Tuesday, March 30, 2004

Its success here mirrors its remarkable run in the US, where the film passed the $300m (£165m) mark last week. The Passion, which depicts the final 12 hours in the life of Jesus in gory detail, topped the box office there for three weeks, before being seen off by the even more gruesome zombie remake Dawn of the Dead.

Duly chastened, the director (Mel Gibson) has concocted a film so festive in its lurid, graphic, semi-pornographic, homoerotic violence that not even the most bloodthirsty film-goer could complain about failing to get his money's worth.

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/30/2004 02:48:00 PM | 0 comments

The chief anti-terrorism officer of the Metropolitan Police, Peter Clarke, said a raid in west London had found half a ton of ammonium nitrate, which can be made into a bomb. He said police have arrested eight men, all British citizens ranging in age from 17 to 32.

"Today's operation, which involved some 700 officers in total, is part of continuing and extensive inquiries by police and the security service, into alleged international terrorist activity," said the police official. "And I must stress that the threat from terrorism remains very real."

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/30/2004 09:15:00 AM | 0 comments

"It's certainly true that we are tinkering with something very powerful here," said artificial-life researcher Steen Rasmussen of Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

"But there's no difference between what we do here and what humans have always done when we invented fire, transistors and ways to split the atom," he said. "The more powerful technology you unleash, the more careful you have to be."

Such concern is escalating as more than 100 laboratories study processes involved in the creation of life, and scientists say for the first time that they have just about all the pieces they need to begin making inanimate chemicals come alive.

Unlike any other technology invented by humans, creating artificial life will be as jarring to our concepts of ourselves as discovering living creatures on other planets in the universe would be. It also would bring into sharper focus the age-old questions of "What is life?" and "Where do we come from?"

"The ability to make new forms of life from scratch--molecular living systems from chemicals we get from a chemical supply store--is going to have a profound impact on society, much of it positive, but some of it potentially negative," said Mark Bedau, professor of philosophy and humanities at Reed College in Portland, Ore., and editor-in-chief of the Artificial Life Journal.

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/30/2004 09:11:00 AM | 0 comments

Monday, March 29, 2004

An Israeli intelligence analyst sees a frenzy of jihadist Internet communications as part of a "dangerous Islamic messianic whirlpool" featuring a number of prophecies culminating in the coming of the "Mahdi," reports the latest issue of the premium online intelligence newsletter Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

Muslim believers – both Sunni and Shiite – expect the Mahdi to return one day to restore justice to the world. This messenger is not as great as Muhammad, but is a messianic figure found in all branches of Islam.

Interestingly, since the end of 2001, bin Laden has been signing his name "Osama bin Muhammad bin Laden," rather than just Osama bin Laden. This is significant because it gives the al-Qaida leader an apocalyptic dimension. The Hadith says the Mahdi will be recognizable, among other things, by the fact that he carries the name of the prophet.

The Mahdi is supposed to come, according to Islamic clerics, just before the advent of the day of judgment – when believers are severely oppressed in every corner of the world. He will fight the "oppressors," unite the Muslims, bring peace and justice to the world, rule over the Arabs, and lead a prayer in Mecca at which Jesus will be present, according to Islamic scholars.

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/29/2004 11:55:00 AM | 0 comments

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/29/2004 10:51:00 AM | 0 comments

Protesters poured out of one school bus after another, piercing an otherwise quiet, peaceful Sunday in Rove's Palisades neighborhood in Northwest, chanting, "Karl, Karl, come on out! See what the DREAM Act is all about!"

Rove obliged their first request and opened his door long enough to say, "Get off my property."

The crowd then grew more aggressive, fanning around the three accessible sides of Rove's house, tracking him through the many windows, waving signs that read "Say Yes to DREAM" and pounding on the glass.

