Defending the 12th century since the 14th; blogging since the 21st.

Catholicism, Conservatism, the Middle Ages, Opera, and Historical and Literary Objets d'Art blogged by a suburban dad who teaches law and writes stuff.


"Very fun." -- J. Bottum, Editor, FIRST THINGS

"Too modest" -- Elinor Dashwood

"Perhaps the wisest man on the Web" -- Henry Dieterich

"Hat tip: me (but really Cacciaguida)" -- Diana Feygin, Editor, THE YALE FREE PRESS

"You are my sire. You give me confidence to speak. You raise my heart so high that I am no more I." -- Dante

"Fabulous!"-- Warlock D.J. Prod of Didsbury

Who was Cacciaguida? See Dante's PARADISO, Cantos XV, XVI, & XVII.


E-mail me

 
I've just installed the Bush-Cheney '04 Debate Facts feed on my blogroll, and I will keep it there until the election.

This blog is trans-partisan, in that I support the candidate who is closest to my Catholic and conservative convictions regardless of which major party he belongs to. (I rarely vote for protest candidates, but I was prepared to support former Gov. Robert Casey, D-Pa., for president in 1996, against any Republican then in the field. Regrettably, the Governor abandoned his plans to challenge Clinton for the Democratic nomination.)

This blog is also trans-ideological, in that I long ago gave up automatically adopting every view expressed in NR and Human Events. I happen to think being open to immigration, and especially open to refugees, is in the best pro-growth-and-pro-God conservative tradition, but if the consensus is that my views on those issues are liberal, fine -- I'm liberal on those issues.

But non-partisan? Who needs that? Whoever tells you he's non-partisan is probably lying: he just wants you to do things his way, and thinks defining his way as "non-partisan" will help his agenda, as, sadly, it usually will. But if he's really non-partisan, that's even worse. It means he's too slothful to make up his mind on issues that no one is entitled not to make up their minds on. There's a special circle just outside Dante's Hell for the true, hard-core non-partisans.

I'm not non-partisan. Never have been (hey, Gene McCarthy -- remember me? the little kid at the rally back in '68?*); never will be. Bush-Cheney '04.


(*No? Well, I was pretty little then. How about 16 years later, when I worked at The Washington Times and you were on our Board of Advisors?)

posted by Cacciaguida at 11:22 PM

 
First debate

Not much I can add to Power Line's running commentary.

Kerry was more glib, and had a clear advantage whenever he could use technical terms to simulate knowledge, as in the North Korea discussion.

Bush looked more tired than Kerry, or than he himself did against Gore four years ago. Nonetheless he stayed on message, hammered lines that have done him good throughout the campaign, and came across as the aw-shucks regular guy that people liked in 2000 and clearly still like. Only this time it's aw-shucks plus experience.

Bush initiated the "gracious personal" interlude, and Kerry could only thank him for it. Despite a neon-lit invitation, Bush declined to attack Kerry for being such a self-promoting, medal-hunting s.o.b. when he was in Vietnam. This, despite Kerry alluding several times to his "service" (though not, surprisingly, to his medals). Bush's reticence here was smart: the SwiftVets issue helps him enormously, but only when others bring it up; he has to stay above that.

Even though Kerry was generally stronger on style, I doubt his substance will have wide appeal. Basically, he wants to work more with the U.N., he thinks he can make Europe commit enough troops to Iraq (despite his insistence that the war is wrong) so that we can "finish the job" (though we shouldn't have started it) and still bring "your sons and daughters" home in six months. Bush reminded us of the insulting things Kerry has said about the allies that are with us ("a coalition of the coerced and the bribed"), and Kerry was forced to change the subject.

Kerry's "I have a plan" trope: does that work with folks? Yeah, you're tall, you've got a Yale chin, you windsurf off Nantucket, you're the kind of guy who thinks he has a birthright to be trusted. So what's your plan? You'll hold meetings. (That's was a "summit" is.) Meetings! The guy's a geopolitical genius! Not.

