Still They Come

All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow.
Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina, Part 1, Section Eleven. Constance Garnett Translation (of course..)

At the time of this writing, the 'umble blog has over 116,000 hits, my G+ page has 1,268,461 hits, and a new blog that I have started recently entitled The Progress Impaired Cosmologist has the awesome number of 156 hits! People are not very interested in life, the universe, and everything...

Justin Trudeau whips out his cowboy...

The last posting of Sunday October 26, 2014 left me very depressed, in that the level of public discourse had reached all time lows in Canada. And then there was the realization, later, that as I contemplated posting again, that all my original intentions at the beginning of The Economy Of Media have been realized! Sun News Network is long gone, off the air, all my favorite members of the 'Harper Government' are dead or gone back to the rocks that they crawled out from under. And it looks like the young Justin Trudeau is going to peak last, and indeed be the next Canadian Prime Minister. And of course when that happens the economy and the budget will take care of itself, just like the young Justin said.

I have spent the rest time wisely, and the Oracle of Ottawa has learned many valuable and deep things. The main one being that the writing is never over, the work is never done, and if it is, death or something worse is soon to come. As the Oracle of Ottawa sat awe struck by the news that Albertan's voted in an NDP government, and the latest announcement of the bailing of yet another high profile minion of the 'Harper Government', the Oracle of Ottawa has come to realize the utter and extreme power of the blog, and the powerful concept of the quietly planted meme. It is not about the hits, it is about who reads.

The fact of the realization of the passing of Bill C-51 certainly frightened the Oracle of Ottawa, for about five seconds, until it quickly dawned upon the Oracle of Ottawa that you can have all the laws of the Universe on the books, but if you keep cutting all the security budgets, there is at the end of the last days of the 'Harper Government' not much chance that there will be anyone left to pay me a visit..., let alone monitor my awesome missives.

There will be many interesting issues that will be brought under the close scrutiny of the Oracle of Ottawa in this next wave, stay tuned to one of the "vehicles".  

Engine Porn! - Another Internet Epidemic

When internal combustion engines were ultimately produced, the technology was based heavily on that of steam engines.
Richard Stone, Introduction to Internal Combustion Engines, Second Edition, p. 8

Suck, squeeze, bang and blow! Just reciting the mnemonic of the actions of the four stroke internal combustion engine makes the Oracle of Ottawa all tingly. And you bet, it is all for my own selfish gratification, all mine, to wallow in and enjoy for hours at a time. And of course, as in all pursuits of force and power, and the strokes that go with them, the Oracle of Ottawa has his fetish's. The Oracle of Ottawa loves the immense and full bulk of large prime movers, because torque is your friend. And the Oracle of Ottawa truly loves maturity and long lived elegance. There was never a clip of vintage steam and early internal combustion engines that the Oracle did not like.Of course the Oracle also really has a thing for the legacy creators of Germany and the rest of Europe. And the Oracle will readily admit that he swings both ways with respects to spark ignition (SI) and / or compression ignition (CI). Hey? We are all adults here aren't we?

Lenoir Engine - Lets try this....

 Just what is it about a lump of cast metal with cylinders that have pistons injected into them that makes so many men go nuts? What is it about the sound of a large Electro Motive Diesel starting right up on a cold morning that keeps you coming back for more and  more? Could it be that that Karl Jung was totally right when he suggested that large machines and engines have anima? The Oracle of Ottawa can assure you dear reader that it is especially true of ships, especially warships. A happy ship will be happy no matter who is on it, and a shit ship will be hell no matter who you put on it. But I digress.

The Oracle really started getting into engine porn due to You-Tube. The bastards! I constantly enjoy myself in a very secret way and to add insult to injury, I actually learned a ton of useful facts and information! Why it is getting so advanced, that the Oracle of Ottawa has actually dug up some texts on his book crawls, pertaining to the history and the stories of various developments. And much to the surprise of the Oracle you always read in any text on engines, whether it is modern or vintage, that at some point the author admits that what goes on in an engine of whatever kind is still not completely known! Imagine that?

