April 30, 2005
Love Thy Neighbor
Someone who shall rename nameless sent me an audio clip of his argument with a neighbor over the neighbor's dog. To preface what you are about to hear: the neighbor was eventually charged with assault over the incident. BE ADVISED: the following clip contains very adult language.
Oh, and I thought it would sound better with some background music. Enjoy. Apologies to Vangelis.
April 29, 2005
Protesting Thunder
I wrote here last Saturday about Thunder Over Louisville, our annual opening blast of the Kentucky Derby Festival. The above pictures are from that day; they are of protesters who thought it was a bad idea to feature military aircraft in the air show. It is important to remember that military aircraft have been a part of the show since its inception.
(Picture courtesy of LEO)
What I find most intriguing are the signs these protesters are carrying. Let's look at a couple of them:
Why are we dropping depleted uranium on Iraq?
Actually, hon, we're not "dropping" depleted uranium; it is generally the tip of a large 30mm round fired from an aircraft. Depleted uranium is incredibly hard and, therefore, will pierce a tank's armor. It is not used against soft targets. We were using depleted uranium in Iraq because the Iraqi Army had tanks.
Warplanes are not! "family entertainment".
Actually, they are. Several of our nieces and nephews watched the airshow from our house and they were very entertained by the loud noises and fast grey shapes flying over our house. They don't like them because they can drop bombs or fire missles; they think they're cool because they don't see that kind of thing every day. Thank God we live in a country where that is the case. Do you know why we don't see warplanes in our skies every day? Because planes like those in use over Louisville last Saturday have "dropped" depleted uranium and other ordinance in places all over the world so bad people couldn't drop things here.
No WMD in Louisville
There were no WMDs in Louisville that day. In fact, the only weapon I saw the entire day was the AIM-120 A/A missle being carried by one of the F-16s. Frankly, it doesn't have enough explosive on board to flatten my house, much less a city block. Aircraft without weapons are just expensive moving displays owned by the taxpayers and flown by volunteers who have families and probably love them very much.
War is not the answer.
Was is NOT the answer if you live in a society where you can take your hippy idealism to the streets and remain a free man. War HAS been the answer for millions of people who have known tyranny and genocide. Peace is not the abscence of war; it is a state of freedom and justice that is often, sadly, only acheived when bad people are destroyed.
So when I hear those GE turbofans scream over the house, I know what that sound represents. Too bad so many people don't get it.
April 28, 2005
Today In History
Since my voice is still on the mend, I've decided to type out today's foray into what was.
Today marks the 60th anniversary of Benito Mussolini's death. The Italian dictator (and the man who created facism, not Hitler) was 61. His mistress was with him that day and also died.
Mussolini actually lost power in Italy in 1943 soon after the Allied invasion. He was imprisoned, but a daring raid by German commandos helped him regain his freedom. He was placed in charge of northern Italy (the area not yet controlled by the Allies) as a puppet dictator.
As the end of the war approached in the spring of 1945, Mussolini tried to escape to Switzerland. Finding his way blocked by Italian partisans, he tried to sneak across the border into Austria dressed as a German soldier. He was caught and arrested. Wasting no time, the partisans drove him and his mistress to Milan, where they were shot. Their bodies were then hung up so that the adoring masses could beat them.
You can't say Italians don't have passion.
Losing Their Religion
The House has passed the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, which makes it illegal to transport an underage girl across state lines to have an abortion. This may seem like a trite issue, but 33 states have parental (or guardian) notification laws on the books, but traveling to a non-notification state bypasses that law. As you can imagine, pro-abortion groups are up in arms over this bill.
If you talk to most people who are pro-abortion (they prefer the more gentle “pro-choice”, but let’s be honest), they will automatically tell you about rape, incest and underage girls who shouldn’t be mothers. Rape and incest cases represent a tiny percentage of abortions in the United States (for biological reasons I won’t discuss here); most cases are either underage girls or women who don’t want to be inconvenienced by a baby. According to the CDC, 90% of the abortions in the United States involve women under 24 years of age. Since the CDC considers childbearing age to be 15-44, this means that 90% of the abortions in the US involve women 15-24 years old. Assuming an even distribution across that age range, this means that 1/3 of that 90% involves underage girls. With this in mind, let’s look at some numbers:
Again, according to the CDC, there were nearly 900,000 abortions in the United States in 1998. However, four states (including California) did not report their numbers from that year. National Right to Life gives the figure for that year as 1.5 million. To be fair, let’s use the number 1,000,000 to represent the number of abortions in the US every year.
90% of 1 million is 900,000. This is the number of abortions involving women 15-24.
30% of 900,000 is a little less than 300,000. That is the number of abortions involving underage women (15-17).
In the Kentuckiana area, the cost of a first trimester abortion is $400-$600. A second trimester abortion can be as much as $5000, but let’s use the first trimester number since the vast majority of abortions are performed in the first trimester. Using an average cost of $500, underage abortions in the US are a $150 MILLION a year industry.
No wonder NARAL and NOW are against parental notification. As the mouthpiece(s) of the abortion mills in this country, they have the most to lose if young girls are talked out of having abortions. And if a teenaged girl lives in a state where parental notification is the law then, by God, they need to make sure she can make a run for a state where no one will ask any pesky questions or introduce any doubts.
You would think that “pro-choice” groups would recognize the fact that minors are, legally, incapable of granting consent for almost anything in our society; abortion should be no different. But the murder of innocents has become a sacrament in their little fantasy cult, a token of stolen power which they will not cede. It long ago stopped being about choice and health.
April 27, 2005
Hooves On Cobblestone
I read with interest the text of Hugh Hewitt's speech to the L.A. Press Club last night(you'll have to search for it on his page; Hugh isn't into permalinks). He discussed the recent decision by GM to pull it's advertising from the LA Times and what that will mean to both the paper and other forms of media. To quote him: "Ten minutes before the Titantic hit the iceberg, it was the greatest ship the world had ever seen."
I have told many people that I believe print media, especially newspapers, will remain with us for a long, long time. A newspaper is cheap, can be taken anywhere, and is easily thrown away or recycled when you're finished with it. Newspaper content can be received via electronic means, but a laptop or an expensive PDA is not quite as flexible. My argument has always been that until something comes along that is as inexpensive and durable as the printed word, newspapers will remain.
I am now beginning to revise my opinion, and not for technological reasons. Thirty years ago, newspapers and the three TV networks defined news in the United States. But now, competition is beginning to show that none of these sources is "special" and that they suffer the same woes all non-competitive behemoths do---mainly, that they believe they are the only ones who can do what they do.
I can almost imagine a time when physical newspaper delivery is remembered with fondness by older people and laughed at by the young. If this seems foolhardy, ask yourself these two questions: how many papers do you subscribe to (and how often) and how many of your friends have a newspaper delivered to their home?
Crummy
My sore throat of yesterday turned into a fever and cough last night. I stayed home from work today and now I feel almost human. Sorry for the lack of posts; I may try to put something together later this evening.
