Seeing the Derb's posts practically makes me want to give up blogging. (No, no, stop cheering!)

Review Sedes Sapientia

Sam: Whoever invented the bed was a genius.
Alysse: I don't think anyone had to invent the bed; I think they just got tired and fell over.

Zell Miller Endorses Bush This is huge.

Salon.com Arts & Entertainment | The Fix: "Shirley MacLaine on how she co-wrote a novel with her dog: 'It's probably because I sleep with her, and the intimacy of that is so deep and profound. I know she enters my dreams. And when Terry feels and I pick up the feeling, the feeling then becomes a creative concept. It began when the creative impulse woke me up. I was just lying with her, and I went right to the tape recorder.' "

Jeanetta: oh man

Update: I want to make clear that "Here's a new litany for you" is the title of Joanie's piece, not my idea of what to do with it.

Here's a new litany for you: "Over 40% of both populations, National Public Radio reported in its examination of the event, signed on to the document within 24 hours of its release. Ha'aretz, Israel's major newspaper, published it in full. What's more, the work of this civilian negotiating committee captured more attention in Israel than anything either government did in pursuit of war that week. "

St. Joan Likes the cult of Celebrity I guess. Since when is making news a criteria for justice, righteousness, and intelligence?

She then talks about Ithaca HOURS:

She seems totally unaware that this idea has it's roots in Hayekian thought. Thought which would probably make her politics pretty uncomfortable. Also, she doesn't really understand money.

"The link noted above is full of stories of people who have contributed work hours in one area in order to save money in another. For instance, the site tells the story of Sara who took out a loan of HOURS from a carpenter friend who had earned a bankbook full of them. Sara intends to use them to pay for childcare until her own strawberry sales begin to come in. And no interest is charged."

That's just charity that no interest is charged. These people aren't saving money, they're just using a different currency. Bah!

The diploma has arrived and I have hung it on the wall in the proper place. They'll have to let me into CSC now; if they don't before I get another degree, I'll have to rearrange all the wall hangings.

Salon.com News | Dazed and confused about Iraq: "Allan Johnson, a high school English teacher and debate coach from Fairfax, Va., held a sign saying 'U.S. Troops Out of Iraq. Bring Them Home Now!' at Saturday's 'End the Occupation' rally in Washington. In fact, though, Johnson isn't sure he wants to bring the troops home now, or to end the American occupation of Iraq. At least, not yet. "

Perhaps you shouldn't man the barricades until you know what you want.

I'm definitely excited about this movie, Shattered Glass, that comes out friday.

Amazon.com showtimes are here.

Salon.com interview with Stephen Glass

All sorts of spiffy new buttons. Whoo Hoo!

Does Sam ever sleep? In a word....No.

Yep...comments are back up...

Flash Mob! This is a great reading of that phenomenon.

Kasseri Cheese is great.

Awesome! Cheese Quotes!

TITLE: PAGANS LOVE PINE CONES AND USE THEM IN THEIR ART

It has a picture of "The largest pine cone in the world at Vatican Square in the Court of the Pine Cone." Apparently we worship pine cones now.

Jeanetta: "the alligator god is gonna be pissed"

In Feeding-Tube Case, Many Neurologists Back Courts: "He added that keeping Mrs. Schiavo alive artificially could be a burden on her.
For many terminally ill patients, he pointed out, 'food is an absolute burden — it increases secretions and makes them uncomfortable.' "

Bah! If she is in a minimally conscious state she's no more terminal than I am. If she is in a permanently vegatative state then she can't feel pain.

David Gelernter is great.

Having has the song "Summer Girls" by LFO stuck in my head for days, I completely sympathize with this rant. Yes, I know how sick this is. It's completely Ira Glass's fault, because of the TAL story, A Teenager's Guide to God, which I referenced earlier.

I by no means endorse everything he does, but this picture of David Sedaris is so awesome.

So it isn't important, but it is irritating that Amazon.com repeatedly puts up letters from Jeff Bezos on their frontpage when implementing a new feature telling us, "Starting today...," that are undated and that they leave up there for more than a day.

The lunatic in the pew - Alice McDermott

"As a fiction writer, I am not interested in conversion, transubstantiation, the mystical body of Christ, the infallibility of the pope, Aquinas, or Augustine."

Wow, the only way this can be true is if you don't know about these things, haven't lived these truths.

