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Monday, January 31, 2005It's 4:14 in the AM. Yes, I'm working at four o'clock in the morning on a proposal for the government. Stuff like this reminds you why you were forced to write all those term papers in college. A worthwhile exercise after all folks. Of course, I was one of those strange types who enjoyed writing term papers. . . Saturday, January 29, 2005Busy Things have gotten very interesting over the past few days. I'm still alive and kicking - just very busy. In the meantime, enjoy the snow! And the ice. And the freezing rain. And more snow. Let's face it, it's not going to be a very nice weekend for going anywhere. Good opportunity for me to stay at home and rile folks up! Thursday, January 27, 2005Secessionism Redivivus? Secessionist movements alive and well in post-election America Most Southerners have a soft spot in their hearts for the cause of secession. After all, we're taught it in our history books how our forefathers twice exercised this right; successfully in 1776, and unsuccessfully in 1861. Now, thanks the all of the Democratic wrangling over the re-election of President Bush, talk of secession and secessionist movements has begun anew: The push for the Second Vermont Republic is no anomaly. Today there are secession movements afoot in Hawaii and Alaska, both complaining, with some validity, that fraud and coercion forced their entrance into the union. In New York, activist and author Jason Flores-Williams, lately best known for his disruptions at the Republican National Convention, plans a New York City secession movement 'as much Andy Warhol as it is Tom Paine,' he says, predicting his 'secession parties' will become 'the most happening cultural events in NYC, events that echo up and down the hierarchy.'Interesting article, and a long one at that. I really wasn't aware there were so many secessionist movements in America, nor that the movement in Vermont was so strong. Wednesday, January 26, 2005Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Announces Acquisition of Civilization Franchise and Long-Term Partnership with blah blah blah. . . Civilization IV in late 2005! Heck yeah! Radio Jay? WJAY. . . or some other catchy name Okay, so I don't know how to play this one to make it sound snazzy. All I know is that my brother is interested in volunteering for Virginia Commonwealth's WVCW radio station, and since (1) Jay's music tastes are pretty unique and rarely boring, and (2) they webcast, I am anxiously awaiting the debut of Radio Jay! I wonder what his DJ name would be? Any thoughts? Save Terri Schiavo Gov. Bush, Florida Legislature should keep fighting It's a sad world where we can legally starve someone to death: When Sidney, a young warrior and poet in the court of Queen Elizabeth I, was mortally wounded in battle, legend has it that he passed up a drink of water in deference to a common soldier who lay nearby in the throes of death.Probably the best argument against removing Mrs. Schiavo's feeding tube I have read in awhile. Issues like this just stagger the mind -- what kind of society are we becoming, and what does allowing Terri to starve to death say about us and our generation? Tuesday, January 25, 2005The Second Look Project A pretty interesting site on abortion statistics in the United States. Click here for more. Women who have had abortions cite the following reasons:Wow. How sad. Kennedy Would Not Pay Any Price, Neither Should Bush CATO comes out strong against the new Bush Doctrine Yep, we're still talking about Bush's inaugural speech. This was a pretty interesting article I received this morning regarding a comparison between Bush's inaugrual speech and that of former President John Kennedy: Few observers would have expected President Bush's second inaugural address to draw comparisons with one of the most famous speeches in American history. Yet the parallels to John F. Kennedy's 1961 inaugural address are unmistakable. That is not necessarily a good thing.Not a terrible assessment. Ending tyrrany is good; doing it at any price necessary is the kind of overextension that ultimately led to the downfall of the British Empire a century ago. Monday, January 24, 2005Squashed Philosophers Now this is something useful for recreational reading: There is no taking-part in the 'Great Debate' of Western civilisation, the debate about who we are, how we should be governed, how we think and how we ought to behave, without some familiarity with the, remarkably few, thinkers in whose language and idiom the talk is conducted.Now cliff notes for philosophy is something I have never particularly minded. It's a good way to get a grip around what a philosopher is trying to communicate, plus it's a great primer for actually reading the corpus of a particular author. When it comes to philosophy, the book is always better than the movie. So to speak -- it's not the greatest analogy, but you know what I mean. . . This is a good way to start getting interested in certain philosophers so you can read them in-depth. That's why I don't mind the