Ad Orientem

Special bond of a rescue dog and dying boy

2012-01-28T01:17:00.000-08:00

Warning: Grab the tissue box before proceding.

As nearly anyone who has adopted a dog or cat from a shelter can attest, there’s something special about a rescued pet; it’s as if the animal senses he’s been given a second chance at life. That’s certainly the case with Juno, a Belgian Malinois who was rescued from a shelter just days before she was to be euthanized. But since coming to live with her family in Alcoa, Tenn., Juno has taken on the role of rescuer to four-year-old Lucas Hembree.

Lucas suffers from Sanfilippo syndrome, an inherited, metabolic disease caused by the absence or malfunctioning of an enzyme needed to break down long sugar molecules. As the disease progresses, children lose the ability to speak, walk and eat. The disease also causes severe neurological damage that leads to aggressive behavior, hyperactivity and seizures.

“The most catastrophic thing parents hear when they learn their child has this disease is that there’s no cure or treatment available,” says Lucas’ father, Chester.

Read the rest here.

Israelis Say Settlements Must Be Part Of Israeli State

2012-01-27T20:38:00.000-08:00

JERUSALEM — Israeli negotiators told their Palestinian counterparts this week that their guiding principle for drawing the borders of a future two-state solution would be for existing settlement blocks to become part of Israel, an approach that the Palestinians rejected as unacceptable.

The discussion, which occurred in Jordan on Wednesday night, was the first time the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally told the Palestinian Authority how it would seek to handle the territorial part of their negotiations, although Mr. Netanyahu had made the point publicly to Congress in Washington in May.

A Palestinian official said the offer “effectively abandons international law and the framework we have been focused on for the past 20 years.” Speaking on the condition of anonymity on the subject of the talks, as did Israeli officials, the Palestinian said, “If you put it in perspective, it is as if the West Bank were not occupied, just disputed, with both sides having legitimate claims, while the rest of Israel remains outside the dispute.”

An Israeli official defended the offer.

“The principle we laid out on Wednesday is that the majority of Palestinians should be on the Palestinian side and the majority of Jews on our side,” that official said. “These are preliminary discussions. The Palestinians have asked for clarification. We have asked for clarifications from them on some things as well. And we hope that in the coming weeks these talks will continue.”

The Palestinians said they saw little reason to keep the talks — started under Jordanian sponsorship this month — going

Read the rest here.

A Newspaper With a Pitchfork

2012-01-27T19:57:00.000-08:00

A New York Times story on Friday that essentially indicted and convicted a 22-year-old star football player on an alleged sexual assault charge by an anonymous accuser should have begun as follows:

“We know absolutely nothing about this rumor except what six people told us anonymously about this guy who they say sexually assaulted this girl. We don’t know who she is or what she said, or really anything, but here’s HIS name and what ‘they’ say about him.”

Instead, with throat-clearing authority, the story begins with the young man’s name — Patrick J. Witt, Yale University’s former quarterback — and his announcement last fall that he was withdrawing his Rhodes scholarship application so that he could play against Harvard. The game was scheduled the same day as the scholarship interview.

Next we are told that he actually had withdrawn his application for the scholarship after the Rhodes Trust had learned “through unofficial channels that a fellow student had accused Witt of sexual assault.” And there goes the gavel. Case closed.

But in fact, no one seems to know much of anything, and no one in an official capacity is talking. The only people advancing this devastating and sordid tale are “a half-dozen [anonymous] people with knowledge of all or part of the story.” All or part? Which part? As in, “Heard any good gossip lately?”

Read the rest here.

I read the original story from the Times when it was posted and was sufficiently appalled to email a nasty letter to the editor which said in part... "A story based entirely on anonymous sources about an unnamed woman who filed a non specific and informal complaint with no police involvement and no formal action from the university alleging sexual misconduct by a nationally known athlete is not what most people would describe as news. Rather the word "gossip" seems more appropriate. Which is why I was sorry to see the "newspaper of record" publishing a story I would expect to find on page six of the Post."

For those not from the big city, the NY Post runs a notorious gossip column on page six.

Happy Birthday

2012-01-27T18:05:00.000-08:00

H.I.M. Kaiser William II born 153 years ago today.

In Scotland football (soccer) rivalry is deep and bitter

2012-01-27T17:32:00.000-08:00

GLASGOW — It was a normal Saturday game at Ibrox Stadium, home of the Rangers soccer team. A prematch fight broke out on the subway. The crowd lobbed trash onto the field. Fans of Rangers and their mutually despised opponents, Aberdeen, abused one another with traditional chants, songs and obscene gestures.

At times, it seemed that the only thing preventing a violent free-for-all was the heavy presence of police officers and security guards. And lest the message — control yourself, or face the consequences — was lost on anyone, there was a direct request from Rangers authorities.

“If you witness any form of unacceptable or offensive behavior, including sectarian singing,” a notice inserted into the ticket envelopes said, “please advise a steward or police officer.”

No one yet has been able to defuse the visceral hatred that runs through Scottish soccer. But in its latest effort to tackle game-related violence, the Scottish government recently passed a law making it illegal for fans to attack one another using religious, ethnic, regional or violent historical slurs in songs, chants, Internet postings or even stray remarks at a stadium or pub.

Read the rest here.

More nanny state foolishness. I have no objection to some restrictions at the games themselves. Inciting a riot has never been protected speech. But this pretty much just feeds any concept of freedom of expression into the shredder. Even sadder though is the image of a stadium packed with Protestants and Catholics, but not a Christian to be found anywhere.

Reuters: Germany wants Greece to surrender control over its budgets

2012-01-27T15:57:00.000-08:00

(Reuters) - Germany is pushing for Greece to relinquish control over its budget policy to European institutions as part of discussions over a second rescue package, a European source told Reuters on Friday.

"There are internal discussions within the Euro group and proposals, one of which comes from Germany, on how to constructively treat country aid programs that are continuously off track, whether this can simply be ignored or whether we say that's enough," the source said.

Read the rest here.

Quote of the day...

2012-01-27T12:00:00.000-08:00

Nothing needs reforming so much as other people's habits. Fanatics will never learn that though it be written in letters of gold across the sky. It is the prohibition that makes anything precious.

-Mark Twain

More signs US economy is slowly mending

2012-01-27T11:23:00.000-08:00

The nation’s on-and-off economic recovery has picked up its pace, the Commerce Department reported Friday, with the U.S. economy growing at an annualized rate of 2.8 percent for the end of 2011.

That rate is the fastest recorded in a year and a half, and it follows three quarters of growth below 2 percent.

Read the rest here.

In a military confrontation Iran could inflict serious damage

2012-01-26T23:51:00.000-08:00

ISTANBUL — Tehran has stepped up its bellicose warnings of conflict in the Persian Gulf as potentially crippling new European Union and American sanctions have been approved on Iran's oil exports and central bank.

The US defied the warning of a top Iranian general this week and sent the USS Abraham Lincoln – flanked by British and French warships – through the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf. A senior Iranian lawmaker scoffed that the US "did not dare" to send its ship alone, because of the danger posed by the Islamic Republic. If Iran were to close the strategic waterway, as it has threatened to do, the American aircraft carriers "will become the war booty of Iran," he declared.

