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Whirled Views 2.14
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Good morning!
Here’s a nice Valentine’s Day quote for you: “We forget at our peril that the ambition of Islamic extremists is limited only by opportunity.”
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Identity theft
It could have been a Churchill quote. Just sub “Islamic extremists” with Nazis. Its a pity Islam couldnt spawn a breed of practitioner who denies the inerrancy of the Quran, who feels free to selectively adhere to Quranic injunctions etc when it suits him.
In short, Islam needs a few people in its ranks akin to many of those one finds in Christianity and Judaism: comortable with the gooey feelgoodisms yet rejecting the “hard teachings”
My daughter needs prayer! She was hospitalized last night with a severe atypical pneumonia, which they don’t know what is causing. She is very sick, has a husband and 10-month-old daughter at home. The baby is getting something, too; Dad is taking her to the doctor this am. Please pray for all of them!
I may not be around much today.
Sawgunner: It wouldn’t work. The practitioner who denies the inerrancy of the Quran doesn’t live long enough to get noticed.
You have to remember. Mohammed didn’t write the Quran, he wrote what God told him.
As I said before, Mohammed wrote the Koran like Tertius wrote Romans (16:22).
Janie, I am praying for her.
That would be Secretary of Defense Robert Gates during an important speech to Europeans in Munich, Germany last Sunday. May NATO truly be united in facing the terrorist threats of the coming years.
Janie: I will be praying for your daughter and family.
Oh, yeah, Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone.
I think the quote is Defense Secretary Gates.
Thanks for your prayers!
I think that the quote is logically incorrect. By definition, “ambition” is “to seek after earnestly; aspire to.” One’s “ambition” cannot be limited.
I suspect that what the quote means is more on the order of “the success of Islamic extremists is limited only by opportunity” (or, perhaps, in the spirit of a thread earlier this week, “the effect of Islamic extremists is limited only by opportunity”).
Wow Lynn, that is some Valentine’s quote. Happy Valentine’s Day to you too.
Janie, I will be praying.
So many ill on this board this week. Am praying for all.
Quote: VP Cheney?
Happy Valentine’s Day to all.
Just to show that I have a sense of humor about being from the south after yesterdays Separate But Equal in Marriage thread: As many of you know Barak Obama won the Democratic primary in Alabama which led to some confusion until it was discovered someone put G in front of his name. GOBAMA Go Bama! Seems they thought they were voting for Alabama / Auburn. Have a good day.
I’m joining everyone else’s prayers, Janie. Blessings on this Valentines day!
Kim, LOL!
I know nobody else cares, but I gotta tell this. I am reading an article by Bill Gertz in The Washington Times about a State Department official issuing “a blistering critique of Foreign Service bureaucrats at the U.S. Embassy at Baghdad. It’s a very long article, but this caught my eye:
“It is apparent that other than diplomacy, your only expertise is your own bureaucracy, which inherently makes State Department personnel unable to think outside the box or beyond the paths they have previously taken.” (Emphasis mine)
I have noticed that about some bureacracies. Some people are experts in their bureacracy. Some get things done. I don’t remember the name of the book, but that’s a reason some go “beyond their limit of competence”, as the writer says.
Kim, a doctor I know form UA Birmingham will love your joke!!
Did yall hear about the big debate set between Hillary and Obama down in Texas?? The local Travis county (Austin) party HQ and the statewide party HQ were both barraged with calls asking if there was anyway ordinary working stiff rank and file Dems could somehow get tix to the deal.
Uh.. nope.
Looks like the tickets were mainly for big-donor party poohbah types and hack loyalists willing to feed the approved questions.
I would expect such from the R bunch, but not the party which repeatedly claims to champion the little man! Some said the debate was planned at the last minute. I think everyone’s known Texas has a March primary for a good while.
Poor planning indeed!!!
Kim, I heard that joke from my brother, only he told it as “Why didn’t Obama do well at Auburn.”
That’s interesting, Chas. I laughed outloud at your bolded language. It’s sad that career employees think/act like that! One thing about the judiciary is that the judges get new clerks every year or so, so a judge always has a change and a challenge to the way he/she thinks.
According to the day-time stamps, Tychicus and Janie tied for the win! Defense Secretary Gates is correct. Please enjoy your digital cappucinos…
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Metanoia…
Did you get my second email about your Regulars bio?
Alert
We have a new Regular! Ajisuun, a missionary working in West Africa.
Check out her bio and give her a warm welcome.
(I wish the blog had sound: I’d announce new Regulars with sirens and bells, like when they serve “The Zoo” at Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor.)
