Month: September 2006

One of the most prominent of the Pope’s chief critics to be demanding apologies in the various news reports is the Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah. This Inquirer report is typical: Muslim leaders said outreach efforts by papal emissaries were not enough. “We do not accept the apology through Vatican channels… and ask him to…

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by tiredness. Something like that. I’m so tired I don’t even know what “generation” is supposed to be “mine.” I do know that the closer I get to final eternity, the less interested I become in the imaginary rewards thereof, and the more tired I become…

While Oriana Fallaci was an atheist, she drew more hatred from militant Islam than the Pope has drawn today, and I find myself wondering what she’d say if she could see the violent Islamic riots taking place on the day she died. Glenn Reynolds links Pajamas Media‘s huge roundup of blogger reactions to her death,…

Chip. Shoulder. Islam. Some history required. I’m getting a bit tired of people who are so unable to tolerate the slightest hint of criticism that they riot in the streets and burn people in effigy. The violent anger this time is directed not against Danish cartoonists but the Pope, because he quoted from a Byzantine…

I probably spend far too much time on the local Philadelphia gun-control stuff. Maybe I need some form of psychological help. The problem I have is this: I subscribe to the Philadelphia Inquirer, and whenever I see misleading or manipulative information going unchallenged and staring me in the face, my gut reaction is to leap…

NumbersUSA reports that the House of Representatives voted to erect a border fence: (September 14) By a vote of 283-138-1, the House today passed a stand-alone border fencing bill (H.R. 6061) sponsored by Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King (R-NY). The House is expected to vote on additional enforcement-only measures in the near future, including…

I was thinking ahead (itself a painful thing for me), and I stumbled upon this ad: And right under the image was this caption: Amnesty, Ted Kennedy, Big Spending… Sounds like things liberal democrats would love right? WRONG! RINO’s are painful to watch, listen to, and most importantly DATE! Ouch! (I mean Oh the Pain!)…

Every once in a while, an event will remind me of the intractable differences between communitarians and individualists. The latest is the Montreal shooting, which (as I remarked earlier) has already triggered various communitarian outbursts of emotion. Almost despairingly, I agreed with a Canadian blogger who remarked, simply, that there is “no one to blame…

Former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey is a man who wants to be taken seriously. Apparently, that’s why he’s hit the Oprah circuit. From what I can discern with the few facts that are being made available, what matters is that he is gay, and was governor. Never mind that he’s considered one of the…

In two blog posts, I discussed recent news reports about a shooting involving a seventeen year old alleged to have shot a friend to death. While the gun was fired repeatedly over the evening, here’s a brief account of the fatal shooting: By the end of the night, O?Neill, Sheridan and two others were alone…

I hate it when something makes absolutely no sense and this thing doesn’t. Unless…. (And I do hope I’m wrong in my suspicions.) Anyway, what prompted hours of (ongoing) puzzlement was Glenn Reynolds’ link to this post by the Corner’s Andrew Stuttaford. I’ve been thinking about what it might mean if the following contentions by…

I’m puzzled over something. While I’ve never been quite certain exactly how to define the Republican “base,” I’m wondering whether the term has become code language for conservative opposition to President Bush. If so, then considering Bush’s narrow victory in the last two elections, will this emerging base of dissenters be able to ensure victory…

I hate it when issues cultural and racial sensitivity issues creep into the most mundane things. Like getting your nails done, for example. I know that it’s always a mistake to write blog posts about subjects with which I am unfamiliar, but the fact is, I can’t remember when I last had my nails done.…

I agree with Clayton Cramer that the following sentence is so long that it “Should Be Taken Out and Shot”: Be it enacted by the Right Honourable the Lord Proprietary by and with the Advice and Consent of his Governor and the Upper and Lower Houses of Assembly and the Authority of the same That…

Not only am I not a classical scholar, but I’m afraid Coco isn’t either. While I’ve tried encouraging her efforts at blogging (and Lord knows I need an omnipotent administrator around here), she just isn’t developing an interest in basic reading the way I’d like. Not that I haven’t made every effort: Still, no matter…

One of the things I most liked about the president’s speech last night was to see him come closer to a definition of the enemy we are fighting: Since the horror of 9/11, we have learned a great deal about the enemy. We have learned that they are evil and kill without mercy _ but…

Pajamas Media made a major announcement today, and while I already wrote about it in an update to my earlier 9/11 post, I’m just so plussed about the fact that Victor Davis Hanson is now blogging for Pajamas Media that I wanted to make sure everyone knows. Hanson is a genuine classical scholar of the…

Spetember 11 is one of those dates which rolls off the keys as a sort of common expression instead of a date. There isn’t much I have to say that I haven’t said, other than that much of my perspective was changed, and in many ways I’m still adjusting. After all, I spent 47 years…

I hardly watch any TV, but for what it’s worth, I’m watching ABC’s “The Path to 9/11.” Accurate or not (and despite my stated concerns) I think it’s important enough to watch. MORE: My reaction to tonight’s episode was to wonder why not more attention was paid to Abdul Rahman Yasin and the Iraq connection…

Dick Polman (with whom I disagree politically) remarks on the increasing difficulty of people who disagree to engage in any sort of dialogue: As I survey the political landscape, in the midst of a career change, it’s clear we have entered an era in which nuance seems quaint. “Blue state facts” clash with “red state…