Dixie Chick Foreign Policy

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I ignored it when Natalie Maines said this, because really, who cares what ignorant pop stars think? But isn't it obvious this sums up the attitude of the New York Times, Democratic Party and Supreme Court?
I don’t understand the necessity for patriotism. Why do you have to be a patriot?About what? This land is our land? Why? You can like where you live and like your life, but as for loving the whole country … I don’t see why people care about patriotism.


Ninme has a link round-up with more evidence of foreign policy by Dixie Chick, and may beat me to our emergency back-up nation.

I'd Just Eat More Ice Cream

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Obesity pill now available in UK.

Meet The New Guy

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Here's an old NCReporter piece on Archbishop Lajolo, the new President of the Vatican City State. John Allen reported then that a subtle shift in Vatican opposition to the Bush doctrine had taken place, particularly regarding openness to the doctrine of preemption. Curtsy: Singing in the Reign.

Show 'Em How It's Done

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Here's all I ask of my parish priest. Read this wonderful account of a parish's transformation. Curtsy: Open Book

Mary & The Muslims

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I think I've noted here before that Archbishop Fulton Sheen devoted a chapter of his 1952 book The World's First Love to the question of Mary & Islam. Sheen predicted then (following Belloc) that Islam would rise again, and he believed that the apparitions at Fatima would prove providential because they linked Mary to Mohammed's daughter. in engaging Muslims when it did. Scroll down to the section on Fatima here for Sheen's words. Now a prominent Italian Muslim is saying much the same, and urging his co-religionists to visit Marian shrines:
"Mary is a figure present in the Koran, which dedicates an entire sura [chapter ed.n.] to her and mentions her some thirty times. In Muslim countries there are Marian shrines that are the object of veneration and pilgrimage by Christian and Muslim faithful," he said. "Therefore, I believe that if this happens in Muslim countries, why can't it happen in a Christian country, especially in a historical phase in which we need to define symbols, values and figures that unite religions, spiritualities and cultures?" he asked. In Allam's opinion, "the Marian pilgrimage of Loreto -- Italy's National Shrine -- could represent a moment of meeting and spiritual gathering between Muslims and Catholics, around Mary, a religious figure that is venerated by both religions."

Zenit 's daily dispatch has the story.

Apparently The Constitution Is A Suicide Pact After All

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Finally got around to reading Hamdan. All is not lost (not by a long shot), but Oy. Can someone please explain the difference between a military tribunal (bad) and a court martial (acceptable)?

UPDATE: Let's have no more Lefty whining about breaking precedent. See Justice Thomas' dissent for a list of precedents older than Roe that the Court didn't scruple to wipe away. And a reader at NRO has the pithiest response to the decision:
summary battlefield executions.


UPDATE 2: Read John Eastman's take down of the decision here. Note also his call for calm. In spite of the drive-by media's breathless efforts to paint Hamdan as a serious rebuke to Bush, it's no such thing. I say Bush should ignore it, as Lincoln ignored Dred Scot.

The Tomatoes Don't Lie, II

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Last year, the tomatoes spoke an inconvenient truth. This year, however, it's a week later and only the grape tomatoes are ripening. I've got one big beauty turning slightly orange, but everything else is green, green, green.

After four straight days of an unprecedented amount of rain, I went out to check the beds this morning, figuring at least there'd be no weeds. Wrong-o. Apparently weeds thrive in flood.

Potpourri of Popery, Peter & Paul Edition

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Happy feast day. I never knew before today that there's an indulgence opportunity:
A plenary indulgence may be gained today by anyone who makes devout use of a religious article blessed by a bishop and who also recites any approved profession of faith (e.g. the Apostles Creed), as long as the usual conditions are satisfied.


Someone just brought me a St. Benedict medal key chain blessed by Pope Benedict. Is it possible to drive devoutly? Probably I'll have to break out a blessed rosary instead.

Today's the 55th anniversary of the Pope's ordination to the priesthood, and he celebrated mass at which he bestowed the pallium on 27 new archbishops. Cool pictures here, and the same source offers his own translation of part of the homily:
"The charge of Peter is anchored to the prayer of Jesus," Benedict said. "It is this that gives him the sureness of perseverance across all human miseries. And the Lord entrusts this charge to him in the context of the Meal, in connection with the gift of the Most Holy Eucharist. The Church, in its innermost self, is a eucharistic community and so a communion in the Body of the Lord. The task of Peter is that of presiding over this universal communion; of keeping it present also in the world as a visible unity. He, together with all the Church of Rome, must -- as St Ignatius of Antioch put it -- preside in charity; to preside in the community of that love given by Christ which, ever anew, surpasses the limits of our lacking in order to carry the love of Christ even to the ends of the earth."

You'll find this news story on the homily interesting too. I expect Zenit will have the entire thing shortly.

Other stuff:
  • Here's (finally) the official translation of the Corpus Christi homily.
  • At the close of yesterday's Audience, the pope pleaded for the release of that Israeli soldier.
  • Continuing his weekly catechesis on the Church, the Pope preached yesterday on St. James (see the whole thing at Zenit), which led him into an interesting discussion of the relation between Christianity and Judaism.
  • Trouble in unexpected places: the Finns are trying to steal the relics of St. Henry!

We Geezers Must Stick Together

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Agassi advances to the 3rd round. For the second time, he's gotten a standing ovation just for taking the court --and they say there's no respect for the elderly anymore. (For the record, he's slightly my junior.)

An Infirm Purpose of Amendment

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I was going to let this go because it's past the news cycle (the rain's got my phone line all wonky), but then Rueful Red, one of ninme's regular readers, gave me that great post title. I remarked, regarding the flag-burning amendment that failed to pass the Senate, that when a Senator says he supports a Constitutional Amendment to resolve any matter whatsoever, I generally read that as, "I intend to do nothing substantive legislatively on the matter." This commenter over at No Left Turns expands on the point nicely.

Speaking of No Left Turns, here's a nice round-up on Hamdan v. Bush.

Sinister Sentiments

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The LA Times runs a textbook example when a romantic notion of life is untethered to anything else. The piece is supposed to be compassionate; I find it chilling. The author has a close friend who's already facing a difficult death, and she offers to kill him --not agrees to help upon his request-- just ups and offers it all on her own. She acts as if she offered him a mercy, but I think what she did is reinforce the message that he was incapable of facing the future and would be burdensome to care for.

Years ago Bill Moyers did a documentary for PBS about the right to die. It was one of those things I forced myself to watch because it pertained to my job at the time. He followed several terminally ill people through the last few months of their lives --most of whom (there may have been one exception who went to hospice instead, if memory serves) resolved that when the time came that they no longer found their lives worth living, they'd "end it." It was a typical Moyers piece, with the illusion of objectivity while all the while you're being browbeaten to reach the right --his--conclusion, which is that "death with dignity" is the only truly human way to shed this mortal coil. What Moyers didn't seem to notice in his own piece was that most of his subjects never reached the point that they found their lives no longer worth living --not even the fellow who emphatically swore he'd check out once he was in a wheel-chair. He kept on choosing to live right until the point where he could no longer swallow his pills. While they were relatively healthy, they were all sure they'd no longer wish to live when their health was severely limited. But as they wasted away, they discovered they could cope, and day by day kept opting to live. Most of them ended up dying naturally, as I recall. It was Moyers (and us his audience) who found their slow decline unbearable, lacking dignity.

I was reminded of that in this piece when the author describes the scene the night she comes over to off her friend:
He was in the kitchen when I arrived, very thin and weak, but still definitely Mel. His friend was there, teary, solemn and strangely friendly. Joanne had prepared soup for us, with bread and cheese. For the next couple of hours, he asked us to put certain albums on the stereo — Bach, Dylan, Leontyne Pryce. We shared our favorite stories. He was absolutely clear as a bell, brilliant as ever. Everybody cried a little, but not at the same time.

