The Resurgent A's. Here are a couple of articles I'll want to hang on to, if the A's make it to the playoffs. First from Tim Kurkjian (I'm highlighting the most important parts):

Two of the brightest general managers in baseball, Oakland's Billy Beane and Cleveland's Mark Shapiro, were speaking to each other recently.

"Billy told me we were giving the sabermetricians fits,'' Shapiro said with a smile.

Indeed. The Indians were on a pace to become the first team in history to finish 10 games under .500 despite outscoring their opponents by 50-plus runs. And the A's, well, their numbers don't make much sense, either.

Through Thursday, the A's lead the American League West by 5½ games. They are 17 games over .500 and have outscored their opponents by only 24 runs. Run differential always has been a leading indicator of a team's effectiveness: The 1927 Yankees outscored their opponents by 376 runs, an astounding 2.7 per game. Only two teams in history -- the 1997 Giants and 1984 Mets -- won 90 games in a season in which they were outscored. The A's have an outside chance to become the third team to do that.

The A's are last in the majors in slugging percentage, doubles and batting average with runners in scoring position, are tied for last in batting average and are 21st in runs scored.

"And we're first in [hitting into] double plays,'' Beane said, laughing. "Usually you have to have a lot of baserunners to do that. We are a complete freak show.''

So how are they in first place? Pitching and defense. Through Thursday, the A's are fifth in the majors in ERA and fourth in fielding percentage.

"The numbers tell me that (a) our defense is that good, and (b) it must be really good in situations, also,'' Beane said.

The A's have a deep, versatile bullpen that holds the AL's lowest percentage of inherited runners scored -- and that's having all their best relievers healthy for about only one week this season. Closer Huston Street is on the disabled list with a mild groin strain, but the return of Justin Duchscherer and Joe Kennedy from the DL has helped stabilize the pen again.

Read it all here.

The second article is on pitcher Esteban Loaiza in the A's win over Boston last night:

Esteban Loaiza threw seven scoreless innings against the Red Sox, and over his last four starts he's allowed only one earned run in 30 2/3 innings, for a 0.29 ERA. No other pitcher has allowed as few as one earned run in as many as 30 innings over four starts this season. Four pitchers did it last year: Jae Seo, Chris Carpenter, Mark Buehrle and Kenny Rogers.

Loaiza's run may remind some of Cory Lidle's season for the A's in 2002. Loaiza had a 6.41 ERA in 87 innings before his hot streak began. Lidle had a 5.15 ERA in 113 2/3 innings in 2002, then did not allow an earned run in 38 innings over next five starts, and only one earned run in 45 2/3 innings over his next six starts.

Besides those two A's pitchers, no one else in the last 30 years has had a run of four starts with zero or one earned runs in at least 30 innings, after having an ERA over 5.00 in at least 75 innings on the season when the streak began.

Then there were eight... Alas, Pluto has been defrocked or deplaned or deplaneted or whatever the term is when you are stripped of planetary status. So ruled the United Federation of , errr... the International Astronomical Union today. Instead, Pluto and two others will be known as "Dwarf planets."

One-Two. The first is from Mike Wallace's interview with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; the second is from The Princess Bride:

One

Wallace: Let me assure you, you look your best. What do you do for leisure?

Ahmadinejad: I do many things, I have many hobbies.

Wallace: For instance?

Ahmadinejad: I study, I read books, I exercise. And, of course, I spend some time, quality time, with my family.

Two

Prince Humperdinck: Tyrone, you know how much I love watching you work, but I've got my country's 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder and Guilder to frame for it; I'm swamped.

Count Rugen: Get some rest. If you haven't got your health, then you haven't got anything.

For critiques of the interview, see Jeff Jacoby and Bernard Goldberg.

The Solar System Expands. I love homeschooling! Last weekend the kids were bored -- it's August -- I got to talking and telling stories and one thing led to another and soon I realized that the kids weren't able to roll off the solar system in order. While it's not a problem for Emilie, age 5, it is for Sarah, a rising 4th grader. So I gave the two older ones a project -- list the planets in order with distance, time of revolution and the source of the planet name. Of course, this led into Roman and Greek mythology, then to Norse (Thursday is Thor's day, etc.) and on to Beowulf and so on.

They've been working on their charts and reading the myths -- I was planning on laying out the solar system to scale in the street this weekend. Then, this morning I got my SpaceWeather e-mail announcing the IAU Planet Definition Committee has proposed a new definition which not only clarifies the status of Pluto (it's in), but also allows three other bodies to come in as planets: Ceres (actually 1 Ceres), Charon and [let's see if I can get the styling on this correct] 2003 UB₃₁₃.