April 26, 2005
A New Day
I received a call this evening from a woman whose PC is sitting here on my computer room floor. It's a 550Mhz K6-2 running Windows 98, which isn't too bad with regard to performance. But this woman is starting her own business and is in need of a laptop. She was struggling with whether or not spend any money on the old machine (it needs some spyware removed and a new CD burner installed). Our conversation turned from the issue at hand to her concerns about learning a new OS (Windows XP) and her worries about greater virus and spyware exposure with a new broadband connection.
Before I knew it, a question was crossing my lips, a question I have never asked a paying customer, "Have you ever thought about buying a Mac?"
I have built and upgraded several hundred PCs in the past decade. They are familiar territory to me, and I could probably build one blindfolded. I built the PC on which I am typing this and I am very happy with it. I don't feel bad or guilty for building Wintel machines all these years, as most of those I built from scratch are still in use and doing good work. But by asking this question, I realized that I have now crossed the Rubicon of PC repair. To put it simply, if my customer buys a new iBook, I will never hear from her again.
No viruses. No spyware. Almost no learning curve. I'll never make a dime.
And that's OK. I'm becoming a mac fan and I don't even own one.
Go figure.
Shop Talk
There will be no audio postings today and probably not tomorrow, either. My throat is raw, a feeling that is, to me, the worst thing you can experience. I hope to feel better by Thursday.
OOOPS!!!
Someone update that man, for goodness' sake! (Courtesy of Drudge):
President Bush raised eyebrows on Tuesday when he asked locals in Galveston, Texas: "Do you still have Splash Day?"
"Splash Day" is the annual "adult oriented enormous beach party" celebration on the Gulf Coast.
BUSH: Do you still have Splash Day?
(LAUGHTER)
BUSH: You have to be a baby boomer to know what I'm talking about.
(LAUGHTER)
BUSH: I'm not saying whether I came or not on Splash Day. I'm just saying, Do you have Splash Day?
(LAUGHTER)
Bush was unaware "Splash Day" is now a fully gay and lesbian event on the beaches.
April 25, 2005
...You Just Might Get It
When Howard Dean was chosen to head the DNC in February, I posted an open letter to him here in which I stated, with real honesty, that I wanted him to make his party stronger, if only so that Republicans would have to be more thoughtful and convincing in our approach to the things in which we believe.
As you may have heard by now, the former Vermont Governor is not doing very well. It seems that the weirdness he brought forth during his campaign for the Dem nomination has followed him to the DNC. His penchant for name-calling is, evidently, serving him well:
Dean has suggested that they (Republicans) are "evil." That they are "corrupt." He called them "brain-dead" during a stop in Toronto -- and while the Terri Schiavo case was still in the news. He has tagged Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) as a "liar." Last week, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that he mimicked a "drug-snorting Rush Limbaugh" at an event there.
I guess the Democratic base loves antics such as this, but the base is not what wins elections. They are decided, like it or not, by the much-baleyhooed "undecided voter". Most of these people consider themselves centerists or libertarians and aren't very impressed by either party. Will joking about drug addiction win them over? Maybe, but I wouldn't bet on it.
But his counterparts in the Republican National Committee have noticed. "It's odd that Howard Dean says he wants to earn the respect of those who live in the red states, but chooses to not only attack their views but attack them personally," RNC spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt said. "Americans want to hear an agenda, rather than name calling."
Amen. I want to believe that we still live in a nation where ideas are what win elections. If it has truly come down to good hair and who can play the dirtiest pool, then we don't have much time left.
April 24, 2005
Lessons Unlearned
This is worth a read. Do the Pentagon brass and our senior field commanders really, really have to make the same mistakes over and over again? I understand that this story is typical of the NY Times: make an assumption about the war based on the experience of one company. But these guys are the tip of the spear; if their experience is typical, then I'm worried.
Unrealistic Reality
President Bush is scheduled to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah on Monday at Bush's ranch. Many issues with be on the agenda, including the price of oil and the continuing war on terror. I can't help but yawn.
Saudi Arabia, despite recent election reforms, is a dictorial monarchy. The royal family maintains a careful balance between their European, Asian and American customers and their Muslim subjects. Religious police patrol the streets to ensure that women remain covered. Even under threat of an Iraqi invasion in 1991, the Saudi government asked allied chaplains to cover up their non-Muslim collar devices when out in public. All this while the royals play in the world's hot spots and live lives that even the most jaded Western consumer would consider decadent.
It is no secret that much of the money funding terrorism throughout the world originates in Saudi Arabia. There have been crackdowns, but the flow of funds continues. Without this money, individual cells would soon die away---the simple fact is that a covert, planned act of major terrorism is very expensive. Yet, we only hear about this money trail in passing, as if it has little to do with the crimes being committed.
What I would like to hear is the President telling the Crown Prince (not asking) that Saudi Arabia needs to begin to act like a nation who cares about ending the scourge of Islamic terrorism. Of course, we all know this will never happen. President Bush is not the first President to court these Princes barely four generations removed from their nomadic ancestors, nor will he be the last. But when will this charade end? How many more Americans are going to die before someone begins to point fingers?
This is not a time for subtle suggestions.
April 23, 2005
Sound Of No Monkeys Typing
Yesterday was only the second day this year I have not posted something. We're getting ready for our Thunder Over Louisville party, which isn't going to be very "outdoorsie" since it is now 47F and windy. You've gotta love the Ohio Valley. If things heat up later, I may do a bit of audioblogging with a crowd; we'll see how things go.
For those of you who are not fortunate enough to live here, know that Thunder Over Louisville is the largest fireworks show in the nation. It marks the beginning of the Derby Festival, a two-week partyfest culminating in some sort of horse race over at Churchill Downs, or so they tell me. Thunder also includes an air show; since we live very close to downtown Louisville (it's within easy walking distance), we get to see the entire show from our yard. There's something cool about a low-flying F-15 rattle your windows. UPS also does a low flyby with one of its Airbus aircraft. It looks a little unnatural.
April 21, 2005
When Punishment Smothers The Crime
Daniel, a member of the PC Gurus team, sent us a link to a story about the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act approved Tuesday by the House of Representatives. According to the article, the President is expected to sign it into law.
The article mentions that the penalty for videotaping a movie in a theater is the same as the average prison term for someone found guilty of manslaughter. So, in a legal sense, someone who kills a pedestrian while driving drunk is no worse than a kid with a camcorder at the local megaplex.
This is a prime example of how a small group of properly placed industry executives can control the legislative branch of our government. The RIAA and the MPAA already have all the makings of a private police force and, if this trend continues, they will eventually earn the right to impound every electronic device in your house suspected of harboring "illegal" material. I can hear the cry from those of you who have never downloaded anything even remotely questionable: if you don't do illegal downloading/filming/etc., you have nothing to worry about, right? Wrong. With lawyers being what they are, consider the following scenario:
The RIAA files suit against Apple Computer, Creative Labs, iRiver and Phillips Electronics for producing devices which make it easier for people to transport and use illegal copies of songs. The jury, made up of at least seven people who have never used an MP3 player (not an unreasonable number, given a random selection of Americans), finds in favor of the record industry. To avoid further problems, Apple changes the iPod so it will only play music containing its new proprietary protection schema, which means that you can no longer load songs from CDs (which you bought legally) to your iPod. Creative Labs stops selling players in the United States, Phillips gets out of the MP3 player business and iRiver goes under. Unreasonable? Maybe, but consider how many gun manufacturers have been sued because someone else misused their products.
