The Bookworm Beat (10/2/14) — World’s speediest writing and illustrated edition

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Bookworm

I did something wonderful today: I met Earl Aagaard and his wife, Gail. They had been visiting friends and managed to swing through Marin on their way back home. As is always the case when I finally meet someone with whom I’ve been corresponding for years, the simpatico feeling is instantaneous. Conversation was as easy as if we’d just been talking to each other the day before. Needless to say, Earl is everything you’d expect: smart, informed, funny, wise, and just plain nice. The only way in which Gail differs from Earl is that she’s incredibly beautiful. Earl is merely handsome. I look forward to seeing both again.

And now, I’ve got seven minutes to unload as much as possible on you before my evening driving rounds begin:

Neil deGrasse Tyson — not just dishonest, but foolish

I hadn’t noticed before in the discussion of the Cult of Neil deGrasse Tyson, but when Tyson falsely claims that George Bush, immediately after 9/11, said the Christian God named the stars — which was obviously (to Tyson) a dis against Islam — Tyson added something along the lines of “Ha! He’s wrong. Two-thirds of stars have Muslim names!” He’s an idiot, isn’t he? Not only does he get the attribution to Bush and the Bible wrong, Tyson doesn’t understand poetic license. God named all things because he created all things. Whatever names humans give to stars has nothing to do with God. Comparing Muslim names to God’s names is . . . well, I can’t think of a good metaphor, but it’s really dumb.

My friend Omri Ceren spreads the good news about Israel

I got to know Omri Ceren when he was on the Watcher’s Council. He is incredibly smart, and is one of the best informed people there is on all things Israel. That’s why I was so delighted to see that, in the October edition of Commentary Magazine, he got the cover story to tell the good news about Israel’s summer war against Hamas.

Maybe Obama should listen to this guy about Ebola

Back in 2005, a Senator made a pretty good speech about the avian flu scare, spelling out what a government should do to prevent an epidemic. Perhaps Obama should listen to this guy.

And if you watch the video, is it me or is the Senator giving the speech an incredibly wooden speaker without the aid of a Teleprompter.

Pictures

I actually have more posts to write, but I’ve got to run now, so I’ll give you the fabulous pictures that I got from Caped Crusader and Don Quixote: