think hard, think well

I’ve commented on Bekah’s lengthy but excellent post over at The Primary Word entitled, "My Personal Jesus and the Story of Israel."

More pics of Daniel and family are now up on Facebook. Thanks for all your well-wishes!

Introducing Daniel Joseph Giffone, born 7/25, 12:51am, 8 lbs. 0 oz., 21 in.

Mother and child are fine. Corrie was so fast that they didn’t even get a chance to get the epidural in, so she was all natural. We got the hospital at 10:15pm after we suspected that her water had broken. From there, contractions were so hard, close together and fast that the little guy didn’t have any chance of staying in there any longer. What a night!

The hospital wifi blocks Facebook, but I’ve attached a couple of pictures as a "preview of coming attractions" until I can get home. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

Benj

I’m at Barnes & Noble with my lovelily pregnant wife, enjoying a cool java on a scorching day. Did you know that you cannot use a Starbux gift card at the Starbuxes (Starbuces?) within B&N? There’s something paradoxical about that–is it really a Starbux if you can only use B&N gift cards?

Ψυχη is Greek for 'soul'--and for 'butterfly'

On our way here, I was stopped at a light and saw a beautiful monarch butterfly on the pavement in front of me. I don’t know what was wrong with it–perhaps it was the heat, or it had been hit by a car, or it had just emerged from its chrysalis–but it could not quite get off the ground no matter how hard it fluttered. Up and down, a few inches high, a few inches forward–I only saw its orange and black wings for ten seconds, but it was quite compelling for some reason. I swerved slightly to avoid it, but I can’t imagine it survived much longer under the onslaught of vehicles that followed.

Such an inspiring and saddening considered making a foray into poetry or songwriting. Then I remembered how fruitful my last few attempts at poetry have been, and decided against it. So, for all you singer-songwriters out there, here’s a metaphor for…something.

On Fred’s recommendation I purchased and began reading Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day. This book has been an incredible comfort to me; Joan Bolker knows and understands the highs, lows, emotions, distractions and fears of the doctoral student. As a professional writing consultant, she advises doctoral students at Harvard, Brandeis and several other schools in the Boston area. This very practical book is a wonderful companion that will always been within easy reach of my desk for those debilitating cases of writer’s block.

On that note, it’s back to the dissertation…

I just added some new links on recycling:

• Mike Munger:“Think Globally, Act Irrationally”
• John Tierney: “Recycling is Garbage” (New York Times, June 30, 1996)

Articles like these remind us just how gullible we often are as a public, and how careful we should be when starting government programs.

I’m also disturbed by a growing tendency among American evangelicals to embrace "progressive" causes in order to seem more compassionate. Somehow we think that if we support these different causes (particularly ones involving government action) the world will like us more.

Of course, Christians are called to be compassionate to the poor, to care for the environment, and to seek peace. But even though our goals may be similar, our presuppositions about God, man and the world affect the way we believe those goals can be accomplished. We agree on the end but dispute the efficacy or morality of the various means to that end.

The problem arises when the end becomes inextricably linked in the public consciousness with the means to the end:

1. A clean, healthy environment is good.
2. Recycling bottles, cans, glass and paper helps the environment.
3. Therefore, recycling is good.
4. Therefore, anyone who disputes the veracity of #2 is bad.

Ah, circular reasoning…

Thus the wise man, at all times and on every road, carries a mind ripe for acquisitions that ordinary folk neglect. The humblest occupation is for him a continuation of the loftiest; his formal calls are fortunate chances of investigation; his walks are voyages of discovery, what he hears and his silent answers are a dialogue that truth carries on with herself within him. Wherever he is, his inner universe is comparing itself with the other, his life with Life, his work with the incessant work of all beings; and as he comes forth from the narrow space in which his concentrated study is done, one gets the impression, not that he is leaving the true behind, but that he is throwing his door wide open so that the world may bring to him all the truth given out in its mighty activities.

– A.G. Sertillanges, The Intellectual Life: Its Sprit, Conditions, Methods (p. 81)

A recent report has revealed that Pete Rose probably used a corked bat during his quest to unseat Ty Cobb as Baseball’s all-time hit king. If you know about baseball, you know that Rose received a lifetime ban for betting on the game while he was a manager: he can never play, coach or enter the Hall of Fame.

