Meg's Musings

And you thought it couldn't be worse?

2008-04-30T11:12:00.002-06:00

So did I. But, my friend, we were wrong. It can always be worse

Singer admits affair with Roger Clemens
Country singer Mindy McCready confirms that she had a long-term affair with pitcher Roger Clemens, the New York Daily News reported on its Web site yesterday.
“I cannot refute anything in the story,” McCready told the newspaper.
The paper reported Monday that the two met in a Florida karaoke bar when McCready was 15 and Clemens was 28, pitching for Boston and a married father of two. The newspaper said it wasn't until later, after McCready had moved to Nashville and become a country singing star, that the relationship turned intimate.

Wow, guy. I hope you have a strong marriage to Mrs. C. Because, if the conditions were right, I could sure see her, after a few days of deliberation, going to the commissioner and/or whoever has the steroids brief for a little chat (assuming, of course, there's something to chat about). But if this is all in the past and you have a good marriage, you two can deal with it - may have already dealt with it for all we the public know!

It's just another reminder that once you become a celebrity these days, you cannot assume that anything will remain private. Behave accordingly.

Sorry for my absence . . .

2008-01-30T07:39:00.000-07:00

I've been quite depressed lately (in the "clinical" sense), also we went to Dallas (yay!!!) for 10 days at Christmastime, which was wonderful. But I will try to post a lot more - I really enjoy communicating with all of you who are kind enough to read this blog. (Best thing to do? Put it on an RSS reader! :^) If you're on a Mac, I highly recommend Vienna. I've been using it for two months and it has changed my life. Well, okay, it has made keeping up with my favorite blogs easier, and better-looking! And it's free!)

So . . . you wanna know why conservatives don't quite trust John McCain?

2008-01-30T07:35:00.000-07:00

Well . . . Iowahawk, once again, comes through with a hilarious satire that spoofs "the maverick's" relationship to "The Man". McCain won Florida yesterday, and he may yet win the nomination - but without compromises of a different kind, the base is going to work for him more like they did for Dole than for G. W. Bush. And then hel-loooooo Obama.

The Law of Unintended Consequences . . .

2007-11-27T23:12:00.000-07:00

. . . asserts itself once again!

Breaking up not hard to do for China's "me" generation

Shut uuuuup!!!

2007-11-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for Thanksgiving (we have it on Friday evening here, since my husband doesn't have Thursday off), had to pass this along:

'Shut up' is hit ringtone in Spain
MADRID, Spain - Many Spaniards were so amused when their king told Venezuela's president to "shut up" they want to hear the words every time their phone rings.
About half a million people have downloaded a mobile phone ringtone featuring the phrase "Por que no te callas?" or "Why don't you shut up?" leading Madrid daily El Pais reported on its Web site Monday.
That's what King Juan Carlos told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during a heated confrontation at a summit in Chile last week.
The ringtone is thought to have generated around $2.2 million for the companies selling it, El Pais said.

Su Majestad rocks. That is all.

Lileks on The Great American Smokeout!

2007-11-15T19:55:00.000-07:00

It’s also the Great American Smokeout. The message is good, the intention is laudable. I’m not sure it has any effect on smokers whatsoever, except to give a note of grim defiance and hollow solidarity to the mood around the outdoor ashtray. When I smoked cigarettes the day made me feel guilty, for a few minutes. I’d read Ann Landers with the morning coffee, learn that it was Smokeout day, read her comments – smokers were administered a lashing with a wet noodle from Dominatrix Ann - and I’d think: I should quit. They just raised the price to 65 cents a pack anyway. If I put that money aside I could go to Europe. Where everyone smokes. It’s not bad for you over there because they also drink olive oil, or something. Well, I’ll cut down today. Then I’d read an article about how the nuclear arms treaty negotiation had broken down, realize I probably wouldn’t see 30 anyway.
If someone saw me smoking and pointed out that it was the Great American Smokeout Day, I’d snap “tell it to Brezhnev,” and leave it at that. Some things are just beyond your control, you know. Later I learned: do not base your bad habits on the assumption of inevitable nuclear catastrophe, because things may not work out the way you want.
. . . Anyway, if you decide to quit today, try the nicotine gum. It tastes like ordinary gum that’s been left in an ashtray overnight. You’ll feel better in the end, and –
Good Lord, I’ve become Ann Landers. CURSE YOU, twenty years of homogenizing effects produced by tenure in the mainstream media! Curse you!

BTW, we hear that ALL smoking is bad. Hmmm. I smoke between 1 and 1 1/2 packs a month (seriously - I only smoke good cigarettes and they're almost C$13.00 with tax up here!) - any word from the Lung Association on my percentages?

(p.s. Check out the rest of Lileks' column and the comments - some funny fridge-cleaning stories!)

The Curt Jester,

2007-11-02T10:52:00.000-06:00

always humorous, put up a post the other day on "Books I Would Like to See." And Jeff would know, he was a serious atheist for years.

The Trouble with Leopard

2007-10-27T17:42:00.000-06:00

Been reading any Mac lists/sites/etc. in the last week or so? Then you'll know juuuuuuust what this cartoon is saying.

One of the most entertaining Internet blowups you'll ever see

2007-10-25T18:40:00.000-06:00

Seriuhsly. Go here now for the story. (H/t Kathy S.)

Baghdadi terrorists - N.B.: Go to the Green Zone entrances manned by Peruvian troops.

You're welcome.

Okay, Alberta, you asked for it:

2007-10-25T16:52:00.000-06:00

Alberta to boost royalties by $1.4-billion

I thought Ed Stelmach wasn't going to implement the Review to the last letter, and he didn't. So now he can say to the oil companies, hey, I'm trying to help you guys here!, and then he can say to the voters, hey, I got more money out of the oil companies for you! Mr. Stelmach prays a lot with the pastor of our parish, and last night at a prayer meeting my husband was at, Father asked everyone to pray for the premier and for the province, and said he felt that it was a rather "Solomonic" choice in front of the premier. When my husband came home and told me that, he and I just looked at each other, remembering our analyses of the situation in the last week, and then both nodded our heads, without saying anything. So I am thoroughly unsurprised at the result.

Don't they say never look a gift horse in the mouth? Well, Albertans have been poking and prodding those horse teeth for a couple of years now, and I guess feel that it's time to bring in the government as veterinary dentist (if I can extend this that far). Hey, I just want property prices to go down - remember, that's my fair share!

The Post (which is quite a pro-business paper) had a nice little line at the veeerrry end of the article I linked to above, perfect understatement: The government expects some slowdown in activity from the new measures. Um, quite.

Alberta oil royalties info coming this afternoon

2007-10-24T14:53:00.000-06:00

Before we hear about it, let me just say one thing to my fellow Albertans:

YOU PEOPLE ARE IDIOTS!

There, that felt better.

I could go on about how many billions per year are already knocking around Edmonton unspent and the government's going to do this for another (maybe) lousy $2b, or that whole killing-the-golden-goose thing, but I won't. And you know why?

Because if Alberta is now a place where it's I-want-what's-coming-to-me, well, my husband is tenured at a nice pay grade. So what do I care? Ha! Plus (and this is what I'm really hoping for), if the economy craters, we'll be able to afford a nice house here instead of a shack.

So bring on the royalty hike! Because I want a cheaper real estate market - that's my fair share.

"It's like Laura Ashley married a Poison video . . ."

2007-10-21T22:32:00.000-06:00

All too true.

Dumbledore: Gay

2007-10-21T15:55:00.000-06:00

That's right. The National Post's Ampersand blog directs us to this Reuters article where Miss Rowling spills all. He was in love with Gellert Grindelwald, you see. How's that for layers within layers?

Oy.

I have nothing else to say about this except that I do not want to hear about: Dumbledore being a gay role model. Dumbledore being "queer" (either derogatory or laudatory). Dumbledore being a pederast. Any Dumbledore/Harry slash fiction. Or, it's no big deal because he's only a fictional character. Because you know that's not true. Basically, I just don't want to hear about it at all. In fact, I think I will go bury my head in the sand right now. And if that makes me "homophobic", so be it. I don't want to hear about that, either.

That is all.

"Irish drop to 0-5 after defeat by Purdue"

2007-10-06T20:08:00.000-06:00

Okay, so this is how it's going to be. One of those years.

Now I'm not so sad we don't have cable - at least this fall.

Are you going to put the "smackdown" on Merriam-Webster for putting "ginormous" in the dictionary?

