Musings (3/3/2022)
I grew up during the cold war. I remember duck and cover drills in elementary school. Our teacher told us to stay away from the windows during these drills, because if there was a blast nearby, the glass would shatter and injure us. I grew up hearing the monthly testing of civil defense air raid sirens. There was a small Nike-Ajax missile base just a couple of miles from my house—the missiles pointing skyward for all to see. We knew where the local bomb shelters were and the secret hospitals and emergency bunkers (under shopping centers and county buildings) were not terribly secret. I vividly remember Lyndon Johnson’s famed “Daisy Girl” Political Advertisement, which nuked Barry Goldwater’s 1964 presidential hopes—one of the most effective television commercials ever run.
I am so very thankful that my wife and I raised our sons without that kind of fear hanging in the air. Apparently, many Europeans in the EU and NATO-allied nations remember those days too, and have decided that Vlad the Invader’s murderous dream to re-incorporate Ukraine into a revived Russian empire cannot stand. In two short weeks, the world has changed. A truly remarkable turn of events.
I’ve read a fair bit about who is to blame for Baseball’s current woes. Jeff Passan has a point—the owners are largely at fault (They Need to Stop Treating Us Like We're Idiots). But the MLBPA is not without blame. I’m no fan of MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, who will forever be in my dog house for all the ridiculous rule changes of 2019-2021. All of that to say, this is the worst possible time to have a very public food fight about gazillion dollar salaries and minor rules tweaking. Whoever is at fault, the optics are terrible—there is a war in Ukraine, high inflation, a covid hangover. Shut up, reach a deal, and play ball. America’s “Pastime” is running out of time.
I found this to be a very helpful explanation of the current geopolitical situation: Paul Miller, professor of international affairs at Georgetown discusses the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Putin’s mindset, and the possibility of a new cold war. Paul Miller on the Russian Invasion and a New Cold War
One of my new favorite podcasts is School of War. In episode 19, the host (Aaron MacLean) interviews Frank Kagan (of the Critical Threats Project at AEI) about the abysmal performance of the vaunted Russian Army. Fascinating stuff. The School of War Podcast
Monergism is making available as a free e-book download, Dean Davis’ excellent defense of amillennialism: Dean Davis: The High King of Heaven
The debate over the Protestant appropriation of Thomas Aquinas and natural theology is nicely summarized here: Craig Carter Reviews David Haines’ New Book "Natural Theology"