Ah, Farrell’s! I embarrassed a girl by taking her there for her birthday, without telling her about the big to-do when the ice cream is served! I wish there were a Ferrell’s out here in the Midwest. I would love to go there again.
Welcome, Ajisuun, glad to see you have become a real person here rather than imaginary. A ghost writer? Irregular? Well, welcome. Any more significant weather events lately?
Welcome aboard Ajisuun. We’re glad to have you.
Lynn, that’s a great idea to alert us to a new bio. It might have been weeks before we found it otherwise.
Farrell’s! I grew up near St. Paul, MN, and for most of my youth they had one at the Har-Mar Mall. Going there on birthdays was a highlight for my sisters and me. (or is it “I”? Grammarians jump in)
They had an animatronic band of chimpanzees that played Dixieland jazz. Think of it. Then it went out of business and was replaced by a sort of TGIFridays rip-off called “The Professor’s,” and then … I moved away. Now I think the space is occupied by ubiquitous Uno/Ruby Tuesday/Appleby’s or another of those chains I have trouble telling apart. Or maybe a store that sells cell phones. Whichever.
Until today, I hadn’t realized Farrell’s was just one more chain restaurant. Thanks for nothing, Lynn.
We had a Farrel’s at the mall (Town East) when I was growing up in Garland Tx. Happy memories.
Wish I could find one now.
Carvell’s anyone?
#7 Mommy.
Amnbition is limited all the time, usually by the person themselves when they think that they really can’t reach a goal after trying several times.
It could be argued that unlimited ambition is dangerous if held by folks with massive amounts of fear, pride and ego. Mass murderers come to mind. An example on the other side where ambition has been limited by themsleves might be….let’s see…. those dear ones that May have picked out bad Valentines Day presents or cards for you
Llama,
You are correct - I meant, and should have said, that ambition cannot be limited by a factor outside of the person, themselves.
#13 Chas,
Once any bureaucracy is in place for a long time time, the tendency or goal for those that work there is to first and foremost protect the bureaucracy they work for. This tendency is even stronger for bureaucracies that have been successful in the past and have grown larger over time.
Eventually, outsiders think without actually checking, that this bureaucracy must be top notch because of its track record. The whole process is tied to tradition. Traditions develop over a long time and eventually everyone says - this is the way it is to be done because this is the way it has always been done and it has always worked.
Its the why fix what isn’t broken syndrome where the track record is success in spades. It always worked in the past and will always, here is where the error creeps in, will somehow work in the future.
Napoleon and Wellington proved this logic incorrect when Napoleon said “they come at me the same old way (a fine tradition) and I kill them the same old way (a better tradition). Eventually, Napoleon was defeated by someone who was steeped in tradition for sure, the British Army was quite successful, but Wellington realized that the same old traditional of battle wasn’t going to defeat Napoleon. What he counted on was that Napoleon would stick to his traditional way of defeating his enemies.
Wellington changed his ways of battle in victory and Napoleon did not in defeat. Never forget that traditions are all fine and dandy but they are based on pride and pride is one of the three attributes that will just kill you. Knowing when traditions are good and when they are bad and need changing is fine skill to have that bureaucrats traditionally lack because of the system they are firstly trying to protect - at all costs - until they are dead of course.
Hopefully they won’t kill you when they in error kill themselves. Here is the rule. If you change, tradition dies. If you don’t change, you die.
Llama, The problem with our present war is that our leaders think that we are dealing with rational people who care about treaties, civilized society, etc. That’s why we have “Camp David Accords”, and other agreements that get past presidents awards, but nothing else.
Re: #13
Chas,
You said, “I don’t remember the name of the book, but that’s a reason some go “beyond their limit of competence”, as the writer says.”
Is the book, “The Peter Principle”? The principle is that people always rise to one level above their competence, based on the assumption/observation that a person who does a job competently gets promoted until they reach a position in which they are incompetent. At that point they are seldom demoted or fired, and progress no further.
Welcome Ajisuun! Hope you get a taste of home with this rowdy bunch.
(I note that many of you used more than 150 words for your bios.)
John D. thanks, that’s what I was looking for. I read it many years ago.
NJL. Whadda ye mean? I used 148 words. But N. Charleston was one word. You have to count creatively.
Chas: I said “many” — not all!
(And thanks for those V-Day good wishes!)
NJ Lawyer:
Mine was exactly 150 words. It probably isn’t anymore, since I put my e-mail address in the body of the post and Lynn pulled it to the end when she made e-mail addresses into links. (It’s probably now fewer than 150 words, since I included teh address in a sentence.) But even if it’s now more, it’s not my fault; it’s the editor.
