George Bush Sr., Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush do not look very effective if you look at this graph of the national debt over the last 60+ years. The graph of the debt according to the percentage of the GDP is not much better for them.

The Republican Party is very strong today, but fiscal conservatism is dying. In what Rush Limbaugh calls his "Big Theory," Republicans have figured out that they can consistently win elections if they co-opt the Democratic penchant for government spending on social programs. Unfortunately, as typified by George W. Bush, Republicans also support increased military spending. Combine the two and you get... well, look at GWB's reign of fiscal terror on the graphs above.

I support increased military spending when our troops are being underpaid, as they were under the Clinton years, and when new threats abroad warrant increased military presence and activity. But in such a time, our government cannot also spend so exorbitantly at home. GWB pushed the largest single entitlement of all time through Congress-- the prescription drug benefit of 2004-- while at the same time funding a war in Iraq.

And at a time when the federal government is spending vast quantities of money to recover from hurricane Katrina, GWB has pledged to reimburse religious groups and churches who charitably aided victims of Katrina. My beef with this action is not that some of the groups receiving funds are religious, but that the government is spending money when it is not contractually obliged to do so. If during an emergency you donate money or food and clothes to a shelter, do you think it would make sense for that shelter to "reimburse" you for your expenses after the shelter is over? Of course not! But this is consistent with GWB's vision for federal government.

Ironically, it is going to take a Democrat to reduce spending. The Democrats need to use the GOP's tactic of co-opting their opponents' issues, by co-opting fiscal conservative principles. Let's call it their "small theory." Bill Clinton was a genius at this: "The era of big government is over." Will any Democrats realize this, or will they continue their failed tactic of appeasing the MoveOn/Daily Kos radicals and whining about Republican actions?

I disagree with Michael's post, for reasons I point out in the comments under that post. Bennett was taken out of context.

I saw this on the Daily Show last night and it blew my mind. Former Secretary of Education Bill Bennett, during a discussion with a caller on his radio show, said the following (I swear I am not making this up):

"But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down."

Click here for a link to the full context of Bennett's remarks, as well as an audio link to the conversation. I don't think further comment is neccessary; Secretary Bennett's words speak for themselves.

Something tells me this isn't real....



See other versions of the beer looter guy here... (I don't approve of some of them...)

This Reuters story should serve as a warning. The opening:

China set new regulations on Internet news content on Sunday, widening a campaign of controls it has imposed on other Web sites, such as discussion groups.

"The state bans the spreading of any news with content that is against national security and public interest," the official Xinhua news agency said in announcing the new rules, which took effect immediately.

The time is now for individuals and companies in China to decide what side they are on. Will they aid China's efforts to control the internet and information that reaches its people, or will they support freedom of information? Thus far, China's control over the net is much more effective and widespread than many people would have believed, and they are making it tougher. Will the Googles, Microsofts, and Yahoos of the world continue to support this regime?

This time around the legal challenge is whether so-called Intelligent Design may be taught in the classroom. Opponents of ID say that it is creationism in a cloak and thus violates the Establishment Clause.

While I am an opponent of ID being taught in science classrooms, I do not think teaching it violates the Establishment Clause, as long as the class does not discuss the nature of the supposed intelligent force, in a religious sense.

I see ID as a matter of philosophy that need not crossover into the realm of religion. As such, it might be appropriate in a philosophy classroom, but it is not appropriate in a science classroom, because it does not rest on science at all. It references no testable hypotheses and cannot currently be supported by any physical evidence.

An Old Cowboy's Advice: (from one of those e-mails that circulate around the net)


* Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.

* Keep skunks, bankers, and lawyers at a distance.

* Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

* A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.

* Words that soak into your ears are whispered ... not yelled.

* Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.

* Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.

* Do not corner something you know is meaner than you.

* It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.

* You cannot unsay a cruel word.

* Every path has a few puddles.

* When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

* The best sermons are lived, not preached.

* Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.

* Don't judge folks by their relatives.

* Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

* Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.

* Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't botherin' you none.

* Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

* If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.

* Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

* The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.

* Always drink upstream from the herd.

* Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

* Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.

* If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.

* Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply.

* Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God ...

I just got word that I received 2nd Place in the Most Picturesque category of the IUPUI overseas photo contest I entered. Thanks to everyone who gave me their thoughts of what my best photos were.

Here is the photo:



By the way, the photo that beat mine in this category was taken by fellow law student and blogger, Joe Delameter, and also won the contest's Grand Prize. It deserved it over mine:

George Will has a column in the Post entitled "For Roberts, Hubris And Heartstrings..."