Maybe that's what the RIAA and MPAA want: a society in which you have no way of recording, time-shifting or really owning any kind of media. You will simply pay to rent everything from reruns of "The Sopranos" to stills from Episode III of Star Wars. I can't help but think that the long-term goal has nothing to do with protecting artists and everything to do with an ever-increasing revenue stream.
Please don't misunderstand me: artists should get paid and people shouldn't practice copyright infringement. But when the lawmakers in our nation begin giving certain industries unheard of powers, it opens the door to far scarier things than three years in the slammer.
April 20, 2005
Yesterday In History
Yesterday (April 19th) was the tenth anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. Time prevented me from commenting on it then, and then I realized that I could probably add nothing new to what you saw and/or read yesterday. But my friend Hash, who many of you know through his comments here, sent me a poem he wrote about the tragic event. I present it here with his permission.
One Morning in April
I was sitting by a window
playing with my toys
oblivious to the world
and the sinister vehicle of hate
that drove by on the street.
I never felt the pain
never saw the flash
never heard the screams
never even realized
in that fleeting moment
what I had lost.
I never got the chance
to experience
the pain of what they call life.
I would not grow up
to be teased and tormented
by those so called
innocent children.
I would never be picked last
or be left out
on the playground.
I would never feel the shame
Of giving in to a bully.
I would never be berated
for not doing what comes easy to others.
I would never have
my tender heart broken
by my very first love.
I would never have to ask the question
- why I wasn't good enough.
I would never feel the sorrow
of someone close to me dying.
I would never grow up
to be disgruntled and disillusioned.
I would never have to see or hear
the Hate that people spew.
The very same hate
that twisted the mind
of a lost man
who knowingly ended my life
One morning in April.
Dedicated to a nameless, faceless and now forgotten child who died in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995.
No Surprise Here
It took less than a day for the MSM in the United States to start in on Pope Benedict XVI (it still feels odd to type that). The usual heavy-hitters have weighed in: the Washington Post, LA Times, Boston Globe and the New York Times are all, somehow, disappointed that this new Papa is not quite a liberal as they all wanted the new pope to be. In fact, he is pretty much the opposite of the what they wanted. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune ran to Notre Dame, the only outpost of Catholicism tolerable to the Left (HT: Hugh Hewitt):
"If he were elected, thousands upon thousands of Catholics in Europe and the United States would roll their eyes and retreat to the margins of the church,' the Rev. Richard P. McBrien, a Notre Dame theologian, had predicted earlier this week."
You know Fr. McBrien, even if you don't recognize his name. He is the ever-cynical, always-available priest from the learned, yet spiritually stunted little school in northern Indiana. He's been on 60 Minutes, Today, 20/20 and every other news program going. When he passes on, I suspect they will just play old video of him stating his assertions.
Pope Benedict is conservative, maybe more conservative than Pope John Paul. To me, this is a good thing, and not for the reasons you may suspect. I fervently believe the Church needs to re-evaluate some of its positions, but I also know that change comes slowly and is measured not in papal lifetimes, but in centuries. This is and always has been the Roman way.
Two people, both Catholic, recently told me that the laity and local priests should have more say in who is elected as pope. This seems neat and tidy and democratic and is, admittedly, very American. But there's a stumbling block, a huge wall over which we can not climb with good will----the Roman Catholic Church is NOT a democracy.
In a democracy, power ultimately lies with the people. We have the final say as to what laws are made or amended. But for Catholics, the Holy Trinity (that is, Father, Son and Holy Spirit) holds ultimate authority as far as things theological and spritual are concerned. American and European Catholics may not like this inconvienent fact (I struggle with it myself), but it is not up for negotiation. If you whittle that authority away, you whittle the Church away. You can not have the Church while you divorce yourself from Her.
There is another reason for the hard opinions towards our new Holy Father, and it is something that lives, increasingly, in the hearts of more and more Americans: the idea that we should all not only be able to do whatever we want, but that everyone else should give sanction to and have respect for our decisions. So it is with people's outlook on the Church: if I'm gay and want to marry my partner, I should not only have the right, but my church should say that it's OK. If I want an abortion, my church should give me approval. It's the coward's way of assuaging guilt.
Pope Benedict is 78, so we will probably not see a quarter-century papacy as we did with John Paul. But he will choose the next generations of cardinals, and those men will guide the church through the generation or so after his death. His decisions will be cautious and conservative (in the oldest sense of the word) because he knows that his mandates and words will live throughout the life of the Church.
Shop Talk
The next few days may be scarce on posting. I have much to say about the historical events of yesterday, but I am waiting to talk to someone whose work I wish to publish here. Also, one of my co-workers is out on jury duty, so I have been working very late. Expect a day with many posts in a few days. Thanks for your patience.
April 19, 2005
We Have A Pope
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger will now be known as Benedict XVI. Here's the scary thing: this was predicted to happen. Not the man, but the name. I'll try to find the exact link.
April 18, 2005
Racing For Dollars, Running For Free
In the past month, I have talked to several people who are either planning to move or have recently moved into a new home. In every case, the move was not connected to a need but rather a desire to move into a larger, or better, home. Everyone involved has either one child or is childless, so space is not a serious consideration.
I didn’t ask anyone the reason for his/her move, but my observations told me a lot in at least two of the cases. One of the couples is definitely worried about the neighborhood in which they live, meaning that they believe certain people live in certain places. I find this to be the dumbest, most shallow reason to move and this revelation of thought has made me re-evaluate my opinion of these two people. One of the other couples is moving because they have recently increased their household income dramatically and, for them, more money equals more house. I don’t see the logic of greater income automatically meaning greater debt, but, then, they’re not asking me to make their house payment.
In his homily before the Cardinal’s conclave today, Cardinal Ratzinger spoke about his fear that people in wealthy nations have begun to see themselves as merely consumers, living to buy more and more and working only to pay for the next “thing”. His Excellency is, I believe, correct in many cases. I have always believed that one of main reasons so many Americans require treatment for depression is because the race for happiness has replaced the race for contentment and that happiness has been redefined as the joy of ownership, something that quickly fades and must constantly be refreshed. I also believe that many people in our society define themselves (and others) by what they own. Keeping up with the Joneses has never meant so much.
I hope I haven’t left you with the impression that I am above rampant consumerism. I have probably spent a house down payment on various computer components that have quickly become worthless. I come down on myself pretty hard at times because my wife and I live in such a small house. It’s not that I desire a large house, but rather that I know people judge us on what and where we live. It seems silly to be concerned about such things and I shouldn’t let anyone else’s opinion bother me but, as the song says, if you succeed in doing this, please tell me how.