Squirrel Tag from The Onion, via The Corner

See Also: Running After Antelope and Squirrel Cop from TAL.

Unbelievably, Amazon.com is selling Black Hawk Down and We Were Soldiers... as a package deal. These are both cinematic triumphs, but watching them back to back, or even in the same week, would be impossible. Each left me emotionally drained. I walked out of We Were Soldiers... the first time I saw it and out of Black Hawk Down when I tried to watch it a second time.

Despite the odd title and placement, this is a great article on what it means to be a Red Sox fan. Salon.com Technology | Ask the pilot

PressThink: What's Radical About the Weblog Form in Journalism?

The gift economy is also something mentioned by Peter Maurin. In one of the Easy Essays he mentions how there are lots of jobs to be done, but not a lot of pay to be had; then he notes that people don't need to be paid to do a job, they can offer their services as a gift.

In fact, I will reproduce the entire essay here, since they are not copyrighted:

"Three Ways To Make A Living" by Peter Maurin:

Mirabeau says:

     "There are only three ways

     to make a living:

     Stealing, begging, working."



Stealing is against the law of God

     and against the law of men.



Begging is against the law of men,

     but not against the law of God.



Working is neither against the law of God

     nor against the law of men.



But they say

     that there is no work to do.



There is plenty of work to do,

     but no wages.



But people do not need

     to work for wages.



They can offer their services

     as a gift.

End Daylight Saving Time This is interesting. I have to think about it more though.

AP - Scalia cheers conservatives' anniversary, ridicules gay ruling We expected Scalia to endorse the ruling? He dissented at the time.

Sheep shed ship for shore, for sure - United Press International: This is why UPI is my favorite wire service.

There is a whole directory of photos of my Notre Dame rooms here. Some of the the photos are a bit blurry. If you want better pictures, feel free to come and visit and take some! Mwhahahahah.

Mwhahahahah, I found out I had an old picture of T-force and the Tiffster on the camera.

In a continued teaser for pictures my new rooms, here is the only picture I have of my old room at the University of Rochester.

National Catholic Register--"Induction Procedures Raise Moral Dilema"

To say the least! This is very problematic. I hope Bishop Wassel decides correctly and takes a stand.

Sheryl McCarthy-"However Hard, Terri Schiavo Has to Be Let Go" This article is insane. It's also very honest. It says, yes, we're killing her and we're OK with that. Which is insane.

"What's happening in Florida resembles the vigils we often see prior to an execution. This isn't an execution though. This is the rational ending to a human being who all the medical evidence says can no longer meaningfully participate in or appreciate life."

A RATIONAL ENDING!!!! The stakes are so high, ending someone's life, that it's not rational to "end" someone based on "all the medical evidence" becuase the fact of the matter is, that "all the medical evidence" is in dispute by others with their own "medical evidence". McCarthy says:

"Her parents understandably are clinging to the hope that one day their daughter can be revived and can be taught to eat and swallow on her own. There have been cases where people emerged from comas after 19 years and progressively got better."

Idioten! If they are "understandably" clinging to that hope and there are such cases, then why should we kill her?

"This doesn't mean that as a society we condone murdering people because they're severely physically handicapped or mentally incompetent. Each individual case has to be decided according to its facts."

No...we don't support a policy of killing the mentally incompetent, just a policy of letting the courts decide whether to kill the incompetent.

"But while the Schindlers' supporters may rally in support of life and against what they charge is "judicial murder," Terri Schiavo's existence bears no resemblance to life as we know it. She's in a form of limbo, and ought to be allowed to pass peacefully from it."

No resemblance? None at all? Really? And if you really believe in killing her, why don't you kill her, instead of prolonging the expense of keeping her in a hospice? Is it perhaps because. in fact, her "existence" does bear some resemblance to "life as we know it" and you are therefore uncomfortable with ending it?

My first "fisking" and it feels darn good.

"The Corner" on National Review Online
"YES [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
"I am out of control. But that does not mean I am wrong.
"Posted at 04:58 PM"

Whoo Hoo! First post of a new day. I did the laundry, all the laundry, now I'm having trouble finding a place to 1) dry it and 2) put it away. I am reminded again that I have way too many clothes. I should give some to the poor.

Mark 6: 7-13: Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits. These were his instructions: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff--no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them." They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

Mark 10:21: Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

I had to go out twice to get hangers to have a place to let the clothes drip dry. It's ridiculous. (4 t-shirts Alysse.)

