• Doing Write: Passing the sniff test http://bit.ly/3rTuaG #nanowrimo #
• Oh, for the record: sprinklers blown yesterday, thus making the world save for PVC piping. #
• For next visit to the UK, need to be sure and get up-to-date with quaint local customs. http://bit.ly/1chm10 #tipsforukvisit #
• 16 x 45 gal. leaf bags later, the front yard looks a LOT better. But not done yet (except for today). #
• SEB makes the jump to WordPress. – Grats! http://bit.ly/2kvha #
• Went to a #NaNoWriMo write-in at Tattered Cover. Much more fun, less threatening than expected – will repeat. Thanks, @doycet. #

• Doing Write: Words, more (and less) http://bit.ly/2QyoNy #nanowrimo #
• Well, I *was* going to get to bed early tonight, but … #
• Doing Write: Counting words for the sidebar (revisited) http://bit.ly/3fXfVJ #nanowrimo #
• Annoying thing about NaNoWriMo is no matter how well you do Day X, you still have to be at it Day X+1. Kinda like work. #
• The frustration relying on the Internet for venting is when you can't because of the off chance that someone will see it who mustn't. #
• And tonight — off to the Melting Pot for a long-overdue birthday dinner for my honey-bunny. Huzzah! #
• Doing Write: Falling behind http://bit.ly/3Qg8qu #nanowrimo #
• Melting Pot is good as always, except … No Old School Mushroom Salad. NOOOOOOOOO!!!! #

Katherine at the Melting Pot.

… and don’t let anything — like the lack of a corkscrew, or serious inebriation, get in the way.

I may have to try that some time …

(via Margie)

Read this article by John Nichols about how the horrible killings at Ft Hood were immediately spawning an Islamophobic response before much anything was known about the alleged perpetrator or his motivations — except for his religion.

And, on cue, we get in the comments:

Madness prevails. For instance we are wasting our time responding to crybaby leftwing blog pundits in media such as Nichols who is trying his best to find a story that distances itself from the main topic. AMERICANS KILLED BY A MUSLIM ON A BASE!! So it’s a knee jerk reaction…all of you are more worried about being PC than the families of dead or wounded.

Ah, yes. Saying that we should not rush to judgment means nobody cares about the victims.  May I knot that noose for you, sir?

Because, of course, we should definitely take the easy course here in assuming where the crime lies. Clearly, looking at Major Hasan, we can definitely say …

• AMERICANS KILLED BY SOLDIER ON BASE! Well, we certainly can’t assume that soldiers are murderers (except under orders). That would be unpatriotic.
• AMERICANS KILLED BY MAJOR ON BASE!  An officer and a gentleman?  I should think not!
• AMERICANS KILLED BY PSYCHIATRIST ON BASE! Well, shrinks are pretty dodgy, to be sure, but who would assume that any psychiatrist is secretly plotting to kill everyone around him — that’s just crazy!
• AMERICANS KILLED BY GUY ABOUT TO BE DEPLOYED TO ON BASE! That couldn’t have anything at all to do with it, not at all.  Every soldier is glad to serve, and none would ever be possibly stressed or depressed or dangerous over the prospect of being sent over to, say, Iraq.
• AMERICANS KILLED BY AMERICAN CITIZEN ON BASE!  American citizens would never kill anyone, I assure you.  That’s terribly unpatriotic even to suggest.
• AMERICANS KILLED BY BALD GUY ON BASE!  That’s just silly — bald guys are harmless.
• AMERICANS KILLED BY MAN ON BASE! Oh, right, blame it on men, you Feminazi.
• AMERICANS KILLED BY MUSLIM ON BASE! Oh, well, he’s Muslim, that explains everything … I mean, we know that all Muslims are part of an unholy jihad against all true Americans (read: Christians), given the daily occurrence of jihadi killings committed by the vast majority of the 2-6 million Muslims in the US.  Case solved!

