Have you guys seen this?

An attempt by leading Muslim clerics and scholars to establish some common ground between Muslims and Christians, and a response from many Christian leaders and academics (including our own Kellough, Litfin, and Jones).

So will this have any lasting meaning or effect? Or is it all a bunch of feel-good pat-ourselves-on-the-back kumbayah-singing? I'm not sure. I definitely respect the efforts, but my cynicism just won't let me get too excited about their impact.

Hey guys---This Gulf Coast thing is working out really well... So in the future, I wouldn't even mess around with the Atlantic if I could help it. The Gulf is just--better. This trip is working out better than I had imagined. So much so that we're already seriously considering it again next year. (i.e., just keep your deposit lady--roll it over to next year...)

Anyway--we spend a lot of time at the Gulf Coast Zoo, which is only about 8 miles up the road. We got an annual pass for $40 bucks, and go there almost every day. Ella names pretty much all the animals, including the obscure ones (such as Capybara.) Anyway--I got :30 minutes with 3 tiger cubs yesterday. They are 5 months old, and weigh around 48 pounds each. Their fur is a little coarser than a typical cat, and these cubs are way more dense. The cubs behavior wasn't all that different from the standard kitten, with the exception that they're more predatory. The first thing they did was size up the smallest in my group (a 14 year old girl) and they tried to take her down. And if you turned your back on them, they'd jump on your hind quarters and practice take downs. They keep their claws clipped (fortunately), but it was still a bunk-house brawl. They tore my military cargo pants (cool!), scraped me up a bit and left a few bite marks. Court took a little video, which was pretty indicative of my time with them. (You can hear Ella wanting to see her favorite animal--Chuckie the alligator. For whatever reason, she loves the alligators--and gladly watches them for half-hours at a time. And all they do is just sit there...)

Merry Christmas fellow hobos.

Had a quick question for Greg regarding brandy since Beth just had to buy some for the sauce she made for our bread pudding today. She ended up with Asbach Uralt after staring for some minutes at the astonishing array and finally deciding on a slightly higher price point. So...is this going to be worth drinking seeing as she only needed 1/4 cup for the sauce and we now have a rather large bottle remaining?

Here's an interesting story about how some Deaf are demand the right to genetically engineer deaf children.

And this is a topic in which I feel as if I have a little bit of insight. A shred at least. Perhaps. The current Deaf / deaf culture war is pretty fascinating. Here's the low-down: Organic deafness is constant--stemming from any number of genetic or functional abnormalities. However, functional deafness is on the steep decline, as over 50% of all deaf kids are getting cochlear implants. (And that statistic is old--circa 2003--and is on a steep rise.) So in essence, deaf culture is dying. And many of the culturally elite deaf are afraid of such an outcome. As it stands now, they have created their own culture in which they have equal chances in life. Their culture minimizes (if not eliminates) any social benefits from hearing--to the point where it's actually frowned upon. But it takes a critical mass of people to believe and participate in this system for it to work. And with infant cochlear implant becoming standardized, this critical number will be lost. And when this critical number is lost, and when Deafness ceases to be it's own functional culture, the deaf population (i.e., those who cannot use implantation) will (again) be societally marginalized like once before. (Seriously--think about it. There's handicap accessibility all over the place; there's even morbidly obese accessibility now. But the deaf really do get left out of much of society--a reality that I wouldn't have fully understood had I not been in a deaf environment.)

This is exactly why the older elite Deaf faculty instigated the student uprising at Gallaudet a few years ago. And while they achieved their short term gains, they have killed their golden goose. Gallaudet is redundant, as deaf can get free translating services at any public university. Congress simply kept them in their budget--until they acted like embarassing whiny brats on an international stage. So their budget has been cut by about 50%, and they are about to lose their accredation--which means that no federal grants can be used. (Which is 100% of all deaf people, pretty much.) So generations of entitlement led to low standards, which only increased the sense of entitlement--which is now in stark contrast to a dying Deaf culture.

So when you hear about Deaf couples wanting to produce a Deaf baby--it's about preservation of a culture. Almost like native americans wanting little native american babies, so on, and so forth. But either way, deafness (0r Deafness, rather)--as we know it, will end in our lifetimes.

First: Greg, we talked about your father when you were up here, but please know that Michelle and I continue to pray for you all.

Second: Maybe I'm only noticing these things now that they're on my mind (and because I enjoy being contrary to Scott), but it does seem like Thompson is gaining some ground, at least in the blogosphere.

Here are three recent expository endorsements.

