re: Larry Norman

from Wikipedia:

Following tours by the first wave of punk musicians in the British Isles in the mid-1970s, the post-punk band U2 was formed in Dublin, Ireland. Active simultaneously in the local punk music scene and the "Shalom Fellowship," some members of U2 eventually became "fans" of Larry Norman's music.[15] Both artists performed, making unannounced appearances, at the U.K.'s Greenbelt Festival in 1981.[21]

Charles Thompson IV discovered Larry Norman's music at age 13 after moving to California and seeing him in concert. Thompson said of Norman during this period: "I don't think Larry Norman was necessarily respected by religious people... he had more of a rebellious rock'n'roll kind of an image." "I dressed like him, I looked like him, he was my total idol."[22] While at college in Massachusetts, Thompson adopted the stage name Black Francis, and formed The Pixies along with Joey Santiago, Kim Deal, and David Lovering. According to Kim Deal, the title of the Pixies' 1987 EP "Come On Pilgrim", as well as a similar line from the song "Levitate Me," derive from a Norman catchphrase used during live performances. In the 1987 recording and subsequent performances of the Pixies song "Levitate Me," lead singer Black Francis shouts "Come on Pilgrim, you know He loves you!" while imitating Larry Norman's accent. [23]

link

Larry Norman

On Zaphod's recommendation I youtubed Larry Norman, what do you think?
I probably won't run out and buy his Cd's anytime soon, but I kind of like it. Much, much more than Bebo Norman. Why?

Happy Kwanzaa!

Or not, whatever.

Baby Please Don't Go Muddy Waters Bottleneck Stella Guitar

more Bebo Norman...

Sometimes when I'm all alone
I don't know if I can
Take another breath
Some say home is where the heart is
Tell me where my home is
'Cause i'm scared to death

Falling from the rooftop
Crashing like a raindrop
Can you make my heart stop
Shaking like a leaf
Standing at the floodgate
Steady as an earthquake
Can you hear my heart break
Tearing at the seams

I am drifting in the deep end
Holding on to your hand
Is all that saves me now
Life can treat you like a beggar
You hold me together
But I don't know how

Falling from the rooftop
Crashing like a raindrop
Can you make my heart stop
Shaking like a leaf
Standing at the floodgate
Steady as an earthquake
Can you hear my heart break
Tearing at the seams

Some say home is where the heart is
And my heart is in your hands
You are all I need

Rising from the ashes
Lifting from the madness
Now you see my heart is
Deep enough to dream
Heal me from the deathblow
Lead and I will follow
Now you feel my heart glow
Mending at the seams

Bebo Norman: "I Will Lift My Eyes"

Not precisely a Christmas song but it still fits.

Utter Nonense

Learn from your green superiors:

39-year-old Chameides -- nicknamed "Sustainable Dave" -- recycles his garbage or else stores it in his basement. He says he wants to show that it is possible to dramatically reduce his family's consumption habits.
And he can show astounding results. Rather than the 1,600 pounds of trash the average American family produces each year, Chameides, his wife and two daughters have amassed
only 32 pounds over the last 12 months.

Great, what to do with all that garbage you have their in California?

Ironically, even Chameides's rubbish will not go to waste. In January, his refuse will be sent to the Trash Museum of Connecticut to be exhibited.

I see. Garbage makes a three thousand mile trip. Green weenies get all self congratulatory, everybody wins.

President Elect Obama To Use Lincoln's Bible at Inauguration

"President-elect Obama is deeply honored that the Library of Congress has made the Lincoln Bible available for use during his swearing-in," said Presidential Inaugural Committee Executive Director Emmett Beliveau. "The President-elect is committed to holding an Inauguration that celebrates America's unity, and the use of this historic Bible will provide a powerful
connection to our common past and common heritage."

I must admit I find this rather cool for at least two reasons. First, I bet Honest Abe is looking down and pleased that an African American has been elected President, which makes me wonder if he'd be surprised that it took this long or that it happened at all. Secondly, if President Elect Obama wants to emulate someone, he could do much worse than Lincoln. Let's hope he surprises us all.

O Magnum Mysterium!

One of my favorite Christmas hymns, which I was privileged to present publicly (as a poor tenor in a decent choir) several times, many years ago.

The text reads:

O great mystery,
and wonderful sacrament,
that animals should see the new-born Lord,
lying in a manger!
Blessed is the Virgin whose womb
was worthy to bear
Christ the Lord.
Alleluia!

Here is the music (turn it up, as it begins softly):



Hat tip for link, N. Peters over at First Things.

Holy Moses, is this beautiful!!

Hubble Space Telescope Advent Calendar 2008

(link)

Yet More Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Iran Visit

I was excited to see a visitor from Iran to WMTN the other day. I wondered what brought him or her to our site, wonder no more, it was a Google search: "black girls and white seeeeex". Hmmm. Which opened this page:
http://withmalicetowardnone.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html
You can't make this stuff up.

Seperated at Birth: Snow Miser and Gary B. Smith

Steven Soderbergh's Che Big In Cuba

Reuters reports that "Cubans over the weekend applauded a U.S. director's new movie on Ernesto "Che" Guevara for its accurate portrayal of his fabled role in Cuba's revolution."

• Reuters would report that. I suppose if two Cubans liked the movie Reuters is technically accurate. I wonder how the families of Che's victims feel about it?
• No shock that Hollywood would glorify a leftist murderer. Again.
• No shock that "Havana festival organizers had said in July that "Che" would not be shown if it attacked Fidel Castro, the ailing 82-year-old who led Cuba for 49 years after taking power in the 1959 revolution." God forbid anything should question the party line. This from the people who purport to speak truth to power. Ass licking, useful idiot, commie stooges would be a more apt description.

What's next a glorious biopic of the much maligned Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich, or is he the wrong type of murdering totalitarian thug?

Lifehouse's "Everything" like you've never heard before

"Find me here
And speak to me
I want to feel you
I need to hear you

You are the light
That's leading me
to the place
Where I find peace... again..."

God Help Us All

More here.

Will Joe Biden Be Right?

It looks like Joe Biden may be right about a major issue for the first time in his ever long career; President elect Obama could be tested by an international crises, namely an armed conflict between nuclear arch-enemies Pakistan and India. Great.
The main thing that makes a nuclear exchange between these two nations seem unthinkable, is that the repercussions are too ugly to contemplate. That doesn't mean it can't or won't happen. We live in interesting times.

Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker

We took the children to see Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker at Central Connecticut State University, a grand time was had by all.
This wasn't the Kirov, Bolshoi or Royal Ballet as seen here. It was a local ballet company. I am far from an expert on ballet or anything else for that matter, but some of the dancing wasn't too different than Marty's dance quintet. Other dancing was quite impressive. It seems that as a culture we are, in some cases, far too well fed to be prancing around in leotards.
The music, performed live was outstanding as always. It never ceases to amaze me how much effort people make merely for the sake of aesthetics. Even in this local production, more or less designed for the consumption of bumpkins like me and their offspring who attend only one ballet a year, represented thousands of hours of study and hard work. Well done.