As in all great inventions, that eventually change the world, science and its methods hardly had anything to do with it. This was brought home to the Oracle just last night when he re-watched The Secret Life of Machines - The Internal Combustion Engine, when Tim Hunkin  related the story of how Etienne Lenoir invented the first internal combustion engine by ripping out the steam feed pipe to a steam engine and replacing it with a tube from the gas lamp! There is no indication that he was holding an advanced text on fluid flow and thermodynamics at the time! So there! Just like Edison and the light bulb. Have idea, try idea, no matter how crazy science might say it is. That is how shit really gets done.

Now this method certainly didn't stop with the 19th century pioneers. A fascinating example occurs again in the 1980's when Keith Duckworth of  Cosworth Engineering when he and the lads developed the V6 and V8 turbo from scratch! Just enter the name(s) at You -Tube and you will find the documentary which the Oracle of Ottawa found utterly absorbing. Then after that you might want to check out the excellent videos from Nelsons Racing Engines, but, be warned, that shit is super hard core! They manufacture street engines that dyno out at over 1000 horse power!  

Seeing the rich expanses of the past, what ever does the future hold? The Oracle of Ottawa strongly suspects that we missed something really obvious. And it is going to be some "garage-ist" watching You-Tube videos and puttering in his basement workshop that is going to blow the doors of the 21st century wide freakin' open... 

Roman Catholics - This Thing Of Ours

Indeed, there are some very dumb things in the Bible and quite a few you would not want your children to read.
Donald Harman Akenson, Surpassing Wonder, p. 8

When you read the later letters of Paul when he was a prisoner in Rome, you can get from the words within the words, that Paul is beginning to realize that there exists other powers within the power of civil society.  Many modern people today would be utterly shocked to discover that there existed in Roman times certain "organizations" that today would be called organized crime. This goes pretty far in explaining some of the many emperors weird actions, as recorded by Edward Gibbon and a host of others.

Stories of the mafia in the Western World are a sure key to success. Witness the enduring popularity of the movie(s) Godfather, and the television series Sopranos. Most of the frameworks for such organizations, we are told originate in Sicily. And Sicily is an ancient place, as you will notice if you have ever been any where near the place, on the ground, so to speak. So many visitors have been through in the course of history, that the locals soon realized that they had to take care of themselves, and once that starts, it is all but impossible to eradicate.  

So one should not be too surprised that the Roman Catholic Church has an organizational chart that is very similar to an American crime family. The only difference is that in Rome the scale of the whole thing is just about beyond comprehension. At the top you have the boss of bosses, the Pope, the capo di tutti capi, plain and simple. Under the Pope is the cardinals, or rather the Godfathers of all the other families. Under them are the Bishops, or the Caporegimes. And of course under them are the soldiers, the made men, the parish priests. You as a member of the church are an associate.

Thinking back to childhood, being in a parish is a lot like being in a crew, you got called in by the boss at least once a week, and you brought the envelope, to make sure there was something to kick upstairs, so to speak. One wonders how long it is going to take Pope Francis to figure out that he is the new boss of bosses?    

Pigs On The Water In China

Most economists believe that economic science can proceed just fine without attention to ethics.
Julie A. Nelson, Economics For Humans, p.22

It must be true, I read it on You-Tube; only the Chinese can turn water into swine! Honestly folks, what does the fact of a river full of dead pigs in China tell you? Well it tells the Oracle of Ottawa that the Chinese have yet again incubated a another fine strain of swine flu. It ought to be here in the free world just in time for the next flu season. And if the number of increased pig bodies floating down the rivers has any information, this strain is going to be a real bitch.

Feel like a swim?

