Mark Byron

Question Me an Answer

CNN has a couple of bad questions posing as headlines on their web site

"Is it ok to be racist outside of school?" No. Is it legal, all else being equal. Yes.

The essay dealt with MA kids whose tweets racially dissed a black Washington player after he knocked Boston out of the NHL playoffs; their school is disciplining them for their extracurricular behavior, which the essayist noted is of dubious First Amendment legality.

Lots of things are legal and even constitutionally protected,  but not OK.

Are we seeing a 'Mexican Spring'? No, you're just seeing the Mexican left using social media. The Mexican Spring came a decade ago when the PRI allowed itself to lose to the right-of-center PAN; now, the PAN has spent a decade-plus in charge and has lost its freshness and the race for president is between the establishment-left PRI and the hard-left PRD (Canadian Liberal versus NDP might be a fair comparison if you had Howard Dean off his meds heading up the NDP; letting Canada annex Vermont is always worth dreaming of).

Last go-round, the PRD candidate, Andres Lopez Obrador lost a squeaker to the PAN candidate and protested like crazy even after a recount confirmed a Calderon win. Lopez Obrador is heading up the PRD ticket again, and has Mexico's noventa y neuve por ciento hot and bothered like a 2008 version of Obama; since Lopez Obrador's party has never won the Mexican presidency, he looks like the pristine outsider.

Yeah, you have leftist youth using social media. Youth use social media unless they are totally dirt poor these days. However, Mexico in 2012 isn't a unreformed dictatorship in need of a peaceful revolution; Mexico 2018 might be if Lopez Obrador gets in.

 

Young and Restless Tigers

Here's a thought to send Jim Leyland's way; when Austin Jackson gets back from the DL, have both newcomer Quintin Berry and he in the lineup, benching Delmon Young. Andy Dirks has become your every-day outfielder and Brendan Boesch has come along as of late. Dirks, Boesch and Berry all have better OPS (on base plus slugging percentage, the modern all-around batting stat of choice) than Young.

A lineup with Jackson leading off, Berry hitting second, Dirks third and the power couple of Cabrera and Fielder batting 4 and 5 might work better than the current lineup, as long as my proposed top three keep their bats hot.

That makes Young a well-paid pinch-hitter and occasional sub. Trade bait for some infield or pitching help as July 31st approaches.

Goin' to the (Cross-Free) Chapel

Interesting story on Tokyo Disneyland accommodating a lesbian couple's wish for a Disney wedding. However, it isn't the gay rights angle (Japan's behind the US curve on the issue) that intrigued me, but this passage-

Higashi, 27, and her partner could "marry" at the park, they were told, but only if they dressed "like a man and a woman." Park officials were worried that other visitors might be offended by the sight of two women in wedding dresses or morning suits.

The park relented on dress code after a storm of protest on Twitter and other social media — it had all been a misunderstanding by an individual employee, it said — but the couple will not be allowed to exchange vows in the park's chapel due to "Christian teachings."

That is very interesting to me, since Disney parks in the US are essentially God-free zones; their Main Street is one of the few without a church on it. It's not that Disney is anti-Christian per-se, but its universe has lots of magic and supernatural stuff and no bows to speak of to any organized religion.

Here's a nice piece on Tokyo Disney weddings, including shots of a very nice chapel on-site. Note that there is no cross or other Christian iconography to be seen. It lets couples have an American-looking wedding without any direct spiritual overtones.

That fits the Japanese love of American culture if not American theology; unlike Korea, which is plurality Christian, Japan hasn't found Jesus much, but they love the Santa side of Christmas and the pomp and decor of an American church for a wedding.

Ultra-Touchy

Interesting Al Mohler piece in the WaPo on the pros and cons of the Internet, which led off with a reference to a Orthodox Jewish rally against the Net at the Mets' new stadium earlier this month. Normally, you don't get 40,000 Jews crammed into a baseball stadium unless it's a Democratic campaign event; instead, you have something akin to a Hassidic Acquire the Fire.

What was notable to me was the caption on the picture of the rally in the WaPo

Ultra-Orthodox Jews take in the view from Citi Field at a meeting to discuss the risks of using the Internet on May 20, 2012 in the Queens borough of New York City.

Note that Mohler never used the ultra modifier in any of his Orthodox references but the picture department of the WaPo did.

Ultra-Orthodox seems to be the preferred descriptor for Jews who reject mainstream culture; it takes the place of "fundamentalist" for very observant Jews, since the oxymoron of "fundamentalist Jew" will hit even a secularist funny. However, it takes on the tone of takes-their-faith-too-seriously that the f-word does.

It has political repercussions in Israel, where the Haradi (as they are called; it translates loosely to "the fearful") are a political force to be reckoned with, getting an out for their seminarians from otherwise-universal military service and financing for said seminaries. In addition, they have been known to harass less-devoutly-attired folks and have gotten buses through their areas to be sex-segregated.

Stateside, they tend to be quirky outliers in metro New York, where a large contingent live. Living kosher-to-a-fault might be a bit ultra, but it shouldn't be something the WaPo crew should be passing judgement on, since "...there is no analogue on the other end of the religious spectrum (there are no ultra-Reform Jews.)"

A Ripe Apple

Interesting news from the world's biggest company; Apple is paying out its first dividend in 17 years-

The technology giant will pay a quarterly dividend of $2.65 per share from July, the first time Apple has declared a dividend since 1995.

