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TexasAndLiberty
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Name: Jacob
Country: United States
State: Virginia
Metro: Loudoun County
Birthday: 10/20/1986
Interests: Law, politics, theology, music, film, parliamentary procedure, literature, part-time farming, philosophy, history, classical Latin, chess, poetry, etc.
Expertise: Not a politician
Occupation: Student
Industry: Government
Message: message meEmail: email me
AIM:  TexasAndLiberty
Member Since:
2/17/2005
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|  | Currently Watching
Only Angels Have Wings
By Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Richard Barthelmess, Rita Hayworth, Thomas Mitchell, Allyn Joslyn, Sig Ruman, Victor Kilian, John Carroll, Don 'Red' Barry, Noah Beery Jr., Manuel �lvarez Maciste, Milisa Sierra, Lucio Villegas, Pat Flaherty, Pedro Regas, Pat West, Vernon Dent, Tex Higginson, Al Rhein
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Move Along, Nothing To See HereThe Texas Legislature is, somewhat unsurprisingly, going with the status quo. Yesterday the House voted to reelect Speaker Tom Craddick, the Republican who presided over the DeLay-induced redistricting debacle several years ago. (You know, the one where Democrats broke quorum by leaving first for Oklahoma, then New Mexico.) And freshman Senator Dan Patrick's attempt at rule reform in the Senate failed by a margin of 30-1. Yep, looks like business as usual again in Austin... and with a complacent third-term Republican governor, I don't expect anything to change for the better. (One bright spot, I suppose, is the record $14.3 billion surplus. I guess we didn't need a new business tax after all, Mr. Perry...)
Let me assure you that I'm no authority on this topic, having been away from the state for the better part of 18 months. These are just the impressions I get from mainstream news sources. If something important is being kept from me, or if I'm overlooking something in my cynicism, please tell me. Nothing would please me more than to know that I am wrong when I criticize our state's Republican leadership for its lack of bipartisanship, imagination, and common sense.
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| New Year's GreetingsI was so busy this holiday season that I didn't take the time to think about the year just past. Now, I suppose, it's too late. Onwards to 2007! Even without careful reflection, I feel confident in saying that perhaps it will be a good one.
Maybe this is just euphoria because I got my grades in the mail. They were not fantastic, but the best I've done yet. And I know I don't study enough as it is, so hopefully this will not result in a renewed relaxation of my already loose academic standards.
I've said this so many times that it's trite, but I'm tired of hearing the aphorism "It's not the grade you get but what you learn in the class that matters." This is not the case for those of us who aspire to postgraduate degrees. It is the grade. Or, more specifically, the GPA. And I'm afraid that a 3.3 won't do it.
Actually, I sometimes wonder if studying is really the most important thing at school. Maybe growing up is the most important thing. But I suppose studying can be a means to that end.
Yeah, it's going to be a good year.
(For legal purposes, this post does not constitute "careful reflection.")
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It's a Wonderful Life (60th Anniversary Edition)
By James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers, Beulah Bondi, Frank Faylen, Ward Bond, Gloria Grahame, H.B. Warner, Frank Albertson, Todd Karns, Samuel S. Hinds, Mary Treen, Virginia Patton, Charles Williams, Sarah Edwards, William Edmunds, Lillian Randolph, Argentina Brunetti
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Merry Christmas!Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King,
peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
join the triumph of the skies;
with th’ angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King!”
Christ, by highest heaven adored;
Christ, the everlasting Lord;
late in time behold him come,
offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
hail th’ incarnate Deity,
pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King!”
Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
born that we no more may die,
born to raise us from the earth,
born to give us second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King!” | | |
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Double Indemnity (Universal Legacy Series)
By Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Porter Hall, Jean Heather, Tom Powers, Byron Barr, Richard Gaines, Fortunio Bonanova, John Philliber, Betty Farrington, William O'Leary (III), Floyd Shackelford, Sam McDaniel, Frank Billy Mitchell, Edmund Cobb, John Berry, Miriam Franklin, Oscar Smith, Harold Garrison
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On IgnoranceThe sermon I heard yesterday included an aside regarding how much it is necessary to learn and whether some things are best left unknown by most people. This was prompted, I believe, by the use of the word "ignorant" in Ephesians 4; the question was sort of framed as whether or not ignorance is an absolute evil, or an evil at all. The answer given was that it is some kind of contingent good. Because there are some things that none of us need to know that will only confuse us, such as nuclear physics.
(In fact, nuclear power in general is unnecessary. We have enough fossil fuels to last us until the Second Coming of Christ. The earth is not going to be destroyed by greenhouse gases but by fire at the command of God, and he doesn't need our help to do it. Interesting argument; though I was thinking as I heard this that destruction by fire would not be unlike a devastation of the earth by nuclear warfare. I'm not so confident that we couldn't destroy the earth on our own, or at least harm it significantly in violation of our God-given responsibility to care for it.)
But how can we know what we're supposed to know? The answer given was that it's based on God's calling for our lives. This is actually where my disagreement arises; the implicit definition being used of "God's calling" includes only our walk with God and our day-to-day vocation. In contrast, I believe that God has called all of us to many broader things, not the least of which is to live with justice in a free society. And the very origin of the phrase "liberal arts" defines it as those things which are necessary for the education of a free man. This of course assumes that we will live better if we have considered the works of Plato, Shakespeare, and J. S. Bach than if we have not. On a more practical note, it is important as well to know basic details of such things as nuclear physics so that our minds as well can be free: if we have a basic knowledge of the subject, we will not need to rely completely on the opinionated knowledge of others when important questions touching nuclear physics arise.
The NIV Bible was referred to in the same sermon as the "Never Inspired Version," though I try to ignore such things.
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| Sehnsucht"There comes a time when we ask, even of Shakespeare, even of Beethoven, 'Is that all there is?'"--Sartre
"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."--C. S. Lewis
"Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee."--St. Augustine
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