Salon has a very good piece about the Republican strategy of targeting churches in their drive for the re-election of George Bush. It’s a well-balanced article, and worth the read (and the ads) if you think the Christian Coalition represents the political thought of all Christians in America.

Posted on 6 July 2004

Sometimes you just have to wonder about people. I see plenty of things each day that make me say “Wha….?” but over the last two days the wha… quotient has increased.

First, on the ride to work, I saw a Hummer with a “Get Bush Out!” bumper sticker. I’d like to think that it was actually a hard-core libertarian driving that beast, but something tells me it was some airheaded liberal.

Second, last night I saw Buick Park Avenue festooned with PETA and “Meat is Murder” bumper stickers. Fine and dandy I thought, until I noticed the car’s fine leather interior. Good one.

Now, on to more serious topics. I’ve recently discovered the writings of a Dutch minister/politician named Abraham Kuyper. Kuyper created his own political party in the Netherlands in the late 19th century (the Antirevolutionary Party) which was based on his version of Calvinism. The party eventually won a bloc of seats in the parliament, and Kuyper went on to become the Dutch prime minister in 1901. I’ve yet to delve too deeply into Kuyper’s political thought, but it seems he believed that Christians could work with (and within) a secular government and still do God’s work without ramming Christianity down the throats of the citizens. Of course, as the linked article points out, Kuyper’s political ideas aren’t easily applied within the framework of a two party system where there is no “third side” to balance the arguments.

Posted on 1 July 2004

I’ve been neglecting this space again, thanks to a busy work schedule and family visits…..

First, a little Rally Turkey wrapup. Seb Loeb won the rally, though he had quite a moment on the very last competitve stage — a wheel bearing on the Xsara seized, and he was forced to crawl to the finish on three wheels. He had a enough of a cushion, however to keep his lead. Marcus Gronholm took second place and Petter Solberg took third. Nobody had an easy time of it, with Gronholm struggling with gearbox problems in his 307 and Solberg damaging his Impreza on day two. Loeb maintains his lead in the driver’s championship, with Solberg nine points behind. Markko Martin and Marcus Gronholm are roughly twenty points out of the lead, though Martin is watching the season slowing slip away after a non-points finish in Turkey. Solberg and Gronholm have their work cut out for them on the next few gravel rallies — they’ve got to keep Loeb in their sights before the championship turns to the tarmac rounds, where Loeb is expected to completely dominate.

Bike stuff — I graduated to a 42 tooth chainring this weekend. The rides to and from work have gone a bit faster now, since I don’t spin out as quickly on the downhills, and I get more bang for the buck on the flats. I have not, however, climbed much in this gear, so we’ll see how the first trip up 40th Street goes….

A couple of thoughts on theocracy….many theocrats are dyed in the wool conservative free-market types, and I want to ask them a question. If your faith is really Biblically-based, and you understand that people are going to bend and break the rules for their own benefit, how can you believe in a completely free market? Shouldn’t a Christian government be looking out for the have-nots and protecting the less fortunate?

Posted on 29 June 2004

The Rally Turkey started today, and as expected it’s been a rough event, with matters complicated by heavy rains with have turned some of the stages into rivers. Carlos Sainz is the only works driver to have made it through the day unscathed, though all he has to show for it is fourth place.

The biggest casualty has been Markko Martin. Martin had problems all day, culminating in a water-crossing gone bad, costing him 50 MINUTES to the leaders. Martin has quite an uphill fight to even back into championship contention, and given the consistency shown by Petter Solberg and Sebastien Loeb, he needs an absolute miracle to even be in the title hunt.

Solberg had several moments throughout the day, but he lies in third, just under a minute behind Loeb. No doubt he’ll judge Loeb’s pace tomorrow and decide whether or not to fight for second or gun for the win. Marcus Gronholm is currently in second, roughly 15 seconds adrift of Loeb, and the Finn is happy with that result, given his rough morning. He is close enough to Loeb to force the issue and not allow Loeb to back off at all tomorrow.

Loeb actually benefited from the poor conditions — driving first on the road (as championship leader) he wasn’t acting as a gravel sweeper, and, thanks to the mud, the later drivers had to deal with rocks and deep ruts. Loeb has to hope for drier roads tomorrow, however, since he’ll be running last on the road.

There’s a pack of drivers, including Sainz, Francois Duval, and Harri Rovanpera, bunched behind Solberg, so it should be an interesting weekend. Drivers won’t be content to stand pat with only seconds separating them.