2007-07-10T18:36:00.000-06:00

Well, instead of feeling like you should put an "IED" under their latest edition of the collegiate dictionary, maybe you should just go work a "sudoku" puzzle or watch a "telenovela" instead. Word.

New Dictionary Includes 'Ginormous'

David Warren on the EU

2007-06-26T17:43:00.001-06:00

I'm with Mr. Warren on everything he says - especially on Jarosław Kaczyński. Pan Kaczyński does cause "trouble for people I dislike" and "is among the few European politicians willing to mention the two things you never mention in the company of European politicians: the War, and Europe’s Christian heritage." That totally puts him in my good books. If only he could kick the LPN out of his coalition - anti-Semitism is not nice, to say the least.

(H/t Mark Steyn)

Constituting EU

Gee, finally a British Conservative says something I can agree with

2007-06-22T16:37:00.000-06:00

From the Telegraph (CHT Jimmy Akin):

Let the children play, or 'they will never learn'
Children are so cocooned by their parents that they rarely venture far from home and have little concept of space, volume and how the world actually works, David Willetts, the shadow education secretary, said yesterday.
The area in which children were allowed to range freely by their parents was a ninth of what it was a generation ago, he said. He also referred to "most worrying" research which showed children could not grasp basic maths.

Not surprising. And, I should think, no different in North America.

Bush's Moment of Zen

2007-06-21T17:07:00.000-06:00

If only GWB took his own counsel more often!

A Chinese Cardinal Meets the Real Bush
By Robert D. Novak
On May 31, President Bush met for 35 minutes in the private living quarters of the White House with Cardinal Joseph Zen, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Hong Kong, in an event that was not announced and did not appear on his official schedule. Their meeting did not please the State Department, elements of the Catholic hierarchy and certainly not the Chinese government. But it signifies what George W. Bush is really about.

H/t Catholic World News.

Why do I feel like I've heard this liturgy before???

2007-06-21T16:28:00.000-06:00

Fr. Z notes that one of Gerald's readers has obtained a copy of "a Trautman draft of the Mass" (scroll down to the bottom of the post). Somehow it seems familiar . . . (h/t Diogenes at CWN)

Further update: From Fr. Z's comments, one "Le Renard" posts:

Ordo Missae Cum Populo – 2007 Edition

Priest: My peeps, let’s roll with the Lord, givin’ Him props and love

Congregation:
Yo, Bid Daddy upstairs (Our Father, who art in heaven)
You be chillin (Hallowed be thy name)
So be yo hood (Thy Kingdom come)
You be sayin’ it, I be doin’ it (Thy will be done)
In this here hood and yo’s (On earth as it is in heaven)
Gimme some eats (Give us this day our daily bread)
And cut me some slack, (And forgive us our trespasses)
Sos I be doin’ it to dem dat diss me (As we forgive those who trespass against us)
don’t be pushing me into no jive (And lead us not into temptation)
and keep dem Crips away (But deliver us from evil)
‘Cause you always be da Man (For thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever.)
Aaa-men (Amen)

Kennedy Annulment (or, rather, Non-Annulment) Confirmation

2007-06-20T17:14:00.000-06:00

Wow. Just, wow.

He's big in . . . Albania?

2007-06-12T16:20:00.000-06:00

I have to admit that, having read about Albania as the example of "Bad Capitalism" in P. J. O'Rourke's "Eat the Rich" (which, granted, is 10 years old now), it's not a country I can quite take seriously. Still, it's nice for the president that people somewhere like him. Actually, I believe he also had a positive reception in Poland and a downright old-home day in Bulgaria, and there's even talk that he did some good work at the G-8 all by hisself and had a good chat with Vlad, so, who knows? In that case, I guess he'd be more popular in Europe than he is at home, where he's finally finished the job of blowing up his base. (I haven't blogged in the last month because I've just been too, too depressed over this whole immigration thing. And the Iraq fumbling. Get it together, man! Oh, this whole presidency is just lost opportunities and insane policy.) Anyway, Bush is big in Albania. So he's got that going for him.

Mr. Bush Goes to Albania

What is today?

2007-05-17T14:01:00.000-06:00

As Jeff Miller points out, in much of the English-speaking world it's the Feast of the Rant that today is not Ascension Thursday. As he says:

Last year the Bishops of England and Wales joined the U.S. in moving the Ascension to Sunday so I welcome those who live their to commiserate with us. On the "Feast of the Rant that today is not Ascension Thursday" it is traditional for bloggers in these countries to gripe about the movement of this feast especially newer bloggers who have not yet posted on this subject.

(I think, though I'm not sure, that it's also moved in Australia and New Zealand. It's definitely moved in Canada.)

Of course, not all Catholics suffer with this. Even though we live in Canada, since we attend a Ukrainian-rite church, we get to observe Ascension Thursday on . . . Ascension Thursday. I'll try not to rub it in, though.

Sorry, guys, Aish is taken

2007-04-18T21:57:00.000-06:00

Aishwarya Rai, the fab Bollywood (now worldwide) star, will be married this weekend to fellow Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan. I hope they have a lovely wedding and beat the celebrity odds to have a long, happy marriage.

Well, at least now Simon won't have to quit Idol

2007-04-18T21:49:00.000-06:00

You know this is getting to be a big story when it gets the attention of people like me, who don't have a TV connection and dislike Idol almost on principle. Namaste, dude.

'American Idol' Says Sayonara to Sanjaya

More Steyn on the Black trial

2007-04-12T13:41:00.000-06:00

A fascinating trial, especially since I don't have to attend in person. I'm so glad Conrad Black's making this fight: U. S. prosecutors have far too much power, I don't care what party affiliation they might have, and this case is making such a great mock of them. Though what the jury will make of it in the end, who knows? Just remember, Black-haters: Even if the jury finds for the government, there will be plenty of appeals, and then . . . . But I think this jury trial may well go Black's way. We'll see.

Anyway, here's a great quote from Mark Steyn on one of the latest trial tussles - Lord and Lady Black's opera stopover in Seattle on the infamous "Bora Bora" trip:

If we have to have Wagner played out in rapid transit concepts, I’d love to see a production set on the Hollinger jet, with Conrad as Siegfried and Barbara as his valkyrie Brunnhilde, with David Radler as Hagen, who stabs Siegfried in the back, the whole thing wrapping up with the torching of Valhallinger in one almighty Stöckerdämmerung (Twilight Of The Share Price).

Also, on the numerous prosecution objections thus far:

Unlike the live testimony, for the video the objections had been pre-excised. As a result, there are occasional abrupt edits when Mr Sukonick’s head will suddenly jerk back as if he’s about to projectile vomit. I know how he feels.

BLT a la Meg

2007-04-11T16:36:00.000-06:00

As the weather's warmed back up (it's up and down here - and thus go my migraines), I had the desire for a fresh, yummy BLT. Doctrine aside, if there was one thing that would ever keep me from becoming Muslim, this is it. (You can pry my BLT out of my cold, dead fingers!!!) Thought I would share with you the secrets to a super-tasty sammawich.

1. Good ingredients - I use Hellman's (which is the best store-bought I can get here - Cooks Illustrated gives it a good rating), a good crisp lettuce leaf, a nice tomato, and 3 or 4 strips of bacon. Plus 2 slices good bread (I used what our grocery calls "Italian loaf") and salt and pepper.

2. Spread mayonnaise on both pieces of bread - this whole sandwich is a bit of a "diet-breaker", but it's good and fresh, too, as long as you pile on the L & T, so don't skimp here. Then (here's the tasty secret) liberally sprinkle pepper on each slice.

The deliciousness begins with a good base.

3. Thinly slice half a tomato. Arrange slices on one bread slice; salt lightly.

We're getting there.

4. Arrange lettuce (which should be washed, dried, and torn) on top of tomatoes. Then arrange bacon slices on other slice of bread.

La piece de resistance.

Serve with a nice, refreshing drink (I had Rose's Lime Cordial with soda water - I don't like colas but that's a favorite "soft drink" for me) and enjoy.

The i-Kia

2007-04-01T12:49:00.000-06:00

Having put together plenty of IKEA pieces, I couldn't resist the idea of the "i-Kia" (via ikea hacker, a great IKEA site).

By the way, a blessed Palm Sunday . . . and . . . APRIL FOOLS!!! :^)

Cardinal Stickler, 97, celebrates 70th anniversary of ordination

2007-03-27T14:46:00.000-06:00

Alfons Maria Cardinal Stickler, S.D.B., the former Vatican librarian and oldest (and well-loved) member of the College of Cardinals, today celebrates his 70th anniversary of ordination. That's a bit amazing when I think about it: He was ordained two years before the beginning of the Second World War. Along with the Holy Father, we are happy to wish him a joyful day and many happy and blessed anniversaries to come, God willing.

