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It's a Wonderful (Busy) Life

Can life get any busier? I hope not. Everyday it's something else.

This weekend Mike's fiancee Dara stayed with us while she was interviewing for jobs and looking for an apartment. She and Mike found a nice apartment in Irvine. Hopefully, she will land a job down in that area. I think they're relieved that they have a place to live after the wedding in May.

Last night we were supposed to have dinner with Kathryn and Alan Scott and their two young daughters, Emily and Sophie. The Scotts are wonderful people here on sabbatical from Ireland. Kathryn is an amazing songwriter who, along with her husband, pastors a church of 700 in northern Ireland. Unfortunately, Sophie came down with a fever and they couldn't come over. They're leaving Thursday, so we probably won't get to see them before they go.

Instead, Cherie and I ended up signing loan docs for a re-fi on our house (real exciting). In the meantime squeals of excitement were heard from outside. Our 6-year-old boy was laughing and cheering his soon-to-be 4-year-old sister, who succeeded at learning to ride her bike without training wheels. She was so proud of herself she even said "I'm proud of myself," while smiling from ear to ear.

Tonight is my other brother-in-law Eddie's 35th birthday. So, my family and I had dinner with him and his family. It was a nice time.

It is so busy, but most of it is really good stuff. We're definately blessed and thankful, but I know Cherie and I sure are tired. This weekend will be pretty full, too. I'm hosting a poker game Friday night; Ryan and Rissa's wedding is Saturday; Donna is having a C-Section Sunday for her new daughter, Isabella; and I lead worship at church on Sunday night. I'm looking forward to our family vacation to Hawaii, 3-1/2 weeks from now.

Why Iran Is Pursuing The Bomb

This is why I'm not optimistic about a peaceful resolution of the crisis with Iran.

Last Monday, just before he announced that Iran had gatecrashed "the nuclear club", President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad disappeared for several hours. He was having a khalvat (tête-à-tête) with the Hidden Imam, the 12th and last of the imams of Shiism who went into "grand occultation" in 941.

According to Shia lore, the Imam is a messianic figure who, although in hiding, remains the true Sovereign of the World. In every generation, the Imam chooses 36 men, (and, for obvious reasons, no women) naming them the owtad or "nails", whose presence, hammered into mankind's existence, prevents the universe from "falling off". Although the "nails" are not known to common mortals, it is, at times, possible to identify one thanks to his deeds. It is on that basis that some of Ahmad-inejad's more passionate admirers insist that he is a "nail", a claim he has not discouraged. For example, he has claimed that last September, as he addressed the United Nations' General Assembly in New York, the "Hidden Imam drenched the place in a sweet light".

Last year, it was after another khalvat that Ahmadinejad announced his intention to stand for president. Now, he boasts that the Imam gave him the presidency for a single task: provoking a "clash of civilisations" in which the Muslim world, led by Iran, takes on the "infidel" West, led by the United States, and defeats it in a slow but prolonged contest that, in military jargon, sounds like a low intensity, asymmetrical war.

In Ahmadinejad's analysis, the rising Islamic "superpower" has decisive advantages over the infidel. Islam has four times as many young men of fighting age as the West, with its ageing populations. Hundreds of millions of Muslim "ghazis" (holy raiders) are keen to become martyrs while the infidel youths, loving life and fearing death, hate to fight. Islam also has four-fifths of the world's oil reserves, and so controls the lifeblood of the infidel. More importantly, the US, the only infidel power still capable of fighting, is hated by most other nations.

Is Iran Next?

Powerline has some interesting commentary about the new issue of the Weekly Standard that is focused on Iran's nuclear program and it's most recent belligerent statements toward the U.S. The commentary focuses on a long article by Reuel Marc Gerecht's entitled: "To bomb, or not to bomb." Here' Gerecht:

Deterrence theory may well work against the clerical regime, but it ought to be admitted that we have never before confronted a regime where anti-Americanism, violence, terrorism, and God's writ have been so intermarried. The Soviets in their hatreds were positively ecumenical. What we are dealing with in the Islamic Republic's ruling revolutionary elite is a politer, more refined, more cautious, vastly more mendacious version of bin Ladenism. It is best that such men not have nukes, and that we do everything in our power, including preventive military strikes, to stop this from happening.