The men who employ me are truly wealthy (as opposed to just having really good credit). Yet, I wouldn’t trade places with any of them. Their work fills their lives to the point where they have to leave town in order to really have time off. While there may not be as much money to be had in it, there is something to be said for being able to leave work at work. I begrudge no one their wealth or success, but nor do I envy it the way so many people do. I have been blessed to discover that the things which make me feel the most content have never changed: a dinner with good friends (regardless of the place), a good movie (even if it’s a bargain rental), a clear night sky, a friendly pet. None of them are expensive. I refuse to run the race.
Quote Of The Day
"If knowledge is power, I'd say this guy puts out 2-3 watts, max."-Snarfangel, on Fark.com
April 17, 2005
From Longhorn To Eternity
According the CNet's news.com site:
Microsoft has promised that Longhorn will be widely available on computers for the 2006 holiday buying season. A beta, or test, version is planned for "early summer," probably June or July. The server version is slated for 2007.
Holiday season 2006 translates to 2007. That's nearly two years away. There's going to have to be something extra, extra special in Longhorn to get people like me to upgrade. MS will sell millions of copies with new PCs, but I have to wonder what the standalone retail market will be like.
I know quite a few people who are still using Windows 98 and have no plans to upgrade. Why should they? If their system works for them, there's no reason to switch other than the fact that MS is going to quit giving '98 users security updates soon.
Then there is the spectre of Linux on the desktop. Installing most distros is a breeze now for even a newbie; by 2007, it will probably be easier than a Windows install. The boys and girls in Redmond have every reason to be worried.
I have a question for my fellow geeks (you know who you are): is there any announced feature in Longhorn that excites you? Will you upgrade? How much are you willing to pay for an upgrade?
Talk amongst yourselves.
MSM Folly
Ann Coulter is going to be on the next cover of Time magazine. If the world doesn't end on Tuesday morning, this will be one the pictures accompanying the article (HT: Little Green Footballs):
This is supposed to show how much ol' Ann is hated by the Left in America. But something's not right...
On closer inspection, you will see that all the signs in the photo are held by the Protest Warriors, a group of agitators who protest against leftist protestors. If you're a political fanatic, it's funny stuff. Just goes to show you that no one bothered to actually look past Ann's face on the poster.
Giving WV The Byrd
Mark Noonan over at GOP Bloggers has put up a great post as to how Robert "KKK" Byrd can be defeated in 2006. If you've ever heard one of his prolonged, painful orations on the floor of the Senate, you have to ask yourself why West Virginians vote for him. The answer is pork, pork and more pork. But WV is a solidly red state now; a good Republican could rock his world.
Republicans are very good at stealing defeat from the jaws of victory. I hope this isn't another example of too little (or no) effort yielding zero results.
Our American Cockroach
There was an urban legend (possibly true, I guess) going around some years ago which stated that in the event of an all-out nuclear exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union, only the lowly cockroach would survive. So, basically, we just have to live with them.
Micheal Moore is America's cockroach. He tried his best to sway the 2004 Presidential election. When his side lost, his counterattack went in two different directions. First, he claimed success because Senator Kerry is easily the most liberal member of the Senate and if a liberal can garner that many votes, WE (he always says "we", as if he is a member of some excluded sect of Americans) must be moving in the right direction. It didn't matter to Moore that Kerry lied about his political beliefs for the better part of two years. The fact is that liberals only get elected in this country by running as moderates. Hillary Clinton, call your office.
Moore's second prong of offensive defense was to claim that the voting in Ohio was rigged. Nevermind that no court in Ohio will even hear a case regarding the irregularites because there are no facts to support such an accusation. But Moore keeps up his mantra. After all, you can't confuse his supporters with the facts.
Yesterday, Moore put the following up on his website:
Friends,
How's it going? Ready for the next step?
Let me know what you've been up to and any ideas you have about what our next move should be (write me at the addresses below).
Meanwhile, I'll be in conclave this week handing out goodie bags and running for pope. Wish me well!
Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
Mike@michaelmoore.com
www.michaelmoore.com
It's one thing for Moore to poke fun at politicians he doesn't like. But it's another thing to trivialize a process that is nearly 2,000 years old and talk about it like it's just another political campaign. I've been following Moore's assholeishness for years, and even I'm surprised by this. Those of you who see Moore as some sort of revolutionary film maker and "just one of the guys" (he's not even really from Flint, by the way) need to ask yourselves if this is someone with whom you still want to associate.
April 16, 2005
Chinese Free Speech?
Does anyone else find it odd that the Chinese government is turning what seems to be a blind eye to the anti-Japanese demonstrations going on right in front of them? Flag burning and firebomb throwing are not activities we see very often in the streets of Chinese cities. Even Reuters, that bastion of socialist thought, mentions in the article above that the government may be giving tacit approval to the demonstrations.
Why now? Supposedly, the Chinese are angry over new Japanese textbooks which appear to whitewash their savagery towards Chinese civilians during World War Two. This is indeed cause for anger, as the Japanese were responsible for millions of deaths in mainland China. It is fair to expect future generations of Japanese to be reminded of this genocide in the hope that history will never repeat itself. But these demonstrations seem a little too spontaneous and a little too nasty to be brushed off as short-lived anger over textbooks which fail to cover the events of 60+ years ago.
I don't think it's beyond the realm of possibility to say that this could be an attempt by the Chinese government to drive a wedge between Japan and some of the other players in Asia. Japan is a close ally of the United States and is a rival to Chinese exports overseas. China is, without a doubt, a regional superpower. It is spending more on its military than any of its neighbors. The Chinese Navy is growing at such a rate that it could soon pose a formidible challenge to our own Navy in the western Pacific. Is an invasion of Taiwan coming soon? I doubt it, but controlling Taiwan via threats from Beijing would yield the same results as a military incursion.
I fear that the war on terror is giving China time to arm itself for a cold war scenario. If we do not face the truth of the situation, the cost of delay could become more than we can pay.
April 15, 2005
Rebel With His Own Cause
Senator John McCain is the real thing. He spent five years in various North Vietnamese POW camps enduring inhumane treatment and almost daily beatings. When his captors learned that he was both the son and grandson of admirals, they offered to release him as a goodwill gesture. Realizing the PR value of such an offer, McCain refused. His imprisonment left him with permanent injuries.
With this in mind, I tread lightly in my criticism of the Senator. If anyone has earned the right to his opinions, it is John McCain. But I can’t help but notice that, as time goes by, his agenda seems to be driven more by the MSM and the Democrats in the Senate than by his own party. His comments this week concerning a potential vote to change the filibuster rules with regard to judicial nominees bear this out (transcript courtesy of redstate.org and MSNBC) :
CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Do you think it's fair for the Democrats to stop all government business if the Republicans get rid of the filibuster in judgeships?
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: No, I don't. And I think...
MATTHEWS: Is it fair for the Republicans to get rid of the filibuster?
