Rabbi Dov Fischer on Michael Jackson on National Review Online:
"In 1993, after law school, we drove from California to Kentucky, where I served a year's clerkship for an appeals-court judge. En route, we listened to the car radio and, for the first time, I heard the pop music to which my children were subjected. I was shocked--absolutely shocked. So we moved the family to country music. Yes, country music includes lyrics about bars and drinking. But they also speak about mama and family--even about God. I would rather that my pre-adolescent children sing Garth Brooks's 'Unanswered Prayers' than Britney Spears's latest panting and moaning."
Tuesday, November 25, 2003
Jonah Goldberg's Goldberg File on National Review Online
Great column today (funny too) on media bias.
Great column today (funny too) on media bias.
Jay Nordlinger's Impromptus on National Review Online:
"Finally, that same Jermaine has said, 'My brother is not eccentric.' Now, forgive me, but if I were a Michael-defending sibling, I would not say, 'My brother is not eccentric.' I might say, 'My brother is damn eccentric, but he's not a child molester,' or something. But, come on: Jermaine needs a more credible set of talking points."
"Finally, that same Jermaine has said, 'My brother is not eccentric.' Now, forgive me, but if I were a Michael-defending sibling, I would not say, 'My brother is not eccentric.' I might say, 'My brother is damn eccentric, but he's not a child molester,' or something. But, come on: Jermaine needs a more credible set of talking points."
New York Daily News - Daily Dish & Gossip - Rush & Molloy: Gere draws a battle line with Clark:
"Mason-ic plot Jackie Mason cracked a Polish joke on WABC-AM, but Poles weren't laughing.
"The comedian said on Mark Levin's broadcast last month that 'Polish people hate the Jews, they just don't remember why.'
"The Polish American Congress' Anti-Bigotry Committee shot off a letter to Mason and program director Phil Boyce complaining that Levin remained silent after the remark.
"'Not only did Poles save Jews more than anyone else,' wrote the Congress' Frank Milewski, 'but because Poland was the only country in German-occupied Europe where the Nazis ordered death for doing it, more Poles were killed for saving Jews than anyone else.'
"Milewski told us, 'We haven't had any response from the station.'
But when called by the Daily News, Boyce responded, 'Jackie Mason is his own person. He is known for controversial comments.'
Mason's spokesman didn't really help his boss' cause when he added insult to insult when he told us: 'God bless American democracy when crackpot groups can be heard in the media.'
"Mason could've used New York's many Polish-Americans to buy tickets to his Broadway show 'Laughing Room Only.' It's closing next Sunday, 10 days after opening."
People should be nice to the Poles...we just don't remember why.... ::kidding::
"Mason-ic plot Jackie Mason cracked a Polish joke on WABC-AM, but Poles weren't laughing.
"The comedian said on Mark Levin's broadcast last month that 'Polish people hate the Jews, they just don't remember why.'
"The Polish American Congress' Anti-Bigotry Committee shot off a letter to Mason and program director Phil Boyce complaining that Levin remained silent after the remark.
"'Not only did Poles save Jews more than anyone else,' wrote the Congress' Frank Milewski, 'but because Poland was the only country in German-occupied Europe where the Nazis ordered death for doing it, more Poles were killed for saving Jews than anyone else.'
"Milewski told us, 'We haven't had any response from the station.'
But when called by the Daily News, Boyce responded, 'Jackie Mason is his own person. He is known for controversial comments.'
Mason's spokesman didn't really help his boss' cause when he added insult to insult when he told us: 'God bless American democracy when crackpot groups can be heard in the media.'
"Mason could've used New York's many Polish-Americans to buy tickets to his Broadway show 'Laughing Room Only.' It's closing next Sunday, 10 days after opening."
People should be nice to the Poles...we just don't remember why.... ::kidding::
New York Daily News - Daily Dish & Gossip - Rush & Molloy: Gere draws a battle line with Clark:
"'I believe only God has the right to take life,' declared the star of 'An Officer and a Gentleman.' 'We as people don't have that right.'"
God is a person too...three actually...
"It's got to be a sad Thanksgiving at model Lauren Bush's house. The President's stunning niece has already been coping with the messy divorce of her parents, Sharon and Neil, President Bush's younger brother.
"On Friday, a Texas judge ordered Sharon Bush to allow Lauren's 14-year-old sister Ashley to accompany Neil Bush to France to spend the holiday. "They don't even celebrate Thanksgiving in France," a friend of Sharon Bush noted."
Considering they don't even have Thanksgiving in France...
"'I believe only God has the right to take life,' declared the star of 'An Officer and a Gentleman.' 'We as people don't have that right.'"
God is a person too...three actually...
"It's got to be a sad Thanksgiving at model Lauren Bush's house. The President's stunning niece has already been coping with the messy divorce of her parents, Sharon and Neil, President Bush's younger brother.
"On Friday, a Texas judge ordered Sharon Bush to allow Lauren's 14-year-old sister Ashley to accompany Neil Bush to France to spend the holiday. "They don't even celebrate Thanksgiving in France," a friend of Sharon Bush noted."
Considering they don't even have Thanksgiving in France...
Salon.com | The world press on American politics:
"Yet the Queen reportedly found Dubya charming on that occasion. Since then she has changed her mind. The Daily Telegraph reports the Queen was 'apparently less than chuffed' to learn that President Bush, invited to stay with her, brought along five of his personal chefs. "
Given that a reporter for the Daily Mirror managed to get hired for the palace staff using a false reference, perhaps the security precaution of bringing his own chefs was wise. That's what it is really, the President uses Navy chefs so that he can be sure of their trustworthiness.
"Yet the Queen reportedly found Dubya charming on that occasion. Since then she has changed her mind. The Daily Telegraph reports the Queen was 'apparently less than chuffed' to learn that President Bush, invited to stay with her, brought along five of his personal chefs. "
Given that a reporter for the Daily Mirror managed to get hired for the palace staff using a false reference, perhaps the security precaution of bringing his own chefs was wise. That's what it is really, the President uses Navy chefs so that he can be sure of their trustworthiness.
Sunday, November 23, 2003
Aerial photo of what I think is the Holy Cross Novitiate...not certain, but it is in the right area. The building is right in the center 1/4 mile south (along the highway) from the exit for Pike's Peak Highway. The orange speck at the center is the building and zoom in to see it more clearly then zoom back out for the scale.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World:
"This ambiguity, along with the fact that both characters are sympathetic and likeable, is what elevates these conflicts above so many military-movie clashes pitting a hard-nosed by-the-book officer against a more nuanced subordinate or other foil (cf. K-19: The Widowmaker, Crimson Tide, etc.). "
This is exactly right....GO SEE THIS MOVIE!!!!!
"This ambiguity, along with the fact that both characters are sympathetic and likeable, is what elevates these conflicts above so many military-movie clashes pitting a hard-nosed by-the-book officer against a more nuanced subordinate or other foil (cf. K-19: The Widowmaker, Crimson Tide, etc.). "
This is exactly right....GO SEE THIS MOVIE!!!!!
Nation: Commentary: Need hope? Join Call to Action ranks
Well...having boosted DignityUSA Tom Fox now boosts Call to Action...arrghhh...
Well...having boosted DignityUSA Tom Fox now boosts Call to Action...arrghhh...
EDITORIAL: Birth control rerun adds little to Catholic life:
"a reversion to a discredited teaching, insistence on perpetuating a theology of sex and marriage that has little relationship to the lived experience of millions of married Catholics,"
Discredited by whom? Charles Curran still can't get a job as a Catholic theologian.
Every married couple in the country is made up of 2 sinners. No one obeys the church doctrine that you shouldn't sin. We haven't given up on sin yet [though maybe the NCR has...].
"Further, we only wish the teachings on charity would take up as much worry time for some of the Catholic hierarchy as do concerns over what married laity might be doing in their bedrooms."
Cause...ya know...you never hear the Bishops talk about charity. They're not the biggest charitable care providers in the country or anything...
"There is a sexual scandal in the church, but last we knew, it had little to do with lay people."
Why can there only be one sexual scandal in the Church? NCR would be willing to admit to the child abuse scandal and a hypothetical financial scandal at the same time...
"Why the high interest?
"Maybe it provided easy diversion.
"After all, there is a serious priest shortage that threatens the very sacramental life of the church. One might think that critical subject would take center stage."
They just might be related you know...
"The teaching has been ignored not because Catholics are willfully defiant..."
