Benjamin Ap Gwilym Ap Thomas

I still have more I want to say about the conversations we had in the U.S. regarding Pres. Obama's health care proposals, but there is another matter I want to write about that has connections with a particular date and I want to write before we get too far past that date.

It was just a little earlier than this last year that lametiger posed “A challenge for Madeleine L'Engle's birthday” (Nov. 29) (http://lametiger.livejournal.com/64354.html). Someone had drawn his attention to something Madeleine L'Engle had said about the Harry Potter series of books: "I read one of them. It’s a nice story but there’s nothing underneath it. I don’t want to be bothered with stuff where there’s nothing underneath." (I think I may have been the one who drew this to his attention, but I can't find the evidence now.) As a die-hard Harry Potter fan, he strongly disagreed, and used the occasion of Ms. L'Engle's birthday (which happens to coincide with his own -- belated Happy Birthday, Bro!) to invite a comparison of the two writers.

I responded, but he objected to my comments on two grounds. One was that I had responded to one of his questions somewhat tangentially rather than phrasing my comment in the strict terms of his question. The other was that I admitted that I had not read the Harry Potter books – though I had read numerous reviews, had seen all of the movies produced up to that point, and had read portions of several of the books over the shoulders of people sitting next to me, etc. I admitted that I was not qualified to comment on some aspects of the books, but I felt that I knew more than enough to make the comments that I had made and proposed to make. He disagreed. I could have argued the point. (Do I need to read/view pornography to decide that it is potentially harmful to society?) But I know how tenacious he is on such points and decided it was easier just to read some of the books. So I read three or four of the HP series (the first two or three and the last one). Since it had been many years since I last read any of Madeleine L'Engle's books, I also re-read some of hers that I had previously read and read a few I had not previously read, so that my impressions of both writer's books would be equally current.

Basically, my previous impressions were not only confirmed but strengthened. Having read both writers side-by-side, I feel the difference between the two is like night and day. It is exceedingly obvious which is the better writer.

( Read more )

Is Ms. L'Engle being correct and fair in judging Ms. Rowling's works as having “nothing underneath”? I felt she was when I first read the comment, and I agree with the comment even more strongly now. How do Ms. Rowling's own works compare? I would definitely recommend hers as being interesting, thought-provoking, and for having something substantial “underneath.”

I had intended to group together several observations about the conversations we had with various people about President Obama's health care proposals, but I'm having trouble finding time to write very much at once. Rather than wait indefinitely, and maybe never getting to it, I decided to do a bit at a time. Even if I never finish, at least part of it will be out there.

One thing I noticed was that the word “socialized” came up in most of these conversations. Either we were asked about our experiences with “socialized” medicine, or Obama's proposals were referred to as “socialized” health care, or both.

In the circles in which these conversations took place, the word “socialized” is normally used in a pejorative sense. In some of these conversations, it was obviously used with pejorative intent. In a few cases the intent may not have been negative, but I felt the fact that that word was used prejudiced the conversation. No matter how much good there might be in the system (in either these other countries or in Obama's plan), it already had a major black mark against it in that it was “socialized” medicine.

( Read more )

How did we answer the questions people peppered us with concerning current U.S. politics? Perhaps I'd better give a little background first. Our whole trip was made within or just outside of what is sometimes called the “Bible belt.” All of the people with whom we had these conversations were Christians, specifically conservative Christians, and all were politically conservative. For the most part I managed to avoid getting into discussions of the last president, but I suspect that most of the people we talked politics with probably feel G.W. Bush was a great president. Most of them expressed, in various ways, the opinion that Pres. Obama is driving the country to ruin.

The more general questions were perhaps the easiest to answer, though the answers were plainly not what people wanted to hear. I refused to say what my own opinions of Obama are, but I did relay some of the common opinions I have run across here in Hong Kong.