Such bluster is not all talk. The US may outspend the Islamic Republic nearly 90-to-1 on defense. But Iran, heir to ancient Persia's naval innovation, has a well-honed asymmetric strategy designed to reverse that advantage.

A 2002 US military exercise simulating such a conflict proved devastating to American warships.

Read the rest here.

Corruption allegations hit the Vatican

2012-01-26T20:34:00.000-08:00

(Reuters) The Vatican was shaken by a corruption scandal Thursday after an Italian television investigation said a former top official had been transferred against his will after complaining about irregularities in awarding contracts.

The show "The Untouchables" on the respected private television network La 7 Wednesday night showed what it said were several letters that Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, who was then deputy-governor of Vatican City, sent to superiors, including Pope Benedict, in 2011 about the corruption.

The Vatican issued a statement Thursday criticizing the "methods" used in the journalistic investigation. But it confirmed that the letters were authentic by expressing "sadness over the publication of reserved documents."

As deputy governor of the Vatican City for two years from 2009 to 2011, Vigano was the number two official in a department responsible for maintaining the tiny city-state's gardens, buildings, streets, museums and other infrastructure.

Vigano, currently the Vatican's ambassador in Washington, said in the letters that when he took the job in 2009 he discovered a web of corruption, nepotism and cronyism linked to the awarding of contracts to outside companies at inflated prices.

In one letter, Vigano tells the pope of a smear campaign against him (Vigano) by other Vatican officials who wanted him transferred because they were upset that he had taken drastic steps to save the Vatican money by cleaning up its procedures.

Read the rest here.

GOP infighting is getting serious

2012-01-26T20:18:00.000-08:00

Furious conservatives have taken to blogs and Twitter on Thursday to vent their ire against what they allege is a conspiratorial dumping of twisted and manipulated negative attacks on Newt Gingrich.

The target of their fury: The Drudge Report.

For the last 48 hours, the conservative Web site led by Matt Drudge has become a virtual campaign arm for Mitt Romney, featuring huge, screaming headlines about Mr. Gingrich and his past.

That prompted conservatives who support Mr. Gingrich to accuse Mr. Drudge of selling out to the Republican establishment — many of whom have come to Mr. Romney’s aid as the battle with Mr. Gingrich has heated up.

Read the rest here.

The GOP is not far from open civil war and the Democrats are laughing all the way to the political bank.

Some Americans barred from leaving Egypt

2012-01-26T20:10:00.000-08:00

CAIRO — A top U.S. official’s son who is working for a pro-democracy group in Egypt has been barred from leaving the country, along with at least five other Americans, escalating a crackdown on such groups by Egypt’s military government that has outraged the United States.

Sam LaHood, the son of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, said Thursday that he learned of the travel ban only when he was turned away from the Cairo airport Saturday. He is the director of the Egyptian program of the International Republican Institute (IRI), a Washington-based civil society organization.

Read the rest here.

Poll: Gingrich gains in GOP field but trails Obama badly

2012-01-26T20:04:00.000-08:00

Newt Gingrich leads Mitt Romney among Republicans, but he is the weakest of the Republican candidates tested against President Obama, according to an NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll released Thursday evening.

Gingrich leads Romney 37 percent to 28 percent nationally among registered Republicans likely to vote in the primaries; Rick Santorum is in third with 18 percent, and Ron Paul is fourth with 12 percent.

Gingrich has built its advantage by consolidating the heart and soul of the Republican Party: very conservative voters, the South and the Tea Party.

Though Gingrich is the preferred candidate of GOP primary voters, he performs the worst of all Republican candidates tested against Obama, including Santorum.

"Gingrich is Goldwater," said Democratic pollster Peter D. Hart, who conducted the survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff. "In the general election, Gingrich not only takes down his ship, he takes down the whole flotilla."

Read the rest here.

Fire badly damages 19th century church in southern Ukraine, no injuries reported

2012-01-26T18:37:00.000-08:00

KIEV, Ukraine — Emergency officials say a fire has badly damaged a 19th-century Orthodox church in southern Ukraine, including collapsing its dome.

No injuries have been reported.

The fire at the landmark Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral in the town of Bolhrad outside the Black Sea port of Odessa broke out Thursday during renovation work, the Emergency Situations Ministry said on its website.

The church’s dome collapsed before the fire was put out.

Officials say the fire could have been caused by a violation of safety rules during the renovation.

Source

Priest with an A-level in woodwork builds his own jewel of a church... out of a garden SHED

2012-01-26T18:31:00.000-08:00

Perhaps Father Stephen Weston took inspiration from the fact that Jesus was the son of a carpenter when he built Britain's smallest church in his back garden.

Father Weston, 63, constructed St Fursey's Orthodox Church in Norfolk with just an A-level in woodwork, earned 14 years ago, to his name.

The byzantine arches of the wooden shed, which is 18ft by 13ft wide, has become a local landmark in the middle of Father Weston's housing estate.

St Fursey's is so small the holy processions carried out during each service only take worshippers ten steps along and two steps across.

There is no room to sit and after services the congregation step through a door into the priest's living room for a cup of coffee.

But the Antiochian Orthodox church - very similar to the Greek Orthodox but English speaking - is an official place of worship after it was blessed by a bishop.

Read the rest here.

Colorado: The next front in the battle against prohibition

2012-01-26T13:51:00.000-08:00

DENVER — Proponents of marijuana have argued for years that the drug is safer than alcohol, both to individuals and society. But a ballot proposal to legalize possession of marijuana in small amounts in Colorado, likely to be on the November ballot, is putting the two intoxicants back into the same sentence, urging voters to “regulate marijuana like alcohol,” as the ballot proposition’s title puts i

Given alcohol’s long and checkered history — the tens of thousands of deaths each year; the social ravages of alcoholism — backers of the pro-marijuana measure concede there is a risk of looking as if they have cozied up too much, or are comparable, to old demon rum.

“Why add another vice, right?” said Mason Tvert, a co-director of the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, which has led the ballot drive. “But we’re not adding a vice — we’re providing an alternative.”

The goal of legalization, Mr. Tvert added, is not to make access to marijuana easier, but rather, “to make our communities safer by regulating this substance, taking it out of the underground market, controlling it and better keeping it away from young people.”

The debate here and in Washington State — where members of a pro-legalization group have also submitted what they say are more than enough signatures to secure a spot on the ballot — is premised on the idea that marijuana has become, if not quite mainstream, then at least no longer alien to the average voter. Medical marijuana is already legal in both states.

Read the rest here.

A few quick points. It is not a propaganda myth. Alcohol and tobacco are both far more dangerous than marijuana. Secondly saying the government should not criminalize something is NOT the same thing as saying it's a good idea to do it. Any sane person knows that sucking anything into your lungs other than air is likely a bad idea. But the obsessive attempts to regulate people's private lives need to come to an end. All we are doing is criminalizing an entire generation, reducing respect for the law in general, and supporting organized crime which depends on the stubborn stupidity of politicians to make their billions off an underground market.

