Borg Blog: June in Review

With June came the beginning of summer, which means longer daylight hours and less desire to be inside when I can be outside playing with the kids or working in the garden.  This also means the shear volume of my blogging has gone down some.  But there were still many highlights in June to share.

The highlights certainly included our aforementioned garden, which at six weeks was already quite big — and the pictures are posted to prove it! — and now has completely exploded.  Many friends ask me why Bonnie and I garden and how we find so much time to devote to it.  Well, I decided to lay it all out in my post, “‘Growing’ Our Standards of Living.”

As I explain in that post, much of the joy and benefit of gardening comes from involving our children.  But so is taking our children to the movies, visiting friends with them, reading to them, and more.  So, in June I shared some of this joy with my readers in two posts in particular: “Weekend Joys” and “On Cars, Bibs, Cukes and Zukes”, the later of which includes a quick review of the new Pixar movie, Cars (quick hint: we loved it!).

But June wasn’t just about our kids.  It was also about fathers.  And I was blessed by my wife and children with the most wonderful Father’s Day any dad could ever ask for.  But I am also so grateful for my own dad, and I sought to show that through a special gift to my Dad.

As usual, certain events in June brought about some political musings.  The first was prompted by the World Cup and the comments of young DC United soccer star, Freddie Adu.  See what my fuss was in the post, “Identity Crisis: Much Adu About Everything.”  The second has to do with the anti-flag burning amendment that once again came up for a vote.  Most people think conservatives fall lock-step in favor of the amendment.  Well, this constitutionalist conservative thinks it is a horrible idea, and I explain why in my post, “A Case for Not Protecting the Flag.”

On the lighter side, I laughed at and ridiculed a wannabe Daniel who lowered himself into an actual lion’s den.  The lions attacked him.  He died.  He was stupid.  “Stupid Is As Stupid Does.”

Also on the lighter side, I added a couple of posts to a newer feature I began in recent months at my blog, “Did You Know?”  These include a look into Thomas Jefferson’s culinary contributions to American life, in my post, “You Say ‘Toh-mas,’ I Say ‘Thomas.’”  The other, “Butterflies vs. Moths,” explains some interesting and bizarre facts about butterflies.

There were a dozen or so more posts from June, which you can find in the monthly archives.  But I’ll just spotlight one final one, “Tip Generously for the Glory of God,” because it is important to our witness as Christians and the love we show neighbors — our waiters - who serve us.

As we look forward to July, I predict you will probably see another dip in my blog activity, especially in the first couple weeks.  Why?  Well, because Baby #3 will soon be here!  In fact, the official due date is this Saturday, July 1.  Please pray for a successful and healthy delivery for Bonnie and the little one.  Pray, too, for a good life transition for Samuel and Maggie as we welcome into our home this newest member of the Langborgh family.

A Case for Not Protecting the Flag

Last night, the U.S. Senate again rejected a proposed amendment protecting the American flag from desecration — by one vote.

Thank God.

I’ve gotta believe that if this amendment ever gets out of the Senate and to the states, it will be ratified fairly quickly — and to the great detriment of our freedoms. 

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Titanic Feminist Idiocy

George Grant writes today on his blog, concerning the various reactions and messages that various sectors of society had to the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, in part:

To them [feminists campaigning for the right to vote, a.k.a. "suffragists"] the Titanic was a symbol of patriarchal oppression… The philosophy that man should be protector and defender of womankind was a fundamental impediment to their cause… Consequently, feminists argued that the policy “women and children first,” which had insured a death ratio of nine men for every one woman on the Titanic, was little more than a patriarchal sentiment that hid an agenda of suppression. Leading suffragettes actually argued that Titanic women were wrong to have accepted seats on the boats from men.

(From Grant’s post, “Both the Darkest and Brightest”)

Now I finally understand how holding doors open for women, standing when ladies enter the room, holding and then pushing the chair in at the table for them — all honors otherwise reserved for kings, queens, and presidents — are considered “oppressive” and “insulting” to so many modern feminists.

On second thought, no I don’t.

“Growing”

I found the following delightful little poem while leafing through an old book of children’s hymns this past weekend.  Since it fits in well with the lines of my thought, expressed two blog entries ago and elsewhere, that in tending our vegetable gardens we are also tending and nurturing the gardens that are our children’s souls, I thought I’d share it here:

“Growing”
by Grace Wilbur Conant

A little rain and a little sun,
And a little pearly dew,
And a pushing up and a reaching out,
Then leaves and tendrils all about,
And that’s the way the flowers grow,
Don’t you know? Don’t you know?
And that’s the way the flowers grow,
Don’t you know?

A little work and a little play,
And lots of quiet sleep;
A cheerful heart and a sunny face,
And lessons learned and things in place,
Ah! That’s the way the children grow,
Don’t you know? Don’t you know?
Ah! That’s the way the children grow,
Don’t you know?

Butterflies vs. Moths

Did you know…

…there are two main differences by which you can tell a butterfly and moth apart?

1. Butterflies have a bulbous tip on each antenna, whereas moths usually have branched or feathered antennae
2. Butterflies rest with their wings folded up, while moths rest with their wings spread

There are other diffferences generally observed between the approximately 140,000 species of butterflies and moths that make up the order Lepidoptera worldwide.  Butterflies usually have smooth, slender bodies; moths tend to be plump and fuzzy.  Also, most butterflies fly during the day, while most moths fly at night.