abridged versions; in the end, there's no faking a well read philosopher. Mike Adams: How to talk to an atheist (and you must) Thoughts on atheism and C.S. Lewis Granted, I'm not all that big on the caricature Adams presents at the beginning of this article (you'll understand when you read it), but the story of his conversion is still a worthwhile read: "I still remember the night I publicly declared my atheism. It was April 3rd, 1992. I was a long-haired musician, playing guitar at a bar called "The Gin" in Oxford, Mississippi. The subject of religion came up in a conversation during one of my breaks. An Ole Miss Law student, who had been an undergraduate with me at Mississippi State years before, asked me whether I was still dating my girlfriend, Sally. Then he asked why I had broken up with my previous girlfriend two years before.Mere Christianity is a great read, probably something all learned people should pick up. It's not terribly long, but it will give you plenty to mull over. Friday, January 21, 2005What You'll Wish You'd Known If I ever give a high school graduation speech, I promise two things. First, it will be mercifully short. Second, that it will sound a lot like this. George Weigel on the Next Conclave Completing the work of John Paul II Historian George Weigel has some interesting thoughts concerning the next papal conclave: Although the mainstream media may think abortion, birth control and ordaining women to the priesthood are issues to be faced by the next Pope, Mr Weigel disputed this. The three issues that will matter most are the virtual collapse of Christianity in Europe, the rise of militant Islam and the millions of questions that have been posed by the biotechnology revolution, he said. Also to be considered are diplomacy and how the Holy See will participate in foreign affairs. Unless it engages in dialogue with the rest of the world through diplomatic relations, the Vatican becomes 'little more than a world council of churches'.Excellent reading on a Friday afternoon. Thursday, January 20, 2005You're too stupid to manage your own money Ferraro reveals the real reason behind Democrats' resistance to Social Security reform Courtesy of Larry Elder: Now, Americans possess the ability to make the money. Ferraro's comments parallel the Americans-are-too-stupid theme embraced by former President Bill Clinton. Speaking in 1999 about the $70 billion budget surplus, Clinton said, 'We could give it all back to you and hope you spend it right. . . . Do you really want to run the risk of squandering this surplus?'Geraldine Ferraro's actual quote was, "if you don't have the knowledge and the wherewithal to manage your own private funds, well, you know, you're gonna be out of luck." Now is that a harmless quote taken out of context? I don't think so. This is the same mentality expressed by Hillary Clinton in San Francisco some months earlier, and it's sad to see this idea that we - as Americans - are not intelligent enough to save for our own future, or worse yet the goverment should be doing this on our behalf. There's a variety of names for this. Socialism, nannyism, intellectual snobbery - you name it. Ferraro's comments speak for themselves. Wednesday, January 19, 2005SNOW! So I'm looking out the window of my office and what do I see? When I walked in today, there wasn't much out there at all. The snow is tapering off some, but Rt. 3 is a mess, and the snow is a soft, powdery type of snow too. . . Stay home if you can, but if you have to drive, be smart about it. Not too fast, not too slow, and give some room. Above all else, enjoy the weather! Tuesday, January 18, 2005J's Notes . . . is back! Not that my brother Jason posts as often as he used to, but at least we know when we go looking for the wit and wisdom of Jay, we know he'll be online. Good news for Jay though - I will more than likely be setting up a Linux box that will serve as a mailserver, webhost, and FTP site among other things. So jasonkenney.net might just survive after all. Stay tuned. Media's coverage has distorted world's view of Iraqi reality Views from soldiers on the ground This is simply an outstanding article: The fact is the Coalition is making steady progress in Iraq, but not without ups and downs. So why is it that no matter what events unfold, good or bad, the media highlights mostly the negative aspects of the event? The journalistic adage, "If it bleeds, it leads," still applies in Iraq, but why only when it's American blood?Precisely. It's amazing that you have to actually argue this point, but LTC Ryan does so rather well. Read it all. Hill to Spotsylvania County: 11% $9.5 million increase over previous year Spotsylvania Superintendent Jerry Hill demanded an 11% increase in the Spotsy school budget, an increase of $9.5 million: Last night, Hill told the School Board the county can provide $3.4 million of the requested $9.5 million increase if the 86-cent property-tax rate remains the same.Which means a 12 cent tax hike equating to a $240 tax increase in property taxes forf a home valued at $200,000. Will Spotsylvania see