Are determined to make New Year's Day last all week long! Today, the North American Patriot hosts our special New Year's Cotillion Ball.

Drop on by and see what the smartest babes in the 'sphere think and feel about the issues of the day. (All but me: I'm shallowly asking for more participation in my Reader Survey, which will enable me to become the Blog Tycoon I was always meant to be. I mean, it's painfully clear that I'll end up as the William Randolph Hearst of New Media, so I'd best get started now. Hey--want to buy an ad? It's cheap!)

Posted by: Attila Girl at 05:13 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Wow. I'm getting a lot of responses to my post on R.L. Hymers—some in the comments section, and some via e-mail.

If what I'm hearing is correct, Dr. Hymers' efforts to control the lives of young people has changed a little in its focus, but not at all in its intensity.

Apparently, these days Bob Hymers' church, the Baptist Tabernacle of Los Angeles, is using different techniques to indoctrinate people into his brand of Christianity. As I've said before, my argument with his approach is not a doctrinal/theological one; I will leave those types of arguments to people who are qualified. My concerns have to do with the methods he and his wife, Ileana Hymers, use to gain followers: methods which mirror those of cults so closely as to be indistinguishable, as a practical matter.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 06:29 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 Well, it was a good post. I was in the Open Door Community Churches from 1978 - 1982 and left at the age of 18 - so I speak from experience. I think your description of Hymers and his tactics are pretty much right on. I also think your experiece there has given you some good insight. Thanks for letting us in on some of it

Posted by: Michael at January 03, 2006 12:46 AM (PpP57)

2 Hi Atilagirl...i was at the then Open Door Community Church from 1977 through 1981. In fact I pastored one of the local churches in Hollywood. I've enjoyed reading your Hymerian Blog entries! What years did you attend? You must know Jeff Koenig right? I was introduced to the ODCC by him - Jeff "evangelized" Chris Cagan (who is Hymer's right hand man and co-author of many of his books.) Chris then invited Jeff over one fatelul day to convince me to go to their house church in Santa Monica. Anyway...sigh...that was a lifetime ago. I will never forget many things about my involvement at ODCC - but most prominent in my mind is the last meeting I attended. It was at the Bronson High School auditoreum. I had spoken with Hymers by phone during the week at had told him that I would not return to the ODCC unless he repented from his uncontrolled anger and raging. So on Sunday, August 9, 1981 he decided to answer my ultimatum by railing at me from the pulpit before a crowd of about 1300. Yes...that was how large the group had grown by mid-81. This was also, I believe the high point as far as attendance is concerned. Anyway, as Hymers railed, I carefully planned my exit, I waited for the offering to be taken and proceeded past a phalanx of ushers to take my wife by the hand (she was up front playing piano) and exit from the auditoreum I will never forget the feeling of, in the words of Crowded House singer Neil Finn "liberation and release." As we literally ran from the the Bronson auditoreum...it was like an escape from a concentration camp! When were you there? I probably knew you.

Posted by: Rafael at January 09, 2006 06:19 AM (Zhlwz)

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Scary news from Europe. I suspect Russia will eventually accept the notion of phasing in market prices for natural gas in Ukraine, but we do well to remember the risks associated with excessive energy dependence.

I gotta go; I'm building a nuclear reactor in my backyard. I'd like to live-blog it, but it turns out I have to concentrate a bit. Also, there's no place to set down my gin & tonic, so I borrowed one of those "runner's water backpacks" from my husband: the G&T is in the main chamber of the pack, and a tube comes around to my mouth, so I can more or less keep rehydrating as I go. Very healthy.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 02:59 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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I still don't know how many days a week I'll be doing my cool blue-collar job—or how long, overall, it will last—so I don't want to invest in it, but I'm looking for small things to make the days easier, such as:

1) A child's watch--one I don't mind getting paint on. Problem is, most of the little boys' watches that appeal to me cost $17 and I'm not willing to pay more that $5, or $10 at the outside. (I did see one $5 watch, but it was too big for my wrist. I suspect I'll be out at Wal-Mart this week, so I might see something there or at Target (which is a block away; how cool is that?).