MCCAIN: No. And why is it that after 200 years we now cannot settle the issue of judges? Well, it's a symptom of the problems we have with the bitter partisanship here in Washington.
MATTHEWS: The president of the United States gets to pick federal judges. What should be the standard that the opposition applies to whether they let it come to a vote or not?
MCCAIN: I think that they should let them come to a vote, but I also think that before the nominations are formally introduced, the way they used to do it, they would kind of run the traps of the-- senators, particularly those on the committee and say, "Are these acceptable or unacceptable?" and if they were unacceptable they wouldn't send them over and if they were acceptable, then they would move forward.
We used to have this thing called a blue slip, where if it was a judge from your state, you could and if you objected they didn't take it up. And by the way, when Bill Clinton was president, we effectively, in the Judiciary Committee, blocked a number of his nominees.
MATTHEWS: But bottom line, would you vote for what's called the "nuclear option," to get rid of the filibuster rule on judgeships?
MCCAIN: No, I will not.
MATTHEWS: You will stick with the party?
MCCAIN: No, I will vote against the nuclear option.
MATTHEWS: You will vote--
MCCAIN: Against the nuclear option.
MATTHEWS: Oh, you will?
MCCAIN: Yes.
MATTHEWS: So you will vote with the Democrats?
MCCAIN: Yes, because I think we have got to sit down and work this thing out.
Straight from the Democratic talking points---“bitter partisanship” and “work this thing out.” According to the Party of Dean, bitter partisanship exists when Republicans do not do what the Democrats (the minority party in both houses) want. “Work this thing out” is a liberal euphemism for “give us what we want.”
The simple fact is that the Democrats will not let the President’s judicial nominees come up for a simple up-and-down vote. Their use of the filibuster, while not unprecedented in use, IS unprecedented in scope. It is, simply, a usurpation of the rights of the majority by a bitter minority. And while the minority party has the right to be heard, election by the people determines who gets to carry the big stick.
If Senator McCain agrees more and more with the opposition, why doesn’t he run as a Democrat? Could it be that the voters of Arizona wouldn’t re-elect him? Possibly, but I believe there is more to it than that. I believe the Senator is in love with his status as a rebel. Would Chris Matthews be calling if Sen. McCain were a Democrat? Doubtful; they have Harry Reid for that. The MSM loves McCain only because he’s a Republican. But all glory is fleeting. A reckoning will come one day, and the cameras and microphones will go away. Senator McCain will be left with his beliefs. And, quite possibly, only he will know what they really are.
April 14, 2005
The Evil Pig
I was helping one of our more angry associates the other day when she told me that all computers are male. Why? Because they do nothing but cause trouble. This from a woman who is twice divorced and dating a man who can be best described as Hell’s Angels Lite Version. You know the type.
Our office is 80% female, so this sort of commentary is not unusual. But every time I hear it, I want to ask, “So what made you marry/date/have sex with him in the first place? Was he (or did he seem) wealthy? Was he handsome? Was he a colossal jerk to everyone but you, so you felt special (don’t laugh; I actually had a woman give me that reason one time)? Did you think you could change him (he was a project)? Did he seem dangerous and/or fun? Did you think that you couldn’t do any better and he was the last train leaving the station?”
Some men are simply jerks. I see many “jerkish” qualities in myself. I don’t like to compromise. I’m moody. Sometimes, I don’t like to be questioned about anything. I try to overcome these things---not everyone does. But if you were to ask my wife about me, she would tell you that she was aware of all these things before we were married. She knew me and accepted me, warts and all. She knew that marriage would not magically make me perfect, but that I was at least good enough to recognize my deficiencies.
So when I see a divorced woman (or, as seems pretty common, twice divorced) bad-mouthing men in general, I always think that what she needs to be complaining about is her own poor judgement.
April 13, 2005
Iraqi Tet?
Austin Bay's column at Real Clear Politics is, to me, simply amazing. He draws an awesome comparison between the terrorists in Iraq and the North Vietnamese during the Tet Offensive in 1968.
What is the largest common factor between these two times in our history? The MSM. Many of today's senior-level correspondants and decision-makers made their bones in Saigon and on the streets of Hue City. Oh, how they must dream of another Vietnam and another chance to "shed light" and "speak truth to power"!
But something has gone wrong---the insurgency, if it can still be called that, is losing ground and Iraq is in danger of becoming a true Middle East democracy. It's hard to pin down the President and the Secretary of Defense when things are starting to go well. How the hell are you supposed to win a Pulitzer by reporting positive, pro-American news?
Diversity Police At The Door
Heather MacDonald's piece at National Review Online would be funny if it wasn't actually a serious piece about people who really aren't joking about their cause. What is the cause du jour? Diversity in the blogosphere. Newsweek's Steven Levy is worried because the top 100 blogs are run by mostly white males. This, he believes, requires corrective action.
There are no barriers to entry here. If you have a computer and an internet connection (or can borrow one), you can have a blog. The best bloggers have several things in common: they are good writers, they post often, they post timely information and they spend hours every day gathering that information. There is no "Good Ol' Boys" club here because it can not exist; there is no way to block someone from being successful.
Ultimately, this has nothing to do with race and everything to do with political beliefs. With a few notable exceptions, the most popular blogs are conservative political sites. The Left in this country just can't get a good audience out here in the Wild West of information because they can't capture and trap an audience the way they have with newpapers and network media for so many years. People who read poltical blogs are not passers-by; they go out and find information. This is not the arena for the spoon-fed Democratic base.
Of the dozen or so blogs I read faithfully, I only know the ethnicity of those bloggers who I know personally. It never occured to me to discover more about a blogger than what he puts on the page. Cyberspace really is color-blind; it is the ultimate melting pot. If the Left if worried about diversity here, doesn't that say something about their true goals?
April 12, 2005
Bi-Partisan...Ummmm, Yeah
Reader Kevin (Kevin--send me your weblog address so I can plug it) sent me an interesting article from SFGate.com today. It tells the story of the Clinton plan to revamp Social Security---a plan that could've been surprisingly similar to the plan now being offered by President Bush. According to the article, Clinton's plan was largely derailed by the Lewinsky scandal.
What has happened to Social Security since 1998? Essentially, nothing. The program continues to lurch forward, eating up more and more revenue as it heads for the day it will no longer be able to pay for itself. President Clinton knew this, just as every President since LBJ has known. Would Clinton have acted on his plan? We'll never know, but he deserves credit for getting the ball rolling.
It's not what has happened to Social Security since 1998 that's important, but rather what has happened to the White House since 1998. A Republican has been there since 2000, so the rules have changed. Suddenly, we see the AARP (more and more a mouthpiece for the Party of Dean) running ads claiming that there is no problem while offering nine non-solutions to the non-problem. Left-wing blogs are beginning to pop up with little graphics touting slogans such as "there is no crisis". Could President Clinton and his economic advisors have been so wrong?