We could also add the staggering amount of public money being wasted on this fool's errand and the number of bodies populating the nation's morgues because of turf wars over who has the commercial rights to which street corner. Enough already!

END PROHIBITION NOW!

I did not know this

2012-01-26T13:14:00.000-08:00

Former President John Tyler, born 221 years ago, still has two living grandchildren. The one-term president isn't a well-known historical figure; he's probably best remembered for helping to push through the annexation of Texas in 1845, shortly before leaving office.

So, how is it possible that a former president who died 150 years ago would still have direct descendents alive today? As it turns out, the Tyler men were known for fathering children late in life. And that math is pretty outstanding when added up:

John Tyler was born in 1790. He became the 10th president of the United States in 1841 after William Henry Harrison died in office. Tyler fathered Lyon Gardiner Tyler in 1853, at age 63. Then, at the age of 71, Lyon Gardiner Tyler fathered Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr. in 1924 and four years later at age 75, Harrison Ruffin Tyler. Both men are still alive today.

Read the rest here.

HT: MCJ

Poll: Furious Americans want to fire Congress

2012-01-26T12:19:00.000-08:00

In a country sharply divided on almost every issue, most Americans agree on one thing: they don’t like Congress, and they would vote to replace every single member -- even their own -- if they had the option.

Fifty-six percent of registered voters say they would vote out every member of Congress if there were a place on the ballot to do so. That’s the highest response in favor of the question since it was first asked in March 2010.

And they say so across the ideological spectrum – with 55 percent of liberals, 55 percent of moderates, and 58 percent of conservatives all feeling the same way.

Read the rest here.

This is actually not a bad idea. Maybe it would result in some adults landing in Congress.

Protest Turns Violent Against Australia's PM Gillard

2012-01-26T02:00:00.000-08:00

CANBERRA -- Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard was dragged away by security guards Thursday after she was trapped in a restaurant by rowdy protesters demonstrating for indigenous rights following a ceremony to mark Australia's national day.

Some 200 supporters of Aboriginal rights surrounded a Canberra restaurant and banged on its windows while Gillard and opposition leader Tony Abbott were inside officiating at an award ceremony.

The protesters were marching at the nearby Aboriginal Tent Embassy to mark 40 years since its establishment and rushed the restaurant in response to comments by Abbott earlier in the day, The Australian newspaper reported.

Read the rest here.

Great Martyr Vladimir of Kiev and the Holy New Martyrs of Russia

2012-01-25T20:50:00.000-08:00

I am reminded that today is the Feast of the Great New Martyr Vladimir of Kiev (+1918), the proto-martyr of the Communist persecution. And this Sunday is the Synaxis of the New Martyrs of Russia. We will never know the precise number of those martyred during what is indisputably the greatest persecution in the history of Christendom, but it is certainly in the millions. Obviously it is not possible to identify more than a small percentage of these holy martyrs. Thus the feast commemorating the millions whose names are lost to history but not God.

Thomas Sowell: GOP infighting is helping Obama

2012-01-25T18:22:00.000-08:00

The Republican candidates' circular firing squad now seems to be using machine guns. Whoever the eventual "last man standing" turns out to be, he may not be standing very tall or very steadily on his feet — and he may be a pushover for Barack Obama in the general election, thanks to fellow Republicans.

Whether you are a Democrat, a Republican or an independent, this is a very serious and historically crucial time for the United States of America. What Mitt Romney did or did not do when he was with Bain Capital, or what Newt Gingrich did or did not say to his ex-wife, are things that should be left for the tabloids.

With the economy still faltering and Iran on its way to getting nuclear bombs, surely we can get serious about the issues facing this nation. Or can we?

Read the rest here.

Interesting post. Of course my problem is that there is no material difference between Obama and Newt or Mittens. They are all big government statists. So my attitude is pretty much one of pass the popcorn, this is more entertaining than any of the crap on TV sitcoms.

Bells? We don't want no stinking bells!

2012-01-25T17:21:00.000-08:00

COUNCILLORS will decide whether bells can ring out from an Oxford church for the first time in at least four decades after a cacophony of complaints from neighbours.

Russian Orthodox church St Nicholas the Wonderworker has applied to Oxford City Council for permission to install and ring new bells.

While originally a church, the Ferry Road building’s last use was as a sign factory and the ringing of bells was not allowed when planning permission was granted to turn it back into a place of woship in 2010.

But after being given a gift of bells made in Russia, the church now wants to have its planning permission changed – attracting more than 20 objections to Oxford City Council.

They have accused the church of bringing conflict into the local area and say the changes would “distress” the residents.

Ferry Road resident Ian Plummer said: “Bells by design are loud and carry long distances.

“The tolling of bells is not part of the general character of the area. The majority of the Russian Orthodox congregation do not live locally, including the priest, and hence it is incongruous that the local residents should be expected to suffer an additional frippery.”

Read the rest here.

Fed says it is unlikely to raise key interest rate until late 2014

2012-01-25T10:45:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve went further than ever Wednesday to assure consumers and businesses that they’ll be able to borrow cheaply well into the future.

The Fed pushed back the earliest date for any likely increase in its benchmark interest rate by at least a year and a half, until late 2014. It said record-low rates are still needed to help boost an improving but still sluggish economy.

Read the rest here.

More cheap money. Stocks rose slightly on the news. Gold was up more than 2%.

US Navy SEALS rescue pirate hostages

2012-01-25T10:41:00.000-08:00

U.S. special operations forces stormed an outdoor encampment in Somalia early Wednesday, rescuing a kidnapped American aid worker and her Danish colleague and killing nine men who held them captive, officials said.

Jessica Buchanan, 32, who is originally from Ohio, and Poul Hagen Thisted, 60, were abducted Oct. 25 by a group of armed men in Galkayo, a sleepy regional capital in north-central Somalia.

Read the rest here.

Well done!

More on the Dinner Menu

2012-01-25T10:22:00.000-08:00

The Arlington Hotel circa 1930's

A couple days ago I posted a dinner menu dated October 13 of 1896 from an establishment called The Arlington in my hometown of Binghamton New York. Subsequently I received several inquiries for more details and after a little online research I have discovered that The Arlington was an upscale hotel once located near the old train station. The hotel was apparently a popular place to see and be seen and catered to local society as well as travelers of the more affluent type. It was built sometime in the 1870's or 80's (still trying to pin down the date) and was upgraded a number of times over the years. Sometime in the early 1910"s the hotel had some of its rooms converted into high end suites de luxe with the unheard of convenience of en-suite water closet and bath. Everyone else still had to hoof it down the hall when nature called. The restaurant with open terrace seating during warm weather, had a high reputation (as the menu might suggest) and was often booked for important dinners and functions. Sadly the building that housed the hotel was torn down in 1969 as part of a so called urban renewal project to make way for a new post office among other things. Another larger image of the hotel dating to the 1920's can be seen here.

A Mozarabic Liturgy

2012-01-25T09:39:00.000-08:00

From the NLM. Yes, Roman Catholics used to know how to build churches. One notes the presence of Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Policarpo Stavrópoulos who oddly is wearing the epitrachelion. Why? Surely he was not directly participating in the liturgy or planning to commune.