Umm...yes it has, just because they disobey because the disagree doesn't make the disobedience not defiance and make it unwillful. Sheesh...they are accidently disobeying the teaching because they disagree with it? That seems unlikely.
"While Natural Family Planning may have value for some, most faithful married Catholics have found it impractical."
Really? One is reminded of Chesterton (from memory) "It is not that Christianity has been tried and found wanting, it is that it has been found difficult and left untried."
"a reversion to a discredited teaching, insistence on perpetuating a theology of sex and marriage that has little relationship to the lived experience of millions of married Catholics,"
Discredited by whom? Charles Curran still can't get a job as a Catholic theologian.
Every married couple in the country is made up of 2 sinners. No one obeys the church doctrine that you shouldn't sin. We haven't given up on sin yet [though maybe the NCR has...].
"Further, we only wish the teachings on charity would take up as much worry time for some of the Catholic hierarchy as do concerns over what married laity might be doing in their bedrooms."
Cause...ya know...you never hear the Bishops talk about charity. They're not the biggest charitable care providers in the country or anything...
"There is a sexual scandal in the church, but last we knew, it had little to do with lay people."
Why can there only be one sexual scandal in the Church? NCR would be willing to admit to the child abuse scandal and a hypothetical financial scandal at the same time...
"Why the high interest?
"Maybe it provided easy diversion.
"After all, there is a serious priest shortage that threatens the very sacramental life of the church. One might think that critical subject would take center stage."
They just might be related you know...
"The teaching has been ignored not because Catholics are willfully defiant..."
Umm...yes it has, just because they disobey because the disagree doesn't make the disobedience not defiance and make it unwillful. Sheesh...they are accidently disobeying the teaching because they disagree with it? That seems unlikely.
"While Natural Family Planning may have value for some, most faithful married Catholics have found it impractical."
Really? One is reminded of Chesterton (from memory) "It is not that Christianity has been tried and found wanting, it is that it has been found difficult and left untried."
FBI scrutinizing anti-war protesters:
"Critics said they remained worried. 'What the FBI regards as potential terrorism,' Romero of the ACLU said, 'strikes me as civil disobedience.' "
Hello folks! Civil disobedience is illegal and not protected by the first amendment. The police should actively combat it. Monitoring and intimidation are completely appropriate as for any criminal activity. ::smack::
"Critics said they remained worried. 'What the FBI regards as potential terrorism,' Romero of the ACLU said, 'strikes me as civil disobedience.' "
Hello folks! Civil disobedience is illegal and not protected by the first amendment. The police should actively combat it. Monitoring and intimidation are completely appropriate as for any criminal activity. ::smack::
Saturday, November 22, 2003
Friday, November 21, 2003
Congrats to the JMuck... But don't stop praying yet, I'm currently blogging from here, where I am trying to make it 2 for 2. (3 for 3 when Alysse joins the Pink Sisters and 4 for 4 when Jeanetta becomes a Carthusian [I'm sorry, but it's the only way we can get her to be quiet.])
So...my strategy to respond to this cartoon (frr) is to buy 1000 copies of this and mail them to the artist...
Has Jeanetta gone into the catacombs? or has she just adopted a rodent sleep schedule...? Developing...
The MMPI apparently suggests that I am very self-confident and highly opinionated...who woulda thunk it?
Max Cleland in the worst interview I've read all year.
No...Bush did not "hide out" in the National Guard people....when he joined the Texas Guard there were Texas Guardsmen serving in Vietnam! And flying fighters is never "safe", even in peacetime.
Also...since when is being a disabled vet prevent you from being soft on defense? It seems to me entirely possible. I bet we could find a disabled vet who's a pacifist. What are the liberals going to say? He's a disabled vet so he can't be soft on Defense even though he wants to disband the military?
Also...Mr. Cleland thinks the Warren Commission did a bad job based on something he saw on the History Channel? Pulleezze.
No...Bush did not "hide out" in the National Guard people....when he joined the Texas Guard there were Texas Guardsmen serving in Vietnam! And flying fighters is never "safe", even in peacetime.
Also...since when is being a disabled vet prevent you from being soft on defense? It seems to me entirely possible. I bet we could find a disabled vet who's a pacifist. What are the liberals going to say? He's a disabled vet so he can't be soft on Defense even though he wants to disband the military?
Also...Mr. Cleland thinks the Warren Commission did a bad job based on something he saw on the History Channel? Pulleezze.
Wednesday, November 19, 2003
Tom Fox, publisher of the National Catholic Reporter reports that he has joined the heretical DignityUSA.
Today's Take November 18, 2003:
"A number of studies have shown that optional celibacy would swell the ranks of the Catholic priesthood and, therefore, make the Eucharist more readily available to most Catholics. "
Which is an extrodinary claim considering the clergy shortages of other denominations. So, to support it you've cited the studies so we can read them ourselves....oh wait...
"A number of studies have shown that optional celibacy would swell the ranks of the Catholic priesthood and, therefore, make the Eucharist more readily available to most Catholics. "
Which is an extrodinary claim considering the clergy shortages of other denominations. So, to support it you've cited the studies so we can read them ourselves....oh wait...
Salon.com News | Lining up to fight "the forces of evil":
"The three dissenting justices wrote three separate dissenting opinions. They argued that the majority was ignoring history and usurping the right of the Legislature to define marriage. And, they argued, existing law doesn't discriminate at all. Homosexuals are free to marry just like anyone else, they said, so long as they marry someone of the opposite sex. Dissenting Justice Francis X. Spina wrote: 'All individuals, with certain exceptions not relevant here, are free to marry. Whether an individual chooses not to marry because of sexual orientation or any other reason should be of no concern to the court.' "
"The three dissenting justices wrote three separate dissenting opinions. They argued that the majority was ignoring history and usurping the right of the Legislature to define marriage. And, they argued, existing law doesn't discriminate at all. Homosexuals are free to marry just like anyone else, they said, so long as they marry someone of the opposite sex. Dissenting Justice Francis X. Spina wrote: 'All individuals, with certain exceptions not relevant here, are free to marry. Whether an individual chooses not to marry because of sexual orientation or any other reason should be of no concern to the court.' "
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
The Corner on National Review Online:
"I SAW THE LINES--YOU DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO SUFFER THROUGH THEM [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
"On the way home last night, I saw an ugly scene in Herald Square. The shoppers are out, and they mean business. That's great for the economy, but bad news for you."
I knew the recovery was definitely strongly underway when GQ and Esquire got thick with advertising again.
"I SAW THE LINES--YOU DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO SUFFER THROUGH THEM [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
"On the way home last night, I saw an ugly scene in Herald Square. The shoppers are out, and they mean business. That's great for the economy, but bad news for you."
I knew the recovery was definitely strongly underway when GQ and Esquire got thick with advertising again.
President Defends Sanctity of Marriage:
"Marriage is a sacred institution between a man and a woman. Today's decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court violates this important principle. I will work with congressional leaders and others to do what is legally necessary to defend the sanctity of marriage. "
Boy...how much trouble would we be in if Al was president today, or Howie.
"Marriage is a sacred institution between a man and a woman. Today's decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court violates this important principle. I will work with congressional leaders and others to do what is legally necessary to defend the sanctity of marriage. "
Boy...how much trouble would we be in if Al was president today, or Howie.
Monday, November 17, 2003
This is so wierd.
"Call For Abstracts
"The Undead and Philosophy
"Richard Greene & K. Silem Mohammad, Editors
"Abstracts are sought for a collection of philosophical essays on the theme of the undead. The editors are currently in discussion with Open Court Press (The publisher of The Simpsons and Philosophy, The Matrix and Philosophy, and the forthcoming The Sopranos and Philosophy, etc.) regarding the inclusion of this collection in a new book series dealing
with philosophy and various cultural topics. We are seeking abstracts, but anyone who has already written an unpublished paper on this topic may submit it in its entirety. Potential contributors may want to examine other volumes in the Open Court series.
"Contributors are welcome to submit abstracts on any topic of philosophical interest that pertains to the theme of the undead. We define 'the undead' as that class of corporeal beings who at some point were living creatures, have died, and have come back such that they are not presently 'at rest.' This would include supernatural beings such as zombies, vampires, mummies, and other reanimated corpses. The editors are especially interested in receiving submissions that engage the following perspectives: philosophy of mind; the metaphysics of death; political and social philosophy; ontology and other topics in metaphysics; ethics and bioethics; aesthetics; cultural theory and globalization studies; race and gender; epistemology; philosophy of religion; phenomenology and existentialism. Possible topics might include, but are not limited to, the following: zombie-based critiques of functionalist theories of mind; historical treatments of treatments of the undead in philosophy; the films of George Romero, Danny Boyle, and Joss Whedon; the novels of Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Anne Rice, Bruce Campbell, and Poppy Z. Brite; critical writing by Julia Kristeva, Jalal Toufic, and Slavoj Zizek.