2) Better breakfast and lunch equipment. I've been buying bagels on job-site mornings, but I can't afford those luscious poppy-seed bagel sandwiches from Noah's forever. I can get supermarket bagels (blueberry are the best), and put cream cheese on 'em myself, but I'm still not progressing up the health ladder that way. I'd like to get a small insulated food jar, and take oatmeal in that. I've seen recipes for making oatmeal overnight in the wide-mouth thermos itself, but I think that might be packed away with my Tightwad Gazette books. The other possibility is finally breaking down and getting a Crock-Pot. I can make overnight oatmeal in that; since I can put dried fruit in it, the husband might even like to have some of it for his breakfast. (Recipes for slow-cooker oatmeal are actually abundant.)

I really like the Bento "laptop" lunch box systems, but they would be far too expensive unless I were getting a good four days a week at the job site. I do carry a satchel to work, and I might be able to carry my cold lunch on one side, with my hot breakfast oatmeal/coffee (each in a vacuum bottle) on the other side, separated by a sweatshirt.

The idea on my blue-collar mornings is to get up, make tea (in the pot), drink some, throw on clothing, and pour the rest of the tea into my insulated "travel" mug. On those days I don't carry my purse, but put a few things into my tummy pack, and everything else into my bookbag (not the nice one; the one I don't mind getting paint splatters on).

I race out the door, and get to B's house in time to carpool to the job site with him and the others. So we usually eat breakfast in the car (for me, the rest of the tea and a few store-bought muffins) until we get to the place where Starbucks and Noah bagels are next to each other. There, I refill my drink container with Chai latte, and get the expensive bagel (the one I want to replace with something cheaper and healthier).

Actually, the perfect breakfast thermos for me would have two compartments in it: I could put the oatmeal in one, and an improvised fruit compote in the other (e.g., fruit cocktail microwaved to make it warm).

So I'll be looking at Target for some of this stuff as well, as well as the tiny Japanese department store on the Westside that carries some of the nicest mult-compartment food containers I've ever seen. And those aren't pricey at all.

Obviously, share with my any box-lunch or breakfast-on-the-go wisdom you may have.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 01:05 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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1 My ideal job has always been home renovation.

Posted by: gail at January 02, 2006 01:55 PM (jMroL)

2 Well, one of my aspirations--after I sell my novel and get rich/famous within seconds of its hitting the bookstores--is to buy houses and fix them up. So I'm learning something that might actually be useful to me down the road.

Posted by: Attila Girl at January 02, 2006 02:12 PM (zZMVu)

3 Joy, Coleman (the camping people) make a whole bunch of really good (and reasonably priced) thermoses. I have one at home that is a dual-compartment. About a pint on each side, two lids, two cups. Check the camping side of Wal-mart or target. For lunch I used a soft-side cooler bag (the $5 kind) and froze two bottles of drinking water to keep things cold. The water will thaw by lunch in warm weather, giving a cold drink along with your lunch. My wife used to freeze tea or lemonade as well. With the cold pack you can take any type of tuna/chicken/egg salad (in a separate bowl) and bread to make a sandwich that isn't soggy. Veggies and fruit also do well. The lunch box then collapses for your trip home. I currently use MREs for lunch on the go; part and parcel of the job. They have improved over the old days, but not much. SGT Dave Camp Victory, Iraq

Posted by: SGT Dave at January 03, 2006 12:23 AM (blfs0)

4 Sgt. Dave, You are the MAN! Sounds like what you're recommending is sturdy, like the "trucker's Thermos" I use for road trips. Exactly what I need. When you eat your MREs, eat them with an awareness that we here in the U.S. are truly grateful for what you're doing. And so are the Iraqi people, though our media is keeping that a secret from most of mylefty friends. I hear C-Rations were worse, though it annoys me that you aren't getting hot meals every minute (and bikini-clad girls feeding you grapes, for that matter). Send me a note if you'd like a care package: I'd love to put one together for your and your friends.