I can understand people not wishing to live when they feel they're "not themselves" anymore. I don't think that justifies suicide, but I can sympathise with the impulse. But this man was still very much himself --so why the rush to kill him that night? People who say they want to die are often depressed and filled with guilt about being burdensome to their friends. Their request for death may be a way of pleading for someone to tell them their lives have meaning even at the end, that they're loved, that they won't be alone, and that their pain can be managed. The heartlessness of responding to, "It's time for me to go" with "Yup" when people are likely to be suffering from depression and self-doubt is staggering.


Why oh why did someone not say to this man, No, Mel, not tonight. You're still you, we love you, we've had a lovely evening and we can have another lovely evening tomorrow. The poison applesauce will be here tomorrow or next week, but not tonight." Instead they were all practically shouting at him: your worst fears are realized, you're a shell of your former self and a burden to us all. Some friends.
Curtsy: Open Book

Stem Cell Scientists: Yer Out

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Of the Church. If you deliberately destroy an embryo.

Wonder If The Al-Times Likes It?

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Superman's getting good reviews. Maybe it's because I'm the daughter of a journalist, and once thought to be one myself, but I always understood Superman to be about the role of the press in a free society. Beneath the pathetic desk-jockey exterior beats the heart of a hero, tracking down evil-doers, exposing their plans, making the world safe for truth, justice, and the American Way. At least in the comic books, Clark Kent was the secret hero of the plots --he's the one with the reporter's nose who smelled something fishy and got to the bottom of the story. It was Clark Kent's exposure of bad guys that usually led to a physical crisis for his alter ego to solve. Over and over again Clark Kent saved the world, content never to get the credit, so long as decent people breathed free and lived in safety.


Unlike some people I could name who live for Pulitzers, public safety be damned.

Thus Steak, Zarathustra

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What's your diet philosophy?
The juice of the orange is the very being of the orange made manifest, and by this I mean its true nature, and that which gives it its “orangeness” and keeps it from tasting like, say, a poached salmon or grits. To the devout, the notion of anything but cereal for breakfast produces anxiety and dread, but with the death of God anything is permitted, and profiteroles and clams may be eaten at will, and even buffalo wings.


Curtsy: Mere Comments

Queen Mother of All Stereotypes

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Spain's first gay divorce.

claimant said in a petition that he had dedicated his life to the relationship, giving up a modelling career and abandoning his dog hairdressing business to follow his partner who had found work in France.


Curtsy: Tim Blair

Talking People Right Across The Tiber

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Rowan Williams carefully lays out the choices before the Anglican communion, hitting on the central point:
It may be tempting to say, ‘let each local church go its own way’; but once you’ve lost the idea that you need to try to remain together in order to find the fullest possible truth, what do you appeal to in the local situation when serious division threatens?

There isn't anything he says in his appeal for Anglican unity that couldn't be asked of Anglicanism itself, and I wonder how many of his readers will recognize that.

Pope: Pray For Families In July. . . .

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and I'll give you a special blessing.

Al-Qaeda Responsible for Golden Dome Destruction

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Heartening evidence of how well the Iraqi police and security forces are doing.

New York Times To Western Civilization: Drop Dead

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Here's the Andrew McCarthy piece on what to do about the leaks. Here's his much-discussed smackdown of the formerly Grey Lady.

Evangelicals Channelling Benedict XVI

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Sounds a lot like a "creative minority":
In every culture, some Christian conduct will be offensive and attacked, but some will be moving and attractive to outsiders. "Though they accuse you … they may see your good deeds and glorify God" (1 Peter 2:12, see also Matt. 5:16). In the Middle East, a Christian sexual ethic makes sense, but not "turn the other cheek." In secular New York City, the Christian teaching on forgiveness and reconciliation is welcome, but our sexual ethics seem horribly regressive. Every non-Christian culture has enough common grace to recognize some of the work of God in the world and to be attracted to it, even while Christianity in other ways will offend the prevailing culture.
So we must neither just denounce the culture nor adopt it. We must sacrificially serve the common good, expecting to be constantly misunderstood and sometimes attacked. We must walk in the steps of the one who laid down his life for his opponents.


Curtsy to The Remedy, which also has several posts with links on the New Urbanism --scroll around June 26-7.

Bush Is In Touch With His Base

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New polling data show that the allegedly livid-over-illegal-immigration Republican base is actually quite comfortable with the President's approach. People want the border secure. But once it's secure, they're inclined to be lenient towards even illegal immigrants.

when the House Republicans maintain that they are vindicating the views of their base, they are just wrong. Republicans are far more tolerant of illegal immigrants - as long as they earn the tolerance by good conduct - than their political leaders seem to be.


When Republican voters were asked about the Senate plan (without being told that's what it was), they backed it 75% -17%. Voters said 60-27 they'd be more likely to vote for a candidate who supported such a plan.

Given the House plan (again, not identified), the numbers broke 47-46, and voters actively oppose (70-25) the effort to make it impossible for illegal aliens ever to become citizens.

Of course, the popularity of the Senate approach rests on voters believing the plan will actually secure the border --which is an, ahem, open question. I'd like to see more discussion of the actual provisions of the Senate bill, and less ranting from our talkers and pundits about "cutting in line." Curtsy: The Remedy

Catholics: Defending Your Freedom Again

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Yesterday's death penalty ruling(story), Kansas v. Marsh (opinion), was actually no such thing. In spite of Justices Souter & Scalia taking swings at each other in their respective dissent and concurrence, the issue wasn't the death penalty, but how much higher courts should interfere in state sentencing guidelines. It's strange to find the five Catholics on the Court upholding the death penalty, until you realize what they're really upholding is federalism. Let's hope such modesty becomes a Court trend.


Update: Score another point for respect for the legislative branch. Justice Kennedy speaks for the court in upholding Texas' district lines. Opinion here.

But At Least He's Not Bush

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Life is extremely strange in Mugabwe. Someone tell the Grey Lady how a real tyrant behaves. Curtsy: ninme.

I Guess He's Crazy

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Can it be Wimbledon time already? I was never an Agassi fan, but shucks, the old boy won a match --a singles match, mind you-- today. Must root for him to go far; geriatric solidarity, you know.

Meanwhile, just to stir the pot while people are obsessing about the World Cup, here's a piece that begins thus:
IN ITS RECENT WORLD CUP CONTEST WITH ITALY, the U.S. team played what was widely regarded by the sport's connoisseurs as one of the best games ever played by an American soccer squad on foreign soil.
The historic game with Italy ended in an epic 1-1 tie. But in what was ballyhooed as one of the greatest games ever played by an American team, the United States failed to score. The goal credited to the Americans was scored by an opposing player who--oops!--accidentally kicked the ball into his own goal.
Think about this about this for a moment. It just about sums up everything you need to know about soccer, or football, as it is known elsewhere.

It goes on to argue that soccer is a game for nihilists (though let's not forget they weren't the first ). I dunno, I enjoyed playing it when I was in high school. Not so much in grammar school, though, when the opening move was usually for one team's center to kick the other's in the shins (out of spastic incompetence).

Glug-Glug

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"Action Figures" from The Ryskind Sketchbook.

Forgive the silence --phone line was out. My neighborhood bears the distinction of most inches of rain in the water-logged DC area. 10.5 inches just yesterday!

Saddam's Grueling Hunger Strike Ends

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When the radio announced a few days ago that Saddam was on a hunger strike, I thought to myself that would be tough going for a guy who's never missed a meal --or any other pleasure that occurred to him-- in his life. Sho' 'nuff: He missed lunch.

