Jon Stewart on Earth Day

It does not look like there was much of a mood to play hackey-sack at the DC Science March, which was held in conjunction with Earth Day celebrations, on the National Mall.

2017 Science March DC on National Mall   photo (Joan) @taleanski via Twitter

Just Donut!

 

An Animated Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation

In the midst of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation for a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens". 

h/t: Tony Zapata

Mike Huckabee on Fluid Sexuality

G.K. Chesterton on Rubbish

It is amazing how prescient that Chesterton sounds in the District of Calamity (sic) during the Twenty First Century.

An Animated John Adams on Independence

"You will think me transported with enthusiasm; but I am not. I am well aware of the toil, and blood, and treasure, that it will cost us to maintain this declaration, and support and defend these states. Yet, through all the gloom, I can see the rays of light and glory; I can see that the end is more than worth all the means, and that posterity will triumph, although you and I may rue, which I hope we shall not."

 ~ John Adams' letter to  his wife Abigail July 3, 1776

A Brief Call For Cellular Change

An important aspect of living in the Twenty-First Century is mobile communications.  Many have severed their ties to landlines.  People use the internet for e-mail, entertainment, information and productivity.  And cellular telephony allows people to take their pocket computers disguised as smartphones everywhere, with the expectation that the devices can be used ubiquitously.

Although the advances in electronics allow for incredible capabilities, the reliability is not perfect and seemingly every option of cellular providers has some disadvantages.

***

It is unwise to think that there is only one answer for everyone on choosing a cellular provider.  Cost can throttle choice.  Coverage can vary widely.  People also use their phones differently.  The best advice is to know yourself and investigate thoroughly.




So many people are seduced into being locked into a carrier with the “New Every Two” mentality.  While wear and tear and technological improvements can make this replacement cycle appealing, the shiny new “toy” comes at a cost of another two year commitment and possible changes in contractual terms.  A couple of years ago, AT and T alienated I Phone owners by altering the “all you can eat” data plans.  New customers had a cap.  Some old AT and T I-Phone customers  also complained that when they wanted to upgrade that their grandfathered unlimited data plans not convey.  

One other calculus which consumers need to consider is convergence.  Cellular technology can act as a phone, a credible camera, a GPS system, a reading device, a mobile computer etc.  When calling for a cellular change, the savvy consumer will explore how his chosen plan and his handset can take advantage of convergence.  For example a usable hot spot capability can connect a laptop or a tablet making a separate device a redundant expense. 

***

Personally, my household has been a contract customer with several of the big four cellular carriers, but we dote on the terms of the contract and will not take the phone upgrade temptation track.  As the market has changed, I am developing an openness to pre-paid models that have lower monthly costs but lack the subsidized phone.  Recently,  I was almost ready to switch, I noticed that my chosen MVNO had a limited selection of phones which had LTE capability.   While I was willing to wait for LTE to officially arrive shortly in the District of Calamity (sic), the limited phone choice prompted me to investigate further.  

It was a good thing that I studied the details, as the only LTE phone did not provide a hotspot option, which was a deal breaker for me.  I was willing to pay $15 a month for a Hot Spot with 2.5 GB full 4G LTE, as I could drop a NetZero low capacity Hot Spot and get better service.   This plan has not been ruled out but tabled for better choices.

In the cellular industry, things can change pretty quickly.  It may be that Amazon puts out a Kindle Phone in which Amazon acts as a MVNO.  Like the Kindle, Amazon may sell their devices at near cost and bank on the ease of future purchases through Amazon to pull out the profitability.  This option is appealing as Amazon’s customer service has been top rate (unlike certain phone companies) and my prior Kindle ownerships have hooked me into their system.  But opting for Amazon would still require scrutinizing the calling plans and handsets and correlating  hem to my household’s needs. 

Choice is great but it can be confusing and requires some sacrifices.  Then again, there’s always  the  Obama phone.  

But the  Lifeline program is rife with abuse and Congress is considering cutting back on the program, which has tripled in size since 2009 to cost $2.2 Billion per year.   Considering President Obama’s troubles with surreptitiously seizing phone records of scores of Associated Press employees, cutting back on the Obama phones might be prudent.

SEE MORE at DCBarroco.com

C.S. Lewis on Dreams

So at last dreams come to pass and I have sat in the sanctum of a publisher discussing my own book (Notice the hideous vulgarity of success already growing in me). Yet—though it is very pleasant—you will understand me when I say that it has not the utter romance which the promise of it had a year ago. Once a dream has become a fact I suppose it loses something. This isn’t affectation: we long and long for a thing and when it comes it turns out to be just a pleasant incident, very much like others.   ~ C.S. Lewis 

Nikita Khrushchev on Politics

Ideology Isolates Opinons on Mass Murder

Between the Lamestream Media reactions to Sandy Hook, the Pop Gun primary school suspension and the willful ignorance about the Dr. Kermit Gosnell slaughterhouse, it's no wonder that Mark Steyn thinks that America is doomed. 

