Wednesday, April 13, 2005

It’s Not 1968 Anymore

Austin Bay says that al-Qaeda is pulling a Tet Offensive:

But the Tet fantasy is so compelling. Though Tet was by most measures a disaster for the communists, as a media and hence political event, Tet snuffed “the light at the end of the tunnel.” The Johnson administration had told the American public Vietnam had reached a turning point—“the light”—but Tet demonstrated that North Vietnamese Army (NVA) regulars and Viet Cong (VC) guerrillas were still capable of potent action.

NVA General Vo Nguyen Giap planned for maximum psychological and political impact. Communist forces simultaneously hit cities and military bases throughout the south. Though they took huge casualties, Giap’s real target was President Johnson. Communist attackers managed to break into the US embassy compound in Saigon. The assault was repelled, but the moral damage—and dramatic photos—energized Sen Eugene McCarthy’s “peace candidacy.” Political support for LBJ and the Vietnam War withered.

He goes on to say that Iraq is no Vietnam - a statement only liberals disagree with - and he’s right. There is no superpower behind the terrorists, we’re not pulling our punches, and we’ve made incredible progress in bringing Iraq into the democratic family.

But there’s another thing that’s different. In 1968 most Americans got their news from either ABC, CBS, and NBC or from the major papers like the NYT, WaPo, et al. That monolithic world where the media dons controlled the flow of information is gone. Cable news, the internet, blogs, and radio (that old standby) have all flooded into the gap, breaking the monopoly.

Liberals want Iraq to be Vietnam because they have a stake in seeing George Bush lose just as when they turned on Johnson in 1968 because he had botched their war. This time, the rest of us won’t be so easily duped.

Update

In the Bullpen has more.

Posted by Matt on 04/13 at 08:01 AM
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Tuesday, April 12, 2005

If You’re a Serious Pack Rat …

... Intel may pay you $10,000.

Moore’s Law, the 40-year-old prediction that computer chip performance would double every year or two, may have found a place in history as an accurate forecast. Original copies of the declaration, however, are lost. And a hunt on eBay has begun.

Intel Corp. has posted a $10,000 reward for an original copy, in mint condition, of the April 19, 1965, issue of Electronics, the technical publication in which Intel’s founder, Gordon Moore, made his famous forecast.

Electronics magazine is now defunct, and Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, has no copy. Moore, now Intel’s chairman emeritus, lent out his copy and lost track of it, said Howard High, an Intel spokesman.

I know I don’t have a copy, but maybe you do.

Update

Predictably, people are doing the wrong thing. The librarians are upset.

Posted by Matt on 04/12 at 03:55 PM
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115 Cardinal Electors

The delightfully named Cardinal Sin of Manila had already announced that he would not travel to Rome for the Papal Conclave scheduled to being April 18th for reasons of health. Now, there is a second:

Due to illness, two cardinals will not participate in the conclave to elect a new pope, making the number of cardinal electors 115.

Cardinal Jaime Sin, the retired archbishop of Manila, Philippines, and Cardinal Adolfo Suárez Rivera, retired archbishop of Monterrey, Mexico, have informed the Vatican that they will not participate in the conclave “for reasons of health,” said Vatican spokesman Joaquín Navarro Valls on Saturday.

It must be very difficult for them to miss this.

Posted by Matt on 04/12 at 08:10 AM
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Monday, April 11, 2005

Paul Johnson on the Pope

His tribute:

The death of John Paul II removes from the world a great force for order and rectitude. He was often presented as a conservative, especially by liberal critics within the church. But this was a misreading of his character and indeed of his record. This great pontiff was essentially a defender, promoter, protector and enhancer of life: life in all its forms, as God created them, but especially human life.

He sought to limit, almost to vanishing point, the occasions on which the state, let alone individuals, might legitimately extinguish or frustrate life. He had spent his manhood largely under the tyranny of the two vilest anti-life systems the world had ever seen: Nazism and Communism, together responsible for the unnatural deaths of over 120 million people in Europe and Asia. He had seen at close quarters the appalling consequences which inexorably follow when authority is directed by philosophy contemptuous of life.

A must read.

