Although this was pointed out in "The Path to 9/11" (the incident at the Vancouver/Seattle border) P-Mac cites a more credible and practiced authority:
Good story in the Jerusalem Post about some Israeli security guys saying that most countries have it all wrong: Banning box cutters or checking shoes presumes that you’re up against weapons carried by terrorists.
“The Western concept of searching for weapons is fundamentally flawed,” the paper quotes Shabtai Shoval, president and founder of Suspect Detection Systems in Tel Aviv. “If a person has the intention to carry out an attack, then the means is secondary. Someone who wants to carry out an attack will figure out a way to do it, whether it's with one thing or with another. The person is what is important; the weapon is marginal. In fact, the person is the weapon!”
Later, P-Mac frets a tiny bit:
...The methods are pushy and invasive: Israel prescreens passengers before they get to the airport, and everyone is interviewed by security agents. Aside from whether that works on American-style passenger volumes, it might clash with our more libertarian view toward government prying.
This begs a larger question: Who is "the enemy"?
Those on the Right have pointed out that most terror incidents over the last 20 years have been carried out by Muslim males aged 20-40. This is correct, of course. And for a variety of reasons, others have joined in pointing out the "Muslim" proper adjective--loudly, and often.
But as another matter of fact (less emphasized,) there are perhaps 10,000 terrorists who actually have carried out attacks--and that includes their mentors, logistical-supporters, and financiers. Even counting the irregular "armies" (really, large posses) it would be difficult to come up with more than 250,000 Muhajedeen worldwide.
So with a worldwide Muslim population in the several-hundred-million range, this is an infinitesimal count.
Thus, identifying "the enemy" simply cannot be reduced to "Muslim"--while at the same time, it is true that the perpetrators ARE "Muslim."
That presents a conundrum. Our President has generally failed to draw these lines clearly--but then, so has the Press and the Left, who have generally attempted to airbrush "Muslim" OUT of the definition--which simply flies in the face of experience.
So why point to the P-Mac blog? Simple. The Israelis define terrorist suspects by behavior and traits. And they are damn successful. El-Al does not HAVE a 'terrorist' problem.
Besides, this methodology comports better with the Western (Judeao-Christian) sense of justice, which is generally very uncomfortable with defining an evil person by affiliation.
More intrusive? Maybe. Contra "libertarianism"? So what? It is Conservative.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
P-Mac vs. Mr Plug-My-Ears
Folkbum rattles on about P-Mac(Ilheran)'s column which mentions John Lott's study.
Lott's study (which is clearly labeled 'not conclusive' BY THE AUTHOR) does show some interesting results: he maintains that the tougher the Voter ID requirements, the higher the voter turnout.
It's interesting. And it is antithetical to the Leftist position that there should be no Voter ID requirements whatsoever. It may expose folks like the "prominent lawyer-hospital administrator" who not only voted Democrat--he voted like a Democrat--more than once.
Here's a snippet from the column:
Mexico has required them since 1991. Turnout has risen since. In fact, Mexico is a harsh test. To vote, Mexicans must show a voter registration card, with photo, thumbprint and a magnetic strip with biometric data. It's got anti-counterfeiting measures, too, and you sign up by showing up at a registration office. They don't mail the card: You have to go pick it up later. Despite all this in a country with Third World stretches, Mexico's Federal Election Institute says 94.5% of eligible voters are registered. [. . .] The turnout, at about 60%, was uninjured.
Good turnout.
Folkie goes bananas:
So let's get this straight: Mexico's 60% turnout shows what a rousing success voter ID and strict registration requirements can mean. Wisconsin's turnout, despite not requiring strict registration or photo ID in 2004, was more than 25% higher than Mexico's, so . . . what, exactly?
Well, for starters, there are about 15 million Mexicans living in the USA illegally. Since they have to be physically present to vote in Mexico....
You do the math, Folkie.
And that super-duper Wisconsin turnout? Guess where those illegals ACTUALLY voted?
Beloit, Racine, Burlington, Milwaukee, Madison....
Lott's study (which is clearly labeled 'not conclusive' BY THE AUTHOR) does show some interesting results: he maintains that the tougher the Voter ID requirements, the higher the voter turnout.
It's interesting. And it is antithetical to the Leftist position that there should be no Voter ID requirements whatsoever. It may expose folks like the "prominent lawyer-hospital administrator" who not only voted Democrat--he voted like a Democrat--more than once.
Here's a snippet from the column:
Mexico has required them since 1991. Turnout has risen since. In fact, Mexico is a harsh test. To vote, Mexicans must show a voter registration card, with photo, thumbprint and a magnetic strip with biometric data. It's got anti-counterfeiting measures, too, and you sign up by showing up at a registration office. They don't mail the card: You have to go pick it up later. Despite all this in a country with Third World stretches, Mexico's Federal Election Institute says 94.5% of eligible voters are registered. [. . .] The turnout, at about 60%, was uninjured.
Good turnout.
Folkie goes bananas:
So let's get this straight: Mexico's 60% turnout shows what a rousing success voter ID and strict registration requirements can mean. Wisconsin's turnout, despite not requiring strict registration or photo ID in 2004, was more than 25% higher than Mexico's, so . . . what, exactly?
Well, for starters, there are about 15 million Mexicans living in the USA illegally. Since they have to be physically present to vote in Mexico....
You do the math, Folkie.
And that super-duper Wisconsin turnout? Guess where those illegals ACTUALLY voted?
Beloit, Racine, Burlington, Milwaukee, Madison....
Curious Kane Calls
Today's EK headline provoked my interest, so I read his column.
You should, too. Not because it is well-written, or makes a compelling point. Nope.
After reading it, I had a curious feeling that the columnist might not need as much voice-mail and email storage as he'd like us to believe.
Just sayin'...
You should, too. Not because it is well-written, or makes a compelling point. Nope.
After reading it, I had a curious feeling that the columnist might not need as much voice-mail and email storage as he'd like us to believe.
Just sayin'...
Monday, September 11, 2006
The Path to 9/11
Well, maybe ABC pulled some punches.
But the show was outstanding. Gripping. And not-for-profit.
They deserve some accolades.
But the show was outstanding. Gripping. And not-for-profit.
They deserve some accolades.
9/11 Filmed by a NYC Resident: Crystal Morning
It's home video, but it captures as much as anything else.
The tolling of the bell is particularly gripping.
HT: Dom Bet
The tolling of the bell is particularly gripping.
HT: Dom Bet
Attempting the Overthrow of Natural Law
Although this is mentioned below, it deserves its very own post.
At bottom, there's only one moral rulebook. As C.S. Lewis wrote in The Abolition of Man, the project of creating a morality independent of Natural Law is self-defeating:
"This thing which I have called for convenience the Tao, and which others may call Natural Law or Traditional Morality or the First Principles of Practical Reason or the First Platitudes, is not one among a series of possible systems of value. It is the sole source of all value judgements. If it is rejected, all value is rejected. If any value is retained, it is retained.
"The effort to refute it and raise a new system of value in its place is self-contradictory. There has never been, and never will be, a radically new judgement of value in the history of the world. What purport to be new systems or (as they now call them) 'ideologies', all consist of fragments from the Tao itself, arbitrarily wrenched from their context in the whole and then swollen to madness in their isolation, yet still owing to the Tao and to it alone such validity as they possess.
"... The human mind has no more power of inventing a new value than of imagining a new primary colour, or, indeed, of creating a new sun and a new sky for it to move in.
"Wrenching" a small bit of truth from its larger context and "swelling [it] to madness" is the very definition of heresy. Truth is a synthesis of many truths; it is indivisible. Although each portion may be examined in relative isolation, that portion cannot stand on its own as a Primary; it must be a portion of the whole.
Thus the utter folly of Islamic Jihad...for starters.
HT, again: CWN
At bottom, there's only one moral rulebook. As C.S. Lewis wrote in The Abolition of Man, the project of creating a morality independent of Natural Law is self-defeating:
"This thing which I have called for convenience the Tao, and which others may call Natural Law or Traditional Morality or the First Principles of Practical Reason or the First Platitudes, is not one among a series of possible systems of value. It is the sole source of all value judgements. If it is rejected, all value is rejected. If any value is retained, it is retained.
"The effort to refute it and raise a new system of value in its place is self-contradictory. There has never been, and never will be, a radically new judgement of value in the history of the world. What purport to be new systems or (as they now call them) 'ideologies', all consist of fragments from the Tao itself, arbitrarily wrenched from their context in the whole and then swollen to madness in their isolation, yet still owing to the Tao and to it alone such validity as they possess.
"... The human mind has no more power of inventing a new value than of imagining a new primary colour, or, indeed, of creating a new sun and a new sky for it to move in.
"Wrenching" a small bit of truth from its larger context and "swelling [it] to madness" is the very definition of heresy. Truth is a synthesis of many truths; it is indivisible. Although each portion may be examined in relative isolation, that portion cannot stand on its own as a Primary; it must be a portion of the whole.
Thus the utter folly of Islamic Jihad...for starters.
HT, again: CWN
"Path to 9/11"
Of COURSE we watched it.
Still haven't seen mention of Jamie Gorelick's contribution to the terrorists yet (the "wall" of separation between FBI and CIA information...)
And BlameBush has a paragraph worth repeating here:
In the spirit of national unity, ABC has agreed to remove any footage that makes Clinton or members of his cabinet look like ineffectual boobs. The new, more historically accurate movie will be five minutes long with 6 hours of commercials. In the drama's only scene, a senile, doddering Ronald Reagan is discouraged from capturing Osama Bin Laden by a domineering Nancy Reagan who, on the advice of her astrologer, instructs him instead to lay flowers on Hitler's grave and then beat up some queers for Jesus.
Still haven't seen mention of Jamie Gorelick's contribution to the terrorists yet (the "wall" of separation between FBI and CIA information...)
And BlameBush has a paragraph worth repeating here:
In the spirit of national unity, ABC has agreed to remove any footage that makes Clinton or members of his cabinet look like ineffectual boobs. The new, more historically accurate movie will be five minutes long with 6 hours of commercials. In the drama's only scene, a senile, doddering Ronald Reagan is discouraged from capturing Osama Bin Laden by a domineering Nancy Reagan who, on the advice of her astrologer, instructs him instead to lay flowers on Hitler's grave and then beat up some queers for Jesus.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Better Than Miller's "Alien Beer"
So long as Wiggy brought it up, here's proof in pictures:
Proceeds will NOT be used to fund either Jim Sensenbrenner OR "conferences" about immigration issues.
Proceeds will NOT be used to fund either Jim Sensenbrenner OR "conferences" about immigration issues.
The New Bar for Hypocrisy
From Joe Sobran (1997):
Under the new rules, you can be called a hypocrite for upholding old standards of virtue that you don't exemplify perfectly; but you can't be called a hypocrite for sinking into utter moral squalor, as long as you profess to believe there's nothing wrong with it.
So the defender of traditional morality is kept constantly on the defensive, since only he can be accused of hypocrisy.
It's quite a clever system, because it works entirely to the advantage of one side, while the other side has been slow to figure it out. But it boils down to something simple and obvious. If you set high standards, there is the danger that you'll create an embarrassing gap between what you believe and what you do. The actual may fall short of the ideal; in fact it's almost certain to do so, and you may look hypocritical when you're only human.
But if you profess low standards, there's no danger of such a gap. Your behavior is all too likely to meet your standards. If you openly advocate pedophilia, then the one thing you can't be accused of when you're caught in bed with a little child is hypocrisy.
Or (let us imagine) selling the favors of the State of Wisconsin for campaign contributions--while screeching that your opponent has 'accepted illegal campaign contributions.'
Or (let us imagine) ignoring vast quantities of intelligence information and failing to exterminate a world-class terrorist--then screeching the accusation that your successor has failed to do so.
They're just examples, of course. Wouldn't happen in real life.
Or we could speak (as did CSLewis) of those who would overthrow Natural Law:
This thing which I have called for convenience the Tao, and which others may call Natural Law or Traditional Morality or the First Principles of Practical Reason or the First Platitudes, is not one among a series of possible systems of value. It is the sole source of all value judgements. If it is rejected, all value is rejected. If any value is retained, it is retained. The effort to refute it and raise a new system of value in its place is self-contradictory. There has never been, and never will be, a radically new judgement of value in the history of the world. What purport to be new systems or (as they now call them) 'ideologies', all consist of fragments from the Tao itself, arbitrarily wrenched from their context in the whole and then swollen to madness in their isolation, yet still owing to the Tao and to it alone such validity as they possess. ... The human mind has no more power of inventing a new value than of imagining a new primary colour, or, indeed, of creating a new sun and a new sky for it to move in.
HT: CWN
Under the new rules, you can be called a hypocrite for upholding old standards of virtue that you don't exemplify perfectly; but you can't be called a hypocrite for sinking into utter moral squalor, as long as you profess to believe there's nothing wrong with it.
So the defender of traditional morality is kept constantly on the defensive, since only he can be accused of hypocrisy.
It's quite a clever system, because it works entirely to the advantage of one side, while the other side has been slow to figure it out. But it boils down to something simple and obvious. If you set high standards, there is the danger that you'll create an embarrassing gap between what you believe and what you do. The actual may fall short of the ideal; in fact it's almost certain to do so, and you may look hypocritical when you're only human.
But if you profess low standards, there's no danger of such a gap. Your behavior is all too likely to meet your standards. If you openly advocate pedophilia, then the one thing you can't be accused of when you're caught in bed with a little child is hypocrisy.
Or (let us imagine) selling the favors of the State of Wisconsin for campaign contributions--while screeching that your opponent has 'accepted illegal campaign contributions.'
Or (let us imagine) ignoring vast quantities of intelligence information and failing to exterminate a world-class terrorist--then screeching the accusation that your successor has failed to do so.
They're just examples, of course. Wouldn't happen in real life.