2012-01-25T08:59:00.000-08:00

From New York City

Obama Offends the Catholic Left

2012-01-25T08:22:00.000-08:00

When Barack Obama secured his party's nomination for president in 2008, one group of Democrats had special reason to cheer.

These were Democrats who were reliably liberal on policy but horrified by the party's sometimes knee-jerk animosity to faith. The low point may have been the 1992 Democratic convention. There the liberal but pro-life governor of Pennsylvania, Bob Casey Sr., was humiliated when he was denied a speaking slot while a pro-choice Republican activist from his home state was allowed.

With Mr. Obama, all this looked to be in the past...

...Now, suddenly, we have headlines about the president's "war on the Catholic Church." Mostly they stem from a Health and Human Services mandate that forces every employer to provide employees with health coverage that not only covers birth control and sterilization, but makes them free. Predictably, the move has drawn fire from the Catholic bishops.

Less predictable—and far more interesting—has been the heat from the Catholic left, including many who have in the past given the president vital cover. In a post for the left-leaning National Catholic Reporter, Michael Sean Winters minces few words. Under the headline "J'ACCUSE," he rightly takes the president to the woodshed for the politics of the decision, for the substance, and for how "shamefully" it treats "those Catholics who went out on a limb" for him.

Read the rest here.

Scots Begin Bid for Vote on Independence

2012-01-25T08:10:00.000-08:00

EDINBURGH — Choosing a day of deep symbolic importance, Scottish authorities set out on Wednesday to prepare the ground for a potentially divisive referendum on their land’s independence after three centuries of union with England that separatist leaders say is becoming increasingly irksome.

Like Northern Ireland and Wales, Scotland already has its own Parliament and administration with powers over areas like health and education as part of the United Kingdom with a dominant England. But now, the country’s political leaders are pressing for a referendum on full independence or at least greatly expanded autonomy.

For its part, the British government, backed by the Labour opposition, wants Scotland to remain part of the United Kingdom and differs with the Scottish authorities on both the timing of a referendum and the nature of the question it should answer.

Read the rest here.

Strictly for the lover of arcane points of international law and history...

2012-01-24T16:13:00.000-08:00

You are not allowed to visit Pheasant Island, which lies near the Atlantic Ocean terminus of the French-Spanish border. But “it can easily be seen from the Joncaux bank, on the Bay Path,” the Web site for the local tourist office [1] suggests, without a hint of irony.

For border enthusiasts, that feels like insult added to injury. They’re condemned to contemplate the tiny eyot [2] from either bank of the Bidasoa, the border river that separates Hendaye in France from Irún in Spain [3]. And they can only wonder about the inscription on the gleaming white monolith that graces the island.

That monument commemorates the Treaty of the Pyrenees, concluded on the island in 1659. It fixed the Franco-Spanish border, following the mountain chain of that name as the natural boundary between the two countries [4]. But tiny Pheasant Island is more than the place where that treaty was signed.

For centuries, the island, less than an acre in size, was a favorite royal meeting place, often serving as a bridal exchange. In 1615, Louis XIII of France and Philip IV of Spain first met their wives — each other’s sisters — on the island, after having married them by proxy [5]. Later that century, Pheasant Island would be the place where both Louis XIV of France and Charles II of Spain first laid eyes on their respective brides.

In recognition of its historical significance, Pheasant Island [6] is also known in French as Île de la Conférence [7]. The Treaty of 1659 consecrated its significance to both countries by establishing it as a rare example of that curious border arrangement: a condominium.

A condominium is a territory jointly administered by two or more countries, often (but not necessarily) a territory on the common border between the parties involved. As one might surmise, such an arrangement depends on the benevolent cooperation of all parties involved — and indeed, historically, most condominiums have not survived very long.

Read the rest here.

Romney campaign worries as polls show Gingrich pulling ahead in Florida and nationally

2012-01-24T15:12:00.000-08:00

Multiple sources are reporting that the Romney camp is getting very nervous. The most recent polls show Gingrich leading nationally by 4+ pts and by almost 8 pts in Florida. Andrea Mitchell at NBC reported that there has been talk among GOP big shots of trying to "reinvent the smoke filled room" and presumably draft an acceptable moderate Republican if Romney loses in Florida. There is real fear of what will happen if Gingrich is the nominee. He has staked out positions so far to the social/neo-con right that the only way he could win the general election is if the vote is limited to members of Free Republic.

The Guardian fumes over concessions on "female bishops"

2012-01-24T11:41:00.000-08:00

The Church of England's House of Bishops – for which, read the archbishops of Canterbury and York – has explained how they hope to mollify the opponents of female clergy. The proposals are breathtaking.

The archbishops envisage that the Church of England, once it has female bishops, will continue ordaining men who do not accept these women, finding them jobs they will deign to accept, and promoting some of them to be bishops who will work to ensure the continued supply of male priests who refuse to accept female clergy. In fact, the church will pay three bishops (the formerly "flying" sees of Ebbsfleet, Richborough, and Beverley) to work full time against their female colleagues, and to nourish the resistance.

The General Synod, last summer, rejected the archbishops' plan to fix a reservation in law where the opponents could live as if nothing had changed. Now they have brought back the same proposals, but call them "a code of practice" instead. In theory, this gives both sides what they want. In reality neither will find it easy to accept.

Obviously this will be unacceptable to most supporters of women's ordination. But the cream of the joke is that it will probably be unacceptable to their principled opponents as well. The unscrupulous ones will, of course, be very happy with the deal.

Despite all these concessions, there will be female bishops, as there are already female priests, and these will be treated exactly the same as male ones – except by the men who don't want to treat them equally and who believe that God has called them to undermine women's authority wherever it appears.

This is apparently Rowan Williams's idea of justice.

Read the rest here.

Jewish editor resigns after suggesting Israel assassinate Obama

2012-01-24T11:35:00.000-08:00

ATLANTA (CBS Atlanta) — The owner and publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times resigned after fallout from his column on why Israel should assassinate President Obama.

According to an email obtained by the JTA, Andrew Adler announced he was “relinquishing all day-to-day activities effective immediately.”

Jerry Farkas, office manager for the Jewish Times, told CBS Atlanta that everyone is “saddened” by what happened.

“It’s a hard thing,” Farkas told CBS Atlanta. “We feel like we’re fighting fires.”

Read the rest here.

What a surprise... a new Protestant denomination

2012-01-23T14:16:00.000-08:00

RNS) Conservative Presbyterians launched a new denomination on Thursday (Jan. 19), saying that the Presbyterian Church (USA) is too consumed by internal conflicts and bureaucracy to nurture healthy congregations.

“This ‘new Reformed body’ is intended to foster a new way of being the church, just as traditional, mainline denominations rose to serve in their day,” wrote leaders of the new Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians.

Read the rest here.

HT: T-19

Dinner In My Hometown (1896)

2012-01-23T13:53:00.000-08:00

Click to enlarge

I just fond this remarkable dinner menu from an establishment (hotel? restaurant?) named The Arlington in my hometown of Binghamton New York dated from 1896.