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/29/2004 10:41:00 AM | 0 comments

Friday, March 26, 2004

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/26/2004 05:14:00 PM | 0 comments

Two hours into a public hearing on Spotsylvania County's proposed budget, speakers supporting the advertised real-estate tax rate of 96 cents and those wanting an equalized rate were evenly split.

Shaun Kenney of the Battlefield District was among those calling for an 85-cent rate. He told the board that the answer to the budget question is not dipping into taxpayers' wallets. His next comment drew both laughter and applause.

"If you feel you're undertaxed," he told the other people in the high school auditorium, "there's nothing to prevent you from donating to your government."

just listened to the radio on the way into work and
99.3 WYSK just had a news segment featuring our very
own Shaun Kenney. The story was that Spotsylvania is
locked 50-50 for/against raising property taxes. The
announcer, Bob Jones, says "Here's what Shaun Kenney
had to say." They played a sound clip of Shaun
speaking very strongly saying, "No one is undertaxed.
But if you feel that your are undertaxed, please, by
all means, feel free to make a donation to your
government." This was followed by a delayed, somewhat
stunned laughter from the background assembly, as it
seemed many didn't know if he was joking or really
serious.

This made my morning, and I am sure you all will find
this at least amusing, no matter what your political
"tendencies" may be.

I'm proud of my boy, Blue.

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/26/2004 05:12:00 PM | 0 comments

"When Sunday loses its fundamental meaning and becomes subordinate to a secular concept of 'weekend' dominated by such things as entertainment and sport, people stay locked within a horizon so narrow that they can no longer see the heavens," the pontiff said in a speech to Australian bishops.

John Paul criticized the "culture of the 'here and now,'" urging Church leaders to "lead men and women from the shadows of moral confusion and ambiguous thinking."

The 83-year-old pope also encouraged Christians, especially young people, to remain faithful to Sunday Mass, saying the secular culture was undermining family life.

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/26/2004 05:04:00 PM | 0 comments

Thursday, March 25, 2004

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/25/2004 01:05:00 PM | 0 comments

Tuesday, March 23, 2004

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/23/2004 10:43:00 AM | 0 comments

Monday, March 22, 2004

"Their bodies were shattered," he was quoted by the Associated Press as saying.

Outside the morgue at Shifa Hospital, Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh confirmed Sheikh Yassin's death.

"This is the moment Sheikh Yassin dreamed about," he said, with tears in his eyes.

"Sheikh Yassin lived and died and offered his life to Palestine. Sheikh Yassin was a hero and a fighter and the leader of a nation, and [he] is in heaven now."

Hamas militants, shouting through loudspeakers in the streets of Gaza City, vowed to avenge his death.

"We will send death to every house, every city, every street in Israel."

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/22/2004 12:17:00 AM | 0 comments

Sunday, March 21, 2004

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/21/2004 01:06:00 PM | 0 comments

The pope said even the medical terminology used to describe people in so-called "persistent vegetative states" was degrading to them. He said no matter how sick a person was, "he is and will always be a man, never becoming a 'vegetable' or 'animal.'"

In a vegetative state, patients are awake but not aware of themselves or their environment. The condition is different from a coma, in which the patient is neither awake nor aware. Both, however, are states in which the patient is devoid of consciousness.

If the vegetative state continues for a month, the patient is said to be in a persistent vegetative state; after a year without improvement, the patient is said to be in a permanent vegetative state.

Providing food and water to such patients should be considered natural, ordinary and proportional care — not artificial medical intervention, the pope told members of the conference, which was organized by the World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations and the Pontifical Academy for Life, a Vatican advisory body.

"As such, it is morally obligatory," to continue such care, he said.

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/21/2004 12:32:00 PM | 0 comments

Friday, March 19, 2004

Mr Chen and the vice-president, Annette Lu, were shot and wounded amid a cacophony of firecrackers as they waved at supporters from an open-top vehicle on the final day of their re-election campaign.