Please feel free to forward this to anyone writing within a philosophic discipline who might be interested in contributing.
"Contributor Guidelines:
1. Abstract of paper (100-750 words)
2. Resume/CV for each author/coauthor of the paper
3. Initial submission may be by mail or email (prefer e-mail with MS
Word attachment)
4. Abstract submission deadline: December 15, 2003
"Mail:
Richard Greene
Department of Political Science and Philosophy
Weber State University
1203 University Circle
Ogden, UT 84408-1203
"Email:
rgreene@weber.edu
ksilem@ucsc.edu"
"Call For Abstracts
"The Undead and Philosophy
"Richard Greene & K. Silem Mohammad, Editors
"Abstracts are sought for a collection of philosophical essays on the theme of the undead. The editors are currently in discussion with Open Court Press (The publisher of The Simpsons and Philosophy, The Matrix and Philosophy, and the forthcoming The Sopranos and Philosophy, etc.) regarding the inclusion of this collection in a new book series dealing
with philosophy and various cultural topics. We are seeking abstracts, but anyone who has already written an unpublished paper on this topic may submit it in its entirety. Potential contributors may want to examine other volumes in the Open Court series.
"Contributors are welcome to submit abstracts on any topic of philosophical interest that pertains to the theme of the undead. We define 'the undead' as that class of corporeal beings who at some point were living creatures, have died, and have come back such that they are not presently 'at rest.' This would include supernatural beings such as zombies, vampires, mummies, and other reanimated corpses. The editors are especially interested in receiving submissions that engage the following perspectives: philosophy of mind; the metaphysics of death; political and social philosophy; ontology and other topics in metaphysics; ethics and bioethics; aesthetics; cultural theory and globalization studies; race and gender; epistemology; philosophy of religion; phenomenology and existentialism. Possible topics might include, but are not limited to, the following: zombie-based critiques of functionalist theories of mind; historical treatments of treatments of the undead in philosophy; the films of George Romero, Danny Boyle, and Joss Whedon; the novels of Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Anne Rice, Bruce Campbell, and Poppy Z. Brite; critical writing by Julia Kristeva, Jalal Toufic, and Slavoj Zizek.
Please feel free to forward this to anyone writing within a philosophic discipline who might be interested in contributing.
"Contributor Guidelines:
1. Abstract of paper (100-750 words)
2. Resume/CV for each author/coauthor of the paper
3. Initial submission may be by mail or email (prefer e-mail with MS
Word attachment)
4. Abstract submission deadline: December 15, 2003
"Mail:
Richard Greene
Department of Political Science and Philosophy
Weber State University
1203 University Circle
Ogden, UT 84408-1203
"Email:
rgreene@weber.edu
ksilem@ucsc.edu"
"...be careful not to blur your own understanding of the difference between fiction and reality." Good advice in general...
Sunday, November 16, 2003
Empire Falls - How Master and Commander gets Patrick O'Brian wrong. By Christopher Hitchens
So admittedly, I haven't seen it yet and I will probably enjoy it on its own terms, but....
I sorta feel the same way about LOTR.
So admittedly, I haven't seen it yet and I will probably enjoy it on its own terms, but....
I sorta feel the same way about LOTR.
Saturday, November 15, 2003
"And oh yes, lest we forget: we created the first democratically inspired nation in a world full of kings and kingdoms. Which brings me to our latest challenge. " says Joan
That might anger the Athenians.
"Now your house can be searched without warrant. Secretly."
Uh...actually not Joan. They still have to have a warrant and they still have to tell you about it they just don't have to tell you right away
"Now your bank records can be turned over to the government without your having been informed. "
Nope, that one they could do before.
"Now your phones can be tapped without proof of cause. "
Nope, not true Joan
Jeanetta (1:51:41 AM): joannie... call her joannie
"Now the government has the right to access any information about you without your knowledge, including the books you've checked out of the local public library. "
Jeanetta (1:51:48 AM): OOH! joanniekins!
Jeanetta (1:51:54 AM): let's call her joanniekins
Well, they still can't get your confession, they can't get anything you only have inside your head and decline to tell them, they can't get unknowable information about you, but why be rigorous Joanie, it's not like lives are at stake...oh wait...
"Now you can be held without charge and without legal counsel for indefinite periods of time. Prisoners taken in Afghanistan and held in Guantanamo Bay have been there for over two years without access to lawyers or contact with their families, without protection from either the Geneva Conventions or the U.S. Constitution. In Russia it was called a "gulag.""
Actually Joanie, you did get a trial before you went to the gulag, which was a really irritating thing about it. If they didn't want to give you a trial, they just shot you.
Jeanetta (1:54:10 AM): joanniekins can't be bothered by little things like facts!
"And even if it weren't, it is exactly the kind of creeping national criminalism that has marked the decline of every great nation in the history of the world. "
Actually Joanie, "criminalism" is the state of being a criminal. "Criminalization" is the making of things criminal.
That might anger the Athenians.
"Now your house can be searched without warrant. Secretly."
Uh...actually not Joan. They still have to have a warrant and they still have to tell you about it they just don't have to tell you right away
"Now your bank records can be turned over to the government without your having been informed. "
Nope, that one they could do before.
"Now your phones can be tapped without proof of cause. "
Nope, not true Joan
Jeanetta (1:51:41 AM): joannie... call her joannie
"Now the government has the right to access any information about you without your knowledge, including the books you've checked out of the local public library. "
Jeanetta (1:51:48 AM): OOH! joanniekins!
Jeanetta (1:51:54 AM): let's call her joanniekins
Well, they still can't get your confession, they can't get anything you only have inside your head and decline to tell them, they can't get unknowable information about you, but why be rigorous Joanie, it's not like lives are at stake...oh wait...
"Now you can be held without charge and without legal counsel for indefinite periods of time. Prisoners taken in Afghanistan and held in Guantanamo Bay have been there for over two years without access to lawyers or contact with their families, without protection from either the Geneva Conventions or the U.S. Constitution. In Russia it was called a "gulag.""
Actually Joanie, you did get a trial before you went to the gulag, which was a really irritating thing about it. If they didn't want to give you a trial, they just shot you.
Jeanetta (1:54:10 AM): joanniekins can't be bothered by little things like facts!
"And even if it weren't, it is exactly the kind of creeping national criminalism that has marked the decline of every great nation in the history of the world. "
Actually Joanie, "criminalism" is the state of being a criminal. "Criminalization" is the making of things criminal.
Family Life: Creating sacred space
"With independence from Spain came curtailment of church authority in Mexico. "
Well...that's one way of putting it.
Viva Christo Rey!
"With independence from Spain came curtailment of church authority in Mexico. "
Well...that's one way of putting it.
Viva Christo Rey!
Thursday, November 13, 2003
Byron York on Election 2004 on National Review Online
I think Ed Gillespie is right on:
"'As the Democrat party gets smaller, it becomes more liberal, elitist, and angry,' Gillespie wrote, 'and as it becomes more liberal, elitist, and angry, it gets smaller.'"
I think Ed Gillespie is right on:
"'As the Democrat party gets smaller, it becomes more liberal, elitist, and angry,' Gillespie wrote, 'and as it becomes more liberal, elitist, and angry, it gets smaller.'"
Jennifer Nicholson Graham on Family Christmas Cards on National Review Online
"There's one lineup that's giving us trouble. It's the assortment of cards sent by wealthy friends who have one child, a girl. The girl, like her parents, is quite attractive, and made for some cute cards in her early years, but she's now getting a bit long in the tooth for a Christmas card. The last couple of cards have resembled a photo shoot for Seventeen magazine, and there will come a time — in fact, it may already have passed — when, with a little more leg and a little less fabric, the family Christmas card could be a Cosmo cover, obscured by brown paper at Wal-Mart."
Whoa!
"There's one lineup that's giving us trouble. It's the assortment of cards sent by wealthy friends who have one child, a girl. The girl, like her parents, is quite attractive, and made for some cute cards in her early years, but she's now getting a bit long in the tooth for a Christmas card. The last couple of cards have resembled a photo shoot for Seventeen magazine, and there will come a time — in fact, it may already have passed — when, with a little more leg and a little less fabric, the family Christmas card could be a Cosmo cover, obscured by brown paper at Wal-Mart."