Big hat tip to the New York Public Library which has digitized near 10,000 items from it's vast collection of menus going back to the early 19th century. Just randomly glancing through them gives one a strange glimpse of the past from the perspective of what people ate and how dining out (or dining others in) was an often important social function.

Citizen Kane: Is the epic feud over?

2012-01-23T13:35:00.000-08:00

The bitter feud that began seven decades ago between Orson Welles and William Randolph Hearst over "Citizen Kane" appears to have ended after the newspaper baron's family agreed to show the film at Hearst Castle.

Read the rest here.

Obama picks a fight with Catholics

2012-01-23T09:54:00.000-08:00

The Obama administration has chosen to ignore the First Amendment and add insult to injury for Catholics whose schools, hospitals and charities help make this nation great. Now the real fight begins.

Religious leaders had feared the worst from Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and her Department of Health and Human Services, which since September has been considering whether to exempt Catholic and other religious employers from a regulation mandating insurance coverage for sterilization and contraceptives, including some that cause abortion.

But on Friday afternoon, Sebelius announced the bad news in the most offensive way possible. Refusing even the smallest compromise with religious employers, she simply gave them an extra year to comply with the law.

“This decision was made after very careful consideration, including the important concerns some have raised about religious liberty,” Sebelius wrote in a brief statement from HHS. “I believe this proposal strikes the appropriate balance between respecting religious freedom and increasing access to important preventive services.”

Her attempt to appear compromising is absurd. What “balance” could Sebelius possibly mean? The HHS regulations include the narrowest exemption for religious employers ever proposed by the federal government, and even more restrictive than such exemptions in most states.

Read the rest here.

Senator Rand Paul detained by TSA

2012-01-23T09:43:00.000-08:00

Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., has reportedly clashed with the Transportation Security Administration at a Nashville airport, according to tweets from his press aide and father, Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul.

At about 10 a.m. ET, Paul's press aide, Moira Bagley wrote: Just got a call from @senrandpaul. He's currently being detained by TSA in Nashville.

Soon after, Ron Paul wrote: My son @SenRandPaul being detained by TSA for refusing full body pat-down after anomaly in body scanner in Nashville. More details coming.

NBC News' Kelly O'Donnell reports that aides to Sen. Paul say he set off a full-body scanning machine while going through airport security Monday morning.

Read the rest here.

New York City: Socialism for the lucky few

2012-01-23T09:34:00.000-08:00

Janio Marrero is a very lucky man. As facilities manager and technical director at the Cherry Lane Theater, Mr. Marrero can rent a lovely apartment above the theater at a discount — a serious discount. For the West Village one-bedroom with exposed brick and wide-beam floors, he pays $750 a month

Yes, it is the stuff that dreams, and apartments on the television show “Friends,” are made of. But compared with what his neighbors pay? Meh.

Just across the hall, a tenant named Arnold Warwick, who has had the same address for a half-century, pays $331.76 a month.

“I don’t plan on dying because I don’t want to give up a rent-controlled apartment,” said Mr. Warwick, who is 80. “I pay so little I’m almost embarrassed.”

In New York City, there is no shame in forking over thousands of dollars a month to live in somebody’s basement or crawl space. This unfortunate hiccup in the magic of the city makes the 16,000 remaining rent-controlled units in Manhattan mouthwatering in almost any context.

Cheaper apartments than the ones above the Cherry Lane do exist in the five boroughs, and a few of them even rent for less than three figures. But Mr. Warwick’s apartment, which has four small bedrooms built up around a wide-open living room, isn’t just cheap. It is also a fabulous apartment.

With 11-foot ceilings, exposed brick walls, piles of hardcover books, and views of chimneys and water towers, it is a 1,200-square-foot monument to the Greenwich Village of our fantasies.

His home is nestled on Commerce Street, a windy little road that stood in for Paris on the series finale of “Sex and the City.” A two-bedroom apartment in that area rents for an average of $4,745 per month, according to the brokerage Citi Habitats. And just down the block at 17 Commerce Street, a 2,200-square-foot federal style town house is currently for sale for $4.975 million.

Read the rest here.

This makes me ill. It is so grossly unfair that it beggars belief anyone could seriously support this.

Europe (sort of) bans Iranian oil imports

2012-01-23T09:22:00.000-08:00

BRUSSELS — Europe banned the import of Iranian oil Monday and froze Europe-based assets of the Central Bank of Iran, intensifying an international campaign to choke Iran’s economy and force the radical Islamic government to dispel fears that it is working to develop nuclear weapons.

The ban, decided by foreign ministers of the 27-nation European Union, is a dramatic escalation of sanctions against Iran, joining with the United States to squeeze the oil earnings and financial transactions that the Tehran government depends on to sustain its citizens and finance its military. The British foreign secretary, William Hague, called the E.U. effort “unprecedented” and said it shows the resolve of European governments to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power.

But the decision also includes broad loopholes — including a six-month delay before it goes into effect — that soften its immediate practical impact. Existing contracts for Iranian oil can be respected until July 1, an announcement said, and the ban will come under review before May 1 to see if more flexibility is needed.

Read the rest here.

IMF: World could face a ‘1930s moment’ unless more is done

2012-01-23T09:17:00.000-08:00

International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde warned of a “1930s moment” for the world economy if Europe does not solve its fiscal problems, and said Germany must contribute more money to stave off financial disaster.

In a public appeal Monday at a Berlin think tank, Lagarde voiced what has become a growing unease among fund officials about Europe’s potential to derail the world economy. Any number of events — a messy default in Greece, a bank failure, a disruption in the region’s financial markets – could be a trigger for a global economic meltdown.

Read the rest here.

Supreme Court: GPS tracking requires a warrant

2012-01-23T09:13:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that police must get a search warrant before using GPS technology to track criminal suspects.

The GPS device helped authorities link Washington, D.C., nightclub owner Antoine Jones to a suburban house used to stash money and drugs. He was sentenced to life in prison before the appeals court overturned the conviction.

Associate Justice Antonin Scalia said that the government’s installation of a GPS device, and its use to monitor the vehicle’s movements, constitutes a search, meaning that a warrant is required.

“By attaching the device to the Jeep” that Jones was using, “officers encroached on a protected area,” Scalia wrote.

All nine justices agreed that the placement of the GPS on the Jeep violated the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable search and seizure.

Scalia wrote the main opinion of three in the case. He was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotomayor.

Read the rest here.

This is an important blow for civil liberties. And for the second time in the same year we have a rare unanimous decision.

Why World War I Resonates

2012-01-22T12:13:00.000-08:00

Soldiers fix bayonets before going "over the top."

IN France I live near a little village called Sadillac. It’s no more than a cluster of houses, an old chateau, a church and a graveyard surrounded by a few farms and vineyards. The village probably hasn’t changed much since the French Revolution; its population hovers around 100. By the graveyard is a simple obelisk with the names of the 30 or so young men from Sadillac who died in the First World War, 1914-18. It’s almost impossible to imagine the effect on this tiny community of these fatalities over four years. Every year on Nov. 11 at 11 a.m. — the hour and the day of the 1918 armistice — villagers gather to participate in a short memorial service around the obelisk.

