Author: leeduigon(patty)

I have lived in Metuchen, NJ, all my life. I have been married to my wife Patricia since 1977. I am a former newspaper editor and reporter. I was also the owner-operator of my own small business for several years. I wrote various novels and short stories published during 1980s and 1990s. I am a long-time student of judo and Japanese swordsmanship (kenjutsu). I also play chess, basketball, and military and sports simulations.

An All-Time Record for Futility

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Bob Nieman, from back when Orioles were Orioles…

Orioles’, er, slugger Chris Davis set an all-time record the other night by going hitless in his 49th consecutive at-bat (https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2019/04/08/record-setting-futility-chris-davis-breaks-mlb-mark-for-longest-hitless-streak/). He may have added to it by the time you read this.

Ah! But “Crush” has a kazoolian-dollar contract with the Orioles, who still owe him $92 million and, with deferred payments, will be paying him through the 2037 baseball season.

Last year–and we really have to wonder, what was his manager thinking?–“Crush” played in 128 games, went to bat 522 times, and hit .168. For those of you who don’t know baseball, the average person plucked off the sidewalk could probably hit .168.

Davis’ rookie year was 2008, so he’s a ten-year veteran who should be in his prime. In 2013 he hit 53 home runs, in 2015, 47. He has a career batting average of .236–sub-par, at least throughout baseball history, I don’t know about now–with a high of .286 in 2013.

I don’t want to persecute the guy, or mock him for failure–I do know what failure feels like–but I am frankly mystified that he’s still in the major leagues. Why haven’t they sent him down to the farm team to see if he can get his stroke (well, what there was of it) back? Whether he plays for the Orioles or one of their farm teams, they still have to pay him. See if a change of scene helps. What could it hurt? The guy is hitting only 168 points higher than a corpse.

It is rare, but not unknown, in baseball for a good player to suddenly and inexplicably lose his ability. Sometimes it turns out to be a hitherto-undetected injury which might or might not be correctable. Other times, no one ever finds the cause. And that’s the end of a career.

I was for much of my life a devoted baseball fan, and practically a walking encyclopedia of baseball. I still treasure baseball’s past. But today there is something, well, unwholesome about it–and about all the other pro and college sports as well. Maybe it’s the obscene amounts of money paid to athletes, some of whom can barely sign their names. Maybe it’s naming ballparks after advertisers and inventing new statistics to make mediocrity seem like brilliance. There’s something about it anymore that creeps me out, though I can’t quite put my finger on it.

Where have you gone, Bob Nieman?

‘The Absurdity of “Diversity” and “Inclusion”‘ (2016)

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Marching off to Lib-land…

We saw an American cop show once–I think it was an episode of Law and Order–that was about the most constipated thing I’ve ever seen. They couldn’t get through a single scene without “including” every identifiable cultural or ethnic group except the Picts–a perfect illustration of the absurdity of “diversity” and “inclusion.”

The Absurdity of ‘Diversity’ and ‘Inclusion’

Where is it written that every group must be “included” in everything we do? Where is it written that “diversity” must be pursued as an end in itself, and artificially created?

And with a group of artificially-created “diverse” characters, how come they all look like models, all with perfect teeth and hair, etc.? Why does “diversity” always end up looking and sounding like uniformity?

Uh… because it’s a liberal thing, and lib things never make any sense?

‘The Ninety and Nine’

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The Ninety and Nine, sung here by Tennessee Ernie Ford, refers to Our Lord Jesus Christ’s parable of the Good Shepherd, who leaves his 99 sheep in the fold while he goes out to find the one lost sheep that has gone astray. But of course, as Isaiah points out, we are all as sheep that have gone astray. We all need rescuing.

Baby Donkeys

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All right, it’s not as exciting as Ben-Hur’s chariot race–but gee, baby donkeys are awful cute, aren’t they? Especially the one in the hammock. And I can never see videos of donkeys without thinking of this:

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass (Zechariah 9:9)

Even so came Christ into Jerusalem.

Whole Lotta Chasin’ Goin’ On!

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The only reason this video is here is because my brain is wrung out after typing up a 2,000-word book review for Chalcedon, and it needs a nice massage.