Posted by: Attila Girl at January 03, 2006 01:09 AM (zZMVu)

5 1) What's the problem with oatmeal? Put rolled oats and boiling water into a wide-neck thermos, then wait around 20 minutes. It will be ready by the time you get to the jobsite. May need to experiment with the amount of water. Raisins and diced dried fruit should plump up just fine. 2) Blueberry bagels are sacrilege. I know I am a hypocrite - a Jew who loves everything from Thai to Mexican. But it still hurts when my home cuisine is "fusioned". 3) Here in Israel, the soldiers buy watch protectors - a thingie that looks like a sturdy plastic version of the "blister pack" type packaging. The clear plastic "dome" covers the watch and protects it, the cloth backing goes between watch and your arm. Hope I explained this well - do they sell those there? Another trick is to cut a circle of clingy plastic wrap, and cover the watch face with it while painting. Then peel and discard. It's easier to stick the plastic on the watch and then trim off the excess, rather than try to cut a perfect circle out of the clingy film. Hope this helps!

Posted by: Ben-David at January 03, 2006 11:43 AM (4YZr0)

6 Ben-David, how do you feel about blueberry blintzes? 'Cause I do prefer them to regular cheese blintzes. I only eat the blueberry bagels because supermarket bagels are generally so awful. When I'm at a real bagel shop I always order a poppy-seed bagel. Not toasted. With cream cheese. Is that acceptable? I'm also very fond of Latkes, Challah, and matzo ball soup.

Posted by: Attila Girl at January 03, 2006 12:52 PM (zZMVu)

7 Joy, C-rats were not as bad as they say - at least every once in a while. My father (1SG Jim) served for several years and would bring C-rats home for camping trips. As it is, I do eat very well. The Dining Facility (not "Mess Hall" anymore) is staffed by a bunch of really nice people who are fighting for the contract jobs. The food is almost too good for this old body (I have to watch the middle). I appreciate the offer of a care package; the wife and extended family are taking care of me at this time. Call the Army Reserve 203rd MI Battalion or the CA National Guard - most of the armories have an adopt a soldier program. The kids need all the support they can get. This old, grumpy sergeant appreciates the kind words and support. Be well. "Always Out Front" SGT Dave

Posted by: SGT Dave at January 03, 2006 09:51 PM (blfs0)

8 Thank you, Sir. I haven't yet done that. But now I will.

Posted by: Attila Girl at January 04, 2006 12:01 AM (zZMVu)

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This is a hard essay to read, despite the fact that it covered some material Steyn had discussed when he gave his speech at the Claremont Institute. I can argue all day long about his tossed-off allusion to "the gay agenda," a phrase that always bothers me when I hear it, but the main thrust of his piece seems very correct to me: the West is in trouble. Europe is in trouble. And within 20 years the modern world may well consist of China, India, South America, Australia, Southern Africa, and the United States. Europe stands a very good chance of living under Sharia law by then, given the demographic changes that are afoot.

The U.S. makes babies at just the replacement rate, and most Western Democracies fall well below that minimum level. The people who appear to be producing the next generation are largely Muslims, and many of them live either in countries that reject individuality, democracy and pluralism, or in communties within European cities that do the same thing.

Europe by the end of this century will be a continent after the neutron bomb: the grand buildings will still be standing but the people who built them will be gone. We are living through a remarkable period: the self-extinction of the races who, for good or ill, shaped the modern world.

What will Europe be like at the end of this process? Who knows? On the one hand, there’s something to be said for the notion that America will find an Islamified Europe more straightforward to deal with than Monsieur Chirac, Herr Schröder, and Co. On the other hand, given Europe’s track record, getting there could be very bloody. But either way this is the real battlefield. The al Qaeda nutters can never find enough suicidal pilots to fly enough planes into enough skyscrapers to topple America. But, unlike us, the Islamists think long-term, and, given their demographic advantage in Europe and the tone of the emerging Muslim lobby groups there, much of what they’re flying planes into buildings for they’re likely to wind up with just by waiting a few more years. The skyscrapers will be theirs; why knock ’em over?

A tough read, but an important one. Please go.

UPDATE: Goldstein quotes Steyn's essay at length, in particular relating his points about our civilization's priorities to the current flap over NSA "eavesdropping."

Via Mike Marinacci, who has a new book out. If you, like I, think Marinacci should revise and reissue Mysterious California, send me a note to that effect and I'll pass it along. That's grass-roots action, Kids. There's also a rumor that he's done some research for a book on strange phenomena in the entire Southwest, which I'd personally love to read.

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And it doesn't involve picturesat all.