Bush looked tired, but it was with the weight of the world. Despite having a family lineage more bred to leadership than Kerry's, he still came off as what he really is -- a dude doin' the job. He didn't have to "win" tonight; he just had to not lose. Mission accomplished.

posted by Cacciaguida at 10:38 PM

 
The Wall Street Journal says Americans are having more children, as many as - three. Whoa - Cacciadelia, get your four brothers in here and look at this: the WSJ says "Three is the New Two."

posted by Cacciaguida at 5:56 PM

 
Justice in the Balance: Catholic Lawyers and Scholars Speak out on the Threat to Catholic Values Posed by a Kerry Presidency. (Hat-tip: How Appealing, via Ninomania.)

posted by Cacciaguida at 5:09 PM

 
CBS News: Fake but Accurate

Proposed new logo by the Curt Jester, here. The following (hat-tip: LGF) is from CBS's explanation of why it turned a bundle of unfounded and hysterical e-mails articulating a fear of a return of the military draft into a story of independent significance -- independent, that is, of the truth of what the e-mails say:

“The truth of the e-mails were absolutely irrelevant to the piece, because all the story said was that people were worried. It’s a story about human beings that are afraid of the draft. We did not say that this (e-mail) was true, it’s just circulating. We are not verifying the e-mail.”

Hey, can I try that? Here goes:

The truth of the e-mails was absolutely irrelevant to the piece, because all the story said was that people were worried. It’s a story about human beings that are afraid of Kerry making the U.S. a dependency of the U.N. and establishing public worship of the Goddess.

The truth of the e-mails was absolutely irrelevant to the piece, because all the story said was that people were worried. It’s a story about human beings that are afraid of being labelled terrorists because they home-school.

The truth of the e-mails was absolutely irrelevant to the piece, because all the story said was that people were worried. It’s a story about human beings that are afraid of the Democrats setting up Shari'a courts in American cities.

This is fun. Send me e-mails about what you're worried about. It's news!!

posted by Cacciaguida at 1:17 PM

 
Elementary students served tequila. Hey, isn't it a vegetable?

posted by Cacciaguida at 10:21 PM

 
Study: Half of Internet Viagra is fake. And they say we -- Catholic married folk -- do "roulette." HA! (Or add your own joke in the comment boxes.)

posted by Cacciaguida at 7:32 PM

 
We haven't had any pictures, or quizzes, in a while....


Beretta92fs. You're good. Almost as good as a Sig
but are cheaper. Thats why the US military
chose you. You're kinda scary.


What handgun are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

posted by Cacciaguida at 10:17 PM

 
Kerry turning orange. No, really. No explanation, but it would be just like him to think a sunlamp was the ideal final touch for his debate prep.
posted by Cacciaguida at 5:01 PM

 
"Going hard ever since"

On September 5, the L.A. Times printed a story that began:

Lt. Col. David G. Bellon was commissioned as an officer in the Marine Corps in 1990 after graduating from law school. He remained on active duty until 1998, then continued as a reserve officer while building a law practice in Oceanside. In January 2003, he went to Iraq to serve in the infantry during the invasion. He returned home in September of last year and was sent back to Iraq in February 2004. Bellon, who is serving in the volatile Sunni Triangle, has a wife and two children, ages 4 and 6. He hopes to be home by Christmas. His family maintains a website, http://www.thegreenside.com, on which they post Bellon's letters to his father.

Lt. Col. Bellon's most recent letter begins:

As you have heard, we lost 7 Marines to a suicide car bomber the other day. We also lost 3 Iraqi Special Forces Soldiers. All were exceptionally brave men. The Marines are from a battalion that has fought as hard or harder than any other here in Iraq. These were the guys that were knee deep in the hardest fighting in Fallujah back in April and who have been going hard ever since. Even more tragic is that they were close to getting out of here.

As heart broke as the Marines of the battalion were, last night they really took it to the insurgents inside of Fallujah. Contrary to what might be in the media, the mission was not "retribution" for the suicide bombing. It was part of a regular operation that was slightly accelerated in light of what happened. We had been watching the city for quite a while and killed many, many terrorists last night. The battle lasted for hours and hours later, we were still getting secondary explosions off of objectives that we destroyed. You must have faith that the Marines are giving much better that we get.