You’d think there’d by more than enough nuts to go around, here, but the chipmunks and the squirrels would not agree. It looks ferocious, but I don’t see any of them getting hurt.

God’s stuff–a pause that refreshes.

Here Comes the Internet Censor!

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But in Britain they don’t have a First Amendment…

Well, the UK is preparing to anoint an “internet czar” to rein in the social media, promote “internet safety,” whatever that is, and prevent “online harms,” whatever they are (https://www.cnet.com/news/uk-to-keep-social-networks-in-check-with-internet-safety-regulator/).

Yessir, they’re gonna set up a “regulator” who will have the power to shut down any sites on the internet where they find any of the following: 1) inciting violence and spreading violent content; 2) encouraging self-harm or suicide (Are you listening, Netflix?); 3) spread of “disinformation and fake news,” whatever that may be; 4)cyber-bullying; 5) children accessing “inappropriate material” (eye-of-the-beholder alert); and 6) child exploitation and abuse content.

To some, “violence” is defined as any failure to agree with their Far Left delusions. To governments, and especially to Democrats, “fake news” is anything they don’t want you to know about, or anything that makes them look bad: but if it’s aimed at Donald Trump, no problem. As for “inappropriate material,” grade school libraries are full of fornication-celebrating “young readers” books.

Do you trust politicians to decide what you can or can’t say on the Internet?

I’d love to hear Brett Kavanaugh’s take on some of this.

 

Teaching Kids to Cheat at Chess

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It’s easier if you cheat!

Let me hear it again. “I send my children to public schools to get ‘socialized’ there because____________.” Fill in the blank and win a tin foil hat.

Henderson Middle School in El Paso, Texas, recently won the U.S. Chess Federation’s National Scholastic (K-9) Championship… not! They’re going to be stripped of the title because they cheated (http://www.startribune.com/burnsville-chess-team-may-get-national-championship-after-texas-team-found-to-have-cheated/506849112/).

It was “organized and directed” by the coach, said the USCF. To prepare for the national tournament, the Henderson team entered some lesser tournaments and threw “virtually all their games.” All those losses drove their ratings down, which translated into easier match-ups–much easier!–in the national tournament. The practice is common enough to have a common name: “sandbagging.” I’ve encountered it myself, at online chess sites.

The coach denies everything and says “inconsistent play” is to be expected because his players come from “economically disadvantaged backgrounds,” so there–take that, you racists, you!

Anyhow, the USCF is going to take back all the laurels and bestow them on the team that came in second… And then someday there’ll be a TV movie about how all themb Biggits conspired to strip these Poor Kids of their hard-earned glory… and it’s Donald Trump’s fault! Break out the violins.

Two lessons have been taught here.

*If you have to cheat to get what you want, cheat.

*When you get caught cheating, play the race card every time.

And that about sums up public schooling, nowadays.

By Request, ‘My Song is Love Unknown’

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“Thewhiterabbit” was so eager to request this hymn last night, he forgot to give me the title: an oversight soon rectified, no harm done. This is the King’s College Choir, at Cambridge, singing My Song is Love Unknown. Let me see if I can post the lyrics for you.

http://www.songlyrics.com/robin-mark/my-song-is-love-unknown-lyrics/

‘What’s Next? Romance with Robots’ (2016)

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This is my official and bona fide prediction of what the Left will try to force down our throats after they get tired of “transgender.”

What’s Next? Romance with Robots

I do hate being right about these things!

As the ungodly try to move our civilization off its Christian foundation and onto a new one of unrestricted fornication, watch for the whole building to get shakier and shakier until it finally collapses.

Unless we, uh, stop doing what they say…

‘All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name’ (the other melody)

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This is the melody I know best for All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name, here sung as a processional by the choir and congregation at First Plymouth Church in Lincoln, Nebraska.

One of my most vivid memories is of the outdoor chapel at YMCA camp, overlooking a glorious vista of hills and fields and woodlands, with the camp counselors’ quartet belting out this hymn for all they were worth. Even just thinking of it now, going on 60 years later, deeply moves me.