I'm also sweeping. While I was out getting the hangers the second time, I bought rechargable batteries for my digital camera. So I should be able to take some pictures for any of you who've been wondering what my rooms here at Notre Dame look like.

SJahaza (8:10:49 PM): i should go do laundry
Jeanetta (8:10:54 PM): AGAIN
...
SJahaza (8:11:19 PM): again?
SJahaza (8:11:28 PM): i've haven't done laundry for [a while]
Jeanetta (8:11:33 PM): didn't you do laundry yesterday
SJahaza (8:11:36 PM): no
...
Jeanetta (8:11:39 PM): oh wait
Jeanetta (8:11:42 PM): that was me
Jeanetta (8:11:55 PM): i did laundry
Jeanetta (8:11:58 PM): nevermind

Here is a recording of the opera Poulenc wrote based on the topic.

FT May 2000: Following the Lamb I'm definitely checking out this book, and maybe the fictional accounts as well.

SJahaza (4:22:07 PM): bah! it's national pledge week on NPR
Jeanetta (4:22:46 PM): haha
...
SJahaza (4:27:07 PM): aaahhhhy!!!!!!
SJahaza (4:27:11 PM): it;s so ridiculous
SJahaza (4:27:14 PM): ahahahhahahah!
Jeanetta (4:27:19 PM): ?
SJahaza (4:27:22 PM): run away! run away!
SJahaza (4:27:34 PM): pledge week
SJahaza (4:27:37 PM): sorry

Suprising news....college campuses are for....Bush.

I got these cool reptile and amphibian stamps at the post office today.

P.E.T.H. (People for the Ethical Treatment of Hair) is currently boycotting this site.

Joan has gone off the deep end, again...

From This American Life, comes word that their internet streaming at $100k per year costs public radio listeners more than it does to pay Terry Gross's salary according to the Philly Inquirer. This reinforces my faith in the accuracy of markets for making judgments about the relative values of goods. If you're flush, feel free to send some of your cash WBEZ's way (they're the producers of TAL.) (If you're feeling really flush [or even if you're not] you can always send some of that cash my way as well. Just email, and I'll respond promptly with the address.

(We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog.)

Jeanetta just called and said her internet connection was down. You may now mock her w/o fear of reprisal.

Update 8:30 PM: Jeanetta is back on-line. However, feel free to continue mocking her.

So today's mail brought an invitation to join the ACLU (yeah, right), money from my Mom (yeah!), an Indiana UP brochure for their philosophy books, and a book I had ordered for my history exams. Finally, there was a latter from Gov. Jeb Bush dated a week ago saying he had done all he could to save Terri Schiavo's life, but that the laws tied his hands. Luckily Gov. Bush is a better politician than he is prognosticator. A pretty nice haul.

Timothy Wheeler on Gun Control on National Review Online

"In a marvelous moment of candor, a federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) committee has reported that it cannot find any evidence that gun-control laws reduce violent crime."

Wow....

Michael Potemra on In the Cut on National Review Online
"He and Frannie start an affair, but, as these things often go, she becomes ambivalent about him: On the plus side, he satisfies her in bed; on the minus side, she remains somewhat troubled by the fact that he is, in all likelihood, himself the serial sex murderer. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em."

Well then...

This is a great episode of This American Life from WBEZ in Chicago. It's about a group of teenagers from Chicago on a mission trip to WV. They record them for the week. It's awesome!

Words Are Weapons: Does anyone have a better source for this quotation?

"The words of the tongue should have three gatekeepers:
Is it true?
Is it kind?
Is it necessary?"
- Arabian proverb

Jeanetta! Do something about your Senator! Timothy P. Carney on Arlen Specter on National Review Online

Better take a look at that old potting soil in the garage. It could catch fire.

No Wilson Commons Loading Dock Hmm...actually there is one, it's just not accessible to you, though maybe it would be if you asked. It's behind Frederick Douglas and there is a tunnel running to WC. Doh! Fact checking, good old CT.

Fraternity search finds illegal items The items' being there is not exactly a 'man bites dog' story. I think this may be the last we hear from ΑΔΦ at the U of R and perhaps the last we hear of fraternities there. In fact, as a defended of freedom of association, I believe fraternities have a right to exist. However, no college should be required to rent them land or dormitory space. Nor should any college do so if they are centers of illegal drug use and dealing as ΑΔΦ has been for many years. If the fraternity doesn't take action, I would urge the civil authorities to do so under "crack-house laws".

