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Showing posts from May 1, 2005
DefenseNews.com - Al-Qaida in Yemen Army Behind Cole Bombing, Former Envoy Says . On to Yemen. How hard could it be? I suppose we could send an MEU or two but that's all we would need. TAC air from Oman and we're in business. No nation building there, just collecting scalps and going home.
Conscience in Its Age by Benedict XVI (Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger) . Read this and you'll know why his critics are so vociferous. He is a deeply learned man with impeccible adherence to the tenets of the faith. He cannot be derided as a fool or a closed minded bigot. To do so would reveal the accuser to be exactly that. I knew almost nothing about him before he was Pope. (Not that I know much more now). But it is plain to see not only how intelligent he is, but how well he writes and how widely he has read. I think even though he stands in a very long shadow he will step in to the light and cast his own in short order.
Is There Any Hope for the Pope? . More Popeblogging. Yes, yes, I'm late to the game but what can I say? I've been busy. Anywayyyy.....I've never had a nice word for Counterpunch (which I won't link to again) as I think it is a den of moonbattery, idiotarians and ANSWER types for whom I have nothing but loathing. Which is why I found the above article so shocking. Not only was it about the Pope, but it was positive. What is going on? The BBC and Counterpunch both with positive article about the RCC? I swear I think I've awoken in some Bearded Spock universe.
Reality TV in monastery changes five lives forever . Finally a reality show with some actual value. As much as I bash the BBC they deserve a ton of credit for this one. The idea alone would never have been possible in the US. The creators would have simply edited such a show to make the monestary like a prison from the Middle Ages. I fervently hope they bring the series here, I'd love to see it.
Secret Worlds: The Universe Within . So kewl...
New Pope by Charley Reese . Charley Reese has some strong medicine for dissenters in the Church. I've often been confused by some people who think they should get to vote on what the Church stands for and how it should run. If that's what you want, go find it, it isn't here . Become a Protestant! You don't agree with the Church, the Pope or the Magesterium anyway. Why stay? Surely the Pontiff cannot be the divinely choosen successor to St. Peter if he is in error. Look, I'm the last guy who is going to tell people they need to "go forth and sin no more". Far from it. The difference is, I believe in what the Church stands for and how and why we do things the way we do. It is the difference between believing something is right and failing to do it vs. believing something else entirely. If you believe and are trying (but failing) to do right, it makes sense to stay. To believe otherwise and not do it because you don't agree with the Magester
Earth's air is cleaner, but this may worsen the greenhouse effect. No, I am not making this up. I can only imagine the number of greenies with eyes closed and fingers in their ears singing "I can't hear you" over and over. This study will, of course, be ignored. The next one, that suggest that this one is wrong, will be trumpeted loudly. Remember MSM has a template and anything that doesn't fit the template is discarded.
Who's Laffing now? . Kudlow shows us the even WaPo cannot deny that the Laffer curve is real and is showing dividends again. I was apprehensive about the spending explosion without much larger tax cuts but it seems to be working. I'd really rather see massive spending cuts along with massive tax cuts. Why has W. deserted us on the domestic front? I know he only has so much political capital to spend but he's spending it in all the wrong places.
Median Income Data Mirrors Red State-Blue State Divide . This is interesting. It shows the correlation between earnings and voting. What does it mean that those in the lower social strata voted for Bush? Wouldn't that be contrary to their interests? Wouldn't Democrats hand out more money to those who make less? No. Those listed are the middle class who resent freeloaders. The want to be left alone in matters of domestic finance and a strong government abroad.
Signs of progress . More blue please.
Wanna know why the blogosphere is eating MSM's lunch? Read Daly Thoughts ? Judicial Confirmation Statistics . An excellent, well researched article about the politicization (is that even a word?) of judicial nominees. It's articles like this that were previously resigned to the pages of a Cato report or Heritage foundation. Not so, anymore. If anything the analysis tells us that the Right is correct when they say that the Left cannot win via the ballot box so they're turning to the judiciary. I think the claims of judges as "tyrants" is overblown and not helpful, but I do think the slope here is slick. Should things continue along these lines you'll see two things happen. As in many red states, the state legislatures are heading off judges at the pass. They're passing amendments to their state constitutions that preclude judges from divining some new intent not spelled out in the original document (i.e. gay marriage). Secondly, you may
ALL NEW! Political Survey Take the quiz. I did. If I were living in England, I'd be locked up in the nut house. Even the Tories are pikers compared to me. Not surprisingly the questions were not of big government vs. small government but rather, how big it should be in which sectors.
The Smallest Minority has an interesting post about gun culture in England and America. Death by a thousand cuts has been the strategy. I hold out hope we'll see a sea change in USSC decisions curtailing ownership. I agree that an increase in participation in gun culture is crucial for the well being of our nation and culture. We are a nation of citizens, not subjects. If we are to become a nation of rifleman (as is badly needed) we need to increase participation nationwide.