Courage

More stupidity here.

HRC Groped!

In effigy at least, can you think of a better way? I can't.

The Consumer Be Damned

Did you know that if an online retailer sells stuff below the minimum advertised price some pasty geek toiling away in some obscure veal fattening pen will drop a dime on them?

When NetEnforcers finds goods like cameras, handbags or ovens for sale at too-low prices, as it claims to do 5,000 to 10,000 times a day, it alerts its clients, including Sony Corp., Black & Decker Corp., Cisco Systems Inc., JVC Kenwood Holdings Inc. and Samsung Inc.

The manufacturer then notifies the retailer to raise their price or else. The retailer bound by their MAP agreement will normally comply within hours. If the retailer isn't a licensed retailer, the manufacturer will jam them up legally. How does this affect you? Higher prices from a less competitive market.

O.J. Simpson Sentenced to Prison

Cue the trombones!

LAS VEGAS – A broken O.J. Simpson was sentenced Friday to as many as 33 years in prison for a hotel armed robbery after a judge rejected his apology and said, "It was much more than stupidity." The 61-year-old football Hall of Famer stood shackled and stone-faced as Judge Jackie Glass rattled off the punishment. Moments before, Simpson made a rambling, five-minute plea for leniency, simultaneously apologizing for the holdup as a foolish mistake and trying to justify his actions.

He could get paroled in as little as nine years. Is it wrong to wish him a Yuletide shanking?

UPDATE:

And the drama may not be over. As AP pointed out, many attorneys who have watched this case from the beginning are still sorting out the complex series of consecutive and concurrent sentences to determine how much time Simpson got and how much he will actually serve. USA Today’s newsblog shows top newspapers from around the country are just as confused. None of them agree on how much time Simpson actually got. Is it 9 years like the New York Times reports? 15 according to the Washington Post? 16 as reported by the Los Angeles Times? Or is the Wall Street Journal the one to trust with a report of 33 years? In the end, it might not matter. O.J. Simpson’s lawyer plans to appeal by arguing that a fair trial was nearly impossible after Simpson’s 1995 acquittal.

Because O.J. is at best an acquitted accused multiple murderer if not a cold blooded murderer who got away with it, that creates grounds for an appeal? What a country.

Mourning For The Mother

"The above video is of a broadcast shown throughout Israel..it shows little two-year old Moshe Holtzberg, the sole survivor of the Muslim attack on the Mumbai Chabad House crying for his murdered parents at their funeral.

The video is in Hebrew, but you won't need a translation. The first part is at the funeral and shows little Moshe screaming for his mother ("eema" in Hebrew). The child obviously knows what has happened. The Rabbi with the white beard speaking is Rivka Holtzberg's father after he buried his daughter..."

(from JOSHUAPUNDIT via Roger L Simon)

link

Angelina Jolie In The Bible

Can the apocalypse be far away?

First, the flashy coffee-table Bible: Dag Soderberg, a secular Swedish advertising executive wondered why so few people actually read the "good book," so he set out to make it more appealing, with glossy photos and magazine packaging. The resulting publication is an illustrated version of the New
Testament called Bible Illuminated: The Book.
Inside, photos of celebrities like Angelina Jolie, Bono and John Lennon are interspersed with pictures of heroic figures like Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King, Jr. A veil-covered African woman holding a young child illustrates the story of Mary and Jesus. Images taken from the news — both jarring and poignant — radiate a message of social justice.

Mom Your Date Is Here!

Michael Campbell, before and after. I guess if you are going to have one tattoo on your face you might as well do the whole thing. Note the oh so wholesome 88 on his left temple and inverted pentagram on his forehead. I was taught at UCONN not to judge people by their outward appearance, but I think Mike may be a bad boy and suffer from some antisocial tendencies.

Bratz Dolls Banned

I read this story with glee hoping that Americans had come to their senses and decided to ban the marketing of slutty toys to our kids, but no. It seems that there are two parties contesting the legal right to glorify dressing like a whore to our daughters. I am becoming a grumpy old man as I type this.

Also Born on This Day

Francisco Franco - Spanish Fascist Dictator

Wassily Kandinsky - Russian Abstract Painter

Wink Martindale - Game Show Host

Rainer Maria Rilke - German Transcendental Poet

Crazy Horse - Sioux Chief

Marisa Tomei - Worst Actress to ever win the Academy Award

Jeff Bridges - the original and still the best El Duderino

I do feel a certain similarity to some of these characters.

Happy B'day, Dude

update: here's another one

News You Can Use

News flash from Yahoo News:

The Republican National Committee will report Thursday that it spent about another $30,000 on clothes and accessories for Sarah Palin during her vice presidential bid, a GOP source tells Politico.

It must be great to be a liberal. You can spout off about women's rights and when a capable woman comes along who threatens your perceived position you can demean her in the most ridiculous terms possible to the applause of "women's rights groups". You can spend your entire career debasing women, motherhood and the rights of the unborn under the guise of "choice" while really what you are doing is ensuring that men can be as irresponsible as they want to be at the expense of women also to the applause of "women's rights groups". Nice work that.
Let's say, for example, that Palin wore her Alaskan clothing on the national stage. Every liberal wag would come mincing out of the woodwork to decry her as out of touch bumpkin, despite the fact that Alaska has some pretty specific clothing requirements. So the GOP aware of how catty the left can be spends some money on the governors wardrobe to forestall this sort of bitch fest. Dammed if you do, damned of you don't.
Hold on to something sturdy, I'm about to defend Hillary Clinton. They did the same thing to her. Granted it wasn't about the expense of HRC's wardrobe they mocked her yellow pants suit from hell. As mock worthy as that abominable outfit is, do you hear people question Biden's hair plugs as serious criticism of his political acceptability?

Prop 8 The Musical or How To Lose Friends and Alienate People

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

1. Not funny. Not even remotely.
2. Unfair. The hep progressive cats vs. the square intolerant religious folks. Very nuanced, very tolerant.
3. So we can make money of Gay marriages and divorces. Even Cultman will be swayed by this unalloyed public good. We can make money by opening abortion clinics too, is this the next video?
4. General rule, if Margaret Cho is for something chances are it's wrong.
5. If I feel this way, and I'm marginally sympathetic to their cause, how does this play to the middle right?

While Brian Cashman Napped

“I’ve been old-school. There’s been an understanding for years that the amateur market in Japan has really been off limits. We’ve not scouted Tazawa because we haven’t scouted the amateur market. I couldn’t tell you how good he is.”—Yankees GM Brian Cashman, discussing why his team didn’t scout or pursue RHP Junichi Tazawa, who is reportedly headed to the Red Sox.

Or, while Cashman was dozing genuine baseball professionals plucked some promising baseball talent from an unconventional yet obvious source. Sloth and/or ignorance posing as virtue is even less attractive than Cashman's creepy visage.