Blinded By Science -- Poetry in Motion Commemorating Earth Day

After being Blinded with Science from the East Anglia hockey stick fixed data about the Climategate anthropogenic Global Warming, it is apropos  to celebrate this years Earth Day with sardonic skepticism.

With this in mind, here is a  poetic gem dedicated to Gaia that was penned by Nobel Peace Prize Winner (2007), subject of the Oscar Winning Documentary (2007) , Grammy Winner (2009), Emmy Winner (2007), Webby Winner (2005) and the 2000 Presidential Election Popular Vote Winner former Vice President Albert Arnold Gore, Jr.




 One thin September soon
A floating continent disappears
In midnight sun

Vapors rise as
Fever settles on an acid sea
Neptune's bones dissolve

Snow glides from the mountain
Ice fathers floods for a season
A hard rain comes quickly

Then dirt is parched
Kindling is placed in the forest
For the lightning's celebration

Unknown creatures
Take their leave, unmourned
Horsemen ready their stirrups

Passion seeks heroes and friends
The bell of the city
On the hill is rung

The shepherd cries
The hour of choosing has arrived
Here are your tools

Despite his bleak climate change poetry, it is a miracle that Al Gore is around on Earth and deriving a $100 million personal profit from the sale of CurrentTV to Al Jazeera.  Gore had predicted in 2008 that the North Pole Ice Cap would be completely melted by the end of 2012.


Of course these evocative verses have a different feel as they were recited by Glenn Beck and cohorts on Beck’s “Elegant Eliminations” Tour.

Did either version release your second chakra?

Frédéric Bastiat Speaks Out On Liberty

"It seems to me that this is theoretically right, for whatever the question under discussion—whether religious, philosophical, political, or economic; whether it concerns prosperity, morality, equality, right, justice, progress, responsibility, cooperation, property, labor, trade, capital, wages, taxes, population, finance, or government—at whatever point on the scientific horizon I begin my researches, I invariably reach this one conclusion: The solution to the problems of human relationships is to be found in liberty." 

                                                           ~ Frederic Bastiat

An Animated Dr. Benjamin Carson Speaks Out

Dr. Benjamin Carson, MD is the head of pediatric neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.  Dr. Carson has been a public figure since gave the keynote speech at the 1997 National Prayer Breakfast when he challenges attendees to “Think Big” when encouraging young people to care about their fellow men, to develop their God given talents to the utmost and to have values and principles in their live.  President George W. Bush awarded Dr. Carson the Medal of Freedom in 2008. 

Dr. Ben Carson receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom September 2008 

When Dr. Carson gave the keynote speech for the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast, he touched upon a thornier themes of how Americans freedoms can be impinged by financial imprudence with the impending implementation of Obamacare in front of President Barack Obama.   Since then, Carson has been vocal in voicing his view on politics as he promotes his latest book “America the Beautiful”.

As Dr. Carson is challenging  shibboleths about health care, political correctness and class expectations of viewpoints, liberals have been loathe to appreciate Dr. Carson’s political injections into the national conversation.   After an appearance on Fox News Channel’s Hannity Show, where Dr. Carson seemingly lumped homosexuals with pedophiles and proponents of bestiality as wanting to challenge traditional cultural definitions like marriage.  This prompted eight students to protest Dr. Carson’s slated commencement speech at Johns Hopkins University.  Dr. Carson seems to have pronounced this invitation dead in response.

In this agitated environment, Dr. Benjamin Carson gave an animated interview with Mark Levin:



Carson, who has decided to retire from his medical practice, seems intent on continuing to speak out on the affairs of state.  Carson’s message is music to conservatives ears. As Dr. Carson is a soothing speaker sharing conservative views without being associated with Republicans, it should be expected that liberal opponents mired in the politics of personal destruction will continue to lob verbal bombs hoping that it will tarnish Carson’s almost unimpeachable persona.  

It would not be surprising if Dr. Carson aspires for higher elective office.    Thoughtful voters should consider any candidates credentials, their world view as well as their ideas when deciding who should govern them, rather than keying on gaffes, innuendo and tired partisan platitudes. 

What Will Be the Difference for Marquette?

