Rant of the day

No typhoon. Not even a cloud or rain (so far...it may change by this evening since the typhoon is moving very slowly).

I expected heavy rain so told the cook she didn't need to come in early to go to church with me at 530 am (she usually arrives at 545 to cook). Then when I woke up, no rain.

Well, maybe it's for the better, since Lolo was up by 615 and wanting to eat breakfast, and since tomorrow is a feast day of the Virgin Mary (AKA "Mama Mary"), so probably they will start celebrating in today's mass, meaning crowds and no seats.

Dec 7 is Pearl Harbor day in the US,  and was on a Sunday morning when most people were in church, but in the Philippines, the attack was December 8, when everyone was in church for the feast day. Despite all the hype, the world has gone 70 years without a major war (something we as kids would not have believed, since most people thought there would be a nuclear war by 1960). So thanks to God for the peace.

James Dunnigan at StrategyPage notes:

 Wars continue to decline in number and intensity. Those that still exist get lots of publicity because that’s what the media does. But overall there are more conflicts ending (via negotiation, mutual exhaustion or one side actually winning) than new ones getting started. And new wars are more frequently quickly addressed with peacekeeping efforts. This is all a post-Cold War trend that has been going on for over two decades now. Let us hope it continues.

It's better to light a candle than curse the darkness, but what bleeds leads, and it's come to the point that the hysteria of the press is resulting in less people listening.

For example, all that hype about "climate change" may or may not be true, and it may or may not be due to pollution (which is terrible, and needs to be controlled for itself, not as part of a larger agenda to take over the world), but a lot of folks are planning to dump money into the third world to help "victims" ignore that a lot of money will end up in the pockets of the corrupt (The UN estimates only 17% but in many countries it will be higher). And exactly how what it their plan? To give airconditioners to Africans who live in huts?

Well, why not? Most of my poor patients in Oklahoma had them. But of course, the first thing the third world poor do is replace the hut with a concrete house, which keeps out bugs, snakes, and doesn't get eaten by termites. But the new houses with tin roofs are often very hot, whereas the Nipa huts are naturally cool.

I am always cynical about these things. Today's facebook five minute hate suggested that all the homeless could be housed in abandoned homes. Yes, but most homeless quickly find a place to live, often with family. I worked in poor areas, and many folks had relatives or friends staying with them when they needed a place to stay...the others alas are often too drugged up, drunk, mentally ill, mentally incapacitated or otherwise incompetent and the end result would be a destroyed home? Most abandoned homes are waiting to be sold, and what is the real shame is that they are not rented out to those who left because they couldn't afford the mortgage payments. And other homes are in areas that no one wants to live, because there are no jobs (Detroit, Appalachia).

So I posted a link to Habitat for Humanity on my facebook page and suggested it is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness in a facebook campaign.

Finally, although in the US Christmas is associated with oodles of presents, in many countries presents are given out on Saint Nicholas day (Dec 6).

I was surprised to learn St. Nicholas was the patron saint of sailers when I visited Split 

This explains why he is the patron of protecting children.

And David Warren has an essay on the good fella...who was no slouch, and was imprisoned in the bad old days before Constantine, and afterward, he was imprisoned again after decking Arius for insulting Jesus. Heh.