I bet before too long Cashman and the remnents of the Evil Empire will learn just how good the new Japanese kid is. I'm willing to wager that Tazawa will have more wins per dollar spent than Carl Pavano ($10 million per win) and Kevin Brown (a bargain at $3, 928,571.50 per win) combined. Those two along with Randy Johnson (attended high school with Mel Ott) were some old school signings, how'd they work out?

Rogue Waves

Imagine you're out at sea in a super tanker or stout cruise ship in heavy seas. Thirty foot swells come and go and other than praying to the porcelain idol from time to time you and your ship are no worse for wear. Then, ahead of you the sea rears up in a massive wall of water over a hundred and twenty feet tall - a rogue wave. What's worse, the trough before the wave accelerates your craft into it and lowers your bow so that all 120 feet of wave - creating over 100 tons of pressure per square meter, come crushing down on you like a fat man's sweet tooth on a crispy creme donut.

For years mariners have told of such waves- the ones lucky enough to survive them. In the past several years there have been a handful high profile losses to such waves which has piqued the curiosity of the scientific community.

The North Sea, off the coast of Norway, was angry that day, my friends. Hurricane-strong winds were blowing and twelve meter waves crashed on the Draupner oil rig. The rig’s workers were not worried, because the rig was designed to withstand hurricanes. At roughly 3 p.m. that afternoon, the order was given that all personnel must enter the rig’s structure- no one volunteered to stay outside and watch the ocean.
For this reason, no one saw the monstrous wave that hit the Draupner oil rig at 3:20 pm. The wave did not harm the rig itself (the platform was high above the water), but was recorded by a special laser-based wave-height detector. The rig’s engineers were shocked when they went over the detector's logs. The wave was almost 20 meters high. It was practically impossible- this kind of wave should only occur once every ten thousand years. Yet the laser detector was accurate to within an inch and worked
flawlessly. The wave’s existence was undeniable.

In 1899, a new lighthouse was built on a remote group of islands off the coast of Scotland, some 20 miles from the mainland. Three light house keepers were stationed at the lighthouse, and cared for the structure.
A year after the light house was erected, a supply ship came to the islands- as it did every week- to replenish the keepers' food supply. The ship's crew found the light house was empty. Its three keepers had vanished almost without a trace. Upon examining the scene, the ship's crew found that coats had been left behind, and a chair had fallen in the kitchen. These were considered as clues that hinted to a sudden catastrophe.
An examination of the lighthouse itself revealed damage to a metal box some thirty meters above the water's surface, a railing that was bent beyond repair, and a huge rock that was somehow moved from its place.
The official examiner speculated that a giant wave had hit the lighthouse- but since it was considered impossible that a wave this size might exist, alternative theories were invented to explain the men's sudden disappearance. Some speculated a fight had broken out between the keepers, others suggested murder, suicide, abduction by foreign agents, and even abduction by aliens- everything was possible.

Satellites using radar have spotted these gigantic rogue waves which occur much more frequently then anyone had imagined. The question remains what causes them?

Some distinct local weather patterns can cause inordinate swells along the coast of South Africa and in the deep water off of Norway, but what causes these waves in the open oceans? No one really knows for certain, but it appears that the monster waves siphon energy off the waves immediately adjacent to them, again why one wave does it and another does not is unclear.

Tina Fey's Scar

I don't think too much of Tina Fey's comedy, she's not quite Elayne Boosler bad but that's only because she's kinda of hot in that naughty librarian sort of way and no where near as annoying.
A few years ago, like everybody else, I noticed the scar on her face and wondered what the hell had happened to her - again like everybody else. Being the suspicious son of a cop, I assumed that she was slashed by some yahoo and it turns out I was right:

Tina Fey’s husband Jeff Richmond talks about Fey’s scar in the new Vanity Fair. Tina Fey’s scar has never been explained until now.Richmond tells the
publication of the event at age 5 that resulted in Fey’s facial scar: “It was
in, like, the front yard of her house, and some body just came up, and she just thought somebody marked her with a pen”

Jesus. What sort of freak show does that to a five year old girl or anybody else for that matter? I hope they caught the sick bastard and fed him to hamsters.

Smart Penguin

That's one smart bird. Being a mammal, I would have had to resist the urge to elbow the little bastard back into the water so our Orca cousins could eat him. That'd be cool, particularly if the Orca would somehow acknowledge the solid, say by a head toss or a flipper wave with a vocalization.

"I Do Not Like To Hear Good News"

Mary Katherine Ham does Dr. Suess:

AIDS Crises Overblown?

Yeah but it's just so tragically trendy and all the cool kids have got it and those poor skinny foreigners and and and ....

Roger England of Health Systems Workshop, a think tank based in the Caribbean island of Grenada, goes further. He argues that UNAIDS, the U.N. agency leading the fight against the disease, has outlived its purpose and should be disbanded.
"The global HIV industry is too big and out of control. We have created a monster with too many vested interests and reputations at stake, ... too many relatively well paid HIV staff in affected countries, and too many rock stars with AIDS support as a fashion accessory," he wrote in the British Medical Journal in May.

and this

England argues that closing UNAIDS would free up its $200 million annual budget for other health problems such as pneumonia, which kills more children every year than AIDS, malaria and measles combined.

Time to short red ribbon and go long on some other colors for a change.

Big Three Automakers

The CEOs of the big three automakers flew private jets to Washington D.C. to beg for bailout money. There, in that one tone deaf ostentation is everything you need to know about why they are failing. If the Detroit Poobahs can't tell how this will look to the American taxpayer, how do they hope to compete against Honda, Toyota, Acura and Lexus?

My first new car was a 1989 Acura Integra it had everything, and more, that a 24 year old would want. It was as if Honda asked a bunch of twenty somethings what they wanted in a car and created it for them, only better. I looked at the Ford Escort too which was much cheaper but no where near as good. What decided the deal for the Acura was that it's re-sale value dwarfed that of the Ford so at the end of the day the cost to own was actually less and it was a far superior car by any standard.

Take a look at the 10 cars that damaged General Motors reputation. My question, how did you narrow it down to only ten? Vega , Chevette, Citation, Cimarron, Saturns, Aztecs, Olds Diesels, Cadillac V-8-6-4, Hummers and the EV1. I remember my dad was all excited about the Cimarron after he had read some article praising GM for making a nimble car that could compete with Europe's best. Somehow by the time he got to the show room in his 1976 Bavaria the GM world beater turned out to be just a gaudy Cavalier. While a Cavalier was par for the course for Chevy, putting $72 worth of chrome on it, calling it a Caddy and charging thousands more is consumer ass rape of the first degree.

I have owed one American made car in the last twenty years, a 1995 Ford Taurus. When it wasn't leaking something or in need of a tranny rebuild, I kind of liked it. Not that it was a good car or anything or that it handled, braked or accelerated well, I just liked it's big marshmallowy seats and big car feel. If it had been dependable I'd still might like it despite it's 1950's feel, but it was not.