So we will all have to wait for President Bush to decide whether nuclear weapons in the hands of Khamenei, Rafsanjani, Ahmadinejad, and the Revolutionary Guards Corps are something we can live with. Given the Islamic Republic's dark history, the burden of proof ought to be on those who favor accommodating a nuclear Iran. Those who are unwilling to accommodate it, however, need to be honest and admit that diplomacy and sanctions and covert operations probably won't succeed, and that we may have to fight a war--perhaps sooner rather than later--to stop such evil men from obtaining the worst weapons we know.

John Hinderaker comments: Maybe I'm completely wrong about this, but it strikes me as almost inconceivable that we could take any military action against Iran. The left's attack on the Iraq war has been intended, in part, to destroy the Bush administration. But there is a second, equally important objective: by portraying the Iraq war as a disaster and turning American public opinion against it, the left hopes to reprise its Vietnam success by making it impossible, for a generation, for the U.S. to fight a meaningful war. Hasn't that project been successful? I think it has, although whether its impact will last for a generation remains to be seen.

Environmental Confusion

Mike and I occasionally have interesting discussions about the political and economic implications of environmental policy. I subscribe to the point of view that we should do our best to protect the environment with sensible policies that don't simultaneously destroy the economy. Mike has expressed similar sentiments.

I am certainly no expert, so I typically defer to Mike on environmental issues because he is much more knowledgeable. As I understand it, he generally subscribes to the belief that human activity is largely responsible for global warming. But, lately I've read a number of articles by academics and scientists disputing the commonly held notion that global warming is occurring and that we're all doomed.

Today I found this article in the Brussels Journal, entitled "Kyoto: An Open Letter to the European Governments and the European Commission." It actually focuses on a letter written by "60 accredited experts in climate and related scientific disciplines" to the Canadian Prime Minister. The experts made some pretty shocking statements, including:

“If, back in the mid-1990s, we knew what we know today about climate, Kyoto would almost certainly not exist, because we would have concluded it was not necessary.”

“Climate change is real” is a meaningless phrase used repeatedly by activists to convince the public that a climate catastrophe is looming and humanity is the cause. Neither of these fears is justified. Global climate changes all the time due to natural causes and the human impact still remains impossible to distinguish from this natural “noise.” The new Canadian government's commitment to reducing air, land and water pollution is commendable, but allocating funds to “stopping climate change” would be irrational. We need to continue intensive research into the real causes of climate change and help our most vulnerable citizens adapt to whatever nature throws at us next.

We believe the Canadian public and government decision-makers need and deserve to hear the whole story concerning this very complex issue. It was only 30 years ago that many of today's global-warming alarmists were telling us that the world was in the midst of a global-cooling catastrophe. But the science continued to evolve, and still does, even though so many choose to ignore it when it does not fit with predetermined political agendas.

As someone who cares about the environment, but admittedly is no expert, I find these new studies confusing. Environmentalists, many of whom have a political agenda, have told us repeatedly over the past decade that human causation of global warming is indisputable. Anyone who thinks otherwise is condemned either as a polluter, a nut job, or in the pocket of big industry.

I don't think dogmatic environmentalists have helped the debate about global warming by trying to stamp out competing viewpoints. I'd like to know the truth. Then we can formulate sensible policies to make the earth healthier, while protecting the economy.

Plush Recap

The Lower Than Angels show at Plush Cafe in downtown Fullerton went well last Wednesday night. We had a good crowd out to see us, Ryan Webster's band, and a couple of rock bands from Biola University.

It was a bit tough because it was the first time all five band members had been in the same room at the same time. About an hour before the gig I sat down with Bob Hartry and went over his parts so he could remember them (it had been a couple months since he had last played with us). Unfortunately, we have some pretty complex arrangements and it's not that easy just to jump in. So, that was a bit stressful.