Or we could speak (as did CSLewis) of those who would overthrow Natural Law:
This thing which I have called for convenience the Tao, and which others may call Natural Law or Traditional Morality or the First Principles of Practical Reason or the First Platitudes, is not one among a series of possible systems of value. It is the sole source of all value judgements. If it is rejected, all value is rejected. If any value is retained, it is retained. The effort to refute it and raise a new system of value in its place is self-contradictory. There has never been, and never will be, a radically new judgement of value in the history of the world. What purport to be new systems or (as they now call them) 'ideologies', all consist of fragments from the Tao itself, arbitrarily wrenched from their context in the whole and then swollen to madness in their isolation, yet still owing to the Tao and to it alone such validity as they possess. ... The human mind has no more power of inventing a new value than of imagining a new primary colour, or, indeed, of creating a new sun and a new sky for it to move in.
HT: CWN
UW-System Students: the Truth Is Here
The job of the College Democrats is to lie to you about Jim Doyle. It's called "follow the leader."
Here, thanks to Letters in Bottles, you'll get a dose of the truth:
...Green proposes limiting tuition hikes to the rate of inflation. Now, under Governor Doyle tuition has increased by more than 50%, quite a bit more than the rate of inflation.
...the only time that Green mentions budget cuts is when he points out, quite correctly, that under Doyle state spending has increased 20% while the UW System has been cut $341 million.
If Jim Doyle is a friend to UW students and parents, then pigs fly.
Here, thanks to Letters in Bottles, you'll get a dose of the truth:
...Green proposes limiting tuition hikes to the rate of inflation. Now, under Governor Doyle tuition has increased by more than 50%, quite a bit more than the rate of inflation.
...the only time that Green mentions budget cuts is when he points out, quite correctly, that under Doyle state spending has increased 20% while the UW System has been cut $341 million.
If Jim Doyle is a friend to UW students and parents, then pigs fly.
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Squirrel Nixes Opera
Critics...
A SQUIRREL scampered into the bicycle wheel of an unlucky Finnish opera singer, causing him to fall, knock himself out and break his nose just ahead of the world premiere of a new opera.
Esa Ruuttunen was pedalling his way to the Helsinki Opera House last month when the squirrel ran into his spokes.
The singer ended up concussed and in a local hospital, rather than at his rehearsals for the Finnish opera Kaarmeen hetki (Hour of the Serpent), which opens on September 15.
There are some who say that music critics are squirrely.
You may draw your own conclusions.
A SQUIRREL scampered into the bicycle wheel of an unlucky Finnish opera singer, causing him to fall, knock himself out and break his nose just ahead of the world premiere of a new opera.
Esa Ruuttunen was pedalling his way to the Helsinki Opera House last month when the squirrel ran into his spokes.
The singer ended up concussed and in a local hospital, rather than at his rehearsals for the Finnish opera Kaarmeen hetki (Hour of the Serpent), which opens on September 15.
There are some who say that music critics are squirrely.
You may draw your own conclusions.
Like ATM's? Have Your Piece Ready
Unremarked in the blogs (at least the 70+ I read) was an incident reported by Fox6 news the other night.
Some fellow was in his car and withdrew cash from an ATM around 76th/Good Hope(??--it was the northwest side) when a man showed up between the ATM and the car, holding a rifle.
Yah--he got the ATM user's cash.
The whole thing was taped by the ATM's internal videocam.
Would have been more fun if the ATM customer had a 9mm H&K in his hand instead of the ATM card, no?
Some fellow was in his car and withdrew cash from an ATM around 76th/Good Hope(??--it was the northwest side) when a man showed up between the ATM and the car, holding a rifle.
Yah--he got the ATM user's cash.
The whole thing was taped by the ATM's internal videocam.
Would have been more fun if the ATM customer had a 9mm H&K in his hand instead of the ATM card, no?
More on Feingold: The Continuing Menace
The Shark finds that Rusty Feingold is 100% inimical to Christianity in America.
Perhaps we mis-read Feinie as "friendly to Islamofascism." He just hates Christianity, like the ACLU.
Tammy Baldwin was a close, but imperfect, second to Rusty.
I continue to maintain that if Michels had NOT stuck himself to GWB a couple of years ago, Feinie would currently be Chief Counsel at ACLU, (Satan's US headquarters...)
Perhaps we mis-read Feinie as "friendly to Islamofascism." He just hates Christianity, like the ACLU.
Tammy Baldwin was a close, but imperfect, second to Rusty.
I continue to maintain that if Michels had NOT stuck himself to GWB a couple of years ago, Feinie would currently be Chief Counsel at ACLU, (Satan's US headquarters...)
Political Ad-Content From NOW to Election Day
Random 10 shows/tells what political ads will look like due to McPain/Feingold (R) &(D): Perma-Power-to MEEEE!!! Members, First Class)
Note: this ad was run without the permission of the US Supreme Court. Should this blog show no activity for several days, please direct your inquiries to the United States Marshall's Office, or to the offices of the US Attorney/Eastern District, Wisconsin. You may copy this ad at your own risk, but understand that Free Speech is no longer tolerated in the United States. (A copy of this blog was sent to the Chairman of ABC/Disney).
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Note: this ad was run without the permission of the US Supreme Court. Should this blog show no activity for several days, please direct your inquiries to the United States Marshall's Office, or to the offices of the US Attorney/Eastern District, Wisconsin. You may copy this ad at your own risk, but understand that Free Speech is no longer tolerated in the United States. (A copy of this blog was sent to the Chairman of ABC/Disney).
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Does UW-Mad Have Fortitude?
Naaaahhhh...not like the fortitude at Brigham Young U:
Could it be that universities are gathering the courage to resist the moonbat professors who have been squandering their credibility? Brigham Young University has placed physics professor Steven Jones on paid leave while it reviews his conspicuous involvement in the elaborate paranoid delusion known as the 9/11 Truth Movement.
HT: Moonbattery
Could it be that universities are gathering the courage to resist the moonbat professors who have been squandering their credibility? Brigham Young University has placed physics professor Steven Jones on paid leave while it reviews his conspicuous involvement in the elaborate paranoid delusion known as the 9/11 Truth Movement.
HT: Moonbattery
Clint's Acute Observation of Milk-Carton Barrett
Although I heard the same thing, I didn't mention it in the blog.
Clint did--and for good reason:
[Barrett] said cities such as Milwaukee could use more help from the federal government.
“I would love to see Congress pay some attention to hometown security," he said.
Why should the federal government be responsible for this crisis? ...It must be nice to be mayor of a large city and have the balls to shift the blame and responsibility to the federal government.
I think I know why Henry Maier is NEVER seen when Tom Barrett IS seen.
They're the same person.
Of course, that means that Tom Barrett's next Villain-du-Jour will be The Suburbs.
Clint did--and for good reason:
[Barrett] said cities such as Milwaukee could use more help from the federal government.
“I would love to see Congress pay some attention to hometown security," he said.
Why should the federal government be responsible for this crisis? ...It must be nice to be mayor of a large city and have the balls to shift the blame and responsibility to the federal government.
I think I know why Henry Maier is NEVER seen when Tom Barrett IS seen.
They're the same person.
Of course, that means that Tom Barrett's next Villain-du-Jour will be The Suburbs.
The Fall of Academia
Some nitwit at Marquette's Philosophy department (perhaps Prof. South?) ordered that a poster with the following text be taken down from the doorway of a grad-student:
“As Americans we must always remember that we all have a common enemy, an enemy that is dangerous, powerful, and relentless. I refer, of course, to the federal government.”
The author was NOT Ron Reagan, nor GWBush (heaven forfend!!) nor Dick Cheney, nor Karl Rove. Not Limbaugh, not Sykes, not Belling.
Nope.
Althought the quote is clearly reminiscent of GKChesterton, Mark Twain, Will Rogers, or Mencken, it is from Dave Barry.
Dave Barry!!!
Whichever Nitwit-With-Authority ordered the removal of this "offensive" remark is also sadly un-schooled in Chesterton, to wit: "Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly."
A School of Philosophy without a sense of humor is like a car without wheels. Non-functional.
HT: Marquette Warrior
“As Americans we must always remember that we all have a common enemy, an enemy that is dangerous, powerful, and relentless. I refer, of course, to the federal government.”
The author was NOT Ron Reagan, nor GWBush (heaven forfend!!) nor Dick Cheney, nor Karl Rove. Not Limbaugh, not Sykes, not Belling.
Nope.
Althought the quote is clearly reminiscent of GKChesterton, Mark Twain, Will Rogers, or Mencken, it is from Dave Barry.
Dave Barry!!!
Whichever Nitwit-With-Authority ordered the removal of this "offensive" remark is also sadly un-schooled in Chesterton, to wit: "Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly."
A School of Philosophy without a sense of humor is like a car without wheels. Non-functional.
HT: Marquette Warrior
About Iran
Little Green Footballs gets the report from an attendee at the speech by Ayatollah Mohammad Khatami.
In view of the pissing/moaning and threats riot now being thrown by the Dimowit Fascists Reid, Schumer, Durbin, et al., this portion of her testimony is VERY interesting:
He asked my name, which I gave, then asked what I would like to talk about. I asked him what changes in American policy toward Iran he would like to see from the next U.S. administration. He broke into a great big smile and became almost animated. I can boil it down for you to one word.
Clinton.
If we just do what Clinton did, things would be much better. Color me surprised. Heh.
Later, at dinner, she is seated next to:
...the dinner companion that turned out to be the most interesting - an American/Iranian man down from NYC. He’s a law student at Fordham and knows more about the workings of Iranian politics and society than anyone I’ve ever met. He was directly to my left. Here’s his take on Khatami (briefly).
He’s not a politican, he’s a theoretician/philosopher. He picked up a lot of this thinking from the rationalist German philosophers (he named a few - I’ve never heard of them and I was a philosophy major).
The major reform he wanted for Iran was to move it away from oppressive theocracy to what the West would describe as pluralism. He NEVER EXPECTED to win the election. He campaigned simply to get the national discussion moving about his ideas. But win he did. The cabinet he put in place was comprised of absolutely brilliant people. But they too were of the ‘academic/theory’ bent, ‘elitists vs. populists’.
So why did his reformist agenda fail?
My dinner companion was blunt. “Theocratic thugs”.
There was an assasination attempt on a cabinet member that left him w/permanent brain damage and it went downhill from there. Many in his gov’t wanted to strike the mullahs and strike hard but Khatami was afraid it would tear the country apart “he didn’t trust the strength of the social fabric”.
What Clinton did was to ignore IslamoFascism. While the cleric Khatami is seemingly a relatively decent fellow, the bozo actually running things in Iran is a lunatic, at best.
So was Adolph Hitler.
In view of the pissing/moaning and threats riot now being thrown by the Dimowit Fascists Reid, Schumer, Durbin, et al., this portion of her testimony is VERY interesting:
He asked my name, which I gave, then asked what I would like to talk about. I asked him what changes in American policy toward Iran he would like to see from the next U.S. administration. He broke into a great big smile and became almost animated. I can boil it down for you to one word.
Clinton.
If we just do what Clinton did, things would be much better. Color me surprised. Heh.
Later, at dinner, she is seated next to:
...the dinner companion that turned out to be the most interesting - an American/Iranian man down from NYC. He’s a law student at Fordham and knows more about the workings of Iranian politics and society than anyone I’ve ever met. He was directly to my left. Here’s his take on Khatami (briefly).
He’s not a politican, he’s a theoretician/philosopher. He picked up a lot of this thinking from the rationalist German philosophers (he named a few - I’ve never heard of them and I was a philosophy major).
The major reform he wanted for Iran was to move it away from oppressive theocracy to what the West would describe as pluralism. He NEVER EXPECTED to win the election. He campaigned simply to get the national discussion moving about his ideas. But win he did. The cabinet he put in place was comprised of absolutely brilliant people. But they too were of the ‘academic/theory’ bent, ‘elitists vs. populists’.
So why did his reformist agenda fail?
My dinner companion was blunt. “Theocratic thugs”.
There was an assasination attempt on a cabinet member that left him w/permanent brain damage and it went downhill from there. Many in his gov’t wanted to strike the mullahs and strike hard but Khatami was afraid it would tear the country apart “he didn’t trust the strength of the social fabric”.
What Clinton did was to ignore IslamoFascism. While the cleric Khatami is seemingly a relatively decent fellow, the bozo actually running things in Iran is a lunatic, at best.
So was Adolph Hitler.
Vaccine Against the Sunday Democrat/Lying Blitz
Over the next couple of days (likely on Sunday's talking-heads foofoodust blitz) you'll hear about a "new" document which avers that Saddam had nothing to do with Al-Quaeda.
BzzzzzzTTT! Wrong!! This document was prepared by a (surprise!!) JOHN KERRY campaign staffer. Although that's enough to discredit the report for most thinking Americans, there's more:
OSAMA BIN LADEN and Saddam Hussein had an operational relationship from the early 1990s to 2003 that involved training in explosives and weapons of mass destruction, logistical support for terrorist attacks, al Qaeda training camps and safe haven in Iraq, and Iraqi financial support for al Qaeda—perhaps even for Mohamed Atta—according to a top secret U.S. government memorandum obtained by THE WEEKLY STANDARD.
The memo, dated October 27, 2003, was sent from Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas J. Feith to Senators Pat Roberts and Jay Rockefeller, the chairman and vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. It was written in response to a request from the committee as part of its investigation into prewar intelligence claims made by the administration.
Intelligence reporting included in the 16-page memo comes from a variety of domestic and foreign agencies, including the FBI, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency. Much of the evidence is detailed, conclusive, and corroborated by multiple sources. Some of it is new information obtained in custodial interviews with high-level al Qaeda terrorists and Iraqi officials, and some of it is more than a decade old.
The picture that emerges is one of a history of collaboration between two of America's most determined and dangerous enemies. According to the memo—which lays out the intelligence in 50 numbered points—Iraq-al Qaeda contacts began in 1990 and continued through mid-March 2003, days before the Iraq War began. Most of the numbered passages contain straight, fact-based intelligence reporting, which some cases includes an evaluation of the credibility of the source. This reporting is often followed by commentary and analysis.