As the victorious warriors of the basketball court advance to the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament, it has sparked some hermaneutical introspection.

A Converse perspective adopts the Athletic Department’s enthusiasm.

It is no wonder that the Marquette Men’s basketball program has a 24 game winning streak, considering the loyalty of its fans, as shown by sell outs of the Bradley Center and the energy exerted in the student section.  One small detail that belies Marquette’s Ignatian charism is the one word sentence “Pray”.

Another symbol of the University is the school seal with the strange Latinate motto “Numen flumeneque” It translates to “God and the [Mississippi] River.

Stained Glass of Marquette Seal, Sensenbrernner Hall, Milwauke, WI

The motto has more meaning when one understands Père Jacques Marquette was a Jesuit missionary  who, along with Louis Jolliet, was one of the first Europeans to explore the northern portion of the Mississippi River in 1673.  Marquette’s alacrity with languages came in handy in his mission to spread the gospel to various indigenous tribes in the new world (a.k.a. “New France”) as he worked with the Hurons, then had good relations with the Illinois tribe as well as when he explored.

Aside from  Père Marquette, the school seal incorporates imagery which honors St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus (a.k.a. the Jesuits).  The diagonal red and gold bands honors heroes from Ignatius’ lineage who achieved valor in battle. In addition,  the wolves in the coat of arts symbolize the generosity of the Loyola family that even the wolves found something in the kettle to feast.

In 2002, Marquette University adopted the tag line “Be the difference” as it challenged the Marquette community to be leaders to make important contributions, which echoes the Ignatian attitude to be “contemplation in action”

Marquette athletic teams have gone by several monikers.  Originally, they were named “the Hill Toppers” due to their topography.  In the 1920s, they were nicknamed “the Golden Avalanche”by sports writers  for their football prowess..  Other teams were informally tagged “the Blue and the Gold”.  The name that really stood out was the Warriors, which all Marquette teams sported from 1954 to 1994, including the infamous 1970 NIT Champions and the 1977 NCAA Champion basketball teams under Al McGuire.

Aside from a proud record for Marquette basketball, the University has the knack for choosing colorful and charismatic coaches.  The 2013 jerseys bear patches to Al McGuire as well as Rick Majerus, who played for the Warriors (or warmed the bench as he would put it), was an assistant coach and head coach before moving on.  This is Buzz William’s fifth season at Marquette.  Williams takes a humble but persistent approach with his team.  Williams recently observed:

That's just another Marquette game.  We're not good enough to blow anybody out. We're just good enough to get blown out. And if we can turn it into a fight and make it ugly, then it probably trends toward helping us the most. What you saw is a microcosm of our culture.

They also have been playing with teamwork and everyone contributing.  In a recent March Madness game, Buzz Williams made 67 substitution.  Many of the bench players get more minutes than the starters.  It may be synchronicity but this humble, determined and gritty approach approximates the Jesuit ideal.

Marquette basketball has produced some great pro players of late, including Dwayne Wade (Miami Heat) and Jae Crowder (Dallas Mavericks).  But aside from their atheletic excellence, Marquette student athletes have stellar graduation rates.  Marquette athletes have a 91% graduation rate, compared to 78% of the whole student body.

In 1994, Marquette University President hastened a change from the Warriors to the Golden Eagles, allegedly so that the Warriors could be unisex, but what is more likely is that the machinations were to be politically correct and to sell more licensed sportswear.  Even today, Marquette basketball games are punctuated with spontaneous cheers “Let’s go Warriors!” instead of chanting up the unremarkable  “Golden Eagles”.

While the Willie Wampum cartoon Warrior was obviously offensive to modern mores, Marquette University crafted a Warrior consulting with various Indian tribes that bespoke honor and valor in battle, much like Ignatius of Loyola’s black robed religious warriors.


This is Marquette University basketball’s third straight trip to the Sweet Sixteen, and first advance to the Elite Eight since 2003, where they were roundly beaten by Kansas.  There is the possibility that there might be a rematch between the Jayhawks and Marquette in this year’s final four.  Rather than be haunted by the past, it is better to be calm and ahoya on.

Win or lose, Warrior or Golden Eagle, may the imprint of Marquette to be the difference in the world.  But if it helps, the Elite Eight game is being played in the District of Calamity (sic).

Pere Marqutte Statue by  Gaetano Trentanove (1896)

The Wisconsin contribution to the Congressional collection is none other than Père Jacques Marquette.  It used to be in Statuary Hall but now is displayed in the Congressional Visitors Center at the U.S. Capitol. Perhaps that omen will bring some luck to keep the Blue on Gold on route to the Atlanta Highway for the Final Four.