Don't get me wrong, I don't wish the big three ill, but to bail out a non-hacker does not bode well for our economy. They should for bankruptcy so they can renegotiate their onerous labor and health care costs and re-emerge as a competitive entity. Then they should learn how to make decent cars.

So Hitler Had TWO Testicles

News to me. Ron Rosenbaum at Slate takes on those who mythologize Hitler's sexuality in an attempt to explain his actions, it's an interesting read. My two cents; Hitler was only one man and one man no matter how perverse or powerful can only do so much on his own. Hitler bears the responsibility for leading the Third Reich but Germany and the German people bear the responsibility for electing him and acting out their collective, macabre ambitions.
As for Hitler's sexuality, I couldn't care less. If he were a sexless freak or an oversexed stoat what would that tell us about him? I guarantee you there are more extreme people at either end of the spectrum living within a mile of you and not one of them has any plan to invade Poland or enact any final solutions. Chances are that if we knew everything there was to know about the inner workings of Hitler's mind we'd be shocked not at the pathology, but at the banality of it all. I guess it's reassuring to think that Hitler and men like him are superhuman monsters. The scary truth is that he's not so unusual, what was unusual is that he was elected to lead a powerful nation like Germany and the German people followed him. If you are searching for lessons from history, that's a good place to start.

Sunday Mass, priests, and passion

I have been feeling this way about Sunday Mass for about 5 years or so (language alert); I've always liked Tommy Tiernan:

The Voter and the Two Voices

The Voter and the Two Voices

El D's reference to GK Chesterton reminded me of this piece GKC wrote about the two party system of democracy; I thought it poignant, especially when one considers our two poor choices during the last federal election. My unpoignant abridged version:

".... To follow the process in practice we may put it thus. [One party] wants
to do something to Mr. Asquith. I have no notion what it is. Let us say
(for the sake of argument) that they want to paint him green.... Then the party in opposition would adopt another policy, not a policy of leaving Mr. Asquith alone (which would be considered dangerously revolutionary), but some alternative course of action, as, for instance, painting him red. Then both sides would fling themselves on the people, they would both cry that the appeal was now to the Caesar of Democracy....There would be fights in the street perhaps, and abundance of ribbons, flags, and badges, of the two colours. One crowd would sing, "Keep the Red Flag Flying," and the other, "The Wearing of the Green." But when the last effort had been made and the last moment come, when two crowds were waiting in the dark outside the public building to hear the declaration of the poll, then both sides alike would say that it was now for democracy to do exactly what it chose. England herself, lifting her head in awful loneliness and liberty, must speak and pronounce judgment. Yet this might not be exactly true. England herself, lifting her head in awful loneliness and liberty, might really wish Mr. Asquith to be pale blue. The democracy of England in the abstract, if it had been allowed to make up a policy for itself, might have desired him to be black with pink spots. It might even have liked him as he is now. But a huge apparatus of wealth, power, and printed matter has made it practically impossible for them to bring home these other proposals, even if they would really prefer them. No candidates will stand in the spotted interest; for candidates commonly have to produce money either from their own pockets or the pasty's; and in such circles spots are not worn. No man in the social position of a Cabinet Minister, perhaps, will commit himself to the pale-blue theory of Mr. Asquith; therefore it cannot be a Government measure, therefore it cannot pass.... So that the situation comes to this: The democracy has a right to answer questions, but it has no right to ask them. It is still the political aristocracy that asks the questions. And we shall not be unreasonably cynical if we suppose that the political aristocracy will always be rather careful what questions it asks.... For the powerful class will choose two courses of action, both of them safe for itself, and then give the democracy the gratification of taking one course or the other."

Red Neck Olympic Event

I surprised that there are others who play this game too.

My Thanksgiving Wish For You

I hope you enjoy a big fat feast among family and friends. And I hope you realize that everyday we enjoy a lifestyle here in The Greatest Republic The World Has Ever Known that kings 100-200 years ago would envy.

I wish you, and I for that matter, could spend six months living like most people in the world have ever lived so that we could clearly see that we are the exception in human history. We are, by and large, free from the fear of war, free of disease, free of hunger. All the knowledge in the world exists at our fingertips all we need is the curiosity to discover it.

And I thought the PC movement oppressive at UConn, during the 80's

The students at Carleton University, in Ottawa, Canada (Canada, surprised?), are rescinding their support (actually, their promotion & support of the major fundraiser "Shinerama" which raises $1 Million yearly for Cystic Fibrosis) because CF is a disease “recently [actually, mistakenly - CM] revealed to only affect white people, and primarily men....”

The Brave New World is upon us.

Apparently after a hugely negative reaction from normal Canadians and others abroad, the students have (within 24 hours) backed down.

Oh The Humanity!

Here is the whole episode.

Dude! WTF Is Up With That Doo?

Meet Peter Orszag President Elect Obama's new Director of Office of Management and Budget, I'm not sure what he calls his fuzzy little friend. He's not a bad looking man, it's a shame he opened himself to childish ridicule with such a poor rug. To Whit:
The Top Ten Wise Ass Remarks About Peter Orszag's Piss Poor Rug

1. Do you feed it Quadrotriticale? I hear they like it.
2. Sy Sperling called, apparently there's been a recall.
3. Mr. Orszag, good news and bad news. First your Chaetophobia has mysteriously disappeared, unfortunately your Ancraophobia will probably get much, much worse.
4. I don't care if it came with a matching merkin.
5. I've always said there is nothing worse than a man with a comb over. I stand corrected.
6. Did Howard Cosell die?
7. I bet your not married, if you are I bet your wife is blind or very, very vindictive and insecure.
8. Is it Purim today or something?
9. America supports the "Troops" numbnuts, the TROOPS!
10. Are you, by chance, a Vampire? No? Then WTF are you thinking?

Unintended Consequences

At the risk of stirring up yet another hornets nest, here's an interesting article on the unintended consequences of changing social institutions by Megan McArdle, in which she quotes the inimitable G. K. Chesterton:

In the matter of reforming things, as distinct from deforming them, there is one plain and simple principle; a principle which will probably be called a paradox. There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, "I don't see the use of this; let us clear it away." To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: "If you don't see the use of it, I certainly won't let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it."
This paradox rests on the most elementary common sense. The gate or fence did not grow there. It was not set up by somnambulists who built it in their sleep. It is highly improbable that it was put there by escaped lunatics who were for some reason loose in the street. Some person had some reason for thinking it would be a good thing for somebody. And until we know what the reason was, we really cannot judge whether the reason was reasonable. It is extremely probable that we have overlooked some whole aspect of the question, if something set up by human beings like ourselves seems to be entirely meaningless and mysterious. There are reformers who get over this difficulty by assuming that all their fathers were fools; but if that be so, we can only say that folly appears to be a hereditary disease. But the truth is that nobody has any business to destroy a social institution until he has really seen it as an historical institution. If he knows how it arose, and what purposes it was supposed to serve, he may really be able to say that they were bad purposes, that they have since become bad purposes, or that they are purposes which are no longer served. But if he simply stares at the thing as a senseless monstrosity that has somehow sprung up in his path, it is he and not the traditionalist who is suffering from an illusion.