Posted on 25 June 2004

It’s good to see a left-leaning website point out a few problems with Michael Moore’s latest movie. First up is a scathing critique by that grumpy Englishman Christopher Hitchens. Usually I find Hitchens too pompously verbose, but he points out a few problems with Moore’s conclusions. Next up is an artcle by Jack Shafer pointing out the ridiculousness of Moore’s claims to sue anyone who speaks ill of his movie. Like Shafer points out, Hitchens should be his first target.

It seems that Michael Moore is fast becoming the left’s Rush Limbaugh, except on the silver screen instead of the airwaves. He’s becoming an windbag who seeks to offend the other side with nuggets of half-truths. Interestingly, a lot of people on the left are taking Moore’s movie as gospel truth despite what Moore said about it (and what Shafer repeats in his article):

Fahrenheit 9/11 is “an op-ed piece. It’s my opinion about the last four years of the Bush administration. And that’s what I call it. I’m not trying to pretend that this is some sort of, you know, fair and balanced work of journalism.

Yet ask a lot of liberals and they’ll tell you this is best piece of fair journalism to come out in the last four years.

Posted on 23 June 2004

I finally bought some new music this week, after a long drought of nothing new except a smattering of downloads.

First up, The End is Near from The New Year. The Kadane brothers are fantastic songwriters, a few other bands can create such beautiful music. This is a better release than Newness Ends, in part because they’ve come back around to the chime-y guitars and big sound of the Bedhead days.

Next up is Ghosts of Tables and Chairs from Citizens Here and Abroad. I just stumbled upon these guys last week, and liked them enough to buy their album. It’s easy to compare them to Death Cab for Cutie’s more upbeat moments, or even perhaps Built To Spill’s poppier moments, but they keep things moody in their own little way.

Posted on 22 June 2004

Slate has a fine article on why the Supreme Court was correct to throw out the Pledge case yesterday on what appeared to be technicalities. It’s interesting how many in the mainstream media (on both sides of the issue) have completed ignored the underlying facts of this case (the custody battle between Newdow and his daughter’s mother). Perhaps this wouldn’t have been such a high profile, derisive case has everyone known the facts.

Posted on 15 June 2004

So I’m working from home again, since I spent the weekend on said back, and I figured one more day might really help. I also went to see my doctor today with the slight hope that he’d offer a prescription to some sort of muscle relaxer. I must not have been cringing in pain enough, because he poked and prodded a bit, and told me keep up with the ibuprofen, stretching and heat. This doctor isn’t a big believer in muscle relaxers, and he said he actually believes plain old Vitamin I is best. There’s been very little pain today, so now I’ve got to decide whether or not to stay off my bike one more day tomorrow for the ride to work. Decisions, decisions…..

Posted on 14 June 2004

Well, thanks to my stupidity, my back flared up again on Friday, and has left me couch-bound this weekend. Despite the appearance of being very lazy, there are few things I hate more than forced inactivity. I can deal with a day or two of it on vacation, but forced inactivity at home is the worst. There’s a long list of things that need to be done around the house:

* Start building a bouldering wall in the basement.
* Replace a basement with glass block.
* Do something about the weedy hillside in front of the house.
* Continue gardening the back yard.

On top of this list, there’s also the list of stuff to do at the old house, which includes:

* Mowing the lawn (which should be knee-high at this point).
* Cleaning the kitchen.
* Sweeping up the basement.

But instead, I’m stuck on the couch. Yesterday I began reading Bel Canto (which is quite good), and I’m sure I’ll finish that up today. On the bright side, I can stand up and move around without a lot of pain — my back seems to be mostly stiff from the pain yesterday. I’m considered working from home tomorrow, just because I can’t stomach the thought of riding the bus. *

* Please note — I’ve got nothing against public transportation. I think it’s a good thing. I just see it as a momumental waste of my time, since it’ll take 40 minutes or so to get to and from work (each way), and I can ride to and from work in 15-20 munutes.

Posted on 13 June 2004

Despite a still-slightly-sore back, I rode into work this morning, mostly because I was too lazy to fight the navigation on the PAT website to see when the 77F runs. On the way in, at the 62nd Street bridge, a guy rolled up next to me on his bike — “fixed or free?” “Fixed” I said. “Me too.” Turns out this guy’s been riding fixed for 25 years, and he was on a sweet custom made Serotta (which was about 20 years old). He commutes to work in Lawrenceville everyday, and often does long training rides on the same bike. Very cool. He’s the first non-messenger fixed gear rider I’ve met in the city (though I’ve spoken to at least one other via email).

Posted on 10 June 2004