Lebanese Elections

A Lebanese Shi'ite wrote this prayer ahead of Sunday's national elections.

A Prayer Supplication Translated into English from the original Arabic

O Lord who is worshipped by all Lebanese, we have stood in this place with broken hearts before your glory and mercy, and souls repenting to you.

We are mistaken sinners.

We confess to you that we have not been faithful to our country.

We have surrendered to divisions, and have been pleased with our hostilities, so have mercy on us. O Lord, have mercy on us. Forgive us our sins.

God, purify our memories and make us able to stand at the far and near past to learn a lesson from the many disasters, and meditate on the sweet reconciliations and the rich areas of agreement.

God, we ask you to join our hearts and cause friendship among our souls.

God, help us to accept one another as citizens and strengthen the spirit of good citizenship among us.

God rescue us from double-tongued speech and actions, and make our secret just like our known facts.

God, show us the thin dividing thread between religion and politics so that religion can be safe and politics can be straight and the nation can live.

God, teach us to teach our generations how to form their present and build their future, not with words only but with the pattern of life, mutual giving, respect, and promoting tranquility and peace.

God, beautify us with mutual respect and free us by obeying the law and caring for rights and doing our duty and make equality - based on justice - our goal and freedom our salvation.

God, teach us how to dialogue, and how to understand differences and how to solve our problems, however many they are, without resorting to violence.

God, we promise you that we will forbid violence and work to avoid it and work to promote tranquility among us so that Lebanon may stand. Amen.

Check, check

Rodney Harrison ended his active football career last season with a wave to the Razor crowd from the stretcher on which he lay. Today he's announcing the beginning of his broadcasting career, with NBC.

Harrison's ready for the microphone. How do I know? He used literally correctly in a sentence:

Harrison told reporters on a conference call that he wanted to leave on his terms with his health intact.

"A major goal despite the last couple of injuries was to be able to literally walk away from the game. I’m very excited to walk off the field and very much at a peaceful place in my life."

It's a point of Patriot pride that an athlete fresh from the field has a better grasp of English than the average broadcaster, who might be heard today saying that "Rodney literally played his heart out for the fans". Nope, but he did literally play his quadriceps out, and we'll take that as a measure of his heart.

For more on literality, see Literally, A Web Log.

Barbarian Treasury Secretary Fails to Convince Middle Kingdom Scions

My friend and I were wondering aloud yesterday about whether East Asian cultures have a different sense of humor. Here's one American funnyman who got a chuckle:

"Chinese financial assets are very safe," Geithner said [in a question-and-answer session after a speech to students at Peking University]. His response drew laughter from the audience.

Tim Geithner is the Secretary of the Treasury.

Me?

A friend sent me a link to this blog, saying its author a dead ringer for yours truly, from the Boston cap to the "dissertative conversational tone". Agree or disagree?

Geek Love

Newtonian romance: Cornell math prof use diff eq's to decipher his love life. But like Newton, he runs into the three-body problem. This is the best geek love story outside of XKCD.

Obama Keeps Turning

In yesterday's NYTimes, moderate conservative David Brooks joins the chorus of those who smell the Obama administration souring. His usual congeniality abandoned, Brooks is borderline shocking in his rhetoric:

These events have heralded a new era of partnership between the White House and private companies, one that calls to mind the wonderful partnership Germany formed with France and the Low Countries at the start of World War II. The press conferences and events marking this new spirit of cooperation have been the emotional highlights of the administration so far.

These events usually begin when the executives gather in the Oval Office, where they experience certain Enhanced Negotiating Techniques. I’m not exactly sure what the president does to inspire the business leaders’ cooperation and sense of public service, though those who remember the disembowelment scene in “Braveheart” will have a general idea...

During the press conference with health care executives, I don’t even think Obama meant to give away $2 trillion of their money. He was going to give away just $750 billion, but he got carried away by the Era of Responsibility.

Somebody (besides Mr. Cheney) needs to speak truth to power. Republicans in Congress aren't doing it. Business isn't doing it. Taxpayers aren't doing it. When Mr. Obama is done building his castles in the sky (fake castles, real money), who's going to take responsibility for paying the bills?