Bellon, who has warm praise for the Iraqi Special Forces who are our allies, says this about the terrorists that we and the Iraqis are fighting:

Believe me, if they could get into a school in Wichita or Sacramento, they would gladly do it and convince themselves along the way that they are doing God's work as they ape for the cameras before killing as many innocent people as they can. The "recruiting videos" that we capture contain graphic scenes of beheadings, tortured confessions and insanely violent rhetoric. Even after what we have seen, it is hard to watch them. The enemy celebrates them.

Full text here. The Greenside has been added to my blogroll, under the new heading "The Few, the Proud, the On-Line."

posted by Cacciaguida at 2:05 PM

 
Our Quote of the Day comes from one Eleanor Brown, of Montreal, writing at 365gay.com (enlèvement du chapeau: MarriageDebate.com):

A well-known law professor has recently called for gay men and lesbians to be included properly in Canadian divorce laws, specifically mentioning that adultery should be a ground for gay divorce. Imagine how that fits into the way we structure our relationships.

I'll try, Ms. Brown, but you'll probably call me a bigot for doing it.

posted by Cacciaguida at 4:03 PM

 
A post in which Justices Felix Frankfurter and Antonin Scalia are compared.
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:00 PM

 
Extra-credit question I plan to give my CCD students on their Church History quiz tomorrow

The theory that Roman Emperor Constantine invented key Catholic teachings is:

a. a secret truth
b. a popular theory among people who try to learn history from thriller novels
c. a load of crap
d. both a and b
e. both b and c

posted by Cacciaguida at 4:47 PM

 
I've watched hurricanes for a long time
...but I've never seen this before: turning back around south and southwest, contra naturam, and making a second landfall...?
posted by Cacciaguida at 1:06 AM

 
The riddles are three, death is one -- and "private label" recordings are all over the place!

I forgot to observe Talk Like a Pirate Day, but let it not be thought that I don't participate in piracy in my own little ways. Like, right now, I'm listening to a 1961 Met TURANDOT, with Nilsson, Corelli, Moffo, Guarerra, and Giaiotti; Stokowski conducting. From my favorite label, Fell-Off-The-Truck Recordings. (You didn't think I was going to tell you the real label name, did you?)

We're in the middle of In Questa Reggia right now. Remember, this was 1961. Not only was Birgit Nilsson at the height of her powers, but she was not yet a legend. Folks in the audience that day didn't know she would be this great, the way I do as the result of hearing many of her recordings, mostly made after '61, and seeing her in the house many times, all of them after '61. The people at that March 4 1961 performance couldn't take anything for granted -- not the blazing anthracite of her high notes, not her seemingly effortless volume, not the seamless passagio, nor that North Sea gleam throughout the voice.

As if Nilsson weren't enough, she shares the stage with another great soprano, from the lighter range of that category: Anna Moffo, an unusually intense Liu. Want more? Her Calaf is, of course, Franco Corelli, at that time the concentrated essence of a great Italian tenor. Even the smaller parts are cast from strength: Frank Guarrera (Ping) was alway on hand for good singing and good acting; Bonaldo Giaiotti shows why he virtually owned the role of Timur at the Met for so many years: a dark, sonorous bass with real pathos. (Why didn't he do more A-list bass roles? Because we were spoiled rotten in those days: we had Giorgio Tozzi and Cesare Siepi on hand.)

Leopold Stokowski (as in, "Leopold! Leopold! Leopold!" in the Bugs Bunny cartoon where Bugs clashes with baritone "Giovanni Jones") was brought in to lend distinction in the pit. He does indeed, even though I disagree with some of his tempi and minor cuts. (I like TURANDOT slow and complete; I'm hard to please this way, but Mehta comes very close.) Also, it's lame to stop the orchestra for applause after Nessun Dorma and then repeat the final theme upon recommencing. But TURANDOT was still a new experience for Met-goers in 1961, and they hadn't yet learned that you have to get your Nessun Dorma applause in quickly or not at all ('cause, man, we're closin' in on the Princess, and we're not stoppin' just 'cause you like the man's high notes!)