Eldest cardinal celebrates 70th anniversary of ordination

You can see the Pope's letter in Latin (in which the Pope wrote) here: LETTERA DEL SANTO PADRE ALL’EM.MO CARD. ALFONS MARIA STICKLER IN OCCASIONE DEL 70° ANNIVERSARIO DI SACERDOZIO

If Ahmadinejad didn't like the movie . . .

2007-03-23T15:29:00.000-06:00

. . . he sure ain't gonna like this review, even if it's critical -- it's just not critical the way Mad Mahmoud was:

Lessons I learned watching "The 300"

If you're not from Dallas, I bet you didn't know this

2007-03-23T07:40:00.000-06:00

Texas is the unlikely home of biggest gay church

Article has the usual boring Reuters slant - why even bring in the Southern Baptist guy at the end? - but is quite interesting. My reaction has always been, of *course* gay people still want to keep going to church, they just don't want to be told being gay is wrong -- which is what you get at most conservative Protestant congregations, including the majority of Baptists, but hardly in most "mainline" Protestant churches (though there, it might not be as socially palatable - but things have changed so much). Of course, the Catholic Church does not object to "orientation" but to "disordered behavior", but people either reject this as a meaningless distinction or else say of course you can't expect people to be continent . . . but I don't want to get into that here. I'm just pointing out that Southern people believe in God and in going to church on Sunday, and they don't stop beliving just because they might be homosexual.

P.S. check out the pictures - the church was designed pro bono by the architect Philip Johnson, though I don't know if the actual building is from his design - that great slab 'o' bell tower is, though.

Cathy Seipp, RIP - for real, unfortunately

2007-03-22T21:13:00.000-06:00

Well, she fought on for two days, but Miss Seipp is no longer with us. We sure will miss her.

Mark Steyn on the Black trial

2007-03-22T14:41:00.000-06:00

Mark Steyn is blogging the Conrad Black (and co.) trial for Macleans. Fascinating stuff (I mean that seriously). So far, it seems that if the prosecution doesn't get their act together, this is definitely going to go Lord Black's way. Of course, it seems to me this is all your basic trumped-up overzealous-American-prosecutor nonsense, and the one person who really should be on trial (if, indeed, anyone should, which I doubt) is David Radler, the man the government's given immunity to. Good job. Anyway, Mark always keeps a fair score, so check it out.

(I note that Macleans has been advertising this coverage in the Post this week, in two-color spots, with a nice leonine photo of Lord Black and, when the ad can fit it, a sharp pic of Mark. Nice ad, very attention-grabbing. Imagine advertising your blog coverage! But there you are. Theresa Tedesco, herself, in the Post, is also doing a good job every day on the trial.)

New Archbishop for Edmonton

2007-03-22T13:38:00.000-06:00

The Vatican announced today that Bishop Richard William Smith of Pembroke, Ontario, is to be the new archbishop of Edmonton. Young fella - 47 - and originally from out east. Don't really know about him, being so young seems to be a good sign. I just hope he's a good shepherd. And has some thermal underwear and a sturdy parka. Molto grazies to Rome that we didn't have to wait too long, though.

Why do I get the feeling . . .

2007-03-22T08:48:00.000-06:00

. . . that Bob Novak is just peeved with the whole Plame game at this point?

"'300' Fact or Fiction?"

2007-03-22T08:27:00.000-06:00

Victor Davis Hansen takes a very interesting look at the new film and its critics, from the viewpoint of a classics scholar.

Thompson groundswell growing . . .

2007-03-21T20:58:00.000-06:00

Hmmm . . . [strokes chin] . . . hmmm . . .

After all, not only has he been a senator, he's also been a take-charge admiral and a very successful NY DA and . . .

No, just kidding, but this article at AmSpec has some food for thought. Right now, knowing nothing more, I'd definitely vote for him over any other contender in the field. Fred Thompson for president, Ronald Reagan for vice-president? (if you know the joke I mean) Yes, it's enough to get me "excited about the hunt for a Fred October".

Cathy Seipp, RIP (er -- stop the press!)

2007-03-21T01:08:00.000-06:00

Cathy Seipp, the funny and feisty writer you may have read at NRO or seen (briefly) on Dennis Miller's CNBC show, is in a very advanced stage of cancer. Apparently they took her oxygen mask off yesterday evening (i.e., Monday the 19th) and the doctor expected it would happen quickly, but it seems she's been hanging in there (she *is* a fighter) and as yet there is no "official" word of anything. She's too wonderful a writer (and, from all the testimonials pouring in, a person) to lose, so I'm going to take up Jim Treacher's line: Until I see an "official" announcement, "I refuse to talk about her in the past tense".

We're praying for you, Cathy.

You've got a Mac. You want Apple TV . . .

2007-03-21T01:01:00.000-06:00

. . . do you have the right television?

Never fear, Macworld is here to help you select the perfect TV to go with your new Apple TV box (now shipping!). Check it out.

Picking an HDTV for your Apple TV

Unfortunately, I missed World Nutella Day . . .

2007-02-12T16:04:00.000-07:00

. . . but just because one is late to the party, doesn't mean one has to miss the party! Nutella Day was February 7; however, for many of us, every day is Nutella day. (Personally, I like my PB&N sandwiches, or just Nutella straight from the jar, though Ferrero does not recommend this: Go here and scroll to the bottom.) Anyway, I'm adding their badge to my site for the rest of February; take the time to "love yourself" and "spread the love" this month with a little choco-hazlenut goodness!

QB mismatch = Manning & Dungy triumphant

2007-02-05T17:21:00.000-07:00

Look, I didn't even see the game yesterday (I was sick and we don't have a TV connection), and my "following" of the NFL consists of asking my parents how the Cowboys are doing until whatever point they drop out, but even I knew how this one was going to go. Even if you love, love, love your Bears - if you were putting money on this, I hope you were smart enough to separate your love and your thinking. If not, I'm sure your bookie is happy to see you today.

Goldberg: Manning Trumps Grossman

Strange bedfellows (so to speak)

2007-02-03T12:02:00.000-07:00

Orange Lodge supports Catholics:

The trend [of "foes within Christianity and even within the realm of traditional religion . . . beginning to recognize the threat to religious freedom being imposed by the growing intolerance for traditional morality"] could not be more clearly illustrated than with the news this week that the Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland, traditionally known for its mortal conflict with the Catholic Church, has officially backed Catholic leadership on the question of homosexual adoption.
The UK government has informed the Catholic Church in the UK that it will not receive an exemption from Sexual Orientation Regulations which would force the Catholic Church to permit homosexual adoption. Official Catholic teaching states that homosexual adoption does "violence" to children since they would be placed in an environment that is not conducive to their full human development.
Ian Wilson, the Grand Master of the Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland, announced publicly this week the Lodge's support in the matter for the head of the Catholic Church of England and Wales, Cormac Cardinal Murphy O'Connor. "There has to be more tolerance of the views of people of faith, and that includes the Cardinal," Wilson told The Scotsman. "Broadly speaking, the Lodge would take an orthodox, traditional Christian view of this - we see the family as a man and a woman."

But wait! That's not all!:

The leaders of the Church of England, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Archbishop of York John Sentamu, supported the Catholic position in a letter to British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Also this week, Britain's Muslim Council the leading UK body representing Islam, issued a statement saying the group "fully supports the principled stand taken by the leaders of the Catholic and Anglican Churches."
The UK's Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks, regarded as Judaism's highest authority in the UK, waded into the fray as well. Speaking of the new law he spoke of the need for respect for religion. "Jewish law is unequivocally committed," he said, "to the principle of marriage and the family: the stable association of husband, wife and child. This is at the very core of Jewish spirituality and cannot be compromised."

Well, at the very least, maybe now I should quit teasing my husband (who's half-Scots and 1/8th Ulsterite, with Orangemen in the "closet") for his "Orange" background - even though he was raised in a nice Catholic family and is an exemplary Catholic himself. P. J. O'Rourke said in "Parliament of Whores" that unintended consequences is the one piece of legislation that is always passed - this is definitely a pleasant, and unlooked for, consequence of the Church being backed into a corner by an areligious, or even antireligious, government.

Molly Ivins, RIP

2007-02-01T17:28:00.000-07:00

Kathy Shaidle (at her new location) links to a great Florence King essay on la Ivins. God rest her, but at least we'll be spared any more of her faux-folksy-Texas crap (just like Ann Richards liked to do). As Florence says, she sure did like to gild the lily.