One 9/11 Was Not Enough

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I'm forced to conclude that's what our nation's news editors believe. Scroll around at Hugh Hewitt for links and updates on the latest NYT/LAT/(WaPo played catch-up later) memo to terrorists about how to evade detection. Instapundit writes:
What's interesting to me is that when you talk about military force, we're supposed to use law-enforcement and intelligence methods instead. But if you use law-enforcement and intelligence methods, people shout "Big Brother" and the Times runs stories exposing them.


My question is, when the President said this on Sept. 21, 2001:
We will direct every resource at our command -- every means of diplomacy, every tool of intelligence, every instrument of law enforcement, every financial influence, and every necessary weapon of war -- to the destruction and to the defeat of the global terror network.
And this:
We will starve terrorists of funding, turn them one against another, drive them from place to place until there is no refuge or no rest.

And this:
We will ask and we will need the help of police forces, intelligence service and banking systems around the world.


Exactly what did people think it meant? He was going to use telepathy to track down terror networks? As I said here (the day we decided to let our WaPo subscription lapse --the gesture may be small, but I'm not going to pay for the privilege of helping al-Qaeda drop a dirty bomb on my kids --I'll miss the comics), if we're going to let these people run our foreign policy, "editor" should be an elected position.


UPDATE: Joseph Knippenberg thinks the formerly Grey Lady's ship-sinking loose lips can be prosecuted, and rounds up the arguments. He also links to her self-serving (and weak) editorial and points out NYT's revelations are terrible for the war effort, but great for Bush --most people's reaction to the "revelations" is: "Right on!" Could Rove be behind it all? (dun-dun-DUN).

Bush v. Kelo

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Thanks to the reader who called attention to this --haven't seen anyone else pick up on it. The President has signed an executive order saying that the Federal Govt. won't be following the Kelo standard for taking private property while he's got anything to say about it. Savvy governors will immediately follow suit for their states.

It is the policy of the United States to protect the rights of Americans to their private property, including by limiting the taking of private property by the Federal Government to situations in which the taking is for public use, with just compensation, and for the purpose of benefiting the general public and not merely for the purpose of advancing the economic interest of private parties to be given ownership or use of the property taken.

Think Straight Or Die

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Fr. Schall has a fine essay "On The Intellectual Needs of Ordinary People." In the introduction alone he makes two important points. The first is for the benefit of pundits who scorn the life of the businessman as too materialistic. Schall offers a salutary reminder:
Generally we assume . . .--because pride is more apt to be the vice of the intellectual--that it is more difficult to save one's soul if he is an intellectual than if he is, say, a peasant or even business executive. Compared to pride, greed and self-indulgence are relatively mild, though still potentially lethal, forms of vice.


That needed saying. What also needs saying is that there is a certain wing of North American Catholic culture that has unwittingly been taken over almost wholly not by John Paul the Great's "personalism," as it thinks, but by Rousseau. You find it in the cult of child-centeredness that emphasizes nurture at the expense of character formation. You find it in an uncritical acceptance of all things "natural," and irrational fear of medicine, technology and businessmen. And you especially see it in the tendency of many Christians to assume that material poverty is a de facto sign of virtue (the problem lies in confusing material with materialism):
The danger of recent rhetoric about "options for the poor" is that it tends to deprive the impoverished of their intrinsic human dignity by implying that no wrong perpetrated by them is caused by themselves. Rather, all faults are said to be caused by environment or "structures" of society, whatever they might be. This dangerous theoretical position is a hold over--an intellectual hold over--from the influence of Rousseau in modern thought. To put the issue more positively, we can have saints who are poor, saints who are rich, and saints who are everywhere in-between. The same obviously holds true for sinners. What we cannot have is a saint or a sinner who is automatically made so by his external social condition alone.

Neither of these pertains to his main point, but that's enough pull quotes for you. RTWT. And if that whets your appetite, here's an essay on Chesterton and the recovery of common sense.

At Least In Italy, Capital ♥s Labor

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John Allen attempts to explain what Benedict's curial appointments signify, and reports on the new English translation of the Mass. Most interesting, however, is his summary of an article making the rounds in Italy that purports to document an Italian political realignment. Specifically, it pronounces cattocommunismo (the allegiance between Catholics and radical Leftists) dead, for many of the same reasons ethnic Catholics have fled the Democratic party in the States. The author asks how many of Italy's most pressing problems can be classified as struggles between Capital & Labor and comes up with zero. Moreover:

Galli della Loggia says that the traditional social base of the radical left -- industrial workers, farmers, and rural craftsmen -- are today on the verge of disappearing, and have been replaced by civil servants, teachers, employees of large corporations, university professors, and other members of the middle and upper-middle classes. These groups are economically interested in the protection of a strong public sector, but no longer conserve anything of the antique leftist hostility to individualism, hedonism, materialism, and in general for the middle class. Today, the ethic of the left tends to be "to each his or her own," requiring the state to remain neutral in the face of various lifestyle choices.
All this means, according to Galli della Loggia, that the magnetic appeal of cattocommunismo in the early 20th century, that of a meeting between "two peoples" in defense of social solidarity and the "humble Italy," against the Italy of the signori and the bourgeoisie, is largely finished. Instead, the radical left and Catholics find themselves on opposite sides of the culture wars

I've Found My Emergency Back-Up Country

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In case of Hilary presidency or other constitutional melt-down, seek shelter in Oz. When I wrote this back in April, I hadn't intended to start a series, but then I had to link to more evidence. Now Charles Krauthammer's on board, and I bring you installment 3 of "Oz vies for my affections":

This is a place where, when the remains of a fallen soldier are accidentally switched with those of a Bosnian, the enraged widow picks up the phone late at night, calls the prime minister at home in bed and delivers a furious unedited rant — which he publicly and graciously accepts as fully deserved.

Krauthammer rightly points out an American would have sued, which just ain't manly. I picture Australia as America without the lawyers or the averdupois. (Curtsy: ninme)

Which would be paradise except for the sea wasp, which figured prominently in the meditation on hell during my most recent Spiritual Exercises.

It's The Bureaucracy, Stupid

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Why, Big Lizards wonders, are people so disinterested in how difficult it is to come here legally? His examples are must-read. Well, thank you! I've been saying for a year now that Conservatives are missing the boat on the immigration issue --denouncing Mexicans (even though, as The Anchoress points out, there's loads of English-speaking illegals, too and no one's outraged at them for "cutting in line.") instead of working to make legal immigration possible. Curtsy: ninme.

Jesus Loves Me, This I Know. . . .

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My fundamentalist Granny likes to tell a story on herself about feeling smugly superior to a little Catholic housewife she knew when she was a young wife, on account of the exceptionally hideous portrait of Jesus displayed prominently in the woman's living room. One day in conversation, the woman happened to say she knew the painting wasn't an aesthetic treasure, but at least no one could doubt who was head of her household.
That left an indelible impression on my grandmother, who often resented the materialism of the corporate bosses she and my grandfather entertained in order to maintain his career, and wrestled with her conscience over what she perceived as compromises she made with her own faith (to my mind, more perceived than real, but that's another matter). She came to respect that tacky portrait as a bold, almost rebellious statement. From her description, the portrait was unquestionably a picture of the Sacred Heart. Maybe something like this.

So here's my fearlessly tacky homage to the Sacred Heart, whose feast is today. Here's a thorough if (ironically) somewhat passionless explanation of the devotion and its history. Don't forget what the Pope said about it just a few weeks ago. And, by all means, celebrate this great feast of Jesus' love. With prayer, sacraments -- possibly with ice cream.

Washington's New Archbishop

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A friend who attended the installation ceremony was awed by it. By reputation, he's a man of deep charity and a very clear teacher of the faith.

