10/12/2007

Submarine Bubblehead Humor

OK..., Tubedaze and "Hey, Shipwreck" is very very funny

I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. Go to this website or here on Youtube to see what I'm talking about. It's an animated series from a talented bubblehead. Basically it's a social commentary on the funny, rediculous, stupid, crazy, zany, frustrating things that happen on a submarine from the perspective of a "blueshirt". Kind of a "Dilbert" for sailors, specifically submarine sailors. But the great thing is that besides some inside jokes everybod could relate to most of the observations. I know that it greatly resembles the fire department where I work.

WATCH ALL THE EPISODES IN ORDER, IT IS VERY REWARDING

To read about the artist in the Navy Times, click here.

I just wish he didn't call Henry M. Jackson an "obscure politician". Scoop was the man!! And "Scoops Diner" is a great place to eat.

Medal Of Honor

Lt. Mike Murphy, a navy SEAL who was killed in action high in the mountains of Afghanistan, will receive the Medal Of Honor for his heroic actions. His parents will accept the Medal on his behalf from President Bush on October 22nd. To learn more about this great American read the book written by Marcus Luttrell, the sole surviving member of his SEAL team. The book is titled "Lone Survivor".

"Murph" wore the station patch from FDNY Engine 53 and Ladder 43 on the right sleeve of his uniform. He also aquired patches for each of his team members. They wore them so as not to forget how this war started with the cowardly attacks of 9/11/01 and in honor of the 343 firefighters who died in the line of duty with bravery and selfless dedication to the citizens of New York City.

God Bless America, God Bless the Murphy family, and may Lt. Murphy and his fellow team members who fell with him RIP, "....no greater love..."

10/11/2007

Where would you send the letter?

Muslim academics send out an open public letter addressed to Pope Benedict XVI, Bartholemew I - Patriarch of Constantinople, all other Orthodox Patriarchs, the Archbishop of Canterberry, and other leading Protestant's. I believe this to be an interesting development. I would rather it be a hopeful development, but due to the actions of many Muslim leaders I have a hard time trusting the sincerity of the stated intention (check out this site for examples).

That being said, I began to wonder what took so long for Muslim "leaders" to send out a communication such as this? Does it have anything to do with the Election cycle in the United States? Does it have anything to do with the beginning of the new U.N. session? And who would the letter have been sent to if it had been sent to the heads of all Christian Churches sometime in the past? On that note... let's step backwards in time using 100 year increments:

1907- Pope Pius X, Joachim III (Orthodox Patriarch Constantinople), Photius (Orthodox Patriarch Alexandria), Damianus I (Orthodox Patriarch Jerusalem) Ignatius Agdeb Aloho II (Syriac Coptic Patriarch Antioch), Randall Thomas Davidson (Church of England- Archbishop of Canterbury), Franz August Otto Pieper (Lutheran Church Missouri Synod) Mary Baker Eddy (Christian Scientist), General William Booth (Salvation Army), Henry Niehaus (New Apostolic Church), OK there are more leaders to list from the various churches around at that time (Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Quacker, et. al.) but it's taking too long... there are probably 100 more names I could put here.

I'll start going in 200 year increments

1707- Pope Clement XI, Cyprianus I (Constantinople), Gerasimus II (Alexandria), Chrysanthus (Jerusalem), Ignatius George II (Antioch), Thomas Tenison (Archbishop Canterbury), Can't really find a definitive list... but letter would have been sent to Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, (Methodism is 30 years from it's inception), Quackers, and various national/regional Orthodox Churches.

1507- Pope Julius II, Pachomius I (Constantinople), Joachim (Alexandria), Dorotheus II (Jerusalem), Ignatius Nuh of Lebanon (Antioch), Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Henry VIII were at least 10 years away from the inception of their churches. This is also very shortly after King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella drove the last of the Moors from the Iberian peninsula.

1307- Pope Clement V, Athanasuis (Constantinople), Athanasius III (Alexandria), VACANT (Jerusalem), Michael II (Antioch),

1107- Pope Paschal II, Nicholas III Gramaticus (Constantinople), Sabbas (Alexandria), John VIII (Jerusalem), Athanasius VI bar Khamoro (Antioch),

I'll continue listing seperately the 4 patriarchs of the East, though they recognized the unique Primacy of the Bishop of Rome as the successor of Peter before 1054.

