapundit linked this today. It's pretty much exactly what I'd expect. The Vatican is hosting some event discussing the intersection of Christian faith and possible alien life. There's quite a bit to talk about. Father Jose Funes, a Jesuit astronomer at the Vatican Observatory and one of the organisers of the conference, said: "As a multiplicity of creatures exists on Earth, so there could be other beings, also intelligent, created by God. "This does not conflict with our faith, because we cannot put limits on the creative freedom of God." And pretty much like I'd expect someone feels the need to assert that it would-so be a problem. Not everyone agrees. Paul Davies , a theoretical physicist and author of The Goldilocks Enigma, told The Washington Post that the threat ...

In five days. Which isn't bad. My husband and I are doing the Atkins diet. (He's losing weight faster than me, of course.) In some ways it's actually easy. I'm not at all hungry, after all. But I do find myself wanting what I can't have rather badly. Just *one* cookie! In the beginning part it's really strict. As I understand it, and this makes sense to me, when we eat carbohydrates and sugars and fats and proteins our bodies (through insulin) signal ourselves to use the fast and easy carbs and sugars first and store the rest on our butt. So the usual sort of diet that eliminates fat and reduces carbs, doesn't leave us anything to store (like extra carbs and sugars). And on that sort of diet I wouldn't get a cookie *either*. In any case it's been less than a week. And according to the books after I'm done losing the weight I want to lose I'll get to eat more stuff... UP TO the "store the fat on your butt" level. Which won...

... at Whole Foods today .

Ann Althouse linked this commentary from the Washington Post today. “During the glory days of the conservative movement, from its ascent in the 1960s and ’70s to its success in Ronald Reagan’s era, there was a balance between the intellectuals, such as Buckley and Milton Friedman, and the activists, such as Phyllis Schlafly and Paul Weyrich, the leader of the New Right. The conservative political movement, for all its infighting, has always drawn deeply from the conservative intellectual movement, and this mix of populism and elitism troubled neither side.” Reading it I thought that the likely reason for an apparent lack of intellectual leadership in the conservative movement was because everyone was too busy trying to shut up the populists and remake the Republican Party or redefine conservative as something smarter by insisting that it shed the unwashed masses. Which is what I was reminded of when I saw this about McCain. (And “compared to what?” was a laugh out loud moment, Bruce...

Finally someone said what I've been thinking about this constant call to civility: Have we transformed into so brittle a citizenry that we are unable to handle a raucous debate over the future of the country? If things were quiet, subdued and "civil" in America today, as Pelosi surely wishes, it would only be proof that democracy wasn't working. (Please read the whole article.) Sure, Pelosi wishes that everyone would behave already, but it is also often conservatives and others arguing over the proper way of dissenting rather than just dissenting already. There seems to be a practical meltdown in areas of the conservative blogosphere over comportment... the theory seeming to be that passion is off-putting to the all-important center. In order to win, therefore, we need to be bland. Frankly, I think that other than those in power who would rather not be bothered by opposition, it's only people without ideas who are arguing over civility. The Tea Party pro...

The essential element of change is to be able to visualize the goal. It helps even more to begin to behave as though the goal has already been reached. Then, when the real world situation doesn't conform to the new pattern it's easily recognizable as wrong. Everyone has already accepted the desired end state. No one needs to be convinced of anything, the situation simply needs to be corrected. The pattern or template is just as important as the reality in this. The end of slavery didn't come because people were determined to end it first and put equality into the Constitution later. The template and self-identity were there already and people said this is wrong because it didn't fit. It didn't fit their idea of Christian and it didn't fit their idea of American. The same with the civil rights movement. People had a self-image that they believed was true about themselves. Because of that they were able to see and change something that didn't fit. Sometimes I ...

"Markets are pro-social. Markets are about serving the needs of another—that is innately virtuous," says Paul J. Zak, professor of Economics at Claremont Graduate University.

Instapundit linked this by Neil Gaiman. George R. R. Martin is not your bitch. Well, true enough... but I don't have to buy his books either. A couple of posts ago I lamented that I forgot to bring my books to Bubonicon for Mr. Martin to sign. I have three starting with _A Game of Thrones_. I loved the first one and would have read the others on the theory that these three are *it*, right? But I realized that the series was not complete and I chose to stop reading the ones I already *had* until I had them all. I will probably not *buy* any more until they are all published and Mr. Martin announces "The End." Until then I won't read the ones I've already paid for either. Mr. Gaiman is, of course, completely correct that there is no contract between an author and fans that demands that he or she produce anything whatsoever. But open ended series carry a significant risk for the author. As a consumer I no longer have to scramble to buy a book for fear it will n...