Ooooh good -- the way he has those timpani lean into it when Turandot gets the Big Kiss...! Oh lame, they completely cut C'era negli'occhi tuoi, Alfano's best contribution to the thankless task assigned him of finishing this opera after Puccini's death. Oh well, the transition and final scene are magnificient.

posted by Cacciaguida at 11:30 PM

 
Sample Marine Corps boot camp schedule. Jonathan Lee would be in Week 9 by now. Anyone know what "the Crucible" is in this context? (No Salem references, please -- I know that. I once played Rev. Parris in a school production. No connection to the Island.)
posted by Cacciaguida at 5:40 PM

 
It was only a matter of time: Deal Hudson is out as Crisis publisher.

Washington Times story here. The other shoe drops -- not the fact that he won't be publisher any more, but this, from the Times story:

In addition, specific accusations of more recent sexual misconduct had come to the board's attention, one scholar said.

"This was not about one incident 10 years ago," he said. "It's surprising it was held down as long as it was. I haven't gone out of my way to track Deal Hudson's improprieties — I could be doing nothing else. But you began to wonder after a while if they are true."

Whoa. Debate has already begun over whether the Times was right to publish this remark while no post-Fordham victims have as yet spoken publicly. The NCReporter at least interviewed a real victim who allowed her name to be used. Quite frankly, when the NCR failed to come up with any post-Fordham incidents, I took that as virtual proof that there weren't any, since you know the NCR's silence there wasn't for lack of trying. But, Times reporter Julia Duin has a good reputation. I have no opinion on whether the Times should have included that quote, as it is a matter of "journalistic ethics," about which (as also about "legal ethics") I am rather cynical.

Anyway, if there have been post-Fordham incidents, that changes the picture. There were certainly post-Fordham rumors, albeit vague ones. They were sufficient for me, on one occasion, to given an admonitory heads-up to a young lady I care a lot about who was considering a job at Crisis. But at the time, they were too vague for credence otherwise.

If one crossed paths with Deal at social functions in the late '90s, one noticed that he was not averse to the society of attractive young ladies. Whether he sought them out, or they him, was really hard to say. A good time was being had by all on each such occasion I can remember -- and by "good time" I mean light drinking and conversation.

On one such occasion he was surrounded by Christendom coeds for whom this was a rare occasion to take a walk on the wild side, sartorially speaking. Low-cut black spaghetti-strap dresses are not regulation on campus, but the campus is not without young ladies who look good in them, I'm here to tell you. One of them detached herself from Deal and the others and smoked a cigar with me. She is now a cloistered Carmelite; that's what smoking a cigar with me will do.

What's the point of all this? I don't really know. Well, yes I do: if you're a stunner and you want to smoke a cigar, here's what you do. Find a nice Catholic boy of about your age, someone you could imagine marrying, and smoke it with him. If there's no one like that around, then smoke it with me, 'cause it is, in fact, just a cigar.

The text of Deal's letter to supporters is available here, thanks to Amy Welborn. You can decide for yourself how candid it is. He makes no mention of the collapse of his support among the magazine's board members and star writers, but perhaps he didn't need to. Some are saying that his new job as "director of the Morley Institute," Crisis's nominal publisher, means nothing more than a change of doorsign. I doubt it. Someone on the board of Crisis must be, or at least know, a lawyer, so they'll know it will be much harder to defend a later harassment suit if they allow Mr. H. to maintain an office on the premises after all this came out. But what does it mean to be director of the Morley Institute? Probably that he will draw a salary (probably reduced) for working on the projects he describes in the letter. Those of you inclined to think this is too cushy a settlement -- wait till the contingency-fee sexual harassment lawyers go to work on him.

>Sigh< "Keeping your pants on" may not always be as easy as it sounds -- but I'll bet we can make it easier by juxtaposing two contrasting end-states: having a bunch of girls out there with whom you've done various momentarily satisfying but mortally sinful (to say nothing of embarrassing) things, and who are now lining up to sue you into the ground; versus having a bunch of girls out there whom you've never touched, never will touch, and who think you're really sweet. (And some of whom know a good cigar.)

posted by Cacciaguida at 2:16 PM

 

Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Viacom Inc.'s CBS television unit was fined a record $550,000 by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission for airing indecent material during the Super Bowl halftime show, when singer Janet Jackson's breast was exposed.

Next year they should have Dan Rather broadcast the Super Bowl. That way, it won't really be Janet Jackson's breast....

posted by Cacciaguida at 2:12 PM

 

WASHINGTON — A London-to-Washington flight was diverted to Maine on Tuesday when it was discovered passenger Yusuf Islam — formerly known as singer Cat Stevens — was on a government watch list and barred from entering the country, federal officials said.