(Steven Hayes via Mark Levin)
BzzzzzzTTT! Wrong!! This document was prepared by a (surprise!!) JOHN KERRY campaign staffer. Although that's enough to discredit the report for most thinking Americans, there's more:
OSAMA BIN LADEN and Saddam Hussein had an operational relationship from the early 1990s to 2003 that involved training in explosives and weapons of mass destruction, logistical support for terrorist attacks, al Qaeda training camps and safe haven in Iraq, and Iraqi financial support for al Qaeda—perhaps even for Mohamed Atta—according to a top secret U.S. government memorandum obtained by THE WEEKLY STANDARD.
The memo, dated October 27, 2003, was sent from Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas J. Feith to Senators Pat Roberts and Jay Rockefeller, the chairman and vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. It was written in response to a request from the committee as part of its investigation into prewar intelligence claims made by the administration.
Intelligence reporting included in the 16-page memo comes from a variety of domestic and foreign agencies, including the FBI, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency. Much of the evidence is detailed, conclusive, and corroborated by multiple sources. Some of it is new information obtained in custodial interviews with high-level al Qaeda terrorists and Iraqi officials, and some of it is more than a decade old.
The picture that emerges is one of a history of collaboration between two of America's most determined and dangerous enemies. According to the memo—which lays out the intelligence in 50 numbered points—Iraq-al Qaeda contacts began in 1990 and continued through mid-March 2003, days before the Iraq War began. Most of the numbered passages contain straight, fact-based intelligence reporting, which some cases includes an evaluation of the credibility of the source. This reporting is often followed by commentary and analysis.
(Steven Hayes via Mark Levin)
Fascist Senators of the (D) Persuasion
Oh, yeah. We don't like the facts, so we will pull your license.
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, Assistant Democratic Leader Dick Durbin, and Senators Debbie Stabenow, Charles Schumer, and Byron Dorgan (leading "lights" of 1st-Amendment privileges, right?) all signed a letter threatening ABC/Disney:
"We write with serious concerns about the planned upcoming broadcast of The Path to 9/11 mini-series on September 10 and 11. ...
..."The Communications Act of 1934 provides your network with a free broadcast license predicated on the fundamental understanding of your principle obligation to act as a trustee of the public airwaves in serving the public interest
..."We urge you, after full consideration of the facts, to uphold your responsibilities as a respected member of American society and as a beneficiary of the free use of the public airwaves to cancel this factually inaccurate and deeply misguided program. We look forward to hearing back from you soon.
They allege that presenting a fictionalized representation of X42's, Berger's, and Tenet's derelictions is cause for pulling ABC's license.
The puppet-master here, of course, is X42 of the Blue Satin Dress fame. Since his policy failed (fatally, for well over 3,000 Americans and countless others) the record must be sanitized, or at least made un-available.
In all likelihood, the Hildebeeste (D-NY) is also pushing for exculpting the evidence which the ABC production will bring out.
For a COMPLETE LIST of the X42 Administration's failures, hesitations, and mis-steps, all of which led to deaths of Americans (and others,) see Amy's entry here (scroll down...)
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, Assistant Democratic Leader Dick Durbin, and Senators Debbie Stabenow, Charles Schumer, and Byron Dorgan (leading "lights" of 1st-Amendment privileges, right?) all signed a letter threatening ABC/Disney:
"We write with serious concerns about the planned upcoming broadcast of The Path to 9/11 mini-series on September 10 and 11. ...
..."The Communications Act of 1934 provides your network with a free broadcast license predicated on the fundamental understanding of your principle obligation to act as a trustee of the public airwaves in serving the public interest
..."We urge you, after full consideration of the facts, to uphold your responsibilities as a respected member of American society and as a beneficiary of the free use of the public airwaves to cancel this factually inaccurate and deeply misguided program. We look forward to hearing back from you soon.
They allege that presenting a fictionalized representation of X42's, Berger's, and Tenet's derelictions is cause for pulling ABC's license.
The puppet-master here, of course, is X42 of the Blue Satin Dress fame. Since his policy failed (fatally, for well over 3,000 Americans and countless others) the record must be sanitized, or at least made un-available.
In all likelihood, the Hildebeeste (D-NY) is also pushing for exculpting the evidence which the ABC production will bring out.
For a COMPLETE LIST of the X42 Administration's failures, hesitations, and mis-steps, all of which led to deaths of Americans (and others,) see Amy's entry here (scroll down...)
Non-Story Nominee
Big headline in the JSOnline
Archdiocese gave $10,000 to priest
...but it's not a Big Deal.
The Archdiocese give the guy $10K to purchase health insurance:
The Archdiocese of Milwaukee gave $10,000 to former priest Franklyn Becker, whose actions were a factor in the archdiocese's multimillion-dollar settlement of sexual-abuse lawsuits in California last week, to help pay his health insurance premiums until he became eligible for Medicare
Exquisite irony is that the "Victim-Justice" crowd, led by Peter Isely, is leading the smear-charge--apparently forgetting that "justice" also has a social context under which the Archdiocese paid Becker.
Good News on the ACLU Front
Legislation which will shut down a major source of revenue for the ACLU (your wallet) is advancing through the House. The primary effect of the law, however, will be to preserve religious markers, monuments, and mnemonics.
A plan that would cut off the pipeline of taxpayer money that now flows into American Civil Liberties Union coffers has been advanced by the House Judiciary Committee.
The Public Expression of Religion Act, introduced by Indiana Congressman John Hostettler, now will move to the full House for a vote.
[House Judiciary is chaired by Jim Sensenbrenner. It is no co-incidence that the Wacko Lefto Bonzos are actively running a "Hate Sensenbrenner" campaign.]
The American Legion has been pushing for this legislation.
The plan came about after the ACLU, "the Taliban of American liberal secularism," according to Lloyd, [the President of the American Legion] sued to tear down a cross on a rock outcrop erected by veterans as a memorial to World War I veterans in 1934 in the remote Mojave Desert.
Officials noted someone would have to drive 11 miles off the highway "to be offended" by the cross.
There had been no complaints against the memorial in 60 years, until the ACLU sued to have it removed, and then asked for and got $63,000. ["Hard-earned" we're sure...]
...in 2001 Iowa county officials removed a Ten Commandments monument from a courthouse lawn rather than face the attorney's fees threatened. And in 2004, Los Angeles removed a tiny cross from the county seal when it was threatened with those fees.
One such case that currently is grinding its way through the court system involves the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial in California.
The ACLU has been fighting to remove that for 17 years, even though 76 percent of the people in San Diego where it is located want it to stay.
Remember that it is YOUR tax dollar which supports the ACLU's efforts to eradicate any vestige of Christianity from the public face of this country.
A plan that would cut off the pipeline of taxpayer money that now flows into American Civil Liberties Union coffers has been advanced by the House Judiciary Committee.
The Public Expression of Religion Act, introduced by Indiana Congressman John Hostettler, now will move to the full House for a vote.
[House Judiciary is chaired by Jim Sensenbrenner. It is no co-incidence that the Wacko Lefto Bonzos are actively running a "Hate Sensenbrenner" campaign.]
The American Legion has been pushing for this legislation.
The plan came about after the ACLU, "the Taliban of American liberal secularism," according to Lloyd, [the President of the American Legion] sued to tear down a cross on a rock outcrop erected by veterans as a memorial to World War I veterans in 1934 in the remote Mojave Desert.
Officials noted someone would have to drive 11 miles off the highway "to be offended" by the cross.
There had been no complaints against the memorial in 60 years, until the ACLU sued to have it removed, and then asked for and got $63,000. ["Hard-earned" we're sure...]
...in 2001 Iowa county officials removed a Ten Commandments monument from a courthouse lawn rather than face the attorney's fees threatened. And in 2004, Los Angeles removed a tiny cross from the county seal when it was threatened with those fees.
One such case that currently is grinding its way through the court system involves the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial in California.
The ACLU has been fighting to remove that for 17 years, even though 76 percent of the people in San Diego where it is located want it to stay.
Remember that it is YOUR tax dollar which supports the ACLU's efforts to eradicate any vestige of Christianity from the public face of this country.
Clinton's Indecision WORSE Than ABC Portrays
According to a military aide to Clinton, the ex-Fellate-in-Chief was worse than ABC will portray:
Democrats have been particularly critical of a scene that depicts Berger refusing to authorize a mission to capture bin Laden after CIA operatives and Afghan fighters had the al-Qaida leader in their sights.
Nowrasteh [the film's writer/producer] acknowledges this is a "conflation of events," but Berger, in a letter to Iger, said "no such episode ever occurred, nor did anything like it."
Patterson [the military aide] contended, however, the scene is similar to a plan the administration had with the CIA and the Afghan Northern Alliance to snatch bin Laden from a camp in Afghanistan.
The scene in "The Path to 9/11," as Patterson recalled from the preview version, unfolds with CIA operatives at the camp on the phone with Berger, who is expressing concern that an attack could result in innocent bystanders being killed. An agent says he sees swing sets and children's toys in the area. The scene ends with Berger hanging up the phone.
Patterson says his recollection is that Clinton was involved directly in several similar incidents in which Berger was pressing the president for a decision.
"Berger was very agitated, he couldn't get a decision from the president," Patterson said.
Patterson noted he wasn't sure what Berger wanted to do – whether the national security adviser wanted the answer to be yes or no – but the frustration, at the very least, was based on the president making himself unavailable to make a decision.
In "Dereliction of Duty," published by Regnery in 2003, Patterson recounts an event in the situation room of the White House in which Berger was told by a military watch officer, "Sir, we've located bin Laden. We have a two-hour window to strike."
Clinton, according to Patterson, did not return phone calls from Berger for more than an hour then said he wanted more time to study the situation.
Patterson writes: "We 'studied' the issues until it was too late-the window of opportunity closed."
In another "missed opportunity," Patterson writes, Clinton was watching a golf tournament when Berger placed an urgent call to the president. Clinton became irritated when Patterson approached him with the message. After the third attempt, Clinton coolly responded he would call Berger on his way back to the White House. By then, however, according to Patterson, the opportunity was lost.
Good ol' Bill.
Democrats have been particularly critical of a scene that depicts Berger refusing to authorize a mission to capture bin Laden after CIA operatives and Afghan fighters had the al-Qaida leader in their sights.
Nowrasteh [the film's writer/producer] acknowledges this is a "conflation of events," but Berger, in a letter to Iger, said "no such episode ever occurred, nor did anything like it."
Patterson [the military aide] contended, however, the scene is similar to a plan the administration had with the CIA and the Afghan Northern Alliance to snatch bin Laden from a camp in Afghanistan.
The scene in "The Path to 9/11," as Patterson recalled from the preview version, unfolds with CIA operatives at the camp on the phone with Berger, who is expressing concern that an attack could result in innocent bystanders being killed. An agent says he sees swing sets and children's toys in the area. The scene ends with Berger hanging up the phone.
Patterson says his recollection is that Clinton was involved directly in several similar incidents in which Berger was pressing the president for a decision.
"Berger was very agitated, he couldn't get a decision from the president," Patterson said.
Patterson noted he wasn't sure what Berger wanted to do – whether the national security adviser wanted the answer to be yes or no – but the frustration, at the very least, was based on the president making himself unavailable to make a decision.
In "Dereliction of Duty," published by Regnery in 2003, Patterson recounts an event in the situation room of the White House in which Berger was told by a military watch officer, "Sir, we've located bin Laden. We have a two-hour window to strike."
Clinton, according to Patterson, did not return phone calls from Berger for more than an hour then said he wanted more time to study the situation.
Patterson writes: "We 'studied' the issues until it was too late-the window of opportunity closed."
In another "missed opportunity," Patterson writes, Clinton was watching a golf tournament when Berger placed an urgent call to the president. Clinton became irritated when Patterson approached him with the message. After the third attempt, Clinton coolly responded he would call Berger on his way back to the White House. By then, however, according to Patterson, the opportunity was lost.
Good ol' Bill.
Friday, September 08, 2006
Another Voice From Lebanon
We posted some remarks from various religious figures in Palestine which were somewhat critical of Israel.
Now here are the Maronite Bishops of Lebanon on Hizbollah (and others):
In a strongly worded statement, the council, headed by Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, called on the Lebanese to take full advantage and "benefit from the international embrace they are enjoying at the moment."
"There are 18 sects in Lebanon with equal rights and duties," the statement said. "But in reality, we see that some groups are monopolizing the decision-making process and leading the country to unwanted situations."
Referring to Hizbullah, the council said: "A Lebanese faction continues to bear weapons despite the Israeli withdrawal from most of the South in 2000. This continues to be in violation of the Taif Accord."
"This group has become a religious, military and political organization and led us to a war that was launched on July 12, 2006," the council added.
"Powerful countries and regional forces have also interfered more than enough in Lebanese affairs and are backing one sect or another."
The council said that despite the end of Syria's tutelage over the country, there are still many problems and divisions among the Lebanese.
"Each party pretends to seek Lebanon's interests, but it reality it seeks to fulfill sectarian ambitions. This is a chronic disease that has to be extracted," it stated.
HT: The Catholic Report
Now here are the Maronite Bishops of Lebanon on Hizbollah (and others):
In a strongly worded statement, the council, headed by Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, called on the Lebanese to take full advantage and "benefit from the international embrace they are enjoying at the moment."
"There are 18 sects in Lebanon with equal rights and duties," the statement said. "But in reality, we see that some groups are monopolizing the decision-making process and leading the country to unwanted situations."
Referring to Hizbullah, the council said: "A Lebanese faction continues to bear weapons despite the Israeli withdrawal from most of the South in 2000. This continues to be in violation of the Taif Accord."
"This group has become a religious, military and political organization and led us to a war that was launched on July 12, 2006," the council added.
"Powerful countries and regional forces have also interfered more than enough in Lebanese affairs and are backing one sect or another."
The council said that despite the end of Syria's tutelage over the country, there are still many problems and divisions among the Lebanese.
"Each party pretends to seek Lebanon's interests, but it reality it seeks to fulfill sectarian ambitions. This is a chronic disease that has to be extracted," it stated.
