Arcadia Est Imperare Orbi Universo

You know you're in trouble when the AP story begins The worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression...

I also enjoy this headline:

Bush says he's working hard on economic turmoil.

Apparently he's succeeding.

One must admire the Associated Press for their breathless headline Pope Criticizes Atheism.

This is news?

Apparently I missed the other headline stories: "Bears shit in woods" and "Fire hot".

The encyclical is called Spe Salvi, from the line in St. Paul's Letter to the Romans "spe salvi facti sumus" - in hope we were saved.

Oddly enough, it's a discussion of the theological virtue "hope". In one section (paragraph 42), it contrasts this virtue with the nihilistic atheism of the French Revolution that culminated eventually in the philosophies of Marx and Engels. I think this is the bit AP is on about.

In the 70+ page document, the word "atheism" appears exactly twice.

In other news, Book bound in skin of executed Jesuit to be auctioned in England.

Bonus points to anyone who can find me a photo of the book.

Okay, it's official. Karl Rove is off his meds.

“Let’s face it, I mean, I’m a myth,” Mr. Rove told Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday” when asked about his critics. “You know, I’m Beowulf, you know, I’m Grendel. I don’t know who I am. But they’re after me.”

Wow. Self-aggrandizement and paranoia. Or how about this one?

Mr. Rove said the Constitution prevented him from complying with a Congressional subpoena to describe his part in the firings of United States attorneys.

When Mr. Wallace argued that executive privilege did not prevent him from answering a reporter’s questions (“Why did you push to fire some U.S. attorneys in the president’s second term?”), Mr. Rove turned testy. “I know you don’t understand you’re being an agent of Congress when you ask me that question,” he said. “But you are.”

Mike Wallace as a Congressional "agent"? Is Karl Rove living in an Indiana Jones world of shadowy myth and secret Nazi agents? Which part does Mr Rove play in this drama?

Well, he claims he was just following orders:

Bob Schieffer... asked Mr. Rove why he was subjecting himself to Sunday morning second-guessing.

“Somebody else made the decision for me,” he said. “I’m just doing what I was instructed to do.”

Hmm. Maybe he got the Grendel thing right after all.

Source

(... and therefore I believe the President and Vice President of the United States must be impeached.)

Recently, I ran across Peggy Noonan's Wall Street Journal editorial A Separate Peace. Though it was published in 2005, I think the years since have only strengthened the evidence supporting her assertion:

I think there is an unspoken subtext in our national political culture right now. In fact I think it's a subtext to our society. I think that a lot of people are carrying around in their heads, unarticulated and even in some cases unnoticed, a sense that the wheels are coming off the trolley and the trolley off the tracks. That in some deep and fundamental way things have broken down and can't be fixed, or won't be fixed any time soon.

As has become obvious in the past years, the Unitary Executive theory endorsed by President Bush differs little from the reality of Rome's Principate. The Republic is under assault from within. Although the Democrats in Congress are now trying to assert Congressional prerogatives, particularly in the US Attorneys scandal [AP], it may well be too little too late.

The White House defiantly stuck by Gonzales on the perjury matter and flatly denied that FBI Director Robert S. Mueller on Thursday contradicted the attorney general's sworn testimony on internal Bush administration dissent over the president's secretive wiretapping program.

This administration has such contempt for Congress, that they order their people to ignore Congressional subpoenas and laugh off obvious prevarication and perjury committed by their officers in front of Congressional committees.

Most telling is this final paragraph from the AP story I cited above:

On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee approved a contempt citation against two other Bush confidants, Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers. The full House is expected to vote on the citation in the fall, but the Justice Department has said it won't prosecute the two.

The system is broken, so much so that Congress is considering adding inherent contempt back into its arsenal for the first time since the Great Depression.

[I note that Wikipedia's article on Contempt of Congress is listed as "unverifiable" since it "does not cite any references or sources". This, of course, is balderdash, as the article's primary source is Congress's Contempt Power: Law, History, Practice, and Procedure, a PDF written by the Congressional Research Service for the use of Congress that runs 65 pages with no less than 402 footnotes.