No doubt hoping for a little controversy on his first day, both local papers make a point of noting the Archb. shook hands with a certain losing presidential candidate, who also received communion at the mass. Kerry claims to be the new archbishop's personal friend, but I'm not sure a friend would have made himself the story on his buddy's big first day on the job.

Sears Tower Spared

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The FBI busted up a terror ring in Miami. Moral equivalency alert:
Several terrorism investigations have had south Florida links. Several of the Sept. 11 hijackers lived and trained in the area, including ringleader Mohamed Atta, and several plots by Cuban-Americans against Fidel Castro's government have been based in Miami.


Because killing 3000 innocent people is the same as overthrowing a malignant tyrant.

Bush Didn't Lie, People Didn't Fry

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Coalition forces have discovered more than 500 munitions loaded with sarin or mustard agents since 2003, according to Rick Santorum --and there are believed to be more. Here's the actual document. (Curtsy: lgf)

Save My Life, Just Don't Touch Me

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After 60 years being denied recognition by the International Red Cross, Israel's finally in. Curtsy: lgf.

Everybody Loves Gandhi

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Or anyway, they did. If his views on marriage and sex become widely known, perhaps he won't be so popular. Would that our politicians and jurists would memorize Gandhi's reply to a Planned Parenthood type trying to get him to concede a "health of the mother" exception for the use of contraceptives:

His reply? “No. One exception will lead to another till it finally becomes general.” Instead, Gandhi recommends that in these rare situations couples live apart if they are truly incapable of continence—a situation he was not ever willing to concede lightly. This statement was typical of Gandhi’s approach to these hard cases. “A wise judge will not give the wrong decision in the face of a hard case. He will allow himself to appear to have hardened his heart, because he knows that truest mercy lies in not making a bad law.”

Amen. And he was prophetic on this and related issues. Please do yourself a favor and go RTWT.

Potpourri of Popery, First Edition of Summer

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The much-gossiped-about shake-up of the curia has begun. Don't ask me what it means. I vaticanisti think it's significant, but I'm always a little hesitant to take their word. It doesn't offend me to think that politics plays a role in Church doings (JP the G thought the Holy Spirit worked through politics, too). But sometimes I think we miss what the Pope is doing by looking solely at politics (and I really don't associate the word "smack-down" with Pope Benedict, in spite of the funny t-shirts at the Ratzinger Fan Club) Anyway, as of Sept. 15, there will be a new Sec. of State and a new head of the Vatican City governate, and more changes are said to be on the way.

New encyclical rumors are gearing up too.

I've been waiting for this: the Corpus Christi homily.

Plus Zenit has the last two audiences --one on St. Andrew last week, and yesterday's on St. James --which he cut short to spare the public from the Roman heat wave. I was going to say he must wilt in the heat as I do, but apparently although he sent everyone home early, he himself remained in the square greeting various groups.

Mike To Bob: Thanks A Lot

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Jody Bottum has more on Md. Gov. Ehrlich's firing of Robert K. Smith (I posted here previously) for objecting to homosexuality while speaking on his own time as a private citizen.
One of Smith’s fellow board members, however, said it most succinctly, asserting, “To defend this point of view is beyond the pale.” That last phrase arrests the attention. What Governor Ehrlich and Smith’s colleagues on the WMATA board were saying is not just that they disagree with Smith about the moral quality of homosexual conduct, not just that Smith’s views are in error, not just that his views are unreasonable, but that they are immoral. Indeed, nothing less would justify Ehrlich’s decision to remove Smith. Ehrlich could hardly admit that Smith’s views were reasonable, the kind of thing that a person may in good faith believe even if Ehrlich himself disagreed, and yet nevertheless justify removing Smith from an office that has no significant connection to gay rights on the basis of those beliefs. No, what is being said here is that Smith’s views on homosexual conduct, which are the views of the Catholic religion and of a great many Americans (both religious and nonreligious), are, in the words of Smith’s former colleague, “beyond the pale”—beyond, that is to say, the range of beliefs that moral people might hold in just the same way that, say, racist beliefs are beyond the pale. Only bigots think that way.


Frankly, I think what caused people to come unglued was the use of the word "deviant," which for some reason has come to seem perjorative, although I don't see how it's any different from the Catechism's use of the word "disordered." And Ehrlich, running for re-election, is absolutely desperate to be portrayed as a "moderate" (as opposed to a Conservative). I took part in what turned out to be a push-poll run by the Gov.'s re-election campaign, and the obvious right answer to every question was, "Gov. Bob Ehrlich's moderate position. . . ." The extremist, liberal or out-of-the-mainstream views of his potential opponents came up, but in a long poll, the word "Conservative" never came up.


Be that as it may, a commenter over at No Left Turns raises an interesting question about the effect the Gov.'s precipitous move will have on the Senate campaign of Ehrlich's Lt. Gov., Michael Steele -- a devout RC who presumably shares the "unacceptable" position of Robert K. Smith. Ehrlich may have cost Steele the election, because surely some reporter will ask him to characterize the Gov's move (it's the first question I'd ask).
UPDATE: Yup. It wuz "deviant" what done it; and Steele's already been asked to comment.

"General Retreat"

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Drehery, Drehery, Quite Contrary

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Doug Jeffrey's opened a can of whup-ass on Crunchy Cons. Enjoy. The argument comes down to: Dreher seems well-intentioned, but he should read more. (Curtsy: No Left Turns.)
I could go off on two major tangents here. One would be how Calvin Coolidge is my third favorite president. (An extended quotation from him in Jeffrey's piece prompts that remark.)
The second would be that the reason Dreher so gets under my skin is that he reminds me of a certain prestigious Catholic scholar who is forever rebuking America when it's obvious from all he says that he's never seriously read any of the Founders. Fine: you can't be an expert in everything; but then don't presume to teach the founding to young people. Grrr.
Rather than vere off, however, I'll simply say the Jeffrey piece reminded me that Gilbert Meilaender also had an excellent review of Crunchy Cons in an old First Things issue. Should be on-line by now. Ah, yes: Hold the Granola.
And this from a woman who looks forward to organic home-grown tomatoes in mere days.

We'll Bear This In Mind Should You Need Assisted Living

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They look harmless and they act sweet, but Grandmas'll knife ya in the back as soon as lookitcha. No sooner had I accustomed the kids to picking up their rooms before bed than Grandma helpfully sent them this article.
Gritty rats and mice living in sewers and farms seem to have healthier immune systems than their squeaky clean cousins that frolic in cushy antiseptic labs, two studies indicate. The lesson for humans: Clean living may make us sick.


Thanks heaps, Gram!

See What Happens Without Midnight Basketball?

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Zarqawi was collecting unemployment in India. (Curtsy: ninme)

Rather the perfect storm of Conservative boogie-men, was he not? Not only was he a terrorist, he was an illegal alien, a welfare cheat, & rather kinky. If they turn up evidence he was also a liturgist, I'd say he was evil incarnate.

Ryskind Two-Fer

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"Thought Patterns"
and --busy week, multiple deadlines, letting the pictures do the talking--
"The Real Big Easy"

"Environmental Experts"

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Green Press Release

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Sometimes you hit "send" prematurely. The Philadelphia Inquirer notes the latest Greenpeace anti-nuke message:
In the twenty years since the Chernobyl tragedy, the world's worst nuclear accident, there have been nearly [FILL IN ALARMIST AND ARMAGEDDONIST FACTOID HERE].


Curtsy to The Remedy.

Soft On Murderous Tyrants, Tough On Homeschoolers

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Not that I needed another reason to oppose the UN, but did you know it's crusading against homeschooling? The editor of the Brussels Journal is being prosecuted by Belgian authorities for failing to sign the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. A bizarre story.