Read the whole thing, it's well worth your time.
Hat Tip: Kim du Toit

"To Destroy You Is No Loss"

Teeda Butt Mam was fifteen years old when the Khmer Rouge came to power in her native Cambodia. This is her story. The title comes from a slogan of the Khmer regime: "To keep you is no benefit, to destroy you is no loss."

excerpt 2,  excerpt 3,  excerpt 4
excerpt 5,  excerpt 6,  excerpt 7

This audio book is currently out of print. If you enjoy this audio book please send $5 to the publisher:

East/West Bridge Publishing House
P.O. Box 211412
Auke Bay, Alaska 99821-1412 U.S.A.

www.HowObamaGotElected.com

Olive Oil in Connecticut

Connecticut is the first state in the union to impose strict quality standards for olive oil:

Connecticut's regulations, which took effect Nov. 5, adopt a "standard of identity" for olive oil sold in the state that mirrors the standards developed by International Olive Oil Council. The regulations define virgin olive oil as "those oils obtained from the fruit of the olive tree solely by mechanical or other physical means ... which have not undergone any treatment other than washing, decanting, centrifuging and filtration."

That's fine as far as regulations go, it's better than the pencil dicks in the legislature futzing around with more pointless gun control legislation.
I have one pet peeve involving olive oil - oddly enough. When you're eating a restaurant fine, chain or otherwise and the wait staff informs you that extra virgin olive oil on the table is there so you can dip your bread into it. Sometimes they'll say something really irksome and perky like "We call it Italian butter!" Often it's some pasty suburban kid whose idea of ethnic food is French Fries who until recently didn't know EVOO from a very young Shelley Duvall. I know it's news to them, but I came into the place with both shoes tied and on the correct feet, don't you think they ought to give me the benefit of the doubt?

My God, We've Become A Nation of Pussies

Oh the humanity!

More folks concerned

Among N. America's most eminent RC Canon Lawyers and American cultural enthusiasts, Dr. Peters, in his blog today, states:

"Recently I came across a passage in a medieval canonical treatise, the Summa Aurea by Hostiensis (d. 1270), wherein the great lawyer paused, as it happens, to point out (at the risk of preaching to an audience who took such a truth for granted) that marriage can only exist between a man and woman, and one of each at that. How ironic that words penned by a canonist 750 years ago are more helpful to us today than they were to their original audience!"

"Preserving the clipped prose typical of medieval canonistics and omitting citations, I here offer my rough rendering of Hostiensis' thirteenth century text on marriage."

"What marriage is. The conjoining of a man and a woman holding to an individual manner of life; a mutual sharing with divine and human aspects. Marriage is between a man and a woman; two of the same sex cannot be married. For, in the beginning they were not created two men nor two women, but first a man and then a woman. A wedding therefore that is not a commingling of the sexes would not have within itself a sacrament of Christ and the Church. Marriage is also spoken of as being between a man and a woman in the singular, and not of men and women in the plural, for no one man can wed several women, nor can one woman wed several men."

http://www.canonlaw.info/2008/11/same-sex-marriage-in-medieval-canon-law.html

It's interesting to know what folks think "history" really is, so -- not to be outdone by Real History, see this homily on Maahwridge:

So complimentary sexual association is THAT old?!

http://www.firstthings.com/blog/2008/11/18/worlds-earliest-nuclear-family-found/

Re-read (I presume you've read it already) the following re: same sex unions

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/family/documents/rc_pc_family_doc_20030614_family-europe-trujillo_en.html

III. ARGUMENTS FROM REASON AGAINST LEGAL
RECOGNITION OF HOMOSEXUAL UNIONS

6. To understand why it is necessary to oppose legal recognition of homosexual unions, ethical considerations of different orders need to be taken into consideration.

From the order of right reason

The scope of the civil law is certainly more limited than that of the moral law,(11) but civil law cannot contradict right reason without losing its binding force on conscience.(12) Every humanly-created law is legitimate insofar as it is consistent with the natural moral law, recognized by right reason, and insofar as it respects the inalienable rights of every person.(13) Laws in favour of homosexual unions are contrary to right reason because they confer legal guarantees, analogous to those granted to marriage, to unions between persons of the same sex. Given the values at stake in this question, the State could not grant legal standing to such unions without failing in its duty to promote and defend marriage as an institution essential to the common good.

It might be asked how a law can be contrary to the common good if it does not impose any particular kind of behaviour, but simply gives legal recognition to a de facto reality which does not seem to cause injustice to anyone. In this area, one needs first to reflect on the difference between homosexual behaviour as a private phenomenon and the same behaviour as a relationship in society, foreseen and approved by the law, to the point where it becomes one of the institutions in the legal structure. This second phenomenon is not only more serious, but also assumes a more wide-reaching and profound influence, and would result in changes to the entire organization of society, contrary to the common good. Civil laws are structuring principles of man's life in society, for good or for ill. They “play a very important and sometimes decisive role in influencing patterns of thought and behaviour”.(14) Lifestyles and the underlying presuppositions these express not only externally shape the life of society, but also tend to modify the younger generation's perception and evaluation of forms of behaviour. Legal recognition of homosexual unions would obscure certain basic moral values and cause a devaluation of the institution of marriage.

From the biological and anthropological order

7. Homosexual unions are totally lacking in the biological and anthropological elements of marriage and family which would be the basis, on the level of reason, for granting them legal recognition. Such unions are not able to contribute in a proper way to the procreation and survival of the human race. The possibility of using recently discovered methods of artificial reproduction, beyond involv- ing a grave lack of respect for human dignity,(15) does nothing to alter this inadequacy.

Homosexual unions are also totally lacking in the conjugal dimension, which represents the human and ordered form of sexuality. Sexual relations are human when and insofar as they express and promote the mutual assistance of the sexes in marriage and are open to the transmission of new life.

As experience has shown, the absence of sexual complementarity in these unions creates obstacles in the normal development of children who would be placed in the care of such persons. They would be deprived of the experience of either fatherhood or motherhood. Allowing children to be adopted by persons living in such unions would actually mean doing violence to these children, in the sense that their condition of dependency would be used to place them in an environment that is not conducive to their full human development. This is gravely immoral and in open contradiction to the principle, recognized also in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, that the best interests of the child, as the weaker and more vulnerable party, are to be the paramount consideration in every case.

From the social order

8. Society owes its continued survival to the family, founded on marriage. The inevitable consequence of legal recognition of homosexual unions would be the redefinition of marriage, which would become, in its legal status, an institution devoid of essential reference to factors linked to heterosexuality; for example, procreation and raising children. If, from the legal standpoint, marriage between a man and a woman were to be considered just one possible form of marriage, the concept of marriage would undergo a radical transformation, with grave detriment to the common good. By putting homosexual unions on a legal plane analogous to that of marriage and the family, the State acts arbitrarily and in contradiction with its duties.