It's a tour de force, as usual. To set it up:

Feinstein, like many Democrats, has interesting ideas about what Supreme Court justices do, or should do. In her statement explaining to fellow members of the Judiciary Committee why she opposes confirmation of Roberts, she began with a cascade of encomiums, describing Roberts as "an extraordinary person" with "many stellar qualities," including "a brilliant legal mind," "a love and abiding respect for the law" and "a sense of its scope and complexity as well." Her next word was "but."

Will then went on to explain how Feinstein opposed Roberts because she felt he was not empathetic and emotional enough and how he fails to find a general right to privacy in the constitution. Will again:

Well, what does it mean? Roberts had clearly affirmed his belief that the Constitution protects privacy in various ways that amount to establishing a right to privacy in various contexts. But what would make such a right a "general" right? Do Americans have, say, a constitutional privacy right to use heroin in the privacy of their homes? No. To sell prostitution services in the privacy of their homes? No again.

Will then goes on to point out the irony that Feinstein was reading her statement about emotion and empathy:

Remarkably, Feinstein was reading her statement. So her mare's-nest of inapposite words and unclear thoughts cannot be excused as symptoms of Biden's Disease, that form of logorrhea that causes victims, such as Sen. Joe Biden, to become lost on the syntactical back roads of their extemporaneous rhetoric.

Jabs at Joe Biden are always fun-- but with that level of vocabulary, George Will is set apart from the rest.

[hat-tip: Kristine]

Democrats are considering running Ben Affleck for Senator in Virginia against incumbent George Allen. [hat tip: Daniel]

Please no.

Martin: "You see the paper yet?"
Frasier: "Uh, no, I haven't."
Martin: "Big story about how Roz’s purse spent the night on the coffee table."

I stumbled across this quote from Frasier while thinking of the best way to describe my experience at the ND-UW football game on Saturday when I realized it said everything. The exchange between Fraiser and his father captured the essence of Husky football perfectly, trying to deny/ignore the painfully obvious. The following is an amalgam of play-by-play and color commentary, which hopefully will inform and amuse, so here we go.

The day started at 7:30 AM, when I left my grandparents’ house in suburban Portland. I picked up my cousin whom I invited to come with me, and 20 minutes later, we were rockin’ and rollin’ up I-5 to the Emerald City. Traffic was remarkably clear until downtown Seattle; we made the 180-mile-trip, including parking and trekking to the stadium, in less than 3 hours.

Having never been to a college football game outside of South Bend, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but pregame was remarkably similar to an ND game. Tailgaters everywhere, slow traffic, and people just enjoying a crisp fall day. However, what I didn’t see were the little things that make Notre Dame special on a football Saturday. No grade school and preteen kids tossing footballs around with their parents. No band step-off. No school-sponsored BBQ’s. I will admit, I didn’t walk around campus that much, but it’s because I didn’t have to; the stadium is right up against Lake Washington on the edge of campus. At Notre Dame, even the visiting fans are wandering around the dorms and the bookstore. I felt no inclination to explore the UW campus any more than to find the stadium and find my way back to my car.

We wandered around the tailgates for a while, trying to find fellow Irish fans. When we did, I was half-disappointed, half-repulsed. Most of them were in an exclosed, $30-a-head tailgater sponsored by the ND Club of Western Washington. Even after telling the guy we just wanted to socialize and wouldn’t eat a thing, we were still turned away. I can understand that they want to at least break even, but I just felt like it was rude to exclude people, especially people who potentially traveled hundreds of miles. In my five-year affiliation with ND, from my acceptance to the present, that moment was the one in which I felt the least like I belonged to the Notre Dame family.

After getting shut out of the ND tailgate, we decided to go into the stadium to get our seats. Husky Stadium is very nice, a horseshoe with an upper tier on each side and the open end of the stadium looking out onto beautiful Lake Washington. We got to our seats about 20 minutes before kickoff, and at that time the stadium was only about 20-25% full. Even after kickoff, people were trickling in for a good 15 minutes. The UW band played an uninspiring pre-game show, the teams came out and the game began.

The first quarter was, in a word, sloppy. Fumble on the one-yard-line, muffed field goal, three-and-out, partially blocked punt, stalled drive inside the 10-yard-line. Notre Dame looked like they were still hung over from the MSU heartbreak, Washington looked like a team that was expecting another I-AA opponent. Second quarter was better, but with the botched extra point the offense still felt herky-jerky. Going into the half, the game felt closer than the stats (first downs, possession, turnovers, etc.) would seem to otherwise indicate. Walker looked very good, but I kept waiting for him to break a big one and he never really did except for the touchdown. Brady was good but so was Stanbach. The Wooden interception literally sucked the life out of the stadium; the Washington fan behind me complained about the Luck of the Irish, but Stanbach just made a bad play and Wooden made a good one.

