His Tail In The Water

       Here is a brief, but true, animal story.

       I was walking on a hiking trail near the bank of our river.  The day was cool and pleasant, and the sunlight was that beautiful pale thing that it can be in late autumn.  Most of the leaves of the trees were down by now; but the river had risen quite a few feet above its normal level.  There must have been quite heavy rains upstream.

       While I was walking, I had been mulling some slow thoughts of, to me, considerable profundity on the lives of the Apostles -- St. John and St. James, Christ's own beloved 'Sons of Thunder,' had been in my mind -- and my thoughts had unaccountably drifted to the more recent (and more mathematical) sage, George Cantor, who famously pondered the infinite -- but mostly countable -- mysteries of the Aleph, and bequeathed to modern mathematics its current fundamentals of set theory.

       At that moment, on a high bank overlooking the river -- and also, at that moment, overlooking a passing tow of barges moving several thousands of tons of something valuable from somewhere upriver  to somewhere else downriver -- my eye caught sight of a common turtle poised on a branch of driftwood that was jammed in the water, near the shore, a dozen or so feet below me.

       The turtle's head was fully extended; whether to better enjoy the fresh air, or to get a better look at the passing barges, or for some other reason, I do not know.  His feet clung to the driftwood branch.  And his tail was in the water.  Just a moment later, he dropped right off the driftwood and disappeared below the surface.  And then reappeared, swimming, head out of the water, a few feet downstream.

       I thought of the old Taoist philosopher Chuang Tzu and his story about refusing a government appointment, preferring the happy life of a turtle, "dragging its tail in the mud."  This little story has delighted thinkers for more than two millennia, and is mentioned by Thomas Merton in his book, The Way of Chuang Tzu.

       I really can't say for sure whether the turtle was a he or a she -- but I am certain that he was not a mere it.  A little, four-legged, hard-shelled Fact in the universe, swimming right here in Lao-Tse's nameless Tao, living out his little purposes, reproduced from the thousand generations of turtles that join Chuang Tzu's times to our own, and perhaps destined to enjoy reproducing himself into a thousand generations to come.  Some species of turtles, they say, are long-lived.  Perhaps this little fellow will outlive me.  Perhaps his descendants will be seen by my own, along this same river bank, or some other, two or three centuries from now.

       When he suddenly pulled his head underwater, a ring of little ripples spread out, blending and merging with the larger waves raised by the passing barges.  Before they could reach the shore, they were gone.

Qadhaffi: Unjustly Killed

  Guest post by Ben Carmack

On Thursday morning I learned that Moammar Qadhaffi, the dictator of Libya since 1969, had been killed. Libyan rebel leaders were interviewed on the BBC and other media outlets celebrating the death of a man they regarded as an oppressor and tyrant. They are looking forward to a democratic future for Libya.

Nonsense of course.

I do not mean to defend Qadhaffi here. He was, no doubt, a sleazebag and glorified mobster. No doubt he is guilty of many injustices, so many that his inglorious death is deserved.

Except that is wasn't. Not under the standards of civilized warfare.

You see, when we point the finger at Qadaffi for being an oppressor, a murderer, a tyrant and a thief, we are really pointing the finger at all governments. Government is, after all, the one institution in society that has a monopoly on all socially acceptable violence: such as imprisoning people, torturing people (now legal in the U.S.), killing people (the death penalty and war) and, last but not least, forcing people to hand over their money (better known as taxation).

History has proven that when human beings, no matter how virtuous at the outset, are entrusted with such great power over others, they inevitably abuse it and become mobsters and thugs under the color of "law and order."

Murray Rothbard, an anarchist libertarian economist and author, once told a friend that the government was kind of like the Mob, except the Mob actually provided services that people wanted. He was closer to the truth than most would admit.

I am not an anarchist, and I find many libertarian ideas about, say, privatizing the justice system or the highway system or public education, to be ludicrous and unrealistic. I even think that government should play a larger role in regulating the distribution of health care so that all people can afford basic health care. Nonetheless, I harbor no illusions about the tendencies of government, nor do I consider politicians to be saints.

Our Founding Fathers wisely understood that concentrated power of any sort was dangerous, so they set up a constitutional federal system that spread power around as much as possible. A few of them, like Thomas Jefferson, argued also for maximized economic independence, which usually ensures political independence. If you can grow your own food, own your profits and own your land, you have little need for assistance or support from the "authorities." You are also less susceptible to be fooled by their promises of a better tomorrow if only you will support their programs and cockamamie ideas.

Too bad we didn't listen. 

Qadhaffi was probably a liar, a thief, a cheat and a murderer, as we accuse him of being. What are we to say of our own leaders?