Of course not. This is the Democratic Party as it is today: if a Republican thinks it up, you have to kill it. The Dems use Social Security as a scare tactic in every election. If you fix it, you take the ammunition away from them. Nevermind that the next generation of Americans will have to choose between bankrupting the country and virtually eliminating the program if we don't do something now; these clowns can't see beyond the next two years.
Once again, to you Democrats: this is your party. Is is what you want it to be?
Please Stand By
I posted "This Day In History" about five minutes ago, but it has yet to appear. Normally, it appears almost immediately. If it doesn't turn up, I'll try to do a rehash tomorrow.
Cue The Whiner
You have to hand it to John Kerry: he represents the victimhood base of his party very well. The Senator is still claiming that he lost the election through Republican trickery. If you read some of his examples, you have to wonder if someone so stupid as to fall for something like this should be voting in the first place.
Kerry supporters have charged that voting irregularities in largely Democratic areas made it difficult for voters to cast ballots in the November election. A lawsuit in Ohio cited long lines and a shortage of voting machines in predominantly minority neighborhoods, but the Ohio Supreme Court dismissed the suit.
That's because they saw no merit in the case. The Ohio Supreme Court is not exactly a conservative mouthpiece.
“Leaflets are handed out saying Democrats vote on Wednesday, Republicans vote on Tuesday. People are told in telephone calls that if you’ve ever had a parking ticket, you’re not allowed to vote,” he said.
He's serious. Keep that in mind.
The problem with Kerry (this is actually a good thing for conservatives) is that he doesn't realize that his failure lies in a)his persona and b)his message. His service in Vietnam and subsequent betrayal of the men he served with turned people off. His flip-flopping on every conceivable issue (except for abortion and his love of the UN) turned people off. Kerry knows this, but these are the things which now define him. To admit that his loss was due to his flaws and the platform of his party would be to admit that his national political career is over.
Run in 2008, Johnny. Go ahead.
April 11, 2005
Code Punk
Code Pink, a woman's organization devoted to "stopping the next war now", interrupted the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today while they were questioning John Bolton. That's cute, girls. Not thought-provoking, but little girl cutesy. Back to the clubhouse before you get hurt. The adults need to have a meeting.
Regardless of how you feel about John Bolton (I think he's the best man for the job, precisely because he has been so critical of the UN), you have to admit that stunts like this do nothing to forward the argument against him. Those of you who are Democrats or agree with the Democrats need to take a serious look at the people who are beginning to shape thought in your party. It's beginning to look like the adults are in charge of the country while the punks are banging on the doors, demanding to have their say. It doesn't convince serious people, and serious people are the people who vote.
Josh
When I became old enough to answer the phone, my mother told me to always be nice to telemarketers. Besides the fact that it's the right thing to do, they are just trying to earn a living like everyone else. Also, she believed that yours may be the only nice voice that person has heard all day. What if that person in his little cubicle was contemplating suicide and your smiling voice kept him from it?
I haven't really taken my mother's advice when it comes to telemarketers (we don't get them very often now, but when we do, I just set the phone down and let them ramble; eventually, they figure out I'm not there and hang up), but I try to remember her words when I'm dealing with people in public settings. Most of us deal with people every day whose names we may or may not know, but whose lives remain a mystery to us. Think about it: do you know anything about the guy who works that same early shift at the gas station where you fill up? What about your UPS/FedEx delivery person? Or the people who always sit three rows in front of you in church?
Once or twice a week I go through the drive-thru at Chik-Fil-A to get a chicken breakfast burrito, the greatest breakfast item ever created by the hand of man. Josh is always working. He is probably in his early 20's, but still looks like a little boy in the face. He never fails to be polite. I call him Josh and he calls me Sir (I really need to fix that; I'm not old enough to be a "sir"). I used to be a morning person, but four years of second and third shift work changed all that. Mornings are difficult for me now. But there's Josh, smiling and telling me to have a good day at work. It's a small thing, but it matters.
Thanks.
April 10, 2005
Misstep
I was downloading an application earlier when I made the granddaddy of all newbie errors: I ran the executable for something I had downloaded from a questionable source. My anti-virus software is up-to-date (it's AVG), so it caught the downloader.trojan right away. However, it took about an hour to clean up the spyware/malware mess this little adventure of mine left behind. It was a stupid, stupid mistake and something that I should know better than to do. I do this crap for a living, after all.
But here's the thing I was thinking about: what took me an hour to clean up would've been nearly impossible for the average user. It's not that people are stupid; it's just that Windows has so many places in which files can hide that it's almost impossible to know if your system is really clean or not. Manually remove registry entries? Forget it---you can hose your system doing that if you don't know what you're looking for. A utility such as Hijack This! can find the nasty browser plug-ins that have been bothering you but, once again, you have to know what you're looking for.
I downloaded the ISO for Ubuntu 5.04 on Friday, so I put it on a blank partition this evening. I still have some things to work out, but so far everything is promising. It saw my TV tuner card, which is a first for the Linux kernel. If I can get the Nvidia drivers to work smoothly, I'll be done with Windows before my birthday in May. I spend at least two hours a week updating and using anti-virus and spware software on our two machines. Am I paranoid? No; you should be doing the same thing at least weekly. But here's the thing---my experience with Ubuntu is almost exactly the same as my Windows experience. There is no "Wow" in Windows, no special thing that makes me want to stay. It's like the girl you dated in high school who you really didn't like but you didn't want to be alone.
I'll probably do some audio stuff about my upcoming conversion (the only way I'll do it is to completely jump into a Linux distro; this dual-boot crap makes me a sissy) so look for it there.
April 09, 2005
Mistaken, Yet Wrong
The MSM's coverage of the next pope's election is already beginning. If The LA Times' article from today is any indication of the accuracy we can expect, then we would probably all be better served by living in dark rooms until this is all behind us.
Cardinals gathering to choose the next pope like to say they are guided by the Holy Spirit. But the Lord moves in mysterious ways, and his delegates can be real wheeler-dealers.
"Like to say"? If I'm not mistaken, they believe they ARE guided by the Holy Spirit. The over-nuanced atheist writing this may not believe it, but I think it's safe to say that the men who make up the College of Cardinals do.
By the time they sit down to business April 18 under Michelangelo's imposing "Last Judgment," the cardinals will have conferred, cajoled, pondered and probed. Over evening cocktails in marble palazzi and long lunches at gated villas, the "princes" of the Roman Catholic Church will size one another up, handicap candidates and plot the course of the world's most powerful Christian institution.
And I thought I was heavy on the quotation marks around words. The term "princes" is not made up; these men are Princes of the Church. The designation is hundreds of years old. It almost looks like Wilkinson wants to poke fun at these men in their funny hats and 16th century vestments. I'm sure it looks funny from the Left Coast, Tracy, but these men actually take their duties seriously. The next pontiff will take a position that can trace its lineage in an unbroken line to Peter, the rock upon which Christ himself built His Church. It's worth some discussion, I think.
Although most members share John Paul's basic religious philosophy, the College of Cardinals represents enormous geographic and ethnic diversity.