From the second:

Even my biggest reservation about Thompson actually reflects well on his political spine: If simply getting elected and staying atop the polls were what Fred Thompson were all about, he'd be a much better candidate, but ultimately a much worse president. For better or worse, he's running his campaign the way he believes it should be run — meaning he wasn't stampeded into an early start, and there are definite limits to the indignities that he'll willingly suffer for the sake of retail campaigning.

Hey Matt--some math people figured out the "traffic jam that's occurring for no real reason" phenomenon. Interesting read...

Update. Did you guys read that the US government has banned incandescent light bulbs, starting in 2012? At this point, I'm without words. They have banned a light bulb. They have removed my choice to choose what kind of light I want in my own house, powered by energy in which I pay.

Curious, especially since I just read an article about a solar panel that costs less than a dollar a watt.

I guess I'm becoming more and more of a libertarian. This nonsense is out of control. We'll begin stockpiling contraband bulbs effective immediately.

Well Scott, I hadn’t really brought this up--not because I was afraid to, or that I was ashamed to... I’ve just come to the point in life where I generally try not to burden others with my little dramas and ordeals.

So first off--it’s Alabama. Second, it’s for a month; from Dec 12th to Jan 12th. We pretty much headed out the door as soon as I got my fall semester grades in, and will come back right before the start of the spring semester. Thirdly, traveling back to NC is never easy. It’s always a pain in the ass, actually. And it’s generally not enjoyable. E doesn’t know anyone. Know one knows how to best interact with her. So E tries her best, but ultimately feels uncomfortable with the prolonged exposure to strange places and strange intrusive people. Subsequently, she gets into some kind of fussy funk, and then everyone invariably rolls their eyes at the punk kid and the bad parents. And I just get tired of it.

Conversely, my parents have been involved in my brother’s kids on at least a weekly basis since they were born. This is just a function of proximity.

So last Christmas, my extended family (and us) were at MYB. And to my dismay, I saw my father actively favoring the other grandchildren. E wasn’t included--even when others (such as my mother) specifically asked him to include her. It was as if he was choosing not to include her. And as a side-note, the precursor to this was my father saying some pretty insane things--including something tantamount to “I’m not going to read a child a book unless they sit my lap. I’m just not going to do it; I’m just not going to do it.” And before MYB, we took this with a grain of salt; he’s said crazy things before, but it has all worked out. But given the reality that the other grandchildren knew him, and E did not--she was functionally excluded, as he was unwilling to reach out and include her in things. (As if a 1 year old is going to approach a stranger...) And unfortunately, this wasn’t a figment of my imagination. C witnessed it. My mother witnessed it. My grandmother even acknowledged that it was a troublesome and puzzling reality.

So fast-forward to around April or May--and my parents were trying to arrange another extended family trip to MYB. And in my head--I’m not so sold on the idea. Why put my kid in the position to be a second rate citizen? Especially given the head-to-head comparison of the preferred grandchildren that are standing right next to her for the entire week. I’m under the theory that 1 year old children can’t effectively process emotions such that personal rejection is viewed as a problem of the rejector and not the rejectee. So I sent my father an email expressing this concern. And it basically said: (1) It happened. (2) Other non-biased people witnessed it. (3) It’s likely a function of proximity. (4) I don’t feel comfortable with it. (5) If it continues, I won’t knowingly put my kid in a second-class citizen situation. (And as a kid that grew up stuttering, this is a phenomenon in which I am sensitive. A child believes about themselves what others say and exhibit; and there’s no reason to establish these negative messages.)

So to make a long protracted story shorter, my father flipped out. Initially, he tried blaming me, and called me a bad parent. His next tactical move was to suggest that this was all our fault, because we had “rules” of engagement with our child. (Rules that only existed in his head, mind you.) When this approach failed, he began to really spiral out of control. I pleaded with him to stop escalating the nonsense, that the relationship was worth saving, and that (through humility) all things could be restored. But he kept on making it worse, with comments like “It will be a cold day in hell before I come to you in humility.” He also tried to undermine my own marriage, by leaving C voicemails calling me a liar. He’s also tried emailing C to gain access to E behind my back. He honestly doesn’t see his insanity. Which I guess is a definition of insanity.

My mother essentially pleaded with me to keep giving him chances, and that he would come around. So this past summer, she set up a week for our two families to be at MYB. C supported the idea. I never liked it, but went along with it out of respect to my mother and my wife. And my father used every opportunity to act like a childish fool. I wish I was exaggerating, but other witnesses (my mother, my niece, and C) all witnessed his downward spiral. It was comical though... He would try to publicly ignore us as much as possible. When there was ample seating, he would sit next to C and turn his back to her. If you asked him something, he wouldn’t respond. For a weeks time, he volitionally ignored any advance that my child made with a scowl. (Don’t know if the scowl was planned, but it was there. His behavior was entirely premeditated. He actually planned to intentionally ignore a 1 year old’s every advance as a means of getting back at me. His version would likely be something like, “I had to protect myself from Greg. So I’m forced to act like a 3rd grade girl by scowling and publicly ignoring his entire family for a weeks time.)