Posted by Matt on 04/11 at 08:57 AM
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NYT Commits Journalism Again

In an otherwise pedestrian piece in the New York Times about the songs on President Bush’s iPod, we find this piece of driveby journalism:

Nonetheless, Mr. McKinnon said that Mr. Bush had not gone so far as to include on his playlist “Fortunate Son,” the angry anti-Vietnam war song about who has to go to war that Mr. Fogerty sang when he was with Creedence Clearwater Revival. ("I ain’t no senator’s son ... Some folks are born silver spoon in hand.") As the son of a two-term congressman and a United States Senate candidate, Mr. Bush won a coveted spot with the Texas Air National Guard to avoid combat in Vietnam. [emphasis mine]

Just in case you were unaware of the repeated failed attempts to make hay on this slander last year. Doesn’t say AWOL, just says “avoid.” Close enough for journalism.

Posted by Matt on 04/11 at 08:07 AM
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Carnival of the Cats #55

The latest Carnival of the Cats is up at enrevanche with a bonus dog shot.

You know who make their appearance.

Posted by Matt on 04/11 at 07:50 AM
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Friday, April 08, 2005

The Return of Chloe and Daphne

We have been somewhat remiss in catblogging of late, but in truth, Chloe and Daphne have made poor subjects in recent weeks basically spending 99.99% of their time sleeping and then .01% doing cool things when the camera’s in the other room. But, without further ado, Chloe and Daphne return:

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Of course, the horrifying level of violence has yet to abate:

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And who’s on top may even be deceiving:

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In passing, we’d also like to note Chloe’s first birthday was last week, but even so, she has yet to grow tired of the box top we were about to discard instead of the nice fleece bed we actually went out and bought for her special-like!

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Yeah, I do know better, but honestly, wouldn’t you prefer a nice fleece?

Posted by Matt on 04/08 at 01:09 PM
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A List of Papal Links

As one would expect from such a long pontificate, there is a tremendous amount of reading material available, and the Vatican website is easily the best place to start. The very idea of the Vatican being on the web may seem odd, but this particular site is pushing ten years old, and has gotten very good indeed. For example, the entire text of the Bible (NAB) is there, along with the new catechism. One will also find links to the curia, canon law, and materials from Popes from Leo XIII to the present.

But it is with John Paul II that we’re concerned at the moment. Here is his page.

This Pope’s legacy will be embodied not only in the new catechism and revisions of canon law in accord with Vatican II, but also in his body of moral teaching primarily encapsulated in his encyclicals, of which some key ones are:

Centesimus Annus - A Hundred Years Veritatis Splendor - The Spendor of Truth
Evangelium Vitae - The Gospel of Life
Ut Unum Sint - That They Be One
Fides et Ratio - Faith and Reason

The Pope has also written a few books two of which are:

Crossing the Threshold of Hope Rise, Let Us Be on Our Way

The best biography to date is George Weigel’s Witness to Hope. But another key book is His Holiness by Carl Bernstein chronicling the Pope’s role in the defeat of the Soviet Empire.

(As I posted this I also realized this is the 1,000th post on this blog. Clearly, I’m not writing enough.)

Update

One more, here is the Pope’s Last Will.

Posted by Matt on 04/08 at 10:15 AM
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Thursday, April 07, 2005

Washington State Election Follies

Remember the Washington State election fiasco where ‘Governor’ Gregoire continues to reign? Michelle Malkin does, and she’s got links.

This one ain’t over yet.

Posted by Matt on 04/07 at 11:44 AM
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Peggy Noonan on the Pope

Peggy Noonan’s voice was not available for inclusion yesterday, but here she is today:

John Paul was a new pope, raised to the papacy just eight months before. The day after he became pope he made it clear he would like to return as pope to his native Poland to see his people.

The communists who ran the Polish regime faced a quandary. If they didn’t allow the new Pope to return to his homeland, they would look defensive and frightened, as if they feared that he had more power than they. To rebuff him would seem an admission of their weakness. On the other hand, if they let him return, the people might rise up against the government, which might in turn trigger an invasion by the Soviet Union.

The Polish government decided that it would be too great an embarrassment to refuse the pope. So they invited him, gambling that John Paul--whom they knew when he was cardinal of Krakow, who they were sure would not want his presence to inspire bloodshed--would be prudent. They wagered that he would understand he was fortunate to be given permission to come, and understand what he owed the government in turn was deportment that would not threaten the reigning reality. They announced the pope would be welcome to come home on a “religious pilgrimage.”

John Paul quickly accepted the invitation. He went to Poland.

And from the day he arrived, the boundaries of the world began to shift.

A must read.

Posted by Matt on 04/07 at 11:13 AM
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Wednesday, April 06, 2005

John Paul the Great

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Right now a lot of ink is being spilled (or pixels, if you prefer) on the subject of the Pope’s passing. As I write this, he lies in state while potentially millions of people file past him. I learned yesterday that a friend of mine on a business trip to Paris, had gone to Rome over the weekend and was among those who stood vigil below the Papal apartments. A remarkable experience I’m sure she’ll never forget.

