The Libby Trial: I can't deny that I forgot that I said this when . . .

If you just read the coverage in the papers or from AP, you'd think Patrick Fitzgerald and his team were steaming along in their prosecution of Lewis Libby on perjury related to the whole Valerie Plame affair. Not so. Byron York of National Review is covering the trial and his coverage reminds me, once again, why you can't believe everything you read in the newspapers.

UPDATE 2/3/07:
NR now has a special section dedicated to the Libby trial, just go here:

Whazzup

I have been guest-posting a bit over at Protein Wisdom. Also, dealing with a horrible series of migraines that began before Christmas. Finally have them under control and am recovering (yay!). So will be posting more frequently in the next week or so.

DID YOU KNOW . . .

. . . that today (January 22) is a "particular day of penance" in the United States?

Unless you live in an extraordinary parish or diocese, I bet you didn't know that. Fasting and abstinence are not mandated, but are encouraged. For more, including why today, see Jimmy Akin.

One of the funniest Fugs ever

I love the website Go Fug Yourself, it's one of the few "celebrity" sites I like. They make Joan Rivers look like a fawning sycophant, but then they will give credit when it's due. This particular post, imagining what the cast of "Dreamgirls" was thinking at the Golden Globes, is pure Fug genius. Kudos!

Golden Globes Awards Fug: Dreamgirls

England expects every man to do his duty - or not, as you like

This has to be one of the most depressing things I've read in a long time. If Britain's not willing to be a naval power any longer, what backbone is left there?

Sinking the Royal Navy

Again and again, these continual reductions make me think (of course) of Larkin's "Homage to a Government":

Next year we are to bring all the soldiers home
For lack of money, and it is all right.
Places they guarded, or kept orderly,
We want the money for ourselves at home
Instead of working. And this is all right.

Etc. What's worse, is if the Tories ever got in (unlikely for a few more years at least), they'd probably be just as bad. Sad all around.

For once, Canada doesn't get the price shaft

Stuff in Canada is usually slightly (clothes, CDs) to moderately (books!) overpriced, when compared to U.S. prices, factoring, say, a 6-month exchange rate and a slight markup if it's imported. So it was nice to see this very interesting report (via Infinite Loop) on Australia's Commonwealth Bank's "CommSec iPod Index" - or, as I call it, the iPod Purchasing Power Parity Index. It shows how much an iPod 2GB Nano costs where, in current U. S. dollars. Parity is the U. S., where it costs US$149. Highest price (by far) is Brazil, where it's US$327.71. And the lowest? Right here in the frozen Dominion, where right now the retail on your 'Pod will cost you US$144.20. (Of course, you will have to pay GST and PST on that - all the more reason to buy one here in Alberta, where there's no PST!) This was not surprising to me because, when I bought my nice new 4GB Nano last October, I ran the numbers and it seemed like the retail price was either par with the U. S. price or (could it be? maybe it was!) a teeny bit lower. At any rate, an amusing article, and an interesting idea, that really shows the global reach and penetration of Steve's little music doohickey-thingy.

Apple's iPod takes on global currency markets

Msgr Gaenswein "inspiration" for Donatella Versace

Well, those of us who were Ratzinger fans from way back always knew that Fr, now Msgr, Georg Gaenswein, was, speaking objectively, a very good-looking man of the cloth. Since Ratzinger's elevation to the Chair of St. Peter, the wider world has also discovered this, and while the Pope has made waves with his Prada shoes and sunglasses, Msgr Gaenswein has attracted quite the secular following with his good looks and (like his boss) his austere but well-tailored image (Barbiconi, I believe).

Now comes word that Donatella Versace's latest menswear collection, just unveiled in Milan, was primarily inspired by Msgr Gaenswein.

“I was thinking of an austere, severe and ethical man. I find Father Georg’s austerity very elegant,” said Ms Versace.

Word, girlfriend. Check out the entire article at the Times Online: Meet the inspiration for the latest Versace look - the Pope's secretary

Diogenes offers his take here: clerical chic