 There are no secrets in this world dear reader, there are just stupid people that refuse to read the writing on the wall. And a lot of it has to do with being able to ask the right questions when presented with the right facts. This recent story that just today appeared on the Oracle of Ottawa's local vulgar media supper hour news could also explain a lot of other related world news matters most recent.

It seems that the hermits of the Hermit Kingdom, otherwise known as North Korea are getting awful feisty as of late, aren't they? It must be getting a little out of hand when they are threatening a nuclear strike on the continental United States. Talk about a death wish. Especially when there is most certainly a boomer located on station somewhere very near said hermit kingdom, already and prepared to make the whole state in question a glowing glass covered parking lot, with all the survivors glowing, so as to make it easier to shoot them in the dark.

But look at the upside, at least for the near future sweet and sour pork is going to be on sale at all the buffets!  

Whispers in the Loggia - A Blogging Algorithm

It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.
Deuteronomy, 31:8, NRSV

Is it truly possible to start a blog on a very esoteric subject and have any hope of seeing it grow to a one man media monster? Is it possible to build a huge global blog readership with just word of mouth, without marketing? Is it really true that if you post most every day and keep your nose to the grindstone, say eight or nine years, that you will be having about 2500 page views every five minutes? Well folks, the answer to those questions is a resounding yes indeed!

The Vatican is boring?

 And as per usual and per course, the Oracle of Ottawa will provide a reference. The Oracle of Ottawa is usually not very impressed with the majority of blogs that he checks out. The level of literacy and the lack of lyrical music of the words being in the right order, as Northrop Frye would say, is all but appalling indeed. And with the hyped demise of the codex book, the Oracle of Ottawa has become very despondent about the future of literacy on more than occasion, and that is just recently.      

The example of a monster blog, 26 million views at the time of this writing, is called Whispers in the Loggia, written singlehandedly by one Rocco Palmo. Who has become so recently notable, that he has his own article on Wikipedia!( A loggia is a roofed open gallery.) The Oracle of Ottawa has to admit that is a brilliant name. And the blog is a brilliant design of utter sparse simplicity, that is somewhat reminiscent of the early Catholic Church of Paul and the other many and assorted Apostles. Why the youngster even has the brass and utter balls to ditch the comments option!    

Of course, there is really no power in writing a blog...

" Hello? Mr. Palmo? This is the Vatican, media Curia calling in the hope that we can entice you to travel to Rome, so we can kiss your bum for the required amount of time so that we can implement our new policy of becoming media friendly... Yes, yes, of course, first class Air Italia, can we expect the honour of your presence? Wonderful..."

Really blogging is a waste of time and won't lead any where, won't it?  

Cardinal Marc Ouellet! Are You Kidding Me?

For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
Matthew, 23:19, NRSV

For a Cardinal that has recently said that the job of the Papacy "is not very enviable", and "It's the kind of thing you don't campaign for.", you would never know it if you are a resident of Canada! For the last two nights here in Canada, there was Cardinal Marc Ouellet in full HD on the CBC National evening news cast. Being interviewed by Peter Mainsbridge,  all cheesey jesusy, it was enough to make a maggot barf!

Cardinal Ouellet not campaigning....

 If you read into the good cardinals background, you soon will have to come to the conclusion that at present he is (was?) Pope Ratzingers right bower! And not only that, he was very responsible for seeing the right winged Rottweiler into his not so successful Papacy. Old Ratzinger and Ouellet have a lot in common. The Oracle of Ottawa finds it comical and ironic if it wasn't so loaded with future tragedy of an ancient organization. They both are, well, small town hicks! The Holy Roman Catholic Church really needs some more of that don't it?

It all reeks of Opus Dei to the Oracle of Ottawa! And believe the Oracle of Ottawa, Opus Dei is no joke. It is big here in Ottawa, the Oracle of Ottawa also knows what is like when it goes through your family, oh yeah.  And they are huge in the media, all over world. And if you are very suspicious,and had your tin foil hat on, you saw them in their full power and might on and through the CBC in the last two nights. Secret organizations with very little financial see through, just love the right wing unbendable bible thumpers. They usually are not very strong in the numbers department. Certain organs in the Church just love that. And believe the Oracle of Ottawa it is all about the money.