I’ve already posted my own recollection of such a moment, but I’ve been thinking more over the last several days of what this Pontificate has meant. It is hard to imagine any other Pope, much less remember one (although I am old enough to remember Paul VI and John Paul I). I’m reminded of the evangelical minister who said to a Catholic friend, “You guys have a Pope who really knows how to pope.” We did indeed.

The handicapping has already begun, and I imagine I’ll weigh in on that myself as the conclave nears. I’ve long been a fan of Francis Cardinal Arinze and believe he would make a superb Pope, and non-Catholic friends have been asking lots of questions about the process for selecting a new Pope, something no one has seen in a generation. That’s a startling thing when one stops to think about it - John Paul II was the second longest serving Pope in the history of the Papacy, third if one counts St. Peter. Only Pius IX (1846-1878) served longer, although we’ve had quite a few long pontificates recently: Leo XIII (1878-1903), Pius XI (1922-1939), Pius XII (1938-1958). This latest one may seem extraordinary because we’ve lived through it, and most of us are apt to be a bit conceited in that regard, however benignly. Yet, for all of it, there is the sense of having witnessed something extraordinary indeed.

Superlatives abound with this Pope: most traveled, most saints canonized, most media-savvy, but such things come from both the times and the years. It is commonplace to say that Pope John Paul II was the most traveled ever, but it has only been in the last fifty or so years that such a thing was truly possible. This was a modern Pope who made use of modern tools. We know that he had more than a little to do with toppling the Soviet Empire, we know that he was the authentic interpreter of Vatican II (not only because he was Pope but also through much of his Pontificate he was one of the handful of bishops who had participated who was still alive), we know that he reigned in dissident theologians, we know he issued the first new catechism since the Council of Trent (1545-1563), we know he wrote encyclicals that have had enormous impact on moral theology, we know he has personally reached out to countless people on his travels, we know he has made ecumenism part of the warp and woof of the Church, we know that he has not only denounced anti-semitism but witnessed against it. These are just a handful of the things we know about this Pope.

What we don’t know is what this will mean in the years to come, though we can guess. There are those who have been asking the question, “John Paul the Great?” for a number of years now, and while that may seem quaintly medieval it demonstrates an awareness that something larger was going on. This Pope’s legacy has just begun. This Pope will not be sliding obscurely into the mists of history and generations to come will be impacted by these 26 years in ways we can only dimly see now. The institution of the Catholic Church is a conservative beast - more than four centuries between catechisms is but one example. Successors of Peter to come will invoke the authority of John Paul II as precedent. In time, I have no doubt, he will be canonized and probably made a Doctor of the Church. He has filled the shoes of the fisherman to such a degree, that some of him will remain for a very long time. We are better for having him these past years, and the future of the Church will be better for this Pope. Be not afraid!

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Other Voices:

Richard John Neuhaus Charles Krauthammer
Jaroslav Pelikan
Fred Barnes
Michelle Malkin
Hugh Hewitt
Daniel Lapin
Arthur Chrenkoff
Uwe Siemon-Netto
Mark Steyn
Timothy Garton Ash
William Kristol
Mark Sides

Snippets of others at Dean’s World.

Posted by Matt on 04/06 at 08:30 AM
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Tuesday, April 05, 2005

Crocodile Tears for Conservatives

Some on the Left are crying a crocodile river of tears over the supposed “conservative crack-up.” As always, Mark Steyn draws the curtain from this silly spectacle:

Anyone would think it was the Republicans who’d lost the 2004 elections, and the 2002 elections, and the 2000 elections. From every corner, concerned “friends” of the party rise to offer “friendly” advice. Norman Lear, who produced all those critically acclaimed issue-confronting heroine-gets-an-abortion ‘70s sitcoms that seem a lot more dated than ‘’The Beverly Hillbillies’’ these days, has now produced a People For the American Way ad in which a man who identifies himself as a “common sense Republican” objects to any attempt to end the Democratic filibuster of Bush’s judicial nominees. As things turn out, the “common sense Republican” has so much common sense he’s an official with a union that endorsed John Kerry.

I saw that commercial myself and laughed at it. I mean, it played in Boston, urging me to contact my senators to “save the filibuster.” My senators are Ted Kennedy and John Kerry who wouldn’t listen to me if I told them a tarantula was on their shoulder. Reading Steyn is a much better use of my time, and yours too, I imagine.

Update

More here.