an 11% increase in the quality of education? I think not. It's about time the school board live within their means. Monday, January 17, 2005Catholic Archbishop Kidnapped in Iraq Archbishop Casmoussa, 66, abducted I wonder if this will clarify the Vatican's stand on terrorism: A Roman Catholic archbishop in Mosul, Iraq, has been kidnapped, the Vatican said Monday.Now here's an interest question: Since the terrorists make no distinction between peaceful noncombatants and military personnel, as they did on September 11th, does this qualify as jus ad bello? Or do you tolerate this and leave the archbishop to his fate? James 2:26 anyone? The moral question at stake here - and one that I sincerely hope ensues at the Vatican amongst our Continental brethren - is when precisely do you perform the acts of justice in the face of evil? Prayer yes, but when do we do something? I'll love to read what Cardinal Martini has to say about this. I wonder what his tone would be if Martini himself were the next archbishop of Mosul? Blue State Psychosis? Proportion of psychologists higher in blue states, lower in red states Correlation does not imply causality, I know. Nonetheless, the correlation exists: The tens states (including the District of Columbia ) with the highest ratio of psychologists per 100,000 residents, were, with the exception of Colorado, all blue states which supported John Kerry (D.C, Vermont, Minnesota, Massachusetts, New York, Colorado, Illinois, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania, in rank order from one to ten). The ten states with the lowest ratio of psychologists per 100,000 residents, all were red states supporting Bush (Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Nevada, Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Kentucky, Indiana). Louisiana with the lowest ratio is listed first.Heh. Now I know the article does imply this analysis demonstrates that blue-staters might have more mental issues than your average red-stater. Maybe the Dems see this as evidence their populations have better educations? You wanna know what I see? Supply and demand. Knock it if you wish, but I think this does say something interesting in a demographic sense. Where are the Catholic intellectuals? Lamenting the state of Catholic philosophy Where are the Catholic intellectuals? Believe it or not, I was just wondering the exact same thing when I came across this article. Read it all. It starts with a paragraph on how English and French societies view the word, then moves on to a rather well put argument regarding books, authors, and Catholic moral thinkers: This dearth of Catholic thinkers, whether they are theologians or philosophers, is not limited to France. Catholic intellectuals seem to be a vanishing breed on the wider international scene. The second World Congress of the International Conference of Catholic Faculties of Philosophy, which took place in Mexico last September, took for its theme “Philosophy as mediation”. This meeting of representatives of more than 60 Catholic faculties of philosophy asked the same question: does the Catholic Church still have intellectuals and philosophers of the stature of Blondel or Maritain?So where are we? Are we "underground" as the UK Tablet hopes? I tend to think that we (and I only use the word "we" with the assumption that I am a student of both Catholicity and philosophy and therefore a member of the club) simply don't have a soapbox - at least in America. Sure we have journals such as First Things and New Oxford Review, but those journals only illustrate the stratosphere of Catholic thought. Where is there an outlet for Catholic intellectualism in the community, where the societal conversation must be held? Is there an answer? Perhaps we simply have retreated from the public square over the years? Maybe the information age of the Internet will provide a different way of re-engaging the debate? I tend to believe that the problem is twofold. Firstly, quality Catholic intellectuals tend to stem from either periods of great strain upon the Church or highly faithful Catholic societies and institutions providing the breeding ground for such activity. Second, the secular death grip on Western culture at large tends to shy away from any input from religious authorities - Catholics in particular. The Catholic intellectual simply isn't given a voice, much less a seat at the table. It's a double strike against (1) our Catholicity and (2) secularists deeming our status of "intellectual" highly suspect given our faith. The problem is only more complicated when we consider what precisely constitutes a religion nowadays, as well as a secular belief that faith taints objective reasoning, as if secular humanism were the only non-judgmental Weltanshung. How do we solve this? It's tricky. Orthodox Catholics tend to look towards authority rather than each other for inspiration. In a climate where bad priests run amok and good priests are overworked, the laity may very well have to embrace the idea they are quite alone in fighting the culture war on the ground. The Second