I’m getting sick and tired of people trying to take away my constitutional rights, particularly when they are fellow members of the faculty of which I am a part.  This article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, 5 Professors and Watchdog Group Sue to Block Prayer Event at Air Force Academy ,talks about how some faculty members are trying to prevent a speaker from appearing at the National Prayer Lunch next week.  The speaker is a (medically) retired Lieutenant from the U.S. Marine Corps, a Vietnam veteran, a motivational speaker, and, heaven forbid, a Christian.  Speaking at a Prayer Lunch – horrors.

The lawsuit is claiming that the Lunch violates the establishment clause.  Pulling out my trusty copy of the Constitution, here is what the First Amendment actually says (to be honest, I don’t care what left-leaning courts have done to “define” what this means, I’d rather look at the actual words):

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

So having a lunch which is completely voluntary, and you have to pay for by the way, is establishing a religion?  What about the second part of the clause about “prohibiting the free exercise thereof”?  It seems that banning such a lunch is actually preventing me from the free exercise of my religion.  Due to efforts like these and the anti-religious bigotry it represents that it has become very hard in the military to exercise one’s religion.  I’m not talking about proselytizing, any military leader who does that does need to be censored, but just being free to meet with like minded individuals at lunch to pray and listen to a motivational speaker?

Last time I checked the CIA World Fact Book, it indicated that 78.5% of the U.S. claimed to be Christian of one flavor or another.  Why are organizations like those participating in the lawsuit so intent on disenfranchising the majority population of the U.S.?  Are they so insecure in their faith in non-faith that they don’t want to allow opposing views to be expressed?  I’m sure if I were to have a one-on-one discussion with the speaker in question, I would disagree with some of his views with regard to Christianity.  I am after all a Catholic, and it would appear that he is an Evangelical Protestant.  That doesn’t mean that I don’t believe he shouldn’t be allowed to speak.

Looking at the First Amendment even more, it seems to me that this lawsuit if successful not only is trying to force violation of the first clause, but also it would violate the clauses on freedom of speech and the right to peacefully assemble.  The petitioners in the lawsuit would have us throw out the Constitution (if interpreted as it is written, not as the Courts have re-interpreted it) because they do not share the same views as Christians.

We appear to have two possible courses of action here. 1) We can come back to reality and save our lawsuits for cases where leaders are truly violating our constitutional rights and either forcing us to take on a particular religion or preventing us from exercising our religion (and yes, I agree that some proselytizing may fit this); or 2) vastly restructure the military so that only those who have no religion (4% of the population) are allowed to serve – this would have the cost saving benefit of no longer needing a Chaplain Corps.  Let’s see, follow our Constitution, or toss the Constitution and simultaneously put the burden of defense of the Country on a specific minority population?

Why is it that otherwise intelligent people (faculty) seem to lose all intelligence when it comes to people who believe differently than they do?  I would say that is the fault of our current education system, particularly the higher education system, but that is material for a different blog entry on another day.

UPDATE:  As my brother points out in the comments, the judge threw the case out since there was no evidence that anyone was going to be punished for not attending.  Heck, the email announcing the event went out on what we call “dist p” – this is the distribution that is used when you don’t really care if anyone sees it or not.  Many people automatically (or manually) filter dist p emails to the trash.  How the faculty members felt they would experience retribution if they didn’t attend is beyond me.  By the way, with nearly 4000 people on base (not counting cadets) and only around 300 attendees, at least half of whom were retirees or from off-base, that’s a lot of people who are going to be in trouble. :-)

I attended the lunch, which was the best attended one I’ve been at, since usually only 50-100 of us stalwart people go, and there was absolutely nothing to the event that should have caused anyone concern.  It opened with readings from the Qu’ran (in Arabic and English), Old Testament, New Testament, and a Buddhist Prayer, then lunch, then the speaker, Lt Clebe McClary.  Lt McClary was a recon marine in Vietnam.  He talked about the night that his team was hit by sappers and how he lost his eye and arm, and needed 2 years and 40 surgeries to survive.  Yes, he mentioned God and faith (it was a prayer lunch after all), but it was never in your face, Evangelical, in nature.  Yes, he promoted conservative values, like opening doors for ladies, and being faithful in your marriage.  Overall, very good, very inspiring, and very innocuous.  My only complaint is that his southern accent (he’s from South Carolina) was so thick at times that I didn’t understand him occasionally.  After his talk, one of the base chaplains (a rabbi) gave the closing prayer in Hebrew and English.  And by the way, I never, ever, felt like I had to attend the event or face retribution.

My long term plans consist of starting a private practice that focuses on total wellness, mind, body, and soul. So in addition to getting licensed as an LPC (mind), I am considering getting certified as a personal trainer (body, ACE), nutritional therapist (body, NTA), and Catholic spiritual director (soul, Aquinas Institute). In the future, if it is God’s will for me, I will pursue becoming a Deacon. In my practice, I will focus on individual and couples’ counseling, using an adventure-based, existential framework. Since much of our mood/emotions can be tied back to our physical shape and the state of our soul, it is obvious to me that the psychotherapy needs to be in conjunction with physiotherapy, nutrition therapy, and spiritual direction.