In 2014 it will be a hundred years since the First World War began, and yet its presence in novels, films and television has never been greater — in “Downton Abbey,” on television, in Steven Spielberg’s movie “War Horse,” in a mini-series of Sebastian Faulks’s “Birdsong” and, coming soon, in Tom Stoppard’s adaptation of Ford Madox Ford’s “Parade’s End.”

The last old soldier or sailor has died and almost all of the witnesses have gone, but the war exerts a tenacious hold on the imagination.

Read the rest here.

On Wall Street a Judge Takes a Stand

2012-01-22T11:47:00.000-08:00

From a courtroom in Manhattan, not far from the epicenter of the nation’s financial crisis, a longtime federal judge is becoming a hero to many and a nightmare to some for demanding greater accountability in cases of alleged Wall Street fraud.

Jed S. Rakoff is driving regulators nuts by refusing to rubber-stamp the kind of deals that have long defined Securities and Exchange Commission justice — boilerplate settlements in which companies use shareholders’ money to pay fines while they neither admit nor deny doing anything wrong. The latest example called for Citigroup to pay $285 million for alleged misconduct during the mortgage meltdown.

Read the rest here.

Conflicting reports on Joe Paterno's health

2012-01-21T18:08:00.000-08:00

There are several reports that long time Penn State football coach Joe Paterno has died of lung cancer. Other sources are reporting that while he has taken a sharp turn for the worse he is still alive...

Gingrich makes play for gold vote

2012-01-21T18:03:00.000-08:00

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Newt Gingrich has moved to capture some Republican voters who lean toward Ron Paul and other Republicans who were Jack Kemp followers by naming two gold bugs to the Gingrich future team of advisers.

The former House speaker says he intends to appoint investment banker Lewis E. Lehrman, famous in the Reagan era for his red suspenders and gold-standard advocacy, and Jim Grant, editor of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer, as President Gingrich’s Gold Commission - if and when of course Mr. Gingrich wins both the Republican nomination and the general election in November.

Mr. Paul, a Texas congressman with a conservative libertarian world view, earlier had promised to appoint Mr. Grant as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.

“It is a smart move to pitch both the Paul enthusiasts who may not think Paul has a chance and the Kempians,” conservative fundraiser Richard Norman told The Washington Times.

“Kemp and Paul are about as far apart as you can get but the one thing that unites them is a return to the gold standard.”

Read the rest here.

That's nice. But what Newt is selling I'm not buying. Gingrich is a quasi fascist imperialist whose idea about respect for the rule of law is jailing judges he doesn't agree with. Moving on.

Ron Paul has my vote, even if I have to write it in.

Gingrich Stuns Romney in South Carolina

2012-01-21T17:40:00.000-08:00

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) won a stunning come-from-behind victory in the South Carolina presidential primary on Saturday, using hard-edged debate performances to vault over former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.

Polls closed at 7 p.m., and Gingrich was leading Romney in the earliest official returns. Exit polls made it clear that he would go on to defeat Romney — a win that will profoundly re-shape a nominating contest that, a week ago, seemed to be almost over.

Read the rest here.

LA Times: Romney in panic mode

2012-01-20T19:47:00.000-08:00

Reporting from Charleston, S.C.—

Two new polls out on Friday suggest trouble for Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney.

Gallup’s tracking poll shows Romney’s lead nationally – which was 23 percentage points last week – has fallen considerably. He still leads the pack of Republican contenders – which is now considerably smaller after the departure of Jon Huntsman and Rick Perry this week – but by just 10 percentage points.

Romney has 30% support, followed by Newt Gingrich with 20% and Ron Paul and Rick Santorum, who are tied at 13%

“Clearly things are collapsing,” Gallup political director Frank Newport said in an appearance on MSNBC earlier today.

But a poll out of South Carolina is more immediately troublesome for Romney.

Clemson University’s newest 2012 Palmetto Poll shows Romney trailing Gingrich in the South's first primary state, where voting starts tomorrow morning. The poll found Gingrich with 32% support, followed by Romney with 26%, Paul with 11% and Santorum with 9%.

Read the rest here.

Jewish newspaper column suggests Israel assassinate Obama

2012-01-20T18:10:00.000-08:00

The Secret Service said it is looking into a recent op-ed from an Atlanta publisher that floated the idea of green-lighting Israeli Mossad agents to assassinate President Obama in order to improve Israel's security against enemies like Iran.

The publisher and author, Andrew Adler, reportedly has apologized.

But Jewish advocacy groups condemned his comments as "outrageous," and Secret Service spokesman George Ogilvie said the agency is "aware" of the incident.

Read the rest here.

A belated birthday nod to Robert E. Lee

2012-01-20T14:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was his birthday, a date still observed as a holiday in some places. No, I don't support secession or the Confederacy. And no I am not one of those revisionists who in the face of a mountain of evidence to the contrary insist that slavery had nothing to do with the Civil War. But I do recognize that he was a great and honorable man who did his duty, according to the lights that God gave him to discern right from wrong.

That at least commands respect.

The downside of reading on the cheap

2012-01-20T14:39:00.000-08:00

It's a rainy and chilly day here and I am tired of my usual diet of reading (mostly non-fiction). So it's time to look for something a little lighter than Rienhart & Rogoff's analysis of the anatomy of fiscal and monetary crisis using data going back eight centuries. I had been meaning to read the new Stephen King novel on the Kennedy assassination so I clicked over to the library's website. Yep, they have the book but alas it's out. Not terribly surprising. It is after all a new book and he is a popular author. No problem says I. I will just put a reserve on it and get the book when it is returned. That took two more clicks. Following which I was informed that my reserve was on file and would remain active until October 2012... AND THAT I WAS #82 IN LINE TO GET THE BOOK!

Sigh...

A Liberal Decries the Nation's Debt

2012-01-20T14:01:00.000-08:00

WITH little fanfare, a dangerous notion has taken hold in progressive policy circles: that the amount of money borrowed by the federal government from Americans to finance its mammoth deficits doesn’t matter.

Debt doesn’t matter? Really? That’s the most irresponsible fiscal notion since the tax-cutting mania brought on by the advent of supply-side economics. And it’s particularly problematic right now, as Congress resumes debating whether to extend the payroll-tax reduction or enact other stimulative measures.

Here’s the theory, in its most extreme configuration: To the extent that the government sells its debt to Americans (as opposed to foreigners), those obligations will disappear as aging folks who buy those Treasuries die off.

If that doesn’t seem to make much sense, don’t be puzzled — it doesn’t. Government borrowing is still debt that must eventually be paid off, just as we were taught in introductory economics.

Read the rest here.

You know we are in deep trouble when the political left starts doing math.

House and Senate back off SOPA and PIPA

2012-01-20T13:53:00.000-08:00

The main sponsor of a House bill targeting online piracy announced Friday that he will postpone further action on the measure that has triggered fierce protests, blackouts from Internet sites and some rethinking among lawmakers.

The action by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) on the Stop Online Piracy Act came a couple of hours after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said that he would delay a cloture vote on a similar Senate bill, the Protect IP (Intellectual Property) Act.