Whoa!
UR Campus Times "Problems delay online registration"
"It was not until the system was tested in recent weeks that the problem was spotted, when the final pieces were being put in place - a problem impossible to prepare for.
'It is a piece that we could not have predicted until we put all the pieces together in a production string,' Speck said.'We began to load test it and there would be a certain point at which the system would simply not respond.'"
Actually...they could've taken into account the possibility of installation problems and left time for fixing problems that came up in the testing process.
"It was not until the system was tested in recent weeks that the problem was spotted, when the final pieces were being put in place - a problem impossible to prepare for.
'It is a piece that we could not have predicted until we put all the pieces together in a production string,' Speck said.'We began to load test it and there would be a certain point at which the system would simply not respond.'"
Actually...they could've taken into account the possibility of installation problems and left time for fixing problems that came up in the testing process.
Salon.com News | Why did Democrats risk the GOP's wrath?
"Because the Republicans' court nominees are to the right of Genghis Khan."
Funny...I didn't know Genghis Khan was a conservative.
"Because the Republicans' court nominees are to the right of Genghis Khan."
Funny...I didn't know Genghis Khan was a conservative.
Wednesday, November 12, 2003
Viennese Ball offers classy fun By Michael He
"Gentlemen, take your best gal and make her think you're classy."
"Ladies, be sure to bring your camera to show your friends from home how great your stud looks in his tux. "
"Door prizes will be awarded, so if you don't get lucky later Saturday night, maybe you'll be lucky enough to win a prize."
Well this just drips with class Mr. He. Sorry I'll miss it. Maybe you can do some coke first at Alpha Delt before we go to the ball and home to rut.
"Gentlemen, take your best gal and make her think you're classy."
"Ladies, be sure to bring your camera to show your friends from home how great your stud looks in his tux. "
"Door prizes will be awarded, so if you don't get lucky later Saturday night, maybe you'll be lucky enough to win a prize."
Well this just drips with class Mr. He. Sorry I'll miss it. Maybe you can do some coke first at Alpha Delt before we go to the ball and home to rut.
Monday, November 10, 2003
Nation: Two pro-life Catholics court evangelicals in La. governor's race
Umm....one pro-life candidate actually. The pro-life one is the one NCR calls "fundamentalist"!
The one who supports exceptions in favor of abortion is described as devout!
Umm....one pro-life candidate actually. The pro-life one is the one NCR calls "fundamentalist"!
The one who supports exceptions in favor of abortion is described as devout!
Sunday, November 09, 2003
Date: Sun, 9 Nov 2003 21:29:01 -0500
Subject: Tue, 11/11: HPS speaker - Lisa Downing
Hello,
As part of the HPS colloquium series Lisa Downing from the philosophy department at the University of Illinois at Chicago will be giving a talk on Tuesday at 4:15 PM in 217 De Bartolo. The talk has the intriguing title “Stripping Bodies to their Essence”. I am afraid, there is also a subtitle: “Sensory Qualities and Geometrical Bodies in Descartes” – I thought it would be fair to let you know about the latter as well.
Best,
Subject: Tue, 11/11: HPS speaker - Lisa Downing
Hello,
As part of the HPS colloquium series Lisa Downing from the philosophy department at the University of Illinois at Chicago will be giving a talk on Tuesday at 4:15 PM in 217 De Bartolo. The talk has the intriguing title “Stripping Bodies to their Essence”. I am afraid, there is also a subtitle: “Sensory Qualities and Geometrical Bodies in Descartes” – I thought it would be fair to let you know about the latter as well.
Best,
General Douglas MacArthur's Farewell Speech
Given to the Corps of Cadets at West Point
May 12, 1962
"General Westmoreland, General Groves, distinguished guests, and gentlemen of the Corps. As I was leaving the hotel this morning, a doorman asked me, "Where are you bound for, General?" and when I replied, "West Point," he remarked, "Beautiful place, have you ever been there before?"
"No human being could fail to be deeply moved by such a tribute as this, coming from a profession I have served so long and a people I have loved so well. It fills me with an emotion I cannot express. But this award is not intended primarily for a personality, but to symbolize a great moral code - the code of conduct and chivalry of those who guard this beloved land of culture and ancient descent. That is the meaning of this medallion. For all eyes and for all time, it is an expression of the ethics of the American soldier. That I should be integrated in this way with so noble an ideal arouses a sense of pride and yet of humility which will be with me always.
""Duty," "Honor," "Country" - those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you want to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying point to build courage when courage seems to fail, to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith, to create hope when hope becomes forlorn. Unhappily, I possess neither that eloquence of diction, that poetry of imagination, nor that brilliance of metaphor to tell you all that they mean.
"The unbelievers will say they are but words, but a slogan, but a flamboyant phrase. Every pedant, every demagogue, every cynic, every hypocrite, every troublemaker, and, I am sorry to say, some others of an entirely different character, will try to downgrade them even to the extent of mockery and ridicule.
"But these are some of the things they do. They build your basic character. They mold you for your future roles as the custodians of the nation's defense. They make you strong enough to know when you are weak, and brave enough to face yourself when you are afraid.
"They teach you to be proud and unbending in honest failure, but humble and gentle in success; not to substitute words for action; not to seek the path of comfort, but to face the stress and spur of difficulty and challenge; to learn to stand up in the storm, but to have compassion on those who fall; to master yourself before you seek to master others; to have a heart that is clean, a goal that is high; to learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; to reach into the future, yet never neglect the past; to be serious, yet never take yourself too seriously; to be modest so that you will remember the simplicity of true greatness; the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength.
"They give you a temperate will, a quality of imagination, a vigor of the emotions, a freshness of the deep springs of life, a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, an appetite for adventure over love of ease. They create in your heart the sense of wonder, the unfailing hope of what next, and the joy and inspiration of life. They teach you in this way to be an officer and a gentleman.
"And what sort of soldiers are those you are to lead? Are they reliable? Are they brave? Are they capable of victory?
"Their story is known to all of you. It is the story of the American man at arms. My estimate of him was formed on the battlefields many, many years ago, and has never changed. I regarded him then, as I regard him now, as one of the world's noblest figures; not only as one of the finest military characters, but also as one of the most stainless.
"His name and fame are the birthright of every American citizen. In his youth and strength, his love and loyalty, he gave all that mortality can give. He needs no eulogy from me, or from any other man. He has written his own history and written it in red on his enemy's breast.
"But when I think of his patience under adversity, of his courage under fire, and of his modesty in victory, I am filled with an emotion of admiration I cannot put into words. He belongs to history as furnishing one of the greatest examples of successful patriotism. He belongs to posterity as the instructor of future generations in the principles of liberty and freedom. He belongs to the present, to us, by his virtues and by his achievements.
"In twenty campaigns, on a hundred battlefields, around a thousand campfires, I have witnessed that enduring fortitude, that patriotic self-abnegation, and that invincible determination which have carved his statue in the hearts of his people.
"From one end of the world to the other, he has drained deep the chalice of courage. As I listened to those songs of the glee club, in memory's eye I could see those staggering columns of the First World War, bending under soggy packs on many a weary march, from dripping dusk to drizzling dawn, slogging ankle deep through mire of shell-pocked roads; to form grimly for the attack, blue-lipped, covered with sludge and mud, chilled by the wind and rain, driving home to their objective, and for many, to the judgment seat of God.
"I do not know the dignity of their birth, but I do know the glory of their death. They died unquestioning, uncomplaining, with faith in their hearts, and on their lips the hope that we would go on to victory. Always for them: Duty, Honor, Country. Always their blood, and sweat, and tears, as they saw the way and the light.
"And twenty years after, on the other side of the globe, against the filth of dirty foxholes, the stench of ghostly trenches, the slime of dripping dugouts, those boiling suns of the relentless heat, those torrential rains of devastating storms, the loneliness and utter desolation of jungle trails, the bitterness of long separation of those they loved and cherished, the deadly pestilence of tropic disease, the horror of stricken areas of war.
"Their resolute and determined defense, their swift and sure attack, their indomitable purpose, their complete and decisive victory - always victory, always through the bloody haze of their last reverberating shot, the vision of gaunt, ghastly men, reverently following your password of Duty, Honor, Country.