Well, gosh, Tracy, I hope they ALL share the pope's basic philosophy, seeing as they are all Catholic Cardinals. And is the geographic and ethnic diversity of the Church or the College new? No. The Church's African roots date back 1700 years (there was an African pope in the 5th century). The Church's roots in the Western Hemisphere date back 500 years. Did the Times just discover this? Would it surprise you if they had?
But many analysts here think the time for a black pope is not yet nigh.
It's already happened; move on. The Church doesn't have a problem with race----only liberal Americans continue to make an issue of it.
A two-thirds vote is required for a candidate to win, but in the rules that John Paul rewrote in 1996, after several rounds of voting, if no one has been chosen, a simple majority can elect the pope.
This is factually incorrect. The move to a simple majority must be voted on; it does not happen automatically.
If it seems as if I'm nit-picking, you are correct. But I know a lot about this process and I think that people who are looking for information about it should be presented with accurate facts, not a puff piece filled with subtle jabs at Church leaders. And if I've discovered these inaccuracies, then what inaccuracies exist in the Times and papers of her ilk with subjects I know little about?
April 08, 2005
The Final Lesson
The full majesty of the Roman Catholic Church was on display this morning. The funeral of a pope is something that most people never witness in person and only rarely witness from afar. Leaders from all over the world, most of whom are not Catholic, stood with travelers who slept on the streets of Rome last night because there was no room at the inns. According to several news agencies, John Paul’s is the largest funeral in recorded history.
When his last will and testament was released yesterday, the world discovered that His Holiness owned nothing besides some personal items too trivial to even list. Unlike the popes during the Church’s more corrupt years (before the Reformation) who sometimes held vast personal fortunes, John Paul II chose the path of the first pope, St. Peter, who lived and died a pauper. There is a lesson in that for all of us who live in splendor when compared to most of the world. It’s not that we should live without earthly possessions, but the explosion of believers in the third world tells us that opulence may somehow be connected with a loss of Christian faith. I have certainly seen this in my own life.
When he met with Josef Stalin after the Second World War, the French foreign minister said that the Communist dictator should consider letting Catholics in the Soviet Union more freely practice their religion because, after all, the pope (Pius XII at that time) is a very powerful man. “The pope,” Stalin laughed, “how many divisions does he have?”. Judging by what we have seen in the streets of Rome over the past few days, the answer would have to be “many”.
April 07, 2005
All News, All The Time
We had dinner last night with Troy and his wife Laura; a great time was had by all. We chowed at 2. Hahn’s Mongolian Grill, which is a sort of buffet where your food is cooked right in front of you. You have to experience it to appreciate it.
A TV on one of the restaurant walls was tuned to a cable news channel and, of course, the stories were all about the pope. One thing we all agreed on was that this story has gone from interesting to banal to stupid. This has nothing to do with His Holiness and everything to do with, I believe, the 24-hour news cycle with which we now live.
The 1991 Gulf War brought fame and big ratings to CNN. It was the first big story tailor-made for cable news channels and the boys in Atlanta made the best of it. I was in Naval Nuclear Power School in those days, and not an evening went by that we were not glued to the set listening to some reporter on a static-filled satellite phone telling us about some explosions he was seeing in the distance. It was heady stuff for a society used to seeing its wars in pre-packaged presentations on the evening news.
Since that war, cable news has needed constant infusions of Big Stories in order to gain and maintain public interest. There was Rodney King, the LA riots, Somalia, OJ, etc., etc., etc. in an unending line of information. Some of the Big Stories are indeed newsworthy; others are entertainment pieces tailored for a country that loves to build up the underdog and then, once he has won, roast him over an open pit. Ask yourself this question: if Nicole Simpson had been murdered by her NFL star ex-husband in 1972, would we have heard about it every day for a year? Maybe yes, but I have my doubts.
Of course, cable news is what it is because we watch it. We don’t want a rehash of the top stories every 30 minutes (that’s been tried); we want new, exciting and now. But instead of in-depth reporting and background history of stories, we get arguments between two indistinguishable “experts” on whatever issue is up for debate. Sometimes, I think we like the argument better than the issue itself. Despite my many complaints about it, I have to grant NPR this point: they do a great job of digging for the details of a story. If that makes the piece 10 minutes long, so be it.
The only way our MSM is going to change is if we demand more intelligent broadcasting. The swing towards the internet as a news-gathering organ is one sign (to me, at least) that the people who pay attention are tired of televised news. Time will tell.
April 06, 2005
Silence
Sorry, no audio today. I got home late from work and then Kelli and I had dinner with some friends. More tomorrow.
The Curious-Journal's Picture Boy
Hindrocket over at Powerline mentions something that I was going to skip over completely except for the fact that it has now garnered national attention: Nick Anderson of Louisville's Courier-Journal won a Pulitzer Prize for his work as the paper's cartoonist.
Anderson's work leaves one with the impression that he is something of a simpleton who appeals to every base instinct of the hate-filled left in this country. But no one should really be surprised. The C-J's history of misrepresentation goes back at least 50 years and is so well-known by those who actually read other news sources that it's something of a standing joke. To quote a friend of mine, "I don't even trust the page numbers in that rag."
Most papers today are a collection of AP, Reuters and UPI stories bundled with a few local stories, obituaries and the occasional hack opinion piece. The C-J's editorial board now only appeals to uninformed and/or misinformed liberals and their fellow travelers who still hold silly notions like "the Democrats is fer the workin' man." Unfortunately, they are not a diminishing breed here.
April 05, 2005
The Roman Party
It's hard to be Catholic today. Not a week goes by that I don't hear a snide remark about the priesthood or some function of the Church. Normally, the speaker is too ignorant of the Church to even realize that what he's saying is offensive. Every once in a while, you run into a truly anti-Catholic bigot (like the arrogant ass from New York who used to be on the old 84Online show with us) who believes that his opinion is proper for public discourse because it is, after all, his opinion. Any statements so offensive made about Judaism would have one branded an anti-Semite or worse. But Catholicism is an easy target, and one that is no longer heavily defended.
Already, the anti-religion elements of the MSM are hard at work trying to shape public policy about John Paul II and the next pope. Juan Williams led the charge Sunday morning during his weekly stint on 'Fox News Sunday'. His screed (no full transcript available at this time) about the still-warm Pontiff was full of denunciations about AIDS in Africa (evidently the Church caused it by not handing out condoms), the lack of women clergy, and the role of the laity (somehow all our problems would be solved if the lay people in parishes made all the decisions. Juan needs to actually attend a parish council meeting some time and then say if he still believes this---the laity is far from united in it's opinions). If you boil all the observations I have heard over the past four days, they seem to come down to this: if the pope had done everything American Catholics supposedly want, the Church would somehow be better off. Now, the big fear is that a conservative cardinal will ascend the Chair of Peter since John Paul II appointed almost all of them.
