N'Sync singer "comes out"

Lance Bass: I'm gay

In other news, water is reputed to be wet, and grass is thought to be green.

"Always Our Bishops" - Coping "with discovery of incompetence, heresy or downright buffoonery on the part of [our] diocesan bishop"

I wish I had seen this "pastoral", Always Our Bishops, when it came out. It would have helped me come to terms with things, e.g., in Dallas so much sooner. (Via Cacciaguida.)

(FYI - In case you didn't know, this is what it's taking off from.)

Grrrrrreeaaaaaaat . . . NOW the Lebanese Army decides to "resist"

I question the timing. (As they say.) The IDF is coming to do the job they should have done (but really couldn't, according to everyone over there), and now they're going to "resist and defend"? Hmmmmm.

Lebanese defense minister: Army will fight ground invasion

Lebanon's army, which so far has sat on the sidelines of the violence raging in the country, will fight an Israeli ground invasion, Defense Minister Elias Murr said on Al-Jazeera television Thursday.

"The Lebanese army - and I stress - the Lebanese army will resist and defend and will prove that it is an army that deserves respect," he said.

In most of the previous Israeli attacks, including in 1978 and the 1982 invasion in which Beirut was occupied, the Lebanese army largely stayed out of the fighting.

Pope Benedict: Day of prayer for Mideast peace

The Holy Father has declared this coming Sunday, July 23, as a day of prayer for peace in the Mideast. Whatever one's politics, I think we can all agree on this! More details at cwnews.com.

Pope declares day of prayer for Mideast peace

Get this: Cal Thomas loves Oliver Stone WTC movie

Whaaaaa??? (As Kathy Shaidle says, "Sign of the end times?") Well, Cal has a lot to lose misjudging this; if his report is even half-accurate, all us Stone-hating conservatives need to go out and buy LOTS of tickets (and, seriously, see the movie) to encourage Ollie to make the good films he has in him.

'World Trade Center' is a world class movie

I have a long list of favorite patriotic movies, including "Victory at Sea," "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and "Sands of Iwo Jima," but Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center" is right up there with the best of them. It is one of the greatest pro-American, pro-family, pro-faith, pro-male, flag-waving, God Bless America films you will ever see.

What? Oliver Stone, who hangs out with and praises Fidel Castro? Oliver Stone, who indulges in conspiracy theories and is a dues-paying member of the Hollywood left? Yes, THAT Oliver Stone.

"World Trade Center" is the story of five men who volunteered to enter the twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001 in their role as officers of the Port Authority Police Department (PAPD). Three of them died and two, Will Jimeno (played persuasively by Michael Pena) and Sergeant John McLoughlin (played magnificently by Nicolas Cage), were buried in the rubble. These are real men who love their wives and children and are not afraid to say so. They are religious men who pray without shame or reserve. In fact, Jesus makes an appearance in Jimeno's hallucination, carrying a bottle of water to quench his thirst). . . .

. . . It is also the story of an ex-Marine who, after watching the carnage on television, goes to church to ask God what he should do. He emerges believing God wants him to go to Ground Zero. This is far from fanaticism. It is spirituality at its deepest and most profound.

I LOVE Tony Snow!

I loved him . . . oh, I forget when I first heard of him. But his hair was really black and in a thick pompadour. In the mid-'90's. And I loved him then. And I loved him on Fox News. Of course. But now he's at the White House, I REALLY love him! Just check out this takedown of the inimitable (thank God) Helen Thomas. She doesn't even know she's being played! And this is like the fourth or fifth time he's done this since becoming press secretary!

Tony Snow, I LOVE YOU!!!

Excerpts Of The Day: Tony Snow Spars With Helen Thomas Over Israel

Helen Thomas: The United States is not that helpless. It could have stopped the bombardment of Lebanon. We have that much control with the Israelis.

MR. SNOW: I don't think so, Helen.

Helen Thomas: We have gone for collective punishment against all of Lebanon and Palestine.

MR. SNOW: What's interesting, Helen --

Helen Thomas: And this is what's happening, and that's the perception of the United States.

MR. SNOW: Well, thank you for the Hezbollah view, but I would encourage you

...

Helen Thomas: Why aren't we proposing a truce, no matter who is to blame? At least stop the killing.

MR. SNOW: Because it wouldn't stop the killing. What it would do is it would say to the killers, you win.

Helen Thomas: Might save lives.

MR. SNOW: No, I don't think so. And I'm glad you raised this. You do not want to engage in a cease-fire that has a practical -- when you say to the Israelis, you guys just stop firing, when you have Hezbollah saying, we're going to wage total war, because Hezbollah would read that as vindication of its tactics, and the idea that if you get the right sort of videos on television, and you get the right things going on, you can allow them to behave with impunity. Even though they are weakening the sovereign government of Lebanon, they are acting independently; even though they have...

Helen Thomas: And bombarding Lebanon --

MR. SNOW: Even though they have received --

Helen Thomas: -- wipes out infrastructure.

MR. SNOW: All right, this is hectoring now. -- Press Briefing: July 18, 2006

From The Politic: Liberal leaders speak out on The Crisis

Pretty funny.

Liberal Leaders Speak on the Middle East Crisis

Prominent Liberals have been jumping into the fray about the crisis in the Middle East and the evacuation of Canadians from Lebanon. Here are some select quotes that the MSM forgot to publish:
[Examples:]
1. Ken Dryden: “If Israeli and Hezbollah leaders had been raised by professionals in state-run daycare centres, they would not exhibit the type of violent reactions that they do today.”
2. Joe Volpe: “I am pleased that we are patriating all those Lebanese Canadians. They usually have a lot of children who can meaningfully contribute to political campaigns.”
3. Scott Brison: “Israel has the right and the duty to protect its gay community, and the rest of the country too.”
12. Lloyd Axworthy: “Hezbollah’s kidnapping of the two Israeli soldiers rather than confronting the IDF head on shows that Hezbollah understands what soft power means, and they should be given credit for it.”

Interesting article on "'l'affaire Frisch"

As a Protein Wisdom aficionado, I actually saw this situation develop, but we went on vacation on July 4th (hence, no blogging!) and I didn't see things actually go down. Not sorry about that. It was a weird situation from the first time Dr. Frisch commented there, believe me.

The Great Blogosphere Brawl

The findings of "the world's pre-eminent domainologist"

Fascinating story at WSJ.com (free content, today anyway) on domain names - as the author says, "the best ones are taken".