Most people in Hong Kong are not white; most of the world's population is not white. Many people here were favourably impressed that the U.S. would FINALLY elect a non-white president. Many Chinese and many Filipinos found it almost unbelievable that it could ever happen. They thought U.S. society was too incorrigibly racist for it ever to be possible. They were favourably impressed with the U.S. that it finally had happened. Most of their other opinions about him took second place to this big factor.

Secondly, much of public opinion that we come into contact with here believes that the war in Iraq is unjustified and immoral. (Many also believe that is true of Afghanistan and the way the “War on Terror” is being waged.) Such things as the Abu Ghraib scandal, the Guantanamo Bay detention centre, the suspension of habeas corpus for people accused of terrorism-related offences, bombing of civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, bombing targets in Pakistan, the use of torture or near-torture techniques on suspects and attempts by high-ranking U.S. government officials to justify the use of such techniques, etc., etc. have severely tarnished the reputation of the U.S. The U.S. has definitely lost the “moral high ground” it once enjoyed. President Obama has vowed to end such abuses and to bring an early end to the war. People overseas rejoice at that – friends of the U.S. as much or more than traditional critics.

As I said, though, it was only in the early stages of our trip (mainly in our first week, in Ohio) that we were asked these general questions. The rest of our trip all the questions had to do with health care. For a review of those conversations, stay tuned for part 3.

I think all my LJ “friends” know that I live in Hong Kong. Most of our relatives, though, live in the U.S. – my wife's parents (mine passed away a few years ago, but they had retired there), our kids, most of our siblings, most of my wife's cousins and most of my cousins on my mother's side of my family (most cousins on my dad's side of my family are in Canada). And we have many friends there. So we visit the U.S. periodically, and we spent 6 weeks there this past July and August.

When we visit the States I usually try to avoid getting into political discussions. My experiences and what I see and hear in the news are too different from those of my U.S. compatriots for us to find much common ground. Normally it is not too hard to avoid such discussions, as long as I keep my mouth shut. When political matters do come up, most people are more interested in telling me their views than in asking for mine. This past summer, though, a lot of people did ask our views, so we got into a lot more political discussion than we usually do.

We started in Ohio and worked our way westward through Indiana and Illinois to Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma. I don't know if this was coincidence or if there was some reason, whether temporal or geographical, but the questions changed as time passed and as we got further west. At first the questions were general, e.g. what did we think of “Obama”? (I can't remember anyone calling him “President Obama”), or what did people in Hong Kong or in Asia think of Obama? Later they became more focussed: what did we think of Obama's health-care plan? or what had our experiences been like with “socialised medicine”?

So how did we answer? If you are interested to know, please stay tuned for parts 2 and 3.

I've been musing about trends in what questions people ask when they want to know how to contact you -- especially the impersonal "people" who work for companies you are dealing with, who don't know you personally and therefore are probably following set routines. ( More behind the 'LJ cut' )

Today is St. Patrick's Day -- as I was reminded several times, yesterday and today. Some, at least, of the reminders came from people who, as far as I know, have no Irish blood. And it is not that they are showing polite deference to my cultural roots, because I'm not Irish either . . . or at least, if I have any Irish blood in the cultural mish-mash of my background, it is so tiny that no-one is even sure of it. The biggest component is Welsh. Wales has a patron saint too: St. David. And St. David also has a saint's day. It was just over two weeks ago, on March 1. I didn't see or hear ANY recognition of that, ANYWHERE, except that my wife and I wished each other a Happy St. David's day.

Why is it that EVERYONE is expected to recognise St. Patrick's Day, and is expected to wear green on that day or risk being pinched, yet hardly anyone (even, in many cases, those who share these ethnicities) remembers St. David's Day (Welsh), St. Andrew's Day (Scottish), St. George's Day (English and a host of other countries in Europe), or others? (I guess the Scots prefer to celebrate Burns Night, but no-one but the Scots themselves celebrates that either.)

I think everyone on my friends list who wants to do this meme has probably already done it long ago (at least in terms of blog time). I would have done it sooner myself, but things have been hectic lately, and it took me awhile to get completely through the list. Having done so, I may as well post it even if it is late.