The Church is at a real cross roads. If they don't get it right this time, it could be all over in our lifetime. What we really need is a left wing renegade that will toss the money changing whores from the temple so to speak.
Some one who when is elected, the world will cheer in joy, and a whole lot of the devils agents will be scrambling for their tax havens and Papal passports...

The good Cardinal Ouellet is correct on one point; others could do it better....

Pondering Pontius Pilate

What I have written, I have written.
Pontius Pilate, John, 19:22

The Oracle of Ottawa has always been fascinated by Pontius Pilate; as a man and a civil servant and of course, of the role he played in the death of Jesus Christ. Unknown to most people, Pontius Pilate came from a very good and noble Roman Family, The Pontii's. He was of the Equestrian Order, that is of the second highest tier of Roman society. He no doubt busted his chops in the Roman Legions. He, also, in all probability, traveled near and far in the service of his emperor and his empire.

Ecce Homo...

Now the one thing that has always made the Oracle of Ottawa wonder is what did he do to get a crap posting to the Roman Province of Judea? Was it the head stand over the head table punch bowl at some Senator's daughters wedding in Rome, while he was home on leave from his Legion? Such actions in the beginning of a career can have long and devastating consequences as we all know. Such a question, and the answer to it are lost in the mauzy fogs of history.

Now just at the time that Pontius Pilate was posted to Judea as prefect (26CE-36CE), the Roman Empire was approaching its greatest extent. Practically the whole known world was under the governance of the Roman Empire. Ponder that! No internet, no telegraph, no printing and yet the last remanent of the Roman Empire did not die until 1453CE  with the fall of Constantinople! It has to be obvious to the modern person of today that the Romans had something going on.

Pilate Stone - Pilate was a real man...

 With all this in mind, and the fact that the "thinking about thinking" project reading has lead the Oracle of Ottawa to reread the New Testament, again, it was with a startling revelation upon reading the introductory quote of this piece that the Oracle of Ottawa totally understands the role that Pilate played in the fulfillment of ancient scripture and in turn the creation of the new covenant as fulfilled by God's only Son. The Oracle of Ottawa realized that at the end of the Passion of Christ, that Pontius Pilate was converted! And he successfully fulfilled his destiny as the vessel to whom ancient prophecy called.

We know from the Gospel of Matthew that Pilates wife  dreamt of the coming troubles that Jesus Christ would bring upon her house and her husband. And it all came to unfold as intense experiences do, in a very fast blur indeed. If a person is very well versed in the history of the time and all the constraints that Pilate was operating under, he proved to be in the end, a very ethical man indeed. He was sitting on a rather explosive situation. He only had about 3,000 centurions at hand. If an insurrection had of broken out, all of Judea would have went up in a fireball! Pontius Pilate was between a rock and very hard place.

The Oracle of Ottawa has often tried to imagine what it would have been really like to be on the ground at this momentus time. For a real exercise in leadership and management procedures try to imagine what it would have been like from Pilates toga and sandals! But upon reflection he seems to have taken the advice of Jesus himself. Pontius Pilate rendered unto Caesar what was Caesar's and rendered unto God what was God's...

Pilate with his hands full. What would you have done?

John Milton Wasn't A Philosopher?

Yet from these flames
No light, but rather darkness visible.
John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book I, Lines 62 - 63

What better time to talk about John Milton? Evil has descended upon the land, especially  here in Canada! Why today, the social deconstruction continues apace. New legislation to destroy the long gun registry was tabled. Rob Ford was frightened and called 911 over a visit by Marg Delahunty at his residence in Toronto. Rex Murphy appeared on Strombo, in the biggest reverse Judas act ever seen. The Oracle of Ottawa is convinced that we are living in the end times! Nothing is going to get any better. The neo-con conservative rule will continue to tighten. They will win an even larger majority in the next election. The Senate Chamber by then will be converted into a temple. The Speech From the Throne will be replaced with burnt offerings...The curtain of Canada will be rent asunder for all time!