It seems pretty well cited to me.]

Our system has been battered before. Take a look at the Grant administration, or those of Harding or Nixon. Look at the Civil War, the Depression, or Vietnam/Watergate. Look at slavery and segregation. And on the cultural and civility front, we're miles ahead of the Andrew Jackson era. It's been simply decades since anybody was stabbed in the US Senate Chamber. You want yellow journalism? FOX is nothing next to the newspapers for which that phrase was coined in the lead-up to the Spanish-American War.

Somehow, we always bounced back. Somewhere, we always believed that the system could be fixed, and if we couldn't fix it there were men and women in our Constitutional Republic who could and would.

Yet, the feeling in much of the country this time seems to be - not so much. Why?


(... and therefore I believe the President and Vice President of the United States must be impeached.)

This bit of news from Bloomberg caught my eye:

Philanthropist and retired hedge-fund manager Robert W. Wilson said he is giving $22.5 million to the Archdiocese of New York to fund a scholarship program for needy inner-city students attending Roman Catholic schools.

Wilson, 80, said in a phone interview today that although he is an atheist, he has no problem donating money to a fund linked to Catholic schools.

"Let's face it, without the Roman Catholic Church, there would be no Western civilization.''

Now there's a quote.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6475985.stm

Your move, Mr. President.

This story in the New York Times actually made me cackle with glee:

What began as a routine training exercise almost ended in an embarrassing diplomatic incident after a company of Swiss soldiers got lost at night and marched into neighboring Liechtenstein. ...

Interior ministry spokesman Markus Amman said nobody in Liechtenstein had even noticed the soldiers, who were carrying assault rifles but no ammunition. ''It's not like they stormed over here with attack helicopters or something,'' he said.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush quietly has claimed sweeping new powers to open Americans' mail without a judge's warrant.

Bush asserted the new authority Dec. 20 after signing legislation that overhauls some postal regulations. He then issued a "signing statement" that declared his right to open mail under emergency conditions, contrary to existing law and contradicting the bill he had just signed, according to experts who have reviewed it.

Full story: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003508676_mail04.html

Happy "New" Year!

CNN reports: Rumsfeld resigns.

Nothing I like better than the smell of Congressional subpoenas in the morning...

Yesterday the President, in signing the Military Commissions Act of 2006, effectively suspended Habeas Corpus.

The Act

Keith Olbermann explains and then goes off (a must see).

( Read more... )

'Crocodile Hunter' Irwin killed

Australian naturalist and television personality Steve Irwin has been killed by a stingray during a diving expedition off the Australian coast. (BBC)

In a personal note, despite all his flaws I genuinely like Steve Irwin. He was absolutely passionate about what he did, and that's a rare thing in our world. So raise a glass to the finest man ever bit by a wombat. I myself will wait until after noon; I've got a lot of packing to accomplish today.

(And really, if it wasn't for Steve Irwin action figures, I wouldn't have my three inch plastic wombat.) Godspeed, Mr. Irwin. And watch out for the crocs.

I won't even pretend that this hasn't been a rough summer.

Francine's father, one of the coolest human beings I've been privileged to meet, died in July while I was visiting my parents in Chicago. By the time I returned, she was gone to Virgina. She was only back a couple of days when our effort to buy a house failed. Then my sainted¹ grandmother died, and I was off again to Chicago. Whilst I was attempting to return to Tacoma, the airports went to Muppet Alert Level Ernie, causing all sorts of fun. As the Pakastani medical student behind me in the security line at O'Hare said, "Today is a great day to fly!"

This past week, I've been working wicked hours trying to catch up and get some more students into our school. Francine's been ill, and meanwhile I keep having dreams involving sixteenth century plate armour, Turkish cigarettes, muskets, and Czech beer.

No proper time for mourning, and yet some moments it all just hits me and I have to remember how to breathe.

The world, of course, marches on with or without our active participation.

Forget the mystery of Planet X, we're now up to XII. I suppose it makes sense - after nine the next mystic number is twelve. Of course, with the Amazing Multiplying Plutons², we're likely to be up to 23 or 42 before you can say "Planet George".