HT: The Catholic Report
B-16 Hits the Nail on the Head
Both with regard to the post below AND with regard to the Homosex Marriage Amendment, the following is applicable:
"A particularly insidious obstacle to education today, which your own reports attest, is the marked presence in society of that relativism which, recognizing nothing as definitive, leaves as the ultimate criterion only the self with its desires. Within such a relativistic horizon an eclipse of the sublime goals of life occurs with a lowering of the standards of excellence, a timidity before the category of the good, and a relentless but senseless pursuit of novelty parading as the realization of freedom. "
Benedict XVI in a letter to the Bishops of Ontario, quoted in Domine, da mihi hanc aquam!
"A particularly insidious obstacle to education today, which your own reports attest, is the marked presence in society of that relativism which, recognizing nothing as definitive, leaves as the ultimate criterion only the self with its desires. Within such a relativistic horizon an eclipse of the sublime goals of life occurs with a lowering of the standards of excellence, a timidity before the category of the good, and a relentless but senseless pursuit of novelty parading as the realization of freedom. "
Benedict XVI in a letter to the Bishops of Ontario, quoted in Domine, da mihi hanc aquam!
The Horizon Darkens for Families
This morning's 'Spinsters' (WISN1130) discussed the question of bringing children to athletic events.
Negatively, to say the least--and in the case of the woman, with incredible ignorance of child-rearing.
Since there's very little about that group of self-obsessing twits which reflects real-life, I didn't make much of it--returning to WFMR provided salve.
Then Dreher interrputed my ennui with a post which confirmed my worst impressions:
The new issue of Touchstone came in, and draws our attention to a report from family scholars Barbara Dafoe Whitehead and David Popenoe that paints a bleak picture for the future of the family in the US. According to the Touchstone summary:
Adults now live many more years without children in the home, report Barbara Dafoe Whitehead and David Popenoe in "Life Without Children," the 2006 "State of Our Unions" report. Peple are marrying later and waiting longer after marriage to have children, and an increasing number of women (now one in five) are not having children at all. As a result, fewer than one-third of American households contain children, compared with about half in 1960. Many people fear having children, the authors say, partly because their marriages are unreliable, and partly because popular culture increasingly portrays parents critically and parenthood as burdensome and depressing, especially in comparison with life without children. Among the effects, they predict, will be decreased political support for parents -- who already make up less than 40 percent of the electorate -- and more cultural hostility. [Emphasis mine.]
Well, there's little question that some folks are more hostile to children.
Negatively, to say the least--and in the case of the woman, with incredible ignorance of child-rearing.
Since there's very little about that group of self-obsessing twits which reflects real-life, I didn't make much of it--returning to WFMR provided salve.
Then Dreher interrputed my ennui with a post which confirmed my worst impressions:
The new issue of Touchstone came in, and draws our attention to a report from family scholars Barbara Dafoe Whitehead and David Popenoe that paints a bleak picture for the future of the family in the US. According to the Touchstone summary:
Adults now live many more years without children in the home, report Barbara Dafoe Whitehead and David Popenoe in "Life Without Children," the 2006 "State of Our Unions" report. Peple are marrying later and waiting longer after marriage to have children, and an increasing number of women (now one in five) are not having children at all. As a result, fewer than one-third of American households contain children, compared with about half in 1960. Many people fear having children, the authors say, partly because their marriages are unreliable, and partly because popular culture increasingly portrays parents critically and parenthood as burdensome and depressing, especially in comparison with life without children. Among the effects, they predict, will be decreased political support for parents -- who already make up less than 40 percent of the electorate -- and more cultural hostility. [Emphasis mine.]
Well, there's little question that some folks are more hostile to children.
Sykes: Is Barrett Whacking Hegarty?
Sykes got the Mayor of Milwaukee on the phone, and the Mayor stated, several times, that 'he wants to hear no excuses' from others about the crime situation in Milwaukee.
Hmmmmmm....
Those remarks were made after Sykes quoted the Police Chief's "crisis" comment.
He repeats "[The police should] pick up the bad guys, put them in jail" at the end of the interview--and now Sykes picks it up and calls the question...
Maybe the rumors of serious morale problems in the MPD are not only true, but well-founded...
Hmmmmmm....
Those remarks were made after Sykes quoted the Police Chief's "crisis" comment.
He repeats "[The police should] pick up the bad guys, put them in jail" at the end of the interview--and now Sykes picks it up and calls the question...
Maybe the rumors of serious morale problems in the MPD are not only true, but well-founded...
Thursday, September 07, 2006
A BIG Piece of the Illegal Alien Puzzle
As Random 10 reminds us, Mexico's problems are (or become) OUR problems, and the upcoming general unrest is not a good augury:
There is little doubt that trouble in Mexico has immediate reverberations in the United States and there is hope the new administration will focus on more than simply keeping the wealthy elite comfortably safe above the impoverished multitudes.
What's needed is some real evidence that a Calderón presidency will reach beyond the traditional business-elite constituency of the PAN party that both he and Fox represent. The failure to create jobs sends millions of Mexico's poor across the border to work illegally in the United States. The failure to create hope turned the teachers' strike in Oaxaca into an uprising complete with uniformed guerrillas and AK-47 rifles.
It's not exactly news that Mexico has distinct classes: a small super-rich group largely concentrated around Government rent-seekers and some industrialists, and a very LARGE group of impoverished and poorly-educated farmers and laborers.
One would hope that the next President of this country will shove (not "nudge") Mexico's government towards greater economic development for the masses, not the Classes...
There is little doubt that trouble in Mexico has immediate reverberations in the United States and there is hope the new administration will focus on more than simply keeping the wealthy elite comfortably safe above the impoverished multitudes.
What's needed is some real evidence that a Calderón presidency will reach beyond the traditional business-elite constituency of the PAN party that both he and Fox represent. The failure to create jobs sends millions of Mexico's poor across the border to work illegally in the United States. The failure to create hope turned the teachers' strike in Oaxaca into an uprising complete with uniformed guerrillas and AK-47 rifles.
It's not exactly news that Mexico has distinct classes: a small super-rich group largely concentrated around Government rent-seekers and some industrialists, and a very LARGE group of impoverished and poorly-educated farmers and laborers.
One would hope that the next President of this country will shove (not "nudge") Mexico's government towards greater economic development for the masses, not the Classes...
THE Show To Watch
Here's the endorsement:
Three members of the Clinton administration have written the chairman of the Walt Disney Company, ABC’s parent, to complain that the network’s coming two-part miniseries “The Path to 9/11” is fraught with factual errors and fabrications.
The letters ask that the five-hour movie, scheduled for broadcast Sunday and Monday, be either edited for accuracy or canceled, and ABC gave a small indication yesterday that some changes might be made.
One of the officials, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, said in her letter to the Disney chairman, Robert A. Iger, that although she had requested a copy of the film, ABC had not given her one. But, Ms. Albright said, she has been told by people who have seen it that it “depicts scenes that never happened, events that never took place, decisions that were never made and conversations that never occurred.”
“It asserts as fact things that are not fact,” she wrote.
The concerns of Ms. Albright, as well as those in letters from Samuel R. Berger, former national security Adviser, and Bruce Lindsey, a Clinton White House aide who is now chief executive of the Clinton Foundation, were echoed yesterday by several Democratic members of Congress.
ABC, meanwhile, continued to explain that the miniseries, though largely drawn from the report of the Sept. 11 commission, was a dramatization, not a documentary.
"Hotpants" Sandy Berger/Burglar? Mad Maddy? Even X42 took time from gratifying himself to write a nastygram to ABC (see Newsmax.)
That's all I need to know. THIS will be watched.
Three members of the Clinton administration have written the chairman of the Walt Disney Company, ABC’s parent, to complain that the network’s coming two-part miniseries “The Path to 9/11” is fraught with factual errors and fabrications.
The letters ask that the five-hour movie, scheduled for broadcast Sunday and Monday, be either edited for accuracy or canceled, and ABC gave a small indication yesterday that some changes might be made.
One of the officials, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, said in her letter to the Disney chairman, Robert A. Iger, that although she had requested a copy of the film, ABC had not given her one. But, Ms. Albright said, she has been told by people who have seen it that it “depicts scenes that never happened, events that never took place, decisions that were never made and conversations that never occurred.”
“It asserts as fact things that are not fact,” she wrote.
The concerns of Ms. Albright, as well as those in letters from Samuel R. Berger, former national security Adviser, and Bruce Lindsey, a Clinton White House aide who is now chief executive of the Clinton Foundation, were echoed yesterday by several Democratic members of Congress.
ABC, meanwhile, continued to explain that the miniseries, though largely drawn from the report of the Sept. 11 commission, was a dramatization, not a documentary.
"Hotpants" Sandy Berger/Burglar? Mad Maddy? Even X42 took time from gratifying himself to write a nastygram to ABC (see Newsmax.)
That's all I need to know. THIS will be watched.
Backstage at a Fashion Show
Unlike Wiggy, I don't spend hours watching fashion creation on TV. Perhaps it's a lack of artistic appreciation, or maybe potty-training deficiencies.
At any rate, Dreher told us about this YouTube clip. The interviewer is a Jewish comic named Cohen--he's playing the part of being a homosexual--and the clip speaks for itself.
It's tragi-comedy, or very black comedy...
At any rate, Dreher told us about this YouTube clip. The interviewer is a Jewish comic named Cohen--he's playing the part of being a homosexual--and the clip speaks for itself.
It's tragi-comedy, or very black comedy...
Mark Levin Reports on McCain
Heard this on the radio last night--unable to verify (yet.)
Evidently Sen. John McCain proposed that the 'illegal combatant/terrorists' held by the US should be allowed to use classified evidence obtained by the US to defend themselves in military-court proceedings. If enacted, that would prevent the US from trying these cases, as it's not likely that such information will be released to an enemy combatant (whether legal or not.)
McCain's a turkey, no doubt. He doesn't have ANY use for the First Amendment, has almost no use for the Second Amendment--but he's apparently willing to grant anti-US terrorists a "right" to use classified info.
One wonders if McCain has some sort of disease...
Evidently Sen. John McCain proposed that the 'illegal combatant/terrorists' held by the US should be allowed to use classified evidence obtained by the US to defend themselves in military-court proceedings. If enacted, that would prevent the US from trying these cases, as it's not likely that such information will be released to an enemy combatant (whether legal or not.)
McCain's a turkey, no doubt. He doesn't have ANY use for the First Amendment, has almost no use for the Second Amendment--but he's apparently willing to grant anti-US terrorists a "right" to use classified info.
One wonders if McCain has some sort of disease...
Doyle's College Sham? Or Just More Spending?
Ol' Jimbo, the resident liar in OUR Executive Mansion, secures an apparently meaningless agreement:
Gov. Jim Doyle and leaders of the state's public and private colleges and universities agreed Wednesday on a framework for the Wisconsin Covenant program, which would guarantee eighth-graders who maintain a B average and stay out of trouble admission to one of those schools in four years.
Under the program, recommended by Doyle in January, eighth-grade students would be able to sign a Covenant Scholar pledge next spring. If they fulfill their end of the deal, they would get financial aid - either grants or a combination of grants and work-study programs - to help pay for their higher education.
We know of NO colleges which will deny admission to a "B" average student who has a clean background, with the possible exception of Lawrence.
Here's the curious part:
Next year, the governor elected on Nov. 7 and the Legislature must fund the program as part of the 2007-'09 state budget for it to be fully implemented, officials said.
Interesting that no details are presented, eh? What more "funding" is required?
Gov. Jim Doyle and leaders of the state's public and private colleges and universities agreed Wednesday on a framework for the Wisconsin Covenant program, which would guarantee eighth-graders who maintain a B average and stay out of trouble admission to one of those schools in four years.
Under the program, recommended by Doyle in January, eighth-grade students would be able to sign a Covenant Scholar pledge next spring. If they fulfill their end of the deal, they would get financial aid - either grants or a combination of grants and work-study programs - to help pay for their higher education.
We know of NO colleges which will deny admission to a "B" average student who has a clean background, with the possible exception of Lawrence.
Here's the curious part:
Next year, the governor elected on Nov. 7 and the Legislature must fund the program as part of the 2007-'09 state budget for it to be fully implemented, officials said.
Interesting that no details are presented, eh? What more "funding" is required?
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
A Suggestion for Mark Green's Gubernatorial Agenda
Here's a good thing from Texas:
In the state of Texas, parents are now required to “sign off” on their teenager’s abortion before she can have one, [and] they must also get the form notarized. The requirement ensures that the form is not manipulated by forgery. The Texas Medical Board finalized the parental consent form last week for women under 18 seeking an abortion. This new law may hopefully prevent abortion employees from violating the rights of parents, pregnant teens and the unborn.
The new forms also include information about the medical risks of an abortion and provide other “right to know” information to women that abortion centers are not likely to tell them.
Makes sense to me.
You'll hear a LOT of screeching and yowling (beastly noise) when he proposes this one...
HT: Cosmos Liturgy
In the state of Texas, parents are now required to “sign off” on their teenager’s abortion before she can have one, [and] they must also get the form notarized. The requirement ensures that the form is not manipulated by forgery. The Texas Medical Board finalized the parental consent form last week for women under 18 seeking an abortion. This new law may hopefully prevent abortion employees from violating the rights of parents, pregnant teens and the unborn.
The new forms also include information about the medical risks of an abortion and provide other “right to know” information to women that abortion centers are not likely to tell them.
Makes sense to me.
You'll hear a LOT of screeching and yowling (beastly noise) when he proposes this one...
HT: Cosmos Liturgy
Beware of Numbers-Crunchers
Often, we read statistics and are enamored. They are The Numbers!
So, via this month's Gilbert! magazine, from Frank Petta, a reminder:
Three statisticians went bow-hunting. After arriving in the woods and setting up, a 12-point buck came into view just 50 yards away.
The first statistician carefully aimed and let fly his arrow---which landed 10 yards left of the deer.
The second statistician carefully aimed and let fly his arrow--which landed 10 yards right of the deer.
The third statistician began jumping up and down, yelling "We got him!!! We got him!!!"
So, via this month's Gilbert! magazine, from Frank Petta, a reminder:
Three statisticians went bow-hunting. After arriving in the woods and setting up, a 12-point buck came into view just 50 yards away.
The first statistician carefully aimed and let fly his arrow---which landed 10 yards left of the deer.