So we're all thrilled -- what perfect timing. The kids are busy learning the new names -- Ceres is the goddess of motherly love and of plants -- and learning the exact nature of Pluto and Charon -- while Charon's been thought of as a moon -- the new definition treats Pluto and Charon as companion or twin planets. Maybe it would've been better to rename the planets Castor and Pollux (yes, I know the problems with the stars and the moon of Saturn). Or to rename Pluto as Cerberus. Charon is of course, the boatman into Hades.

And we're all wondering what they will name 2003 UB₃₁₃. Xena seems to be the most discussed possibility, I like Persephone, although if we stick with the Roman predominance, I guess it should be Proserpina. There are two reasons (and reading the wiki website, I see my thoughts aren't original): First, given Persephone's links to Hades (Pluto) in mythology, it sort of plays off on that. Second, with it's erratic orbit, it is sort of in the solar system part of the time and off on a voyage the rest.* My oldest daughter likes Egeria. You can bet there will be heavy lobbying for Vulcan.

More - Heh.

Still More: Dava Sobel on the change.
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*Here is a much better explanation as to why it should be Persephone:

If the object falls under the rules for other Kuiper belt objects, however, it must be named after some figure in a creation mythology. We have decided to attempt to follow that ruling scheme. […] One such particularly apt name would have been Persephone. In Greek mythology Persephone is the (forcibly abducted) wife of Hades (Roman Pluto) who spends six months each year underground. The mourning of her mother Demeter causes the dead of winter. The new planet is on an orbit that could be described in similar terms; half of the time in the vicinity of Pluto and half of the time much further away. Sadly, the name Persephone was used in 1895 as a name for the 399th known asteroid. The same story can be told for almost any other Greek or Roman god of any consequence […] Luckily, the world is full of mythological and spiritual traditions. In the past we have named Kuiper belt objects after native American, Inuit, and [minor] Roman gods. Our new proposed name expands to different traditions, still.

I think the 399th asteroid gets bumped in this case -- rename it Xena. Oh, I found the above on the Wikipedia entry and this was it's source.

Tissues necessary. To watch this video.

Do you have the guts to watch love in action?

A Letter to my friends in the Episcopal Church.

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. . . . In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. . . . Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals—these are the very things that destroy them.

Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion.

These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him." These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires." These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!

Amen.

This is taken, nearly verbatim, from the Epistle of Jude and the above is the NIV translation.

Updates. I finally got around to fixing my blogroll -- I got tired of clicking through to get to some of the folks I like to read. Also, I did put a couple of new blogs and things on, but still have a few more to go. Interestingly, I couldn't get any of the ECUSA stuff to work... If I need this, I'll figure it out someday.

Small World. Updating my profile for one of the four high schools I attended, I discovered that Mary Ailes of baby blue fame and I have something in common, other than the obvious Truro connection. We both went to Radford High School in Hawai'i in the 1970's. How strange is that?

Here's her picture and update. I wish mine was on-line -- although I don't remember what I looked like back then, 17 was my all-time favorite age....

Air Force Memorial. I find public art facinating -- particularly Memorials. Driving in to work, I've been watching the raising of the new Air Force Memorial. I confess they way it is looking in development had me apprehensive -- it it going to be a monstrosity? or merely tacky?

However, looking at the plans on the Air Force Memorial webpage, I think this is going to be okay. In fact, it may be beautiful.

"I have heard the future of rock and roll...." and it sounds a lot like it did the last time. The Killers have released the first track from their next disc, "Sam's Town" you can hear a streaming version of it here (or here, on their myspace page). Interestingly, it's got a great opening verse that could come directly from your pastor:

You sit there in your heartache
Waiting on some beautiful boy to
To save you from your old ways
You play forgiveness
Watch it now, here he comes
He doesn't look a thing like Jesus

That's right, salvation is not in a guy, "can I get an Amen?"

Anyway, the song is very catchy and the "burning down the highway skyline" is classic Springsteen.


BTW, the opening lines of this post are a play on Jon Landau's famous review of Bruce Springsteen.