Third quarter was a bit of a frustration. Irish only scored 7 more points while two drives ended inside the Washington 30 on fourth down, one on a 4th and 1. Unfortunately for the Dogs, they did even less with the ball: punt, fumble, turnover on downs. The fourth quarter is when ND finally looked like the offensive machine that showed up against Pitt and the last 20 minutes against MSU. The two touchdowns Washington scored late were upsetting but also not: the first was 4th and 1 from the 1, but could have been stopped. The other was a 40-yard pass play on 4th and 10 but against a second-string defensive back.

On the way back to Oregon, we were listening to the post-game on the local radio and couldn’t help but laugh. The announcers talked about how Ty is a great recruiter, which may or may not be true (Emperor already talked about this), but (essentially) the same offense is averaging 10 more points and 125 more yards of total offense per game. The defense, which most notably lost Curry, Goolsby, Tuck, Pauly, and Budinscak, is giving up roughly the same number of points (24 v. 22, ’04 to ’05) and already has 9 takeaways versus 21 in all of last year. The point is Ty suffers from Mack Brown disease. They also talked about how Washington is “moving in the right direction.” Washington is 1-3 so far this year, 0-1 in the Pac-10. They had almost as many penalty yards (25) as rushing yards (41), though the front seven for ND should take most of the credit for making Washington one-dimensional; they were awesome. For all the hoopla surrounding this game, the stadium was still only probably 90% full. After the Samardzija touchdown, the stadium started to resemble Swiss cheese as the fans did what I did during many a home loss, headed home early. The one bright spot for Washington was their 408 passing yards. Though why, when ND's offense struggled last year, didn't Brady air it out like this? He certainly proved the last two Saturdays that he has the arm to do it. But I digress. Bottom line, at least for the time being, teams should be licking their chops when they see the purple and gold on their schedule.

There were many things for Irish fans to be happy about, but there were also several things that need work. The biggest flaw was the poor pass defense. The Irish gave up over 400 yards against a mediocre quarterback; I shudder to think what could happen when Leinert (or even Kirsch) is lined up under center. The Samardzija touchdown was the longest pass play of the day (52 yards); Weis certainly could have tried to stretch the field more, especially with play-action (the ground game was incredibly strong, and Walker rushed for his 4th straight 100-yard game). Overall, though, the game was good and the experience was incredibly fun. Go Irish, Flush P.

"Live for today for tomorrow is always another day" ... thus read the football Charlie Weis signed for Montana Mazurkiewicz, early last week.

Montana, a 10-yr old boy and huge ND football fan, died on Friday of that week, and he left Weis with only one request when Weis visited his home: could he name the first play for Notre Dame to call?

Weis said yes, and the boy named "pass right."

Ordinarily that would have been an easy request to fulfill, but on the Saturday after Montana's death, ND was backed up on its own 1-yard line to start its first offensive series against the Washington Huskies.

When by far the safest thing to do was to run the ball, Weis told Brady Quinn to roll out to the right and throw the ball to tight end Anthony Fasano. "Pass right" was completed for 13 yards and the Irish went on to easily win the game.

I implore you to read the whole story.

Indiana's own, Senator Evan Bayh, showed his true political colors recently when he announced that he would vote against John Roberts for Chief Justice.

Bayh surely is concerned with satisfying the liberal base in the Democratic Party, preceding the primaries for the presidential election, but that is of no relief to me. A man who could place politics above principle on a matter as vitally important as a Supreme Court nomination is not deserving of my vote or support.

Actor and singer, Barbara Streisand has declared "a global warming emergency state." Referencing the latest hurricanes that have hit America, she said "these storms are going to become more frequent, more intense."

Meanwhile, the director of the National Hurricane Center, Max Mayfield, says "So I think that this activity that we're in can be explained without invoking global warming. And the bad news here is that we are in this active period, and the research meteorologists tell us that it may last another 10 or 20 years." Mayfield referenced a similar bad cycle in the 20s and 30s.

Hmmmmm... Who, oh who, should I trust on this matter??

During the halftime of Ohio State's drubbing of Iowa, the tough-as-nails interviewer John Saunders had a few questions for Tyrone Willingham about his feelings on playing his former team, Notre Dame. Here's a sound-bite:

John Saunders: You weren't just coming in and taking over a program that was storied and had stumbled on hard times. You were taking on a program that had stumbled into some scandal. You cleaned ALL of that up, and your reward was to get fired.

TW: That's life, you know, and that's what I prepared myself for when I took over the job. They say that the microscope is big there. No question about that. But I prepared myself for all of that, and as an African-American coach, your position is somewhat tenuous. There are not a lot of guarantees, as a matter of fact, there are not a lot of coaches getting positions, period, okay, so tenuous may be an understatement.