Others have pointed out, at length, the factual errors in the original heading/explanation. So I'm leaving it out, apart from the instructions. The same people and others have also pointed out problems with the list itself -- inconsistencies, duplication, and the like. I won't change the list, but I also won't bother to repeat the criticisms. Despite the flaws, it was fun to do. Marking the ones I have read or attempted myself was an exercise in nostalgia, and it was also fun to see how the reading tastes of my friends agree with or differ from mine.

I have not had time to count how many I have read, either wholly or in part, but (as with everyone else whose answers I have seen so far) it was considerably more than the estimate of six in the original instructions. (Is that because the write was way off in his/her estimate, or because the people most likely to do a quiz like this are the ones who read more?) Interestingly, there were a number of books (more than six for this too, I think), that I have read more than once -- some of them several times.

Anyway, for what it is worth, the list is behind the cut. ( Click Here )

Well, strictly speaking, not really Beatles as such, but . . . .

About a month ago, camillofan asked her readers what our favourite Beatles' tunes are. I don't know if I would call this my "Favourite" (though it is "a favourite"), and, as I said above, it isn't, strictly speaking, a Beatles number -- but it is by one of the Beatles and I always associate it with them, and it has been going through my head repeatedly for the past several days.

I think the reason it has been going through my head is because of all the news these past few days out of Gaza. The ongoing conflict in Iraq may reinforce it.

The song is Give Peace a Chance, written by John Lennon, recorded by him, and issued under the name of the Plastic Ono Band.

(Note: In case anyone saw the original draft of this, I edited it to remove a related comment that I think I will save for another time.)

camillofan posted a poll about the use of the so-called "serial comma" (also known as the "Harvard" or "Oxford" comma) -- http://camillofan.livejournal.com/193345.html. Even if you, like me, had never heard these names for it before, most people would know what it is. When you write a sentence with a list of three or more objects, you separate them with commas, then put an "and" before the final item. But do you put a comma between the next-to-last item and the "and"? (When it is used, it is called the serial/Harvard/Oxford comma.) I normally use it, but a lot of people don't. Wikipedia has a good article about the pros and cons of using it, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_comma, and you can also read the discussion in camillofan's LJ.

I have a follow-up question. For those people who prefer to leave out the serial comma -- if you end a list with "etc", do you put a comma before the "etc"? If you do -- why?

Instructions: Leave a comment and I will choose 7 of your LJ profile interests for you to explain/write about in your journal.

(Note: If anyone wants to comment on what I have written without being obligated to participate in the meme yourself, just say so.)

* * * * * * * * * *

lametiger requested my comments on the following -- C.S. Lewis, Dorothy Sayers, Thought-provoking Books, Indian Vegetarian Food, Cajun Music, Reggae, and Middle Eastern Music.

He also specfied the following: "With most of these, it is a question of 'Why list these particular picks?' and for number 3 it is a matter of definition 'What books in particular have you recently found thought-provoking?' Don't let me limit what you want to say about any of these, however."

As for, "why list these particular picks?" -- I have very broad interests, and could have listed a lot more. Some of these are among my top interests. Othere are just ones I happened to be thinking of when I signed up and entered the list. I also write under a couple of other persona, and while there is an overlap, I have some additional interests listed with those user profiles.

1. C.S. Lewis

( Read More )

2. Dorothy Sayers

(See my earlier answer to camillofan.)

3. Thought-provoking books

( Read More )

4. Indian vegetarian food

(See my earlier answer to camillofan.)

5. Cajun music

(See my earlier answer to camillofan.)

6. Reggae

(See my earlier answer to eliskimo.)