Dilbert.com - Mystery Artist Including one by Darby Conley of Get Fuzzy!

mailto Encoder I've used this program to encode my email address, supposedly making it unreadable to bots. We'll see....

BETTER NEWS RE SCHIAVO by Kathryn Jean Lopez

"The Florida house has voted (58-23) to allow the governor to stay the court order that is currently preventing Terri Schiavo from being given any food or water. Next: Florida senate tomorrow, where the bill needs a 2/3 vote."

Given this news, it is IMPERATIVE that people call the President of the Florida State Senate and tell him that this bill should pass. He is Catholic but has been reported as opposing the bill. His phone number is here.

Salon.com Technology | How I decoded the human genome

"I asked Jakob how he felt about the idea that, thanks to the Human Genome Project, in the future, kids like him and his friends need never be born. (Although Jakob's disabilities were caused by prenatal infection and not by a genetic abnormality, that's academic. He well knows that he's just as much a mutant as any of his friends.) He thought for a few seconds, and then said in a voice dripping with irony, 'Hello, justifiable holocaust.'"

Of course, the question isn't asked, if killing these people because of bad genes is wrong, why is it ok to kill them under any circumstances. OK...well this only part 1 of the story, perhaps that will come in part 2.

A great story from Slate:

"When he was out on the pile a year ago, trying to pull Officer Jimeno free, Strauss shouted orders to his volunteer helpers—'Medic, I need air,' or 'Marine, get me some water.' ...Strauss, asked if he could call them by their names to facilitate the process. The medic said he was 'Chuck.' Karnes said: 'You can call me 'staff sergeant.' 'That's three syllables!' said Strauss... 'Isn't there something shorter?' ...'You can call me 'staff sergeant.'"

On that note, I am closing the AIM profile....from now on just check the blog.

(Where did you expect the link to go?)

Oh, one more word about Mystic River. The movie was beautifully shot, especially great were the helicopter shots, the choices of locations, the transistions. There was a ton in this movie that was just wonderfully true, until the ending unfortunately. Had the ending been right this would've been a masterpiece.

LittleAnodos (1:34:17 AM): how was [Mystic River]
SJahaza (1:35:15 AM): it was horrifying
LittleAnodos (1:35:18 AM): ?
SJahaza (1:35:19 AM): blogging about it now
LittleAnodos (1:35:24 AM): ......right.....
LittleAnodos (1:35:34 AM): blogging has replaced direct communication.
...
LittleAnodos (1:36:09 AM): ....instead of saying good morning to people, i will put a good morning notice on my blog and greet people with "see my blog"

Yep, that about covers it.

Strangely, I don't find this very funny. Perhaps because I just came back from seeing Mystic River. The Rolling Stone review gets it just about right, though it says that the part about Dave's war with himself as a potential child molester is dodged, but it is clearly in there. Laura Linney is not, I believe, like Lady MacBeth, she is more a Nietzchean Übermensch, or rather like Nietzche himself talking to the one she hopes is the Übermensch. It's scary, horrifying stuff, but never in an overly graphic way. It's the kind of film you might call "unflinching". I was disapointed with the way the ending was handled, it seems that even when people know the truth they don't do the right thing. The character needs to do more than point the finger, he needs to slap on the cuffs. Even more than seeing the character do the right thing, the director needs to show us that he knows that the way both characters are handling things is not only psychologically damaging, but morally reprehensible.

I believe that says what must be said without giving away the ending of the movie. You should go see it, its sad and horrible, but it says some true things. People with a moral foundation should know that the ending isn't right. "Fiat justitia, ruat coelum."

The phone number for Jim King, the President of the Florida State Senate, is (850) 487-5030. The phone number for Johnnie Byrd, the Speaker of the Florida State House of Representatives, is (850) 488-0807. Call them and tell them you support a moratorium on starvation and dehydration deaths in Florida.

I'm now a member of: Yahoo! Groups : blogsforbush

Speaking of CH: I read and liked (though it is not perfect) his book, Letters to a Young Contrarian.

"Goldberg File" on National Review Online See...even J Goldberg finds something to praise in Christoper Hitchens.

Say it with me now....human sacrifice on a massive scale lets try to remember that when considering these. And that is just the begining of the argument.