President Obama, our latest Fuhrer, has violated the Constitution routinely throughout his presidency. He has ordered the assassinations of two American citizens without trial. He launched the war in Libya undercover without informing the American people or Congress. Needless to say he did not proceed with a declaration of war, as the Constitution requires. His health care law, regarded as a high achievement of his presidency, is unconstitutional through and through. Nowhere in the Constitution is the federal government mandated to provide universal health care. Nowhere is it given the authority to force Americans to purchase health insurance.

Needless to say the president has continued two unconstitutional and unjustified wars, and has done nothing to seriously investigate the event the precipitated both wars: 9/11. 

Is Obama really all that different from Qadhaffi? Isn't the question more of degree?

Obama gets away with his thuggish behavior only because he commands the largest military force in the entire globe. None dare to oppose him. Obama is the Godfather, the master Mob boss, if you will. The other bosses must bow to his whims.

Qadhaffi, rather than being simply assassinated undercover, was entitled to a fair and honorable meeting with his enemies, as well as just terms of surrender. He ought to have been sent away to a small cottage somewhere, perhaps on a small island, like Napoleon. He ought to have been allowed to defend himself and his regime before a candid world.

His killing, an act of bloodlust and vengeance, will do nothing to ease tensions in the Arab world. It will only increase the sense of many Arabs that they are being manipulated by hostile Western powers who hate them.

President Obama deserves not praise for his Libya adventure, but impeachment and removal from office. 

Instead, half of the voting population will likely vote to re-elect Obama as their president next year. The other half will vote to replace him with a Republican who will only make the situation worse.

Some may call me cynical. I'd like to think I've learned an important lesson in my brief time on this Earth: government and politics are not humanity's salvation. The nature of power is to inspire corruption and deceit. Human beings can't handle it, "it" being the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

The State, contrary to the beliefs of many Christians, is not in league with God, seeking to do us all good. In truth, the State shares more in common with Satan, the Accuser. It is a grimly necessary reality because of Original Sin. It is not our salvation.

Why do otherwise intelligent people continue to believe, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, that government and politics can make life better for mankind? Why do we put so much effort, blood and toil into making it work? Why do we put so much faith in the government, but not in ourselves, or better yet, in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit? Will we ever learn that the new boss will be the same as the old boss?

I don't get it. 

Moammar Qadhaffi, rest in peace. I hope you found salvation and comfort in your final moments. I hope you genuinely repented of your many sins, and received the unconditional forgiveness of Christ Jesus. God rest your soul.

For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe. -- St. Paul,  I Timothy 4:10

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Comments welcome, pro and con.

A Liturgy

   I.

   Father, forgive us, your children

   who reduce your words to sound bytes

   and slogans, satisfied to sign checks

   and the bottoms of greeting cards,

   unknowing the names you call us by.

   II.

   Father, forgive us, your body

   who demand to see all things now,

   though by choice blind to gifts

   both simple and complex: inhaling,

   exhaling the letters of your name.

   III.

   Father, remember us, the forgetful,

   the inexcusably unmindful, who

   pray tight-fisted sealed-eyed prayers

   imploring providence provide the feast already

   before us, though in the presence of our enemies.

   IV.

   Father, lighten us, your lights

   darkened by too little breath, too much wind

   made heavy with walls and ceilings,

   neither speaking nor listening,

   neither rooted nor cut to burn.

   V.

   Father, quicken us, the diseased,

   the dying, the long dead,

   from our own darkened eyes

   and foolish hearts, for muttering never

   to the still returning yes and amen.

   -- Justin Adams 

Lynn Margulis, RIP

       I just read of the recent death of Lynn Margulis, a world-class biologist who was well-known in her field of study, but certainly not as well-known to the larger world as she deserved.

       Kevin Barrett has posted a brief eulogy, in which he properly notes:

"Lynn was one of the greatest scientists of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Her work in the life sciences, which she did not like to call 'evolutionary biology,' set the stage for a paradigm shift away from neo-Darwinian reductionism, and towards an appreciation of the irreducible complexity of the life processes, the importance of microbial life in those processes, and the power and ubiquity of gene-swapping and symbiosis as evolutionary forces.

"Lynn was herself nearly drummed out of orthodox science as a heretic when she began propounding these views circa the early 1960s. Today, they are increasingly accepted by the scientific mainstream."

       At the age of nineteen, she had married the brilliant Carl Sagan, who would eventually become an astronomer and cosmologist of the first rank.  She earned her Ph.D from Berkeley in 1963.  But as a young faculty member at Boston University, she had to fight the biology-academic establishment to get her seminal work published.  Her landmark paper, titled "The Origin of Mitosing Eukaryotic Cells," was rejected by a dozen prestigious scientific journals before its acceptance by the Journal of Theoretical Biology.

       From such frictions come paradigm shifts.  As the decades passed, she could have the satisfaction of seeing that her theoretical insights led to a new and fruitful understanding of biology, from the smallest bacteria to the entire planetary ecosystem.