Some have argued that the sluggers from the so-called steroid era–McGwire, Sosa, Bonds, etc.–should likewise not be permitted to enter the Hall of Fame. There is a lot of question as to whether the writers will in fact vote for these guys when they’re up for election in a few years.

I think Rose’s transgression—betting on the game—is in a different category from those of the steroid crowd. I don’t have a problem with letting those guys in for several reasons:

• There is no conclusive evidence that “PEDs” actually enhance performance. The explosion of power in the late ‘90s can just as easily be attributed to the expansion and the dilution of the pitching talent. Even if steroids have the potential to make you stronger, that wouldn’t give me the hand-eye coordination that Bonds has. They still had to hit/throw the ball.
• A lot of the PEDs these guys were taking were not illegal or against the rules at the time. You can’t fault them for trying them, especially if their opponents were as well.
• Let’s be honest here: MLB executives are equally to blame for the steroid abuse, because they banned stuff and then didn’t test for it. That’s like a professor who gives a take-home, closed-book exam—it punishes the scrupulous and rewards the cheaters. The execs liked the HRs because they attracted (weenie) fans. Again, let’s be honest: McGwire and Sosa saved baseball after the strike.

Betting on the game affects the integrity of the contest in a different way from the way PEDs do.

When I watch a sporting event, I want to know for sure that the performers are trying their hardest and that the game will be called as fairly as possible by the officials. I expect the athletes to do all sorts of things to increase their chances of winning. Some are judged to be within the rules (training, practice, weightlifting, vitamins, cortisone shots, stealing signs while on second base, etc.) and some are judged to be outside the rules (hurting one’s opponent, taking steroids, stealing signs with binoculars from the bullpen). As a consumer of entertainment, I assume that the athletes would do all these things if they could, but the officials limit these behaviors for the purpose of improving the sport and maintaining the health of the players.

Betting one’s own sport, however, is a different matter—that casts doubt on whether the games were contested fairly. Even if Rose bet on his own teams, it will never be possible to know whether he was managing to win, or to cover the spread. Baseball was right to kick him out and keep him out. Maybe someday he should go in the HoF, but he definitely should never be involved in the sport again.

I would vote McGwire, Bonds, Clemens, Palmeiro, Sosa et al into the HoF if their numbers and achievements were judged to be extraordinary compared to their contemporaries. Stats always have to be judged in context. That’s what makes them so much fun and yet so debatable. There’s no question that Bonds hit more HRs than Ruth. Bonds played many more games at night than Ruth did. Bonds walked many more times than Ruth did. Ruth had Lou Gehrig protecting him in the lineup for most of his career. Conversely, Ruth was a pitcher (an excellent one, BTW) for the first years of his career. He also played before the live-ball era, and played 154-game seasons.

The debates are endless. I think steroids should be part of the debate, but not the only component.

HT: The Onion.

On Friday, I received word that my paper entitled, “A ‘Perfect’ Poem: The Use of the QATAL form in the Biblical Acrostics,” will appear in the fifty-first issue of Hebrew Studies, the annual journal of the National Association of Professors of Hebrew. The date of publication is usually November or December.

This is my first academic publication, and I’m very excited as you can imagine. Rather than viewing this honor as the end of a long project that started last summer, I hope that the article becomes a stepping stone to deeper work in the Book of Lamentations.

There really is no such thing as an individual achievement. At this relatively small but still important academic milestone, it is imperative that I express my gratitude to several people. First, I’d like thank those who have taught me Hebrew at several institutions over the years: my father (Ralph), Gary Schnittjer, Karyn Traphagen, Doug Green and Mike Kelly.

Second, Brian Toews was my advisor on this project last summer, and I am grateful to him for taking time away from his busy schedule as Provost to meet with me, as well as for encouraging me to pursue the question even when the answer might have been “no.”

Next, I’m grateful to Chuck Walton, a good friend who was the first to say to me last year, “You know, have you ever thought about presenting at a conference or submitting a paper for publication?”  No, I hadn’t really, Chuck–so, thanks.

Finally, my wife, Corrie, deserves “praise in the gates” and my heartfelt gratitude for supporting me financially, spiritually and emotionally while I pursue academic work. She understood that the months that I spent working on my projects between full-time master’s work and a doctoral program were not a waste. She believes in me, and the most gratifying aspect of these small successes is that they validate her faith in me. Corrie, you are truly’ an ‘ešet ĥayil.