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Steve Frank skewers the Governor's planned hike in California's minimum wage, providing a summary of the arguments against minimum wage laws, which Larry Elder likes to point out "hurt most those they purport to help."

Apparently the plan is to increase the minimum wage in two increments, ultimately by a full dollar an hour, landing us at $7.75 an hour. As usual, this will make it harder for unskilled people—and those who are the victims of prejudice—to find work.

We know about the failure of the California education system. Over 100,000 12th graders are in jeopardy due to their inability to pass a test, at the 10th grade level in order to graduate. These will be the first victims on the altar of the raise in minimum wage.

The lessons learned from the 40's, 50's, '60's, through the '90's was still true in 2005. If you want to harm those most in need, raise the minimum wage. Of course this helps the Democrats. They believe in government control over the individual. They want poor people, that is why their policy is to keep people poor, not allow them to become self sufficient. That is why this is not a compassionate act, the raising of minimum wage, it is a crass political act of power--power over people, their money, their jobs, their families their future under freedom.

This is what we know:

1. Those on welfare are 44% less able to get off welfare
2. teenage blacks lose even more opportunity for jobs
3. The poor have fewer chances for a job
4. Studies show that only 6% of those receiving minimum wage are actually the single financial support for a family.
5. Minimum wage folks also receive free health care, can receive vouchers for food and housing, and have other support systems.

But, there is an answer. I, too, want to raise the take home pay and spendable income of the poor and least among us. You don't mandate policies that cause them to lose jobs, instead you create incentives for business to grow and therefore create competition for jobs--which causes higher wages.

Cut taxes, on sales, on income, on corporations. If the private sector is more vibrant, more jobs will occur—that is the Milton Friedman answer. Kennedy, Reagan, Bush all saw this, now Arnold needs to go back and re-read "Capitalism and Freedom."

Frank backs his assertions up not just with Milton Friedman's work, but study results, and quotations from the likes of Alan Greenspan. So be sure to read the whole thing.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 01:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I feel sorry for people who don't have any good websites to go to, and have to actually schlep out to parties, dodging drunk drivers on the way home. How horrible.

Maybe I'll head over to Dean's World to see if there's any action. Or possibly Protein Wisdom. Maybe I'll drop by Gail's online salon, Scribal Terror, the ultimate hangout for insomniacs with too much brainpower to possibly be used for any practical purpose. (Unless, of course, I'm projecting; it wouldn't be the first time.)

Ah, blogging households: I alway picture the Esmays in as having at least one computer per person. I figure Dean and the Queen probably blog simultaneously—something that Attila the Hub and I have only failed to do because we keep such different hours. So when he gets up in the morning, he reads what I wrote the previous night. And at the end of the day, as I wind down, I cruise over to see what was on his mind when he took breaks from the slugging along that his work requires most days.

Not that we don't also talk to each other. We do that as well. Though we're not above sending each other little reminders and notes via e-mail. I'm secretly afraid that we're the only couple that does this from within the same dwelling. If we are, please don't tell me.

At least I'm not, you know, posting my side of each argument we have, and inviting my readers to pick sides. Why don't I do this?—well, for one thing, it would be unethical. For another, a have a lot of male readers, and I'm not positive they won't be able to see through my bullshit be blinded by their gender's team spirit, and unable to see just how right I am. Always. Right.

Are you reading this, Honey? They agree with me. I'm right, and you're wrong. Not that there's anything wrong with being wrong. It only makes you . . . wrong.

[No, I haven't even gotten halfway through this gin and tonic. More like a few sips. I'm afraid that this is all me. Proceed with caution.]

Posted by: Attila Girl at 12:25 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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the same as the old year.

Well? I mean, everyone's going to get mad at me again, but so far 2006 seems just exactly like 2005. Color me unimpressed.

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You mean I was supposed to be drinking right now? Too late. But I'll get up in a few minutes, make myself a gin and tonic, and toast you all.

It blows me away that research that once took weeks can now be done in one evening. I call people from my car every day. An iPod Shuffle contains more computing power than a room-sized mainframe did when I was a teenager. And teenagers wear these devices around their necks.

And I actually have close friends I met . . . well, here. Which is to say, nowhere.

And everywhere.

Happy New Year.

[kisses to you, my readers]

Posted by: Attila Girl at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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