Now, it may well turn out that Major Hasan did go on his murderous attack out of some religious motivation (as opposed to being bald, or being an American, or being on the deployment list for Iraq). Leaping to that conclusion based on only several hours of TV journalistic “fact-finding,” however, betrays more of the leaper’s prejudices in the situation than any critical judgment or insight.

And as I’ve noted elsewhere, if we’re going to conclude from acts of religiously-motivated murder by a handful of Muslims that all Muslims are enemies of the United States and should be interned or deported or forcably converted to Christianity or otherwise treated as second-class citizens … will we be drawing the same conclusion about all Pro-Life Activists, based on the religiously-motivated murders by a handful of their number?

Note: I expect that any action by the Depts. of Defense and Justice in this situation, short of organizing a lynch mob and/or auto-de-fe in the next few days, will be laid at Obama’s feet as proof that he has “Islamic sympathies.”  Mark my words.

• RT @Maggie One thing I like about bookstores: how books dampen sound so everything seems more still, like something good is about to happen. #
• Up side: no coughing fits last night. Down side: headache this morning, which goes great with new coughing fits. #
• Doing Write: Counting words for the sidebar http://bit.ly/19mp3f #nanowrimo #
• Wow. I really need a hair cut. #
• Can't believe Thursday's over. But not complaining. #
• Wait — is it PelosiCare? Or ObamaCare? I'm so confused — what? Oh, HITLERCare. Whew! Thanks for clearing that up, Right! #

Brian Cronin at Comics Should Be Good is posting, 3-4 at a time, his pick for the 75 most iconic DC comic book covers of all time (well, to date). So far, this mix doesn’t have too much to debate about (maybe the Teen Titans and Swamp Thing entries — attractive, but iconic?).

The idea is that Brian’s posting about 90-odd covers, then will open it up for a poll for the top 75 in order.

Fun.

Upcoming items I expect we’ll see: “Flash of Two Worlds,” “Kryptonite No More!” “The Laughing Fish,” and something from Kirby. There’s also a famous Adam Strange one I can just picture, but can’t identify. It will be interesting to see if any Vertigo titles (beyond Preacher) are included — something for John Constantine seems likely, but I can’t think of a particularly iconic one.

• Doing Write: The Muse is a harsh mistress http://bit.ly/3eMqMu #nanowrimo #
• I don't know if my cough is getting worse, but it's not getting better, and it's getting a hell of a lot more irksome. Rrg. #
• RT @ObWi: Lesson Dems should take: Do more and get big stuff done. Lesson Dems will likely take: Do even less. #
• Finally called to get our sprinklers blown for the winter. Much later than usual, but they're coming tomorrow. #
• Off to eat Indian food with local IT team. Lunching with the crew — a concept so radical I haven't done in the last 18 mos. here. #
• Lunch with team would have been nicer if some guy weren't half the time coughing a lung out into his napkin. Esp if I weren't the some guy. #
• Doing Write: Neil Gaiman on NaNoWriMo http://bit.ly/12WyBL #nanowrimo #
• Doing Write: End of Chapter http://bit.ly/1oRuzl #nanowrimo #
• Karate hacks less pleasant, more deadly than karate chops, so skipping tonight. Nertz. #
• It's amusing skimming Twitter on my phone and seeing Margie's playing #Champs by the Tweets it generates at milestones. #
• Doing Write: Human-Human-Computer Interface http://bit.ly/2DZ62f #nanowrimo #

Katherine “bridged” to a Junior Scout last night.  She had fun, we’re all proud, etc., etc.,

And, on a completely unrelated note, a motivational poster from Randy.

Oh, did I mentioned I’m the official “Cookie Dad” for Katherine’s troop?

So I like church.

And I like church music.

And I like carillons of bells, and church bell music and all of that.  And Dorothy Sayers’ The Nine Tailors is fascinating.

That all said — these  folks are waaaaaay out of line.

The fight, pitting religious freedom against the right to be comfortable in one’s own home, started in March 2008 — on Palm Sunday.