7. Middle Eastern Music

( Read More )

Those of my LJ friends who are interested in heraldry might find the following interesting, as may others with an interest in the U.K. and/or Wales specifically. The U.K. is in the process of establishing its first true supreme court for the whole country, which will take over the functions of several other bodies, including the "Law Lords" of the House of Lords. (See the Wikipedia article for more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_Kingdom. The heraldic emblem for the new body has recently been announced, and some Welsh nationalists are outraged that Wales is not better represented in the emblem. You can read about this at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?xml=/global/2008/11/19/noindex/welsh.xml.

I found a bit of a puzzle in the comments section of another Telegraph article about this (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/11/19/dl1903.xml), where there were seemingly contradictory comments made about the Welsh flag.

The most recent comment (as of when I am writing this), posted by Leo Jones, says, "After world war two . . . the Queen declared a national flag for Wales . . . ." But an earlier comment by Rod Morris says, "Wales possesses the World's oldest National Flag."

So which is it? The "world's oldest national flag", or a relatively new one, adopted after WW2? I have already given the question to my brother Dan (lametiger, who lists "vexillology" (the study of flags) as one of his interests, but I thought I might as well see if anyone else can beat him to an answer or provide additional information.

What to do:

Leave a comment and I will choose 7 of your LJ profile interests for you to explain/write about in your journal.

* * * * * * *

eliskimo's choices for me to write about were: cajun music, dorothy sayers, folk music, mysteries, oregon, reggae, indian vegetarian food

Cajun Music: (See my earlier answer to camillofan.)

Dorothy Sayers: (Likewise.)

Folk Music: ( Read More . . . )

Mysteries: ( Read More . . . )

Oregon: ( Read More . . . )

Reggae: ( Read More . . . )

Indian Vegetarian Food: (Again, see my earlier answer to camillofan.)

What to do:

Leave a comment and I will choose 7 of your LJ profile interests for you to explain/write about in your journal.

* * * * * * *

I didn't realise, when I signed on for this how much time it would take or how self-revealing it would turn out to be. I guess I could have just whipped through them with a sentence or two each, but that would not have been as honest or (I think) as interesting. I invited three people to give me lists for this. All three did. I originally planned to do all three together, but it would be longer before I post any of it if I do it that way, and it would make an extremely long entry. So I changed my mind and will do it one by one.

First to ask me was camillofan, who asked me about -- apologetics, cajun music, dorothy sayers, hong kong, indian vegetarian food, thought-provoking movies, wales

Apologetics

You probably know, but for the record and for anyone who doesn't, apologetics is a reasoned defence of some belief. The word is most often used with reference to defending the Christian faith from attack and/or trying to persuade non-believers to believe. I have noticed that some of the best writers on apologetics have something of the "fervour of a convert" -- they started as atheists or agnostics, or went through some kind of crisis of belief themselves, before they were persuaded to believe by an examination of the evidence. C.S. Lewis is a good example. I would not put myself in the league of such men -- not by a long shot! -- but my own interest in apologetics reflects a little of this "fervour of the convert", in two ways. At first, I didn't see much value in apologetics, but I came to value it. Apologetics also helped strengthen my own faith in Christ. ( Read more... )

Cajun Music

I didn't expect this one, yet three of you asked about it. There's nothing really profound or any long story here. I have fairly wide tastes in music, and could have put down several other kinds besides what I did. Radio 4, the "Fine Music" channel of Radio Television Hong Kong plays a lot of "world music", which has introduced me to many kinds of music. A few years ago they had a presenter who played a lot of Cajun music. I liked it and have sometimes sought it out since then. I don't have any records or CDs of Cajun music. (Am I showing my age by even mentioning records, even without listing them first?) But I sometimes listen to radio stations online that feature cajun music.