Also, it was my brother-in-law Mike Harrison's first gig with us. Mike did a great job and sang his parts well, too. So, that was fun. I know he was pretty stressed out about it, not wanting to screw up. Mike asked how I thought the gig went and I characterized it as "uptight." Because it was Mike's first gig and Bobby's first in a couple of months, I think there was a lot of anxiety about not screwing up parts. So, there were very few times when it felt like the band relaxed.

I also realized that it is difficult to fit LTA's big sound into such a small venue as Plush Cafe. Three guitarists doing intricate parts, loops, and atmospherics, as well as two- and three-part harmonies create a pretty crowded sound palette. We'll probably continue to do those gigs because they are fun and local. But, I hope to branch out to some other venues soon.

Oh, and I asked one of the band members of another band (who will remain anonymous) to take some photographs, but 99% of them turned out horribly. So, unfortunately, we don't have any good photos of the night (I may post one of them later).

Busy Week

I can't believe it's been a week since my last post. This is by far the longest lapse since I began blogging last year. The reason posting has been so light is that I've been out every night this week at some musical function (e.g. a songwriter meeting, a band rehearsal, and two concerts). It's been really fun, but exhausting. Hopefully I'll have more time to blog this weekend. I've been reading and thinking about a lot of stuff lately.

Western Response to Terrorhan

Victor Davis Hanson believes that Tehran's strategy to obtain nuclear weapons miscalculates the response of the West, particularly the U.S. and Israel. He writes:

Ever since September 11, the subtext of this war could be summed up as something like, “Suburban Jason, with his iPod, godlessness, and earring, loves to live too much to die, while Ali, raised as the 11th son of an impoverished but devout street-sweeper in Damascus, loves death too much to live.” The Iranians, like bin Laden, promulgate this mythical antithesis, which, like all caricatures, has elements of truth in it. But what the Iranians, like the al Qaedists, do not fully fathom, is that Jason, upon concluding that he would lose not only his iPod and earring, but his entire family and suburb as well, is capable of conjuring up things far more frightening than anything in the 8th-century brain of Mr. Ahmadinejad. Unfortunately, the barbarity of the nightmares at Antietam, Verdun, Dresden, and Hiroshima prove that well enough.

So far the Iranian president has posed as someone 90-percent crazy and 10-percent sane, hoping we would fear his overt madness and delicately appeal to his small reservoirs of reason. But he should understand that if his Western enemies appear 90-percent children of the Enlightenment, they are still effused with vestigial traces of the emotional and unpredictable. And military history shows that the irrational 10 percent of the Western mind is a lot scarier than anything Islamic fanaticism has to offer.

So, please, Mr. Ahmadinejad, cool the rhetoric fast — before you needlessly push once reasonable people against the wall, and thus talk your way into a sky full of very angry and righteous jets.

Will Truth Reign in the Kingdom of Fear?

An interesting article over at Powerline covering a talk by Sayyed Ayad Raouf Jamal al-Din at the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

Jamal al-Din ran for parliament on the slate headed by former prime minister Alawi. This was a national unity slate, and it fared poorly in the election. But Jamal al-Din remains as insistent about the need for a unified Iraq as he is about the related concept of separation of religion and state. He talked little about Sunni vs. Shiite vs. Kurd and much about truth vs. fear and democracy vs. tyranny. And when he spoke of terrorism, he spoke of Islamic terrorism, not terrorism by any particular faction.

During the question period, I asked Jamal al-Din to say who is winning in Iraq now, truth or fear; democracy or tyranny. He answered by saying that right now Iraq is “a kingdom of fear.” Diana West and I later agreed that this answer is more meaningful and perhpas more disheartening than Dr. Alawi’s claim (which has become a mantra of the left in this country) that Iraq is in the middle of a civil war. In a civil war, there's an enemy army; in a kingdom of fear there are ghosts. An army can be easier to fight than ghosts.

But Jamal al-Din does not seem inordinately disheartened. He believes that the creation of a military and a police force with a national identity would enable the truth-fear, democracy-tyranny struggle to be played out in a clash between sectarian militias and the national army and police force. Though he did not say so, I felt that Jamal al-Din believes this struggle could go either way, and he clearly believes that much depends on the willingness of the U.S. to remain engaged.