Fired For Being Catholic

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MD's Gov. Ehrlich fired his representative on the local transportation board for saying homosexuality is "deviant" while appearing as a private citizen on a local tv show.

Homosexual behavior, in my view, is deviant," he [Robert Smith] said. "I'm a Roman Catholic." Smith said his comments had been part of a discussion about a proposed ban on same-sex marriage. "The comments I make in public outside of my [Metro board job] I'm entitled to make," he said. His personal beliefs, he said, have "absolutely nothing to do with running trains and buses and have not affected my actions or decisions on this board.

Ehrlich is desperate to portray himself as a "moderate" in Lefty Md. But this move is highly immoderate. Who wants to bet the ACLU declines to get involved in this obvious breech of free speech?

SCOTUS Strikes Down Another Precious Right

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The right to have time to flush your drug stash before the police can find it was severely curtailed yesterday. This never would have happened if Sandra D. were still around, says the NYT.

Roller Coasters v. Merry-Go-Rounds

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Anyone remember Ron Howard's Parenthood from several years back? It was the story of an extended family of more or less broken people anchored by one solid marriage, represented by Steve Martin & Mary Steenburgen. Martin plays the quintessential good guy, suffering because he's underappreciated and tired of being considered boring. The film culminates in an argument Martin has with his wife when they discover she's expecting another kid he doesn't think they can handle. In the middle of the fight, the dotty grandmother interrupts with an out-of-place reminiscence about her first time on a roller-coaster.

I never knew you could be so frightened and exhilarated, thrilled and anxious all at the same time, she recalls. After that, I could never understand why anyone would go on the merry-go-round. That just goes around.

Amy Welborn has two posts up about what one might call the roller-coaster v. the merry-go-round view of life, both well worth reading in themselves and for the links they contain. For a Slate debate about whether or not to have children, go here. (Hint: the sleepless nights and diapers you so fear do not last very long.) And for a collection of reflections about life not ever turning out the way we expect, go here. Have you followed the case of the mom who strangled her autistic child? News reports have emphasized the difficulties of raising such a child, but scroll down in Amy's post to read what the girl's grandfather (and primary care-giver) says about that.

Wasn't That The Whole Point?

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Thanks to the frequent reader sent me this link. They shut down an abortion clinic in Alabama because a nurse gave a medicine that resulted in the death of a baby.

Cannibalism In Connecticut

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Joe Lieberman may be driven out of the Democratic Party. He'd make an excellent RINO.

Promises, Promises

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I wasn't Catholic at the time I attended Catholic high school, but what I most remember about "youth ministry" is how much my friends (who for the most part were Catholic) and I despised any adults who tried to be "relevant" to us. That and projects aimed at raising self-esteem. Hated those. By the time I was 9 I already figured the meaning of life had to be more than "Me. Me. Me." Mike Aquilina describes the successful youth ministry of the Church Fathers --capable of inspiring thousands of conversions and even martyrdoms among the young.
How did the Fathers do it?
They made wild promises.
They promised young people great things, like persecution, lower social status, public ridicule, severely limited employment opportunities, frequent fasting, a high risk of jail and torture, and maybe, just maybe, an early, violent death at the hands of their pagan rulers. The Fathers looked young people in the eye and called them to live purely in the midst of a pornographic culture. They looked at some young men and women and boldly told them they had a calling to virginity. And it worked. Even the pagans noticed how well it worked.
That's what the drive-by media never understand when they cover World Youth Day or similar events. No one's going to give himself over for something easy; people --especially young people-- need a big dream, something that's worthy of engaging the whole heart. Engaging the young has nothing to do with teaching them hippie hymns beloved of Boomers. It's a matter of making wild promises.

People Are Sheep

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"Life's Disappointments" From The Ryskind Sketchbook.

A week ago everything was dire, we were about to lose in Iraq, Bush was a big-spending loser. Now he's the man and Republicans love him again. Good thing our fearless leader, at least, steers himself by convictions rather than emotions. In addition to Rove/Zarqawi/Iraqi cabinet news, the deficit may be cut in half three years early, in spite of the daily talkers' complaining about Bush's lack of control of the budget. Instapundit quips the NYT headline will be:

Bush deficit reduction plan falls off-schedule.

Read Hitch on Zarqawi here and here. It should really go in a "No Connection" post, but I have family visiting. No time for multiple postings. Go read ninme for lots o' other stuff I'd comment on time permitting. Like what scientists really think of algore's movie. A million protesters against appeasement in Spain. And scroll down for "Sniffle XIX," in which Oz once again vies for my affections.

Ciao, Roma

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Happy Trinity Sunday! Some final tidbits on last Sunday's feast of Pentecost in Rome.

Italy has changed since I first set foot there 20 years ago. For the good.

Then, I arrived with a group of fellow students to be greeted by Uzi-wielding Italian soldiers with guard dogs, and found a country with exquisite empty churches. Unless you inherited from the Medici (and kept it), finances were difficult. Hardly any Italians had children. Slowly, it changed. Could it be that JPG and the movements-quite active in Italy-brought about a true renaissance?

Last week, I went to church with young, happy, Italian teens, heard babies and toddlers babbling in Italian, and stood to pray with married couples (with rings). AMEN. Nice to have you back.

Now let’s work on making Rome an affordable real estate venture. How about buying around the Trevi for a cool million Euros? Functioning fountain, just cleaned.

Tricolor Uniform Blues

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One of the exhibits open at St. Peter’s (or San Pietro—let’s just give into the desire to throw in a phrase or 2 in Italian) gave the history of the Swiss Guards.

Also, for your next trip to Roma, please note that the dress code excludes baring your midriff. Arms, legs and tummies must be covered.

I can live with this.

Bone Crushing Audience with B16

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With RC2 out for a few days, I'm going to give you the scoop on my recent adventures in the Eternal City.

Visiting the Pope is exhilarating, but can be painful. Case in point, one of my traveling companions is now sporting bruised ribs because she leaned across a metal barrier to shake B16's hand and so did everyone in back of her. OUCH!

The spirit in the city was enthusiastic, peaceful, happy and PATIENT. Archbishop Rylko, President of the Pontifical Council on the Laity, opened with these remarks.

Here is my favorite part:

The movements and new communities have gathered here to say once again to the Successor of Peter: We are ready for the mission! The Church can count on us!

The Pope and bishops can count on us!


My Ann Coulter Moment?

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"As Promised" from The Ryskind Sketchbook
I'm not convinced this isn't my gallows humor trumping my sense of charity and decency, but a conspirator has egged me on and I am weak. Forgive me.

St. Michael of Chertoff?

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Heh.
And with that I bid you adieu for a few days. This weekend would be an excellent time for SingleGal to post her eyewitness account of Pentecost in Rome. Hint, hint.

Thursday Ratzinblogging

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B16 to patrons of the Vatican Museums:
In every age Christians have sought to give expression to faith’s vision of the beauty and order of God’s creation, the nobility of our vocation as men and women made in his image and likeness, and the promise of a cosmos redeemed and transfigured by the grace of Christ. The artistic treasures which surround us are not simply impressive monuments of a distant past. Rather, for the hundreds of thousands of visitors who contemplate them year after year, they stand as a perennial witness to the Church’s unchanging faith in the Triune God who, in the memorable phrase of Saint Augustine, is himself "Beauty ever ancient, ever new."


It was just a swift greeting, but I think it's a salutary reminder that renewal of the arts will come when Christians return to being patrons of the arts, rather than mere critics. (And buying tschotchkes from the "painter of light" does not count.)