Cool. Next: Marty Haugen!

posted by Cacciaguida at 11:59 PM

 
Q. What's sandy and smokes?

A. Fallujah on November 3.

Btw, new letter from Jonathan Lee.

posted by Cacciaguida at 5:27 PM

 
Bush speech at U.N.

posted by Cacciaguida at 11:47 AM

 
Religion of peace™

posted by Cacciaguida at 10:24 AM

 
Conversation chez Cacciaguida

Cacciadelia [helping to set the table, very irritated]: All right, how many are eating?

Elinor: Four. How many are snarling?

posted by Cacciaguida at 3:14 PM

 
Zenit headline: Not All Dialogue Works, Says Philosopher. This needs illustrating. Curt Jester, maybe you could photoshop me a picture of a philosopher (maybe a clip-art Socrates) with a black eye, and a circling flock of those Bugs-Bunny-style birdlets.

Actually, the story is kind of interesting.
posted by Cacciaguida at 7:37 PM

 
Archbishop John Myers of Newark in today's Wall Street Journal:

Certainly policies on welfare, national security, the war in Iraq, Social Security or taxes, taken singly or in any combination, do not provide a proportionate reason to vote for a pro-abortion candidate.

posted by Cacciaguida at 1:53 PM

 
Kerry thugs make little girl cry (???)

Speaking of stories that will make partisans want to roll around in hot fudge and nougat, consider this. (Hat-tip: Power Line. Also, see P.L. on the NYTimes's fastest-growing section, its corrections. "Is Power Line a more reliable source of information than the New York Times?" the blog asks. "That's damning with faint praise, but, for what it's worth, we are.")

EDITED TO ADD: This story may be bogus. See comments below.

FURTHER EDITED TO ADD: This link suggests that (1) the dad, Phil Porlock, is something of a professional victim: a Republican given to gatecrashing Democrat rallies and publicizing the consequences, and apparently not above making his 3-year old daughter serve as his shieldbearer. On the other hand, the president of the union that the sign-snatcher allegedly belongs to has apologized, a quite unnecessary gesture if the sign-snatcher was in fact one of Mr. Porlock's sons.

Cryinggirlpicturegate shows that the blogosphere does have checks and balances: bloggers correct each other rapidly.
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:44 AM

 
One for the "punk is conservative" file. From the AP obit for Johnny Ramone, as published on Fox:

In addition to his financial conservatism, the guitarist was politically conservative -- the late Ronald Reagan was Ramone's favorite president, Vega said.

posted by Cacciaguida at 4:01 PM

 
Ditzing with Dems

Senator John Kerry, for his part, is said to be satisfied that the problems with his campaign have largely been fixed.

In the last seven weeks before the election? That's nice, dear.

Mr. Lockhart, meanwhile, more directly oversees what is said by the candidate, his aides and allies.

But not very effectively, if this NYTimes story, to which my attention was called by Just One Minute, is any indication.
posted by Cacciaguida at 3:49 PM

 
Sen. John Kerry is from "Milwaukee," says the International Herald Tribune, a major Old Media outlet in Europe.
posted by Cacciaguida at 3:43 PM

 
Is the cute factor, which helped Clinton with (some of) the female voting population, now doing the same for W? Power Line suggests so. Related: some say the National Guard issue helps Bush, because it gives women extra chances to see him in his dreamy uniform:


Awwww....

Four years ago, Elinor said women like guys who used to be B-A-A-A-A-D but now are GOOD.
posted by Cacciaguida at 3:35 PM

 
This time it really threatens Belle Isle.
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:18 AM

 
Rathergate update

Meltdown for CBS: now a fellow network, ABC, is piling on. Hat-tip: Little Green Footballs. Also, go see MS Forger, chez Curt Jester. Everyone else is.