They were taken to hospital, but released after treatment. Doctors - who were among the presidential entourage - said they removed a bullet from Mr Chen's stomach, and later showed pictures of a 4.5-inch scar across his abdomen. Ms Lu was shot in the right knee.

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/19/2004 11:14:00 PM | 0 comments

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/19/2004 10:11:00 AM | 0 comments

Thursday, March 18, 2004

Rushed into 400 cinemas in the world's second biggest film market by revenues three weeks ahead of schedule due to public demand, the biblical epic portraying Christ's final 12 hours was also attacked by German film critics as anti-Semitic kitsch. The statement also assailed the film for its disturbing brutality "that exceeds acceptable boundaries" and for oversimplifying the message of the bible.

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/18/2004 04:58:00 PM | 0 comments

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/18/2004 04:45:00 PM | 0 comments

Dr Ralph Lorenz, a mission scientist based at the University of Arizona in Tucson, yesterday described what he expected Huygens to encounter.

Despite the Saturn moon being such an alien world, its physical appearance was likely to be similar to parts of the Earth, he said.

He told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Seattle: "I think we’ll see a rugged, but muted landscape. I think we’ll see a lot of impact craters.

"Impact cratering occurs everywhere in the solar system and on Titan, being a fairly sluggish environment, erosion is fairly slow. A lot of these will be filled with liquid to form circular lakes, rim-shaped lakes, bullseye lakes and horseshoe lakes. So I think we’ll see something maybe a bit like Sweden or northern Canada."

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/18/2004 04:41:00 PM | 0 comments

A couple who got into a dispute over a theological point after watching "The Passion of the Christ" were arrested after the argument turned violent.

The two left the movie theater debating whether God the Father in the Holy Trinity was human or symbolic, and the argument heated up when they got home, Melissa Davidson said.

"It was the dumbest thing we've ever done," she said.

Davidson, 34, and her husband, Sean Davidson, 33, were charged with simple battery on March 11 after the two called police on each other. They were released on $1,000 bail.

"Really, it was kind of a pitiful thing, to go to a movie like that and fight about it. I think they missed the point," said Gene McDaniel, chief sheriff's deputy.

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/18/2004 04:28:00 PM | 0 comments

TED HONTZ in his March 11 response to Del. Mark Cole ["'No new taxes'? How about 'no new progress' on budget mess?"] offers the same tax-and-spend mantra against conservatives who dare stand behind Virginia's working families and against tax hikes.

Mr. Hontz poses several questions, all of which run to the tune of where Republicans intend to fund a variety of public programs without a tax increase.

The real question is how we intend to fund these programs, but who do tax-and-spend liberals intend to bleed for this funding?

Yet another question for tax-and-spend liberals: At what point will the taxpayers of Virginia have paid enough? Over the past five years, the state budget has increased by nearly 50 percent, and this year Virginia taxpayers are being asked to foot an additional bill for a $4 billion tax increase.

And to what ends? Have the taxpayers of Virginia seen a 50 percent increase in the quality of our roads? Our schools? Teacher salaries?

The short answer to the litany of complaints of tax-and-spend bureaucrats is the pay stub of the average Virginia household. Today, nearly 40 percent of our income is spent on taxes. How much more should our working families bleed in order to feed bureaucratic mediocrity?

Take for instance the outrageous 13 percent tax hike being proposed in Spotsylvania County. Proponents of tax hikes in Spotsylvania County will argue that the 13 percent tax hike is a necessary investment. To which one may reasonably ask: What returns can we expect to see?

Will taxpayers see a 13 percent increase in the quality of public services? Should we expect and demand a 13 percent increase in test scores? Will teachers see a 13 percent increase in pay? Can taxpayers expect a 13 percent decrease in their commuting time thanks to county planning?

The answers to these questions are clearly in the negative.

Not only are there unanswered questions as to whether or not tax increases translate into better services, there is the additional problem of the impact these taxes have on the Virginia taxpayer.