Zenit has a full translation of yesterday's audience, which we might call "Peter, part II." Speaking of Simon's change to the name Peter, the Pope teaches:
With the exception of the nickname "sons of thunder," addressed in a specific circumstance to the sons of Zebedee (cf. Mark 3:17), and that afterward he would not use, he never attributed a new name to one of his disciples. He did so, however, with Simon, calling him Cephas, a name that was later translated into Greek as "Petros," in Latin "Petrus." And it was translated precisely because it was not just a name; it was a "mandate" that Petrus thus received from the Lord. The new name "Petrus" will return on several occasions in the Gospels and will end by replacing his original name, Simon. This detail is of particular importance if one keeps in mind that, in the Old Testament, a change of name announced in general the conferring of a mission


The remainder of the short talk goes through the numerous "clues" in the Gospel to Peter's primacy. One for your "where is that in the Bible?" files.

Much Ado About Nothing

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It is a truth universally acknowledged that Iraq never had any WMD ("Bush lied. . . ."). Therefore this memo to Uday written 6 months before the war about elaborate steps taken to bury something is probably about . . . pirate treasure. Curtsy to Powerline.

Nice To See The Good Guys Smiling

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Got 'im. Signs we will prevail: rejoicing over this news in the streets of Baghdad; the fact that Sunni informants told the Iraqi police where he was --a triumph for them and an indicator of their abilities. One thing I would like to know:
Casey said Zarqawi's identity was confirmed by "fingerprint verification, facial recognition and known scars."

How does it happen that we always have bad guys' fingerprints on file?

UPDATE: Omar in Iraq has a few more details.

"Clarification"

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Were He Really Ambitious, He'd Run For Editor

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WaPo offers a bemused Style profile of Sen. Brownback --its bemusement as usual revealing far more about WaPo staffers than about the alleged subject of the profile. Then again, it's always about WaPo. Our stories: so groundbreaking! Our opinions: so noble! Our sense of humor: so droll we slay ourselves! Have we mentioned yet today that we broke Watergate? They hint there's something un-Christian about presidential ambition.

But the A-section shows where power really lies. Behold the Leader of the Free World grovelling before our ink-stained masters, pleading that they not reveal our war plans to the enemy.
The Post has not published the names of the East European countries involved in the covert program, at the request of senior U.S. officials, including a direct appeal from President Bush. They argued that the disclosure might disrupt counterterrorism efforts in those countries and elsewhere and make them targets of possible terrorist retaliation.

They comply about as well as Iran. Hey, what's it to us how long this struggle is prolonged by our careless revelation of covert tactics? Why should we feel any responsibility for the lives of soldiers and allies fighting a war our editorial page called for? The world will little note nor long remember whether the peoples of the Middle East ever breathed free. But it will not forget our Pulitzer Prizes, because we won't let 'em.
Remember when Geraldo was rebuked for revealing troop positions? Now we've got a battallion of Geraldos and no one gets rebuked. If we are going to have our foreign policy run not by the President but by the media, shouldn't News Editor at least be an elected position?

Saddam Really Is Hitler

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Can't resist giving you just one more piece of the Bernard Lewis interview. Ba'athism is all France's fault! I knew it! He's describing how Islam was never despotic until it started adopting all the worst traditions of Europe:
In 1940, the government of France decided to surrender and, in effect, changed sides in the war. The greater part of the colonial empire was beyond the reach of the Axis, and the governors therefore had a free choice: Vichy or de Gaulle. The overwhelming majority chose Vichy, including — and this is what concerns us specifically — the governor, high commissioner, he was called, of the French mandated territory of Syria-Lebanon. So, Syria-Lebanon was wide open to the Nazis, and they moved in on a large scale, not with troops, because that would have been too noticeable, but with propaganda of every kind. It was then the roots of Ba'athism were laid and the first organizations were formed, which ultimately developed into the Ba'ath Party. It was then that the Nazi style ofideology and government became known, eagerly embraced simply because it was anti-Western rather than because of inherent attraction. From Syria, they succeeded in spreading it to Iraq, where they even set up a Nazi-style government for a while, headed by Rashid Ali. It was possible to deal with that, and they were driven out of the Middle East. But after the war, the Western allies also left and the Soviets moved in, taking the place of the Nazis as a champion against the West. To switch from the Nazi to the communist model required only minor adjustments.

And from there he goes on to say that those who say Arabs can't be democratic are full of beans, because despotism is actually an historical novelty which the people might rather easily throw off. Now are you gonna go RTWT?

Git.

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Read this Pew Forum conference with Bernard Lewis on the clash of civilizations or I will post the whole thing right here. Off you go now. Spit-spot. Curtsy: Hugh Hewitt.

UPDATE: Every paragraph makes an interesting point, but I decided to give you one example so you really will go RTWT. From his discussion of the Danish cartoon hullabaloo:

What is the range of jurisdiction of Muslim law? And here you have two opinions. According to the Shi'a and a minority among the Sunnis, Muslim law applies to Muslims wherever they may be in the world. A Muslim who commits an offense against Muslim law, wherever he may be in the world, is subject to Muslim law and must therefore be punished in accordance with Muslim law. The majority Sunni view is that Muslim law only applies in countries under Muslim government. What happens outside is no concern of the Muslim authorities. One distinguished jurist makes his point with an extreme example: A Muslim traveling in the lands of the unbelievers commits robbery and murder. He returns to the lands of Islam with his loot. No action can be taken against him or against his loot because the offense was committed outside the jurisdiction of Islam, and it is therefore up to the juridical and legal authorities of the infidels to take action, if they can and will. Here you have two different opinions relating to an offense committed by a Muslim. That is not the case for the Danish cartoons. This is an offense committed by a non-Muslim. And here the plot thickens. This is discussed by all of the juridical authorities only in the case of a non-Muslim subject of a Muslim state. If a non-Muslim subject of a Muslim state says or does something offensive to the Prophet, he is to be tried —accused, tried, and if necessary, punished. The jurists on the whole tend to take a rather mild view of this offense. They say, well, he is not a Muslim; he doesn't accept Mohammed as the Prophet; we know that. So saying that Mohammed is no prophet does not constitute this offense. It has to be more specifically insulting than that. And, as I say, there is an elaborate juridical literature and case law on this subject.
Here's where it gets really interesting:
What is never discussed at all — it is never considered — is an offense committed by a non-Muslim in a non-Muslim country. That, according to the unanimous opinion of all of the doctors of the holy law is no concern of Islamic law, which brings us back to the case of Denmark. Does this mean that Denmark, along with the rest of Europe is now considered part of the Islamic lands, and that the Danes, like the rest, are therefore dhimmis, non-Muslim subjects of the Muslim state? I think this is an interesting question, which can lead to several possible lines of inquiry.

Ok, really now: git.

"God Bless Capt. Media"

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Ninme, too, is having what she calls a "Mrs. Alito" moment. Read her post and the links therein.

Just A Number

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First of all, today is 6/6/06, not 6/6/6, so everyone just chill.
Secondly, St. John wasn't referring to the Devil, but using Hebrew gematria to refer to Nero (the article is a good summary of various "end-times" theories, including the Catholic approach) in a coded note to persecuted Christians. So unless you're time-travelling to Imperial Rome, I wouldn't be more concerned about demonic activity today than you were yesterday. "666" is mostly something for teens to have tatooed on themselves to freak you out.

On the other hand, I apparently do live in the City of Satan:
to the trained eye, the upside-down star, apparently known as the Devil's Goathead of Mendes, "one of the most important types of the five-pointed Devil's Pentagram," is right there staring at us, we are told. "There is 666 evident in the most important top three circles of the Goathead -- Dupont Circle, Scott Circle, and Logan Circle. Each of these streets has six major streets coming into them from all angles of the circle. This type of encoding is so typical of the occultist." Most important, however, the "Southernmost point, the spiritual point, is precisely centered on the White House. . . . The meaning is all too clear."