Pat Caddell's Prophetic Philippic Against the Political Class

One of the most striking speeches at CPAC 2013 were Pat Caddell’s remarks on the “Should We Shoot All the Consultants Now?” panel.  Caddell indignantly observed:

When you have the Chief of Staff of the Republican National Committee and the political director of the Romney campaign, and their two companies get $152 million at the end of the campaign for the “fantastic” get-out-the-vote program… some of this borders on RICO violations. 

Rush Limbaugh was so impacted by Caddell’s caustic comments that he spent nearly twenty minutes of airtime reading the excepts, because El Rushbo could not get his hands on any audio.  

Serendipitously, Politichicks TV Michelle Moons caught Caddell’s emphatic indictments against Mitt Romney and his reliance on self-centered political consultants on video.  Unfortunately, it was shot at an unfortunate angle and has spotty audio quality.   Still, the damning appraisal deserves to be heard by anyone interested in public policy and good governance, so listen again with earphones in necessary.

With this in mind, this animation attempts to put a better face to Caddell’s prophetic condemnation of the Cocktail Party’s Political Class.   Since Caddell often would make asides during his remarks, the audio was slightly edited to keep focused the corrosive effect of crony capitalism among the GOP establishment.

h/t: Breitbart
h/t: Politichicks

Mark Steyn Pops Off About Punishing for Pop Tart Pistols

Last week, the progressive paranoia about guns combined with American public school zero tolerance policies for a bizarre result.  Joshua Welch, a seven year old boy from Ann Arundel County, Maryland nibbled  his Pop Tart into something that resembled a pistol and saying "Bang, bang".  For this grievous offense, Welch was suspended for creating a "classroom disruption" with an inappropriate gesture.

While substitute hosting Rush Limbaugh's radio program, Mark Steyn took aim at this confluence of nanny state insanity.

Maverick McCain Serves Up a Bitter Ideological Amuse Bouche

Senator Rand Paul’s (R-KY) blockbuster filibuster of CIA Director John Brennan’s nomination sparked  considerable friction by his  fellow party member Senator John McCain (R-AZ) both on and off the Senate floor.  

To try to discern why the senior Senator from Arizona lashed out at the McCain Mutiny, it is instructive to delve into a recent friendly interview that McCain had with radio talk show host Michael Medved.  Medved was an early supporter of McCain’s Presidential race in the 2008 cycle and his center-right politics sync well  with the maverick Senator's stances.

A major aspect of  McCain’s P.R. campaign was to continue a hellfire drone attack against Senator Rand Paul’s attention-getting filibuster.  




To his credit, Senator McCain fought hard for military issues and worried about isolationist tendencies of libertarian oriented Senator Paul. 

SEE MORE at DCBarroco.com 

Frederick Douglass on Politics

If only contemporary audiences could really hear the wisdom of "Liberty's Champion":

Abraham Lincoln on Freedom

The nose of this bronze bust of Lincoln is discolored by so many visitors rubbing it. 

If you plan to visit Lincoln's tomb in Springfield, Illinois, do not expect to have an engaging encounter à la Night at the Museum.

A Glimpse of the Nekkid Truth as America Approaches the Fiscal Cliffs

As politicians on both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue perform the strip tease regarding the avoiding Fiscal Cliff, it is worth stepping back to chuckle and simultaneously smirk at what brought us here.

In late November, protesters who could have been typecast out of the Occupy Wall Street sit-ins, albeit better bathed and sans clothes, decided to demonstrate in Speaker John Boehner's office regarding cuts from the sequestration


 

When commenting on the Capitol Hill streaking spectacle, former Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY) quipped at a Christian Science Monitor luncheon about the difference between being "naked" and "nekkid".  Obviously from the messages on their backs, they were up to something...

A similar case can be made about approaching the fiscal cliffs and budgetary sequestration

Typical of his governing style, President Obama had a hands off approach to budget negotiations when he went on his Hawaiian holiday.  When the President showily returned to the District of Calamity for budget talks, he gathered politicos for a photo op, offered nothing new and dictated how Congress should legislate by demanding an up and down vote, which might not even carry the upper chambers majority caucus.

Speaker Boehner called back House Members on Sunday afternoon in case there was a legislative compromise.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) have tried to craft a last minute compromise.  It would not be surprising if the proverbial can gets kicked another month down the road...



So expect lawmakers to realize that they are "nekkid" and find a fig leaf.  The problem is that such a fig leaf of a plan essentially covers nothing and may get everyone banished from the land of the free and the home of the brave.

SEE MORE at DCBarroco.com