Here are some other interesting butterfly facts, according to Garden Gate Magazine (July/August 2006 — Issue 70):

• Butterflies can taste with their feet! 
  When they land on a leaf or flower, they taste with their feet whether it is worth staying to eat or lay their eggs.
• Butterflies don’t get all their nutrients from flowers. 
  The reason you will see them gathered around mud puddles is that they need to suck up the salt and minerals they find there.  They also like rotting fruit.
• Many butterflies can’t fly unless their body temperatures are at least 86 degrees. 
  This is why you will see them resting on cool mornings and flying in sunny afternoons, and why they prefer flowers that are in full sun. They will also warm their bodies by absorbing heat from rocks set in the sun.

“Growing” Our Standards of Living

I love gardening, in case you couldn’t tell that already.  And by “gardening” I mean tending our vegetable garden in particular, though Bonnie does a great job and I do help her out some with our beautiful flower gardens.

I find that friends and acquaintances generally enjoy talking about our vegetable garden, which is great, since I enjoy talking about it.  It is true of these friends whether they have a garden or not.  If they have a garden of their own, we can compare notes.  If they are just beginning to garden, they can seek my advice (though I still really consider myself a novice and I recognize I have way, way more to learn than knowledge to share).  If they do not have a garden, they find this living example of an earlier agrarian time intriguing and want to know how we find time to garden and how we can get so much produce out of it.

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‘What Is Idolatry, and What Does the Lord Require in the First Commandment?’

Lord’s Day Meditation

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Flashback: Economic Falsehoods and Anti-Capitalistic Mentality Thrives on Campus

It doesn’t require a creative imagination to ponder the results of a Soviet sympathizer teaching American history. The consequences of learning laissez faire capitalism from a supporter of the welfare state are no less obvious.

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Identity Crisis: Much Adu About Everything

Concerning the upcoming World Cup soccer match between the USA and Ghana, the Washington Post today quotes a burgeoning young Major League Soccer star, Freddy Adu of D.C. United, as follows:

“I was born and raised in Ghana, I can’t go against Ghana. I’d love to play for the USA, I can’t go against the USA either. . . . So I’m just going to watch it with a neutral eye and just hope the better team wins.”

I find this sentiment appalling. 

The fact the Adu is not alone in his divided loyalties, but is joined by hundreds of thousands — perhaps even millions — of other American citizens, is even more appalling.  So were the dozens of Major League Baseball players who, despite moving to the United States and obtaining citizenship here, played or seriously considered playing in the recent World Baseball Classic on foreign teams — teams from nations they or their ancestors originally came from.  In the case of New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, for example, he very seriously considered playing for the Dominican Republic - a country he wasn’t even born in or had ever lived in — before finally opting for the US squad.

Why is this even a dilemma? 

If you are an American, your loyalty should be first and foremost with America.  It’s that simple.  Is the USA playing your ancestral home in some sporting event?  So what?  Go USA!

If this were an issue of war, one would hope that this issue would be cut and dry - but one wonders. 

German Americans, for example, answered the call to battle en masse — and on our side — when our country waged war against Nazi Germany.  But with the vast balkanization of our society today along lines of ancestral cultures, will our various immigrant sub-populations similarly answer this country’s call against hostile threats coming from their ancestral homes, should the need someday arise?

Adu’s divided loyalties are a symptom of a very dangerous disease.  This is not just about sports.  It is about our national security.  It is about our national identity.  It is about everything when it comes to the long-term integrity of this great land.

Web Potpourri: On Chinese Churches, Homosexual Intolerance, Cars, Pork, & more

A few unrelated articles I found especially noteworthy recently:

• World Magazine’s review of Pixar’s hit animated movie, Cars: (See my own quick review, here)
  

  “What Cars lacks, perhaps to its detriment, is people. Everything in Cars is machine — cleverly, even the flies are Volkswagen Beetles and the cows are big, gassy tractors. Car nuts will love the film. That Mr. Lasseter and his team can hold the interest of the rest of us with a story so devoid of flesh and blood is impressive, but some of the emotional heart that existed in previous Pixar efforts is lost here.”

• Another article from World on the encouraging explosion of “house churches” in China:
  

  “This non-defensiveness probably contributes to rapid church growth: No one except God knows how many Christians there are in China, but 100 million (out of the total population of 1.3 billion) is a commonly offered guesstimate. The rapid, recent spread of Christianity among business leaders and other urban professionals poses a difficult problem for a government used to persecuting uneducated rural people.”

• Pat Buchanan on the hostile environment now facing Catholics and other conservative Christians:
  

  “[Maryland Metro Transit Authority board member, Robert J.] Smith was fired by a Republican governor for standing by a truth rooted in 2,000 years of Catholic doctrine, Natural Law, the Torah, the Islamic faith, the teachings of every Christian denomination and the laws of every Western nation up to the late 20th century.
  “…What does all of this tell us? Our society is being marinated in lies — the lie that homosexuality is a natural, normal and healthy lifestyle; the lie that those who think otherwise are all hateful bigots; the lie that the diseases that afflict the homosexual community are the fault of an uncaring society.”

• Robert Novak on the Republicans in Congress “Log-Rolling for Pork”:
  

  Earmarks increasingly are the source of corruption and ethical transgressions on both sides of the aisle in Congress. Yet the cardinals defend the practice, which has grown exponentially during the 12-year Republican majority. They argue that their constituents want pork, not reform.

• Jonah Goldberg’s excellent article, “Abortion Rhymes with Death”:
  

  “On many issues, we’re told that what America needs is a full and frank ‘conversation.’ But not on abortion. …
  “Some intellectuals say they want a conversation, but they say, ‘Keep religion out of it.’ The New Republic’s Peter Beinart, echoing the philosopher John Rawls, says that abortion opponents should only make arguments ‘accessible to people of different religions, or no religion at all.’ This sounds reasonable, too. But once they declare religious views illegitimate — a stance that would have surprised Martin Luther King — they can then brand any unwelcome position ‘religious’ and therefore illegitimate.”