Marduk's Terror

awilum.com

2005-09-01T18:03:00.000-07:00

Marduk's Terror is now defunct. But, out of Marduk's ashes arises awilum.com--bigger, better, independent, newly focused, and better in every way. Come on over and visit.

Portrait de Charles Baudelaire, de profil en Chapeau no 2

2005-08-18T04:36:00.000-07:00

Marduk's Terror is pleased to announce the recent acquisition of this etching by Edouard Manet to the private collection of Charles and Lori Halton. Details coming soon. Who says that evangelicals are cultural Philistines?

Bias in Archaeology and Biblical Studies

2005-08-10T17:41:00.000-07:00

When most people think of the bias of theologians, archaeologists, or people who engage in biblical studies, conservatives normally come to mind. But, as Colby Willen skillfully illustrates, bias resides not only with conservatives, but liberals as well. In the course of my PhD work (which I am truly earning--see discussion for details) I constantly am confronted with bias toward the Bible, events reported in ancient Near East documents, etc. Many people seem to have an allergic reaction with ancient documents and dismiss them with haste. But, on the other hand, many people accept every new finding or new hypothesis that seems to support the validity of the Bible before these novelties have been thought through and investigated. As for me, I'm with Colby--I'm a conservative skeptic.

Manditory Retirement Age

2005-08-05T03:48:00.000-07:00

According to cnn.com Chief Justice William Rehnquist was hospitalized over a fever. This brings up an interesting issue: Should we have a manditory age limit for retirement? This might eliminate individuals from the workforce that have become a drag to operations because they increasingly miss work because of illness or are not able to perform up to standards. But, a manditory retirement age would also elminate many individuals who are exceptionally qualified for their positions and are still able to operate at a high level. Examples of exceptional geriatric leaders might be: Sumner Redstone-CEO of Viacom, 82; Rupert Murdoch-CEO of News Corp, 74; Donald Rumsfeld-SecDef, 73. These individuals have clearly distinguished themselves from much younger candidates and still add tremendous value to their organizations and society at large. Given this, there is a point at which a person's mental or physical abilities begin to dimish. This in no way dimishes their worth as human beings, but each individual should be attune to their own condition and voluntarily remove themselves from full-time work when they are no longer able to perform at the expected levels. Thankfully, we do not have a manditory age of retirement and our society greatly benefits because of it.

Free Tip

2005-08-03T16:44:00.000-07:00

For all the two people who will ever view this site, here's a free tip for you--(for purposes of full disclosure, I NEVER trade off tips, please you don't either--make a trade because its a good trade, not because someone told you it would be a good trade). Think four little letters: BIDU. You're welcome.

Plates for Adad-Guppi Inscription

2005-08-03T06:03:00.000-07:00

I am working on an essay concerning an inscription about Nabonidus' mother Adad-Guppi. The inscription is on basalt found at Harran--the city that housed the moon-god Sin (of which Adad-Guppi was the priestess). Anyway, if anyone out there knows where I can find some readable plates of the cunieform I would appreciate it. I found an article in Anatolian Studies, but the plates were really sub-par and I will most probably go blind trying to read them. I have a transliteration, but I desire the cunieform. Thanks.

Forbes' Moral and Financial Irresponsibility

2005-07-27T16:55:00.000-07:00

Let me start out by saying that I love Forbes magazine. It provides thoughtful insights and interesting treatments of current events. Rich Karlgaard, the publisher, is fantastic and Steve Forbes has great ideas--chief among them--the flat tax. That being said, Forbes really dropped the ball lately. Forbes has joined America's second favorite pastime of compiling lists by assembling a list of a hypothetical personal budget that one would have to have in order to live "comfortably" in selected American cities. Of the countless moral and financial errors made in this list, here are some of the most egregious: 1) Out of an after tax income of $407,200 not one penny was earmarked for charity or any other philanthropic activity. 2) Out of the same $407,200 budget a paltry $4,100 is set aside for savings--less than 1% of one's after tax income. 3) The combined value of the primary residence and the vacation home (mortgaged to the hilt no less) is $4,500,000, or more than 11 times the after tax income. Forbes claimed that they did research with mortgage lenders to obtain figures for payments, but I wonder if a lender, even in this real-estate crazed market, would let someone leverage into that much house. So, if we consider the implied message of Forbes' budget we understand that no one can possibly be "comfortable" unless they pull in a yearly income in excess of $600,000, then those people who are part of the 0.3% of the US population who do then only spend their money in a completely self-centered manner, at retirement they have to sell their homes because they are flat broke because they haven't saved hardly anything, and the bank repos their properties at the slightest hiccup that life brings their way. Sorry Forbes, I love you, but you're completely out of your mind and soul on this one.