       She also, like the rest of us, saw the political paradigm-shifting event of 9/11.  And she, along with hundreds of other scientists, professionals, and skeptics, had objections to the official story, and went public with those objections.


       "The 9/11 tragedy is the most successful and most perverse publicity stunt in the history of public relations,"  she declared, calling it "the most effective television commercial in the history of Western civilization."


       After a careful explanation (you can read it here*) of how she came to this bold conclusion, she finishes her remarks thus:


       "I suggest that those of us aware and concerned demand that the glaringly erroneous official account of 9/11 be dismissed as a fraud and a new, thorough, and impartial investigation be undertaken."


       Lynn Margulis died on Tuesday, November 22, 2011.  We may be grateful for her bright, inquisitive, and perceptive mind.


*       *       *


*This statement, along with those from many other people, can be found at the website, Patriots Question 911.  You can also read it in my first comment, below.  Your comments are always welcome.

The Economics of the Magnificat

       I had thought to title this short essay, "The Economics of Mother Mary,"  in order to emphasize certain aspects of the cosmic situation, but decided on the title, "The Economics of the Magnificat," in order to emphasize certain other aspects of the same situation.

       The Blessed Mother holds a very high place in the consciousness of the Church Universal, as she herself prophesied: "From now on all generations will call me blessed."  The title, Magnificat, comes from the first word (in Latin) of her unique praise and prophecy concerning her Son.

       The nine verses in Holy Scripture which comprise the Magnificat provide to us the sacred center of the mind of that holy Woman who gave to the Lord Jesus Christ that eternal humanity which enabled Him to proclaim with His lordly humility that He is, truly and always, the Son of Man.  Her words have been the meditation and inspiration of millions of people, saints and sinners alike; and I cannot hope to add one thing to all that has been said, and thought, and felt, about her words, which I include at the end of this essay.

       But I do want to focus my mind, and yours, on a few phrases of hers, and make some observations about the recent past, and the present day.

       She says, early on, that God has "regarded the humility of his handmaid" -- referring to herself of course, and by inclusion, any and all of His servants who, like her, enjoy only a humble estate.  Later in this word of the Holy Ghost, she says of the Lord God, with all the truthful intensity of blessedness:

He hath shewed might in his arm:

he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.

He hath put down the mighty from their seat,

and hath exalted the humble.

He hath filled the hungry with good things;

and the rich he hath sent empty away.

       I do not think that the Holy Mother has anything like "class warfare" in mind; certainly I do not think that she had in mind anything like the class warfare of Karl Marx or his Bolshevik or Leninist-Trotskyist successors, which seem (to me) to be a hideous parody of her holy vision -- a kind of Anti-Vision, if you will.

       But there is a time when the truly hungry and truly humble people of the world will be fed; and more than that, will be filled with good things.  And the rich, the proud, the mighty on their seats of governance, will be emptied by God Himself, and sent away.

       These days may be upon us.  Certainly, in some parts of the world today, they seem to be.  I think that this would be a good time for all people of humility and of good will (there is no difference) to meditate upon what the Holy Mother has said.

       Empires rise and fall; nations come into existence and pass away; schools of economic thought become popular and unpopular.  Her words -- and the deeds of her Son -- will not pass away:  they will be fulfilled.  Capitalists, revolutionists, materialists, spiritualists, take note.

       Please think on these things as you choose sides in the economic and social upheavals that are upon us, and those which are yet to be.  Both the Holy Mother and the Eternal Son have spoken:  the Lord God is opposed to the arrogant and powerful rich, and is favorable to the common people.

       Here is the Magnificat, from the Gospel of St. Luke:

And Mary said,

My soul doth magnify the Lord,

And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid;

for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

Because he that is mighty,

hath done great things to me;

and holy is his name.

And his mercy is from generation unto generations,

to them that fear him.

He hath shewed might in his arm:

he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.

He hath put down the mighty from their seat,

and hath exalted the humble.

He hath filled the hungry with good things;

and the rich he hath sent empty away.

He hath received Israel his servant,

being mindful of his mercy:

As he spoke to our fathers,

to Abraham and to his seed for ever.

*       *       *

Your comments, especially on the current economic situation in the world, are most welcome.

Jubilee Of The Agricultural World

       Homily of John Paul II

       Sunday, 12 November 2000

       Read the post here, at the website of the Vatican.

*       *       *

       Be blessed by these good words of love, greeting, and blessing, from John Paul II to various people involved in farming and other agricultural vocations.  Now over ten years old, these words are as timely, and timeless, as ever.  Thanks to Ben for suggesting this post, and your comments are most welcome, below.