For instance, how exactly where would tax-and-spend liberals have our working families cut their budgets? Cut back on food? On clothing? Health insurance? The mortgage? Del. Cole is correct in every sense of the word when he argues that every local and state tax hike is a pay cut for our families.

But there is much more to the conservative argument against taxes that bothers the politicians in Richmond and the bureaucrats at our local courthouse.

Take, for example, the issue of vouchers for schoolchildren. It costs Spotsylvania County more than $10,000 a year to put one child through school. When tuition for private institutions is half the cost, our position on school choice should come as a no-brainer.

Take another look at school construction. The final cost for the construction of Spotsylvania High School was $37 million, while the final cost for Massaponax High School climbed just shy of $50 million. Why the $13 million discrepancy? What's more, where is the accountability for the fleecing of taxpayers?

Let's take a hard look at teachers' salaries, another sensitive topic. This year, the Spotsylvania School Board is requesting an 11 percent increase from last year's budget. Will our teachers see an 11 percent raise? Will students see an 11 percent increase in the quality of our education? Will the public school system work 11 percent more effectively?

It is not the well-to-do who will cringe at the $4 billion tax hike proposed by state Sen. John Chichester, R-Stafford, or the proposed 13 percent property-tax hike in Spotsylvania. It is the grandmother on a pension who will be forced out of her home. It is the young family who can't absorb the hidden costs of property taxes on their mortgage.

It takes a special hardness of heart on the part of liberal tax-and-spenders to demand that these people either be forced out of their homes, or prevented from ever owning homes.

But if the rhetorical questions don't offer pause, the statistics are even more damning. According to the U.S. Department of Education, total tax dollars spent nationwide on elementary- and secondary-school education under the Bush administration rose by more than 47 percent over the past five years--from $336 million to $540 million, an increase unimaginable under former administrations.

Clearly public education is not struggling to make ends meet. Rather, the problem lies in big government's insatiable appetite for the hard-earned paychecks of working families.

There is a false logic at play, suggesting increases in spending are consummate with better results, and the taxpayers of Virginia know this.

That is why previous tax referenda were struck down with force in both Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, and precisely why tax-and-spend liberals are so afraid to bring the $4 billion Chichester tax hike to the people for a vote.

Make no mistake: Taxpayers on both the state and local level are keeping a close eye on their elected officials.

The taxpayers of Spotsylvania County and Virginia work hard enough for their own families; they should not be expected to subsidize mediocrity at the state or local level.

SHAUN KENNEY is the Fredericksburg-area vice chairman of the 1st District Republican Committee.

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/18/2004 04:20:00 PM | 0 comments

Tuesday, March 16, 2004

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/16/2004 05:42:00 PM | 0 comments

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/16/2004 01:45:00 PM | 0 comments

Monday, March 15, 2004

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is adamant that he will not ask Congress to authorize a draft, and officials at the Selective Service System, the independent federal agency that would organize any conscription, stress that the possibility of a so-called "special skills draft" is remote.

Nonetheless, the agency has begun the process of creating the procedures and policies to conduct such a targeted draft in case military officials ask Congress to authorize it and the lawmakers agree to such a request.

"Talking to the manpower folks at the Department of Defense and others, what came up was that nobody foresees a need for a large conventional draft such as we had in Vietnam," said Richard Flahavan, a spokesman for the Selective Service System. "But they thought that if we have any kind of a draft, it will probably be a special skills draft."

Flahavan said Selective Service planning for a possible draft of linguists and computer experts began last fall after Pentagon personnel officials said the military needed more people with skills in those areas.

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/15/2004 11:27:00 AM | 0 comments

Sunday, March 14, 2004

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/14/2004 11:51:00 AM | 0 comments

Saturday, March 13, 2004

The panel discussion will take place in Room 212 at Germanna Community College off the U.S. 17 Bypass near Lee's Hill from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The Committee of 500 generally supports the idea of public transportation, said Chairman Merl Witt. But the forum is not an opportunity to lobby residents, he said.