The Texas columnist describes herself as “a left-wing, aging-Bohemian journalist, who never made a shrewd career move, never dressed for success, never got married, and isn’t even a lesbian, which at least would be interesting.” Actually her professional Good Ole Girl number is far more interesting than mere lesbianism. An occasional commentator on the MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour, she bellies up to the gourmet crackerbarrel and delivers laid-back wisdom with the serenity of a down-home Buddha who has discovered that stool softeners really work. Watching her go through her paces is like watching Ona Munson, who played Belle Watling in Gone With the Wind, doing an imitation of Spencer Tracy playing Clarence Darrow in Inherit the Wind. That’s a lot of wind.
. . . Ivins’ own English ranges from politically correct (“yeoperson”) to Texanese (“bidness” for business, “Meskin” for Mexican) to hokeynyms (“our foundin’ daddies were about the smartest sumbitches ever walked”). She scatters the text with “Sheesh!” and “Well, poop!” and lots of “y’alls,” and practices multiculturalism complete with Yiddish misspellings (“the pièce de résistance of the whole schmear”).

And I'm waiting for an obit on Molly by Florence to appear at TAS or National Review in the next few days . . . )

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

2007-01-31T21:02:00.000-07:00

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

2007-01-29T20:28:00.000-07:00

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 . . .

2007-01-22T03:18:00.000-07:00

. . . 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

2007-01-20T00:18:00.000-07:00

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

2007-01-19T12:49:00.000-07:00

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

2007-01-18T17:17:00.000-07:00

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

2007-01-16T20:14:00.000-07:00

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

Ding, dong, Saddam is dead . . . almost

2006-12-29T16:57:00.000-07:00

Apparently, Saddam will shortly shuffle off this mortal coil. Although I am not filled with glee at this prospect, I must say I disagree with Cardinal Martino and other Catholics who believe this situation does not merit the death penalty. Saddam Hussein's crimes were an outrage against the whole people of Iraq and his staying alive does imperil civil society in that country. Even if it is unlikely he would return to power in the way he was before, he is still a rallying point for Baathists and Sunni insurgents. Although his death would create a certain amount of "martyrdom", it would also end his "cult of Saddam", which is still strong and exists as long as he lives. All in all, Saddam is one of those few cases that really does cry out for capital punishment. Justice must be tempered with mercy - but it is hardly merciful to the people of Iraq to allow Saddam to go on living.

Although the commenter at small dead animals who suggests "I'm for letting him live. In a cell. With one television. Tuned to the View. Until eternity", may have a point . . .

What's important and what's coming in Mac computing

2006-12-21T18:04:00.000-07:00

In the January Macworld, the staff focusses on "the technologies, products, and services that are going to have the biggest real-world impact on Mac buyers in 2007". They're releasing the articles online day by day, and they're quite interesting, so if you're interested, check it out. Even if you're not "into" Macs: Topics so far include multi-core computing, flash-based memory, and browser-based applications, all things that will affect users of other OSes as well.

What's next: 10 tech trends that will shape what you buy this year

Jonah Goldberg on Time's Person of the Year

2006-12-19T22:52:00.000-07:00

In grade school, whenever a student was caught eating candy, the teacher would ask, “Did you bring enough for everybody?” Time carried this logic through to its absurd conclusion: If everybody can’t be Person of the Year, then no one can. “In the future,” Andy Warhol once predicted, “everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.” Well, start your clocks, people.
But, you may ask, what is so cowardly about Time’s decision? And since you are a Person of the Year, how can I refuse to answer a question from such an august personage as yourself?

More here (including why Time punted - by rights, Mahmoud Ahmadinejahd should really be Man of the Year): Jellyfish of the Year

France to U.S.: Hey, those Champs-Elysee-shade jokes aren't funny!

2006-12-17T23:54:00.000-07:00

France to withdraw 200 special forces, all ground troops, from Afghanistan
PARIS — France is to withdraw its 200-strong special forces from Afghanistan, all of its ground troops engaged in the U.S anti-terror operation there, authorities announced Sunday.
The decision to pull the elite troops, based in the southeastern city of Jalalabad, comes as the Taliban militia are gaining strength despite the strong engagement — some 32,800 troops — in NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, which includes Canadian troops. France has balked at sending its 1,100-strong NATO contingent outside the relatively safe Afghan capital, Kabul.
. . . Despite the pullout, Alliot-Marie said that France intends to maintain its air power “which has backed up coalition forces numerous times” and is adding two helicopters in the advanced zone between Jalalabad, in the southeast, and Kabul.
She said that France also plans to train Afghan special forces “because it appears important to us that the Afghans see that it is their own forces which are retaking the theatre” of war.

But, Mme Alliot-Marie, how can you train special forces when you have removed your special forces? Or will you be sending the Afghani special forces to France for training? Really, I'd like to know . . .

Peter Boyle, rest in peace

2006-12-13T20:53:00.000-07:00

'Raymond' Dad Peter Boyle Dies in NYC
Peter Boyle, the actor who played the hilariously grouchy father on "Everybody Loves Raymond" as the final note of a distinguished career that also included a memorable role in Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein," has died. He was 71.
. . . While a generation of TV viewers knows him as Frank Barone - with his trademark "Holy crap!" line - Boyle had a respectable career long before "Everybody Loves Raymond" debuted in 1996, including a part in Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver." He also was close friends with John Lennon, who was best man at Boyle's wedding.
A member of the Christian Brothers religious order who turned to acting, the tall, prematurely balding Boyle gained notice in the title role of the 1970 sleeper hit "Joe," playing an angry, murderous bigot at odds with the emerging hippie youth culture.

I love that bit at the end of Young Frankenstein where he's in bed, reading the financial pages . . . good times.

Jeane Kirkpatrick - what did I just say the other day?

2006-12-08T09:50:00.000-07:00

That John Bolton's "been the best since Jeane Kirkpatrick - and she was my role model in junior high school!" Well, news has come that Ambassador Kirkpatrick died in her sleep at home yesterday. The AP's obit (as I'd expect) is rather lame, though, so I'm sure better ones will be coming, especially at nationalreview.com and spectator.org. May she rest in peace. I feel particularly bereft: One of the great women of our times leaves us, just as we all have the Iraq ~~Surrender~~ Study Group report in our hands, fresh from the printers.

Jonah Goldberg: "Here's the matchup we're all looking for in '08: Gore-Clinton vs. Bush-Dole . . ."

2006-12-06T21:15:00.000-07:00

Obviously, I'm talking about Al Gore as the Democratic presidential nominee with Hillary Clinton as his running mate, battling it out with Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and vice presidential candidate Liddy Dole.
Of course, I'm kidding. If I heard such news, I'd probably shoot my television. Indeed, the whole country might respond to another round of Bush, Gore, etc., like those characters in Airplane! who commit suicide whenever Ted Striker (Robert Hays) starts droning on about his life. I myself would upend a jerrican of gasoline over my head rather than listen to Gore drone on about lockboxes again. And if Hillary were at the top of the Democratic ticket, all it would take for me to light the match would be a giddy Today segment on Bill Clinton as the "First Gentleman" — a first indeed. [Though at least - the very least - we'll now be spared having that segment done by Katie Couric, thank God. - Meg]
Going by my own shamelessly unscientific survey, I think it's fair to say that people want a clean break from the politics of the last two decades. Liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats, cats and dogs, Klingons and Ferengi: Nobody wants to argue about names like Bush, Clinton, Gore, Kerry, Cheney. Been there, got the snowglobe.
The Republicans have the higher hurdle because Bush fatigue is more acute than Clinton fatigue these days — owing to the simple fact that Bush is in office right now (though remember: there's been a Bush or a Dole on every Republican presidential ticket since 1976).
Exhaustion with the GOP in general is also running high, but the recent elections may have lanced that boil in time for 2008. If the same flock of gormless popinjays had stayed in power until the next election, voters would not only have voted the Republicans out of office, they might well have voted them into Guantanamo Bay.

I especially agree with that last. Besides, personally I'm kind of a fan of gridlock - anything that reduces the amount of legislation getting passed is a good thing, in my opinion, especially when the legislators are no great shakes.

For the rest, see: Take Your Rerun and Shove It

Laugh out loud . . .

2006-12-06T17:25:00.000-07:00

James Taranto had a couple of things today that made me laugh out loud . . . under "Today in History" he notes (from the Starr Report) that on this day in 1997 Monica Lewinsky took her "parting" gifts to the White House.