After opening in a new location in Phoenix, Ariz., The Cathedral of Christ the King started playing a recording of church bells every half hour — every day — from morning to night.

Let us first set aside that they were playing a recording of church bells — which is an abomination before Man and God that would warrant marching on the place with torches and pitchforks.  Assume, for sake of argument, that these are the finest, sweetest, most melodious church bells this side of some place that has really nice church bells.

Every half hour.  Every day.  Monday through Sunday. Morning to night.

Um … no.

We’re not talking about the Ancient Cathedral of Christ the King where they’ve been doing this since St Swithin’s Day in 1325.  That would probably still irritate some neighbors, but at least it would be a known menace.  You really lose the moral high ground to complain that all those  jets are making a heck of a racket — when you willingly moved next door to the airport.

No, these folks moved to a new location, and then decided to … share.

“To me, it is one of the ways that we express praise and worship to God. And it is also one of the ways that God speaks out and says to the community that there is somebody here that cares,” said Bishop Rick Painter, rector of the Cathedral of Christ the King, a local Charismatic church affiliated with the Anglican Church in North America.

Four things:

1. Is it okay if I open up a mosque next door and bombard the neighborhood with the call to prayer?  Especially if it happens during the homily at your main Sunday Service, Bp. Painter?  No?  But that’s how I (as a hypothetical Muslim) “express praise and worship to God.”
2. If it is okay for you to ring your church bells every half hour to let me, as your neighbor, now that God and you are there and you care — can I come over and knock on your door at 1 a.m. and remind you of same?  Well, of course, you’re doing it only during daylight hours.  So can I phone you to tell you this at 6:00 a.m.?  And 6:30 a.m.?  And 7?  And 7:30?  And so on?  Every day?  Every single day?
   
3. People who feel compelled to draw attention to themselves — look at me! look at me! — generally aren’t the best of moral exemplars.  It’s sort of the opposite of that, y’know, humility thing.  And saying you’re doing it on behalf of God doesn’t make you any more humble.
4. There are some horse’s asses in every human organization, and thus in every denomination.  That said, I can only roll my eyes that this  guy is one of the evangelicals in ACNA.

To neighbors like Sam Jensen and Al Brooks, it was a rude shock.

“I didn’t know where it came from. It was six in the morning,” said Brooks. “I had no idea what it was. And then they were playing every half hour, so it woke me up and I came out into the back yard and then I heard them again every half hour all day long — 31 times that day,” said Jensen.

Starting at 6 in the morning.  Six in the morning.  Every day of the week.  Every working day.  Saturday.  Sunday.

Need to get up by 8 to get to your Lutheran service?  Don’t worry, Christ the King Anglican will get you up at 6.  Trying to sleep in late on Saturday?  Christ the King Anglican will make sure you’re not haunted by the deadly sin of Sloth.  Ticked off at that guy who starts the leaf blower at 9 a.m. on the weekends?  Ha!  You can be sure that he’ll be ticked off, too, starting at 6!  Work Third Shift?  Rest assured you’ll get no rest, but at least you’ll know that Christ the King Anglican is still hoping you’ll come by to visit.

The church, once confronted by neighbors, offered graciously to reduce the ringing to every hour, instead of every half hour.  No reduction offered in days of week, or time of day.  Not surprisingly, the neighbors sued.

The judged sided with the neighbors, found Bp. Painter guilty of misdemeanor disturbing the peace, and restricted the church to ringing the bells on Sunday and church holiday.  (Hey, kids! No more worrying that Mommy and Daddy will sleep in late on Christmas Day!)

Bp. Painter is shocked, shocked, to find himself branded a criminal, and that someone might not like to worship the way he thinks they should like.

Painter is now not only appealing his conviction, but he’s suing the city of Phoenix in federal court. He argues that the noise ordinance is unconstitutionally stifling the church’s freedom of religion.

