E-Mail of the Week...

From: Keith Layman
To: gspencer@delcotimes.com
Subject: Mosque Column

Gil,

I applaud you on your most recent column "Know your Ground Zero
mosque" (Aug. 22). Your insights have certainly pierced the (sic) at the
heart of this issue and raised your readers' understanding of this
story from the merely idiotic to sheer imbecilic. While some writers
use their positions to raise the level of community discussion, you
have pandered to the lowest rungs of your readership (and we're
talking the Delco Times here, a rag for which literacy is just barely
a prerequisite skill).

You may be thinking to yourself, "Wow! look at all the comments and
emails my column generated - I must be a genius!" However, I would
suggest that should the Delco Times publish a picture of a hemorrhoidal
ass in place of your column, it would illicit (sic) a similar
volume. You must be proud.

Sincerely,

Keith Layman

To: Keith Layman
From: gspencer
subject: Reply

Keith,

A quick Google search reveals you to be some sort of public school teacher.
Well, I always enjoy hearing from my betters. Your note, though, would be far
more impressive if you knew the difference between "illicit" and "elicit." You know,
especially after trashing the "literacy" of our readers.

At least you spelled "hemorrhoidal" correctly. That's something you can be proud of.

Tolerance for Me but Not for Thee

Over at Patterico's Pontifications, a cop who writes under the nom de plume of Jack Dunphy responds to a story in the L.A. Times:

“New York mosque controversy worries Muslims overseas.”

So reads the headline to a story running in Monday’s Los Angeles Times. And the story that accompanies it is, as one would expect, every bit as fatuous as the headline. It is yet another in a long series of attempts by our sophisticated betters in the national media to shame those of us who would prefer not to see a mosque rise in what would have been the shadow of the World Trade Center towers. That those towers were reduced to rubble nine years ago, and that nearly 3,000 Americans met unspeakably cruel deaths that day at the hands of terrorists who committed their barbarism in the name of Islam, well, these are unpleasant memories that live on only in the minds of people so backward and unenlightened that they refuse to allow any figurative thumbs to be jammed into their eyes.

It’s growing ever more tiresome to hear defenders of the Ground Zero Mosque lecture us on blessings of the First Amendment. Yes, they have the right to build it there, and few would argue otherwise. But just as a man has the right to tell his wife that her new hairstyle makes her look like a Pekingese, that her cooking is unfit for man or beast, and that, yes, those pants do indeed make her look fat, the prudent husband keeps such opinions to himself in the interest of harmonious domestic relations. One might also have the right to burn an American flag outside the local VFW post, but one must accept the risk of being labeled a boor for doing so. (And being labeled a boor is probably the best thing that would happen to anyone so unwise as to exercise his rights in such a fashion.)

Americans are the last people on earth who need to demonstrate their tolerance for diversity of religious thought. It’s a shame that the Ground Zero Mosque controversy is causing such worry among Muslims overseas, but until there’s a synagogue in Mecca, I’m not going to lose any sleep about it.

And Now a Word from Feisal Abdul-Rauf...

UPDATE: Mark Hemingway finds a few of Feisal's real comments disturbing.

"The Islamic method of waging war is not to kill innocent civilians," he (Abdul-Rauf) told the Herald. "But it was Christians in World War II who bombed civilians in Dresden and Hiroshima, neither of which were military targets."

Now that's a charitable view of history. Whenever Muslims kill innocent civilians, it has no relation to Islam. The Muslim conquest of India, the bloodiest conflict in history, in which 80 million people were killed? Not Islam. Sept. 11 attacks? Not Islam. Hamas lobbing thousands of rockets at Israeli civilians? Well, Feisal refuses to go on record condemning Hamas even when asked point blank.

But when America's secular government stopped the atrocities of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, it was really all about Christians killing civilians. America culpa!

VOTE for Lela New York's Wedding Invitations - we NEED you!

Lela New York needs your help! We got a late start, since we didn't know we were nominated till a few days ago. Love that we were but now we are SO behind ;( 

Please VOTE for Lela New York as best NY Wedding Invitation designer. 

You can vote once everyday!

Thank You!

VOTE HERE.

The cutest Bridesmaid Gifts ever! - I LOVE Joanna Rutter Jewelry on Etsy

Ok, when I saw these I just died! They are the cutest most fashionable, itty, bitty jewelry I have ever seen! I think it would be the cutest bridesmaid's gift, ever! It would be a perfect thank you for being part of your wedding day. And what girl doesn't like jewelry?

I HEART this cute love bird ring!

And then you can buy the matching earrings! How cute are they?!

And this bow shaped necklace is to die for.

All of Joanna's work begins with sketches and then are rendered into metal by hand.
You can see more of Joanna Rutter's beautiful work on her Etsy shop.

Enjoy!

Hotter, Uglier!

The mosque debate is getting hotter and uglier. Reasonable people can disagree about whether it is inappropriate and/or insensitive to build an Islamic community center and mosque 500 feet from where jihadists in the name of Islam killed almost 3,000 people on 9/11.

But reason seems to be losing.

Mosque mastermind Feisal Abdul-Rauf "told a gathering Sunday at the U.S. ambassador's residence in the Persian Gulf state of Bahrain that he took heart from the dispute over the mosque, saying "the fact we are getting this kind of attention is a sign of success."

Ah yes, success! Americans at each other's throats. People are demonstrating in the streets, screaming and yelling at each other. Outrage and feelings hurt on both sides.

As Victor Davis Hanson said last week "Almost everything about the proposed Ground Zero mosque was cynically brilliant."

Bingo!

Corey Patterson

Corey Patterson has been, thankfully, relegated (mostly) back to the bench with the return of Felix Pie in late June. Patterson was a desprerate move and although he filled the hole in the outfield better than could have been expected, Patterson is not a starter, not even for a team as bad as the Orioles.

But I didn't come to run down Corey Patterson and point out his obvious deficiencies. I was to talk about Patterson's value as a bench player.

Patterson is not the same player that left Baltimore after the 2007 season. His hack-tastic ways are still evident but not nearly at the levels we have seen over his career.

            Swing%   K%    BB%   
Career       54.7   22.4  4.7
2010         51.3   23.3  6.9
  

He's swinging less and walking more. Again, this doesn't representa quantum leap forward but a very noticeable and real improvement. As a result, his wOBA sits at .347, second only to his impressive partial 2003 season.

He can steal you a base, serve as a pinch runner and can play all three outfield positions. I can't imagine there will be a lot of bidding for Patterson's services and there is no other outfielder in the minors knocking on the door to Baltimore*. Is it crazy to think that Patterson would make a useful 4th outfielder? If he comes at a reasonable price, this may not be the last you see of Corey Patterson.

* Yes, Nolan Reimold is in Norfolk but his future is at 1B/DH for this team. I'm not counting him.