JS: You weren't given the five years that other coaches got to demonstrate those skills. Do you think it is in part because you're an African-American?

TW: I've always said that in this country there is no absence of racism, okay, we're all aware of that, it's been here for quite some time, okay. And to think it would NOT factor in may be naive on my part. But the people that really know that answer are the ones that we need to talk to.

In words of Armand from The Birdcage: "Shouldn't you be holding the crucifix? It is THE prop for martyrs!"

Where to begin? First off, John, Ty, and the rest of the sports-world MSM: I don't know where you get off thinking that George O'Leary's lying on his resume ruins the storied reputation of Notre Dame. That's not a scandal. It makes O'Leary look bad, true. But if I tell a law firm I went to Harvard, are they scandalized when they find out I didn't? Truth is, whoever ND picked after O'Leary was going to look a whole hell of a lot better by comparison. And that explains Willingham's honeymoon perfectly.

I realize that John Saunders, ABC, and its sister ESPN have an agenda to push. That is, smear Notre Dame in whatever way possible. But I took the liberty of coming up with some questions that I feel most of the public would really like to see Ty answer. Here's my top ten.

1. Didn't you have a performance clause in your original contract with ND, and if so, did you meet the requirements for ND to buy you out?
2. Every recruiting class at ND during your tenure was worse than the last. If ND had let you finish out the remainder of your contract, can you point to any signs that your recruiting classes then would have been better than at your dismissal? (Follow up: name the top 10 Catholic high schools in the Midwest.)
3. Did you talk with University of Washington officials about potentially coaching there this season, before you were fired from ND?
4. Explain your offense.
5. Is Ryan Grant a better running back than Julius Jones?
6. Is Ryan Grant a better running back than Darius Walker?
7. You've made charges of racism surrounding your firing, but former ND president Monk Malloy and AD Kevin White both supported you. Can you actually name a person who was motivated by racism, or are you just taking advantage of being able to attack a nameless fictional "they" that is incapable of defending themselves?
8. You have said that it would be naive to think that race didn't play a role in your firing. Do you also feel that perhaps race was the motivating factor in your hiring, as opposed to, let us say, talent?
9. You have said that it is disappointing that there aren't more opportunities for black head coaches in the NCAA. Do you think the way you have behaved following your own firing has helped or hurt the chances of future black coaches?
10. Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist Party?

Feel free to submit your own.

Hurricane Rita is now a category 3 and dropping wind speed, as it takes a course that will avoid a direct hit to Galveston and Houston. Port Arthur, however, is in line for a direct hit. Thousands of homes could be destroyed and people displaced.

Also, unfortunately, fears of flooding came true in some parts of New Orleans, where patched up levies broke under strain from Rita's peripheral rainfall.

Furthermore, our nation's refining capacity is expected to take a hit as big as it did during Katrina.

My Katrina conclusion post will be on Monday, when readership (and my energy) is at its highest.

I just came across this 10 minutes ago.

The National Archives is investigating possible intentional destruction of Indian Affairs documents at the archives. The documents in question are potentially beneficial to plaintiffs in a suit the Interior Department (which oversees Indian Affairs), alleging mismanagement of Indian trusts over the past 12 decades.

I'm usually not one to criticize efforts to protect the natural world (quite the opposite in fact), but an even larger concern has led me to oppose two "preservation" efforts in the Northwest. In Washington state, the Makah Tribe of Neah Bay has petitioned the federal government allow resumption of whale hunting. More close to my home, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs are proceding with public hearings on their plan to site a casino/resort in the town of Cascade Locks, Oregon, forty miles east of Portland in the heart of the Columbia River Gorge, the nation's only National Scenic Area. Both activities are being actively opposed by environmental groups.

Well-meaning people should focus their eco-concerns elsewhere. There's no other way to put it: the indigenous people of the Americas have been the victims of five centuries of genocide at the hands of Europeans. The reservations all over this country were essentially the lesser of two evils American Indians faced. Internment or extermination; which would you choose?

The Neah Bay issue should be a no-brainer. The treaties signed by the various tribes across the country do protect some "ancestral rights", such as self-governance, access to traditional hunting, fishing, and other food-gathering areas, and promises of non-interference by the United States to allow Indians bound and protected by treaties to live their traditional lifestyles. Included in the Makah treaty are whaling rights. Since all recognized Indian tribes are sovereign nations, the treaties made with them are the law of the land. The Makah have a recognized treaty right to hunt the gray whale (which is not included on Fish and Wildlife's TESS list). The United States already exempted several Native Alaskan tribes from the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the law being used to justify the current ban on Neah Bay whaling. While the Alaskan groups' exemptions were based on subsitence, the nature of the whale hunt should not matter; the federal government made a binding treaty with the Makah and should honor their commitment. The tribal hunt is already limited to 30 whales in any five-year period. I remember the last whale hunt in 1999. The Makahs hunted the whale in dougout canoes and one or two outboard motorboats, which contained gasoline and other supplies. They harpooned the whale before shooting it. Meanwhile, environmental protesters came into the bay with larger, faster boats and blasted their foghorns in an attempt to scare any whales out of the bay, as well as steering their boats so as to disrupt the hunting party. Others remained on land and harassed the Indians on their own reservation. Irony anyone? Of all threats to the gray whale, I think people who have lived in harmony with them since the end of the last 10,000 years are pretty harmless.