Dorothy Sayers

I have always read widely, but over the years I have gradually focussed more and more on mysteries for my fiction reading. (For more about that, see my response to eliskimo after I finish and post those.) I stumbled onto the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries by chance. I think the first one I read was The Five Red Herrings. I liked it, sought out more, and eventually read the whole series -- most of them more than once (especially the ones with Harriet Vane). That led me to an interest in Dorothy L. Sayers, the woman. (I understand she always insisted on the "L" herself.) She was quite a person and a writer of several kinds of literature, including a translation of Dante's Divine Comedy. She was a devoted (Anglican) Christian and wrote some Christian plays and a lot of essays, many of them on Christian subjects. I have two or three of her books of essays. I think they compare well with C.S. Lewis's Christian essays.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is where I live and where I have spent the largest part of my life. I was first in Hong Kong as a baby, but I don't remember that. We came back when I was 14. I went through high school here,. During that time, I hated it here. (Why I felt that way is a big topic that I won't take time for now.) When I went away to college, I didn't expect to return. But "absence makes the heart grow fonder", and after I graduated from college I returned here, along with my wife, whom I married while in college. We have been living here and working here (as missionaries and leading a church) ever since.

MKs (Missionary Kids) and other TCKs (Third Culture Kids) grow up between cultures -- often not quite fitting in in the country where their parents work, but also not quite fitting in in their parents' home culture. Often they feel most at home in places where there is a mixture of various cultures. One article I read about this cited Hawaii as an example of the kind of place where such TCKs often feel more at home, and I know other MKs who have ended up there. Toronto is another such place. And so is Hong Kong, which I think is probably one reason I was drawn back here I love the cultural diversity here.

Indian Vegetarian Food

I did expect someone might ask about this one, and all three of you did. My earliest food memories are of refusing to eat any kind of meat, which made me gag. ( Read more. )

As for the Indian food side of this, Hong Kong has a lot of Indians (and Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, etc.), a significant number of my classmates in high school here were Indians and Pakistanis, and there are lots of Indian restaurants here. So I have had a long exposure to Indian food and liked it from the first. (I think I generally have a taste for spicy food. A couple of my other favourite cuisines are Mexican and Italian.) I do eat Indian food made with meat, but my favourite Indian food is vegetarian and my favourite vegetarian food is Indian vegetarian food.

Thought-provoking Movies

I like ideas. I like logic. I like to think about possibilities. I like philosophy, though I have not yet studied it as deeply as I would like to. I like movies generally, and have favourites in most genre, but the ones I like best in any genre are almost always the ones that raise some question I've never thought of before -- questions of existence, moral and ethical issues, scientific possibilities, philosophy, etc. I am tempted to give examples, but I'm afraid there would be no stopping. Maybe some other time.

Wales

"Land of my fathers." My father was Welsh -- born in a small town in South Wales, near Cardiff, of almost pure Welsh stock. (He believed he had a little Scots blood, though some relatives have disputed that. Some think there was some non-Welsh blood, but that it was not Scots but English -- Horror of Horrors!) Family tradition says that we are descended from the famous Welsh pirate (and later governor of Jamaica), Henry Morgan. I used to think this was only a family legend, but one of my cousins has told me that one of my other cousins has copies of the evidence. The family emigrated to Canada when my dad was 14, but settled in a coal-mining town in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta where there were a lot of Welsh people. Some of my cousins are active in "Saint David's Societies" in Canada. My dad remained proud of his Welsh heritage all of his life and passed that on to his children. I have never lived in Wales, but have visited a few times (at long intervals). I love Welsh music, especially Welsh male voice choirs singing traditional Welsh hymns and folk music. The flag I use as one of my "userpics" is the Welsh flag. I hope someday I have the opportunity to "get more in touch" with my Welsh roots.

(By the way, "Land of my fathers." is the Welsh national anthem. You can read about it, and listen to a historic but rather scratchy 1899 recording of it here , or read the words (in Welsh and English) and listen to a much better recording, by the Pontypridd Male Choir, here.)

larmer has written to encourage people to donate blood. (See http://larmer.livejournal.com/252378.html.) I first posted the following as a comment directly on his LJ, but then decided it might be better to put it here instead.

