DREHER AND POPE: I’ve been reading the blog-discussion of Rod Dreher’s WSJ piece (try here and here, and be sure to read the many comments) and will comment on it (and the sex-abuse scandals generally) tomorrow. I’m deeply sympathetic to Dreher and think he is basically right, though I think there have been some valid points made about what the Pope can or should do. More presently. Read more

BUT I THOUGHT CAPITALISM SUPPRESSED DISSIDENT VOICES!: From the Village Voice article linked below (Palast is Greg Palast, the leftist author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy): “‘What I’m happy about is that with no money, no marketing, and a completely amateur operation, you can get 40,000 copies sold in the U.S.,’ Palast said, ‘if you’ve got something to say.'” Read more

KEEP ON ROCKIN’ IN THE FREE WORLD: News from around the USA. “Quirk” may free man who admits he killed 13 women and vows to kill again At custody trial, judge forces mom to represent herself (her lawyer broke his foot) Barnes & Noble plans to prominently display Noam Chomsky’s 9/11 on September 11, 2002 Read more

PERFECT: Uncertain Principles has a very useful definition of the “perfect album”: “A really great album is a collection of songs that all work together, and add up to something more than the sum of the individual tunes– mediocre songs should be lifted up in the context of a really great album, and sound better than they would on their own. It’s also crucial that none of the songs be actively bad or annoying.” I might like individual songs from... Read more

PASCAL’S GOT MY BACK: From the Pensees: “The greatness of man is so evident that it is even proved by his wretchedness. For what in animals is called nature we call wretchedness in man; by which we recognize that, his nature now being like that of animals, he has fallen from a better nature which once was his. For who is unhappy at not being a king except a deposed king? Who is unhappy at having only one mouth? And... Read more

WHAT I THINK ABOUT ON WEDNESDAY MORNINGS: If Dr. Laura battled Dr. Ruth… who would win? (Of course, in some sense we’d all be winners….) Read more

“War! War! That’s all you think of, Dick Plantagenet! You burner! You pillager!” –Virginia Mayo to George Sanders, “King Richard and the Crusaders” Read more

IS “WINGS OF DESIRE” A BAD MOVIE?: A letter of dissent from Geistbear. He’s in bold, I’m in plain text, you know the drill… Okay so you didn’t like “Wings of Desire”, I don’t agree, simple difference of opinion, but then you say “Does the world really need another movie about preferring the evanescent and temporal to the eternal? Are we really beset by a passion for eternity that denigrates mere fleshly life?” I kinda more got that impression from... Read more

SPECIAL OPERATIONS CHARITY: I guess our armed forces really do need a bake sale. From the web site: The Special Operations Warrior Foundation strives to relieve Special Operations personnel of the one concern, their families, that might distract them from peak performance when they need to be — and when America needs them to be — at their very best. Since the tragic day of September 11th, thirty Special Operations members have lost their lives leaving behind 33 children. Today,... Read more

DISTRICT OF CHAOS: Christopher Badeaux, the Lord Mage of Good, writes (he’s in bold, I’m in plain text, as is traditional): A few points: First, you mentioned two reasons why D.C. won’t become a state any time soon. I’m sure you know this, but there’s also the Constitution — you know, Article II, Clause 17 — and that seems to preempt full autonomy for DC. There’s a good argument to be made that Congress may authorize the creation of a... Read more