Two little old ladies were in a car on their way someplace. The driver went through one stop sign, then another. "Edna!" The other said, "You just went through two stop signs." "I did?" Edna replied. "I thought *you* were driving." A little old lady was put put-ing down a high way, holding up traffic. A police officer pulled her over. The officer explained that the speed limit was 50. "Oh, is it? I was sure that the signs said 30." The officer explained, no, the highway number was 30. The speed limit was 50. He noticed passengers in the back seat, two nuns, white as sheets. "Well then," the old lady exclaimed, "the road I was just on must have been highway 113."

I just got home from Bubonicon. Bubonicon is the Science Fiction convention held in Albuquerque this weekend. I just get one day of it this year and for the most part had a great time. Hopefully next year I'll make the whole weekend. What I want to talk about now that I'm not at the Con is... politics. And you know, I did this same post last year. I really did. The same exact post. I have simply had it with Connie Willis. I have had it. If anyone has been to a science fiction convention anywhere they know that diversity is the norm. Lots of people seem to really love going to conventions because it's one place where they can really feel comfortable when they normally feel that they don't fit in. But somehow some people seem to think that in the area of religion and politics, the two really big social pit falls, that there is no diversity at a Con and no tolerance required. Sure, there are a lot of people who are politically liberal at a Con. ...

Actually, what happened was that someone in an Althouse thread said something about Hitler not having anything to do with health care. I pointed out that we often don't hear about what was happening in hospitals in Germany at the time, the euthanasia and sterilizations of those entirely Aryan persons with mental disabilities or genetic illnesses and what not. Apparently Glenn Beck made a similar point very recently because I got accused of repeating what he had said nearly verbatim. Go figure. "Glenn Beck!" ;-)

HE: We need to cross this river. We must build a bridge. SHE: We don't need a bridge to get across the river. Boats or a ferry, perhaps. HE: Of course we need a bridge! Only rich people have boats and it hasn't gotten everyone over there. We have to cross this river. SHE: A bridge is too expensive and will probably wash out during the spring floods. A bridge is a bad idea. HE: The only reason you don't think we need to cross this river is because you hate the people on the other side, you hater! SHE: I'm not a hater. I love those people as much as you do, but we do not need a bridge to cross the river. There are other ways to cross the river! HE: Oh, and what about people who can't swim, you hateful moron, just let those people drown, huh? And you claim you aren't a hater. SHE: I never said swim! HE: Glenn Beck! Glenn Beck! Glenn Beck!

The “right” to free health care is the right to own the labor of other people without their consent. Any time you’ve got a right TO something like that you take the rights of other people to their own selves and their own freedom away. The libertarian idea, as I understand it, is that your rights end where they intersect another person. I have a right to “pursue happiness” to make my way in the world, to worship my own God, to feed myself, to supply my physical and other needs, rights to my own body and self-determination, rights to my own property, rights to employ violence to defend my rights (which is pretty much a good way to define what is a right and what is *not*)… just up *until* I intersect another human being. I may not take someone else’s food nor compel their labor nor sacrifice them to my God nor otherwise violate *their* rights in the pursuit of my own. Read the rest at A Second Hand Conjecture.

I just finished reading the latest paperback from Suzanne Brockmann. _Dark of Night_. I'm disappointed and that's a sad thing because I've absolutely loved her series of romances about SEAL team 16 and the Troubleshooters. Aparently I'm not alone. My complaint isn't the same as most of the others... I'm great with Sophia and Dave. I even am okay with Tracey being people smart. She and Decker did seem to come out of left field. I thought Decker was great even if I thought his overwhelming conflict was pretty lame. What I didn't care for was the politics. I read for escapism, for studly dangerous men acting like men, for sex, and adventure with guns, where our military are the good guys and the SEALs are supermen and military contractor's are heroes, too. (I wonder if Ms. Brockmann realizes that the Troubleshooters ARE Blackwater?) I do not read sexy action adventure to be presented with a *cause*. It's small things but they don...