The second statistician carefully aimed and let fly his arrow--which landed 10 yards right of the deer.
The third statistician began jumping up and down, yelling "We got him!!! We got him!!!"
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Bridget Meehan: The Time Has Come for You To Leave
Someone named Bridget Meehan sent an op-ed to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel which was printed on August 30th. Were it not for Wiggy, it would have escaped our notice.
She starts with the usual line:
It is time for the full equality of women in the church. Women and men are created in God's image, and both may represent Christ as priests.
Ms. Meehan wants us to believe that Christ was androgynous--that is, that Christ was not exactly a male--or that perhaps He was kinda female. While it is true that we are all made in the image and likeness of God, it is NOT true that women "may represent Christ;" He was male, and women are not. As simple as that is, it is amazing how many people want to ignore it--although Western cultural jihadists (really Hollywood and the intellectualoids) have done their damndest to make us believe that women are really men, and vice-versa. By the way, in the "Judaeo" part of the Judaeo-Christian tradition, one will not find female priests, either...
It is time to reclaim our Catholic heritage. Jesus treated women and men as equals and partners in ministry; so should the church. Mary of Magdala, the first to encounter the risen Christ, was commissioned by Christ to be the apostle to the apostles. St. Paul called Junia an "outstanding apostle." In 1976, the Pontifical Biblical Commission concluded that there is no biblical reason to prohibit women's ordination.
The short response is "So What?" Without researching her claim, let's stipulate that her description of PBC's conclusion is correct. Our Lutheran and other Protestant friends know that the Catholic Church is decidedly not a "Sola Scriptura" bunch. Catholics also rely on Tradition, which Ms. Meehan doesn't bother to mention.
There is archaeological evidence of women deacons, priests and bishops on frescoes and tombstones in Rome, in southern Italy and in Northern Africa. Popes and bishops, such as Gelasius and Atto of Vercelli, acknowledge that the church ordained women in the early centuries. Evidence in the Celtic Church indicates that women and men were equals in preaching the Gospel, presiding at Mass and at the other sacraments.
There is a cloud of "historical" foofoodust being thrown into the air here...suffice it to say that actual historians of the Church acknowledge quite freely that there were female deacons--but that they were not "ordained" in the sense we use the word--that is, for the purpose of being an alter Christi, with the power to celebrate the Mass and forgive sins.
Instead, these deaconess-es were made so (with some ceremony, perhaps) for a VERY practical purpose--to assist Bishops and priests with the Church's charitable activities, with particular emphasis on caring for widows (and/or baptizing women.) The reasons should be obvious. Many of them remained in health-care and the term "deaconess" is familiar in hospital circles.
Ms. Meehan hopes that you don't notice the difference.
Raving lunacy follows:
The Catholic Church teaches that a law must be received by the faithful. Seventy percent of Catholics in the United States support women's ordination. Therefore, canon 1024, which states that only a baptized male may receive Holy Orders, does not have the force of law because it has not been accepted by the community or sensus fidelium.
First off, the Canon she cites (again, I will assume it's accurate) is merely a reflection of the unbroken tradition discussed above; the Canon does not posit some 'new' doctrine or dogma, nor even a 'new' concept.
But Ms Meehan's utter contempt for people outside the USA (e.g., Africa, Asia, the Middle East, South America, and Europe) blazes through this inane "interpretation" of Canon law. This is not a complicated math problem; even if the Canon were malleable by popular vote, (it ain't), there are about, oh, 800 million Catholics who do NOT live in the USA. How's the "polling data" read in all those other places, Bridget?
Indeed, one may even be obliged to accept excommunication, rather than act against one's conscience.
As Wiggy pointed out in his column, "excommunication" is self-imposed, Bridget. The paperwork which follows is just that. And you may choose to excommunicate yourself--no problem.
Many have been alienated by the institutional church, including the divorced and separated, gays and lesbians and women, who feel like second-class citizens in their own church and who seek a church in which they will find acceptance and a spiritual home.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Feeeeeellllings.......wo, wo, wo, Feeeeeelllllings....
Much, much more on Ms Meehan can be found with a simple Google search. Warning: it's not pretty.
She starts with the usual line:
It is time for the full equality of women in the church. Women and men are created in God's image, and both may represent Christ as priests.
Ms. Meehan wants us to believe that Christ was androgynous--that is, that Christ was not exactly a male--or that perhaps He was kinda female. While it is true that we are all made in the image and likeness of God, it is NOT true that women "may represent Christ;" He was male, and women are not. As simple as that is, it is amazing how many people want to ignore it--although Western cultural jihadists (really Hollywood and the intellectualoids) have done their damndest to make us believe that women are really men, and vice-versa. By the way, in the "Judaeo" part of the Judaeo-Christian tradition, one will not find female priests, either...
It is time to reclaim our Catholic heritage. Jesus treated women and men as equals and partners in ministry; so should the church. Mary of Magdala, the first to encounter the risen Christ, was commissioned by Christ to be the apostle to the apostles. St. Paul called Junia an "outstanding apostle." In 1976, the Pontifical Biblical Commission concluded that there is no biblical reason to prohibit women's ordination.
The short response is "So What?" Without researching her claim, let's stipulate that her description of PBC's conclusion is correct. Our Lutheran and other Protestant friends know that the Catholic Church is decidedly not a "Sola Scriptura" bunch. Catholics also rely on Tradition, which Ms. Meehan doesn't bother to mention.
There is archaeological evidence of women deacons, priests and bishops on frescoes and tombstones in Rome, in southern Italy and in Northern Africa. Popes and bishops, such as Gelasius and Atto of Vercelli, acknowledge that the church ordained women in the early centuries. Evidence in the Celtic Church indicates that women and men were equals in preaching the Gospel, presiding at Mass and at the other sacraments.
There is a cloud of "historical" foofoodust being thrown into the air here...suffice it to say that actual historians of the Church acknowledge quite freely that there were female deacons--but that they were not "ordained" in the sense we use the word--that is, for the purpose of being an alter Christi, with the power to celebrate the Mass and forgive sins.
Instead, these deaconess-es were made so (with some ceremony, perhaps) for a VERY practical purpose--to assist Bishops and priests with the Church's charitable activities, with particular emphasis on caring for widows (and/or baptizing women.) The reasons should be obvious. Many of them remained in health-care and the term "deaconess" is familiar in hospital circles.
Ms. Meehan hopes that you don't notice the difference.
Raving lunacy follows:
The Catholic Church teaches that a law must be received by the faithful. Seventy percent of Catholics in the United States support women's ordination. Therefore, canon 1024, which states that only a baptized male may receive Holy Orders, does not have the force of law because it has not been accepted by the community or sensus fidelium.
First off, the Canon she cites (again, I will assume it's accurate) is merely a reflection of the unbroken tradition discussed above; the Canon does not posit some 'new' doctrine or dogma, nor even a 'new' concept.
But Ms Meehan's utter contempt for people outside the USA (e.g., Africa, Asia, the Middle East, South America, and Europe) blazes through this inane "interpretation" of Canon law. This is not a complicated math problem; even if the Canon were malleable by popular vote, (it ain't), there are about, oh, 800 million Catholics who do NOT live in the USA. How's the "polling data" read in all those other places, Bridget?
Indeed, one may even be obliged to accept excommunication, rather than act against one's conscience.
As Wiggy pointed out in his column, "excommunication" is self-imposed, Bridget. The paperwork which follows is just that. And you may choose to excommunicate yourself--no problem.
Many have been alienated by the institutional church, including the divorced and separated, gays and lesbians and women, who feel like second-class citizens in their own church and who seek a church in which they will find acceptance and a spiritual home.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Feeeeeellllings.......wo, wo, wo, Feeeeeelllllings....
Much, much more on Ms Meehan can be found with a simple Google search. Warning: it's not pretty.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Which One IS the "Religion of Peace?"
The Catholic Caveman presents a short comparo:
~Catholicism prays for the conversion of the Jews.
~Islam prays for the death of the Jews.
~Catholicism teaches that if you knowingly reject Jesus as God The Son, you will pay a terrible price in the world to come.
~Islam teaches that if you knowingly reject Mohammed as God's Prophet, you will pay a terrible price in this world and the world to come.
~Catholicism teaches that if a wife should cheat on her husband, she is to sacramentally confess her sin and reconcile with her husband.
~Islam teaches that if a wife should cheat on her husband, she is to be put to death.
~Catholicism teaches that God is love.
~Islam never equates God to love.
~Catholicism teaches to love the non-believer and pray for their conversion.
~Islam teaches to hate the non-believer.
~Catholicism teaches that Catholics have the free will to leave the Catholic Church any time we want.
~Islam teaches that if any muslim leaves islam, they are to be put to death.
Wow, I'm sold... islam really The Religion of Peace, huh?
The red-highlight phrases also bring to mind the principal heresy of Mohamet: that there is no Trinity.
~Catholicism prays for the conversion of the Jews.
~Islam prays for the death of the Jews.
~Catholicism teaches that if you knowingly reject Jesus as God The Son, you will pay a terrible price in the world to come.
~Islam teaches that if you knowingly reject Mohammed as God's Prophet, you will pay a terrible price in this world and the world to come.
~Catholicism teaches that if a wife should cheat on her husband, she is to sacramentally confess her sin and reconcile with her husband.
~Islam teaches that if a wife should cheat on her husband, she is to be put to death.
~Catholicism teaches that God is love.
~Islam never equates God to love.
~Catholicism teaches to love the non-believer and pray for their conversion.
~Islam teaches to hate the non-believer.
~Catholicism teaches that Catholics have the free will to leave the Catholic Church any time we want.
~Islam teaches that if any muslim leaves islam, they are to be put to death.
Wow, I'm sold... islam really The Religion of Peace, huh?
The red-highlight phrases also bring to mind the principal heresy of Mohamet: that there is no Trinity.
B-16 on the Meaning of The Sacrifice of the Mass
From Helen Hitchcock via CWN, quoting Cdl. Ratzinger:
[Jesus'] death on the Cross is the culmination of that turning of God against Himself, in which He gives Himself in order to raise man up and save him. This is love in its most radical form.… Jesus gave this act of oblation an enduring presence through His institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper.… The Eucharist draws us into Jesus' act of self-donation.… The imagery of marriage between God and Israel is now realized in a way previously inconceivable: it had meant standing in God's presence, but now it becomes union with God through sharing in Jesus' self-gift, sharing in His Body and Blood. The sacramental "mysticism", grounded in God's condescension towards us, operates at a radically different level and lifts us to far greater heights than anything that any human mystical elevation could ever accomplish.
Most likely you'll have to turn that over a few times in your mind...
...but humming folk-pop won't get you there...
So how's your Parish Liturgeist?
[Jesus'] death on the Cross is the culmination of that turning of God against Himself, in which He gives Himself in order to raise man up and save him. This is love in its most radical form.… Jesus gave this act of oblation an enduring presence through His institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper.… The Eucharist draws us into Jesus' act of self-donation.… The imagery of marriage between God and Israel is now realized in a way previously inconceivable: it had meant standing in God's presence, but now it becomes union with God through sharing in Jesus' self-gift, sharing in His Body and Blood. The sacramental "mysticism", grounded in God's condescension towards us, operates at a radically different level and lifts us to far greater heights than anything that any human mystical elevation could ever accomplish.
Most likely you'll have to turn that over a few times in your mind...
...but humming folk-pop won't get you there...
So how's your Parish Liturgeist?
Legislative Staffers: Smart, Useful, and Unhappy
Playground's posting is usually strong medicine. Generally speaking, it is discomfiting. On the other hand, Playground is an equal-opportunity discomfiter; one suspects that the Lefties don't enjoy all he has to say, either.
Here's one of his recent offerings. My reaction follows:
Someone should really tell Assembly GOP legislators that their staff find out everything anyway, usually in advance because legislators are TERRIBLE at keeping secrets. Not telling staff about "secret" meetings only pisses them off.
Funny how GOP leadership constantly talks about the "team." But really, they've completely disenfranchised staff, relegating them from skill player to water boy in just four years.
Scott Jensen knew that staff could be a powerful weapon and worked to include staff in the policy making process.
Under the current leadership, many of the building's best and brightest minds have resorted to leisure reading and three hour lunches because members steadfastly refuse to acknowledge that their staff, by and large, are smarter than most of their own colleagues.
Staff have figured out that "team" is just code for "please drop lit and do doors for members who, in many cases, are entirely too damn lazy to get out and work for themselves." I mean, isn't everyone just waiting for the last-minute "help Carol Owens" plea to go out? It always does.
This is cute. Unhappy, unfulfilled "best and brightest" see their career aspirations (in Gummint: steady paycheck, excellent bennies, nice area to live in....) going down the pissoir because current Leadership thinks less of them than they do of themselves.
Solution, Playgroud: Get A REAL Job. Madison's full of them. So is Arcadia (furniture manufacturing) and Milwaukee (welding.)
Here's one of his recent offerings. My reaction follows:
Someone should really tell Assembly GOP legislators that their staff find out everything anyway, usually in advance because legislators are TERRIBLE at keeping secrets. Not telling staff about "secret" meetings only pisses them off.
Funny how GOP leadership constantly talks about the "team." But really, they've completely disenfranchised staff, relegating them from skill player to water boy in just four years.
Scott Jensen knew that staff could be a powerful weapon and worked to include staff in the policy making process.
Under the current leadership, many of the building's best and brightest minds have resorted to leisure reading and three hour lunches because members steadfastly refuse to acknowledge that their staff, by and large, are smarter than most of their own colleagues.
Staff have figured out that "team" is just code for "please drop lit and do doors for members who, in many cases, are entirely too damn lazy to get out and work for themselves." I mean, isn't everyone just waiting for the last-minute "help Carol Owens" plea to go out? It always does.
This is cute. Unhappy, unfulfilled "best and brightest" see their career aspirations (in Gummint: steady paycheck, excellent bennies, nice area to live in....) going down the pissoir because current Leadership thinks less of them than they do of themselves.
Solution, Playgroud: Get A REAL Job. Madison's full of them. So is Arcadia (furniture manufacturing) and Milwaukee (welding.)