Meanwhile, they still haven't officially named 2003 UB313. I'm holding out for "Yuggoth".

Not nearly so Pluto-shattering is the news that Johnny Depp will play Sweeney Todd. Pretty much made my morning, that did. Odd how similar their names are...

- - - - -
1: Yes, I mean that. OK, it's not like the Church is likely to take up her cause any time soon, but the woman was wholly holy.

2: I have all their albums.

Score one for the Supreme Court.

"In a 5-3 decision this morning (Hamdan v. Rumsfeld), the United States Supreme Court ruled that neither Congress's post-9/11 Authorization for the Use of Military Force, the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), nor the inherent powers of the President gave the President the authoirty to establish military tribunals on Guantanamo Bay to try and convict alleged enemy combatants in the war on terror. The Court found the commissions illegal under both military justice law and the Geneva Convention." (KOS)

The Opinion (PDF)

As in insane. Froot-loopy. Utter bonkers.

New Yorker Magazine reports in its April 17 issue that

The administration of President George W. Bush is planning a massive bombing campaign against Iran, including use of bunker-buster nuclear bombs

Source: DKos

Please e-mail your Congresscritters (House information here, Senate here).

I wish to God I were making this up.

Dear friends, this being the feast of St. Isidore of Seville (the patron saint of the internet), I thought perhaps I'd open with a short quote.

If a man wants to be always in God's company, he must pray regularly and read regularly. When we pray, we talk to God; when we read, God talks to us. All spiritual growth comes from reading and reflection. (Maxims of St. Isidore, circa 620AD)

As an aside, I find the idea that a bishop was named "Isidore" roughly as amusing as one named "Thorsson" or "Jovian".

Sunday we attended the wedding of John Scott Tynes and Jennifer Scott Tynes (as I suppose I must now call them). It was held in an amazing old mansion in Seattle.

( Some Pictures )

It was wonderful to meet ktynes, nallasenyt, iamnikchick, and so many sans LJ. It was also quite nice to catch up with some old friends. I only wish there had been more time.

Yesterday while jaynefury headed off to work, I had breakfast with Messers Scott Glancy and Andrew Migliore. Homland Security would no doubt be apalled at our lack of patriotism unquestioning obedience. Andrew was nice enough to give me a ride back to Tacoma.

I don't know if you've heard, but a number of Catholic bishops have come out very strongly against the new immigration "reform". The statement released by our own archbishop was essentially a call to civil disobedience. Huzzah!

Finally, a silly meme...

( The Celestial Choir )

Edited to add: As usual, Francine puts in all the details I've left out.

When you've got an hour or so, go watch the speech Al Gore gave yesterday.

C-SPAN

Fear drives out reason. Fear suppresses the politics of discourse and opens the door to the politics of destruction. Justice Brandeis once wrote: "Men feared witches and burnt women."

The founders of our country faced dire threats. If they failed in their endeavors, they would have been hung (sic) as traitors. The very existence of our country was at risk.

Yet, in the teeth of those dangers, they insisted on establishing the Bill of Rights.

Is our Congress today in more danger than were their predecessors when the British army was marching on the Capitol? Is the world more dangerous than when we faced an ideological enemy with tens of thousands of missiles poised to be launched against us and annihilate our country at a moment's notice? Is America in more danger now than when we faced worldwide fascism on the march-when our fathers fought and won two World Wars simultaneously?

It is simply an insult to those who came before us and sacrificed so much on our behalf to imply that we have more to be fearful of than they. Yet they faithfully protected our freedoms and now it is up to us to do the same.

We have a duty as Americans to defend our citizens' right not only to life but also to liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is therefore vital in our current circumstances that immediate steps be taken to safeguard our Constitution against the present danger posed by the intrusive overreaching on the part of the Executive Branch and the President's apparent belief that he need not live under the rule of law.

( The Whole Text )

A call to action:

We have a duty as Americans to defend our citizens' right not only to life but also to liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is therefore vital in our current circumstances that immediate steps be taken to safeguard our Constitution against the present danger posed by the intrusive overreaching on the part of the Executive Branch and the President's apparent belief that he need not live under the rule of law.