Goathead of . . .Mendes? No wonder Bush the Great Satan is soft on immigration!

Those Mean Ol' Men Are At It Again

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"Vatican Issues Sweeping Condemnations." Hoo boy, what are they against this time?
The document did not break any new ground but summarized traditional Vatican positions.


No! Furthermore:
The Vatican insists sexual abstinence is the only sure way to fight AIDS.

Love that "insists"? What is with these people --clinging to an obvious biological fact? One that even the experts in the field are beginning to acknowledge?
Meanwhile, the document itself isn't yet available on the website, but the Vatican's summary makes it clear that it's a teaching document and not a "condemnation" as such of anything. Rather, it presents an answer to the questions: what is procreation and how does it contribute to human flourishing? And the answer will naturally preclude certain behaviors.

That Would Not Have Been My Answer

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Quick: what are the first two words you think of when you read, "Canada"? Wrong. The right answer, according to our State Dept. is "terror haven" --and not just because of the big bust up yonder a few days ago. Curtsy to Hugh Hewitt.

Glorifying Parochial Self-Absorption

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Mark Steyn says stay the course:
In the run-up to March 2003, there were respectable cases to be made for and against the Iraq war. Nothing that happened at Haditha alters either argument. And, if you're one of the ever swelling numbers of molting hawks among the media, the political class and the American people for whom Haditha is the final straw, that's not a sign of your belated moral integrity but of your fundamental unseriousness.

RTWT, but it ends thus:
A superpower that wallows in paranoia and glorifies self-loathing cannot endure and doesn't deserve to.

I don't think it will come to that, but if it should happen that we lose heart and abandon the Iraqis (again), I wonder whether it would ever again be moral for a U.S. President to send troops into battle? Because such a move would signal to me that the Press can and will always bring down any war effort. If the press makes war unwinnable, it wouldn't be moral to fight, right?

How Many Divisions Has The Pope?

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And these are just some of the latest recruits! Between 375,000 & half a million folks got to party with the Pope for Pentecost this past weekend. Here's the Pope's message to the Movements (I'll post the official translation when it's available), which is not only an interesting reflection on Pentecost as a celebration of creation --not simply the creation of the Church-- but also a meditation on the Prodigal Son and what the parable teaches about liberty.

The themes of life and liberty are linked in the story of the prodigal son. He wanted to live and therefore he wanted to be completely free. To be free, in this view, is to do as one pleases – not to have to accept any criteria other than from oneself. To follow only my desire and my will. Who lives that way will soon encounter someone else who wishes to live the same way. The necessary consequence of such a selfish view of freedom is violence, the reciprocal destruction of both liberty and life.

Instead, Sacred Scripture links the concept of liberty with that of filiality: ”You have not received the spirit of slavery to fall back in fear, but you have received the spirit of adopted sons through which we can cry, 'Abba! Father!’” (Rm 8.15). What does this mean?
[snip]
the Holy Spirit makes us sons and daughters of God. He involves us in God’s own responsibility for His world, for all of humanity. He teaches us to look at the world, at others and at ourselves with the eyes of God. We do good not as slaves who are not free to do otherwise, but we do good because we personally bear responsibility for the whole, because we love truth and goodness, because we love God himself and therefore even His creatures. This is the true freedom to which the Holy Spirit wants to lead us. The church movements wish to be and should be schools of freedom, of this true freedom. In such schools we want to learn true freedom, not that of slaves who aim to cut a piece of the cake for themselves even if this will mean that others will not have a share. We want geunine freedom, that of heirs, the freedom of the children of God.



Benedict sees the new movements as schools of freedom in the Holy Spirit. Do RTWT.
His homily for Pentecost is at Zenit (documents). Also well worth reading. Here's the most provocative thing he says there:
Before the ascension to heaven, "he charged them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father" (cf. Acts 1:4-5); that is, he asked them to stay together to prepare themselves to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And they gathered in prayer with Mary in the Cenacle, while awaiting this promised event (cf. Acts 1:14). To stay together was the condition Jesus placed to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit; the premise of their harmony was prolonged prayer. In this way we are offered a formidable lesson for every Christian community.


The Pope loves the new movements (he's said to be particularly close to C&L)and knows them well. Vatican Radio: not so much? According to a friend who watched on EWTN, which was using the VR feed, the commentator described Regnum Christi as "a movement within a movement" --just one arm of the broader movement called Opus Dei. Um. No. DVC notwithstanding, Opus Dei the movement (actually, I think they aren't technically a movement, but a "personal prelature," although don't ask me to explain the difference) isn't behind all the new movements, although the ones approved by the Church are all part of the mysterious opus Dei.
We await SingleGal's firsthand report once she recovers from jetlag.

Strict Parents Make You Fat

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According to a new study, strict parents are 5 times as likely as others to raise fat kids. I was prepared to denounce this as another volley in the perpetual war on families, until I read that permissive parents are also highly likely to raise tubbies. Well that makes sense. In spite of their radically different styles, both extremes of control and permissiveness are about the parents: how can I manage this kid with the least possible hassle to myself?

Child-rearing isn't fundamentally a management project, however. It's a matter of loving and being present to the child, helping him to form in himself the virtues that he needs. That obviously won't happen if the kid never hears a firm "no," but it equally won't happen if the kid is never permitted to make any decisions on his own --either way, the kid never gets to develop his interior life.

(There might also be the little question of Americans falling for studies suggesting there's a minimum daily chocolate requirement.)

Apparently Not

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A man lowered himself into the lion's den at the Kiev zoo -- to test whether or not God exists.

Why Do They Hate Canada?

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Michelle Malkin has a good round-up on the Canadian terror bust.

Additions to the Potpourri

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The previous post was so long, I decided not to "update" but to do a new post. First: I've been meaning to mention that it's June, month dedicated to the Sacred Heart, and therefore worth noting that Benedict recently asked the Jesuits to promote that devotion. Here's the letter (Spanish) and an English-language story. This has been on my mind recently because the statutes of Regnum Christi, to which I belong, emphasize devotion to the Sacred Heart as the surest means of coming to what's known in American parlance as "a personal relationship with Jesus Christ." For those of us who associate this devotion mostly with hideous artwork, it can be hard to see the connection, but here's what the Pope says:
Contemplation of the "pierced side of the Redeemer," the Pope wrote, is an apt way of "fixing our gaze on Him," and recognizing his love. The mystery of Christ's love, he continued, is "the content of all true Christian spirituality and devotion." Pope Benedict added: "In fact, being Christian is only possible with our gaze fixed on the cross of our Redeemer."
Recognizing and accepting God's love, the Pontiff continued, leads to an inner transformation. "The experience of God's love is lived by man as a 'call' to which he must respond." Thus contemplation of the Sacred heart "safeguards us from the risk of closing in on ourselves, and makes us open to a life lived for others." Devotion to the Sacred Heart, the Pope concluded, "cannot then be considered as a passing form of veneration or devotion." Rather, it is "irreplaceable for a living relationship with God."

I'd no idea the Jesuits had any connection to the Sacred Heart devotion (apart from the general sense in which all Catholics are), but spreading it is an official part of their mission. See? Learn something new every day.

On a radically different note, ninme just sent me this commentary on the Pope's address at Auschwitz, discussed previously in this space. The Pope's address itself is powerful, and I've been asking myself why it was so, when usually references to the Shoah leave me flat. Don't get me wrong, my blood is Jewish enough for the ovens, so I feel a personal connection to the victims, but I get tired of the "reductio ad Hitleram" as some wag called it. Especially since no one is more apt to say "never again" than someone advocating some new fascist cause.