John Milton

What better time to get into Milton's Paradise Lost? But before we do we must prepare the ground. What was the importance of John Milton to philosophy? Good, evil, power, gnashing of teeth, pretty common foundational philosophical issues, no? The Oracle of Ottawa must refer to a higher power. Pulling my copy of The Oxford Companion To Philosophy down from the shelf, I was shocked, shocked! That John Milton did not get an article in what I thought up to this point was a most excellent reference work and all around help. And to add insult to injury, I have the latest "New Edition"!

"sulphur and perfidy"

But, fear not, dear reader, the Oracle of Ottawa is most well resourced for a retired blue collar worker! We will just go up to the bigger guns! Pulling volume five down of my most treasured copy of The Encyclopedia of Philosophy edited by Paul Edwards, the day was saved! It contains a most brilliant erudite article of John Miltons importance to philosophy. "Milton was essentially a religious and ethical thinker, and his views are a striking blend of Christian humanism and Puritanism." This is most reassuring in this present age of sulphur and perfidy!

Yes but, what was the point? Yes, this article gets right to the very heart of the matter, in answering the question most brilliantly. " Central to Milton's conception of Christian liberty is the distinction between the Mosaic law, a law of bondage which extorts servile obedience through fear, and the gospel, which offers a free, elective and spiritual service based on mans filial relation to God." Now you to can understand Question Period!

What is the ultimate point? Again, quoting form the text: "This strong emphasis on inner law led Milton to the antinomian view that Christ, by his life and death, abrogated the whole Mosiac law, the moral parts as well as the judicial and ceremonial parts." Perhaps there is hope for the future after all?

Who would have guessed that Paradise Lost would become modern and contemporary?

The World Needs More Boris Yeltsin

The vocation of every man and woman is to serve other people.
Leo Tolstoy, What Is To Be Done? (1886) Chap. XL, as translated in The Novels and Other Works of Lyof N. Tolstoï (1902) edited by Nathan Haskell Dole, p. 281

I was quiet pleased to see that the Russian people have honored the memory of Boris Yeltsin, Russia's first elected president, by unveiling a grand and tasteful marble monument. He would have been eighty years old on February first. I quiet approve of it. It brought back a lot of memories.
   

Boris Yeltsin,  21-02-1989

 Boris Yeltsin had my favorite attributes of a great leader. Joviality and benevolence. Everybody got a taste. If you deserved it, you got a break when you really needed it. Many people say he was a buffone and / or an alcoholic. Hell no! I say that Boris Yeltsin was the greatest Russian since Peter The Great! And history will prove me right. If you wonder what the average Russian is like, I can't give a better example then Borris. He drank his wodka. Praised God, in his own way. And sought to find a comfortable vantage point for his people and himself to let the world be the world. And in that was his greatest success.
 

Boris Yeltsin does Washington...

 There were many evil forces against him through out his whole term of office. Due to the situation he inherited,  it was always damned if I do and damned if I don't. The worst possible situation to serve in elected public office. Looking back on it all I realize now that a lot of the "drunkenness" and the weird behavior looks a lot like other chemicals, I will even go so far to say that LSD could be a real candidate! The gangsters wanted him gone and for good. And LSD and other even more exotic chemicals were developed in the end of the Soviet era. There was a big bag to choose from.

" I am leaving. I did all I could do. "

Greed and fear can make men do insane things. But Borris pushed on. He did all he could do and then left. And upon leaving, enjoyed his retirement. Power is not all it is cracked up to be folks! And it really cuts into quality leisure time. To be out of it and having the phone go dead and the fart catchers gone is better then sex! 

(Photos: www.kremlin.ru)