Vatican Council points the way, but we have to have the courage to follow it as faithful Catholics. Tough thing for Catholic Americans to do. Saturday, January 15, 2005Instapundit on the Iraqi Survey Group and WMDs Some great words from Glenn Reynolds regarding the findings of the ISG: But I think that the whole "the war was all about weapons of mass destruction" meme is a bit dishonest. First, it's worth remembering (here's a list of resolutions on Iraq) that the burden was on Saddam to prove that he didn't have the weapons, and nobody thought he'd done that. Second, and more important from my standpoint, was that the war was about remaking the Middle East, helping to establish a democracy in a vital spot, neutralizing a longtime, and still-dangerous foe with ties to terrorists, and putting the U.S. in a position to threaten Syria, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, not simply about getting rid of WMD stockpiles. (This was no secret. Even John Kerry said that he would have gone to war even knowing that there were no WMD stockpiles.)Good points all. The updates are even more damning in their criticism of the anti-war left, to the point of going after the "rush to war" as being too slow by allowing Saddam and the Ba'athists time to prepare the insurgency as we deliberated in the United Nations. New Photos Show Titan Has Orange Surface Probe Still Relaying Pictures Back to Earth Now this is cool: Many scientists at the European Space Agency center in Darmstadt, Germany, looked tired from their overnight work but were still clearly elated about the successful arrival of data from Huygens the day before - a major triumph for the European space program.Now I thought the theory was that we couldn't land much of anything on Titan because of the methane seas - literally one spark would ignite the whole planet! Still, the photos are very cool. Thursday, January 13, 2005From the Snopes.com Department Gay bomb, halitosis fill the rejected chemical weapons list You tell me whether this is true or false: Most bizarre among the plans was one for the development of an 'aphrodisiac' chemical weapon that would make enemy soldiers sexually irresistible to each other. Provoking widespread homosexual behaviour among troops would cause a 'distasteful but completely non-lethal' blow to morale, the proposal says.I dunno about this one guys. A gay bomb? Potions that attract not just wasps and rats, but enraged wasps and angry rats? I smell a rat all right. Or maybe a gay rat with halitosis who had a run in with some enraged wasps? Borat Sings the National Anthem Riot nearly breaks out in Roanoake For those of you who do not watch the Ali G Show or have even heard of it, Ali G is a fictional character that while often times offensive, is downright hilarious. Well, to some folks anyway. According to a report in the Roanoke (Virginia) Times, a man who was introduced as Borat Sagdiyev from Kazakhstan - in reality a Cohen character named Borat - appeared at the rodeo over the weekend after organisers agreed to have him sing the national anthem.Come on folks! This is hilarious stuff! Well, okay. . . maybe it's funny after the fact. Actually, the very idea of a rodeo crowd rioting a la South Park is fairly amusing in it's own right. Regarding the Pledge To the editors of the Free Lance-Star: IF A SPOTSYLVANIA public school student were being com- pelled by his teacher, as part of a class exercise, to read aloud from a work of modern fiction that contained curse words, and such utterances violated the student's reli- gious code regarding blasphemy, what would Del. Mark Cole say? It's a good bet, based on Mr. Cole's own beliefs and legislative history, that he would strongly defend the child's right to opt out of the readings.Remind the author of this sophmoric rant that the Pledge of Allegiance is (1) nowhere comparable to a "work of modern fiction containing curse words," (2) that individuals have been respectfully refusing to say the Pledge for decades, and (3) that no one has the right to reject the very principles of a free society - namely an allegiance to one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all. America is an idea, not an institution. If you cannot pledge allegiance to the ideas upon which a free society is based upon, you are simply not a thinking creature. Wednesday, January 12, 2005Busy. . . But there's a lot of good bills running through Virginia General Assembly this year (even though many consider the second session to be little more than fodder for re-election campaigns). Just busy this week. That's all! The blogging will resume. Sunday, January 09, 2005Earth "still ringing" after Indian Ocean earthquake Quake moved some islands 66 feet Now this is somewhat interesting: Much of the Earth was still 'ringing like a bell' two weeks after the December 26 earthquake that unleashed devastating tsunamis around the Indian Ocean, Australian scientists revealed.Don't know how it compares with other big quakes, but that's still a fairly interesting seismological effect. The American Catholic Voter George