The Warm Springs casino is slightly more problematic. The proposed site is currently a vacant industrial area not on reservation land. The Tribes agreed with Oregon Governor Ted 'My name can't get more Polish' Kulongoski to build on the Cascade Locks site in exchange for entrusted land in Hood River, a much more remote 20 miles to the east. This is permissible because the Tribes acquired the entrusted land prior to passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 (the law prohibits Indian casinos from being built on land not tribally-owned at the time of the law's passage). Environmental groups have said the casino will spoil the Gorge, with increased traffic and a garish casino right in the middle of a natural wonder. However, the town's mayor supports the site, as well as most of the town, and the mayor says the town will develop the site regardless of whether the casino is built or not; the leading candidate if the casino fails is an aluminum smelter. If the casino is not permitted in Cascade Locks, the Tribes say they will build the casino on their entrusted land in Hood River, where local opposition is fierce and the site is much less suitable (literally on the side of a hill). Environmental groups are calling this a bluff and accuse the Tribes of bullying the governor's office with this "empty threat."

The environmental groups are dead wrong if they think the Tribes bluffing about the Hood River casino. The Tribes already own and operate one casino at the Kah-Nee-Ta Resort on their reservation. However, this casino is not very profitable and does not draw much outside money. The reservation is very poor; unemployment is around 50% and tribal leaders are insistent about an off-reservation casino to obtain more revenue, especially one so close to Portland. In their agreement with the governor, the Tribes will close the Kah-Nee-Ta casino as soon as their off-reservation casino, wherever it may be, is operating. In regards to ruining a scenic area, a casino is certainly better than an aluminum smelter or paper mill or whatever else is constructed on the site if the casino project fails. Traffic will not significantly increase; the site is adjacent to an interstate that already sees heavy traffic from commercial vehicles as well as tourists in the summer and skiers in the winter. And again there's the incredible irony of white people accusing Indians of destroying nature.

This hypocrisy, the idea that the good human activity is no human activity, has made many people (including myself) disillusioned with the "environmental" movement. The people who want this Mylar-bag protection of nature are not true environmentalists, they are preservationists, wanting to freeze time and space to defend nature. Not only is this approach impossible to achieve, it is scientifically ignorant; humans are part of the gloabl ecosystem, and ignoring or attempting to eliminate their contributions (good or bad) to environmental situations is dangerously foolish. The key to the future of environmental protection is sustainability, growth and development that minimizes its impact on the natural world. The planet is remarkably self-healing, but it would recover much quicker if human activity were more judiciously planned and executed. Native Americans understand this more profoundly than any other ethnic group in our country; to accuse them of not caring for the earth is the pot calling the kettle black.

For more information on historical context of Makah whaling, click here. For information on the 1999 hunt, click here.
Click here for a link to the Friends of the Columbia Gorge, the only major eco-pponent to the Columbia Gorge Casino.

Well I just got my tickets on cheaptix.com, on Saturday I am headed to watch Notre Dame's Fighting Irish football team put the worst hurt on Seattle since upper-middle-class white college students wearing A&F and K-Swiss took to the streets to champion the cause of third-world workers. Some neutering joke might be appropriate but I think the the dismantling of Division I-AAAAAAAA Idaho by the Dawgs speaks for itself. Washington gave up 425 yards of total offense to Air Force and two touchdowns in the final 10 minutes of the game, then proceded to be destroyed by a school (Cal) which actually requires class attendance. Yikes! Honestly, Notre Dame could score by ones and still beat Washington.

But I digress. Lucas has convinced me to publish my firsthand account of the experience for DC. It will not be in the form of hourly updates or anything like that, I will write it on Sunday or Monday of next week. This is probably the only ND game I will go to this year (unless I really want to drive down to Stanford the day after Thanksgiving), can you tell I'm excited? For anyone who will not attend, the game starts at 12:30 in Seattle and will be aired on ABC. Go Irish, beat Huskies.

King Abdullah II of Jordan has the right idea in his quest to moderate Islam, but he's got a tough battle for the hearts and minds of his own people at home. I strongly suggest this WashTimes article.