What does this longer term plan have to do with my 2011 resolutions? Well, I’m currently in horrible shape.  Just six months ago I was in decent (not great) shape after finishing a 23 day backpacking/rock climbing course at NOLS (www.nols.edu), but I have put on almost 30 lbs since then.  I haven’t really exercised since I finished the course, initially using the excuse of my massive heal blisters, then just being plain lazy.  I am finding myself getting short of breath at the slightest exertion and my clothes are getting very tight.  Here’s the before (i.e., right now) picture:

Pretty darned scary, even though I see it in the mirror everyday! I have decided to start making good choices with my life once again and fix this situation in which I have placed myself. I know all the right theory to fix things – basically follow a primal lifestyle, like that espoused by Mark Sisson in his book, The Primal Blueprint (http://primalblueprint.com/products/The-Primal-Blueprint.html).  Simply put, eat real food (meat, vegetables, some fruit and nuts – no grains, sugar or anything processed) and exercise (move around slowly a lot, sprint occasionally, lift heavy things). Obviously, future clients will not listen to me if I continue looking the way I do, plus I just feel like crap.

Using the approach of Christine Kane (christinekane.com), my word for the year is “Health”.  Health is not only the body, but also the mind and soul.  Most of the rest of this will discuss the physical aspect, but I will also be working on the mental and spiritual side this year.  On the mental side, I will continue in my studies for counseling; this year, however, I will finish each semester completely done and not take any incompletes. I will also work hard to finish the 4 incompletes I have at the moment before the new semester starts on 20 Jan. On the spiritual side, I will renew my focus on living up to my OCDS promises and reinvigorate my morning prayer, evening prayer, and daily mental prayer.  I will also be teaching on St John of the Cross’ “Living Flame of Love,” so that will offer further opportunity for spiritual growth.

When I retire in May, I will be in the best physical shape of my life. (I originally had “want to be” rather than “will be” in that sentence, but I need to envision my future success!)  My goal is to be down to 200 lbs at that time. Ideally, that would be below 10% body fat (20 lbs).  At my current weight of 252 lbs and body fat of 35% (88 lbs), that means I need to lose at least 68 lbs of fat, but I can gain 16 lbs of muscle.  Therefore, I will aim to lose around 4 lbs of fat per week and gain about 1 lb of muscle, for a net loss of 3 lbs per week on average.  I expect that the first few weeks will be above that, while later weeks will be below that.

Another goal I have is to get back in good enough shape to pass the PT test before the end of January, since my OPR is due in February and I’d hate the final one of my career to be a referral. By the summer when L and I go to Japan to visit A, I will be in good enough shape to hike up Mt Fuji without embarrassing myself in front of any Marines that may also be doing it.  While I don’t know if it is feasible in 4 short months, I would love to be in good enough shape by/before retirement to max out on both the AF and Marine PT tests; I will consider this a big time stretch goal.  A perfect score on the AF test (for my age) would require the following: 32.5” waist, 1.5 mi run in 9:45 (I’ve never run this fast, but then I’ve never pushed myself to get there, either), 44 push ups in 1 min, 50 crunches in 1 min.  For the Marine test I would need 20 pull ups (this will be tough, as I can’t do even one at the moment), 100 crunches in 2 min, and a 3.0 mi run in 18 min (<9 min for 1.5 mi).

How do I plan on getting there?  The first part is obviously my diet, since that constitutes 80% of your make up.  I will go on a strict primal diet: meat, (non-starchy) vegetables, a little bit of fruit and nuts.  There will be no grains, sugar, processed foods, dairy, or legumes. Also, I will cut back on my alcohol consumption to 1-2 glasses of wine on Sunday ONLY – the rest of the week nada but water, coffee, and unsweetened tea. I might consider eliminating nightshades due to their inflammatory nature, but this will be tough as they not only include tomatoes, but also hot peppers, tomatillos, and eggplants.  Perhaps I will try this for just the first 30 days and see if it will work.

To eat this way, I will need to plan out menus and buy food every weekend for the coming week, particularly for breakfast and lunch, so I don’t end up going to the snacko for cookies with my coffee or to the fast food joint at lunch.  In addition, I will do intermittent fasts (IF) on Tuesdays and Fridays, starting the previous evening after dinner and completing at that day’s dinner.  During the IF, I will only have water, coffee, or tea.  Not only is this good for the body, it is good for the soul, if you go into the fast with the right frame of mind of offering up your minor sufferings to the Lord for the salvation of the souls of others.

On the exercise front, I will kick things into gear big time (hopefully not overdoing it).  The following schedule will be executed:

- M-F (am): weather permitting (which should be true most of the time, I just may not be able to use my Vibram Five Fingers in the snow), I will backpack (60 lb of weight) for 3 mi around the house.  This typically takes right about an hour.

- S (am): backpack for 13 mi (Falcon Trail) – should take only about 4 hours, so if I start at 6, I’ll be home around 10:30. Obviously, if there are activities going on that day, I may have to miss this one.  Not a problem, as long as it doesn’t become the norm.