The principles of respect and non-discrimination cannot be invoked to support legal recognition of homosexual unions. Differentiating between persons or refusing social recognition or benefits is unacceptable only when it is contrary to justice.(16) The denial of the social and legal status of marriage to forms of cohabitation that are not and cannot be marital is not opposed to justice; on the contrary, justice requires it.

Nor can the principle of the proper autonomy of the individual be reasonably invoked. It is one thing to maintain that individual citizens may freely engage in those activities that interest them and that this falls within the common civil right to freedom; it is something quite different to hold that activities which do not represent a significant or positive contribution to the development of the human person in society can receive specific and categorical legal recognition by the State. Not even in a remote analogous sense do homosexual unions fulfil the purpose for which marriage and family deserve specific categorical recognition. On the contrary, there are good reasons for holding that such unions are harmful to the proper development of human society, especially if their impact on society were to increase.

From the legal order

9. Because married couples ensure the succession of generations and are therefore eminently within the public interest, civil law grants them institutional recognition. Homosexual unions, on the other hand, do not need specific attention from the legal standpoint since they do not exercise this function for the common good.

Nor is the argument valid according to which legal recognition of homosexual unions is necessary to avoid situations in which cohabiting homosexual persons, simply because they live together, might be deprived of real recognition of their rights as persons and citizens. In reality, they can always make use of the provisions of law – like all citizens from the standpoint of their private autonomy – to protect their rights in matters of common interest. It would be gravely unjust to sacrifice the common good and just laws on the family in order to protect personal goods that can and must be guaranteed in ways that do not harm the body of society.(17)

Amendments and Constitutional Rights - Define Marriage for us

El D, define marriage for us.

"To Destroy You Is No Loss"

Teeda Butt Mam was fifteen years old when the Khmer Rouge came to power in her native Cambodia. This is her story. The title comes from a slogan of the Khmer regime: "To keep you is no benefit, to destroy you is no loss."

excerpt one

This audio book is currently out of print. If you enjoy this audio book please send $5 to the publisher:

East/West Bridge Publishing House
P.O. Box 211412
Auke Bay, Alaska 99821-1412 U.S.A.

From a Christian perspective - Marriage

For those who deem the Christian perspective important, then read (at least, because there are at least 5 times this many statements promulgated over the years) the following:

USCCB 1996 - http://www.usccb.org/laity/marriage/samesexstmt.shtml

USCCB 2003 - http://www.usccb.org/laity/manandwoman.shtml

Marriagewatch.org - http://www.marriagewatch.org/

Pontifical Council on the Family 2003 - http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/family/documents/rc_pc_family_doc_20030614_family-europe-trujillo_en.html

Idem. 2000 - http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/family/documents/rc_pc_family_doc_20001109_de-facto-unions_en.html

The Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 2003 - http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20030731_homosexual-unions_en.html

CCCB website - http://www.cccb.ca/site/content/view/1342/1019/lang,eng/

Religious Coalition for Marriage - http://www.religiouscoalitionformarriage.org/

Catholic Insight 2005 - http://catholicinsight.com/online/political/homosexuality/printer_611.shtml

Bork on Marriage Amendment -- Marriage

Robert Bork is certainly somebody to consider when examining the issue of "same-sex marriage".

http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=369

See also this recent Fordham Univ. PhD dissertation

More on same-sex marriage and Natural Law.

But you've got to order & pay to read the whole thing.

http://theanathemata.blogspot.com/2006/11/for-my-great-blogging-friend-who.html

Princeton Principles

A summary, but see link below.

Ten Principles on Marriage and the Public Good

1. Marriage is a personal union, intended for the whole of life, of husband and wife.
2. Marriage is a profound human good, elevating and perfecting our social and sexual nature.
3. Ordinarily, both men and women who marry are better off as a result.
4. Marriage protects and promotes the wellbeing of children.
5. Marriage sustains civil society and promotes the common good.
6. Marriage is a wealth-creating institution, increasing human and social capital.
7. When marriage weakens, the equality gap widens, as children suffer from the disadvantages of growing up in homes without committed mothers and fathers.
8. A functioning marriage culture serves to protect political liberty and foster limited government.
9. The laws that govern marriage matter significantly.
10. "Civil marriage" and "religious marriage" cannot be rigidly or completely divorced from one another.
http://www.princetonprinciples.org/contents.html

Proposition 8 and Gay Marriage

While I have no dog in this fight per se and suffer from news fatigue syndrome and election withdrawal simultaneously, It seems to me that if equal protection before the law has any meaning, any person should be able to choose what type of person they marry.
There are those that believe that permitting gays to marry is an insult to the institution of marriage or that by definition marriage is between man and a woman. Okay, but aren't 98% of celebrity marriages an affront to the institution and half of non-celebrity marriages as well? As far as the definition of marriage is concerned, don't we all define our marriages for ourselves? Who the hell are we to define it for others?
The one caveat I would insist on here, is that religious institutions must not be forced to recognize any marriage that violate the tenets of their faith. By definition, any religious organization has beliefs that define them from the population at large. To force, for example, The Roman Catholic Church to recognize and indeed perform gay marriages is to deny them freedom of association and would destroy them as a community of belief.
On the other hand, there is a whole huge can-o-worms to be opened here. Once gays can marry, why not polyandrists, siblings, bigamists etc? I suppose an argument can be made and the people can decide, as they did in California, that to ensure the cohesion of the basic building block of society, ie the family, marriage needs to be more narrowly defined. Which asks the question, is marriage a right? If so be prepared for who knows what. If not, then reasonable limits can and perhaps should be imposed, preferably by public accord and assent. If it were up to me, I'd have to say I'd allow gays to wed, but I would draw the line there.

Democrats: Ever Gracious in Victory

WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats on the Intelligence and Judiciary Committees last week told the White House to preserve all records produced by the Bush administration and expressed "particular concerns" whether Vice President Dick Cheney's office will comply with the law.

I weep for the future.

Dodd To Remain On Senate Banking Committee

In a move that can only be described as business as usual or disgustingly expected or par for the course in the land of unaccountability, Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Dodd will continue to chair the Senate Banking Committee. This after receiving sweetheart deals from failed mortgage giant Countrywide -and repeatedly refusing to release the details of his malefactions. The unalloyed gall of this fargin bastage. The worst part is, he'll continue to stand in front of any number of TV cameras and wag his fudge covered finger with all the fervency of the just and righteous. We know better Senator, you sir are part of the problem, if not THE PROBLEM. I hope the Connecticut electorate toss you out on your drunk, special interest lipstick stained ass.

No Shit: An Obama Tilt in Campaign Coverage

So the WaPo has discovered bias in their coverage of the election, who tipped them off?

Election Analysis from Iowahawk

Probably the best satirist on the web:

Although I have not always been the most outspoken advocate of President-Elect Barack Obama, today I would like to congratulate him and add my voice to the millions of fellow citizens who are celebrating his historic and frightening election victory. I don't care whether you are a conservative or a liberal -- when you saw this inspiring young African-American rise to our nation's highest office I hope you felt the same sense of patriotic pride that I experienced, no matter how hard you were hyperventilating with deep existential dread.