EDITED ON WEDNESDAY MORNING TO ADD: CBS plans statement today.
posted by Cacciaguida at 11:04 PM

 
Laudem Gloriae: a newsy and witty blog by a Catholic "wife and law clerk, not to mention former hyper-Calvinist, Kierkegaardian, and overall ne'er-do-well." Nice graphics and links. Has this to say -- and is right -- about some of the arguments we sometimes get into about various forms of the liturgy:

It's a Protestantized form of worship that causes the individual to desire to "get something" out of mass, whether it be an emotional rush or warm feelings or what have you. Granted, one doesn't want to attend a mass where the liturgy is so screwy and the homily so heterodox that one can't concentrate on the Holy Sacrifice. This is precisely the beauty of the Traditional Mass, if it's done in obedience to the Holy See and with permission from the bishop--the liturgy is orthodox, as are the homilies, and thus one can in peace and profound joy witness the Holy Sacrifice and partake of Our Lord's goodness. It's also a great joy when one finds a parish that celebrates the New Rite in obedience to the liturgical norms.

Also blogging (since spring of '03 -- who knew?!): frequent commentor Henry Dieterich, at A Plumbline in the Wind.
posted by Cacciaguida at 6:15 PM

 
Rathergate

Fox: Source Pulls Support for Memos on Bush Guard Service.

For numerous details on the story of what, by now, seem pretty clearly to be forged documents touted as anti-Bush scoops by CBS, go to Power Line and just browse. Also note the power of the blogosphere to fact-check the a$$ off our would-be masters.
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:49 PM

 
Tridding with Trolls

That would be Fr. Jim, the Old Oligarch, and me. (Not that we're trolls: I'm just going for the Least Justifiable Harry Potter Reference in Philosophical Debate Award.)

Fr. Jim has valuable remarks for first-time Tridentine Mass-goers here. O.O. concurs in part and dissents in part here. Perhaps differing with O.O., I think the Novus Ordo, done to the nines, in Latin, with incense and bells, and using Eucharistic Prayer I (a.k.a. The Roman Canon, the one least changed from the old missal) -- the way the Council probably wanted it, that is -- can compete for beauty and reverence with, say, a Tridentine Low Mass.

That said, however, the old liturgy remains a better teaching vehicle, provided people take the trouble (as Fr. Jim advises) to become and remain familiar with it through a missal. When one has the chance to get familiar with the Novus Ordo Eucharistic Prayer I in Latin, and then to compare it to the Tridentine text, one notices all too sharply what, precisely, was cut -- and, sad to admit, in many cases it's the sections that are heaviest on the themes of sacrifice and propitiation.

Either way, I'd say use a missal. At least, doing so helps me a lot, in either liturgy. Maybe it's all those years of following opera recordings with a libretto, but I find it focuses my attention. Its principal value in the Novus Ordo is to follow the Scriptural readings, but I like following the Eucharistic Prayers too, especially is this missal, where you have them in Latin on facing pages.

In the Tridentine liturgy, if you can locate a full missal (and you might search here), you can also follow the readings (at least on Sunday; since Tridentine daily Masses are still rare in this country, I'll figure out where to find the daily readings when that becomes necessary), but the missal's main value there is to keep up with the priest in the Canon of the Mass. This is said silently, except for the words nobis quoque peccatoribus, which come after the consecration. These words, and the liturgical gestures and bells that accompany the consecration itself, are your only markers.

You can also get the basic paperbound Tridentine text -- Mass only, no Scripture readings -- from the Coalition in Support of Ecclesia Dei. Indult chapels, and parishes with indult Tridentine Masses, often have this edition in the pews. (And if you're at a Tridentine Mass and it's not indult, just where the hell are you, anyway?)

posted by Cacciaguida at 8:35 PM

 
September 11 reflection

Someone on a listserv I'm on sent this around, which I wouldn't otherwise have seen, because, as you know, I don't read The New York Times. And this column is no particular reason to change that.

It's David Brooks reflecting, aptly enough, on the "death cult" in Islam, and he notes, again aptly enough (re Beslan): "Dissertations will be written about the euphemisms the media used to describe these murderers." Unfortunately, those dissertations will need a chapter on Brooks, because he himself says (a long way before we get to the "dissertations" line) that what he is talking about is a "death cult that is thriving at the fringes of the Muslim world."