"The code which those words perpetuate embraces the highest moral laws and will stand the test of any ethics or philosophies ever promulgated for the uplift of mankind. Its requirements are for the things that are right, and its restraints are from the things that are wrong. The soldier, above all other men, is required to practice the greatest act of religious training - sacrifice. In battle and in the face of danger and death, he discloses those divine attributes which his Maker gave when he created man in his own image. No physical courage and no brute instinct can take the place of the Divine help which alone can sustain him. However horrible the incidents of war may be, the soldier who is called upon to offer and to give his life for his country, is the noblest development of mankind.
"You now face a new world, a world of change. The thrust into outer space of the satellite, spheres and missiles marked the beginning of another epoch in the long story of mankind - the chapter of the space age. In the five or more billions of years the scientists tell us it has taken to form the earth, in the three or more billion years of development of the human race, there has never been a greater, a more abrupt or staggering evolution. We deal now not with things of this world alone, but with the illimitable distances and as yet unfathomed mysteries of the universe. We are reaching out for a new and boundless frontier. We speak in strange terms: of harnessing the cosmic energy; of making winds and tides work for us; of creating unheard synthetic materials to supplement or even replace our old standard basics; of purifying sea water for our drink; of mining ocean floors for new fields of wealth and food; of disease preventatives to expand life into the hundred of years; of controlling the weather for a more equitable distribution of heat and cold, of rain and shine; of space ships to the moon; of the primary target in war, no longer limited to the armed forces of an enemy, but instead to include his civil populations; of ultimate conflict between a united human race and the sinister forces of some other planetary galaxy; of such dreams and fantasies as to make life the most exciting of all time.
"And through all this welter of change and development your mission remains fixed, determined, inviolable. It is to win our wars. Everything else in your professional career is but corollary to this vital dedication. All other public purpose, all other public projects, all other public needs, great or small, will find others for their accomplishments; but you are the ones who are trained to fight.
"Yours is the profession of arms, the will to win, the sure knowledge that in war there is no substitute for victory, that if you lose, the Nation will be destroyed, that the very obsession of your public service must be Duty, Honor, Country.
"Others will debate the controversial issues, national and international, which divide men's minds. But serene, calm, aloof, you stand as the Nation's war guardians, as its lifeguards from the raging tides of international conflict, as its gladiators in the arena of battle. For a century and a half you have defended, guarded and protected its hallowed traditions of liberty and freedom, of right and justice.
"Let civilian voices argue the merits or demerits of our processes of government. Whether our strength is being sapped by deficit financing indulged in too long, by federal paternalism grown too mighty, by power groups grown too arrogant, by politics grown too corrupt, by crime grown too rampant, by morals grown too low, by taxes grown too high, by extremists grown too violent; whether our personal liberties are as firm and complete as they should be.
"These great national problems are not for your professional participation or military solution. Your guidepost stands out like a tenfold beacon in the night: Duty, Honor, Country.
"You are the leaven which binds together the entire fabric of our national system of defense. From your ranks come the great captains who hold the Nation's destiny in their hands the moment the war tocsin sounds.
"The long gray line has never failed us. Were you to do so, a million ghosts in olive drab, in brown khaki, in blue and gray, would rise from their white crosses, thundering those magic words: Duty, Honor, Country.
"This does not mean that you are warmongers. On the contrary, the soldier above all other people prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war. But always in our ears ring the ominous words of Plato, that wisest of all philosophers: "Only the dead have seen the end of war."
"The shadows are lengthening for me. The twilight is here. My days of old have vanished - tone and tints. They have gone glimmering through the dreams of things that were. Their memory is one of wondrous beauty, watered by tears and coaxed and caressed by the smiles of yesterday. I listen then, but with thirsty ear, for the witching melody of faint bugles blowing reveille, of far drums beating the long roll.
"In my dreams I hear again the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry, the strange, mournful mutter of the battlefield. But in the evening of my memory I come back to West Point. Always there echoes and re-echoes: Duty, Honor, Country.
"Today marks my final roll call with you. But I want you to know that when I cross the river, my last conscious thoughts will be of the Corps, and the Corps, and the Corps.
"I bid you farewell."
Given to the Corps of Cadets at West Point
May 12, 1962
"General Westmoreland, General Groves, distinguished guests, and gentlemen of the Corps. As I was leaving the hotel this morning, a doorman asked me, "Where are you bound for, General?" and when I replied, "West Point," he remarked, "Beautiful place, have you ever been there before?"
"No human being could fail to be deeply moved by such a tribute as this, coming from a profession I have served so long and a people I have loved so well. It fills me with an emotion I cannot express. But this award is not intended primarily for a personality, but to symbolize a great moral code - the code of conduct and chivalry of those who guard this beloved land of culture and ancient descent. That is the meaning of this medallion. For all eyes and for all time, it is an expression of the ethics of the American soldier. That I should be integrated in this way with so noble an ideal arouses a sense of pride and yet of humility which will be with me always.
""Duty," "Honor," "Country" - those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you want to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying point to build courage when courage seems to fail, to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith, to create hope when hope becomes forlorn. Unhappily, I possess neither that eloquence of diction, that poetry of imagination, nor that brilliance of metaphor to tell you all that they mean.
"The unbelievers will say they are but words, but a slogan, but a flamboyant phrase. Every pedant, every demagogue, every cynic, every hypocrite, every troublemaker, and, I am sorry to say, some others of an entirely different character, will try to downgrade them even to the extent of mockery and ridicule.
"But these are some of the things they do. They build your basic character. They mold you for your future roles as the custodians of the nation's defense. They make you strong enough to know when you are weak, and brave enough to face yourself when you are afraid.
"They teach you to be proud and unbending in honest failure, but humble and gentle in success; not to substitute words for action; not to seek the path of comfort, but to face the stress and spur of difficulty and challenge; to learn to stand up in the storm, but to have compassion on those who fall; to master yourself before you seek to master others; to have a heart that is clean, a goal that is high; to learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; to reach into the future, yet never neglect the past; to be serious, yet never take yourself too seriously; to be modest so that you will remember the simplicity of true greatness; the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength.
"They give you a temperate will, a quality of imagination, a vigor of the emotions, a freshness of the deep springs of life, a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, an appetite for adventure over love of ease. They create in your heart the sense of wonder, the unfailing hope of what next, and the joy and inspiration of life. They teach you in this way to be an officer and a gentleman.
"And what sort of soldiers are those you are to lead? Are they reliable? Are they brave? Are they capable of victory?
"Their story is known to all of you. It is the story of the American man at arms. My estimate of him was formed on the battlefields many, many years ago, and has never changed. I regarded him then, as I regard him now, as one of the world's noblest figures; not only as one of the finest military characters, but also as one of the most stainless.
"His name and fame are the birthright of every American citizen. In his youth and strength, his love and loyalty, he gave all that mortality can give. He needs no eulogy from me, or from any other man. He has written his own history and written it in red on his enemy's breast.
"But when I think of his patience under adversity, of his courage under fire, and of his modesty in victory, I am filled with an emotion of admiration I cannot put into words. He belongs to history as furnishing one of the greatest examples of successful patriotism. He belongs to posterity as the instructor of future generations in the principles of liberty and freedom. He belongs to the present, to us, by his virtues and by his achievements.
"In twenty campaigns, on a hundred battlefields, around a thousand campfires, I have witnessed that enduring fortitude, that patriotic self-abnegation, and that invincible determination which have carved his statue in the hearts of his people.
"From one end of the world to the other, he has drained deep the chalice of courage. As I listened to those songs of the glee club, in memory's eye I could see those staggering columns of the First World War, bending under soggy packs on many a weary march, from dripping dusk to drizzling dawn, slogging ankle deep through mire of shell-pocked roads; to form grimly for the attack, blue-lipped, covered with sludge and mud, chilled by the wind and rain, driving home to their objective, and for many, to the judgment seat of God.
"I do not know the dignity of their birth, but I do know the glory of their death. They died unquestioning, uncomplaining, with faith in their hearts, and on their lips the hope that we would go on to victory. Always for them: Duty, Honor, Country. Always their blood, and sweat, and tears, as they saw the way and the light.
"And twenty years after, on the other side of the globe, against the filth of dirty foxholes, the stench of ghostly trenches, the slime of dripping dugouts, those boiling suns of the relentless heat, those torrential rains of devastating storms, the loneliness and utter desolation of jungle trails, the bitterness of long separation of those they loved and cherished, the deadly pestilence of tropic disease, the horror of stricken areas of war.