So twice, I tried to reach out to him. On the first night, he just sat there like a fat asshole. I tried to apologize for anything that I possibly could, even to the point of lying about it. He remained stoic. So the following attempt, I told him that I would record it on the MacBook Pro and that my mother would witness it. And so that happened, it was perhaps one of the most lopsided psychological smackdowns of all time. Throughout this ordeal, I’ve come to realize that his emotional maturity is approximately that of a 3rd grade girl. My whole game-plan was to demonstrate divine patience and grace, and I really believe that God gave me the strength to do so. Anyway--he would cite some irrational nonsense (such as the “rules” argument detailed above). I would reply with common sense. He would shut-up. Anyway--I allowed him his festivus airing of grievances, replying with graceful common sense... and inso doing undermined his perspective and made him look foolish if anyone were present. (Mother and a computer not withstanding.) The evening ended with him damning me to hell and swearing me as his enemy. So ok, that pretty much terminates the relationship.

Since then, he’s forwarded all of our email exchanges to a super-duper top-secret reviewer. He claims that he’s learned a lot. I asked him if he also told the super-duper-secret reviewer about his actions that predicated the emails or his actions at MYB. (The answer obviously being no.) I suggested that the best path forward is with professional help.

And that’s pretty much that. My job went nuts, and I just don’t have the time or energy to walk him through his dark forrest. Further, I don’t even think I can. He’s lost, and everyone sees it. He’s got some misguided righteous insanity that prohibits any forward progress.

My mother asked that we tell him of our second child, so she could make summer plans. So I did. And in that email, I actually gave him some rules this time. And the rules were essentially that he won’t have access to our children, given his current reputation for emotional abuse. But once there was a documented change of heart, which is a precursor for a change in behavior, his access would be restored.

My interpretation is that his (foolish) pride is inhibiting him from reconciliation. Which is an interesting debate--reconciliation. My mother corrects me and says that he is not emotionally capable of processing any of this. Maybe she’s right, although I would like to refuse to believe that people can’t change.

So--that’s that. We are estranging ourselves from an abusive patriarch. And as I’ve already written, I honestly wish I was making this all up. That I could simply admit to being a dufas. But I can’t. His behavior has been documented by others, and even recorded for anyone to hear. I don’t know what the final chapter will look like. I’ll likely approach him again (for the nth time) in 2009 (after tenure). Then, he’ll have the opportunity to jointly work this out via professional guidance, or continue his path of insanity. We’ll see what happens.

But in the meantime, we’re enjoying life. Doing our own thing. And we continue to receive great support from every other member in the family. The family sees everything for what it is, and copes with reality. Reality is reality, and it’s often what we make of it. I don’t like the situation, but I can’t knowingly put my child (or any child, for that matter) in an abusive situation.

I didn’t know shame until this situation, because I have never been ashamed of someone more. And I have never known boundaries until this situation, as I have since learned that boundaries function to protect us from them, as well as them from them.

So in the midst of this entirely unanticipated new season in life, I find that I am taking some time to begin to reflect on various life decisions/choices. And to aid me in that process, I have turned to a Catholic writer by the name of Henri Nouwen. Oddly enough, for all of our talk about having a "personal relationship with Jesus," evangelicals are shamefully inadequate when it comes to writing about what that looks like on an interior level. I wonder why that is ...?

Anyway, if you're not familiar with Henri, I would suggest tracking down an out-of-print text entitled "The Genesee Diary." It details the events that surround his decision to step out of academia and into a Trappist Monastery for a period of seven months. Just amazingly reflective stuff that really challenges some of our conceptions about how we live life and what values we hold dear.

On a totally separate note (or perhaps as a direct result of the aforementioned reflection), I found myself curious to know more about your (Greg) winter retreat to Florida. You mentioned that you were planning to be there for two weeks, and something else that you said lead me to believe that this may become an annual ritual. Is that true? And if so, how does your/her family feel about that (particularly as it relates to the holidays)? Just curious.

More Girls... Don't know if I told you guys, but baby #2 is likely to be a girl. The 16 week ultra sound is pretty definitive in that regard.