Yes, I know there are probably other African-Americans much better qualified and prepared for the presidency. Much, much better qualified. Hundreds, easily, if not thousands, and without any troubling ties to radical lunatics and Chicago mobsters. Gary Coleman comes to mind. But let's not let that distract us from the fact that Mr. Obama's election represents a profound, positive milestone in our country's struggle to overcome its long legacy of racial divisions and bigotry. It reminds us of how far we've come, and it's something everyone in our nation should celebrate in whatever little time we now have left....

(link)

Zaphod tribute

So now I know with whom I blog.

Obama Wins

I always thought the first African American POTUS would be a conservative. I was wrong. President elect Barack Obama has ascended to the presidency because of three or four key phenomena:

1. A complicit and willing press. I hope Obama is everything he pretends to be, but we don't really know do we? While the press pours over Alaskan travel vouchers for footing errors and rail against Palin's expensive wardrobe, ACORN registers untold numbers of fraudulent voters, Obama's ties to ACORN go unmentioned and any other item that could possibly cast doubt on Obama's self reinvention as a mainstream Democrat disappear into the ether.
2. George W. Bush. Bush is a good man and was right on the primary issue facing the West today, Islamic Extremism. Other than that, he screwed the pooch. How else does Joe Biden become vice president of anything other than the Hair Club For Men?
3. The financial meltdown. If the financial shite hadn't the fan when it did, the GOP may have had a chance against such an ostensibly inexperienced candidate. It would be nice if one in ten American voters knew which administration repealed Glass-Steagal. See item one.
4. John McCain. You're a Maverick, I get it. Years of pissing in Republican ears are not without cost. To salve the GOP wounds and to shore up the base, McCain was forced to choose Sarah Palin, whom I like, but the choice removed the biggest cudgel with which to beat the upstart Obama - lack of experience. I don't know if any other choice for VP would have made a difference, but it's kinda hard to knock Obama's inexperience when a 72 year presidential candidate chooses a woman, no matter how promising, of scant experience herself. Again, the press in an amazing feat of intellectual flexibility found it easy to mention Palin's lack of experience every other breath while never noticing the same in Obama.

Change has come to America - an overview of B.O.'s acceptance speech

Change has come to America. I am typing this as Obama's acceptance speech shows on the TV.

But I can't help remembering the N.I.C.E. organization of CS Lewis' That Hideous Strength; I can't help but think of many other fictional novelties.

Obama's crowds bleakly applaud McCain's bow-down, and applaud (somewhat bleakly) Biden, and then cheered (the meglomaniac) 1st Lady Michelle & the first Lady's dog, like the 2nd Coming on a chariot, yet weak applause for the rest of his his family (racism, Michelle?)-- but real cheers for his campaign coordinator, etc, etc, heroic cheers. Why not? So its the politico's they know & love.

He says: "We will get there." Where? Who knows?

Of course, he indicates that "I will fail, as president, through setbacks," etc. But "we will make that change." "Values by which we won (weak applause) will heal the divides."

This guy is an inverse Bush.

Spend spend spend of the middle classes' wages, and Promise The World to the Outside, both right and left.

"If my daughters should live so long" (so as actually to come out of their Mother's womb before I might allow them to be killed) then we shall do it. But unfortunately, we've apparently decided against that Hope and Change, so my daughters might be dead..... might be killed as they came outta my wife's uterus, only several minutes old; only several months old since conception.

"I support that kinda change!" Which is NO change for the unborn.

The CNN Coronation of these people is scandalous and stomach-wrenching. We are now again living in the age of the Ceasars.

Hail Obama! That is what we must now cheer.

Predictions

It's no secret what I want to happen tomorrow. I'm not a big fan of McCain but an Obama victory combined with an expanded Democrat majority in Congress fills me with dread.

Stephen Green over at Vodkapundit sees the map this way going into tomorrow:



As a prediction/analysis, this looks pretty good to me. Obviously, team Obama has expanded the map. They've created numerous paths to victory. It's been a very strategically sound campaign.

McCain's path to victory is much much narrower. Early on, we'll be looking at Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Indiana and Ohio. If ANY of those states goes Obama's way, McCain doesn't win. If they all go to McCain, all eyes will shift to Missouri and Florida.

We'll know soon enough.

For dispirited McCainiacs here's this.

Now go out and vote!

Ammo Pricing

Apropos of nothing, I priced out the cost of a 1000 rounds of .223 or 5.56 mm, if you will, 55 grain FMJ shipped to my door:

Aim Surplus $249.07

Ammoman $259.00

Natchez Shooting Supplies $247.63

Cabela's $292.64 - With a very convoluted gimmick that gives you $20 off - hardly worth it.

Cheaper Than Dirt $262.67 - Out of stock.

Able Ammo $332.50

A1 Ammo $370.61, out of stock on nearly everything in .223.

Midway USA $322

J&G Sales $323.94

AmmoBank.com $450 +

Apparently it pays to shop around. I have ordered from Ammoman.com in the past and I like them because the price you see is the price you pay including shipping. Natchez is pretty straight forward as well. I hate to say this, but Cabelas seems to disappoint at every opportunity. They used to be so good, but now not so much.

Watching "Big Night" again

For those who are fond of cooking, Mediterranean culture, Italian Immigrants of early 20th century America, or of any of the following: movies like Bigfellas, Il Postino, Zorba, The Godfather; and TV cooking shows like Restaurant Makeover and the like; or S. Tucci's acting (at his best); or else the following type of book, Kitchen Confidential:

Then get a hold of the movie

Sometimes we are obliged to restate the obvious, Part 2

As reasonable human beings, we are sometimes obliged to restate the obvious.

The Westchester Institute has recently published a white paper (allow time for .pdf file to download) regarding the scientific rationale for establishing the moment at which human life begins.

Connected with this, and my garage sale, I have been re-reading a classic introductory textbook on Philosophical Logic, by Copi/Cohen. I was reminded of the classic informal fallacies of argumentation (which still apply in any debate about abortion, or indeed, about politics during a campaign/election year).

Informal Logic and Informal Fallacies form the critical guidelines of any discourse, public debate, or reasonable argumentation. Educate yourselves about these traditional rules of debate, and you won't go far wrong in the election, on human life issues, or even spousal relationships.

Q: Which informal fallacy applies -- "Women simply are not reasonable when discussing things; my wife, for example, just the other day...."?

Megyn Kelly just freaking rocks!

20th Century Authors - rediscovered in my garage

We are moving in late November (to a house in the same mid-town area of Toronto which we live in at present); so I have been forced, by the ancient Fates of "Storage space" and "Square footage", to reduce my library through what are benevolently called "Yard Sales" in Canada.