Read the rest here.

Polarized news market has altered the political process in South Carolina primary

2012-01-20T13:49:00.000-08:00

LAURENS, S.C. — Once upon a time — oh, about two presidential elections ago — Dianne Belsom would get up in the morning and read the paper, taking in news stories about candidates and campaigns. Some stuff she agreed with, some she didn’t.

This morning, Belsom wakes in her splendidly restored pink Victorian on Main Street in this rural South Carolina town, makes coffee and settles in at her desktop to fire up Facebook. There on her news feed are more than 100 stories that some of her 460 friends have posted since Belsom went to bed eight hours ago.

Over the next three hours, Belsom bops around the Web checking out the latest campaign news. Her sources are big and small, from nearby Greenville to faraway California, but they have one thing in common: With rare exceptions, the news and commentary sites Belsom visits share her world view, which she describes as “conservative, tea party, Christian.”

Read the rest here.

U.S. preparing to close embassy in Syria

2012-01-20T13:45:00.000-08:00

The Obama administration is preparing to close the U.S. embassy in Damascus and evacuate all American personnel by the end of this month amid rapid deterioration of the security situation in Syria, senior administration officials said.

The embassy will be shuttered, officials said, unless embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad provides enhanced protection that he has so far been unwilling to authorize. “Unless we see that, we have no choice,” said one U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak about internal planning on the Syrian crisis.

Read the rest here.

Egypt: Muslim persecution of Copts continues

2012-01-20T13:39:00.000-08:00

(AINA) - A Muslim mob attacked Copts today in the Upper Egyptian village of Rahmaniya-Kebly, Nag Hammadi, Qena province, destroying and torching their homes, straw huts and shops, while chanting Allahu Akbar. No one was reported killed or injured (video). According to reports, security forces were present but did not intervene and the fire brigade arrived 90 minutes late.

An eye-witness said that a straw hut belonging to a Copt was torched to clear the area for a mosque. There are more than 300 mosques in the village and one church.

According to Coptic residents, the reason behind the violence was the parliamentary elections. The Salafists wanted to prevent Copts, who number more than 50% of the inhabitants (20,000), from voting because they intended to vote for two moderate Muslims and not the Salafi candidates. "No Copt from Rahmaniya-Kebly was able to vote today, so the Salafists will win the elections," said a witness. Copts were forcefully prevented from voting.

Read the rest here.

U.S. Jobless Claims Fall Sharply

2012-01-19T15:34:00.000-08:00

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits for the first time plummeted last week to 352,000, the fewest since April 2008, the Labor Department said Thursday. The decline added to evidence that the job market is strengthening.

Weekly applications fell by 50,000, the biggest drop in the seasonally adjusted figure in more than six years. The four-week average, which smoothes out fluctuations, dropped to 379,000. That was the second-lowest such figure in more than three years.

Read the rest here.

Quote of the day...

2012-01-19T14:26:00.000-08:00

'There are three things I like about Italian ships. First, their cuisine, which is unsurpassed. Second, their service, which is quite superb. And then - in time of emergency - there is none of this nonsense about women and children first.'

- Sir Winston Churchill when once asked why he had booked on an Italian liner when the RMS Queen Elizabeth was available.

Source.

Appeals Court: No forced abortion (shocking background)

2012-01-19T13:52:00.000-08:00

A Massachusetts appeals court has verbally skewered a judge who ordered that a mentally ill woman have an abortion against her will even if it meant she had to be “coaxed, bribed, or even enticed” into a hospital.

The Massachusetts Appeals Court this week overturned the ruling by Norfolk Probate Judge Christina L. Harms, who had also ordered that the 32-year-old woman, known as “Mary Moe,” be sterilized.

The appellate decision noted that Moe “has consistently expressed her opposition to abortion” and likely would “continue to do so if she were competent.”

As for the sterilization order, state Appellate Court Associate Justice Andrew R. Grainger wrote: “No party requested this measure, none of the attendant procedural requirements has been met, and the judge appears to have simply produced the requirement out of thin air.”

Read the rest here.

This is insane. The lower court judge should be disbarred.

30 Years Later: Can Britain Defend the Falkland Islands?

2012-01-19T13:45:00.000-08:00

Probably not. They have gutted their armed forces in general and the Royal Navy in particular. Not a smart move for an island nation that still is dependent on the sea for its survival. Add to that Argentina has been rattling its sabres of late... And no, sending Prince William there won't add to the defensibility of the Falklands.

Britain might as well apply to become the 51st state. They have pretty much made it clear they are depending on us to protect them.

South Carolina: Three new polls show Gingrich pulling ahead of Romney (Paul in 3rd)

2012-01-19T12:22:00.000-08:00

See the details here. The Fat Lady I alluded to in an earlier post may want to take a break in her warm ups. Her on stage appearance could be delayed...

GOP In Upheaval: Perry quits - endorses Gingrich, Santorum won in Iowa, Gingrich's ex-wife makes salacious accusations

2012-01-19T11:34:00.000-08:00

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Republican presidential contest took a series of unexpected twists Thursday as Texas Gov. Rick Perry quit the race and endorsed Newt Gingrich, while officials in Iowa declared that former senator Rick Santorum had in fact won more votes than front-runner Mitt Romney in the caucuses there two weeks earlier.

The developments struck a blow to Romney, who just days ago appeared poised to lock up the Republican nomination by the end of the month. But on the morning of a potentially decisive debate in Charleston, the race was suddenly in flux. Gingrich seemed to be enjoying a sudden burst of momentum — drawing huge crowds, getting new endorsements and ticking upward in multiple polls — while Santorum laid claim to the Iowa caucuses as a victory.

But Gingrich faced his own setback Thursday after his former wife, Marianne, gave an interview to The Washington Post describing her husband’s infidelity. He is also expected to release his tax returns later Thursday, a move designed to pressure Romney to release his own, which Romney has said he will not do until April.

Read the rest here.
See more on Santorum's Iowa win here. Read the story on Gingrich's ex-wife here (caution: salacious details).

Blog Blackout Over

2012-01-18T23:08:00.000-08:00

As some may have noticed Ad Orientem was offline today. This was in support of the global protests against the SOPA and PIPA legislation being considered by Congress. Enough of our civil liberties have been trampled on by our government. I urge everyone who reads this blog to contact their members of Congress and United States Senators and communicate their opposition to these outrageous bills.

On a side note, although access to A/O was blocked today I did continue to post on matters of interest. Scroll down to see the posts.