Instead, the group hopes people will ask hard questions about the service and think about whether it's a good idea for Spotsylvania, he said.

"We're not going to get up there and say, 'It's time to get on the VRE,'" Witt said. "We want to force the discussion. We want to bring attention to it."

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/13/2004 02:23:00 PM | 0 comments

"Surely, if the attack ads can start now at least we can agree to start a real discussion about America's future," Kerry said in remarks prepared for delivery in Quincy, Illinois, later on Saturday.

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/13/2004 02:16:00 PM | 0 comments

Thursday, March 11, 2004

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/11/2004 02:24:00 PM | 0 comments

In a new book, "Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast, and Italy, 1500-1800," Mr. Davis calculates that between 1 million and 1.25 million Europeans were captured by pirates called "corsairs" and forced to work in North Africa during that period.

The raids were so aggressive that entire Mediterranean seaside towns were abandoned by frightened residents. "Much of what has been written gives the impression that there were not many slaves and minimizes the impact that slavery had on Europe.

"Most accounts only look at slavery in one place, or only for a short period of time. But when you take a broader, longer view, the massive scope of this slavery and its powerful impact become clear."

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/11/2004 02:22:00 PM | 0 comments

Wednesday, March 10, 2004

Spotsylvania County supervisors voted yesterday to advertise a real-estate tax rate of 96 cents--5 cents less than the current levy but one that would raise the tax bills of most homeowners by almost 13 percent.

The board has scheduled a public hearing on the proposed fiscal 2005 budget and the tax rate for 7:30 p.m. March 25 at Courtland High School. It hopes to approve the budget and tax rate April 13.

The tax rate is a sensitive issue this year because of a property reassessment that saw residential values jump almost 20 percent, not including new construction.

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/10/2004 11:37:00 AM | 0 comments

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/10/2004 11:34:00 AM | 0 comments

Tuesday, March 09, 2004

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/09/2004 06:08:00 PM | 0 comments

But the trust's migration watch organiser Dawn Balmer was more philosophical.

"Most of these rare visitors eventually succumb anyway to cold weather or a lack of food, if not predation," she told the paper.

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/09/2004 04:51:00 PM | 0 comments

Monday, March 08, 2004

Most Americans have respect, even affection, for Mr. Brokaw. More than one TV critic commented on his performance as moderator of a Democratic presidential debate last November by suggesting the debate would have been livened up if he had been one of the candidates. The Weekly Standard says he has mastered the technique of appearing on television as "a thoughtful fellow, caught in unhurried rumination." His book on World War II veterans, "The Greatest Generation," sold more than 4.1 million copies in 1999 and was followed up by three subsequent bestsellers. Even his ideological adversaries give him his due. Dennis Miller, the caustic comedian, dismisses Peter Jennings and Dan Rather as "Stepford anchors" but even before he landed his current show on CNBC opined that "Tom has many likable human qualities."

Even his adversaries acknowledge that Mr. Brokaw would shake up politics. "It would be a fascinating choice," says Wayne LaPierre, head of the National Rifle Association. Brent Bozell of the conservative Media Research Center, who in 2002 criticized Mr. Brokaw for saying he didn't wear an American flag pin in his lapel because it would suggest he endorsed Bush administration policies, admits that Mr. Brokaw's books enable him to "come across to most people as a patriot." Mr. Brokaw in turn has criticized Mr. Bozell's group for "making fine legal points everywhere every day" about NBC's media bias. "A lot of it just doesn't hold up. So much of it is that bias--like beauty--is in the eye of the beholder."

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/08/2004 07:12:00 PM | 0 comments

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/08/2004 07:08:00 PM | 0 comments

Friday, March 05, 2004

I am Frylock from Aqua Teen Hunger Force!!

Which Aqua Teen Hunger Force character are you??