While Ms. Lewinsky was waiting [in the guard booth at the Northwest Gate], one officer mentioned that Eleanor Mondale was in the White House. Ms. Lewinsky correctly surmised that the President was meeting with Ms. Mondale, rather than his lawyers, and she was "livid."

As Taranto says, "Takes you back, doesn't it?"

The other thing that tickled me was this, under "It's the Eponomy, Stupid": "Police said they were looking for Adidas Fila Rowson and an unnamed suspect in the shooting. . . . An officer spotted Rowson on Sunday, but he took off on foot."

Kathy's on a roll today . . .

2006-12-06T16:56:00.000-07:00

Kathy over at Relapsed Catholic has some good stuff up today. ("PowerPoint is hard, says Barbie". Heh.) The best is the link to her last year's post on the Montreal Massacre, I've been saying this for 16 years..., which is perfect and perfectly tart and includes a link to a '99 column she wrote for the Toronto Star about the actual day back in '89.

Sparing a thought for Bolton

2006-12-06T16:43:00.000-07:00

As a proud American, I'm a bit depressed to see John Bolton leaving Turtle Bay (my fave pick for a replacement: Rudy Giuliani. Let's see the Senate bat him down). He's been the best since Jeane Kirkpatrick - and she was my role model in junior high school! Mark Steyn has one of his "Topical Takes" up, a reprint of a Sun-Times column he did during the confirmation proceedings last year. I especially loved this bit - it made me laugh while sadly contemplating life without our tough-talking, mustachioed ambassador:

If he doesn't get the nomination, he's got the makings of this summer's novelty hit, "Neoconga No. 5":
A little bit of fingering of my hips
A little bit of sneeriness on my lips
A little bit of rolling of both my eyes
A little bit of petulance in my sighs
A little bit of starting to almost mock
A little 'You so totally do not rock'
A little bit of memo on your desk
A little bit of you makes me Hulk-esque!

See here for the column:
EXIT BOLTON

Time to once again celebrate "Man Hate Day in Canada"

2006-12-06T14:03:00.000-07:00

To those outside Canada, December 6 is Saint Nicholas Day, perhaps, at any rate just another day in December. But once inside the borders of the deranged Dominion, you learn it is in fact l'anniversaire of the Montreal Massacre (or, as Mark Steyn's correspondent puts it on the linked page, "Man Hate Day in Canada . . . The day feminists celebrate the murder of women at Ecole Polytecnique"). If you're Canadian, read one of Mark's greatest Greatest Hits to relieve your irritation at all the insanity. If you're outside Canada, read it to find out about one of the craziest memorials in the modern West.

The unmanned Dominion

Mucha lucha

2006-12-04T11:05:00.000-07:00

It's officially Mark Steyn's funniest AND most depressing column ever . . .

2006-12-03T23:48:00.000-07:00

"God, I can't go on. I'd rather watch Mia Farrow making out with Mickey Rooney to a Doobie Brothers LP."

(He also notes that the leaked Baker Commission recommendations sound like "an admirably hard-headed confirmation of James Baker's most celebrated soundbite on the Middle East 'peace process': 'F--k the Jews. They didn't vote for us anyway.'")

Freedom of the press victorious in Venezuelan election

2006-12-03T22:05:00.000-07:00

Oh, well, at least all the fired Petroleos de Venezuela workers who're here in Alberta won't be flocking back home now, so I guess there's an upside for somebody.

(Check out the AP's oblivious election wrap-up here: Chavez Wins Re-Election by Wide Margin.)

Telemundo: Venezuela Halts Transmission
Dec 3, 6:03 PM EST
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Officials identifying themselves as members of a state regulatory agency forced the U.S.-based Spanish-language TV network Telemundo to halt transmission Sunday of its presidential election coverage.
"We're surprised by this," said Pablo Iacub, a member of Telemundo's eight-person team, which arrived last week. "We only want to do our work," he said by telephone.
At least six people who identified themselves as members of the National Commission of Telecommunications (CONATEL), which regulates electronic media in Venezuela, arrived Sunday afternoon at the hotel from which Telemundo had been transmitting since Friday, said Iacub.
The officials said the network needed permission to transmit and lacking such could not, he said. Iacub said he was unaware of such a requirement but that the Telemundo journalists were accredited with Venezuela's national elections council.
Iacub said the Telemundo team asked how they could obtain permission and, after an hour, were told that they would not be able to transmit.
Telephone calls to Conatel offices seeking comment on the incident went unanswered.
Telemundo Communications Group is owned by NBC Universal Inc., which is controlled by General Electric Co. It claims to reach about 93 percent of Hispanic households in the U.S. and also has viewers in Mexico.
© 2006 The Associated Press.

I feel better about Ed Stelmach

2006-12-03T21:13:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm glad he beat Jim Dinning in the first place, anyway. But we had kind of been Morton partisans, insofar as we were partisans at all (i. e., not very far, but, like all Albertans, wanting a decent premier). He seemed to have decent economic ideas (and unlike Dinning, he had ideas, period), and he was so-con, which is fine by us. So I was reading about Stelmach today in the Edmonton Journal and, reading through my Journal filter, felt that he seemed to be a decent-enough pick, and at least he wasn't Dinning. I was wondering if he was Catholic or Orthodox, or if he was practicing, or what, but the paper didn't seem to have that info . . .

So, we went to the 7 p.m. Mass tonight at St. Basil (Ukrainian Catholic), the parish we've been going to since we moved in August (it's almost literally around the corner - we walk there). At the end of the Mass, Fr. Daniel, the pastor, came out and made a bunch of parish announcements and then started talking about "Ed and Marie" and whatnot and said that after the final blessing he'd have them come up and he'd bless them with the Sacrament. He also enjoined all of us to pray for Ed, reminding us of how we pray for the government in the (Eastern) liturgy, and how we must remember our political leaders and all the things they have to consider and all the pressures that are placed upon them, and also (theocon alert!) all the spiritual warfare that is enjoined around them.

And so, after the blessing, Mr. and Mrs. Stelmach came forward and knelt on the steps leading up to the altar. Fr. Daniel removed the Blessed Sacrament from the Tabernacle and held it right above Mr. Stelmach's head. We, the congregation, kneeling, prayed the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Glory Be, and then Fr. Daniel invoked God's blessing, asked the Holy Virgin to pray fervently for the new premier, and sought the intercession of the holy archangels Michael and Gabriel. It was very moving, as it was simply done within the context of the Sunday liturgy, without fanfare or hoo-hah. It made me feel a lot better to know that Ed Stelmach, besides being the "most well-liked guy" in Alberta politics, is no Sunday go-to-Mass photo-op Catholic, but obviously a serious man of faith - a blessing like the one Fr. Daniel gave is not mandatory! And I think these two different sides of Stelmach - the popular politician and the serious Catholic - are not unrelated to each other, in the sense that practicing the virtues of the latter can lead to the former. It can happen.

Of course, it's extremely early days yet. But it was just a really nice surprise, at our own parish Mass!

(Update: Oh, I see now in the Journal's profile where it does mention he sings in the Ukrainian Catholic church choir at home. Check out the profile - he's no Jim Dinning, word. Thank God.)

I'm dreaming of Mark Steyn . . .

2006-12-02T23:18:00.000-07:00

. . . you can see my letter on his current "America Alone" letters page (scroll down to "Dreamy"). Yes, I really did have that dream! BTW, I'm reading the book now, it is excellent (of course).

Why we have illegal immigration, part 9,396

2006-11-27T23:52:00.000-07:00

Dude, if Cuauhtemoc (one of my favorite-ever names to say, though I can't stand the guy's politics) is against you, then . . . give it up! (He won't of course.)

Lopez Obrador's Election Fraud

Prayer for the Pope's trip to Turkey

2006-11-26T20:41:00.000-07:00

The Knights of Columbus have an excellent prayer to pray during the Holy Father's trip to Turkey. I hope that all those, Catholic and non-, who are of goodwill and desire a successful trip with positive talks, will join in praying for the safety of the Pope and his retinue, as well as all Christians and others in Turkey favorably disposed to the Pope. (I guess we can count Polly Toynbee out.) (h/t American Papist, who'll have all the coverage)

Spiritual Pilgrimage With Pope Benedict XVI

Why Britain's Conservatives are parody-proof

2006-11-26T20:34:00.000-07:00

Yes, you'll read it right: Polly Toynbee.

And, no, it's not a satire. Too bad. (Via SteynOnline.)