But it's not on the fringe. Yes, it may be linked to Wahhabism, an 18th century movement, but (a) that wouldn't explain the Shi'ite wing of terrorism (Wahhabis consider Shi'ites to be guilty of shirq, or idolatry, just like Christians); (b) Wahhabism itself was revivalist, harkening back to the purity of early Islam before its corruption by Aristotle, those comparatively civilized Muslims in Spain, and other weakening influences; and (c) if Wahhabism ever was on the fringe, it no longer is: Saudi money has seen to that. Wahhabism is taught in the madrassa down the street from you.

If you're not up for serious Crusading, how about praying, on some kind of regular basis, for the conversion of the Muslims? Like, after every Mass, in a sort of updated Leonine Prayer (three Hail Marys and the Prayer to St. Michael)? It worked against communism; maybe it can work against an even deadlier enemy of far longer standing.




Covadonga, the remote region of northwest Spain that the Muslims failed to conquer; Christian refugees there became the nucleus of the Kingdom of Asturias, which became the launching ground for the entire Reconquista.
posted by Cacciaguida at 7:03 PM

 
Columnist Fred Reed, who loves Mexicans and moved to Mexico several years ago, offers here some reflections on Mexicans who emigrate versus those who don't, Mexicans who don't versus Americans, and Mexicans who do versus blacks.
posted by Cacciaguida at 6:44 PM

 
A gay marriage debate at Yale

Last night the Yale Political Union debated topic "Resolved: Same-Sex Marriage Weakens Marriage as a Social Institution." When it came to a vote, the resolution failed -- but by 34-24. That is, at a pre-annnounced, open-to-the-public debate on this issue on an Ivy League campus, 24 out of 58 people voted for a resolution critical of SSM.

No doubt the topic was saved from a more lopsided defeat by the strong arguments and presentation of the keynote speaker, Maggie Gallagher.

There was a student speaker in the affirmative who favors SSM, but also believes that it will weaken marriage, and says proponents should be willing to admit this. One might have expected speeches in the affirmative going even further: SSM will weaken marriage and that's why we should have it. But it seems a party line has descended upon SSM advocates: they will not (at least in public) say a word against marriage.
posted by Cacciaguida at 2:14 PM

 
Entering the Matrix. Blog-break until late Friday or so.
posted by Cacciaguida at 11:17 PM

 
Happy Birthday, Elinor!

As Elinor turns 45, a debate starts at Mommentary about Mansfield Park. If you care to, go and defend Mary Crawford's honor -- it's more than she's prepared to do, I'll warrant!
posted by Cacciaguida at 4:41 PM

 
Beslan

Well, Mr. Putin finally has a casus belli that has no whiff of Reichstag Fire about it.

Others, such as Zorak, have already noticed the delicate reticence of the media in regard to the religious commitment of the attackers. Now Mark Steyn notes:

The reality is that the IRA and ETA and the ANC and any number of secessionist and nationalist movements all the way back to the American revolutionaries could have seized schoolhouses and shot all the children.

But they didn't. Because, if they had, there would have been widespread revulsion within the perpetrators' own communities. To put it at its most tactful, that doesn't seem to be an issue here.

Click here for full text of Steyn's column.

posted by Cacciaguida at 11:41 AM

 
Albemarle, VA, public school teacher leads opposition to new Planned Parenthood clinic opening up. Let it never be said that no sound people teach in the public schools. (Hat-tip: Lifesite.)
posted by Cacciaguida at 5:29 PM

 
Kerry had a campaign event in Steubenville, OH? What kind of advance staff does he have, anyway? No wonder half the attendees were protestors! (Via Catholic Kerry Watch.)
posted by Cacciaguida at 2:02 PM

 
Catholic Jane Austen Weekend held last month, organized by parishioners at Our Lady of Czestochowa Church in Turners Falls, MA (click here and scroll down to "T"). From a bit of the article not in the link but included in the same article as printed in the Arlington Catholic Herald:

Lucy Domina, 16, of Brattleboro, VT, and a parishioner of Our Lady of Czestohowa Church [across a state line!], said she enjoyed dressing up in period clothing and learning about Jane Austen's era, a time, she said, when people exercised more restraint.

"Now people are a lot more liberal with what they do and want and say," she said.

posted by Cacciaguida at 9:38 PM

 
Big convention bounce for Bush (after none for Kerry). Don't get cocky, but this is very nice.

