This blowy and rainy Saturday morning, Norfolk's WAVY television showed the christening of the USS George H.W. Bush, CVN 77. It was a big deal and very impressive, both the ship and the event. I am glad that the weather kept me in to watch it.

The carrier is a thousand feet long and has a compliment of seventy five gigantic aircraft and five thousand sailors and fliers. Newport News is the only place in the world that could build such a thing. And the US is the only country that could win a two ocean war and build such a monster. What would Admiral Lord Nelson say and think if he could see it? A CVN is a true ship of the line. I was on a 380 foot Fletcher Class DDE. What a midget that was in comparison. I bet a CVN never gets green water over the bridge.

The ceremony was enjoyable despite the wind and rain. All the Bushes and a gaggle of politicians and of Navy brass in their dress whites – medals and swords. The usual speeches and flowery compliments. Senator Warner gave clearly the best speech. President Bush 43 gave a good one, family references and no politics. I always liked Bush 41. He and Barbara are a neat couple and he made a good speech. GHW Bush's daughter, Doro, did the christening.

It does stir the heart and national pride to see all of it. CNN should have put it on nation wide.

I have been at a series of educational institutions that stressed having honor systems. “I will not lie nor cheat nor steal nor tolerate those that do”.

The Naval Academy definitely had one. The main deterent against evil forces there, however, was the chain of command. If an upper classman became aware of any breech of honor and did not take strong action, then the upper classman was the one in hot water. I am proud of the fact that in my years there, I did not even think of cheating – nor did I know anyone that did.

After the Navy, I taught in private schools. Much of the time at very good boys boarding schools. There, the “I will not lie nor cheat nor steal nor tolerate those that do” principle was always alive and well and very much a part of the education. Boys became men. I did see an occasional breech, some very ingenious, and reported every one. Many of our graduates went to The University of Virginia, Mr. Jefferson's University. The University is noted for its honor system. After the Vietnam War, the “tolerate those that do” part disappeared at some of these schools (not The University, however). I think that was wrong.

Will Rogers said that the biggest accomplishment Congress makes is that it collects the five hundred biggest liars and puts them all in one place. Watching the news and the latest political ads from our elected Representatives and Senators, this is certainly true. Some boys did not become men.

A week or so ago, one of my favorite internet music stations, VivalaVoce.com, stopped being free. A minor disaster. I listened to it daily. As I already have a pay-for radio/computer service, Sirius (one of my daughters gives it to me each year for my birthday), there was not room in my financial priorities to spend more on this sort of thing.

The good thing about disasters is that it starts you looking for substitutes. A couple of good ones so far.

The best is http://www.live365.com/index.live. They say they have thousands of stations. Eleven categories under “Classical”! At least they have a couple of excellent ones I have found so far: “Opera Elegance” under “Opera” and “Lofty Voices” under “Choral”. I am listening to “The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves” from Nabucco at the moment on Opera Elegance.

Years ago, when the internet first started up, I got my emails through Yahoo. Used Yahoo for everything. The last couple of computers I purchased all had MicroSoft software built in and Verizon gave me MSN with my subscription. I was pleased with most of it. My blog on MSN spaces, http://scdiv.spaces.live.com/, never seems to work, however, and I have concentrated on the Yahoo one, http://360.yahoo.com/ which always works beautifully. The Yahoo one gets responses, too (thanks, Capt. Nutso), where the MSN one got none. A long way to the subject, Yahoo also has an excellent internet music source, http://launch.yahoo.com/ which includes music videos.

While on the music subject, this past week I got to see Asleep at the Wheel do a Bob Wills tribute at the Kennedy Center. Asleep at the Wheel and Bob Wills all in one night! Died and gone to Heaven.

Long ago and far away – in Heaven about the time of the Garden of Eden – God is on his Italian marble throne (I like Michelangelo's vision of God and Heaven) with his Son and Heir at his right and his chief operating officer, Mother Nature, at his left. Cherubim and seraphim are flitting around everywhere.

God turns to Mother Nature and saith “I would like to see the world with the creatures that I have made in Mine own image.” Mother nature replies “Which one, there are a bunch with creatures in Your own image?” And God saith “On Terra, the third planet out from Sol, of course.”

Mother Nature brings up the video on her screen (a Mac with blue higlights to go with the Italian marble) that shows a real party going on. God exclaimith “They are just cavorting and lollygagging. And even tomfoolery! What is this?” Mother Nature puts God's specs on the screen. “These are your instructions.” And God saith “We need to make some adjustments.”

Mother Nature ponders and replies “How about we give them a couple of ice ages. And the sabretooth. The flu epidemic of 1918. The San Francisco earthquake and Hurricane Katrina?” God nods and says “And I will give them strength, courage, stick-to-itiveness, intelligence, inquisitiveness, imagination.”

Time passes and God and Mother Nature check back. Things are not going well. A man is building a nice neat and orderly wall around his cave entrance to keep out the tigers but it just keeps falling down. Another is trying to organize his tribe mates to do different chores in a neat and orderly fashion but they just keep argueing. God gasps, thunder rolls and lightning flashes, and saith “You gave them the Second Law of Thermodynamics*! I did NOT authorize that!”

Mother Nature shrinks behind her desk and whispers “The Devil made me do it.”

God pondereth a moment. He respondeth “Instead of going back and changing things, I will give them togetherness and cooperation. And I will give them love.”

*The First Law says that you can not get out of a system any more work or energy than you put is. TANSTAAFL (there ain't no such thing as a free lunch). The Second Law, the source of so much earthly toil and trouble, says that some energy or work will always be lost to disorder (entropy, which always increases). Like the heat and work lost by a hot automobile engine or a teenager's room making itself messy. There are also Zeroeth and Fourth Laws which say that there is an absolute zero but you can not get there.

It is September and the elections are just two months away. Wait a minute, two months? And the barrage has started already! A lot of money that could be put to good use is going to this stuff that just makes me change the channel.

The Eastern Shore of Virginia has two prominent campaigns, one for the House with Drake and Kellam and one for the Senate with Allen and Webb.

The Drake – Kellam ads are already nasty. And they concentrate on lesser parts of our political problems. Neither is talking about what they would do with the national debt or our educational deficit. They are obviously just superficial begging for votes. The League of Women Voters has not yet posted the planks for each. Along with the impact of the ads, that is what I like to rely on. However, I already wish there was an alternative. I will not lie nor cheat nor steal nor tolerate those that do.

The Allen – Webb tv ad campaigns are just getting started. Allen's ads so far have been good. Positive and informative. Based on the ads for the primary, I would expect Webb's to also be good. Keep up the good work, guys.