Cameron told: it's time to ditch Churchill
One of David Cameron's key policy advisers will urge the party today to abandon its Churchillian and "out of date" ideas about the welfare state, the Guardian has learned. Greg Clark, who is overhauling the party's approach to poverty at the Tory leader's request, will urge Conservatives to look to the Guardian commentator Polly Toynbee rather than the wartime leader.

Seriously: Not a satire.

(Y'know, Bob Tyrrell of the American Spectator used to -- still does, actually -- call the former president "Boy Clinton". I think "Boy Cameron" is even more appropriate.)

Cardinal Arinze schools liturgists in Latin translation

2006-11-19T22:25:00.000-07:00

Pro multis means "for many," Vatican rules

About bloody time, too.

In the election fallout . . .

2006-11-10T10:44:00.000-07:00

David Frum wonders, "Will Mark Steyn have to retitle his new book, Canada and Australia Alone?"

Yes

2006-11-07T23:51:00.000-07:00

Well, it's just been a bit depressing (though not as depressing as many would have liked it to be), and I have to have stitches taken out tomorrow (from a surgery last week, one of the reasons I haven't been around). Leave you with this, from NRO's Sixers blog:

White House to do list
[Greg Pollowitz 11/08 12:34 AM]

1. FIND veto stamp

2. BUY ink for veto stamp

3. ASK Alberto how Executive Privilege works again

Who else "ran to the center"?

2006-11-07T22:08:00.000-07:00

Not just Bob Casey:

Sandinista Head Daniel Ortega Wins Nicaragua Presidential Election
MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega, a former Marxist revolutionary who fought a U.S.-backed insurgency in the 1980s, has won Nicaragua's presidential election, according to results released Tuesday.
. . . Ortega, who served as president from 1985-90, toned down his once-fiery rhetoric during the campaign, promising to support a regional free trade agreement with the U.S. and maintain good relations with Washington.
He says he has changed profoundly since he befriended Soviet leaders, expropriated land and fought Contra rebels in a war that left 30,000 dead and the economy in shambles.

He ran as "the New Ortega"? Wow, hadn't heard that angle, wonder why?

Greg Gutfield at NRO

2006-11-07T20:13:00.000-07:00

Greg Gutfield has a totally hilarious "interview" with himself up at NRO. Some LOL samples:

Q: If you were Joe Lieberman — totally trashed by your party in the primary — what’s the first thing you would say upon winning reelection? What’s the first thing you would do when you got back to work?
A: Switch parties. But if I’m Joe, I just want to be loved, so I wouldn’t become a Republican. I might join the Birthday Party. Everyone would eventually join that party, especially Democrats.
Europeans will still hate us — which will confound liberals, who crave their acceptance so badly it hurts. But if the Democrats truly want Europeans to love them, they should look into some of those relationship ads on Craigslist.
Q: What will London be saying about us the morning after our elections?
A: They will say things like: “The writing is on the wall. Iraq policy is a monumental failure that destroyed the hopes of any Republican victory. It looks like the end for neo-cons.” They will say this even if the Republicans actually win. They’ll also say, “Maybe America is finally waking up,” because they’re, like, five hours ahead of us. But they will say it in a really funny accent — which will make it entertaining to small children they meet in the park.

Latest AP results

2006-11-07T20:05:00.000-07:00

Well, now, the Republican govs are starting to r-r-r-roll in.

I can't stand Rick Perry -- but he sure beats all the others. A perfect example of my thought that this election has been between terrible (R) and terriblest (D and most I's).

The REAL shocker of the day

2006-11-07T19:42:00.000-07:00

Britney Spears files for divorce in LA

Wow, didn't see that one coming.

(Cheeky video blogger @ AP says, "Britney Spears Is K-Fed Up!" Boy, aren't we all.)

Results rolling in

2006-11-07T19:21:00.000-07:00

OMG. Gov. Eliot Spitzer. Truly, is this not a sign of the end times? OTOH, who the heck was he running against? (Or, as K-Lo put it in Hillary Clinton's case - paraphrasing - "Sen. Clinton will claim victory. This will come as a shock to many New Yorkers, who did not even realize she was running opposed.") Thankfully, the sensible, Weicker-loving voters of Conn. have spared us Sen. Lamont - sweet Jesus, hurts just thinking about that.

Here's some of the great, incisive commentary we can expect in the next few days. It's the first time I've seen this meme tonight -- but not the last, I'm sure.

Nov 7, 9:02 PM EST
Analysis: War Weary Voters Seek Change
By TERENCE HUNT
AP White House Correspondent
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Weary of war and angry at the president who started it, Americans vented their frustration in the voting booth Tuesday. It was a clear call for change aimed at President Bush and a Republican Congress that has marched in step behind the commander in chief.

I'm sure it's news to the President (and to the Congress) that Congress "has marched in step behind the commander in chief". And this guy is supposedly a WH correspondent?

(Another "instant classic" just seen: "Democrats Score Upsets in Key Races". You go, AP. What on earth will you write if Steele wins in Maryland - "Black Republican ekes out freakish win"?)

Watching and waiting

2006-11-07T19:02:00.000-07:00

The returns are starting to come in. I'm for a hold in the Senate and 1- or 2-seat Dem majority in the House, but I'm ready to be proven wrong on that last (i.e., fewer Dems), and this election could still go any way. But that's what I think we'll see at the end of the evening. NRO has its usual symposium of predictions, including "how would you write tomorrow's NYT headline?" (which most participants read as, "how will tomorrow's NYT headline read?", a slightly different question). This produced, naturally, some amusing answers, including Kathryn Lopez' "GOP Retakes Congress. Minorities, Women, and Children Hurt Most." and Kate O'Beirne's "Democrats Defeat Black Candidates in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland." Of all the statements, Mark Steyn's comment on this overall pathetic election, with its choices of bad and worse, resonated most:

[If the Democrats take the House or entire Congress], of course, it will be a sobering moment: The American people will have chosen to reward a September 10th party mired in sour oppositionism and cobwebbed boomer pieties. Don’t get me wrong. Both wings of the political class have underperformed since 9/11, and this unlovely election is the consequence. But even a narrow Dem victory will embolden the media: Unlike 2004, they’ll have succeeded in dragging the dead horse of the Democratic party across the finish line, and they’ll be even more audacious in two years’ time.

However, even if the Dems take both houses, I predict they'll have a harder time of it in charge than they think they will -- and I agree with the NRO commenter who doesn't forsee a Speaker Pelosi, even with a Dem House.

The plea from our servicemen on Election Day

2006-11-07T18:59:00.000-07:00

At Hugh Hewitt:

Thank goodness

2006-11-05T10:47:00.000-07:00

To any whiners: I suppose you would have preferred the American forces to have shot him when they found him? What would you people have been like at Nuremburg? In fact, I can just see Ramsay Clark at Nuremburg . . .

Iraqi Tribunal Sentences Saddam to Hang

Stop the Insanity: Get-your-papal-hate-on version

2006-10-02T17:46:00.000-06:00

So: You've heard about this dumb BBC hit-piece (on the estimable program "Panorama", no less). They just don't even bother to try to hide the anti-Catholic bias anymore, and get the facts wrong in the process - but that's okay, isn't it, as long as it serves The Greater Truth! Because the majority of the people who see the program will receive it, and have their prejudices confirmed, and won't question it.

Sigh.

Anyway, good reax at Ed Peters and Amy Welborn. Ugh. Call me when somebody has some real news, willya?

Life Imitates TV: "Nobody Expects the [American] Inquisition!"

2006-10-01T16:37:00.000-06:00

From one of the all-time best Monty Python skits:

(Cut to them torturing a dear old lady, Marjorie Wilde).
Ximinez: Now, old woman -- you are accused of heresy on three counts -- heresy by thought, heresy by word, heresy by deed, and heresy by action -- *four* counts. Do you confess?
Wilde: I don't understand what I'm accused of.
Ximinez: Ha! Then we'll make you understand! Biggles! Fetch...THE CUSHIONS!

(JARRING CHORD)
(Biggles holds out two ordinary modern household cushions)

Biggles: Here they are, lord.
Ximinez: Now, old lady -- you have one last chance. Confess the heinous sin of heresy, reject the works of the ungodly -- *two* last chances. And you shall be free -- *three* last chances. You have three last chances, the nature of which I have divulged in my previous utterance.
Wilde: I don't know what you're talking about.
Ximinez: Right! If that's the way you want it -- Cardinal! Poke her with the soft cushions!
(Biggles carries out this rather pathetic torture)
Ximinez: Confess! Confess! Confess!
Biggles: It doesn't seem to be hurting her, lord.
Ximinez: Have you got all the stuffing up one end?
Biggles: Yes, lord.
Ximinez (angrily hurling away the cushions): Hm! She is made of harder stuff! Cardinal Fang! Fetch...THE COMFY CHAIR!