While sorting through 3 dead, blind mice (no photo available)--and other assorted rodential & marsupial problems--I've uncovered an assortment of authors whom I am now re-reading. These are (mostly) 20th century Christian authors, both American & British (with some Europeans too) - if you haven't read them yet, then do so now, and reap the rewards of Western Culture. Find whatever you can of these authors. Read what you find. You won't be disappointed. Significant background data about the British authors concerns the relationship between Eliot, Lewis, Tolkien, Williams, and Jones around the time of the two great wars.

My first re-read was C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters. See the text here (however much it is in need of editing). For anyone interested in Angels & their role in our lives, you must read the absolutely fascinating introduction (by C.S. Lewis) to the 1961 republication here, with just 3 mouse clicks forward; but most especially this book asks the big question -- "How are we to act as Christians in this our life on Earth?"--reading this book is like a "mini" Christian retreat. This book is particularly relevant as it was written (and recited via radio) during a time of war.

The no-brainers:

G. K. Chesterton
Hillaire Belloc
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Edgar Allen Poe
Herman Melville
Joseph Conrad
T.S. Eliot
C.S. Lewis
J.R.R. Tolkien
W.H. Auden
James Joyce
Flannery O'Connor
Graham Greene
William Faulkner
Ezra Pound
Francois Mauriac
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Interesting, yet under-read and under-rated:

David Jones (especially his epic poems)
Charles Williams (especially his 'supernatural' novels)
Walker Percy (especially his irony-laden novels)
Robert Lowell (poetry)
Richard Wilbur (translations and poetry)
Robert Penn Warren (everything)
Robert Fitzgerald (both his translations and his neglected poetry)
Allen Tate
Caroline Gordon
Paul Claudel
Georges Bernanos
Zbigniew Herbert

Sometimes we are obliged to restate the obvious

As Christians we are sometimes obliged to restate the obvious; Cardinal Egan of New York City has done so. R. T. Anderson over at "First Things" asks us to take a close look. Again. Cardinal Egan states:

"Have you any doubt that it is a human being?

If you do not have any such doubt, have you any doubt that it is an innocent human being?

If you have no doubt about this either, have you any doubt that the authorities in a civilized society are duty-bound to protect this innocent human being if anyone were to wish to kill it?

If your answer to this last query is negative, that is, if you have no doubt that the authorities in a civilized society would be duty-bound to protect this innocent human being if someone were to wish to kill it, I would suggest—even insist—that there is not a lot more to be said about the issue of abortion in our society. It is wrong, and it cannot—must not—be tolerated."

WTF: Sexually Ambiguous Nazi Assassins?

No, not this one, these guys. Click, read, be amazed. You can't make this shit up, you really can't.

Obama Talks About Wealth Distribution 2001

If we elect this man, we will deserve him - we can't say we haven't been warned.

Hat Tip: Billy Buru

More on this here.

VDH's brief take here.

The Smart Spunky Kid with the Fatal Disease

Dean Barnett has died. He was too young. Hugh Hewitt has more.

Rest In Peace, Dean.

Update: just thinking how odd it is my first response to this sad news was that he was too young. Of course, for someone with CF 41 wasn't young at all. It's a testimony that his affliction in no way defined him as a person.

Here's The Weekly Standard with a page linking to the many tributes to Dean coming in from all over the conservative blogosphere.

From The Onion: Guman Kills 15 Potential Swing Voters

Considering how vociferous the MSM has been in their advocacy of Obama, this parody doesn't seem too far over the top.

Sarah smacks "Slow Joe" around

(link via The Weekly Standard's blog)

Red Sox lose - depressed? Watch this again....

Whenever I feel a bit down (eg, after the Red Sox lose), I watch this:

Red Sox Lose

The Tampa Bays beat a damn fine Boston team to represent the American league in the World Series. Good luck to them they're a damn fine team too and will probably win the whole thing. You have to admire them. For years they were a joke in the AL East, today they became the American League Champions. Well done you marvelous bastages, well done.
If there was any doubt that summer was over it ended five minutes ago. This is a beautiful time of year in New England, with all the foliage and brouhaha, but it not without it's sadness:

Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off - then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me.

I hear you Ishmael, I'll wait until after Christmas and I'll find some blue water to play in.

To watch, or not to watch

I have never watched the Red Sox (the worlds' greatest baseball club) actually win a World Series, or even an American League Championship. Should I watch today's game? I watched all of the games they lost against Tampa Bay, and saw none of the games they won.

I figure I have a mini-curse: so do I watch?

I just saw that they scored to take a lead in the 3rd against Tampa Bay in today's (Saturday's) game; but even such fleeting glimpses have been very unlucky in the past.

After a business trip, I sat late one night on the New Jersey Turnpike, listening to the car radio, only to hear a World Series lost by my team, the Red Sox. I did the same thing once again, but crossed my fingers and turned off the radio -- continuing home to CT -- only to discover in the morning that my team won the World Series.

I am a realist and a Thomist. I am a reasonable, conservative American. I don't believe in jinxes or Astrology or Ouija boards.

So why can't I watch my baseball team win?

John the Senator Hires Joe the Plumber

part one



part two

Liberals Learn Slowly

Hawaii ending universal child health care:
HONOLULU – Hawaii is dropping the only state universal child health care program in the country just seven months after it launched.
Gov. Linda Lingle's administration cited budget shortfalls and other available health care options for eliminating funding for the program. A state official said families
were dropping private coverage so their children would be eligible for the subsidized plan.
"People who were already able to afford health care began to stop paying for it so they could get it for free," said Dr. Kenny Fink, the administrator for Med-QUEST at the Department of Human Services. "I don't believe that was the intent of the program."

So, you give stuff away and are shocked that people would prefer not to pay for it?

Love That Dirty Water

This is just SICK - biggest comeback in 79 years!

Art History

I thought this blog might appeal to those interested, as I am, in Art History. Here's his e-blogger 'profile':

About Me
Millinerd (a.k.a. Matthew J. Milliner) is a Ph.D. candidate in art history at Princeton University. In a previous life he graduated from the same town's Theological Seminary. In the life before that he was a Youth Director at Media Presbyterian Church (PA). In the life before that he went to Wheaton College (IL). In the life before that he went to Haddonfield Memorial High School (NJ). In the life before that he was born and raised mostly in Jersey. In the life before that he did nothing, because Origen's doctrine of the pre-existence of the soul was condemned in 553AD.

More on Millinerd recently over at First Things.

Also interesting for Art aficionados -- read Paul Johnson's (relatively) recent great book, Art: A New History. I've been plowing (ploughing?) through it since early Summer.

Real Estate Agents

Our house is up for sale. We will be moving in late November.

Why is it that Real Estate Agents are just about the only so-called professional business people/entrepeneurs who will (more often than not) show up late for 'viewings', or else never show up at all, and also frequently leave your house unlocked -- and then proceed to arrogantly argue with you about whether or not they lack professionalism given the evidence?

If I were to do that in any other "profession", I would either be canned immediately, or else outta business.

Seven (respectable) Real Estate agents later, I still have no clue about this phenomenon, except that apparently it is one field where being an irresponsible loser is not necessarily a negative asset.