907- Pope Sergius III, Nicholas I Mystikos (Constantinople), Christodoulus (Alexandria), Elias III (Jerusalem), Dionysius II (Antioch)

707- Pope John VII, Cyrus (Constantinople), Theophylactus (Alexandria), John V (Jerusalem), Julian II (Antioch)

Follwing the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon of 451 the Bishops of Constantinople and Jerusalem were added as Patriarchs, joining the Bishops of Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch. Thus 507 A.D. is the first year they will be listed seperately. Here is the council of Chalcedon's Confession;

Following the holy Fathers, we unanimously teach and confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ: the same perfect in divinity and perfect in humanity, the same truly God and truly man, composed of rational soul and body; consubstantial with the Father as to his divinity and consubstantial with us as to his humanity; "like us in all things but sin." He was begotten from the Father before all ages as to his divinity and in these last days, for us and for our salvation, was born as to his humanity of the virgin Mary, the Mother of God.
We confess that one and the same Christ, Lord, and only-begotten Son, is to be acknowledged in two natures without confusion, change, division, or separation. The distinction between natures was never abolished by their union, but rather the character proper to each of the two natures was preserved as they came together in one person (prosopon) and one hypostasis.


507- Pope Symmachus, Macedonius II (Constantinople), John III (Alexandria), Elias I (Jerusalem), Flavian II (Patriarch of Antioch)

307- Peter's chair vacant after the martyrdom of Pope Marcellinus by Diocletian in 304, Peter I (Alexandria), Tyrannus (Antioch)

107- Pope Alexander I (martryd by Trajan), Primus (Alexandria), Heron (Antioch)

Church in Rome established by Peter and Paul (the Apostles), Alexandria by Mark (the Apostle), Antioch by Peter (the Apostle).


Cardinal John Henry Newman, (prominant 18th century Anglican bishop and Catholic convert) had this to say after spending many years studying and wrestling with Christian history.

"And this one thing is certain... the Christianity of history is not Protestantism. If there ever were a safe truth, it is this. And Pretestantism has ever felt it so... This is shown in the determination... of dispensing with historical Christianity althoghter, and of forming a Christianity from the Bible alone: men never would have put it [historical Christianity] aside, unless they had despaired of it... To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant."

10/10/2007

Exotic Dancer Injured

And I thought my job was dangerous!

Glad we don't have Fire Poles in my station.

Are you prejudice?

When you see a headline like this United Auto Workers Union Sets Wednesday Morning Strike Deadline for Chrysler do you have an automatic/initial reaction or thought? Is that initial thought one of these two;
1-Good! I hope the union sticks it to those Chrysler jerks.
2-What a bunch of whiney jerks! I hope all those union guys lose their jobs.

If your initial reaction is one of those two, then you are prejudice either for or against organized labor.

I support the ideals of organized labor, but the manner in which labor unions excercise their power in this country is oftentimes stupid, immoral, and dishonest. The news report from the headline story reports that the average worker at Chrysler earns $75.86 per hour in wages, pension, and health care benefits. I believe this figure to be a mistake. It is a bad statistic designed to obfuscate. Let's look at some figures and then see if the numbers add up...

$75.86 = 157,788.80 per year assuming a 40 hour work week (that's the total compensation #)

$1,400 = a conservative (high) monthly health care package cost for a family of 5

$1,274.50 = a conservative (high) estimate of monthly pension contributions (15%) of wage (after FICA)

$132,000 = yearly take home (rounded down to nearest thousand)

That is a grossly inflated number, I suspect that the statistic ($75.86 per hour) includes ALL CHRYSLER "WORKERS" (e.g. the CEO, V.P.'s) and not just the hourly UAW wage earners on the line who the article is supposed to be about. I bet the actual number is about 3-4 times less than reported.

I think the media, (in this case FOXNEWS) is partisan and prejudiced against the union employees.

10/08/2007

Keeping my brother off my back

Columbus Day,

I just read this news report regarding a protest at a Columbus Day parade. I marvel at the different ideas and manifestations of protest you see in this country. Just yesterday we had the Life Chain, a protest against the continuing brutality against human babies in their mothers womb. This protest is done by simply standing silently on the side of the road with signs that affirm the position of life. Political conservatives don't make the news by throwing paint on other people's property. They don't block other people's ability to freely move from one location to another. Political conservatives don't trespass. They don't cloak themselves in the 1st Ammendment and then interrupt and shout down others in the act exercising their 1st ammendment rights. Isn't it ironic that political liberals claim the titles; lovers of peace and tolerance, defenders of the oppressed and marginalized, champions of human rights?

Back to Christopher Columbus... In keeping with his tradition of discovery and exploration; let's investigate the politics and history of the European discovery of the Americas. Let's go back through history and review the facts. I know that doesn't necessarily suit certain people's agendas... however, it suits mine.