(JARRING CHORD)
(Zoom into Fang's horrified face)

Fang (terrified): The...Comfy Chair?
(Biggles pushes in a comfy chair -- a really plush one)

Ximinez: So you think you are strong because you can survive the soft cushions. Well, we shall see. Biggles! Put her in the Comfy Chair!
(They roughly push her into the Comfy Chair)

Ximinez (with a cruel leer): Now -- you will stay in the Comfy Chair until lunch time, with only a cup of coffee at eleven. (aside, to Biggles) Is that really all it is?
Biggles: Yes, lord.
Ximinez: I see. I suppose we make it worse by shouting a lot, do we? Confess, woman. Confess! Confess! Confess! Confess!
Biggles: I confess!
Ximinez: Not you!

From Rich Lowry's September 28 column, "Soft Cell":

Interrogators rely on the soft sell. Detainees sit in a La-Z-Boy chair during interrogations, and beverages and movies are available to put them at ease. The most effective interrogator is said to be an older woman who adopts a nurturing attitude.

From Hugh Hewitt's talk on September 28 with Mark Steyn, on Hugh's radio show:

HH: . . . Do they appear put upon to you, Mark Steyn?

MS: No, they don't. It's interesting to me. They were being treated very lavishly, as you know, to Ramadan, and we at the meal that...when I was down there, that the detainees eat, and very proudly, we were told, as they served up this fantastic meal, that it featured homemade pastries, especially cooked for the detainees for Ramadan. So I can tell you something. They eat much better food...I've eaten MRE's with American troops in Iraq, and these detainees eat much better than American troops do.
. . .
HH: Mark Steyn, did you get a chance to talk to any of the interrogators at Gitmo?

MS: Yes, I did, actually. (laughing) I spoke briefly to a rather lovely female interrogator. As you know, Muslim young men often have complicated attitudes to women. And they...and she, in fact, found that although Saudi males were incredibly hostile to her the first couple of times she interrogates them, that they've been deprived of female company for so long, that actually, they warm up to her by about the third or fourth meeting. So I found the interrogation, I think...I had the opportunity to kind of eavesdrop on a couple of interrogations, which are certainly surreal, if you're used to this sort of anti-American propaganda, where the guys are in dungeons and chains, chained to these little, wooden chairs under the bare light bulb, or some guys beating the information out of them. In fact, they're interrogated in a La-Z-Boy recliner, which is this oddly surreal point. It's a very unusual set up down there.
. . .
HH: Now Mark Steyn, when they were done, do they evidence hostility towards Americans? Did you come into contact with any of the Gitmo prisoners, or just through the looking glass?

MS: Well, we came in contact with some of the Afghan ones, who turn out to be the most compliant. . . . the Afghan guys are apparently the most agreeable and affable and friendly ones in the joint. The Saudis and Yemenis are far more hostile. And I must say, these are the fattest Afghans I've ever seen, because they're on this kind of 4,700 calorie a day diet, which I don't quite understand. So instead of that rather sort of lean, wily Afghan look, these are kind of big, bloated, chubby Afghans. And if they ever did want to go back to jihad, they're going to have to shed about...(laughing)

HH: They're going to have to go into training.

MS: Yes.

End of the "Top Gun"* era

2006-09-24T17:30:00.000-06:00

Also over at On Tap, there's a tribute to the great F-14 Tomcat, which has just, very quietly, been phased out of active service. For any lover of amazing aircraft and/or things martial, this is a must-see.

*That's "Top Gun" as in the movie.

Wallace (the Younger) puts Clinton on the run

2006-09-24T16:27:00.000-06:00

Not having a hooked-up TV, I didn't see it, but I'm checking out online videos of "the" Fox News Sunday interview with Bill Clinton that "everyone" is talking about now. (For a transcript, see here.) You can find reax at any politically-minded blog, but Marshall at On Tap is a particularly good one.

UPDATE: Jeff Harrell notes a strange comment (one that bothered me too) from Clinton:

When Wallace asked President Clinton what he did during his two terms about Osama bin Laden, Clinton replied, “What did I do? I worked hard to try and kill him. I authorized a finding for the CIA to kill him. We contracted with people to kill him.”
If true, this is a very troubling statement. Because you see, during President Clinton’s term in office, ordering the CIA to kill Osama bin Laden would have been an overt violation of U.S. law.
On December 4, 1981, President Ronald Reagan signed Executive Order 12333, a lengthy document that elaborated on the authority and responsibility of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Paragraph 2.11 of EO 12333 was absolutely clear: “No person employed by or acting on behalf of the United States Government shall engage in, or conspire to engage in, assassination.”
. . . EO 12333 wasn’t amended until September 2001, when President Bush authorized the use of covert lethal operations against al-Qaida.
So if I’m reading the law right — and as I’ve said time and again, I’m just an interested layman, not a legal scholar — then it seems to me that President Clinton just admitted on national television to ordering the assassination of Osama bin Laden, thus breaking the law of the United States of America.
Unless he was lying, of course. Not that he has a history of doing that or anything.

Oh joy.

Stop the Insanity! Electoral College edition

2006-09-24T14:47:00.000-06:00

Y'know, I was just over at my favorite magazine shop in downtown Edmonton the other day, and I ended up explaining the Electoral College to the clerk. She agreed with me that it's easy and obvious once you understand it, but many folks who are supposed to do the explainin' often don't seem to do a good job. Apparently she once tried to get a U of A poli sci prof to explain it to her and ended up more confused than before. (Of course, I think the main reason I've got a working grasp of Canadian politics is that I've educated myself and not taken any courses or asked any pointy-heads. Though I suppose there are some profs who could explain it all to me - Stephen Harper, for instance . . . )

Anyway, being someone who understands and appreciates the Electoral College, nothing irritates me so much as this display of stupidity shown by the California Legislature (and I know that "display of stupidity" and "California Leg" are synonyms, thanks). Betsy has a good takedown of it here. I mean, live by the popular vote, die by the popular vote, my friend . . . Yes, I know you could say the reverse, but, hey, did Nixon file a bunch of lawsuits in Illinois and Texas and bitch and whine in 1960? I think not.

Ironic Catholic strikes again!

2006-09-12T21:49:00.000-06:00

Requiem Mass Music From 1969 Discovered In Church Basement, Musicologists "Stunned"
"I choose that word--stunned--carefully" said Scanlon. "One person I spoke with was stunned in outrage. Another person was clearly stunned in delight. Another person was stunned in embarrassment...I think he might have been involved in the presentation of this way back then. No one in that church or the diocese is owning up, though. It's a shame, because this will go down as a--um, watershed moment--in 20th century liturgical music."
There are two hallmarks of the composition: first, the unusual instrumentation, which include a bluesy harmonica on the Agnus Dei (or "Lamb of God"), dueling mandolins during the Kyrie Eleison ("Lord, Have Mercy"), and tamborines, finger cymbals, and a cow bell during the In Paradisum. Second, the Mass closes with a rousing a capella eight part harmony of "Blowin' in the Wind", which the composer re-titled "Blowin' in the Spirit".

Dueling mandolins. Heh. Needs more cowbell. Heh heh.

BTW -- on the Pope's German visit . . .

2006-09-12T14:53:00.000-06:00

Gerald Augustinus at The Cafeteria is Closed is doing yeoman's work covering the visit, providing translations of homilies and news coverage. Meanwhile, Thomas at American Papist is keeping us up to date on all the papal chapeaux (the latest: let's just say it isn't a Panama "banal", heh heh!).

You know I love this story

2006-09-12T14:51:00.000-06:00

At American Papist:

Pope Benedict's parents met through a singles ad!

9/11 - five years ago

2006-09-11T14:29:00.000-06:00

Five years ago I was in the depths of one of my depressions, living with my parents and unemployed. My mother was getting ready for work and was watching something on "Fox & Friends". I was still in bed, half-asleep, as depressed people tend to be. All of sudden Mother hollered at me and said, "Meg! Get in here! Now!" in her (rarely-used) brook-no-argument tone. I struggled out of bed and . . . stayed glued to the television for the next few days, at least. When I came in the room there were the helicopters circling the WTC and the North Tower smoking . . . the anchorguy was saying something about a plane flying into the building! This was shortly after that kid flew a Cessna into that building in Florida, so Mother and I thought it was along those lines, but, no, we were quickly informed otherwise . . . it was a passenger jet! The reporters seemed as disbelieving as we were. Finally Mother had to leave for work; I promised to call her if anything else happened. (Ha!)

