Safe Haven

5 Trek-Inspired Thoughts 5. Just what do they put in those Class VIII probes to make them capable of travelling at Warp 9, hundreds of times the speed of light? 4. Why would you attempt to study anything while moving that fast, anyway? 3. This is the first time--but definitely not the last--when Worf will have some kind of romantic relationship with a mixed-race character. Paging Spike Lee! 2. K'Ehleyr doesn't seem to like herself much. 1. Nothing like putting your life at risk to blow off steam. (sarcasm)

5 Trek-Inspired Thoughts 5. Dude, there is no Fountain of Youth. 4. I find it amusing that Admiral Mark Jameson's earlier actions were so scorned. He'd be called a realist in foreign policy today. 3. Why would you need to be young for that mission? 2. Karnas forgives quickly. All you have to do is die. 1. Ron Paul wrote the Prime Directive, clearly.

5 Trek-Inspired Thoughts 5. An advanced civilization would totally walk around immodestly. (not) 4. Pantheism totally makes sense. Humans would totally embrace old, discredited religions in the future. (sarcasm) 3. Why is Counselor Troi so...unchaste? 2. Actually, the arranged marriage was the most normal part of the whole thing. 1. I would totally live among deadly lepers and forsake my obligations for a frizzy-haired hippie. (not)

Ahem . I don't even think that Obama is particularly unlikable as a guy, although I can sympathize with those who can no longer stomach his rank incuriousness and arrogance. But it's time to just say it: He doesn't believe in liberty. I am not one of those people who thinks he was born in a foreign country. I don't get angry when I see his face, although I mourn. It's just the plain fact that he doesn't recognize a difference between the State and everything else. He does not hold esteem for spheres of life that he cannot control or use. That's the only conclusion that fits all the data. This is why the HHS mandate happened. This is why the health-care law is written the way it is, either to destroy the private market or to make it small enough to be bought off. It's cool to be pro-gay sex these days, but he doesn't do it to seem open-minded. He does it because statists of a certain stripe know that families, communities, and churches are impossi...

The Major League Baseball season doesn't really start until it starts in St. Louis. And so, the 11-time champions begin today. Their minds will be on revenge of a sort, until the San Francisco Giants no longer hold the crown the Cardinals gave away. But it will also be on Stan Musial, the very definition of baseball in St. Louis. If a player in the 10 best of all time could be underrated, that's Stan. Of course, he's better known as an ambassador for the game, who taught younger fans to relish this game and this team just by example. He's not here now, but he really is. You've never seen anything like the home opener in St. Louis. I'm not going to even try to describe it. You can't. Just know that no one even remotely associated with the Cardinals is overlooked or forgotten. And you would think the Cardinals won the World Series every year. When veteran players contemplate where to go next in mid-career or later, their good friends tell them to come to S...

This is one of those days in Catholicism that sounds like so many hoops to everyone else, like a Pelagian's great idea, but to a Catholic who knows that he can't do anything without grace, it's like winning the lottery. Divine Mercy. The short, short version is that Jesus gave some visions to St. Faustina about the greatness of his love, and of his suffering, and also relayed some prayers to us. The gist of what He said was, "You cannot fathom how much I love sinners. If you only knew..." Once again, days like today tempt me to laugh in the face of those who say that the faith is about rules. Which Catholic Church is that again? But if you must know, Mass, Confession, and prayer for the pope gets thee out of Purgatory. I'm not really worried about it, because it's not Hell, for one thing. What a mercy it really is, if we understand the holiness of God, and his fatherly care. All the same, I'm not opposed to skipping it altogether. I had just gone...

5 Thoughts For Today 5. Fare thee well, Syracuse. 4. When fencing with the captain, lose on purpose. 3. Because marrying a German dude who talks funny and likes to mess with the universe is totally a good idea. 2. What scientific guild would allow dangerous, potentially universe-destroying experiments that have already claimed the lives of more than 100 people to continue? 1. No matter how scared you are, don't leave her waiting in Paris, in the rain. She'll marry a weird German dude, resent you, and try to seduce you for fun.