If a Republican Senate staffer had done what this Democrat staffer of Chuck Schumer has done, the NYTimes/WaPo/CNN/Reuters would have raised holy hell. But since it was a Democrat, the story is buried.

As you all know, Hurricane Rita is now a Cat5, and its track takes it pretty close to Houston. The residents there are evacuating in huge numbers, but we'll have to wait and see how many get out.

Unlike New Orleans, Houston is not in a "flood bowl," but a category 5 hurricane still has been modeled as producing up to 20 foot storm surges across the area, depending on how direct a hit it takes, and cost billions of dollars.

Also, additional Gulf oil refineries are in the target zone, in addition to the potential threat that New Orleans' fractured levies may not hold if the city takes too much of Rita's outer bands.

I have a strong post-Katrina post in me, regarding the press's general failure in covering the aftermath of that hurricane and playing the blame-game with insufficient information, but I'll put off that post until Rita is done. As a preview of it, though, I can say it will be a firm "see I told you so!"

Update: It's now down to a cat4 and dropping...

...can be aptly ascertained within the fact that Pamela Anderson is the most looked up person, place, or event in the last 10 years.

As reported by Catholic World News, Pope Benedict XVI has approved an "Instruction" to ban homosexual men from becoming priests and to purge them from seminaries. Current priests who are homosexuals are simply asked to maintain their chastity.

According to the CWN article:

The Instruction does not represent a change in Church teaching or policy. Catholic leaders have consistently taught that homosexual men should not be ordained to the priesthood. Pope John XXIII approved a formal policy to that effect, which still remains in effect.

However, signs are that the Vatican is more serious regarding this instruction, as they have instituted an investigation in the U.S.'s 229 seminaries to look for "signs of homosexuality." More on this at GetReligion.

Furthermore, according to the NYTimes, Vatican investigators will conduct confidential interviews with seminarians to ask them if they are gay. We will have to wait to see how strictly U.S. bishops will enforce the instruction.

...

I firmly believe that this represents a serious mistake by the Church and is inconsistent with Catholic theology. The obvious purpose of this ban is to address the sex-scandal that has rocked the Church-- the vast majority of sex abuse cases were between priests and teenage and preteen boys-- but it does so at the expense of the numerous gay priests who live chastely and faithfully fulfill their devotions.

The fact is that other measures could be done, and are being done, to address the threat of sexual abuse by priests-- measures that do not wrongly exclude faithful Catholics from becoming priests. The U.S. Catholic Bishops met and developed a tough policy that would boot priests who committed sexual abuse. The policy also established lay review boards to independently evaluate suspicions of abuse.

The Vatican coldly received this policy and criticized the strict handling of fallen priests.

Furthermore, internal Church counseling and oversight could be performed to help priests live chastely and fight temptation. These measures would also help reduce the incidence of heterosexual sex abuse.

As stated before, this gay priest ban is also inconsistent with Catholic theology. The Catholic Catechism, paragraph 2358, states in part:

They [homosexuals] must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

The Church calls homosexuals to sacrifice, to ignore what the Church considers their sinful proclivities, just as it calls all priests to ignore their sexual desires to live a chaste life in sacrifice for the priesthood. To ban gays from the priesthood is to say that they are too often incapable of making such a sacrifice, that they do not possess the same conscience with which God has endowed every person.

How is this judgment of gays consistent with the call against "unjust discrimination"? How is it consistent with the Catholic teaching of conscience and free will? How is it consistent with the Catholic essence of unity in God's cause on this earth?

The truth is-- it is not. It teaches discrimination, it weakens the concept of a free conscience, and it excludes an entire class of people from the fullness of Faith available to Catholics.

Meanwhile, the scapegoating of gays distracts the Church from the root problem: the secular emphasis on worldly gain and ignorance of God's true and eternal goodness. It is this secularism which drives many heterosexual men away from the sacrifice required of the priesthood, and creates the disproportion of gays in that institution to begin with.

Let us just hope that the Vatican does not succeed in its gay purge. For if it does, the priest shortage will be aggravated from a significant concern, to an all out crisis.

On Monday, North Korea agreed to end its nuclear weapons program in exchange for international aid. Which the deal does have several caveats, it is the first diplomatic overture between the United States and North Korea in over three years.

The White House's initial reaction was described as 'cautious optimism', which is an appropriate response. As JFK said, "sincerity is always subject to proof." However, if this agreement does lead to nuclear disarmament in North Korea, I think it will be viewed as the beginning of the end of communism in North Korea and the start toward reunification of the Korean peninsula. North-South relations are the best they have been since the armistice, and I think people in the North are realizing what the West has to offer, namely, they're missing under Kim Jong-Il.