Posted by Matt on 04/05 at 10:31 AM
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Saturday, April 02, 2005

John Paul II 1920-2005

The Holy Father has left us. A great man has been lost, and while I have no doubt he has gone on to a better place, we are the less.

More later as I digest this.

Posted by Matt on 04/02 at 06:25 PM
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Friday, April 01, 2005

I Once Saw the Pope

I only saw the Holy Father in the flesh once, and that was some 25 years ago. He had come to America, and was to say Mass in Shea stadium. I and a friend who is a monk went, and waited quite some time. For reasons I never learned, the Papal motorcade was running late, possibly because of the torrential rain that was falling. Indeed, we were all of us in that stadium soaked clean through, not that anyone looked to be leaving. But people were impatient, and a little grumpy.

From my seat, I could see the elevated highway and so noticed the motorcade heading towards the stadium. As it drew nearer, the rain stopped and the sky cleared. It became sunny and quite beautiful out, and I suspect that plus the excitement of seeing the Vicar of Christ contributed to the amazing enthusiasm and top-of-the-lungs cheering that erupted when the white car came into the stadium and went on for a long time. I myself was standing on the seat roaring. You could feel the man’s charisma way up in the nosebleed section where I was sitting. He filled that stadium with his presence even though I was so far away he was but a small figure in white. I do not much remember the Mass, or anything else, but I remember John Paul II filling that stadium. I have never experienced anything like that again.

An odd coda. As the Pope departed the stadium, it began to rain again. Many people muttered nervously about that as they made their way out of the stadium into the parking lot. A woman - clearly nervous - came up to my friend (he was wearing a Roman collar) and asked him if it had been a miracle. He demurred, correctly in my view. I don’t know about such things; I only know what happened. And that we had an amazing man occupying the See of Peter.

Fox News is reporting that the Pope has lost consciousness.

Update

Good grief - moments after I posted this Shepard Smith on Fox just referred to the very event. In all this time, I’ve never heard anyone else talk about the way the rain stopped. He said, “the skies seemed to part for him” which strikes me as just the way it felt at the time.

Posted by Matt on 04/01 at 12:36 PM
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The ‘Koran Code’

Meanwhile, a Koranic ‘scholar’ has determined the US is doomed.

Explaining his theory about the approaching extinction of the US, the scholar went on to analyze many numbers and letters mentioned in the Koran. He said a careful reading and analysis of words appearing in the Opening and Yusuf suras show that the US will exist for only 231 years.

How did he reach that number? Silwadi said that by combing a number of suras hinting at US sins he reached the numbers 1776 (the year the US achieved independence) and 231. He added the two numbers and the result was 2007, the year when the US is expected to disappear.

In his lengthy study, which is being circulated in many Muslim countries, Silwadi noted that the US has often been compared to a tree that grows very quickly and bears fruit, but has no roots.

In an attempt to find a reference to this metaphor in the Koran, Silwadi said he counted 1776 verses from the beginning of the Koran until he reached verse 26 of the Ibrahim Sura, which states: “And the parable of an evil word is as an evil tree pulled up from the earth’s surface; it has no stability.”

But wait, isn’t it only the year 1425 in the Islamic calendar? That means the US has 582 years left. As the author of the article said:

Silwadi, who is from the village of Silwad near Ramallah – the home of Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal – is not a world-renowned scholar.

You know, there just might be a reason for that.

Posted by Matt on 04/01 at 10:54 AM
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Holy Father’s Condition Deteriorating

It’s looking very bad:

Pope John Paul II suffered heart failure on Thursday while under treatment for a urinary infection which caused a high fever. On April 1 his condition had been stabilized, and papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said that the Holy Father was “lucid, fully conscious, and extraordinarily serene,” but conceded that his condition is “very grave.”

Navarro-Valls was highly emotional, his eyes brimming with tears, as he briefed reporters on the Pope’s condition at midday on Friday. He said that the Pope’s overall condition had improved after a Thursday-night crisis, but his blood pressure remained “unstable” and his prognosis was poor. However, he flatly denied reports that the Pontiff had lapsed into a coma.

Posted by Matt on 04/01 at 10:34 AM
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Fark Hacked

It appears Fark has been hacked. It won’t last long, but here’s a picture of the pigs who did it:

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(I know, it’s wrong, and ordinarily I wouldn’t countenance such a thing, but it has been one lousy week and it doesn’t look like it’s going to get better. I think we could all use the humor. And it is Fark - they probably hacked themselves!)

Posted by Matt on 04/01 at 10:29 AM
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