The REAL Miller Brewing Position
Miller's spin on their contribution to illegal-alien "rights" is a half-denial:
"The money supported a recent convention on immigration issues in Chicago, which provided attendees with information on how to become legally naturalized citizens of the U.S.," [the Miller spokesman] said.
No doubt about it.
Says Malkin:
Yes, it all depends on what the meaning of "finance" is. See, they didn't "finance" the march. They just helped pay for the planners to plan it, advertise it, and publicize it. And, oh yeah, they handed out information on how to get citizenship.
Here's some Miller Mukety-Muk bleating back in March:
In productive discussions held yesterday, we agreed to:
1) Provide assistance to community efforts to reach out to specific members of the Senate and business associations in Washington D.C.
2) Make a clear public statement regarding our opposition to HR 4437 and our desire for appropriate immigration reform that provides adequate protection for the rights of undocumented immigrants.
3) Place print advertisements in Chicago and Milwaukee media stating our opposition to HR 4437.
4) Work with the organizations to explore opportunities for community-based partnerships with a particular focus on scholarships for undocumented students.
Hmmmmm.....
HT: Malkin
"The money supported a recent convention on immigration issues in Chicago, which provided attendees with information on how to become legally naturalized citizens of the U.S.," [the Miller spokesman] said.
No doubt about it.
Says Malkin:
Yes, it all depends on what the meaning of "finance" is. See, they didn't "finance" the march. They just helped pay for the planners to plan it, advertise it, and publicize it. And, oh yeah, they handed out information on how to get citizenship.
Here's some Miller Mukety-Muk bleating back in March:
In productive discussions held yesterday, we agreed to:
1) Provide assistance to community efforts to reach out to specific members of the Senate and business associations in Washington D.C.
2) Make a clear public statement regarding our opposition to HR 4437 and our desire for appropriate immigration reform that provides adequate protection for the rights of undocumented immigrants.
3) Place print advertisements in Chicago and Milwaukee media stating our opposition to HR 4437.
4) Work with the organizations to explore opportunities for community-based partnerships with a particular focus on scholarships for undocumented students.
Hmmmmm.....
HT: Malkin
The Spin on 9/11 Continues
Yah, well, (see my right-hand sidebar) things are not so comfortable as they used to be, according to IslamoPropagandaCentral (CAIR):
Discrimination and harassment by law enforcement have come to plague American Muslims in the years since the terrorist attacks of September 11.
There have been suspicious looks, slurs, physical attacks, extra screening at airports and arrests on groundless charges.
And it seems to be getting worse.
CAIR has seen a steady increase in the number of complaints of harassment, violence and discriminatory treatment over the past five years. In 2004, complaints rose 49 percent to 1,522, of which 141 were reports of actual and potentially violent hate crimes.
We all know about "hate crimes." Those are whatever the accuser says they are.
In the last 5 years, we've seen less than a dozen statements from responsible Muslims denouncing the terror tactics, wanton murders, and horrific "collateral damage" from IslamoFascist wackos.
"Hate Crimes" my butt.
HT: LittleGreenFootballs
Discrimination and harassment by law enforcement have come to plague American Muslims in the years since the terrorist attacks of September 11.
There have been suspicious looks, slurs, physical attacks, extra screening at airports and arrests on groundless charges.
And it seems to be getting worse.
CAIR has seen a steady increase in the number of complaints of harassment, violence and discriminatory treatment over the past five years. In 2004, complaints rose 49 percent to 1,522, of which 141 were reports of actual and potentially violent hate crimes.
We all know about "hate crimes." Those are whatever the accuser says they are.
In the last 5 years, we've seen less than a dozen statements from responsible Muslims denouncing the terror tactics, wanton murders, and horrific "collateral damage" from IslamoFascist wackos.
"Hate Crimes" my butt.
HT: LittleGreenFootballs
Voter ID Requirements Are Good: John Lott
According to a recent study by John Lott:
Abstract:
The results provide some evidence of vote fraud in U.S. general elections. Regulations that prevent fraud are shown to actually increase the voter participation rate. It is hard to see any evidence that voting regulations differentially harm either minorities, the elderly, or the poor. While this study examines a broad range of voting regulations, it is still too early to evaluate any possible impact of mandatory photo IDs on U.S. elections. What can be said is that the non-photo ID regulations that are already in place have not had the negative impacts that opponents predicted. The evidence provided here also found that campaign finance regulations generally reduced voter turnout.
Abstract:
The results provide some evidence of vote fraud in U.S. general elections. Regulations that prevent fraud are shown to actually increase the voter participation rate. It is hard to see any evidence that voting regulations differentially harm either minorities, the elderly, or the poor. While this study examines a broad range of voting regulations, it is still too early to evaluate any possible impact of mandatory photo IDs on U.S. elections. What can be said is that the non-photo ID regulations that are already in place have not had the negative impacts that opponents predicted. The evidence provided here also found that campaign finance regulations generally reduced voter turnout.
You can find the entire 747K PDF here.
JS Picks Up Month-Old Labor Day Parade Story
Channel 4 was the first MSM outlet to report that Plumbers' Local 75 was not participating in this year's Labor Day parade. Naturally, this blog picked it up on August 10th. Today the JSOnline caught up:
Local 75 of the Plumbers and Gas Fitters will break from tradition and not march in Milwaukee's Labor Day parade today because the union considers the inclusion of immigrant advocates a distraction from Labor Day.
"This is strictly a Labor Day celebration. Any other purpose of this parade would not do Labor Day any justice, in my opinion. It's designed to celebrate labor. Labor only," said Harry Kreuser, Local 75 business manager.
But the JS report left more questions than it answered:
Sheila Cochran, secretary-treasurer of the Milwaukee County Labor Council, which organizes Laborfest and the parade, said it's not unusual for some of the 130 unions represented by the council to withhold participation on occasion...
Cochran said five or six other unions have joined Local 75 in citing the immigrant march for sitting out the parade.
Oh, really? Like which ones? The Carpenters? Laborers? Electricians?
Even more tantalizing is this:
According to Cochran, the labor council has rebuilt its membership and fortified its finances since last Labor Day, which followed the national defection of a handful of unions from the AFL-CIO. Since then, local affiliates of all the splintered groups except one have returned to the Milwaukee council through solidarity agreements,...
One thinks of the Building Trades. That "handful" represents quite a few members, by the way.
Local 75 of the Plumbers and Gas Fitters will break from tradition and not march in Milwaukee's Labor Day parade today because the union considers the inclusion of immigrant advocates a distraction from Labor Day.
"This is strictly a Labor Day celebration. Any other purpose of this parade would not do Labor Day any justice, in my opinion. It's designed to celebrate labor. Labor only," said Harry Kreuser, Local 75 business manager.
But the JS report left more questions than it answered:
Sheila Cochran, secretary-treasurer of the Milwaukee County Labor Council, which organizes Laborfest and the parade, said it's not unusual for some of the 130 unions represented by the council to withhold participation on occasion...
Cochran said five or six other unions have joined Local 75 in citing the immigrant march for sitting out the parade.
Oh, really? Like which ones? The Carpenters? Laborers? Electricians?
Even more tantalizing is this:
According to Cochran, the labor council has rebuilt its membership and fortified its finances since last Labor Day, which followed the national defection of a handful of unions from the AFL-CIO. Since then, local affiliates of all the splintered groups except one have returned to the Milwaukee council through solidarity agreements,...
One thinks of the Building Trades. That "handful" represents quite a few members, by the way.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
The Corps of Engineers' Victim: New Orleans
Texas Pete has an important post.
It was the Corps of Engineers, and the Levee District.
Other information tells us that the City of NO remains utterly disfunctional; a neighboring parish' schools are open (albeit in trailers and temporary buildings)--not Orleans parish. Nope.
NO has yet to allow (!!!) people back in to look at their damages in many areas.
It was the Corps of Engineers, and the Levee District.
Other information tells us that the City of NO remains utterly disfunctional; a neighboring parish' schools are open (albeit in trailers and temporary buildings)--not Orleans parish. Nope.
NO has yet to allow (!!!) people back in to look at their damages in many areas.
Frank Lasee--Snarky, but Accurate
From Lasee's current newsletter:
Forbes Magazine, an international business publication, released its first “Best States for Business” study last week (access it here). Not surprisingly, Wisconsin ranked near the bottom of the list. We were 39th overall among the 50 states.
The top five states to do business in were Virginia, Texas, North Carolina, Utah, and Colorado (quite a recovery for a state that was reduced to ruins after the Taxpayer Bill of Rights).
Given what we just know about the effects of TABOR, inquiring minds need some facts:
1) Does Colorado still have highways and roads? Are they paved? With WHAT?
2) Does Colorado still have an educational system? Beyond 3rd grade? Do they have books?
3) Do Colorado residents receive hospital treatment for maladies? Medicine? X-Rays?
4) Do Colorado senior citizens live in cardboard boxes?
5) Are Colorado's courthouses and county buildings REALLY roof-less tin shacks with orange-crate desks, lacking in indoor plumbing, like in the Old West movies?
6) Are there any State, County, or municipal employees in Colorado? How many? Are they paid?
7) Have all of Colorado's lakes and rivers become running chemical/sewer dumps because there is no more Colorado-equivalent DNR?
8) Does the Colorado Crime Lab have DNA testing? Within 24 months of a crime?
9) Is the U of Colorado still accredited? Does it have dormitories? Laboratories?
Certainly TABOR opponents can answer these questions before Wisconsin's population migrates to Colorado (as will be recommended by WEAC's "Retirement Options" page...)
Forbes Magazine, an international business publication, released its first “Best States for Business” study last week (access it here). Not surprisingly, Wisconsin ranked near the bottom of the list. We were 39th overall among the 50 states.
The top five states to do business in were Virginia, Texas, North Carolina, Utah, and Colorado (quite a recovery for a state that was reduced to ruins after the Taxpayer Bill of Rights).
Given what we just know about the effects of TABOR, inquiring minds need some facts:
1) Does Colorado still have highways and roads? Are they paved? With WHAT?
2) Does Colorado still have an educational system? Beyond 3rd grade? Do they have books?
3) Do Colorado residents receive hospital treatment for maladies? Medicine? X-Rays?
4) Do Colorado senior citizens live in cardboard boxes?
5) Are Colorado's courthouses and county buildings REALLY roof-less tin shacks with orange-crate desks, lacking in indoor plumbing, like in the Old West movies?
6) Are there any State, County, or municipal employees in Colorado? How many? Are they paid?
7) Have all of Colorado's lakes and rivers become running chemical/sewer dumps because there is no more Colorado-equivalent DNR?
8) Does the Colorado Crime Lab have DNA testing? Within 24 months of a crime?
9) Is the U of Colorado still accredited? Does it have dormitories? Laboratories?
Certainly TABOR opponents can answer these questions before Wisconsin's population migrates to Colorado (as will be recommended by WEAC's "Retirement Options" page...)
The Second Amendment Is NOT for Duck-Hunters
Sometimes the arguments advanced against the Right to Keep and Bear Arms seem like bric-a-brac; the Scary Story stuff about typically law-abiding citizens suddenly going nuts and shooting up Summerfest, or a playground, are actually given credibility.
But after you've read the post linked here, some of you may come to the realization that The 2nd has another, far more serious, purpose.
"Geek With a .45" tours #60 Andrassy Street in Budapest.
Approaching Andrássy street, we hopped off and walked the few blocks to number 60. Along the way, Madga explained that the museum was housed in what used to be the headquarters of the various political and secret police organizations that had terrorized Hungarian society.
...the Hungarian communists set about grasping Hungarian society by the throat, implementing the complete horror show, systematically setting out to destroy the Hungarian way of life and replace it with a Sovietized collectivism. Hungary was placed under total surveillance, with tapes and cameras running day and night. A shadow army of informants was formed, completely permeating the society. Files and records were kept on every person that came to their attention. A slip of the tongue could prove painful, if not fatal.
To keep people in fear and off balance, and to prevent the widespread but weak and ineffectual resistance movement from attaining any coordination or coherency, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people were arrested and sent to concentration camps. Thousands of executions were held. People would be abducted from the streets, stuffed into the black cars. Some were never seen again, others would appear months later, their bodies and spirits broken under torture. Those who received trials at all were given "due process" in kangaroo courts, sometimes for show, and sometimes to simply cloak the proceedings under the color of law. People were beaten, tortured, starved, dispossessed of their property, resettled, incarcerated or tossed into camps daily.
One in three families were directly abused in some way, shape or form.
True, we Americans have some wrinkles to sort out regarding our own freedoms, but our own people who think that we're living in some sort of a "police state" haven’t the slightest fucking clue what a real police state is.
He quotes Solzhenitsyn: (The Gulag Archipilaego)
"And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every Security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family? Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, polkers, or whatever else was at hand? After all, you knew ahead of time that those bluecaps were out at night for no good purpose. And you could be sure ahead of time that you'd be cracking the skull of a cutthroat. Or what about the Black Maria sitting out there on the street with one lonely chauffeur -- what if it had been driven off or its tires spiked. The Organs would very quickly have suffered a shortage of officers and transport and, notwithstanding all of Stalin's thirst, the cursed machine would have ground to a halt!"
Some good writing describes reactions at a reception held later that day:
The few folks from Western Europe shook their heads in abject disbelief. The thought of doing such a thing was utterly alien to them, and they objected. "We have no means to do anything like that!"
...The majority falls prey to the delusion—popular in some circles - that ordinary people are too careless and stupid to own guns, and we would be far better off leaving all weapons in the hands of professionals on the government payroll. But the simple truth - born of experience - is that tyranny thrives best where government need not fear the wrath of an armed people.
The payoff paragraph:
The prospect of tyranny may not grab the headlines the way vivid stories of gun crime routinely do. But few saw the Third Reich coming until it was too late. The Second Amendment is a doomsday provision, one designed for those exceptionally rare circumstances where all other rights have failed - where the government refuses to stand for reelection and silences those who protest; where courts have lost the courage to oppose, or can find no one to enforce their decrees. However improbable these contingencies may seem today, facing them unprepared is a mistake a free people get to make only once.
...no fucking IDEA of what a police state really is....