So I'm not exactly sure why God does what He does. I'm in a chic profession. (Most guys in SLP are either gay, stutter... or both.) I'm the only guy in the department. Pretty much all my students are chics. And now, I'll be outnumbered 3:1 at home. I kinda thought God would throw me a bone on this one...

I'm strongly considering converting the garage into boy-space. Either that, or maybe building a shed out back. Insulate it. Climate control it. Lock it. Although--the girls would probably install flower boxes beneath the windows...

Knowing very little about parent dilemmas or bourbon (except that too much of one can sometimes lead to too much of the other)... I return to my same old song.

Well, not quite the same. The shine has definitely come off the Huckabee apple. His foreign policy talk is disconcerting. When Imus called him on his inexperience in that area, he replied with a complete non-sequitir joke. It was troubling.

Now there's this "ad", which seems to me to be the very definition of disingenuous. You're telling me this isn't a political ad? Puh-lease. The guy is just too folksy for his own good. This "anti-politics politician" thing will only get him so far.

I now find myself drifting more towards Romney and Thompson.

So Court, Ella and I are on the gulf coast for the next few weeks--and it's turning out even better than I had hoped. The Gulf just beats the Atlantic, hands down--and Orange Beach is a great little coastal community that seems perfect for us in the off-season. I may post more on this in the future...but here's tonight's excitement...

So we went out to eat tonight, and I was keeping a keen eye out for a liquor store--in hopes that on the way back, I could get my bourbon on. And sure enough, I found such a place. We stop there on the way back and had a bit of a surreal experience. It must have been a family owned shop, because there was a mom, dad and daughter (4 years old?) talking behind the counter. (The father later left; some lady came in with a black eye; I didn't ask any questions.) I walk in and quickly head to the bourbon section. Their selection was meager, but had enough of my staples to make it worth my while. I've been trying to expand my collection, and while Knob Creek is great--life is about variety. Anyway, I see a lone bottle of Basil Hayden's for $25 bucks. I thought this was a mis-print, because it's usually priced in the mid $40s. (I had always wanted to give BH a shot, but I couldn't justify the price...) It's as if the store didn't even know their own product. For fun, I asked the mom clerk about a comparison between a crappy bourbon and a good one; she didn't have a clue. At that time, I knew I had struck gold. Too bad this was their last bottle...

And damn, this stuff is good. I mean--Wow. If you guys are ever wanting a higher-end bourbon, maybe something with friends or for special occasions--look no further. It's not overpowering like many other (uncut) premium bourbons, and it has exceptional flavor with a clean finish. (i.e., it doesn't take your breath away--like Booker's or Baker's). Knob Creek is still my daily drinker--er, monthly drinker--as my habits better reflect. But at this point, Basil Hayden's is my current favorite--hands down.

So here's the parenting dilemma ...

I have the two boys (S. had A. with her) with me down at S.'s folks. They're bored; and there's not a lot to do at her folks' place. So we head to McDonalds to spend some quality time on the playland. Gives the boys a chance to run around in the winter, unencumbered by coats, boots, etc...

Anyway, there's this little punk seven-year-old girl running around with her younger sister. These two are completely out of control. Every time they pass E., they push right past him, shoving him into walls, knocking him down, etc... The older girl even kicked this one African American girl right in the head and said absolutely nothing. Just out of control nuts.

So I'm down on the main level and this little seven-year-old slides out of a tube and comes up to me with a complaint that my son has taken his cup and smacked her upside the head. Now, please understand that I regularly box with my boys (we have these really sweet boxing gloves), so I KNOW that E. can pack a punch. So I have no doubt that this little punk girl took a shot upside the head. My issue is: law of the jungle hosebeast. You want to run around shoving little three years old around and kicking little girls in the head, you better be prepared to take a shot or two. On the other hand, I really don't want Ethan slugging other children, even if they are wrong.

So what do you do?

To show my support of the ABH (Anything But Huckabee) movement, I would like to tell two stories that have brought me a bit of joy over the past weeks.

One was told to me by a friend and fellow faculty in another department. His daughter was having pretty serious eye surgery (in my estimation), which involved removing both her eyes from the skull and realigning them (by re-attaching the muscular connections). Believe it or not, this is an outpatient procedure, and the optical nerve can handle this just fine. Naturally, the orders were for her to relax a bit post-surgically. So my friend gets home from the U, and asks his beautiful daughter about her day. And the daughter replies, "Daddy, it's just so hard not to skip." And as Dwight said, "If skipping is the greatest of your concerns, it shouldn't be taken away from you." Incidentally, she's doing quite well--although I have yet to get a skipping update.