Since I live in Hong Kong, my donating blood would not affect the Canadian blood supply, but the need for people to donate blood is a world-wide one. I used to give blood quite regularly -- and have a T-shirt and a plaque to show for it. I haven't donated for several years, though, for two reasons. ( Read on . . . )

I'm not sure how many of you I told that our church, of which I am minister/elder/pastor, celebrated its 27th anniversary yesterday (Sunday, 9 November). I know I asked at least one of you to pray for it. Preparation for that has taken a good deal of my time for several weeks. ( Read more about how things went. )

I've never done this before on LJ, so I hope it works.

The cartoon (which I will embed here if I can, or will provide a link to if I can't) is from Madam and Eve, by Stephen Francis & Rico, a South African comic strip.



The main site for the strip is at http://madamandeve.co.za/index.php.

This is a postscript to my earlier entry about "Mistranslations." As my brother pointed out in his comments on that, the picture with the article referred to there included a picture of another famous sign in Welsh, but NOT the one the article was actually about.

A picture of the ACTUAL mis-translated sign, blog comments on it, and a link to a BBC report about it can be found at http://salvationssongs.blogspot.com/2008/10/lost-in-translation.html.

Enjoy!

And a postscript to the postscript: The BBC report also has the (correct) picture, plus a list of some other notable mis-translations, mostly also Welsh-related. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7702913.stm.

I'm not sure who this would appeal to most

-- those interested in Wales and things Welsh?
-- those who appreciate the sometimes humorous miscommunication that can sometimes happen across languages and across cultures?
-- those who live in places where two languages are used together and where it may be mandatory to provide translations? (like Canada?)

Anyway, I found it priceless.

Go to http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20081101/tuk-welsh-road-sign-lost-in-translation-a7ad41d.html. (And I would suggest going soon, since these news items don't stay around forever.)

I just heard it again -- this time on the news! The commentator was talking about all the things that have made this U.S. presidential campaign unique -- all the superlatives and firsts, etc. He said it was the most expensive campaign in history, the longest, the first black candidate . . . AND THE FIRST WOMAN! I'm not quite sure if he meant Mrs. Clinton or Mrs. Palin. My wife and I both had the impression when we heard it that he meant the latter.

If he did mean Mrs. Clinton, a lot depends on how you define things; if he meant Mrs. Palin, he is totally in error!

First of all, the ballots for some past elections have included women candidates (and black candidates too), not just for vice-president, but actually for president! They have been "third-party" and independent candidates, but they were candidates and (unlike Mrs. Clinton), did get on the ballot.

If we limit ourselves to the major parties, Hilary probably came closer to winning nomination for president than any other woman so far. I'm not sure, though, that she was the first to ever try. (Maybe someone else can verify that, one way or the other.)

As for Sarah P. -- she is definitely NOT the first major party candidate for that office. She was preceded (by TWENTY-FOUR YEARS! a whole generation!) by Geraldine Ferraro, who campaigned with Walter Mondale in 1984, only to be defeated by Ronald Reagan and George Bush I.

Well, my wife and I have voted. We cast our votes in the U.S. fedeeral election about 10 days ago. (If anyone wonders how we voted about two weeks before the election, we live outside the U.S., vote by absentee ballot, and have to fill out and return the ballots before the day of the election itself.)

Four years ago, in the last presidential election, we didn't vote, because we couldn't, in good conscience, vote FOR either of the main candidates. (We had both voted for Bush2 in the previous election, but the Patriot Act, Guantanamo, and the Iraq War had caused us to drastically revise our opinion of him.) Having voted in every other presidential election since we were old enough to vote, we were determined not to abstain from voting for two elections in a row, so we wrote off for our ballots. Unfortunately, the closer the election got, the worse each of the two main candidates seemed to us. There were a few things we liked about one of the candidates; we find it very hard to find anything we liked about the other except that he stood against a few things that we are against. Unfortunately, though, EACH of the main candidates had a few policies that would normaily lead me to decide I could not vote for him.

Karen and I toyed with the idea of agreeing to vote for opposite candidates ( read more . . . )