People in Rochester think that standing outside to raise money for the homeless is tough. Well check this out: "ZipUSA: 58102" in National Geographic Magazine

Sick: Grandma Kills Baby With Salt

Good comment though.

The Derb is my favorite actor. (A statement which has nothing at all to do with his acting.)

Bustarhymes Now there is an odd visitor. (Is this overly self referential?) I also got a visit from the other side of the world "Time Zone UTC+8:00/CCT - China Coast Time/Russian Federation Zone 7" with the report confirming that it came from the Pacific Rim network.

Perhaps the most pointless Bl. Teresa of Calcutta news story of the day?

ABCNEWS.com : Comatose Woman Denied Final Communion "Police officers at the hospice told the family the rite would violate a doctor's order that nothing be placed in her mouth to prevent choking and aspiration."

Bah! Why worry about her choking when you aren't feeding her?

If you go to Terrisfight.com you get a redirection page to the right sites. Very generous of the folks at Vigoris Technologies, Inc.

They write: "This redirection site was put up as a courtesy for and in support of Terri by a small ISP in Broken Arrow, OK ."

A Saintly Salmagundi // Comments: Bill Cork: "The telling part is that this was supposed to happen in March 2003. It is helpful when prophets give exact dates like this."

Incoming! [prayers that is] for A.M.

While they're at it they can take walking lessons. (Oh come on...I'm not that mean.)

Speaking of which, I need to work the world's smartest garbage man into a philosophy paper.

Ya know....I like it. So y'all can just go to Heck.

Paul Simon is just an awesome musician.

Gotta Love Payback: Salon.com Arts & Entertainment | The Fix: "Morgan Fairchild, who once dated Sen. John Kerry, has donated bucks to campaigns of three of his political rivals..."

Gotta love the Strong Memorial Hospital landing lights.

Originally posted with a blink tag, the tag has been removed as it was (almost) as annoying as the light.

From Cliffhanger:
Gabe Walker (Sylvester Stallone): "What's in the suitcases?"
Eric Qualen (John Lithgow): "Socks, a hundred million dollars, the usual things..."

Where can I get one of those suitcases?

The Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club: Homepage And I even have the mug.... Thanks Thomas!

Current Members: Pics: "More pictures than you can shake a stick at..." What if it's a really big stick?

Update on Sartre Post
The Testament of Jean-Paul Sartre: "As he reveals in the great final interview with Benny Levy (in Le Nouvel Observateur, March, 1980, translated in Telos, no. 44, Summer, 1980 and in Dissent, Fall, 1980)"

Well, there's a bibliographic reference for you. We don't have it available electronically here at ND, so I'd have to go to the library. Reading the rest of the linked article satisfied my curiosity though. Sartre apparently took himself to be a "kind of Jew" in the end.

De Fidei Oboedientia: "I should know, I received 3 injections from them. [Joyelle discovered she was very allergic to mango in Haiti]"

"Mango? Mango? You want mango?" waitress from The King and I [a Thai restaurant in Rochester].

Newsday.com - French Jewish Author Benny Levy Dies: "Levy is perhaps best known for his role as personal secretary to an aging and blind Sartre from 1974 until his death in 1980.

"A month before Sartre's death, the Paris weekly magazine Le Nouvel Observateur published final his thoughts and interviews [sic]-- the last ever given -- that Levy conducted with Sartre. The interviews caused a stir because they seemed to show Sartre had abandoned a leftist ideology and embraced religion, a path that Levy himself took. "

Hmm...I never heard this about Sartre. I'll have to look for a copy of the interview.

New York Sun Online Wow, the New York Sun, a conservative broadsheet daily in NYC, now has an online edition that you can try for free for 4 weeks. You don't even have to enter a credit card. Check it out.

Umm...someone, other than the JMuck, is gonna hurt me if I don't link to her: De Fidei Oboedientia

Note to self: When buying wine one frequently gets that for which one pays.

The Spectator.co.uk: "LOW LIFE: Saving sinners" is the current edition of Jeremy Clarke's great Spectator (London) column.

Telegraph | News | Backward Christian soldiers: "Nor is schism the cataclysmic end-game it is made out to be. The autonomy of each individual province means that the Anglican Church has been out of communion with itself since 1989, when the American church appointed Barbara Harris as its first woman bishop.

"The opponents of women priests attended the 1998 Lambeth Conference alongside her, but did not acknowledge her as a priest and refused to dress in clerical garb in group photographs with her."

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