While we're at it, here are the lyrics:

"When You Were Young" by The Killers

You sit there in your heartache
Waiting on some beautiful boy to
To save you from your old ways
You play forgiveness
Watch it now, here he comes
He doesn't look a thing like Jesus
But he talks like a gentleman
Like you imagine when you were young

Can we climb this mountain?
I don't know
Higher now than ever before
No, we can make it if we take it slow
Let's take it easy
Easy now, watch it go

We're burning down the highway skyline
On the back of a hurricane
That started turning when you were young
When you were young

And sometimes you close your eyes
And see the place where you used to live
When you were young

They say the devil's water
It ain't so sweet
You don't have to drink right now
But you can dip your feet
Every once and a little while

You sit there in your heartache
Waiting on some beautiful boy to
To save you from your old ways
You play forgiveness
Watch it now, here he comes
He doesn't look a thing like Jesus
But he talks like a gentleman
Like you imagine when you were young

(Talks like a gentleman like you imagine)
When you were young

I said he doesn't look a thing like Jesus
He doesn't look a thing like Jesus
But more than you'll ever know

The Williams Shift. Here's a nice story which includes a tip of the hat to the great sports writer, Shirley Povich for a sweet turn of the phrase:

Ted Williams stepped out of the batter's box and stared. Then he shook his head and laughed -- exuberantly, like he did everything else.

The Cleveland Indians, following the lead of shortstop and manager Lou Boudreau, had shifted into the strangest defense Williams had ever seen. Third baseman Ken Keltner was slightly to the right of second base, meaning there were no infielders on the left side of the diamond.

Where was everybody else? Boudreau had moved between second and first. Second baseman Dutch Meyer was in shallow right field. First baseman Jimmy Wasdell stationed himself behind the bag on the right-field foul line. Beyond them, the Indians had, in effect, one center fielder and two right fielders.

Thus, the "Williams Shift" was born in the third inning of the second game of a doubleheader on July 14, 1946, at Boston's Fenway Park.

The reason was obvious. At 27, the left-handed Williams was the best hitter in baseball, and an estimated 85 percent of his swats went to the right side. In the first game that day, he had slammed three homers and driven in eight runs. In his first-at bat in the nightcap, he ripped a bases-clearing double. Frustrated, Boudreau thought he might improve the Indians' chances of stopping Teddy Ballgame with an unorthodox defensive strategy.

Shirley Povich, the superb Washington sports columnist, described the moment most pungently: "At first the crowd was silent, not realizing what was happening. But then it was that the shift hit the fans."

WWIII? Newt Gingrich made news by saying the conflict in Israel could be the beginning of World War III.

I disagree on two counts.

First, I think we're done with WWIII -- that was the world wide conflict known at the Cold War.

Second, I think what's happening in Israel is just another chapter in the on-going conflict which Norman Podheretz accurately described as World War IV.

Now then, what to think about this? Right now, the most important essay I've seen is Stephen Bainbridge's Just War Analysis.

Also beneficial is Jeff Jacoby's column explaining the Iranian connection.

Additionally, I recommend these segments from the Hugh Hewitt show: Christopher Hitchens (transcript) (download .mp3), Michael Ledeen (transcript) (download .mp3), James Lileks (transcript) (download .mp3), Victor Davis Hansen (transcript) (download .mp3), Mark Steyn (transcript) (download .mp3), and Mark Helprin (transcript) (download .mp3). [I like to download these and then burn them as audio tracks to a re-writeable CDR -- I listen to them as I commute and then erase and record new tracks as they become available.] All of these are from last week and give a good overview. I've listed them in chronological order and it can be helpful to listen to them in this order -- for example, Hitchens has been on the side of the Palestinians but is also opposed to Islamofacism -- and while he has some good points, Steyn later comes on an points out his inconsistencies.

Attack in Mumbai today.

Terror hits India -- we are with you and stand against the terrorists.

World Cup. I'm not a soccer fan -- but, let's face it, most of the world follows fútbol, so, borrowing from my wife's example (deciding in 1985 to become a football fan), I started following World Cup action.

One of the best ways to follow something is to have a stake in it -- with sports, the "fantasy" leagues motivate one to track many teams and individuals at once. So when I saw the WaPo having a fantasy tourney, I signed up. I'm please to report that for someone who on June 1 had no idea who Zinedine Zidane was, I did pretty well. My team came in 24th out of 1,640 and I watched the final game today, rooting for Italy (well, really their defense). Even when the aforementioned Zidane scored his goal, that was okay, because he was on my fantasy team -- a late pick up. When he got tossed (or shown a red card, as they say), that set me back. But it was all fun.

I agree completely with Bill Simmons on this one: "10 Reasons I Love World Cup."

More. here's the head-butting video .

Political Test. My daughter asked me to take this -- I found it kind of frustrating, because it mixed a lot of substantive issue questions with process questions. Folks who know me know how fond I am of quoting Bolt's Thomas More -- "I'd give the devil the benefit of the law" -- but that doesn't make me a satanist.