Don't forget, Democrats are psyched this year. Expect a "Duelling Club" of October surprises. (Expelliarmus!)

Also, if Colorado passes its "retroactive" referendum on switching to pop-vote proportionality for allocating its Electoral votes, and if that allocation is outcome-determinative, expect at least six weeks of "Bush v. Kerry" litigation over whether retroactivity in voting rules is permissible.
posted by Cacciaguida at 8:37 PM

 
Go see Barbara Nicolosi's photos from her trip to Spain, including El Escorial, the 11th century walls of Avila, and the mountaintop of Torreciudad, with its Opus Dei church and conference center.
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:35 PM

 
Feast of St. Gregory the Great


posted by Cacciaguida at 11:08 AM

 
Bush speech: comments in haste, before hearing or reading anyone else's views

Good speech, very well given.

Domestic side a bit neo-New Dealy, carrying "compassionate conservatism" sometimes beyind any recognizable bounds of conservatism. But the mockery of "my opponent" for claiming to be conservative was well done; leant heavily on the cultural side, what with the slam at Hollywood and all.

Foreign policy side -- great, unless you're a paleocon, which, I've come to realize, I'm not.

The pro-life, pro-marriage, and anti-judicial-activism themes were there, solidly. The pro-life message was phrased in terms of the "defense of the weakest" -- the right way to present it, and the way that drives the other side the craziest.

Some well-done humor.

Good tone, pace, and expression throughout.

Bravo.

posted by Cacciaguida at 11:23 PM

 
Prof. Peter Sean Bradley, of Lex Communis, gets it about PGSDs.
posted by Cacciaguida at 7:21 PM

 
Zell is Other People: James Taranto's Best of the Web reports on the outstanding GOP Convention speech of Sen. Zell Miller, D-GA, and the reactions of certain media fixtures to it, such as open liberal Chris Matthews and cultural-leftist "conservative" Andrew Sullivan.
posted by Cacciaguida at 7:09 PM

 
Warrior kingmakers? Speaking as a 12th century knight, I must remark that in this American Republic of yours, with its traditions of civilian control of the military, we've been seeing an awful lot of political endorsements by generals lately. I mean, this is for you to decide, but can anyone here spell C-a-e-s-a-r?

That said, I note that esteemed General and bestselling author Tommy Franks has endorsed Bush.
posted by Cacciaguida at 4:50 PM

 
Human rights are great; today's human-rights industry is not.

Robin Harris, of the interesting BritCon website Politeia, writes in the Daily Telegraph:

David Davis, the shadow home secretary, enjoys the reputation of a political pugilist, but his broken nose was never more explicable than when he launched his recent attack on the human rights industry.

Mr Davis's announcement that he is setting up a commission to review the Human Rights Act was a low blow to the amply proportioned solar plexus of the legal profession, and the howl of offended vested interests was deafening.

...

In all areas of public life where an ethos of discipline and the use of discretionary force are required - from the Armed Forces to the police, and from schools to jails - the possible recourse to "human rights" risks imposing paralysis and introducing disorder. In all areas of public life where an ethos of discipline and the use of discretionary force are required - from the Armed Forces to the police, and from schools to jails - the possible recourse to "human rights" risks imposing paralysis and introducing disorder.

...

David Davis and the Tories have picked the right fight. But they must in their review ensure that they aim at the right target - the doctrine of human rights itself.

Full text here.
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:32 AM

 
22-year-old twins. Whatya gonna do?

Three years ago, Doonesbury had one its voices-from-the-White-House cartoons in which the dialogue went like this:

W: Jenna, we're talking about personal responsibilitiness here. You're the President's daughter. You know you're in the limelight. And that means no drinking!

JENNA: Oh, please, Daddy! When you were my age, you drank like a fish! And you had a famous political father too!

W: That's different! I was trying to embarrass him!

JENNA: Hello? I'm 19!

posted by Cacciaguida at 2:38 PM

 
DI:
"GI meat, GI gravy
GI wish I joined the Navy" --
Hell no!!

Men: Hell no!!

DI: MARINE Corps!!

Men: MARINE Corps!!

-- a Marine running cadence

posted by Cacciaguida at 2:14 PM