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/05/2004 05:51:00 PM | 0 comments

Thursday, March 04, 2004

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/04/2004 01:59:00 PM | 0 comments

“I had never before subscribed to the idea that maybe Satan is a real person, but I can attest that he was in my room a lot and I know that he hit everyone on this production,” Debney said, according to a lengthy interview that ran on Assist News Service, a Christian news agency.

Debney claims that Satan’s image kept appearing on his computer screen while he was trying to compose music. “The first time it happened, it scared me,” he said. “Once I got over the initial shock of that, I learned to work around it and learned to reboot the computers and so I would start talking to him. . . . The computers froze for about the tenth time [one] day and it was about nine o’clock at night and so I got really mad and I told Satan to manifest himself and I said, ‘Let’s go out into the parking lot and let’s go.’ It was a seed change in me. I knew that this was war. I am not a physical person, but I was really angry on this occasion.”

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/04/2004 01:54:00 PM | 0 comments

Tuesday, March 02, 2004

Until recently, there seemed to have been a consensus among societies with monotheistic traditions that all civil law was rooted in natural law, which is written upon created order and, as the Apostle Paul put it, "graven on the heart of man."

Natural law is God's witness even to societies which do not acknowledge him. Since time immemorial most healthy cultures have shared a belief that it is wrong to murder, steal, lie, commit adultery, and commit certain sexual acts considered deviate--and the Bible is clear on the sinful nature of homosexuality.

According to Princeton legal philosopher Robert George in his book "The Clash of Orthodoxies," matrimonial law reflects both the biblical and natural-law understandings that marriage unites the spouses as a single procreative unit. George underscores this by stating that homosexual acts have no relationship to procreation and can't unite persons organically. Thus, these acts cannot be "marital"--meaning homosexual relationships cannot be marriages.

Further, philosopher J. Budziszewski writes in his book "What We Can't Not Know": "To call procreation the purpose of marriage is not arbitrary.A legislature [or a court] can no more turn sodomitical unions into marriages than it can turn dogs into cats; it can only unravel the institution of marriage by sowing confusion."

We should not seek to normalize homosexuality or any other sexual aberration. This has nothing to do with imposing any particular religion on the secular state. While rejecting on the one hand the movement that claims tolerance of homosexual behavior in the name of freedom of the individual and of moral progress, we must also resist the popular reaction of persecution and ostracism and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ to "hate the sin, but love the sinner," ever mindful that, though God is the judge, sinners are not loved into salvation without repentance.

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/02/2004 11:41:00 AM | 0 comments

NASA will hold a press conference Tuesday to announce "significant findings" about water on Mars based on evidence from its Opportunity Mars rover.

"It's going to be the most significant science results that we've had from the rovers, and it's bearing on their primary mission," NASA spokesperson Don Savage told SPACE.com . That mission is to find signs of water that might support life.

Opportunity's Microscopic Imager found this intriguing object, lookingmore like Rotini pasta. Its odd shape has stirred up Mars researchers,both inside and outside of the NASA Mars Rover Exploration team. Whetheror not this object is related to biology has prompted a variety of views.

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/02/2004 12:44:00 AM | 0 comments

Historian Kirsten A. Seaver, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in London, states that the map's writing contains historical anachronisms such as mention of Bishop Eirik of Greenland of the early 12th century reporting to superiors, although he would have had none, because Greenland had not yet become part of the Church hierarchy. "This map absolutely screams 'fake,'" Seaver remarks. In fact, she believes she has found the culprit--a German Jesuit priest, Father Josef Fischer, a specialist in mid-15th-century world maps. Her theory is that Fischer created the map in the 1930s to tease the Nazis, playing on their claims of early Norse dominion of the Americas and on their loathing of Roman Catholic Church authority. The map, she supposes, vanished during postwar looting. Seaver's book on her search will appear this June.

posted by Shaun Kenney | 3/02/2004 12:31:00 AM | 0 comments

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