Hedge Funds Should Look East

2005-07-25T05:32:00.000-07:00

The Wall Street Journal reports in an essay entitled, Why Hedge Funds Hunt for Animals, Search the Stars, that new hedge fund managers are having a hard time coming up with names for their startup funds that are not already taken. According to some estimates there are over 8,000 hedge funds and these fund managers seem to have a fascination with names derived from Greek and Roman culture. No wonder they're having problems, they are fighting over a narrow universe of terms. Why not blase a new trail and name your fund after Near Eastern themes? How does the Cyrus Fund sound? How about Hammurapi Partners or Rabu Capital? I think this idea has legs. If anyone has several tens of millions they would like to give me (with terms of 2% annual fee plus 20% profits) I'd be happy to implement this.

I'm back from hibernation

2005-07-24T18:02:00.000-07:00

I have recently recieved some rather cute posts by two individuals that will for now remain nameless. They have drawn attention to the fact that I have not posted anything new for a very long time indeed. I am back, on a limited basis. I hope you two are happy. Just kidding.

Golf Balls That Will Put the Fear of Marduk in You

2004-08-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

Golfbälle verschrecken Douglas und Zeta-Jones. This headline appeared in the online version of Der Spiegel, translation: Golf Balls frighten Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Apparently Douglas and Zeta-Jones can face a variety of dangerous and outlandish threats on the movie screen, but tremble in terror at the prospect of living on a golf course. The couple is installing bullet-proof glass in their new 3.6 million dollar shack on a golf-course in Wales. The widows are not to stop a psychopathic sniper-paperazzi, bu as "eine reine Vorsichtsmaßnahme" purely a precaution--can you spell overkill? This is like buying an H2 to drive to the grocery store, oh wait, a lot of people do that. Well, you know what I mean.

I'll Trade You $3.25 For A Lifetime of Financial Slavery

2004-08-26T23:23:00.000-07:00

I just got a check in the mail this week from my friends (at least they say they know me and have flattering things to say about my credit) from certain credit card company. The check is made out in my name for the princely sum of $3.25, and get this, there is only one catch. I must obtain one of their credit cards before I can cash the check. Let's see if I understand this. They give me $3.25 and they are literally "banking" on the fact that I will carry a balance on the credit card to the tune of an 18% plus interest rate. I don't know where you are from, but in the circles that I run in, we usually call an interest rate this high "usery" (I am not a lawyer and I am not intending to use legal terminology, just good 'ole street slang, so please don't sue me). This word conjures up images of thick Italian guys busting up knee caps as I tell them I don't have their money. Even people in the ancient Near East were sophisticated enough to put caps on interest rates so that people were not forced into slavery in order to pay off a debt. I guess our society isn't quite as advanced as we thought. It seems that Guido has donned a suit and taken a few marketing classes. $3.25 for a lifetime of financial servitude--no thanks!

Mother of All Posts (at least on this site)

2004-08-20T19:33:00.000-07:00

It all starts with a question. Life, among other things, is a series of questions that we constantly weight and answer. Most of the time this happens without registering in our consciousness, but sometimes the questions break through and demand an answer either through necessity of circumstance or just plain curiosity. The latter just might have happened to you when you noticed the title of this blog, "Marduk's Terror." It may have edged up the lid of your own personal Pandora's Box. If it did, don't despair, your answers will come in due time. But, like life, we never have all the answers to our questions at once. It seems that every day just adds more questions that keep piling into the queue. Hopefully you will be both satiated and enticed with this site--just as in life. This site aims to bridge the old and the new, to find its own niche in the wide-ranging world where most niches are rooted out and exploited as far as possible. Hopefully exploitation will not occur, but just maybe a bridge will be built. A bridge that spans the ancient times of the Near East and the modern world of blogging and $5 cups of coffee (plus all sorts of side trails and quick forays into other areas). As for sating your curiosity, an explaination of who/what is Marduk will come in my next post, journey back soon and join the conversation.