Yeah, that’s exactly the course you want to take.  When the Rastafarians open a (whatever you call a Rastafarian hang-out) next door and play Jim Marley music all day and night, do you reeeeeally want them using your (hypothetical) victory as a precedent?

I am a huge believer in freedom of religion.  And just as your freedom to swing your fist stops at the end of my nose, your freedom to loudly celebrate your religion ends … well, for the most part it ends at the doors of your church.

We occasionally do things at our parish that might disturb some of our neighbors, though we really try not to.  We do an outside procession around the church on a couple of occasions.  We start Palm Sunday services (weather permitting) in front of the church.  It’s possible that we sometimes disturb someone.  I worry sometimes we disturb folks getting into our car at home to go to church, too.

“I was surprised that I was charged with a crime,” Painter said. “I don’t see where I have broken a law… Now I am a criminal, after all my years.”

He says Phoenix’s noise ordinance has an exception for things like ice cream trucks, and that the church should have the same immunity.

For now, while the neighbors are content, Painter is praying for a change.

I’d be so willing to bet major sums of money that ice cream trucks have strict regulation as to their hours of business.  Plus, they wander from neighborhood to neighborhood.

No.  Not buying it.  Just another person who thinks that, because he can slap the label “MY RELIGION” on it, he can be exempt from the law, not to mention from being a good neighbor.  None of which, oddly enough, do I recall Jesus preaching …

(I got this via George, who linked to Digital Cuttlefish’s lovely rewrite of Poe’s “Bells.”)

UPDATE:  Reading through the comments, I got found this from “BPRCC”:

Since the third century bells have rung out through communities as a symbol of the presence of God in the community. A sound of peace and safe heaven.

I suspect that not all Third Century traditions would get a pass here.  Plus, this particular community has not known the ringing of the bells until, oh, March 2008, so it was hardly their tradition.

In all this reporting some FACTS have been left unmentioned. Fact #1 the bells ring at the same decible level as the volume of ordinary speech at the distance of three feet.

Wow.  That sounds really soft.  It sounds really hard to believe, too.

Fact # 2 the bells ring at a level less than ice cream trucks.

Again with the ice cream trucks.  Ice cream trucks come and go.  You hear them briefly, they come by, they do their thing, they go away.  They don’t drive by every [half] hour, on the [half] hour.

Fact # 3 The church has baffeled the bells that point in the direction of the two who have complained.

Are the complainants satisfied with this resolution?  Are there any others who are unhappy about it?

Fact #4 The over whelminmg majority of the residents in the area appreciate the bells and signed a petition saying so.

Really?  The overwhelming majority?  I’d like to see some numbers or documents to back that up.

Fact # 5 The bells are set so they do not ring before 7:00 am or after 7:00pm

Still too early.  At least in my mind, folks who are making noise outside on the weekends before 9 are being bad neighbors; and any sort of yard equipment operated before 10 should incur the pillory.

Now my question is this, will the City of Phoenix also silence the calls to worship at the local Mosque.

Yes, they should.  Of course, if the church’s suit passes, they won’t be able to. And, of course, the call to prayers is only 5 times a day, though the first is at dawn.

Let’s get this straight — the Muslim call to prayer, and the Christian tradition of ringing the hours (or, more properly, the Canonical Hours, which were hardly every 30 minutes — 8 during the day, 3-4 each night) serve to summon the faithful to prayer.  They are suitable for the public to the extent that the public is largely the faithful.

Further, they served as timekeeping in pre-clock societies.  More timekeeping services and devics we do not need in our lives.

Will they also stop the ringing of bells in shopping centers?

They ring bells in shopping centers in Phoenix?

With all the liberties that over 1,300,000 people have foght and died for, slip away from us, should we sit idely by and do nothing?

Shall we take a poll of those 1.3 million (whomever they are) and ask them if they fought and died to make sure that someone could wake them up at 7 a.m. on a Saturday?

How long before someone knocks on YOUR door and says your praying to loud in your home?