True to form, the news machines of Manhattan can't seem to get it right. Yes, there are major disagreements in the Church on everything from birth control to married clergy to the truth of transubstantiation. But it's not as if all American Catholics are united behind a "progressive" front while stodgy old Rome keeps beating them back at every turn---these arguments are going on all over the world. The Church is no more American than it is Italian. The word Catholic comes from the Latin catholicus, meaning universal. Only 7% of the world's Catholics live in North America. Do disgrunted US laymen and some whacked-out professors from Notre Dame have a right to dictate policy?
Another point the dull newsies miss is that the Church is not a political party. The platform is not up for a vote every time a new pope is elected. Things DO change, but only after years of contemplation and prayer. Will we see female and married priests? Maybe, but one must keep in mind the fact that the rules about celibacy are nearly 1,000 years old; it's not going to be overturned on a Tuesday afternoon because some nuns in Chicago are pissed off. The Church we know today is not the Church of 1450 or even 1950. But the basic beliefs---protection of life, the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, etc.---have never and will never change. To be true Catholics (and I am not holding myself up as one), one must believe in the present and hope for the future, even if that hope is for change.
The events of the past few weeks have made Kelli and I spend a lot of time discussing our faith. As a result, we have started going to Mass more often and are trying to find ways to once again become more involved in our parish. She and I do not agree on everything, and there are many things I struggle with (birth control being a big one, but there are others). But when I think about the Catholic Church, I see a community that has done more good for the world than any organization in the history of man (with the possible exception of the United States, but the Church had a 1700-year head start). Even if I struggle with faith for the rest of my life, how could I not want to be a part of something so important?
WWRD?
OpinionJournal.com has an great column by Peter Robinson up today in which he imagines a conversation with Ronald Reagan concerning Iraq and democracy. Robinson was a speech writer for Reagan, so he is as familiar with his style and mannerisms as any of us. There is one particularly great line in the piece that is actually from a speech given by The Great Communicator at Moscow State University in 1988:
"Freedom is the recognition that no single person, no single authority of government has a monopoly on the truth, but that every individual life is infinitely precious, that every one of us put on this world has been put here for a reason and has something to offer."
If I could say something to the Gipper now, I would repeat a line from my old friend David Robertson: "We need men of your caliber now."
Shop Talk, Once Again
Due to some coming personnel changes at work (more on this later, perhaps), I will have to start posting in the afternoon/early evenings. I know that some of you read this site in the morning, so I hope you will be patient. Thanks.
April 04, 2005
Today In History
I need you to follow a few instructions to get the full effect of tonight's post. PLEASE do not click on either of these pictures until I indicate to do so in the audio portion of this post. This is very, very important. Thanks.
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Tech Observer
Our nephew Tony (he's the Pentrant's Lair guy linked on the left) has started a new tech blog. Tony's the real deal, a hobbyist AND a professional IT dude. Check it out. I'll be adding a permanent link shortly.
April 03, 2005
April 02, 2005
Shop Talk
I went through the comments section a few minutes ago and I was surprised at how many comments were waiting out there for me to manually approve. If you have posted something in the past three days and have not seen it show up, check now; it's probably there.
If you do NOT have a TypeKey account, please, please, please go herenow and get one. It's free and only takes a few minutes. I don't always remember to look for new comments to manually approve and with TypeKey they will show up right away. Of course, I can still delete your comment if you're a complete ass, but I've only had to do that once. I will also go through and delete duplicate comments (sometimes they post twice) just for the sake of saving everyone's scrolling finger.
Now on to what I really wanted to talk about: I am losing readership. For a while, I was getting about 125 or so unique visitors a day. That number is now at one hundred and shows no sign of leveling off. Tell me if I'm wrong, but I have a few theories:
1. I've written A LOT about Terri Schiavo and it turns people off.
2. Politics in general turns some people off and there are about 45 gazillion conservative weblogs out there, so the chances of me saying anything even close to original is nil.
3. I spend too much time worrying about blog traffic.
I'm going to continue to expand my audio offerings and you'll notice that you can now download my senseless ramblings in MP3 format. However, I am toying with the idea of going all audio with the only written words being the links to the articles we discuss. Please let me know what you think of that.
I get bored easily and I don't want to get bored of blogging. But I get a little depressed sometimes when I consider that my blog isn't that different from the millions of others out there. I'm trying to be different, if for no other reason than to satisfy my ego.
April 01, 2005
Extreme Unction
I was 7 when Karol Joseph Wojtyla was elected Pope. Our principal, a stern Bostonian named Sister Anne Robert Gray (that’s right---S.A.R.G.---you can’t make this stuff up), got on the school intercom and yelled, “We have a new Pope!”. We were excited because 7 and 8-year olds get excited over anything out of the norm in a strict Catholic school. To me, the election of a Pope was the same as the election of a President: an event that happened every now and then. The adults got worked up over such things, so I did, too.
This Pope was different. The frail man we see today is a shadow of the man who first sat in the chair of Peter in 1978. He was an outdoorsman who skied and loved to travel (he is the most traveled Pope in history). He is the first non-Italian Pope in more than 450 years. He attended a seminary in Poland during the German occupation. After the war, the Soviets occupied the country (they had actually split it with the Germans in 1939 but, later, had to recapture the entire nation from them---but that’s another story) and the young priest was first exposed to communism. It left an indelible impression on him. Many say that his first trip to Poland as Pope in 1979 was the trigger that gave rise to the Solidarity movement, the slow uprising that began in a Gdansk shipyard and ended with the collapse of the communist regime in Warsaw.
John Paul II reached out to Jews and the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as Muslims. Some of his efforts in this area were considered controversial, but all were done with the intention of creating and maintaining friendly relations among the world’s religions. I will always remember the day he told an audience in Rome that Jews are “our older brothers.” After all, Jesus was a Jew.
Anyone who spends more than 26 years in any position is going to be judged as much on his failures as his successes, and John Paul is no exception. He met with Yassar Arafat in the Vatican, a move that did nothing but embolden the Palestinian leader. He acted with undue slowness when news of pedophile priests in the United States became front page news. There have even been rumors in the past few years that John Paul is no longer making decisions on a daily basis, but is instead relying on his advisors to create and shape policy.
But despite this, I believe the man we now see struggling for his life will be remembered as one of the most influential and effective Popes in Church history. During his tenure, the office of the papacy changed. Earlier Popes were remote figures who lead from behind the wall of the Vatican. John Paul brought his light to the world. He was, in many ways, the first Pope of the modern age.
As I write this, the news is reporting that the archbishop who will lead the Church until the next papal election has met with His Holiness. The end is near. As I think about this great man today, I am reminded about what Malachi Martin wrote about him in his book “Vatican”. Martin’s book was technically a novel, but all the characters and events were real people. The “fictional” Polish bishop wanted to start a new church in a small town in Poland. The state police, worried about his influence, denied him use of the land. In response, he began saying Mass on the proposed site. A government official visited him soon after and told him that it would be terrible is something were to “happen” to the young bishop. His response? “You can kill me, and they will send someone else. And they will send someone after him and after him. And one day, when your ideology is dead and gone from this place, the Church will be here.” I wonder if he thought that he would live to see that day?