Speaking of editors, I just dropped a package in the mail–a proposal for my book on friendship going out to a publisher I’d love to see take it. And this afternoon I’m finishing a reworking of sample chapters for another publisher. Yet a third publisher has a query from me on my children’s series…. I would really like to get at least two of these accepted this year, and it would be OK with me if any of you want to pray about this.
Those who have ideas of immediate fame and fortune when you write a book have no clue of the reality of book publishing! (I’ve been an insider in the industry for 15 years now…two books in print…and it’s still very hard work to get a book published!)
Cheryl D - I’ll be praying for your proposals.
I have a proposal going in tomorrow’s mail. An editor at the Writing For The Soul Conference asked for it. Please pray for mine too.
Thanks for the welcome, everyone. I just thought since I’ve started putting in my 2 cents worth from time to time, I should become a regular. I won’t be around for the next week though. I have to travel for meetings and won’t have convenient internet access.
In fact, I need to finish packing now and go to bed, since we will be hitting the road at 6am. We have to cross the river on the ferry and sometimes the wait is long. So the earlier we get in line, the better.
At the risk of starting a rumor, did I see this correctly? That Some Kind of Different as Me is going to be made into a movie? If so, congratulations.
If not, so sorry. 
Who is going to the movie: Same Kind of Different as Me? When does it come out in your theaters?
Is this true, Lynn? Have you been holding out on us?
CherylD, that’s right — blame the editor!
The word count on my paragraph was also 150 words. I don’t care if anyone has more or less. It’s just that I worked hard to keep it to 150 words, probably more than I should have. It made me laugh to realize that I agonized for no real reason.
Cheryl, you have my prayers for your hopes and dreams.
Klasko,
I wish you the best! Try to forget about it after you send it, but note the date down somewhere. And if you haven’t heard from them in two to three months, you can drop a polite note asking about it. Don’t call, ever. And I’ve finally learned another “trick”: I figure out the next publisher after I send a proposal. I rewrite the proposal to suit that other editor, and I have the proposal ready. When you get a rejection, the last thing you want is to sit down and rewrite the proposal. But if the proposal is already ready, it saves you time in sending it out again and a little bit of discouragement.
I admit, though, that I really want this publisher to accept this book. I’ve sent it out before, to publishers I thought were a good match for it, but this is the biggest publisher I’ve sent it to, and a woman editor. (The book is written to women, and women love it. So it’s a plus to send it to a woman editor.)
I don’t know any of your writing experience and such. So if you have ten books in print, forgive me for giving “advice.” Having been an editor for 15 years, and a published author, I find that a lot of writers are glad to get a few free tips from someone who has been on both sides of the desk.
RE: Same Kind of Different and Hollywood.
The producer of The Pursuit of Happyness has optioned the book and is working on putting together a film.
I have learned that this is a long process!
Speaking from another side, if the publishers/agents will accept them, I’d send out multiple submissions. The wait is just too long, otherwise.
And if you get a bite, you can let everybody know.
I’M A REGULAR! WOOHOO!
They like me they really like me!
Thanks LV. For awhile there, I felt like I was back in gym class waiting to be chosen for a team and it was me and the guy with the thick glasses left.
It goes to show, begging, groveling, and whining do work. (I’ll confess, I did send LV a digital plain brown envelope filled with unmarked digital 20’s) but, that’s our secret LV, nobody needs to know.
BTW, did you guys catch the dialog on that Anthony Bradley mixed marriages post. Talk about a Pride Fight vs. WEC cage match. It was brutal. That Victoria throws punches like a windmill. She has no equal.
Sirens and Bells
Welcome to Regulardom, Metanoia!
Welcome, Metanoia! Aren’t you the new guy?
Cheryl D. and Michelle - Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it. It’s also nice to talk to other writers and editors just as people and not targets of opportunity.
So far I only have one article published, but I have some nibbles from editors at the conference for others.
Querying away…
Michelle:
I have definite preferences among publishers, so I’ve never chosen to go the simultaneous-submission route…though it has cost me, because these days you wait simply forever on a publisher. The one who’s looking at it now was a referral from the last one who saw it, and who rejected it only reluctantly. In other words, an open door I wouldn’t have had otherwise.
But my “strategy” now is that I wait two or three months, and then query to see if they’re interested. If they’re not sure, it’s time to turn the exclusive proposal into a simultaneous submission (telling them I’m doing so, of course). Right now, if this publisher doesn’t take it, I’m about set to try simultaneous submissions to agents. It’s a good book, and past time it got published. It was supposed to be my second book, but it’s in line now to be my fourth.
#46 Mumsee: Ouch!