The Top 10 Blogs for 2013


What would the New Year be without a list?  Here, in order, are my top 10 blogs by number of views.

1.  Peter W. Higgs, A Nobel Prize and the Music of the Spheres (October 9)

 I was delighted that a science blog took first place. 

“Unlike the Nobel for Literature, which seems to go to any dull, obscure 2nd world writer who sees the world as a forlorn and gloomy place, or the Nobel Peace Prize which has turned into a political joke with America as the punch line, the prizes in the hard sciences: physics, economics, chemistry, and medicine are genuine acknowledgments of expertise and merit.  This kind of knowledge challenges mankind.  It makes us test ourselves on every level from physical to metaphysical.  It makes us better people through an appreciation of the music of the spheres.”

2.  Lenten Sacrifices and Stranded Whales (February 26) featured my husband (a trained member of the coastal rescue for the Texas Master Naturalists)

“He and the others will be there, cold, tired and muscle weary, doing what volunteers do.  I am proud of my husband and his devotion to doing right by the natural world.  But I also find myself in mind of his work in this Lenten season. 

Up front, you need to know that while I am a Lutheran and perfectly at ease with my Christian beliefs, my husband is an atheist.  I believe that somewhere this evening St. Francis of Assisi is having a conversation with St. Peter.  It might go something like this, “…aye, it’s certainly true, Peter, that the man with the whale doesn’t talk the talk; but he certainly walks the walk.”   

3.  Dove Soap and How Women See Themselves (April 22)  After reading about Dove’s campaign I used my experience in the YMCA after they installed mirrors along one wall to point out the wisdom and folly of my fellow women.

“Dove soap is telling women to give themselves a break.   The ad uses the services of Gil Zamora, an FBI trained forensic sketch artist to draw women both as they describe themselves and as strangers describe them.  The results are displayed side by side and the woman’s self described sketch is much less flattering than the one done by strangers.  Dove’s message is, “You are much more beautiful than you think.”  

4.  Delta Force, Navy Seals and the Day the Earth Stood Still (October 9)  While some people may say that America can not be the world’s policeman, I wonder just who is going to clean out the rats before we all come down with bubonic plague.

“The 1951 sci-fi classic, The Day the Earth Stood Still starred Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal in a thriller steeped in cold war paranoia and dark warnings for the future of man.  In many ways, however, the second lead belongs to a huge, metallic and all powerful robot, Gort, played by 7’7” actor, Lock Martin (what a great stage name!).  Our Special Forces, along with a few well placed drone strikes could be our, “Gort.”  Screw up your welcome on this planet and you are dead.  We have smart bombs, pin-point missile capability and a few amazing fighting men who can administer justice in one almighty final way.  We will keep executing these sociopathic creeps until their own people start choosing better leaders.”

            Here is the rest of the list:

5.  A Tale of Two Girls: The Slut and the Hero (February 7)

6.  PETA, Cow Raffles and an Unreconstructed Carnivore (March 25)

7.  Manti Te’o and Obama’s Second Coming Both Involve Fantasy (January 19)

8.  The Westminster Kennel Club Show and Winning Dogs (February 8)

9.  A. J., I am so Tired of the, “F” Word (April 26)

10.  The Real Stooge of the Night: The IRS Scandal, Part I (May 17)

            Let’s spend 2014 keeping the faith.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Witches in Georgia, Nuts in Texas

Some time ago a woman in Georgia won a restraining order against a man who had been stalking her for months.   She had met him when he answered her advertisement in a singles column.   In the ad she described herself as a, “wiccan” priestess—a witch!   She was then shocked that she didn’t attract an intelligent, emotionally mature male.   Instead she got a weird, obsessive stalker.   Whom did she think she was going to get? I realize that I am probably not being as tolerant as the times require, but it seems to me that any adult who calls herself a witch should not be expected to be taken seriously.   Do adults have to be told that there are no such things as witches?   Didn’t we learn that sometime between the Salem Witch Trials and the dawning of the nuclear age?   What seems to be going on here is that the mantra of tolerance which rightly began as a way to combat institutionalized prejudice has been carried to an extreme that says we can n...
Read more

Chris Christie and the Young Vampires of the Tea Party

The Tea Party has given this nation a much needed fiscal intervention, but they are like young vampires.   I can best explain this discord with an analogy of Stephanie Meyers’ excellent books advocating teenage chastity.   Meyers wrote the Twilight series of novels about vegetarian vampires who are under siege from vampires who want traditional vampire values.   Traditional vampires want to kill humans by sucking them dry (which is what Democrats feel about successful business people).    Our vegetarian vampires want to live at peace with everyone while simply being left alone to enjoy whatever vampire-like existence they choose (much like Americans in general).    But complicating things to the max are an army of young vampires.   Young vampires are undisciplined, emotional and ready to kill everything, including each other.   Enter the Tea Party.   New to the game, new to the town, and obeying only one overpowering and all con...
Read more

Is Obama One of Our Four Best Presidents?

My default setting for a good book is a biography, add a penchant for American history and you have someone who reads a lot of Presidential biographies.   I am up to 13 so far, and plan on covering every President before I die, God willing.   Naturally, it caught my attention when President Obama said he would put his administration up with the top four Presidents.                 President Obama was clearly one of those children who were constantly told by his parents and grandparents that he was, “special.”   He was a special person; his parents were special people and everybody else, particularly people who didn’t think he was special, were wrong, jealous and possibly evil.   Such children grow up with an exaggerated sense of self.   We usually only see this syndrome in athletes or Hollywood stars, because politicians have to come up the hard way and there are lots of people to let them know ju...
Read more