On a side note, I admire the President for insisting on a multinational strategy. In the first presidential debate last year, Bush insisted upon six-party talks while Kerry favored bilateralism. Apparently the multilateral negotiaions worked. Though, on the heels of this success, I am curious why unilateral force was required to disarm a nation with no nuclear weapons.

Just to show you that I can talk about the possibility of World War III and kiddie beer in the same day, I offer the following.

A Japanese company has developed a non-alcoholic beer marketed towards children. I kid you not!

The product's slogan reads: "Even kids cannot stand life unless they have a drink," reads the product's advertising slogan."

Something tells me that this "hook 'em early" approach would not go down easily in the U.S.

If you're not a fan of political spoilers, stop reading now.

Eh, who cares. Sen. Harry Reid has made it official that he's going to vote against John Roberts confirmation. I know, I know: what an upset! At the same time, Reid said he would not support any effort to filibuster Roberts either. His rationale on voting no? He thinks Roberts is soft on civil rights.

"No one suggests that John Roberts was motivated by bigotry or animosity toward minorities or women," Reid added. "But these memos lead one to question whether he truly appreciated the history of the civil rights struggle. He wrote about discrimination as an abstract concept, not as a flesh and blood reality for countless of his fellow citizens."

Some observations.

Hey Harry, I thought justices were supposed to think about cases in the abstract, and not focus on "flesh and blood reality", since that might just lead to letting emotion rather than reason make up one's mind. Of course, this is not how liberals think. That's what leads people to write about "flickering flame[s]" in Supreme Court opinions!

And a side note. It's good see Sen. Reid admit that he can't filibuster Roberts just because he doesn't want to vote for him. Remember that, Harry.

The Colts are now #1 in ESPN's Power Rankings...

The current strategic situation in east Asia worries me slightly. It worries me because it bears several similarities to Europe before World War I.

In eastern Asia you have a diverse grouping of ethnicities all with a common ancestral link but with some historical and recent animosity towards one another. You also have a handful of economic powers struggling for resources. Look at this spat between China and Japan over a contested portion of the sea.

You also have a nation gaining so much economic and military power that it threatens to dominate the region-- China is to eastern Asia what Germany was to Europe.

Finally, you have several potential catalysts: the aforementioned spat between China and Japan, Chinese lust to retake Taiwan, North Korean instability, etc.

By no means is the comparison to pre-WWI Europe perfect, but there are enough similarities to warrant close observation of the region.

There is no need to read any of the long and confusing articles regarding the results from Germany's recent election. I'll lay out the pertinent facts here.

German election procedures in general:

- Germans vote for party, not for specific representatives
- A majority leads the government, either if one party won it, or if multiple parties formed in a coaltion won it
- Seats in parliament are apportioned according to the nation vote, and the coalition parties negotiate with each other to choose cabinet ministers and the Prime Minister


What happened this time:

- The conservative parties received the following votes: CDU/CSU- 225 seats; Free Democrats- 61 votes
- The liberal parties received the following votes: SPD- 222 seats; Greens- 51; Lefts- 54
- The conservatives do not have enough votes to form a coalition; the liberals would have enough, bu the SPD refuses to enter into a coalition with the Lefts, as do the other parties
- Thus, unless the SPD changes its policy, a conservative-liberal coalition must be formed
- There are a few different possibilities: CDU-SPD (aka "the grand coalition"); CDU-Free Democrats-Greens (unlikely unless the CDU makes serious changes in its platform); SPD-Greens-Free Democrats (the FDs have said they do not intend to enter such a coalition)
- The CDU-SPD grand coalition seems the most likely, but the SPD says it would refuse to allow CDU leader Angie Merkel to become Prime Minister
- Current result: deadlock!

New Orleans Mayor Nagin is a quack. Shortly after Katrina hit New Orleans, he publicly complained that the "cavalry" was not arriving and he begged for the feds to step in and save the day.

Now, when the current FEMA director criticized his re-population plan, he called the director the new "federal mayor" of New Orleans in a harsh criticism of federal intervention in the city.

He cannot have it both ways, and he has shown himself to be a completely incompetent leader. If the city of New Orleans has an impeachment procedure, I suggest its citizens research it.

Many in Europe take joy when America shows a shortcoming. This should not surprise us, as it is only natural when you're the "big kid on the block."

Good for Tony Blair to see the hate in the BBC's coverage of Katrina.

The NYTimes began charging for access to certain portions of its website today-- most notably to its editorial and opinion pieces.

And thus their descent into irrelevance has begun. The modern conversation today is driven by blogs and the internet, and people are not going to pay for content when they can get it for free from numerous other sources. The Times is probably so arrogant that they feel they can get away with this. They're wrong.