Marlin's review of the 200 year history of the Catholic vote Now this seems like an interesting read, as summarized by TownHall.com: There's a school of thought that says that the Catholic vote does not matter, that the American Catholic vote is really just the American vote with Catholicism as window dressing. After all, this view claims, didn't ethnic Catholics in the 19th century vote with their ethnicity, throwing off the Anglo-Catholic legacy of America's only Catholic founder, John Carroll? Didn't working-class, inner-city Catholics support the Democratic Party on pocketbook issues, just as their Protestant working-class neighbors did?Looks interesting, and a statement about the Catholic vote about which I entirely agree. UPDATE: This is a much better review from the Claremont Institute. I'm definitely buying this book. Saturday, January 08, 2005Free the Philadelphia 4 Christians quoting scripture get harrassed, then arrested Somehow, I am sadly not even the slightest bit surprised: It all started Oct. 10, when a total of 11 members of Repent America attended a homosexual street festival called 'Outfest.'The videotape on the group's website tells it all. This was a peaceful protest, and the "Pink Angels" consist of large pink styrofoam boards and whistles designed to drown out and prevent other from seeing or hearing the protest. Innovative? Yes, but I wonder where all of the free speech advocates on the left were? That the Christians were the ones arrested only adds insult to injury. The video on the Repent America website shows a peaceful counter-demonstration being forcibly hijacked by pink signs and whistles. There's a right way and a wrong way to do this. These "Pink Angels" did it the wrong way, and they - not the Christians protesting - should be the ones prosecuted. Friday, January 07, 2005Ted Kennedy and Waterboards from the "Thou Shalt Not Throw Stones at Glass Houses" Department For as much as I respect Jack Kennedy, I can't stand Ted Kennedy. So when someone takes a cheap shot at good ol' Ted, I'm more than happy to spread the cheer. . . Ted Kennedy's deep thoughts on simulated drowning- too bad Mary Jo Kopechne wasn't a suspected terrorist. With Teddy K's vice-like grip on morality, she would be enjoying her 64th year of life on this planet today. Of course, maybe he is learning- this is 'drowning someone to a point,' a sense of finesse that previously eluded Teddy Chappaquiddick.There's even a little picture of what a Kennedy waterboarding device might look like (as it is being pulled from the Chappaquiddick). Ah me. I will say this though: Gonzales is not playing this well at all. Instead of allowing this to become a discussion on the distinction between justice and law (and that distinction exists believe me), this should be a discussion as to how we desire to prosecute the war on terror from the standpoint of our judicial system. Objective analysis of what constitutes torture under law shouldn't be confused with a desire to be just. Certainly the two should coincide, but if Gonzales had entered caveats about what he personally felt about torture, would the Dems have heaped upon him for not exercising the "judical temperment" Howard Dean demanded at the very beginning of the Gonzales debate? Dress rehearsal for the next Supreme Court nominee. Watch. Sorry Folks! Returned from Boston, spent some time with the family, got back to work, and where's the blogging? Not much to report at the moment, other than things are all quiet on the Western Front. Well, maybe not too quiet, but you get the idea. Just figured I'd let folks know I was still alive and kicking. Don't worry. I'm back and keeping my eye on things. Enjoy the weather today while it lasts! Tuesday, January 04, 2005Blogging from Boston Yep, Boston. Billerica more accurately (the locals pronounce it bll-aihr-eh-khaaa). A lot of construction going on around here, and only one hotel. Kinda like Route 50. Only with more Yankees. Sunday, January 02, 2005Training for Iraqi special forces called best in Arab world Counterterrorism, counterinsurgency forces coming to the fore The training that the Iraqi internal security forces are undergoing currently are doing more than just preparing the Iraqi government, they are providing the best special forces training in the Middle East: On Dec. 1, 72 cadets graduated from the special operations course atThe Jordanian Special Operations Force was the same unit that prevented the chemical attack by al-Qaeda through Syria last year. Saturday, January 01, 2005Lasers and Planes What might really be happening. . . This isn't all that consoling, but this rash of targeting planes with lasers may be something more.
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JEFFERSONIAD POLL: Whom do you support for Virginia Attorney General?1) John Brownlee2) Ken Cuccinelli AboutShaunKenney.com is one of Virginia's oldest political blogs, focusing on the role of religion and politics in public life. Shaun Kenney, 30, lives in Fluvanna County, Virginia.ContactThe Jeffersoniad
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