Anyway, here are my results:

You are a Social Liberal (68% permissive) and an... Economic Moderate (55% permissive) You are best described as a: Centrist Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid Free Online Dating Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

The Double Standard. The National Law Journal has an interesting article (subscription req'd) which begins,

This tale of two conservative judicial nominees, one white and one black, shows that race can still be a sensitive area in federal court nominations.

A coalition of civil rights groups, from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Hispanic and women's groups has raised "grave concerns" about the first black nominee to the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Jerome Holmes, because he has been a "longstanding and outspoken critic of affirmative action."

Meanwhile, little controversy was generated by the nomination to the 10th Circuit of Neil Gorsuch, a conservative white attorney whose book opposing assisted suicide will be released this month. He is the son of the controversial Reagan administration head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Ann Gorsuch Burford.

Holmes, 44, an attorney with Crowe & Dunlevy in Oklahoma City, drew a critical letter signed by 15 civil rights groups, pointing to his 2003 editorial comments in the Daily Oklahoman stating that the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision Grutter v. Bollinger "didn't go far enough." Grutter upheld the University of Michigan Law School's ability to take race into consideration in admissions.

Holmes wrote that the court "missed an important opportunity to drive the final nail in the coffin of affirmative action."

Happy Birthday! 30 years ago today, on America's Bicentenial Birthday, we all -- the whole world -- got a thrilling gift. A triumph over evil in the Israeli rescue of the hostages in Entebbe, Uganda.

I Dissent. I know a lot of folks are upset and offended by the first sermon of Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori -- her "mother Jesus" sermon.* Today's front page story in the WaPo said she "irritated" some conservatives. I think this article in the National Review Online is an accurate summary of the "irritation" caused by the sermon (actually, a homily) -- and the NRO article also notes that it's not just the homily that's the problem...

But the WaPo does use that amorphous "some:" "To those who accuse her of heresy for referring to a female Jesus..." Well, yes, if she tried claiming that Jesus was a woman and a mother instead of an historical person, I'd be upset too. But who really claims that she is trying to pass Jesus off as a woman or a mother?

I don't think that's what she was doing. Let's look at the homily and see what she actually says. I think you've got to cut her a little slack -- her homily starts off rambling -- hello clouds, hello park, hello man in the reflective vest, hello man who slept rough, hello rabbit, hello moon, hello lady whispering hush... (okay, so she didn't say the last two...)

Then she turns, at last to the text of the day Colossians 1:11-20 and here's where she runs into her problem. She gets sloppy and mixes metaphors. She starts off with the metaphor Paul uses in verse 15 and 16: "[Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created..." And when you read just that little bit, you can see that Paul mixes metaphors - Jesus is firstborn by Him all were created. From this passage she pulls out the following,

That bloody cross brings new life into this world. Colossians calls Jesus the firstborn of all creation, the firstborn from the dead. That sweaty, bloody, tear-stained labor of the cross bears new life. Our mother Jesus gives birth to a new creation -- and you and I are His children.

I believe her homily is simply tired sloppiness -- she had been elected Presiding Bishop and was dealing with interviews and demands and not a lot of time for reflection and the drafting of a well thought out sermon. As many have noted, she doesn't have a lot of experience -- she's never been a parish priest and the Diocese she's presided over is miniscule.

When you look at it this way, you can see she is saying Jesus is firstborn -- a child going through birth goes through the labor process. What gives birth to a new creation is a mother. A mother goes through labor. Therefore, Jesus, who gives us the new creation is not only first born, he is like a mother having delivered that creation through the most difficult labor.

I have no problem with criticizing the PB-elect -- her gender does not mean anyone should treat her differently than a man. But we have to do so honestly and fairly.

-----------------
* I had a very weird juxtsposition I'll have to tell you about some other time -- what I was listening to when I first heard the sermon.

I'm kind of surprised, genuinely surprised -- there's this guy who runs this blog called Father Jake. He's got a nice sign up "Peace to all who enter here..." Although I don't agree with him about most things, I've been reading it off and on since the time of the convention. In doing my catching up reading, I saw that he was circulating some well known lies about Truro Church. So I placed my comments to his blog explaining why these things just weren't true.

He deleted my comments.

I thought maybe it was because I referenced an earlier comment, the one that begins, "You know I've heard that CRAP for quite a while from these neo-conservative bible-thumping backward southerners...who just have no freakin' clue what the heck they are saying...." and ends "As it is now, I just tell people like that to their faces no less to, STFU!!" (Ah these loving Episcopalians...) So I scrolled up -- nope, those comments from his ally David Green at 10:10 a.m. are still there. Mr. Green still wants us to STFU. (What could that mean? Scrawny Two-Faced Underling?)