- M, W, F (am): Sprint/walk for 1.5 mi circuit.  Do the 1.5 mi in intervals, sprinting all out for as much as possible, then walking.  Repeat until done.  This will not only be good in general, but should help get me ready for the PT test.

- T, R (am): Lift weights.  Focus on the big movements, such as squats, lunges, clean & press, lat pull down (working toward pull ups), bench press, bent over row, and seated row.

- T, R (noon): Swim laps for about 30 min. First, I need to find out how much a pool pass will cost, but assuming it is not too expensive, this would be a useful addition.

- Everyday (am & pm): Push ups, sit ups, and prisoner squats.

- Everyday (pm) + F (noon): Tai Chi for at least 15 min.

Well, there you have it. My ambitious plan to make this a banner year for Health for myself and as an example for others. Stay tuned for progress updates, and look for the after pictures around the end of April…

As a scientist, who also happens to believe in God, the naivete of the writer of this message is amazing.  From a scientific basis, my immediate question is how do you prove a negative such as this?  It is impossible; therefore no scientist who was really thinking would make such a categorical statement.  I know Stephen Hawking made some comments about God not existing, and that everything was explained by physics, but I don’t buy that argument.  Science can do an excellent job of describing how things work and making predictions based on this of how things will change into the future and have changed in the past.  Science, on the other hand, has no ability to explain “why” things are.  Why do the laws of physics exist as they do?  Why is the universal gravitational constant the value it is?  You might be able to explain the factors that go into making up the laws or constants or whatever, but you are not explaining the “why”, only more detailed “how”.

As a person, I can’t help but look at the beauty of nature (including other humans) or even the beauty of the laws of physics and not have to exclaim not only that is God the reason behind this, but that our God is a truly loving and wonderful God to have set His creation in motion for us to discover and enjoy.  Knowing that God is responsible for the universe does not detract from my practice of physics, it actually gives meaning to what I do.

Climate change has been occurring on the earth since well before mankind arrived, and definitely well before the industrial age, which has often been blamed on all of the climate change.  We are coming off of a mini-ice age, so one would definitely expect there to be global warming occurring.  Have humans accelerated this climate change? Quite possibly; however, I don’t believe they are the sole cause of climate change.  Yes, I recognize that the ice caps are shrinking (up north, actually growing down south if I read correctly) and glaciers are melting.  To some extent, however, these are natural phenomena on an ever evolving planet.  The sun’s sunspot cycle has been unusually calm the last couple of years – are humans to blame for this as well, since correlation between sunspot activity and climate have been demonstrated in the past?

So why this tirade?  A couple of nights ago I was at the closing dinner of a conference (totally unrelated to climate issues) and the dinner speaker was a climate change doomsayer of national recognition.  She went through her passionate plea about saving the planet from climate change while simultaneously talking about how she is flying all over the globe.  Can we talk about one of the worst producers of green house gases out there – jet aircraft?

She also pointed to the intensity and number of recent wildfires as an example of climate change, but did not even mention that the well-intentioned forest service practice of trying to eliminate wildfires has led to the development of lots of fuel for wildfires so that they are 1) more likely to occur, and 2) be more intense.  She continued with the pine beetle as an example of climate change, but again, this is an example of trying to minimize wildfires, which are the “natural predator” of the pine beetle.  I personally see neither of these as direct indications of climate change.

Finally, she alluded to clean energy as the solution.  What is clean energy?  Solar?  What about the change in local albedo caused by solar farms, changing the local climate?  Wind?  What about the fact that to extract energy from the wind, you have to extract energy from the wind that is no longer available to inland regions, thus changing their climates?  Bio?  What about the fact that you have to destroy trees and thus animal habitat to produce the vast amounts of vegetation necessary for energy production, and, oh by the way, have a major impact on food production?  Nuclear – radioactive waste.  Coal – green house gases.  Oil – green house gases (and environmental impacts of spills).  Fusion – it’s been 50 years away for at least 50 years.  Hydroelectric – impact of dams on flora and fauna.  Hybrid or electric cars – more green house gases are produced in making and transporting the parts for these vehicles than they actual save in their use.  There is no energy technology that I am aware of that does not have some type of unintended consequence.

I think what we need is not alarmist approaches and unenforceable international treaties, but for each individual to look at how they are personally impacting other people, animals, and the environment around themselves and trying to minimize negative impact.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (if you count Jr High band & jazz band)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/Disneyworld
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb (assuming petting zoos count)
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (if computer languages count :-)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris (although I have been to the base of the tower – lines too long to go up)
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial (lived near DC for 4 years – this is the only monument I never seemed to get to)
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury (called for both jury duty and courts martial duty, but never sat)
91. Met someone famous (Edward Teller – father of the hydrogen bomb – very nice person)
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby (ok – my wife had the baby)
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

The premise is very simple.

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

53/100 My Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

There are several of these that I don’t even know what they are (I guess I’ll have to google them sometime).

To give you a little idea of the type of person I am, here are the results of a few online quizzes that I’ve taken:

My Personality Type

My Degree of Geekiness

On the original nerd test I scored the following:

On the latest version I scored the following:

This is encouraging – I may be a nerd god, but at least I’m fairly cool.