HT: Grim's Hall
But after you've read the post linked here, some of you may come to the realization that The 2nd has another, far more serious, purpose.
"Geek With a .45" tours #60 Andrassy Street in Budapest.
Approaching Andrássy street, we hopped off and walked the few blocks to number 60. Along the way, Madga explained that the museum was housed in what used to be the headquarters of the various political and secret police organizations that had terrorized Hungarian society.
...the Hungarian communists set about grasping Hungarian society by the throat, implementing the complete horror show, systematically setting out to destroy the Hungarian way of life and replace it with a Sovietized collectivism. Hungary was placed under total surveillance, with tapes and cameras running day and night. A shadow army of informants was formed, completely permeating the society. Files and records were kept on every person that came to their attention. A slip of the tongue could prove painful, if not fatal.
To keep people in fear and off balance, and to prevent the widespread but weak and ineffectual resistance movement from attaining any coordination or coherency, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people were arrested and sent to concentration camps. Thousands of executions were held. People would be abducted from the streets, stuffed into the black cars. Some were never seen again, others would appear months later, their bodies and spirits broken under torture. Those who received trials at all were given "due process" in kangaroo courts, sometimes for show, and sometimes to simply cloak the proceedings under the color of law. People were beaten, tortured, starved, dispossessed of their property, resettled, incarcerated or tossed into camps daily.
One in three families were directly abused in some way, shape or form.
True, we Americans have some wrinkles to sort out regarding our own freedoms, but our own people who think that we're living in some sort of a "police state" haven’t the slightest fucking clue what a real police state is.
He quotes Solzhenitsyn: (The Gulag Archipilaego)
"And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every Security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family? Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, polkers, or whatever else was at hand? After all, you knew ahead of time that those bluecaps were out at night for no good purpose. And you could be sure ahead of time that you'd be cracking the skull of a cutthroat. Or what about the Black Maria sitting out there on the street with one lonely chauffeur -- what if it had been driven off or its tires spiked. The Organs would very quickly have suffered a shortage of officers and transport and, notwithstanding all of Stalin's thirst, the cursed machine would have ground to a halt!"
Some good writing describes reactions at a reception held later that day:
The few folks from Western Europe shook their heads in abject disbelief. The thought of doing such a thing was utterly alien to them, and they objected. "We have no means to do anything like that!"
...The majority falls prey to the delusion—popular in some circles - that ordinary people are too careless and stupid to own guns, and we would be far better off leaving all weapons in the hands of professionals on the government payroll. But the simple truth - born of experience - is that tyranny thrives best where government need not fear the wrath of an armed people.
The payoff paragraph:
The prospect of tyranny may not grab the headlines the way vivid stories of gun crime routinely do. But few saw the Third Reich coming until it was too late. The Second Amendment is a doomsday provision, one designed for those exceptionally rare circumstances where all other rights have failed - where the government refuses to stand for reelection and silences those who protest; where courts have lost the courage to oppose, or can find no one to enforce their decrees. However improbable these contingencies may seem today, facing them unprepared is a mistake a free people get to make only once.
...no fucking IDEA of what a police state really is....
HT: Grim's Hall
Al-Quaeda's "Azzam"
The NewsGuy on Channel 6's 9PM edition couldn't even pronounce the name of AlQuaeda's #2 stooge--it's "Za-wa-HI-ri", not "Zawari."
And despite having a full hour news presentation, Channel 6 couldn't be bothered with any quotations of the speech delivered by the American-born jihadista, "Azzam."
But that's not the point, as disturbing as it may be for serious news consumers...
Here's an analysis of the video from an expert on Jihadista:
The video tape issued by al Qaeda’s “as-sahhab” production, in which Ayman Zawahiri introduces Jihadist Adam Gahdan to the world as a senior speaker to the American people on behalf of the movement, should be taken seriously. Not necessarily at the level of detecting the next Terror attack but at the level of understanding this prelude to Future Jihad both in America and within the West.
...I tend to believe that such a speech –rather than being dismissed as mere propaganda- is a message coming to us from what’s already inserted inside America...
...It is basically addressed to those who will carry a “Jihad in America,” possibly asserting Adam Gahdan as their leader...
...the “Azzam” video reconfirms clearly... that al Qaeda’s movement worldwide and in the United States is seeking total annihilation or conversion of the enemy: American and other democracies...
...Sensationally but not unexpectedly, he “name[s]” a number of intellectual-enemies in this country: Daniel Pipes, Steven Emerson, Robert Spencer and Michael Spencer....
...more troubling in Gadahn’s tape was his direct call to Jihadists within the US Armed forces to work patiently till the time comes and they should continue to aggregate while escaping the surveillance of their military authorities. This theme, which I covered briefly in Future Jihad, is of great concern to US national security.
...His bottom line is this: We –the Jihadists- have you cornered everywhere and you are not going to win this war. His central message is typically Jihadic: “Surrender, convert or the fire:” Meaning war on Earth, all of it, and Hell fire after death.
There may or may not be a critical mass of US-resident Jihadists sufficient to pull off the conquest that "Azzam" likes--and "Azzam" looks like a pimply-faced fat kid who was a social outcast in high-school, which explains his treason--but this sort of stuff should be filed under "keep your eyes and ears open" for the average American.
After all, we didn't take them seriously before 9/11...
And despite having a full hour news presentation, Channel 6 couldn't be bothered with any quotations of the speech delivered by the American-born jihadista, "Azzam."
But that's not the point, as disturbing as it may be for serious news consumers...
Here's an analysis of the video from an expert on Jihadista:
The video tape issued by al Qaeda’s “as-sahhab” production, in which Ayman Zawahiri introduces Jihadist Adam Gahdan to the world as a senior speaker to the American people on behalf of the movement, should be taken seriously. Not necessarily at the level of detecting the next Terror attack but at the level of understanding this prelude to Future Jihad both in America and within the West.
...I tend to believe that such a speech –rather than being dismissed as mere propaganda- is a message coming to us from what’s already inserted inside America...
...It is basically addressed to those who will carry a “Jihad in America,” possibly asserting Adam Gahdan as their leader...
...the “Azzam” video reconfirms clearly... that al Qaeda’s movement worldwide and in the United States is seeking total annihilation or conversion of the enemy: American and other democracies...
...Sensationally but not unexpectedly, he “name[s]” a number of intellectual-enemies in this country: Daniel Pipes, Steven Emerson, Robert Spencer and Michael Spencer....
...more troubling in Gadahn’s tape was his direct call to Jihadists within the US Armed forces to work patiently till the time comes and they should continue to aggregate while escaping the surveillance of their military authorities. This theme, which I covered briefly in Future Jihad, is of great concern to US national security.
...His bottom line is this: We –the Jihadists- have you cornered everywhere and you are not going to win this war. His central message is typically Jihadic: “Surrender, convert or the fire:” Meaning war on Earth, all of it, and Hell fire after death.
There may or may not be a critical mass of US-resident Jihadists sufficient to pull off the conquest that "Azzam" likes--and "Azzam" looks like a pimply-faced fat kid who was a social outcast in high-school, which explains his treason--but this sort of stuff should be filed under "keep your eyes and ears open" for the average American.
After all, we didn't take them seriously before 9/11...
MacMac Goes To Bizarre-Land, Brings Back Samples
Actually voting for someone who is happy to be known as "Mac-Mac" requires a mindset with which I am unfamiliar.
But actually voting for ANY candidate who cannot read a news article without applying a Bizarre Interpretation Translator template is....ahh....
....the closest analogy has to do with Kevin Barrett....
Here's the newspaper text:
Police believe Candace was shot by errant bullets.
Here's how "Mac-Mac" interprets the above 8 words:
"I'm wondering who might have shot this child. The paper (Journal Sentinel) said errant shots or bullets. Is it possible police shot that child?"
Sure, Mac-Mac. See, it was all a plot by Nan Hegarty, in conjunction with Tom Barrett and faceless Department of Community Development bureaucrats. See, at the Police firing-range, they fired into the air. We all know that bullets fired into the air can kill people on re-entry, and ballistic tests have not proven that the fatal rounds were not from the police firing range.
[Cue music from Twilight Zone. Show fades of Barrett and Hegarty morphing into Bush and Cheney.]
But actually voting for ANY candidate who cannot read a news article without applying a Bizarre Interpretation Translator template is....ahh....
....the closest analogy has to do with Kevin Barrett....
Here's the newspaper text:
Police believe Candace was shot by errant bullets.
Here's how "Mac-Mac" interprets the above 8 words:
"I'm wondering who might have shot this child. The paper (Journal Sentinel) said errant shots or bullets. Is it possible police shot that child?"
Sure, Mac-Mac. See, it was all a plot by Nan Hegarty, in conjunction with Tom Barrett and faceless Department of Community Development bureaucrats. See, at the Police firing-range, they fired into the air. We all know that bullets fired into the air can kill people on re-entry, and ballistic tests have not proven that the fatal rounds were not from the police firing range.
[Cue music from Twilight Zone. Show fades of Barrett and Hegarty morphing into Bush and Cheney.]
Desperate Supporters Write Desparate Blogs
Paul Bucher is running for the Pubbie nomination for AG. He's opposed by a fellow named JB Van Hollen. Both are reasonably nice guys; both have reasonable credentials for the position; and both have a good chance of defeating whoever becomes the (D) nominee.
But one of them has a slightly wacko supporter.
Not McNamara-McGraw wacko, which will soon become legendary.
Just personal slam wacko. It's animus-driven, "tinged-with-bizarre" wacko. Paul should call his friend and tell her to back off. Too much estrogen is bad for a campaign.
But one of them has a slightly wacko supporter.
Not McNamara-McGraw wacko, which will soon become legendary.
Just personal slam wacko. It's animus-driven, "tinged-with-bizarre" wacko. Paul should call his friend and tell her to back off. Too much estrogen is bad for a campaign.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Az Supremes Rule Gay "Marriage" To Be On Ballot
The Arizona proposal is what the Wisconsin gay-rights pushers fear most:
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a controversial referendum to ban gay marriage and prohibit cities and the state government from offering domestic partner benefits can be included on the November ballot.
Opponents had argued the ballot question violated state election rules because it dealt with more than one subject -- gay marriages and domestic partner benefits. Supporters counter that both of those provisions deal with the overall theme of the issue -- defining marriage as a heterosexual union.
Whereas the Wisconsin gay-rights gang has to invent interpretations of the "second sentence" in order to come up with 'prohibitions,' the Arizona measure is explicit.
HT: Cosmos Liturgy
Obviously, the Wisconsin Amendment's authors are not in a "prohibiting" mindset.
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a controversial referendum to ban gay marriage and prohibit cities and the state government from offering domestic partner benefits can be included on the November ballot.
Opponents had argued the ballot question violated state election rules because it dealt with more than one subject -- gay marriages and domestic partner benefits. Supporters counter that both of those provisions deal with the overall theme of the issue -- defining marriage as a heterosexual union.
Whereas the Wisconsin gay-rights gang has to invent interpretations of the "second sentence" in order to come up with 'prohibitions,' the Arizona measure is explicit.
HT: Cosmos Liturgy
Obviously, the Wisconsin Amendment's authors are not in a "prohibiting" mindset.
The Liturgeist: How To Recognize Them
OxFiles' creator is, ah, creative, and observant. So here are excerpts of his post on Liturgeists:
Name: Modern Liturgy Director (Liturgus Disruptus) [AKA "Liturgeist" contraction fr. "lit-A" (praise, Gr.) and "Geist" (spirit, German) and abbr "Poltergeist" Hollywood): a troublesome creature usually found disrupting liturgy by imposition of lower-world values]
Age: Varies, but usually between 40 and 55 years of age
Gender: Usually female, but not always
Traits: They always prefer a keyboard over an organ, and they will never ever be seen near a pipe organ (it is unknown if the modern liturgy director has a natural and instinctive aversion to pipe organs) [Competency may have something to do with this.]
Other:
Usually wears a large scarf ...Researchers believe that the scarf is a sign of liturgical hierarchy and is designed to compete with the priestly [stole]. Several scientists have observed that creatures that are subservient to the modern liturgy director, such as cantors and liturgical dancers usually never wear scarves.
Modern liturgy directors also have extremely large bags that they carry everywhere with them. These bags are usually stuffed beyond capacity with music books and guides to making rainbow banners, etc. [Such stuffings may also include passes to "Call to Action" conferences, reading material such as the National Catholic Reporter, and lipstick-covered pix of Haugen, Haas, and various St. Louis Jesuits, as well as Britney Spears and Peter, Paul and Mary.]
These bags never contain Vatican issued documents about liturgy, and they never contain musical scores that date back beyond 1970.
Dr Carl Rivers, a liturgy specialist from Ohio, believes that the modern liturgy director’s bag may even contain some sort of worm hole/ time travel device that allows the modern liturgy director to traverse back to the 1960’s and 70’s to gather ideas for the liturgies they direct.
Usually wears a full length coat, no matter what season it is. Some speculate that the coat may actually be a subconscious reflection of the modern liturgy director’s desire to be the one in the parish who gets to wear the priestly vestments.
It is widely known that modern liturgy directors have key chains that contain more keys than any other keychain known to man. The modern liturgy director usually caries keys to all of the doors in the Church, the piano (and the padlock for the organ), the parish centre, the parish cleaning cupboard, etc, etc.
Modern liturgy directors are a creature of habit and control; and these keys enable them to keep tabs on all aspects of the parish life, even those that have nothing to do with the liturgy. They will often appear unannounced during parish meetings, etc and many have even worked their way onto parish councils by simply being first to arrive and open up the parish meeting room every month, until it gets to the point that everyone on the council just presumes that they are actually meant to be there.
How to remove a modern liturgy director from your parish…
This is an area of research that is still in its infancy, and unfortunately we can only offer limited advice in regards to the best methods for removing modern liturgy directors from your parish.
[Silver cross and Holy Water, perhaps?]