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 30, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Whoever seeks peace and the good of the community with a pure conscience, and keeps alive the desire for the transcendent, will be saved even if he lacks biblical faith, says Benedict XVI.

( Read more... )

It's rare that I post an entire news story, but I suspect I'll be referring to this one from time to time.

...the United States Senate voted friday to suspend the writ of habeas corpus.

Story

The provision is in one of those omnibus everything including the kitchen sink bills, and it will almost certainly be stripped out, and it only applies to foreigners who apparently have no rights now.

So, it's not gonna stick. But still.

Financial Times: Cheney cabal hijacked US foreign policy

Washington Post: A Web of Truth

Bunny Greenhouse was once the perfect bureaucrat, an insider, the top procurement official at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Then the 61-year-old Greenhouse lost her $137,000-a-year post after questioning the plump contracts awarded to Halliburton in the run-up to the war in Iraq.

Mmegi: De Beers Unveils Exploration Airship



Bloomberg: Bush Says Miers Lack of Judicial Background an Asset for Court

BBC: Warrant for DeLay arrest issued

To any sheriff or peace officer of the state of Texas, greetings, you are hereby commanded to arrest Thomas Dale DeLay and keep him safely so that you have him before the 331st Judicial District Court of Travis County

Washington Post: Rove Told Jury Libby May Have Been His Source In Leak Case

Boston Globe: Rice won't rule out armed action against Syria, Iran

So let's review: The last election was won on "values". Apparently, what the Republican Party meant by this word was conspiracy, corruption, ignorance, graft, treason, and general bullying.

Oh, and De Beers has a frickin' airship.

I'll get to the various memage replies as the day progresses, provided I don't get swamped. I'm starting with people I've actually met.

 

interdictor

Absolutely gripping reading.

This journal has become the Survival of New Orleans blog. In less perilous times it was simply a blog for me to talk smack and chat with friends. Now this journal exists to share firsthand experience of the disaster and its aftermath with anyone interested.

From the latest entry:

The police are looting. This has been confirmed by several independent sources. Some of the looting might be "legitimate" in as much as that word has any meaning in this context. They have broken into ATMs and safes: confirmed. We have eyewitnesses to this. They have taken dozens of SUVs from dealerships ostensibly for official use. They have also looted gun stores and pawn shops for all the small arms, supposedly to prevent "criminals" from doing so. But who knows their true intentions. We have an inside source in the NOPD who says that command and control is in chaos. He reports that command lapses more than 24 hours between check-ins, and that most of the force are "like deer in the headlights." NOPD already had a reputation for corruption, but I am telling you now that the people we've been talking to say they are not recognizing the NOPD as a legitimate authority anymore, since cops have been seen looting in Walmarts and forcing people out of stores so they could back up SUVs and loot them. Don't shoot the messenger....

Thank you singingbarista for the link.

July 29, 2005

A planet larger than Pluto has been discovered in the outlying regions of the solar system.

The planet was discovered using the Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory near San Diego, Calif. The discovery was announced today by planetary scientist Dr. Mike Brown of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., whose research is partly funded by NASA.

Source: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2005-126

Hats off to metaphorge, who brought this to my attention, and the Greek Goddess Insomnia, who made darn sure I was available to notice. Back to writing now.

Other links:

NASA imaages

The Samuel Oschin Telescope

Michael Brown, co-discoverer

BBC

CNN

I say we call it Yuggoth, because let's face it, 2003UB313 just doesn't exactly roll off the tongue...

http://www.space.com/returntoflight/

It's about time, yes? Now if they could just get the replacement designed, paid for, and built. Oh, wait. The Bush administration cancelled that project just after they started their second war.

Priorities, people. Priorities.

"You see the animals crawling on the ground, swelling and then exploding," German conservationist Werner Smolnik told AFP news agency.... The site - which has been dubbed "the pond of death" - has been closed to the public.

Source

Mmm. Exploding toads.