The next story actually came out of my time at a local elementary school. The kids get treatment in pairs, and this particular pair of boys are just plain fun. One stutters, and had such significant secondary stuttering behaviors that it manifested itself as an articulation disorder. (Past SLPs thought it was verbal apraxia, actually.) In time, I discovered the reality--and he's made great strides. (i.e., Treat the stuttering (or show him a better way to stutter) and the "artic errors" just evaporate on their own.) The other kid is in for pure artic. Anyway--the stuttering child asked me why we stutter. And I'm trying to provide a 3rd grade friendly (yet accurate) answer, something akin to "Our brains may get stuck when we're speaking" His friend puts his hands behind his head, leans back knowingly and says, "Yup, sometimes things don't go out the way you plan." I still laugh about it even today...

Trying... So.... Hard... to... Stick... with... New... Topic...

Trying... Trying... trying... trying... trying...

OH I CAN'T DO IT.

Mike Huckabee once advocated isolating AIDS patients from the general public, opposed increased federal funding in the search for a cure and said homosexuality could "pose a dangerous public health risk."

Ok. That felt better. Ok--back to a different topic. Back to Kitlers, Bonobos, or anything else but politics.

So ... this is a difficult post to actually write. As many of you fine Hobos may recall, I have a lifelong illness that has plagued me on and off ever since I first came down with the illness during seventh grade. I am sad to say that in recent months, it has returned in full force; and as a result, I am stepping away from my position at work. The hope here is that time away from stress (a key factor in my auto immune system's inability to generate the needed antibodies) will alleviate the strain on my liver and spleen and thus allow me to return to the world of the actively employed sometime later this year. In the meantime, please be in prayer for me and my family as this is a less than ideal season to be dealing with this.

Please also note that as a result of the reduction in income, my plans to send each of you a fine kitler-related t-shirt (as well as a ham-flavored soda) for Christmas have been placed on hold. I only hope that your wardrobe can suffer this loss without too much strain.

P.S. Does this qualify as an appropriate change in topic, Matt? :-)

The reason why this building has non-opening windows is because they know we might consider jumping from them.

I am so ready for this semester (situation) to come to an end. The Machiavellian politics is killing me slowly on the inside.

Scott's point below notwithstanding, the Power Line guys are starting to wear me down.

But can we talk about something else for once, please? ;-)

Something of real importance?

... "American Gladiators" is coming back.

Read the blog regarding why Huckabee is this guys "fifth choice out of five." Sorry to say: this was a lame piece.

The real problem is that he's too moralistic (which is not the same thing as moral).

So tell me, what IS the difference between moralistic vs. moral? Would "moralistic" be anything couched in moral language that the author doesn't acknowledge as being moral because its different than his version of morality?

But if Huckabee actually did reach his position based on the views of a handful of generals, and without consulting the people actually charged with protecting this country from terrorists

So ... according to this guy, generals aren't actually charged with protecting this country from terrorists. If that's the case, are soldiers allowed to ignore their orders ...?

Waterboarding and long-term detention aren't very "Christian"; they merely keep terrorists out of action and, in special circumstances enable us to find out where we're going to be attacked next and/or where we can find those who are planning the next attacks.

Ah ... and now we attack the man's Christianity because his attempt to live out the faith doesn't line up with this author's personal need to justify his by-any-means-necessary view on how to fight a war on terror.

Give me a break! I'm not saying that I'm either for or against Huckabee. I'm just saying that this kind of sad-sack analysis is exactly why it is so hard to intelligently debate issues like this.

I think the attacks on Huckabee about taxes and illegal aliens are generally unfair.

However, it looks as though what I've long considered to be Huckabee's biggest weakness is shared by others.

I don't know if you guys have gotten into ebooks. I haven't. I hate reading. Yet, I find myself doing it sometimes. But the more I thought about it, I realized that I read all the dang time. I just do it on my computer. And I'm beginning to hate TV. So what else am I going to do after 7:00 pm? Even football, NASCAR and TIVO are beginning to bore me. Am I going to spend more time on my computer? Heck no, I'm in front of that blasted thing all dang day. So I've been following this Kindle, which seems like such a poorly designed beta or 1.0 device.

But the more I'm thinking about it--maybe it makes sense. It supports google reader, I can throw the Bible on there, and I just found out about Wowio--which seems pretty awesome. Let alone if I actually decide to buy an ebook--which is unlikely when there's all the free content. Further, I could even put in my research articles, orgainzed by authors, content, or SD cards. I just wish the thing had direct support for .pdf files. The Kindle is just making more sense at this point. $399 just seems a bit high...

Huckabee rose Arkansas state taxes higher than Clinton.