Eisenhower's Farewell Address To The Nation

Guest post by President Dwight Eisenhower

Delivered by nationwide telecast on January 17, 1961

Good evening, my fellow Americans: First, I should like to express my gratitude to the radio and television networks for the opportunity they have given me over the years to bring reports and messages to our nation. My special thanks go to them for the opportunity of addressing you this evening.  Three days from now, after a half century of service of our country, I shall lay down the responsibilities of office as, in traditional and solemn ceremony, the authority of the Presidency is vested in my successor.

This evening I come to you with a message of leave-taking and farewell, and to share a few final thoughts with you, my countrymen.

Like every other citizen, I wish the new President, and all who will labor with him, Godspeed. I pray that the coming years will be blessed with peace and prosperity for all.

Our people expect their President and the Congress to find essential agreement on questions of great moment, the wise resolution of which will better shape the future of the nation.

My own relations with Congress, which began on a remote and tenuous basis when, long ago, a member of the Senate appointed me to West Point, have since ranged to the intimate during the war and immediate post-war period, and finally to the mutually interdependent during these past eight years.

In this final relationship, the Congress and the Administration have, on most vital issues, cooperated well, to serve the nation well rather than mere partisanship, and so have assured that the business of the nation should go forward. So my official relationship with Congress ends in a feeling on my part, of gratitude that we have been able to do so much together.

We now stand ten years past the midpoint of a century that has witnessed four major wars among great nations. Three of these involved our own country. Despite these holocausts America is today the strongest, the most influential and most productive nation in the world. Understandably proud of this pre-eminence, we yet realize that America's leadership and prestige depend, not merely upon our unmatched material progress, riches and military strength, but on how we use our power in the interests of world peace and human betterment.

Throughout America's adventure in free government, such basic purposes have been to keep the peace; to foster progress in human achievement, and to enhance liberty, dignity and integrity among peoples and among nations.

To strive for less would be unworthy of a free and religious people.

Any failure traceable to arrogance or our lack of comprehension or readiness to sacrifice would inflict upon us a grievous hurt, both at home and abroad.

Progress toward these noble goals is persistently threatened by the conflict now engulfing the world. It commands our whole attention, absorbs our very beings. We face a hostile ideology global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose, and insidious in method. Unhappily the danger it poses promises to be of indefinite duration. To meet it successfully, there is called for, not so much the emotional and transitory sacrifices of crisis, but rather those which enable us to carry forward steadily, surely, and without complaint the burdens of a prolonged and complex struggle – with liberty the stake. Only thus shall we remain, despite every provocation, on our charted course toward permanent peace and human betterment.

Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties. A huge increase in the newer elements of our defenses; development of unrealistic programs to cure every ill in agriculture; a dramatic expansion in basic and applied research – these and many other possibilities, each possibly promising in itself, may be suggested as the only way to the road we wish to travel.

But each proposal must be weighed in light of a broader consideration; the need to maintain balance in and among national programs – balance between the private and the public economy, balance between the cost and hoped for advantages – balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable; balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual; balance between the actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future. Good judgment seeks balance and progress; lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration.

The record of many decades stands as proof that our people and their Government have, in the main, understood these truths and have responded to them well in the face of threat and stress.

But threats, new in kind or degree, constantly arise.

Of these, I mention two only.

A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.

Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.

Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence – economic, political, even spiritual – is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades.

In this revolution, research has become central, it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.

Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.

The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present – and is gravely to be regarded.

Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.

It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system – ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society.

Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society's future, we – you and I, and our government – must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without asking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.

Down the long lane of the history yet to be written America knows that this world of ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.

Such a confederation must be one of equals. The weakest must come to the conference table with the same confidence as do we, protected as we are by our moral, economic, and military strength. That table, though scarred by many past frustrations, cannot be abandoned for the certain agony of the battlefield.

Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative. Together we must learn how to compose differences, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose. Because this need is so sharp and apparent I confess that I lay down my official responsibilities in this field with a definite sense of disappointment. As one who has witnessed the horror and the lingering sadness of war – as one who knows that another war could utterly destroy this civilization which has been so slowly and painfully built over thousands of years – I wish I could say tonight that a lasting peace is in sight.

Happily, I can say that war has been avoided. Steady progress toward our ultimate goal has been made. But, so much remains to be done. As a private citizen, I shall never cease to do what little I can to help the world advance along that road.

So – in this my last good night to you as your President – I thank you for the many opportunities you have given me for public service in war and peace. I trust that in that service you find some things worthy; as for the rest of it, I know you will find ways to improve performance in the future.

You and I – my fellow citizens – need to be strong in our faith that all nations, under God, will reach the goal of peace with justice. May we be ever unswerving in devotion to principle, confident but humble with power, diligent in pursuit of the Nations' great goals.

To all the peoples of the world, I once more give expression to America's prayerful and continuing aspiration:

We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love.

Now, on Friday noon, I am to become a private citizen. I am proud to do so. I look forward to it.

Thank you, and good night.

*       *       *

Thanks, Ike.  Comments pro and con always welcome.