No sooner had she left than the second plane flew into the South Tower . . . that was a shock . . . and at that point, I started thinking, "Islamist nuts". Because the odds of one passenger airplane flying into the freakin' World Trade Center were pretty darn small, but the odds of two doing so within 45 minutes of each other were, well, infinitesimal. At that point, I couldn't call Mother, the switchboard where she worked wasn't open for another hour. (She called me not too long after - everyone at work was gathered around an old B&W TV someone had in their office.) I called a friend who lived and worked in Manhattan - he worked way up in Murray Hill, so I wasn't "worried" about him, but even so, I wanted to check in with him, and it turned out to be the last time I'd be able to talk to him for over a week. Everyone in his office was gathered around a TV, and of course they could see downtown to what was going on. He held the phone out the window so I could hear the noise of sirens on vehicles headed downtown . . . I told him I was a little concerned that one or both of the Towers could fall, I didn't know if with their engineering the metal might buckle if the fires went down further, and cause one or both to fall over on their sides (ha! - I couldn't imagine them falling as they did - but later I read a couple of books on the engineering of the Towers and realized why what happened, happened - you conspiracy people should look into those). But we both agreed that that was crazy talk. I told him I'd call him later - "I know you live uptown [he lived north of Columbia, for pete's sake], but I'll just have to make sure you're okay." He laughed and said fine. Of course, I was unable to call him that evening, or for days after, and that evening he walked from the east 30's to the 180's.

Of course, with that prediction, I was not surprised when the Towers came down . . . just kind of . . . shocked. I can see them both happening - first the top began to shiver, then the whole tower just collapsed, bam bam bam bam bam. Of course the TV showed it over and over, usually in slowed motion of some sort so you could see what was happening. But I remember clearly watching both towers go down, especially because they both seemed to have a rhythym - wooooooooobbble, then slam slam slam slam slam.

By that time, I had been praying my rosary for a while. It was obvious to anyone with sense what was going on. People were already dead and dying, fire crews were going up into God-knew-what, it was obviously going to be a huge mess to get those fires put out and then . . . it got worse.

After the Towers fell, I just sat on the sofa and watched . . . well, everything. The Pentagon. The reports from Pennsylvania. The fingerpointing. ("Oh, great," I thought. "Well, at least Al Gore isn't president," I thought.) The coming together and the bickering. I went to church that night, and the night after. Perhaps it brought me out of my depression, I never thought of it that way before . . .

The other thing I really remember was the "irony" of what a wonderful day it was. I remember thinking, as the helicopters circled around, how nice and clear the sky looked there; you don't get that nice clear blue in New York as often as you do in Texas. Then some of the news people commented on what a lovely morning it had been, and, when I spoke to my friend, I asked him how it was up there, and he said it had been the most beautiful late-summer morning. And out of that beautiful sky fell Death.

What's with these kids today??? (and their parents)

2006-08-27T22:53:00.000-06:00

Reading this entry over at Dom Bettinelli's reminded me . . . on Friday we went to see an OB/GYN at the local fertility clinic. I told her we had already discussed things and were cool with "whatever kind of baby we end up with, if we end up with a baby" (i.e., if it has Downs or other issues, I won't get an abortion). She was like, okay, don't have to get into that, then -- like it was a bit of a relief. On the way home husband and I talked some more, as we have lately, about the sheer unwillingness of modern parents to have children that are less than perfect. In the first world, and increasingly in the third world, we demand that children be utile, that they at least be able to "perform", to earn their own keep once they reach their majority, if not take care of us as well. There is no room for the deformed, of any kind, because they are not obviously productive to their families or to society. Of course, Mr. Musings has a grown sister with Downs (she's the same age as I am - 35), and I've volunteered with folks with various disabilities, so we've both seen that these people do in fact indirectly contribute to society -- but not in any ways that can be measured by the yardsticks of worldly success and achievement.

Well, this is not terribly new - parents always want healthy children, which new mother or father cries, "Oh, autism! Just what I was hoping for!" or some similar? But today it is worse, because parents in middle- and upper-etc.-class families, seem to focus on one or two wonderful, adorable, perfect little ones who can do no wrong. These children are starved of things they do need (authority, free time, unconditional love, stable families) and stuffed with things they don't (money and things, over-scheduled activities and "experiences", parents as friends, familial instability - these are all just examples). Parents seem to think that children need things that are at best "wants", while not even deigning to provide things that once would have been thought essential. At least we "latch-key" kids of Gen-X had free time, and I think Gen Y'ers did too. But what are these Britney'd and Justin'ed turn-of-the-millenium kids going to turn out like?

Or, as I told my husband, "Yeah, I must be turning 35 - 'Hey, these darn kids today!'"

But, still, I am serious. The other part of it is that parents have just forgotten what the whole point of getting married and having a family is -- having babies. I mean, if you're going to have one, why not have two? And if you're going to have two, why not three? And if three, why not four . . . (I've heard three toddlers is the worst it gets, it improves from there). I'm not saying everyone should have 20 kids, but my husband is the oldest of 15, and they are a pretty decent brood, with lots of kids themselves, it makes you think how pathetically onanistic modern "family" life is today. And I'm just talking about secular people, I'm not even addressing us Catholics!

Well, anyway, happy birthday to me (after midnight).

"Hi, I'm a genius" news

2006-08-27T13:35:00.000-06:00

Hezbollah Head Didn't Foresee Such a War
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) -- Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said in a TV interview aired Sunday that he would not have ordered the capture of two Israeli soldiers if he had known it would lead to such a war.

Well, DUH.

But he still "won".

Bottom story of the day

2006-08-27T13:30:00.000-06:00

Dressed-Down Actors Rehearse Emmy Lines
Candice Bergen relaxed in the green room - really a sand-colored, Moroccan-themed enclave trimmed in red - while comedian Howie Mandel marched on stage with a bevy of "Deal or No Deal" beauties.
. . . Outside, workers meticulously readied the red carpet for famous feet.

Article most likely to be quoted by Phyllis Schlafly in the next month

2006-08-22T19:17:00.000-06:00

Don't Marry Career Women

Bottom Story of the Day

2006-08-19T10:03:00.000-06:00

Heidi Klum and Seal Want More Children

NEW YORK (AP) -- Heidi Klum and her husband Seal, currently expecting their second child together, might not be done. "We want to have a lot of children," the supermodel tells Life magazine in its latest issue. "(Seal) always says that he finds me the most beautiful when I'm pregnant."

When headlines have no meaning

2006-08-13T16:17:00.000-06:00

Lamont: Lieberman Sounded Like Cheney

What the hell? That might play good with the Nut, I mean, Netroots, Ned, but I don't think it's going to go so well with average Connecticut voters.

Anyway, as another blogger (I forget who) has observed, this whole thing is really going to get amusing from here on out. Ned can't run any further to the left, or will alienate centrist voters. Yet if he talks about things besides "the war", his partisans will be angered - however, a Connecticut senator has to deal with things besides foreign policy. It's quite a Chinese finger trap he's got going, and I for one am just going to enjoy watching Neddy try to win the general while pleasing all sides. Of course, he does have the MSM doing his heavy lifting for him . . .

The '80's really are returning this fall . . .

2006-08-08T00:59:00.000-06:00

I had a blouse exactly like this in 1986 (from Carroll Reed or the late, great Gokeys, I think, maybe Brooks . . . ). Supercute then and now. 'Course, then, you wore it, buttoned, with a floppy plaid or paisley bow tie . . . not quite as trim-fit as this, either. See? It never is quite the same the second time around.

Warning: One additional stupid AP Health story can be overly irritating to your system

2006-08-08T00:56:00.000-06:00

Noooooooooooooo!!!!!!

One High-Saturated Fat Meal Can Be Bad

"Leopard: Request vs. Reality"

2006-08-07T23:54:00.000-06:00

With Apple's WWDC getting going today, Steve Jobs unveiled Leopard (aka OSX v10.5). Of course, Macworld's all over it; my favorite article so far is Chris Breen's "What we wanted in Leopard: Request vs. reality", in which he considers the shortcomings of the current OS and checks Steve's reveal against what he thinks users are looking for (and I think he's pretty spot-on in his criticisms).

N'Sync singer "comes out"

2006-07-29T00:45:00.000-06:00

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"

2006-07-25T20:13:00.000-06:00

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"

2006-07-21T02:56:00.000-06:00

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.