Take this guy, for instance (another curtsy ninme's way). He writes:
no amount of theological reflection will render future generations immune from the atavistic forces that aimed at the destruction of every last Jew in Europe, and to which the Church certainly made a historical contribution. I have no interest at all in the fortunes of Judaism, but a great concern in the resilience of historically persecuted peoples. Only by removing the accumulated detritus of malign ideologies can that happen.

As I wrote in ninme's combox, it's interesting that his answer to the disgusting claim "the Jews are Christ-killers" is the equally disgusting claim "the Christians are Jew-killers." I'd like to know what final solution for "removing accumulated detritus" he and his editors propose. In the meanwhile, he utterly fails to engage what Benedict said, including this:
Deep down, those vicious criminals, by wiping out this people, wanted to kill the God who called Abraham, who spoke on Sinai and laid down principles to serve as a guide for mankind, principles that are eternally valid. If this people, by its very existence, was a witness to the God who spoke to humanity and took us to himself, then that God finally had to die and power had to belong to man alone - to those men, who thought that by force they had made themselves masters of the world. By destroying Israel, by the Shoah, they ultimately wanted to tear up the taproot of the Christian faith and to replace it with a faith of their own invention: faith in the rule of man, the rule of the powerful.
Coming back to the point of the original commentary, what makes the Pope's words powerful is that he resists enlisting the Holocaust as an argument in some current debate, but instead listens to what it has to say to us.

Potpourri of Popery, Pentecost Edition

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Mr. Wheat & I attended (with toddler in tow & while I was expecting #2 and miserably ill, no less) the first Pentecost gathering of the so-called "new movements." It was a moving experience, as Rome was so packed with joy-filled practicing Catholics, it really did put one in mind of Peter's preaching to the masses in Acts of the Apostles. The papal events (where the crowd spilled out of piazza s. Pietro down the via d. Conciliazone to the Tiber) were inspiring, but almost as amazing was the feeling that Rome had been taken over for a weekend by saints. The crowds were tremendous --we had to put the toddler on our shoulders so he could breathe-- but so was their spirit. I don't recall a cross word or even a frown or complaint amid all the jostling and long waits. And when no event was taking place, wherever you went in Rome you'd find some informal gathering of these great "families" of Catholics --each united in the same faith, the same love of the Church and the Holy Father, yet each with a distinctive characteristic, too. Besides the usual suspects, we learned there are many, many more movements than we knew, and by the end of the weekend we felt we could recognize the members of the respective groups not only by their color-coded scarves or t-shirts, but just by a certain spirit about them. They say a charism is more caught than taught, and I have to agree. I couldn't put into words the difference between a member of Emanuelle and C&L, but you can sense it as soon as you see them.

This year's theme is "the beauty of being a Christian and the joy of communicating this," which would have been an apt theme for the previous one, too. I'd give about anything to be there now, but will have to make do with the Vigil mass of Pentecost at the Basilica, hosted for new movements by Cardinal McCarrick. At least SingleGal is there, and presumably she'll fill us in when she returns. In the meanwhile, we can catch up with all things Benedict and hope she's drinking extra cappucini on our behalf.

From his trip to Poland:
  • Homily at PIƁSUDZKI SQUARE. Posted previously, but here again because it's an excellent primer for Pentecost.
  • Homily in Krakow. A lovely reflection on the Ascension (apparently the first time a Pope has celebrated Ascension Thursday on a Sunday, if you're keeping score).
we hear once again this question from the Acts of the Apostles. This time it is directed to all of us: “Why do you stand looking up to heaven?” The answer to this question involves the fundamental truth about the life and destiny of every man and woman. The question has to do with our attitude to two basic realities which shape every human life: earth and heaven. First, the earth: “Why do you stand?” - Why are you here on earth?
And while we're at it:
It's the feast of the Ugandan martyrs, chief of whom, St. Charles Lwanga, was slain chiefly for resisting the advances of a pederast king. Saints for our times?
Goodness. I'm less than half his age and can't keep up with the Holy Father. And I'm just reading the addresses he has to travel to deliver.

First Reports Are Always Wrong

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A smart-aleck reader asks if I am afraid to wade into the Haditha incident. Answer: yes, because it's not clear what the facts are at this point, and as regular readers know, a particular bugaboo of mine is the reportorial climate that relies on rumor and innuendo when filing stories. To conclude facts not in evidence is not merely an assault on charity (because it can hurt the reputations of innocent people --and where war is concerned, it can endanger lives and entire missions); it's equally an assualt on reason. Follow the facts where they lead, but let it be facts that we follow, not anonymous sources drawing conclusions from second-hand reports about ongoing investigations into a story from a reporter whose cousin fights for the insurgents (maybe).

But I do have an opinion about the reporting of the Haditha incident so far, and lucky for me, someone's already written it for me. Go here. Curtsy to Commander Salamander, who's post on the topic is also worth a look-see and has other links. And Curtsy for the link to him from QoL.

UPDATE: Hmmm. See what I mean about coverage? Times (UK) crops a photo of people killed by insurgents and says they were killed by our marines (don't look if you're squeamish).
UPDATE 2: At least they've apologized. But scroll through the whole link for more.

Somebody Sic A Priest On This Man

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Hitch is married, has three daughters, is against abortion and teaches his kids to read the Bible? Who knew? Plus he hid Salman Rushdie in his apartment until MoDo outed him --and he's endured death threats ever since.
It's a depressing week when I don't get them," he says. "No bravado here. I think of it as a compliment, and it's the least I can do considering the risks other people take. It's not guarding a polling station in Anbar Province in the hot sun. I'm doing what I think is the civic minimum. Who in the United States would not be willing to say, 'I wouldn't mind these people hating me personally?


On the Bible:
You are not educated if you don't know the Bible. You can't read Shakespeare or Milton without it, even if there was nothing else of it. And with the schools now, that's what I hate about secular relativism. They're afraid of insurance liability. They don't even teach it as a document. They stay out of the whole thing to avoid controversy. So kids can't quote the King James Bible. That's terrible. And I quite understand Christian parents who want to protect their children from a nihilistic solution where there's no way of knowing what's been discussed.


On abortion:
I'm a materialist and I'm a parent. I've looked at sonograms, and I don't know a lot of embryology but I know enough. The concept 'unborn child' seems to me to be a factual statement.

On Bush, whom he doesn't really like ("not my type"):
It is a war and we are in our life radically incompatible with totalitarianism, including the theocratic version. He understands that. And I can trust him while I sleep that he's not going to change his mind. This is not true of people who are supposedly more intelligent and better educated, like, for example, the senator from Massachusetts—either senator from Massachusetts—or many others."


Protests religion too much, I think. Whereas Rod Dreher seems to be on an arc that will take him out of the Church if he continues, Hitch is a prime candidate for a deathbed conversion.

Curtsy: Open Book Additional curtsy to ninme for Hitch's Memorial Day piece, which you should also read.

A Picture Is Worth An Entire 6 Months of Talk Radio

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"Thought Balloons" from The Ryskind Sketchbook.
That's all they've been saying for 6 months, right?

These Conversations Are Unrehearsed

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A curtsy to the reader who sent me this welcome respite from a ponderous topic I'm preparing to lecture on this evening. Back to pondering for me, but you'll enjoy these real-life conversations with DVC fans. Heck, I even like the introduction.
I used to think The Koran was the best book to read in the airport, simply because carrying it guarantees you’ll never get searched by airport security. Later, I decided that The Book of Mormon was better because it guarantees the person sitting next to you will never start a conversation during the flight. Now, I’ve decided – once and for all, I think – that The Da Vinci Code has both of them topped.

Go read why.