"Their resolute and determined defense, their swift and sure attack, their indomitable purpose, their complete and decisive victory - always victory, always through the bloody haze of their last reverberating shot, the vision of gaunt, ghastly men, reverently following your password of Duty, Honor, Country.
"The code which those words perpetuate embraces the highest moral laws and will stand the test of any ethics or philosophies ever promulgated for the uplift of mankind. Its requirements are for the things that are right, and its restraints are from the things that are wrong. The soldier, above all other men, is required to practice the greatest act of religious training - sacrifice. In battle and in the face of danger and death, he discloses those divine attributes which his Maker gave when he created man in his own image. No physical courage and no brute instinct can take the place of the Divine help which alone can sustain him. However horrible the incidents of war may be, the soldier who is called upon to offer and to give his life for his country, is the noblest development of mankind.
"You now face a new world, a world of change. The thrust into outer space of the satellite, spheres and missiles marked the beginning of another epoch in the long story of mankind - the chapter of the space age. In the five or more billions of years the scientists tell us it has taken to form the earth, in the three or more billion years of development of the human race, there has never been a greater, a more abrupt or staggering evolution. We deal now not with things of this world alone, but with the illimitable distances and as yet unfathomed mysteries of the universe. We are reaching out for a new and boundless frontier. We speak in strange terms: of harnessing the cosmic energy; of making winds and tides work for us; of creating unheard synthetic materials to supplement or even replace our old standard basics; of purifying sea water for our drink; of mining ocean floors for new fields of wealth and food; of disease preventatives to expand life into the hundred of years; of controlling the weather for a more equitable distribution of heat and cold, of rain and shine; of space ships to the moon; of the primary target in war, no longer limited to the armed forces of an enemy, but instead to include his civil populations; of ultimate conflict between a united human race and the sinister forces of some other planetary galaxy; of such dreams and fantasies as to make life the most exciting of all time.
"And through all this welter of change and development your mission remains fixed, determined, inviolable. It is to win our wars. Everything else in your professional career is but corollary to this vital dedication. All other public purpose, all other public projects, all other public needs, great or small, will find others for their accomplishments; but you are the ones who are trained to fight.
"Yours is the profession of arms, the will to win, the sure knowledge that in war there is no substitute for victory, that if you lose, the Nation will be destroyed, that the very obsession of your public service must be Duty, Honor, Country.
"Others will debate the controversial issues, national and international, which divide men's minds. But serene, calm, aloof, you stand as the Nation's war guardians, as its lifeguards from the raging tides of international conflict, as its gladiators in the arena of battle. For a century and a half you have defended, guarded and protected its hallowed traditions of liberty and freedom, of right and justice.
"Let civilian voices argue the merits or demerits of our processes of government. Whether our strength is being sapped by deficit financing indulged in too long, by federal paternalism grown too mighty, by power groups grown too arrogant, by politics grown too corrupt, by crime grown too rampant, by morals grown too low, by taxes grown too high, by extremists grown too violent; whether our personal liberties are as firm and complete as they should be.
"These great national problems are not for your professional participation or military solution. Your guidepost stands out like a tenfold beacon in the night: Duty, Honor, Country.
"You are the leaven which binds together the entire fabric of our national system of defense. From your ranks come the great captains who hold the Nation's destiny in their hands the moment the war tocsin sounds.
"The long gray line has never failed us. Were you to do so, a million ghosts in olive drab, in brown khaki, in blue and gray, would rise from their white crosses, thundering those magic words: Duty, Honor, Country.
"This does not mean that you are warmongers. On the contrary, the soldier above all other people prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war. But always in our ears ring the ominous words of Plato, that wisest of all philosophers: "Only the dead have seen the end of war."
"The shadows are lengthening for me. The twilight is here. My days of old have vanished - tone and tints. They have gone glimmering through the dreams of things that were. Their memory is one of wondrous beauty, watered by tears and coaxed and caressed by the smiles of yesterday. I listen then, but with thirsty ear, for the witching melody of faint bugles blowing reveille, of far drums beating the long roll.
"In my dreams I hear again the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry, the strange, mournful mutter of the battlefield. But in the evening of my memory I come back to West Point. Always there echoes and re-echoes: Duty, Honor, Country.
"Today marks my final roll call with you. But I want you to know that when I cross the river, my last conscious thoughts will be of the Corps, and the Corps, and the Corps.
"I bid you farewell."
The Speech
Somewhere in England
June 5th, 1944
"Be seated.
"Men, this stuff that some sources sling around about America wanting out of this war, not wanting to fight, is a crock of bullsh--. Americans love to fight, traditionally. All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle. You are here today for three reasons. First, because you are here to defend your homes and your loved ones. Second, you are here for your own self respect, because you would not want to be anywhere else. Third, you are here because you are real men and all real men like to fight. When you, here, everyone of you, were kids, you all admired the champion marble player, the fastest runner, the toughest boxer, the big league ball players, and the All-American football players. Americans love a winner. Americans will not tolerate a loser. Americans despise cowards. Americans play to win all of the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost nor will ever lose a war; for the very idea of losing is hateful to an American."
"You are not all going to die. Only two percent of you right here today would die in a major battle. Death must not be feared. Death, in time, comes to all men. Yes, every man is scared in his first battle. If he says he's not, he's a liar. Some men are cowards but they fight the same as the brave men or they get the hell slammed out of them watching men fight who are just as scared as they are. The real hero is the man who fights even though he is scared. Some men get over their fright in a minute under fire. For some, it takes an hour. For some, it takes days. But a real man will never let his fear of death overpower his honor, his sense of duty to his country, and his innate manhood. Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best and it removes all that is base. Americans pride themselves on being He Men and they ARE He Men. Remember that the enemy is just as frightened as you are, and probably more so. They are not supermen.
"All through your Army careers, you men have bitched about what you call "chicken shit drilling". That, like everything else in this Army, has a definite purpose. That purpose is alertness. Alertness must be bred into every soldier. I don't give a fu-- for a man who's not always on his toes. You men are veterans or you wouldn't be here. You are ready for what's to come. A man must be alert at all times if he expects to stay alive. If you're not alert, sometime, a German son-of-an-a**ole-bitch is going to sneak up behind you and beat you to death with a sockful of sh--!
"There are four hundred neatly marked graves somewhere in Sicily. All because one man went to sleep on the job. But they are German graves, because we caught the bastard asleep before they did. An Army is a team. It lives, sleeps, eats, and fights as a team. This individual heroic stuff is pure horse sh--. The bilious bastards who write that kind of stuff for the Saturday Evening Post don't know any more about real fighting under fire than they know about f---ing!
"We have the finest food, the finest equipment, the best spirit, and the best men in the world. Why, by God, I actually pity those poor sons-of-bitches we're going up against. By God, I do.
"My men don't surrender. I don't want to hear of any soldier under my command being captured unless he has been hit. Even if you are hit, you can still fight back. That's not just bullsh-- either. The kind of man that I want in my command is just like the lieutenant in Libya, who, with a Luger against his chest, jerked off his helmet, swept the gun aside with one hand, and busted the hell out of the Kraut with his helmet. Then he jumped on the gun and went out and killed another German before they knew what the hell was coming off. And, all of that time, this man had a bullet through a lung. There was a real man!
"All of the real heroes are not storybook combat fighters, either. Every single man in this Army plays a vital role. Don't ever let up. Don't ever think that your job is unimportant. Every man has a job to do and he must do it. Every man is a vital link in the great chain. What if every truck driver suddenly decided that he didn't like the whine of those shells overhead, turned yellow, and jumped headlong into a ditch? The cowardly bastard could say, "Hell, they won't miss me, just one man in thousands". But, what if every man thought that way? Where in the hell would we be now? What would our country, our loved ones, our homes, even the world, be like? No, G-dd-mnit, Americans don't think like that. Every man does his job. Every man serves the whole. Every department, every unit, is important in the vast scheme of this war. The ordnance men are needed to supply the guns and machinery of war to keep us rolling. The Quartermaster is needed to bring up food and clothes because where we are going there isn't a hell of a lot to steal. Every last man on K.P. has a job to do, even the one who heats our water to keep us from getting the 'G.I. Sh-ts'.