Basic InStink (2)

Via Scrappleface:

At the box office this weekend, Ice Age 2 clobbered Basic Instinct 2 hauling in $70 million dollars, compared with less than $3 million for the Sharon Stone movie. One film is about a prehistoric creature’s struggle to survive and find love, the other is the animated sequel to the movie Ice Age.

Why Leftists Hate Conservatives

Some excellent observations by Dennis Prager about why leftists are, on average, meaner and more hateful than conservatives.

Here are a just a few examples of what Dennis is talking about.

Democrats are the 'Party of Compassion' as Islam is the 'Religion of Peace.'

Return Of The Champions

Tonight at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim Mike and I saw Queen with Paul Rodgers of Free and Bad Company fame. The show rocked. Queen did a bunch of my favorites, including Bohemian Rhapsody, We Are The Champions, Under Pressure, and Tie Your Mother Down. I was impressed with how relatively seamless the transitions were between Queen songs and some of Paul Rodgers' past hits, including Bad Company, Feel Like Makin' Love, and All Right Now. Rodgers has just about a perfect voice for an arena rock band.

Master lead guitarist Brian May played his signature guitar through a wall of Vox amps, creating a massive sound. In addition to being a brilliant guitarist May is a very impressive singer . The band's vocals, in general, were huge and spot on, which I loved. The only disappointment was some of the songs they selected to play. I'm not a big fan of Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Another One Bites the Dust, or Radio Ga Ga; but, I realize there's no getting around playing them. I would much rather have heard Killer Queen, Somebody to Love, and You're My Best Friend. Oh, well. Overall, the show was fantastic.

God Save [the] Queen!

McKinney Is A Racist

Something...and Half of Something is a cool blog that I recently found. This post does a good round-up on the disgrace that is Cynthia McKinney, Democrat Congresswoman from Georgia. Here's a summation (with which I wholeheartedly agree):

Never mind that you're supposed to wear your lapel pin as your credentials, Cynthia, oh no, the rules don't apply to you, do they and therefore, its okay to assault a police officer?

You are a disgrace to your state, your office, and this country.

UPDATE: This was her 5th run in with the law on the same issue. Last time she said: "I am absolutely sick and tired of having to have my appearance at the White House validated by white people."

What a racist.

Rhetoric for a 'Long War'

Mark Steyn on the recent protests in the U.S.:

But, while Charlie Sheen is undoubtedly a valiant leader, you couldn't help noticing it was followers the anti-war crowd seemed to be short of on the third anniversary. The next weekend half a million illegal immigrants -- whoops, sorry, half a million fine upstanding members of the Undocumented-American community-- took to the streets, and you suddenly realized what a big-time demonstration is supposed to look like. These guys aren't even meant to be in the country and they can organize a better public protest movement than an anti-war crowd that's promoted 24/7 by the media and Hollywood.

Well, OK, half the anti-war crowd aren't meant to be in the country either, if they'd kept their promise to move to Canada after the last election. But my point is there's no mass anti-war movement. Some commentators claimed to be puzzled by the low turnout at a time when the polls show Iraq increasingly unpopular. But there are two kinds of persons objecting to the war: There's a shriveled Sheehan-Sheen left that's in effect urging on American failure in Iraq, and there's a potentially far larger group to their right that's increasingly wary of the official conception of the war. The latter don't want America to lose, they want to win -- decisively. And on the day's headlines -- on everything from the Danish cartoon jihad to the Afghan facing death for apostasy -- the fainthearted response of "public diplomacy" is in danger of sounding only marginally less nutty than Charlie Sheen.

French Riots

A funny article in the Toronto Star discusses the obsurdity of the recent French riots (what isn't obsurd about France nowadays?).

Here is how I understand last week's wave of marches, riots and blockades in the land of loitering existentially in smoky cafés while making meaningful hand gestures:

Lots of over-educated youths with too much black in their wardrobes are desperate to dress up in balaclavas and bandannas and torch things because (now let me word this correctly) they are disillusioned that their government wants to help them get jobs, because when you get a job there is a big danger you might one day lose it, especially if you are crap at it.