If I’m praying so loudly in my home that I’m audible to and disturbing my neighbors in their home, that’s too loud.  (And it is louder than “someone holding a conversation at 3 feet away,” since I do that fairly frequently at my house and nobody complains.)

I understand this battle and I firmly believe that Christ The King HAS taken the high road. They have tried to work out a peaceable settlement with those concerned. But there come a point when one must take a stand. As was said by another, “Here we stand for we can do no other”.A Bishop in TN

Luther — and other purveyors of civil disobedience — are willing to take the heat for their stand.  Bp. Painter seems a bit whiny about having been slapped with a misdemeanor “disturbing the peace” charge.  But I suppose martyrdom is where you find it.

• Good thing I was ferrying hard candy to office today so I could suck on some, else would have coughed up lung on train. Way tired of this. #
• Ferris Bueller's First Day of Kindergarten. Star Border Incidents. Sky Captain and the World of Today. #unseenprequels #
• Doing Write: Battling One's Own Internal Demon Editor http://bit.ly/3tT5jX #nanowrimo #
• Doing Write: The Muse isn't an exhibitionist http://bit.ly/9pRfO #nanowrimo #
• Doing Write: Ding! http://bit.ly/1Y1M6T #nanowrimo #

This week is “Drowsy Driving Prevention Week” in the US (in case you hadn’t marked your calendars), so we’ve gotten some interesting safety info here at the office on the subject — some of which is applicable to the Blogathon.

• “A study by researchers in Australia showed that being awake for 18 hours produced an impairment equal to a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .05, and .10 after 24 hours; .08 is considered legally drunk.” So, yes, you do feel a drunk through the last quarter of the ‘Thon — plan cogitational needs accordingly.
• “Take a 15 to 20-minute nap. More than 20 minutes can make you groggy for at least five minutes after awakening.” I’ve never done this during the ‘Thon, but it’s worth noting.
• “Remember, caffeine takes about 30 minutes to enter the blood stream.” Don’t expect an instant bump, esp. if you’re a regular caffeine guzzler. It does mean, though, for the ‘Thon you can down a Coke, then take your 15-20 minute cat nap, then be up and at it. And that applies to driving, too.

I’ve driven while drowsy, and not only is it no fun, but it’s been a marvel the next day I made it safe. It’s not worth it. On the other hand, getting loopy during the Blogathon is kind of part of the fun and not nearly so dangerous, unless you’re going wardriving during the ‘Thon, or unless your topic is “Making delicate hints about secrets of mine that I really don’t want you to know about.”

It’s freaking exhausting.

Good night.

• Doing Write: http://bit.ly/cDfbk #nanowrimo #
• Doing Write: Another Day, Another 3.33% http://bit.ly/16hcFk #nanowrimo #

Margie and I have a very, very happy marriage.

But meatloaf has not been a part of it.

I grew up with The One True Meatloaf Of Which All Others Are But Shadow, which involves as its loafy filler breadcrumbs.

Margie, on the other hand, grew up with some Vile, Corrupted Travesty Of Meatloaf Against The Laws Of Man And God that involved in the same role (gag) oatmeal.

We decided, long ago, never to further discuss the matter.

But the subject did come up while Mary was last visiting, and she offered to send her mother’s meatloaf recipe. Which she did. And which I made a variant of this evening. (Variant because hers calls for ground beef, ground pork, and ground veal, and what we had was ground beef, ground buffalo, and uncooked beer brats).

While Mary’s Mother’s Meatloaf does include some True And Proper Breadcrumbs, the majority of “filler” in the loaf is, in fact, made up of shredded (grated / chopped) potato.

And while it is not perhaps The One True Meatloaf Of Which All Others Are But Shadow Of Blessed Memory, it did turn out, in fact, to make a quite tasty meatloaf. And Margie agreed. As did Katherine.

And we learned that, all other differences aside, we could agree as well that meatloaf should be garnished with catsup.

Mary is welcome to visit any time she wants.