I don't know about you, but I'm not going to cough up any money to be able to read Thomas Friedman.

President Bush, I implore you to stop the crime spree that is sweeping the nation-- please control your family...

But seriously, can't this family behave itself? George W. got a DWI when he was younger, and his kin seem no more disciplined in their youth: his nephew (Jeb's son), John Ellis Bush, has been arrested for public intoxication and resisting arrest; John Ellis also got in trouble when he was 16 for public indecency with his girlfriend; George P. Bush broke into his girlfriend's home and drove his car through her family's yard; Jeb's daughter, Noelle Bush, was arrested for trying to fill a false prescription for Xanax; and the Bush twins have gotten in trouble for more than one boozing incident.

The mug shot, in order:

Roncalli moved to 4-1 with a victory over an easy opponent. Next week they take on Catholic rival, Indianapolis Cathedral, in the RCA Dome.

Notre Dame lost in OT to Michigan State, 41-44, in a very hard fought game. MSU was unranked before this game, but their team looks tough. Obviously this is very emotional for ND fans, myself included. The Irish's performances against Pitt and Michigan were so impressive as to set expectations insanely high. They have some things to fix and to work on, and how the Irish improve over the season will be a true test of Weis's skill. I stand behind my 9-2 prediction.

The Colts have their home opener against Jacksonville today.

Update: Colts won 10-3 ... our defensive line might be one of the best in the nation. Our offense is surprisingly flat.

In other college football news, NCAA president, Myles Brand, said that the NCAA will not relax the transfer rules for student-athletes displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Those rules require a transfer student to sit out 1 year of athletic participation at their new school.

At first I thought this was cold and heartless of the NCAA, but after further inspection and reading, retaining the transfer rule makes sense. First, eliminating the rule would allow other college football programs to enter into a free-for-all to get the best athletes from the affected schools. And second, those players who were unwilling or unable to transfer to another part of the nation, would be left behind to a program essentially decapitated by athletes who chose to go elsewhere.

It is becomingly increasingly difficult to rationally argue that the earth is not warming. The latest evidence is dramatic thinning of the artic sea ice.

The biggest problem, and least realized by most people, is the positive feedback that global warming creates. In other words, certain negative EFFECTS of global warming become CAUSES of further global warming.

For instance, polar ice acts as a mirror that reflects a fair amount of solar energy. Shrinking ice caps, thus, allow more of the sun's energy to be absorbed by the earth. Another example is the permafrost. Shrinking permafrost hurts us twice-over: reducing reflectivity and releasing large amounts of carbon dioxide.

If Katrina tought us anything, it is that we must act on strong information to prevent disaster. Such is the case with global warming as well. No, the disaster of a hotter earth would not come suddenly, like a hurricane crashing into a coast, but it would be a disaster nonetheless.

However, I am certainly not panicked or hysterical about this. Many people vastly underestimate the earth's ability to heal itself. Many scientists thought the hole in the ozone layer was irreversible, yet today it continues to shrink more and more.

"The years ticked on and Joe's passion for Notre Dame football grew, representing something far greater than football. It was an ideal to him. A connection to another world; the world of excellence. Where for one day a week in the fall it was as if God put the world's troubles aside and rubbed out a space in the heavens to watch the Irish."

If you have it, listen to the "To Notre Dame" track off the soundtrack of Rudy while you read this. If you don't tear up, you have no heart.



No one ever writes about USC like this, no matter how long they are ranked #1.

Gillette has outdone itself; it has really outdone itself this time, introducing a 6-bladed razor with a microchip and LED attached.

As the proud owner of a M3 Power Mach 3 Turbo razor from Gillette, even I am able to realize the goofiness in the "advances" being made in razor design. First Gillette came out with the Mach 3, a safety razor with 3 blades. Then Schick came out with the Quattro, a razor with 4 blades. Then, Gillette came out with an updated version of the Mach 3 with a battery in it to make the blades buzz. Oh yeah and don't forget the dual lube strips on it.

This trend for more more blades and more lube has been the butt of some wonderful humor on Saturday Night Live and The Onion. This fake press release from The Onion was hilarious at the time, saying that Gillette was coming out with a 5-bladed razor. Warning, it does contain some choice language :-)

But Gillette in reality has now surpassed even the razor in the parody. This new razor, called the Fusion, has 5 blades on the front, packed more tightly together than the Mach 3's blades, and has a single blade on the BACK of the razor cartridge for precision shaving.

Even more comical, it has a microchip to monitor voltage from its battery (remember, for the buzz feature), and an LED to indicate when the battery is running a bit too low.



Wow. When The Onion's fake news becomes real news, I'm not sure what that portends.

[thanks to Emperor Dan, amongst others, for the link to this story]