Christopher Columbus (Cristoval Colon Spanish, Cristoforo Columbo Italian) was born in Genoa, or at least in Genoese territory in 1451, he died at Valladolid Spain in 1506. He developed a remarkable knowledge in Cosmography (mapping of the universe) and was an accomplished seaman and navigator by the 1460's (some records support the age of 14 but definately by the age of 19). He arrived in Portugal in the early 1470's and began to petition the King for support of the novel idea of sailing West to reach the Far East and the lucrative spice trade located there. He then went to Spain with the same idea and pitched that idea through various circles through the 1480's. Columbus was rejected by the King Ferdinand of Spain. This rejection stemmed from an unfavorable report from the Junta (commission) made up of Church and University leaders assigned to investigate the proposal. Remember that at the time King Ferdinand was busy pushing the Moors out of the Iberian Penninsula and was reluctant to divert his attention and resources to a risky scheme.

Coulumbus approached Henry VII of England to no avail and Charles VIII of France, but neither showed any interest. He returned to Spain to begin again with the Spanish Court. The Spanish were involved in one of the final acts of returning Spain completely to Christian rule, the Seige of Granada. This was in 1491. He was again rejected. Disheartened he began traveling on foot to Cordova. He stopped at a convent/monestary for the night. While there he told his story to the Prior... who just happened to be the personal confessor (the priest who is hears the confessions of and provides spiritual direction/advice) of Queen Isabella.

Columbus gained an audience with the Royal Court after gaining Queen Isabella's support. Isabella fronted Columbus money from her personal treasury (which was derived from ecclesiastical sources) in order for Columbus to present himself respectfully before the King. With the Queen, (who was advised by certain people in the Church) championing his cause, Columbus was awarded a contract in April of 1492. After receiving the Sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist, the expidition left the port city of Palos on Aug 3, 1492. They sighted land (the Bahamas) at 2:00 AM on October 12, 1492.

He returned to Barcelona in March of 1493 and was received as a national hero. Spain was poor and the riches found in the new world were of great interest to the King and Queen. He made at least two return trips to the New World, colonies were established and Columbus and his sons were essentially the governors of the colonies. Then greed, abuse of power, and politics (not just Columbus', but the settler's also) resulted in Columbus and his sons being stripped of their offices and returned to Spain.

Obviously, the next several centuries resulted in the complete colonization of the America's. Independence from the European powers followed. Now it's 515 years later. What's the beef?
Here's the way I see it.

1. The persecution and enslavement of native people was nothing new to them, they had been doing it to eachother for centuries. Just like all human persons and cultures have done to each other in all geographic locations.

2. When technology and learning pass you by, you will be at a disadvantage. The Europeans arrived in a land that was undeveloped and only sparcely populated (relative to Europe, North Africa, Middle East, Persia, Asia). The natives were initially peaceful and welcomed the settlers.

3. A knowledge, technology, and development disparity will not long exist between human cultures. The strong will take advantage of their superiority and exploit it for their benefit. This happens in todays world politically, economically, intellectually, culturally, and militarily. That's just the way it is.

4. The native people's of North and South America are actually fortunate that it was European Christians and not people from the Muslim, or Far Eastern civilizations who "Discovered" America, becuase the brutality and subjugation that they now claim occured would have many times worse.

5. The people of the America's today, with native blood and ancestery, are much better off than they would have been if Columbus hadn't made that voyage in 1492. Especially those in the United States and Canada. Where else do you find the defeated and conquered able to maintain a degree of soveriegnty (the indian reservations) and with special rights (e.g. tax, fishing-hunting) simply becuase of your race?

6. And the single greatest thing the native peoples received from the Europeans who gave them an instant advancement in technology (of 3,000 - 5,000 years!!) was the truth of the Christian faith. Unfortunately, some of todays current Native Americans are rejecting that truth, (along with many others in our Post-Christian West) and reverting back to animism, shamanism, and other forms of paganism in a misguided attempt to return to what they romantically and naively have convinced themselves was a better and more peaceful time. Perhaps they'll start kidnapping each other again and enslaving one another. Will the Aztec and Mayan human sacrifice rituals start up again??

7. Happy Columbus Day!! Give thanks that the Christian West was first to settle the New World for I fear the World would be a much more dreary place if not for the influence of a strong, Europeanized North and South America.

Christopher Columbus, Queen Isabella, and King Ferdinand... visionaries who have made a positive difference for the world.