Steven Den Beste has another typically long and typically thought-provoking post on Asymmetric Diplomacy.
If there is a fundamental disagreement, and negotiations lead to an agreement, then it means someone has given in. Most commonly both sides give up something, but it is quite often the case that one side gives up a lot more than the other does.
The idealist view is that it should be the “bad guys” who give up a lot, but that’s not what really happens. Rather, the side with the weaker negotiating position will nearly always be the one to make the most concessions if agreement is reached.
I have not mentioned two senior members of our family. Nip and Tuck are a pair of ten-year-old mini-Rex houserabbits. Rexes are a breed of rabbit originally bred for pelts and meat and characterized by short coats. Sort of like an all-over crew cut. A full-sized Rex rabbit could be between 15 and 20 pounds in weight. Nip and Tuck weigh between 4 and 5 pounds. That’s why they’re mini-Rexes.
That’s Nip and Tuck above here. Although born to different mothers Nip and Tuck were born on the same day and they’ve never been apart. They are really devoted to each other. They’re also very fond of my wife. They hate me. I’ve tried to cultivate them–it hasn’t helped at all.
It’s been a week now since we first noticed the baby bunnies I reported here. During that time the nest has stayed (mostly) empty. We did find a pair of much larger babies there briefly. Presumably it was a nostalgic visit to the old homestead.
The baby who had taken up residence in our ladder continued to thrive, now half again as big as when he arrived. His eyes are opened and he seems happy, doing what baby bunnies do which seems to be mostly breathing, sleeping, eating, and pooping. He would change his position throughout the day following the sun.
When I went out to check on the status of the situation as a preliminary to letting Mira into the backyard, he had gone. I picked up the ladder and put it away.
Following the events in Fallujah last week there’s been quite of bit of imprudent talk about what would constitute an appropriate response. Even people who I would have expected to know better have been making rather wild statements. The typical form that such statements take is “Nuke Fallujah”.
As well as I understand the rage behind such statements I absolutely do not agree with them, I don’t think we should even be talking this way, and I’d like to explain the reasons why. [continue reading…]
The Good News is that Jesus does ignore our hopes and dreams for ungodly things. The Good News is that Jesus calls us not to stand on the roadside and cheer, but to walk with him on his way. We are not to be spectators, but cooperators. So let us praise Christ, yes, but let us also join the parade and go with him, not stand and watch him pass by.
In homage to Joe Katzman over at Winds of Change why don’t I reserve my Sunday posts for stories of good people and good deeds?
Yisrael Ben Eliezer, later known as The Baal Shem Tov (The Master of the Good Name), was the founder of the Hasidic movement.
The Faith of the Ba’al Shem Tov
Once, the Ba’al Shem Tov was thinking about how great his faith in Hashem was. A heavenly voice called out, “Reb Yisroel, don’t become proud. Yankel the Innkeper has more faith than you.”
The Ba’al Shem Tov decided to go to visit Yankel the Innkeper. He stayed there several weeks but there didn’t seem to be anything special about Yankel. . .until one Shabbos. [continue reading…]
The current crisis at our place is over bunnies. Baby bunnies.
A day or so ago our huntress, Tally, came back inside from a potty break in the backyard with a living baby bunny in her jaws. I quickly got Tally to drop the bunny, grabbed a big wad of paper towels, and picked up the bunny. A quick examination suggested that no serioius harm had been done–neither neck nor back were broken and although there were a couple of small tooth marks there were no serious bites.
I asked my wife where Tally had found the bun and she responded that there was a nest of them near the hydrangea bushes. I took Tally’s erstwhile prey to the nest. Including the one I held there were five baby bunnies in the nest and no sign of the mom. She had, no doubt, hightailed it out when Tally had spotted them. I replaced the baby in the nest.
We decided our only real course of action was to keep the dogs out of the backyard until the mother had moved the nest. When we checked twenty-four hours later there were two bunnies left in the nest. Since there were no signs of struggle and no remains–as there would have been had a predator gotten to them–we decided to give things a little more time. Twelve hours later there was one bunny in the nest. Twelve more hours–we didn’t see any bunnies in the nest. [continue reading…]
There’s a fascinating discussion of the war in Iraq going on at Winds of Changehere and here. Make sure to read the comments.
Winds of Change tends to be a pro-Iraq war site. It’s an incredibly valuable resource on the war, the greater War on Terror, and the state of the world, generally. Discussions there tend to be fairly civil.
The powers-that-be on Winds of Change gave a frequent anti-war in Iraq commenter, Andrew J. Lazarus, the opportunity to state his views. He did so in a generally articulate and intelligent way.
He asked me a question in response to comments I made and this (in slightly different form) is how I answered him:
Dear Andrew Lazarus:
Thank you once again for your posts on WoC. As I said before, I think you’re making a valuable contribution to the discussion. [continue reading…]