That's the sign of a mature company, where they literally have more money than they know what to do with. It's a rather small half-percent yield given the current price of $562 as I go to press, however, if that's done quarterly going forward, that puts things in the 2% range, which is more than Uncle Sam's paying on T-bills.

Given that Apple is sitting on about $29/share in cash as of their last 10-Q filing for the end of March, that's not that big of drain on the budget. They have another 80 billion in outside long-term investments, so about $100 billion in cash is available to ether finance the US deficit for a month or two or buy back about 20% of the company's stock.

Apple is talking about buying back stock, which is one modern way to get rid of excess cash without making stockholders do double-taxation on dividends; dividends also make firms look too mature, especially when they want to put forward a hip, growing persona, so buybacks let them get rid of cash without looking like a fuddy-duddy income stock.

With Apple's size, getting up in the morning is nearly an anti-trust violation, so the takeover game is hard for them to do with excess money;  that makes buybacks more likely.

Edifier du Jour: Zephaniah 1:10-12(NIV)

¹⁰ “On that day, ” declares the Lord,
    “a cry will go up from the Fish Gate,
    wailing from the New Quarter,
    and a loud crash from the hills.
¹¹ Wail, you who live in the market district;
    all your merchants will be wiped out,
    all who trade with silver will be ruined.
¹² At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps
    and punish those who are complacent,
    who are like wine left on its dregs,
who think, ‘The Lord will do nothing,
    either good or bad.’

A lot of the minor prophets are prophesying bad things to Israel and/or their foes, so they don't get as much airplay as the more positive parts of the OT. However, some of the "God'll git ya for that" passages can be encouraging.

Verse 12 speaks to me this morning, for it hits the issue of theonomy, or "why does God allow bad to happen" or "why do good things happen to bad people and visa-versa" that can be used as an argument against a personal, hands-off God.

Zephaniah was writing during a bad era of rule in Judah, where people were often ungodly and writing off God's wrath and blessings. That has some resonance to a modern era when love songs to Judas are high on the charts.

The bad guys and girls will get theirs in due time. The faithful will get their rewards as well, even if it comes in the hereafter rather than the here and now.

Edifier du Jour:Habakkuk 3:17-19(NIV)

¹⁷ Though the fig tree does not bud
    and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
    and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
    and no cattle in the stalls,
¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
    I will be joyful in God my Savior.

¹⁹ The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
    he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
    he enables me to tread on the heights.

The deer crossing signs I see in Michigan have the deer starting a jump over some unseen hedge-row; I've seen plenty of deer during my half-century as a Michigander, but I've yet to see one do that.

Habakkuk seems ready to do that as he closes his lament on a positive note.  He's taking a page from Job, praising God regardless of getting any fruit from his faith in Him.

That reminds me of an old Margaret Becker song, For the Love of You, "not for what it brings." That runs counter to the prosperity-pushers who don't have a good reply to the folks who might have a solid faith but yet are "down on their luck." However, it is true nonetheless; the world does give us trouble, and Jesus has overcome the world, but that doesn't always translate into soaring over the trouble in our own Lear jet.

We shouldn't be following God because of the reward of doing so; that makes us spiritual mercenaries.

Edifier du Jour:1 Corinthians 10:13(NASB)

¹³ No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

That's one I wound up looking up for a friend the other day. There are some folks who can't quite walk this out, who will fall prey to various vices and addictions that seem too much to bear. Josh Hamilton comes to mind, who has had a couple of breeches of sobriety in his walk over the last few years. Ray Boltz's losing battle with same-sex attraction is even more sobering one to think of, one that seems to cast some doubt on this verse.

However, there is an out for most any temptation that we can think of. The out might not be easy to take and may be embarrassing, but you can find it.

There is also grace and forgiveness if you can't find your way out and slip up; Hamilton came back from a one-time off-season bender to have a super start this spring, sitting on Triple Crown numbers as we speak. No one bats 1.000 on this front; that's why Jesus came and died for us.

Breaking Radio Silence

I've been under the weather a bit over the weekend. Bloggy goodness should be returning to a normal schedule.

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Good news for space buffs-SpaceX's Falcon is in the air and headed for the ISS after a false start over the weekend; an irony is that we have a privately-owned rocket doing work for the most statist administration in recent memory.

The advantage of such privatization of space is that it's not tied up in politics; the disadvantage is that it's dependent on either (a) making money or (b) living on donations or patient investors. However, that disadvantage may well be a feature in that (c) living off tax dollars is an untenable option in a tough economy.

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Two obits for the price of one. When I saw the passing of Bill Stewart, recently run out of WVU as football coach last summer, the old BeeGees tune How Can You Mend a Broken Heart (Robin Gibb passed on as well this weekend) came to mind. Stewart was put out to pasture prematurely after he tried to kneecap his successor with bad press.

At 59, Stewart's career had run his course, and he may well have had little to live for. That brings back the old Bear Bryant quip of "croak[ing] in a week" after retirment; Bryant actually almost lasted through January of his retirement. Stewart almost made it a year, more than JoePa did after his ugly axing.

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The president's latest salvo reminds me of an old DL Moody quip, where Moody liked the way he did evangeliize better than his crittic didn't do is. I like how Romney worked in the private sector better than how Obama didn't work there.

His more prominent gig outside of a government job was as that well-documented community orginizer, who then gets government and donors to cough up funds. The funds have to be made somewhere; the organizer just gets to spend them.

Yes, people need to be laid off in some businesses, but unless you're going to have government subsidize red-ink firms, that's the nature of the beast.