Instead, he deleted the truth about Truro Church under John Howe and the way things are today. I guess Fr. Jake would rather traffic in lies than permit the truth to be told.

And as always, he says Peace, peace... Jeremiah 8:11

And this guy is an ordained priest!

Deliver my soul, O Lord from lying lips
And from a deceitful tongue.

Psalm 120.

The Episcopal Soap Opera described by Terry Mattingly as "As Canterbury Turns..." (I might call it The Old [Establishment] and the Rest of Us) got quite an airing last week. The rector of the local church I attend was asked to serve as a bishop of the Nigerian mission in the US. This was followed by a mangled news article indicating that Truro Church in Fairfax and the Falls Church had advised Virginia Bishop Peter J. Lee "that they plan to leave the diocese..." (they had not and do not, as far as I know). Here is Peter Lee's response to all this.

There were more news stories indicating that several dioceses were seeking "alternative primatial oversight." From his position (which seems to me sort of like the idea that the prime meridian of the world runs through the Royal Observatory, in Greenwich), Bishop Peter ("le centre est moi") Lee argues that "the Center has held".

In opposition to Peter Lee's "far right" or "extreme right" there are "gay and lesbian people and their supporters" (hereinafter, "GALPATS"). In Newark, the diocese decided to "push back" against the Anglican Communion and Peter Lee's "center" by nominating an actively gay priest. In England, clergy pining to belong to the GALPATS coalition are thinking of seceding and joining the colonies, or something like that. And, of course, the self described "liberal bishops" (I appreciate this clarity) issued a statement saying they weren't going to abide by any resolution passed by the General Convention with respect to the Windsor Report.

Whew. Those are just some of the highlights (or lowlights).

On Sunday* we had a meeting with the rector, Martyn Minns, to discuss developments and get his thoughts on things. He has planned to do this at the beginning of every month, but with the aforementioned developments, this got a much better attendance than normal. Now, I'm not going to be giving you a blow-by-blow description of the meeting. And actually, Martyn didn't ask that it be off the record or anything. It's just that it is sort of internal. But I do want to give you a sense of what was communicated and my impressions because they do reflect on the developments described above.

First of all, Martyn reiterated his surprise at the errors in the Washington Times story, which is well laid out here, by Terry Mattingly. In particular, he stressed that there is no plan to leave ECUSA, nor to leave the Diocese of Virginia. Based on what I heard from Martyn, and in talking to members of the vestry, I really believe there has been no decision or plan to leave. Or even a plan to plan to leave.

Truro Church has just gone through Rick Warren’s 40 days of purpose, so "40 days of discernment" seems like a natural follow-up. Not just to determine where our local fellowship stands in relation to the DioVa or ECUSA or the Anglican Communion, but where we should be headed in Fairfax, Virginia and to the ends of the Earth. We are preparing for this as a local body, but it won't be started in the next week. To be honest, the 40 Days of Purpose was pretty demanding and we've got other things going on. We just finished Vacation Bible School last week; Truro was very involved in GenConv2006, which came on the heels of 40 Days, and there are the other demands of life.

On Sunday afternoon, Canon Minns had his extended family in town to baptize his newest grandchild. On Monday, he flew back to England with his wife and youngest daughter to care for his sister who is in hospice dying of cancer. We do not know when he will be back -- and everyone longs for him to spend the time with his family that he needs. Yes, he has left an able staff in place, but as I noted earlier, the two most senior members of the clergy are very involved in planning for the wedding of their kids -- Rev. Brown's son is marrying Rev. Crocker's daughter.

In addition, prior to all this -- prior to GenCon and all, Truro began the process of seeking a new rector, since Martyn had already announced his plans to retire.

I can not stress this enough — there does not seem to be any plan to leave or even to plan to plan to leave.

Moreover, while I am very cynical with respect to Peter Lee, Martyn is not -- he does acknowledge their differences, but he has never (that I have heard) spoken disparagingly of him. It is obvious the love and respect he has for the man and the deep pain Peter Lee's betrayal has caused.

Now then, my own sense is that Truro should not take any action at this time. I believe, since we have stayed this long, we should wait and see what the Anglican communion does with respect to ECUSA. I do not believe Katharine Jefferts Schori, the current Bishop of Nevada and Presiding Bishop Elect is any more of a heretic than Frank Griswold. I've said this before and I think it's still time to hold steady.

But, like I indicated, the 40 Days of Discernment will be a listening process -- I look forward to listening to the different perspectives and discussing this with my fellow parishioners.

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*Note -- I began this on Sunday, but didn't finish until the time I published -- I changed the time on this post to reflect this reality.