"Each man must not think only of himself, but also of his buddy fighting beside him. We don't want yellow cowards in this Army. They should be killed off like rats. If not, they will go home after this war and breed more cowards. The brave men will breed more brave men. Kill off the Goddamned cowards and we will have a nation of brave men. One of the bravest men that I ever saw was a fellow on top of a telegraph pole in the midst of a furious fire fight in Tunisia. I stopped and asked what the hell he was doing up there at a time like that. He answered, "Fixing the wire, Sir". I asked, "Isn't that a little unhealthy right about now?" He answered, "Yes Sir, but the G-dd-mned wire has to be fixed". I asked, "Don't those planes strafing the road bother you?" And he answered, "No, Sir, but you sure as hell do!" Now, there was a real man. A real soldier. There was a man who devoted all he had to his duty, no matter how seemingly insignificant his duty might appear at the time, no matter how great the odds. And you should have seen those trucks on the rode to Tunisia. Those drivers were magnificent. All day and all night they rolled over those son-of-a-bitching roads, never stopping, never faltering from their course, with shells bursting all around them all of the time. We got through on good old American guts. Many of those men drove for over forty consecutive hours. These men weren't combat men, but they were soldiers with a job to do. They did it, and in one hell of a way they did it. They were part of a team. Without team effort, without them, the fight would have been lost. All of the links in the chain pulled together and the chain became unbreakable.
"Don't forget, you men don't know that I'm here. No mention of that fact is to be made in any letters. The world is not supposed to know what the hell happened to me. I'm not supposed to be commanding this Army. I'm not even supposed to be here in England. Let the first bastards to find out be the G-dd-mned Germans. Some day I want to see them raise up on their piss-soaked hind legs and howl, 'Jesus Christ, it's the G-dd-mned Third Army again and that son-of-a-f-cking-bitch Patton'.
"We want to get the hell over there. The quicker we clean up this Goddamned mess, the quicker we can take a little jaunt against the purple pissing Japs and clean out their nest, too. Before the G-dd-mned Marines get all of the credit.
"Sure, we want to go home. We want this war over with. The quickest way to get it over with is to go get the bastards who started it. The quicker they are whipped, the quicker we can go home. The shortest way home is through Berlin and Tokyo. And when we get to Berlin", he yelled, "I am personally going to shoot that paper hanging son-of-a-b-tch Hitler. Just like I'd shoot a snake!
"When a man is lying in a shell hole, if he just stays there all day, a German will get to him eventually. The hell with that idea. The hell with taking it. My men don't dig foxholes. I don't want them to. Foxholes only slow up an offensive. Keep moving. And don't give the enemy time to dig one either. We'll win this war, but we'll win it only by fighting and by showing the Germans that we've got more guts than they have; or ever will have. We're not going to just shoot the sons-of-bitches, we're going to rip out their living G-dd-mned guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks. We're going to murder those lousy Hun c-cksuckers by the bushel-f--king-basket. War is a bloody, killing business. You've got to spill their blood, or they will spill yours. Rip them up the belly. Shoot them in the guts. When shells are hitting all around you and you wipe the dirt off your face and realize that instead of dirt it's the blood and guts of what once was your best friend beside you, you'll know what to do!
"I don't want to get any messages saying, "I am holding my position." We are not holding a G-dd-mned thing. Let the Germans do that. We are advancing constantly and we are not interested in holding onto anything, except the enemy's balls. We are going to twist his balls and kick the living sh-- out of him all of the time. Our basic plan of operation is to advance and to keep on advancing regardless of whether we have to go over, under, or through the enemy. We are going to go through him like crap through a goose; like sh-- through a tin horn!
"From time to time there will be some complaints that we are pushing our people too hard. I don't give a good G-dd-mn about such complaints. I believe in the old and sound rule that an ounce of sweat will save a gallon of blood. The harder WE push, the more Germans we will kill. The more Germans we kill, the fewer of our men will be killed. Pushing means fewer casualties. I want you all to remember that.
"There is one great thing that you men will all be able to say after this war is over and you are home once again. You may be thankful that twenty years from now when you are sitting by the fireplace with your grandson on your knee and he asks you what you did in the great World War II, you WON'T have to cough, shift him to the other knee and say, "Well, your Granddaddy shoveled sh-- in Louisiana." No, Sir, you can look him straight in the eye and say, "Son, your Granddaddy rode with the Great Third Army and a Son-of-a-G-dd-mned-Bitch named Georgie Patton!"
Somewhere in England
June 5th, 1944
"Be seated.
"Men, this stuff that some sources sling around about America wanting out of this war, not wanting to fight, is a crock of bullsh--. Americans love to fight, traditionally. All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle. You are here today for three reasons. First, because you are here to defend your homes and your loved ones. Second, you are here for your own self respect, because you would not want to be anywhere else. Third, you are here because you are real men and all real men like to fight. When you, here, everyone of you, were kids, you all admired the champion marble player, the fastest runner, the toughest boxer, the big league ball players, and the All-American football players. Americans love a winner. Americans will not tolerate a loser. Americans despise cowards. Americans play to win all of the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost nor will ever lose a war; for the very idea of losing is hateful to an American."
"You are not all going to die. Only two percent of you right here today would die in a major battle. Death must not be feared. Death, in time, comes to all men. Yes, every man is scared in his first battle. If he says he's not, he's a liar. Some men are cowards but they fight the same as the brave men or they get the hell slammed out of them watching men fight who are just as scared as they are. The real hero is the man who fights even though he is scared. Some men get over their fright in a minute under fire. For some, it takes an hour. For some, it takes days. But a real man will never let his fear of death overpower his honor, his sense of duty to his country, and his innate manhood. Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best and it removes all that is base. Americans pride themselves on being He Men and they ARE He Men. Remember that the enemy is just as frightened as you are, and probably more so. They are not supermen.
"All through your Army careers, you men have bitched about what you call "chicken shit drilling". That, like everything else in this Army, has a definite purpose. That purpose is alertness. Alertness must be bred into every soldier. I don't give a fu-- for a man who's not always on his toes. You men are veterans or you wouldn't be here. You are ready for what's to come. A man must be alert at all times if he expects to stay alive. If you're not alert, sometime, a German son-of-an-a**ole-bitch is going to sneak up behind you and beat you to death with a sockful of sh--!
"There are four hundred neatly marked graves somewhere in Sicily. All because one man went to sleep on the job. But they are German graves, because we caught the bastard asleep before they did. An Army is a team. It lives, sleeps, eats, and fights as a team. This individual heroic stuff is pure horse sh--. The bilious bastards who write that kind of stuff for the Saturday Evening Post don't know any more about real fighting under fire than they know about f---ing!
"We have the finest food, the finest equipment, the best spirit, and the best men in the world. Why, by God, I actually pity those poor sons-of-bitches we're going up against. By God, I do.
"My men don't surrender. I don't want to hear of any soldier under my command being captured unless he has been hit. Even if you are hit, you can still fight back. That's not just bullsh-- either. The kind of man that I want in my command is just like the lieutenant in Libya, who, with a Luger against his chest, jerked off his helmet, swept the gun aside with one hand, and busted the hell out of the Kraut with his helmet. Then he jumped on the gun and went out and killed another German before they knew what the hell was coming off. And, all of that time, this man had a bullet through a lung. There was a real man!
"All of the real heroes are not storybook combat fighters, either. Every single man in this Army plays a vital role. Don't ever let up. Don't ever think that your job is unimportant. Every man has a job to do and he must do it. Every man is a vital link in the great chain. What if every truck driver suddenly decided that he didn't like the whine of those shells overhead, turned yellow, and jumped headlong into a ditch? The cowardly bastard could say, "Hell, they won't miss me, just one man in thousands". But, what if every man thought that way? Where in the hell would we be now? What would our country, our loved ones, our homes, even the world, be like? No, G-dd-mnit, Americans don't think like that. Every man does his job. Every man serves the whole. Every department, every unit, is important in the vast scheme of this war. The ordnance men are needed to supply the guns and machinery of war to keep us rolling. The Quartermaster is needed to bring up food and clothes because where we are going there isn't a hell of a lot to steal. Every last man on K.P. has a job to do, even the one who heats our water to keep us from getting the 'G.I. Sh-ts'.