Name: Modern Liturgy Director (Liturgus Disruptus) [AKA "Liturgeist" contraction fr. "lit-A" (praise, Gr.) and "Geist" (spirit, German) and abbr "Poltergeist" Hollywood): a troublesome creature usually found disrupting liturgy by imposition of lower-world values]
Age: Varies, but usually between 40 and 55 years of age
Gender: Usually female, but not always
Traits: They always prefer a keyboard over an organ, and they will never ever be seen near a pipe organ (it is unknown if the modern liturgy director has a natural and instinctive aversion to pipe organs) [Competency may have something to do with this.]
Other:
Usually wears a large scarf ...Researchers believe that the scarf is a sign of liturgical hierarchy and is designed to compete with the priestly [stole]. Several scientists have observed that creatures that are subservient to the modern liturgy director, such as cantors and liturgical dancers usually never wear scarves.
Modern liturgy directors also have extremely large bags that they carry everywhere with them. These bags are usually stuffed beyond capacity with music books and guides to making rainbow banners, etc. [Such stuffings may also include passes to "Call to Action" conferences, reading material such as the National Catholic Reporter, and lipstick-covered pix of Haugen, Haas, and various St. Louis Jesuits, as well as Britney Spears and Peter, Paul and Mary.]
These bags never contain Vatican issued documents about liturgy, and they never contain musical scores that date back beyond 1970.
Dr Carl Rivers, a liturgy specialist from Ohio, believes that the modern liturgy director’s bag may even contain some sort of worm hole/ time travel device that allows the modern liturgy director to traverse back to the 1960’s and 70’s to gather ideas for the liturgies they direct.
Usually wears a full length coat, no matter what season it is. Some speculate that the coat may actually be a subconscious reflection of the modern liturgy director’s desire to be the one in the parish who gets to wear the priestly vestments.
It is widely known that modern liturgy directors have key chains that contain more keys than any other keychain known to man. The modern liturgy director usually caries keys to all of the doors in the Church, the piano (and the padlock for the organ), the parish centre, the parish cleaning cupboard, etc, etc.
Modern liturgy directors are a creature of habit and control; and these keys enable them to keep tabs on all aspects of the parish life, even those that have nothing to do with the liturgy. They will often appear unannounced during parish meetings, etc and many have even worked their way onto parish councils by simply being first to arrive and open up the parish meeting room every month, until it gets to the point that everyone on the council just presumes that they are actually meant to be there.
How to remove a modern liturgy director from your parish…
This is an area of research that is still in its infancy, and unfortunately we can only offer limited advice in regards to the best methods for removing modern liturgy directors from your parish.
[Silver cross and Holy Water, perhaps?]
On Homilies and Historical-Critical Exegisis
They're not totally compatible, in brief. And 'the method' may obscure what's important:
Historical-critical exegesis tells us a lot about the past, of the moment when the words were first said, of their significance at the time they were said, but such explanations do not always help us understand that the words of Jesus, of the Apostles and of the Old Testament, are spirit and life, with which the Lord speaks to us even today.
I think we should 'defy' the theologians - as the Synod has - by going ahead and helping parish priests better prepare their homilies, to make people sense the presence of the Word: the Lord speaks to us today, not only in the past.
I have been reading in recent days the draft for the post- Synodal Apostolic Exhortation. I have seen with satisfaction that this 'defiance' is kept in the models prepared for homilies. Ultimately, the parish priest must prepare his homily in his context, speaking to his parish.
But he may need some help to understand and make others understand the actual 'present-ness' of the Word of God, which is never a Word of the past, but always a Word for today.
Benedict XVI, speaking to parish priests in Italy.
Historical-critical exegesis tells us a lot about the past, of the moment when the words were first said, of their significance at the time they were said, but such explanations do not always help us understand that the words of Jesus, of the Apostles and of the Old Testament, are spirit and life, with which the Lord speaks to us even today.
I think we should 'defy' the theologians - as the Synod has - by going ahead and helping parish priests better prepare their homilies, to make people sense the presence of the Word: the Lord speaks to us today, not only in the past.
I have been reading in recent days the draft for the post- Synodal Apostolic Exhortation. I have seen with satisfaction that this 'defiance' is kept in the models prepared for homilies. Ultimately, the parish priest must prepare his homily in his context, speaking to his parish.
But he may need some help to understand and make others understand the actual 'present-ness' of the Word of God, which is never a Word of the past, but always a Word for today.
Benedict XVI, speaking to parish priests in Italy.
Miller Brewing's Deaf Ear/Update: MBC Denies It...
Back in the good old days, Miller Brewing was run by a family which knew left from right. Sadly, Harry John (a practitioner of genuine Catholicism) sold the place to WRGrace, who sold the place to Phillip Morris, who then sold the place to South African Brewing Co.
The Phillip Morris regime heightened the awareness of 'marketing' (and its evil step-child, 'segmentation') which, taken to its logical extreme, demonstrates the worst elements of mercantilist "thinking."
And Miller Brewing, once a solid citizen, has stepped into extreme mercantilism--AKA 'a pile of doo-doo'--which may have serious repercussions.
This time, as demonstrators march from Chinatown to House Speaker Dennis Hastert's (R-Ill.) Batavia office this weekend, they will have Miller Brewing Co., as a sponsor. The brewer has paid more than $30,000 for a planning convention, materials and newspaper ads publicizing the event.
The support of a major corporation for a controversial political cause shows how fierce the competition has become to woo the growing market of Latino consumers.
For Miller, the march offered a special chance to catch up. This spring the brewer drew the ire of pro-immigrant forces over contributions to U.S. Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), who sponsored legislation that would crack down on illegal immigrants. That prompted a short-lived boycott by some Latino groups.
Now, march advertisements feature not just the organizing committee's trademark blue globe but Miller's logo and a Spanish translation of its "Live Responsibly" slogan, a company effort to build goodwill among Latinos.
Miller's marketing gurus have, in effect, decided that the concerns of US citizens over illegal immigration are a distant second to Miller's grasping at a market segment.
There's backlash, as one might expect.
And, FWIW, anyone bringing a Miller product to mi casa will be asked to leave the product in their vehicle. It will NOT be consumed indoors.
As to what's here already: the containers make fine pellet-gun targets, no?
Asian Badger reports that Miller Brewing denies it.
Well, sorta, kinda, maybe, on the other hand:
...Miller recently had to deal with a boycott threat from an umbrella group of Midwestern Latino community organizations upset that Miller's political action committee had made $2,000 in campaign contributions to U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), sponsor of an immigration bill the group viewed as too harsh.
The boycott was quickly canceled after the two sides met in Chicago, and Miller agreed to run newspaper ads against the bill and help the group fight it.
But that's not all, folks:
As Miller denied involvement in the Chicago march, meanwhile, the leader of a Milwaukee immigrant-rights group that has held two large marches here said Miller had helped that organization financially.
Marino denied that too.
Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera, said Miller contacted the group earlier this year and offered a donation before a May 1 march. She said the company provided what she believed was a couple hundred dollars used for buses to bring marchers from Racine and Kenosha.
Marino said Miller "did not support the May 1 march or participate in the May 1 march in any way."
So is Neumann-Ortiz a liar?
We know that there is a difference between Miller distributors and Miller Corporate. This MAY be where the confusion lies.
We also know that Miller Corporate is very closely involved in the "marketing/promotions" expenditures of its distributors.
The ban remains in effect at my home. Lock and Load on targets.
The Phillip Morris regime heightened the awareness of 'marketing' (and its evil step-child, 'segmentation') which, taken to its logical extreme, demonstrates the worst elements of mercantilist "thinking."
And Miller Brewing, once a solid citizen, has stepped into extreme mercantilism--AKA 'a pile of doo-doo'--which may have serious repercussions.
This time, as demonstrators march from Chinatown to House Speaker Dennis Hastert's (R-Ill.) Batavia office this weekend, they will have Miller Brewing Co., as a sponsor. The brewer has paid more than $30,000 for a planning convention, materials and newspaper ads publicizing the event.
The support of a major corporation for a controversial political cause shows how fierce the competition has become to woo the growing market of Latino consumers.
For Miller, the march offered a special chance to catch up. This spring the brewer drew the ire of pro-immigrant forces over contributions to U.S. Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), who sponsored legislation that would crack down on illegal immigrants. That prompted a short-lived boycott by some Latino groups.
Now, march advertisements feature not just the organizing committee's trademark blue globe but Miller's logo and a Spanish translation of its "Live Responsibly" slogan, a company effort to build goodwill among Latinos.
Miller's marketing gurus have, in effect, decided that the concerns of US citizens over illegal immigration are a distant second to Miller's grasping at a market segment.
There's backlash, as one might expect.
And, FWIW, anyone bringing a Miller product to mi casa will be asked to leave the product in their vehicle. It will NOT be consumed indoors.
As to what's here already: the containers make fine pellet-gun targets, no?
Asian Badger reports that Miller Brewing denies it.
Well, sorta, kinda, maybe, on the other hand:
...Miller recently had to deal with a boycott threat from an umbrella group of Midwestern Latino community organizations upset that Miller's political action committee had made $2,000 in campaign contributions to U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), sponsor of an immigration bill the group viewed as too harsh.
The boycott was quickly canceled after the two sides met in Chicago, and Miller agreed to run newspaper ads against the bill and help the group fight it.
But that's not all, folks:
As Miller denied involvement in the Chicago march, meanwhile, the leader of a Milwaukee immigrant-rights group that has held two large marches here said Miller had helped that organization financially.
Marino denied that too.
Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera, said Miller contacted the group earlier this year and offered a donation before a May 1 march. She said the company provided what she believed was a couple hundred dollars used for buses to bring marchers from Racine and Kenosha.
Marino said Miller "did not support the May 1 march or participate in the May 1 march in any way."
So is Neumann-Ortiz a liar?
We know that there is a difference between Miller distributors and Miller Corporate. This MAY be where the confusion lies.
We also know that Miller Corporate is very closely involved in the "marketing/promotions" expenditures of its distributors.
The ban remains in effect at my home. Lock and Load on targets.
P-Mac (Ilheran)'s Unfinished Thought
P-Mac is a talented writer who's capable of being smooth AND critical simultaneously.
Such talents are not resident in this blogger. Going for the throat is much more fun.
Here, P-Mac lays out one aspect of the L. MacNamara-McGraw "platform" of 'How to Be a D.A." and mentions one result:
...McNamara-McGraw said she would "let all (assistant district attorneys) know that they will issue no charges, particularly against people of color, for non-violent alleged possession with intent to deliver of any kind of drug ... without taped testimony, if it is alleged the way we prove it is with a confession," according to WisPolitics' reporting.
After being reminded that such orders of battle are un-Constitutional prima facie, the candidate sorta retreats, spraying as much foofoodust in the air as possible:
"It is time that we as lawyers confront the issues of gender and race discrimination in our system of justice." WisPolitics reports that while she said it would be appropriate to charge or not based on race, "she called for more training and awareness on how different decisions affect different races."
Apparently, McWhats-her-name means that "retailing" should have a broader meaning than selling shoes, clothes, food, and gasoline for some people.
P-Mac concludes:
...any talk of going soft on those accused of such social predation simply because of their skin color is an insult tothe hundreds of thousands of black Milwaukeeans trying to live peaceful lives.
What P-Mac does NOT say:
MacNamara-McGraw's idiotic "thought" will guaran-friggin-tee an escalation of murders and robberies in Milwaukee's Inner City and effectively create a free-fire zone for drug-pushing criminals in that area.
How many bright, promising 13-year-olds will be alive after that, Ms. MacMac?
Such talents are not resident in this blogger. Going for the throat is much more fun.
Here, P-Mac lays out one aspect of the L. MacNamara-McGraw "platform" of 'How to Be a D.A." and mentions one result:
...McNamara-McGraw said she would "let all (assistant district attorneys) know that they will issue no charges, particularly against people of color, for non-violent alleged possession with intent to deliver of any kind of drug ... without taped testimony, if it is alleged the way we prove it is with a confession," according to WisPolitics' reporting.
After being reminded that such orders of battle are un-Constitutional prima facie, the candidate sorta retreats, spraying as much foofoodust in the air as possible:
"It is time that we as lawyers confront the issues of gender and race discrimination in our system of justice." WisPolitics reports that while she said it would be appropriate to charge or not based on race, "she called for more training and awareness on how different decisions affect different races."
Apparently, McWhats-her-name means that "retailing" should have a broader meaning than selling shoes, clothes, food, and gasoline for some people.
P-Mac concludes:
...any talk of going soft on those accused of such social predation simply because of their skin color is an insult tothe hundreds of thousands of black Milwaukeeans trying to live peaceful lives.
What P-Mac does NOT say:
MacNamara-McGraw's idiotic "thought" will guaran-friggin-tee an escalation of murders and robberies in Milwaukee's Inner City and effectively create a free-fire zone for drug-pushing criminals in that area.
How many bright, promising 13-year-olds will be alive after that, Ms. MacMac?
ANOTHER Dead-Bang Missle Intercept
Yah, testing is going just fine and dandy!!
The U.S. military shot down a target ballistic missile over the Pacific on Friday in the widest test of its emerging antimissile shield in 18 months, the Defense Department announced.
The Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency said it had successfully completed an important exercise involving the launch of an improved ground-based interceptor missile designed to protect the United States against a limited long-range ballistic missile attack.
The test results will help improve the performance of a multibillion-dollar shield against the type of long-range ballistic missile that could be used to attack a U.S. city with a weapon of mass destruction, the agency said in a statement.
Ronald Reagan's legacy...
The U.S. military shot down a target ballistic missile over the Pacific on Friday in the widest test of its emerging antimissile shield in 18 months, the Defense Department announced.
The Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency said it had successfully completed an important exercise involving the launch of an improved ground-based interceptor missile designed to protect the United States against a limited long-range ballistic missile attack.
The test results will help improve the performance of a multibillion-dollar shield against the type of long-range ballistic missile that could be used to attack a U.S. city with a weapon of mass destruction, the agency said in a statement.
Ronald Reagan's legacy...
Friday, September 01, 2006
Milwaukee Archdiocese Settles in California
Arguably the most significant "worry bead" in the Puzzle Palace has been the California sex-abuse cases for which Milwaukee was partly responsible.
Terry Berres has the goods!!
Terry Berres has the goods!!
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