"Each man must not think only of himself, but also of his buddy fighting beside him. We don't want yellow cowards in this Army. They should be killed off like rats. If not, they will go home after this war and breed more cowards. The brave men will breed more brave men. Kill off the Goddamned cowards and we will have a nation of brave men. One of the bravest men that I ever saw was a fellow on top of a telegraph pole in the midst of a furious fire fight in Tunisia. I stopped and asked what the hell he was doing up there at a time like that. He answered, "Fixing the wire, Sir". I asked, "Isn't that a little unhealthy right about now?" He answered, "Yes Sir, but the G-dd-mned wire has to be fixed". I asked, "Don't those planes strafing the road bother you?" And he answered, "No, Sir, but you sure as hell do!" Now, there was a real man. A real soldier. There was a man who devoted all he had to his duty, no matter how seemingly insignificant his duty might appear at the time, no matter how great the odds. And you should have seen those trucks on the rode to Tunisia. Those drivers were magnificent. All day and all night they rolled over those son-of-a-bitching roads, never stopping, never faltering from their course, with shells bursting all around them all of the time. We got through on good old American guts. Many of those men drove for over forty consecutive hours. These men weren't combat men, but they were soldiers with a job to do. They did it, and in one hell of a way they did it. They were part of a team. Without team effort, without them, the fight would have been lost. All of the links in the chain pulled together and the chain became unbreakable.
"Don't forget, you men don't know that I'm here. No mention of that fact is to be made in any letters. The world is not supposed to know what the hell happened to me. I'm not supposed to be commanding this Army. I'm not even supposed to be here in England. Let the first bastards to find out be the G-dd-mned Germans. Some day I want to see them raise up on their piss-soaked hind legs and howl, 'Jesus Christ, it's the G-dd-mned Third Army again and that son-of-a-f-cking-bitch Patton'.
"We want to get the hell over there. The quicker we clean up this Goddamned mess, the quicker we can take a little jaunt against the purple pissing Japs and clean out their nest, too. Before the G-dd-mned Marines get all of the credit.
"Sure, we want to go home. We want this war over with. The quickest way to get it over with is to go get the bastards who started it. The quicker they are whipped, the quicker we can go home. The shortest way home is through Berlin and Tokyo. And when we get to Berlin", he yelled, "I am personally going to shoot that paper hanging son-of-a-b-tch Hitler. Just like I'd shoot a snake!
"When a man is lying in a shell hole, if he just stays there all day, a German will get to him eventually. The hell with that idea. The hell with taking it. My men don't dig foxholes. I don't want them to. Foxholes only slow up an offensive. Keep moving. And don't give the enemy time to dig one either. We'll win this war, but we'll win it only by fighting and by showing the Germans that we've got more guts than they have; or ever will have. We're not going to just shoot the sons-of-bitches, we're going to rip out their living G-dd-mned guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks. We're going to murder those lousy Hun c-cksuckers by the bushel-f--king-basket. War is a bloody, killing business. You've got to spill their blood, or they will spill yours. Rip them up the belly. Shoot them in the guts. When shells are hitting all around you and you wipe the dirt off your face and realize that instead of dirt it's the blood and guts of what once was your best friend beside you, you'll know what to do!
"I don't want to get any messages saying, "I am holding my position." We are not holding a G-dd-mned thing. Let the Germans do that. We are advancing constantly and we are not interested in holding onto anything, except the enemy's balls. We are going to twist his balls and kick the living sh-- out of him all of the time. Our basic plan of operation is to advance and to keep on advancing regardless of whether we have to go over, under, or through the enemy. We are going to go through him like crap through a goose; like sh-- through a tin horn!
"From time to time there will be some complaints that we are pushing our people too hard. I don't give a good G-dd-mn about such complaints. I believe in the old and sound rule that an ounce of sweat will save a gallon of blood. The harder WE push, the more Germans we will kill. The more Germans we kill, the fewer of our men will be killed. Pushing means fewer casualties. I want you all to remember that.
"There is one great thing that you men will all be able to say after this war is over and you are home once again. You may be thankful that twenty years from now when you are sitting by the fireplace with your grandson on your knee and he asks you what you did in the great World War II, you WON'T have to cough, shift him to the other knee and say, "Well, your Granddaddy shoveled sh-- in Louisiana." No, Sir, you can look him straight in the eye and say, "Son, your Granddaddy rode with the Great Third Army and a Son-of-a-G-dd-mned-Bitch named Georgie Patton!"
SEE Magazine: August 1, 2002 Punk band goes on indefinite hiatus when member goes off to MED SCHOOL.
(Take that Jster.)
(Take that Jster.)
Denis Boyles on EuroPress on National Review Online: "Lazy days. The French government, in an effort to find a little scratch to pay for the health and welfare of the elderly poor and sick, is trying to convince the workers of France to maybe pony up a little extra in taxes and give up one of their many, many paid holidays. Liberation reports that Raffarin is considering making the Monday following Pentecost a regular work day. The workers, of course, are furious, adds Liberation, perhaps because of the deeply held conviction by most socialists that spending an extra 24 hours prayerfully contemplating the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Christ is a sacred right. Or possibly they're lazy."
Monkey on My Back: "'Right. Don't you think that's interesting? First the kid goes nuts. Then he gets over it. Then his parents go nuts. Don't you think that's ironic?' "
Newsday.com: 300,000 Iraqis May Be in Mass Graves
Yikes...
(BTW, to those people complaining about us not doing enough to protect the mass graves...the people there are 1) already dead and 2) we wouldn't even know about the graves if we hadn't invaded the country)
Yikes...
(BTW, to those people complaining about us not doing enough to protect the mass graves...the people there are 1) already dead and 2) we wouldn't even know about the graves if we hadn't invaded the country)
Date: Sat, 8 Nov 2003 23:31:19 -0500
From: showard1@nd.edu
To: cinroman@cin.org
Reply-to: cinroman@cin.org
Subject: Re: [Cinroman] Re: homilies
Quoting JesuXPIPassio@aol.com:
> And that's the last time I'm replying to this stupid argument. I'm very
> furstrated with you who has a taste for my blood and you're going on my
> blocked
> sender e-mail list.
Not a bad idea.
> In a message dated 11/8/2003 6:23:49 AM Hawaiian Standard Time,
> memorodriguez@usa.net writes:
> You'd also spent..., no, WASTED, the time of someone in Rome, who surely has
> more important things to do.
>
> And all for what? So that YOU can get a SATISFACTION?
*plonk*
Amazing! He's right...that was satisfying.
Mmmm...chocolate cake.
(which is also satisfying)
Sam Howard"
From: showard1@nd.edu
To: cinroman@cin.org
Reply-to: cinroman@cin.org
Subject: Re: [Cinroman] Re: homilies
Quoting JesuXPIPassio@aol.com:
> And that's the last time I'm replying to this stupid argument. I'm very
> furstrated with you who has a taste for my blood and you're going on my
> blocked
> sender e-mail list.
Not a bad idea.
> In a message dated 11/8/2003 6:23:49 AM Hawaiian Standard Time,
> memorodriguez@usa.net writes:
> You'd also spent..., no, WASTED, the time of someone in Rome, who surely has
> more important things to do.
>
> And all for what? So that YOU can get a SATISFACTION?
*plonk*
Amazing! He's right...that was satisfying.
Mmmm...chocolate cake.
(which is also satisfying)
Sam Howard"
Monday, November 03, 2003
Thomas Hibbs on Mystic River on National Review Online
Whoa...Thomas Hibbs agrees with the Lady Macbeth like statements of Annabeth? What the heck is he thinking?
Also, I checked out the end of the book, and the book isn't ambiguous about whether Jimmy should be punished. I'm not sure if Sean's pointed finger is supposed to portray that message. Maybe I'll have to see it again, but I don't know if I can, just too disturbing.
Whoa...Thomas Hibbs agrees with the Lady Macbeth like statements of Annabeth? What the heck is he thinking?
Also, I checked out the end of the book, and the book isn't ambiguous about whether Jimmy should be punished. I'm not sure if Sean's pointed finger is supposed to portray that message. Maybe I'll have to see it again, but I don't know if I can, just too disturbing.
OpinionJournal - Zell Miller on the Election: "I find it hard to believe, but these naive nine have managed to combine the worst feature of the McGovern campaign--the president is a liar and we must have peace at any cost--with the worst feature of the Mondale campaign--watch your wallet, we're going to raise your taxes. George McGovern carried one state in 1972. Walter Mondale carried one state in 1984. Not exactly role models when it comes to how to get elected or, for that matter, how to run a country."
Senator Miller endorses GWB.
Senator Miller endorses GWB.
Sunday, November 02, 2003
Saturday, November 01, 2003
Daughter Spurs Gephardt’s Changed View on Gays
Some comment from the ex-husband might be interesting.
Some comment from the ex-husband might be interesting.
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