Fr. John Hunwicke's Sermon At Oxford

2012-01-18T20:05:00.000-08:00

Sunt autem, Oxonienses, et alii pro quibus Omnipotentem deprecari possimus. Mensis enim Ianuarii dies iam quintus decimus lucescit; qui dies quamquam non omnibus candidus laetitiam tamen nonnullis haud minimam adferre debet. Nam annus unus elapsus est ab illo die quo Benedictus papa eius nominis sextus decimus, advocatis beata Maria et beato Iohanne Henrico, huius ecclesiae quondam Vicario, Ordinariatum ut vocant erexit. Quem vero pontificem, in Anglia peregrinantem, hos apices somniantes non visitasse, virum doctissimum a doctis non esse receptum, virum erga Dei Genetricem tam pium in hac eiusdem ecclesia locum orandi non invenisse, virum scriptis beati Iohannis Henrici inter primos eruditum, eius altare, eius ambonem, non vidisse – dico aperte – admodum doleo. Fingite, Academici, pontificem porticum illam appropinquare per quam beatus Iohannes Henricus hanc aedem precaturus contionaturus litaturus saepe ingressus est; porticum dico iuxta mentem archiepiscopi illius aedificatam qui nomine suo martyrii sui LAUDes designavit, cuius porticus locum summum rite coronata Deipara Virgo tenet. Columnas idem papa agnovisset quales salomoniacas nuncupatas Iohannes Laurentius circa altare clavigeri discipuli in colle Vaticano eisdem fere annis ponebat quibus hunc imaginem hanc porticum has columnas, pignora duco populi Christiani in unitatem coniuncti, alma Academia Oxonii erigendas curavit. Quae vero facta sunt in aevo cum oecumenico tum Mariano quo tempore Roma et Cantuaria paene inter se osculatae sunt; quo aevo Catholicae Ecclesiae gubernacula summus ille pontifex et Urbanus et doctus tenebat cuius auspiciis vates quidem Polonicus, vir ipso Flacco minime indignus, Virginis “teretes pedum suras non humilem lambere Cynthiam” canere non dedignatus est.

Legetque illud omnibus.

Mitt Romney has millions in offshore accounts

2012-01-18T19:40:00.000-08:00

Although it is not apparent on his financial disclosure form, Mitt Romney has millions of dollars of his personal wealth in investment funds set up in the Cayman Islands, a notorious Caribbean tax haven.

A spokesperson for the Romney campaign says Romney follows all tax laws and he would pay the same in taxes regardless of where the funds are based.

As the race for the Republican nomination heats up, Mitt Romney is finding it increasingly difficult to maintain a shroud of secrecy around the details about his vast personal wealth, including, as ABC News has discovered, his investment in funds located offshore and his ability to pay a lower tax rate.

"His personal finances are a poster child of what's wrong with the American tax system," said Jack Blum, a Washington lawyer who is an authority on tax enforcement and offshore banking.

On Tuesday, Romney disclosed that he has been paying a far lower percentage in taxes than most Americans, around 15 percent of his annual earnings. It has been Romney's Republican rivals who have driven the tax issue onto center stage. For weeks, Romney has cited a desire for privacy as his reason for not sharing his tax returns -- a gesture of transparency that is now expected from presidential contenders.

"I can tell you we follow the tax laws," he said recently while on the campaign trail in New Hampshire. "And if there's an opportunity to save taxes, we like anybody else in this country will follow that opportunity."

Read the rest here.

Arkansas family loses second son in Afghanistan

2012-01-18T19:15:00.000-08:00

The war in Afghanistan has claimed the lives of two sons of an Arkansas couple who also have a third son in the military.

Sgt. 1st Class Benjamin Wise, 34, of Little Rock, was on his fourth deployment overseas when he was injured during an insurgent attack on his unit last week. He died from his wounds Sunday at hospital in Germany, the Department of Defense said in a statement Tuesday.

His brother, 35-year-old Jeremy Wise, was killed in a terrorist attack on a CIA outpost in Afghanistan in December 2009. He was a former Navy Seal working as a security contractor.

Their brother, Marine Corps Cpl. Matthew Wise, is based Hawaii but was in Germany to be with his brother, his wife Amber said. She said she was at Benjamin's home in Washington state watching his children, but she declined further comment.

The Army Ranger is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

The men's parents, Dr. Jean and Mary Wise of Hope, Ark., and their sister did not return telephone messages seeking comment from The Associated Press. But the family released a statement thanking friends and Benjamin's fellow soldiers "for their sincere expressions of sympathy during this very difficult time."

His family described him as a loving husband, devoted father, caring son and selfless soldier.

Read the rest here.

Memory Eternal.

Gingrich hints at support for gold standard

2012-01-18T13:14:00.000-08:00

The boss, who’s something of a gold standard enthusiast, is excited: Newt Gingrich called this morning for a Gold Commission, like the one Ronald Reagan set up in 1981, to consider how to get back to hard money (and perhaps to gold). Here’s video of Gingrich speaking in Columbia, S.C., at a foreign policy forum sponsored by the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition. (The text is below.)

“We need to get our house in order. And we need to vaccinate ourselves against foreign contagion. The correct answer to the Euro is not to spend more American money propping up the Germans who prop up Southern Europe. The correct answer is to figure how we seal our banks off; how we make sure we protect ourselves and then say to the Europeans: you have a problem and you need to solve it.

“Part of our approach ought to be to reestablish something Ronald Reagan did in 1981 and that is to have a Commission on Gold to look at the whole concept of how do we get back to hard money.

“We need to repeal the Humphrey-Hawkins Act. We need to say to the Federal Reserve: your only job is to maintain the stability of the dollar because we want a dollar to be worth thirty years from now what it is worth now because that optimizes saving and investment because people know what they are going to back.

Read the rest here.

Construction of 40 Russian churches to be underway in Moscow in 2012

2012-01-18T13:04:00.000-08:00

MOSCOW, January 18 (Itar-Tass) – Construction of forty Russian Orthodox churches will be underway in Moscow City’s densely populated bedroom communities in 2012, Vladimir Ressin, an advisor to the Mayor of Moscow told reporters Wednesday.

All in all, the authorities plan building some 200 new Russian Orthodox churches in the city’s dormitory districts that have an apparent shortage of church facilities.

“Foundations of twenty church buildings have already been laid and we’re supposed to make arrangements on another twenty land plots this year,” Ressin said after a conference on the Program 200 that envisions the construction of 200 fast-to-build churches.

He is the supervisor of the project.

“I mean considering the situation with utility lines, geology surveys, architectural design projects, and the dates of public hearings,” he said.

The scope of participants in the conference that was held in the downtown Cathedral of the Savior included clergymen, officials from all the prefectures of the city, experts from construction companies and design bureaus, and executives of investor companies.

Conferences on the program will be held in the Cathedral of the Savior weekly.

Source.

Obama administration to reject Keystone pipeline

2012-01-18T11:52:00.000-08:00

The Obama administration will announce this afternoon that it is rejecting a Canadian firm’s application for a permit to build and operate the Keystone XL pipeline, a massive project that would have stretched from Canada’s oil sands to refineries in Texas, according to people who have been briefed on the matter.

However, the administration will allow TransCanada to reapply after it develops an alternate route around the sensitive habitat of Nebraska’s Sandhills. Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns will make the announcement, which comes in response to a congressionally mandated Feb. 21 deadline for action.

Read the rest here.

Cruise liner captain Francesco Schettino says he abandoned ship by accident

2012-01-18T11:50:00.000-08:00

The cruise liner captain accused of abandoning ship after he grounded it off the coast of Italy Friday now says he only left because he slipped and tripped into a lifeboat while helping passengers evacuate the ship.

Read the rest here.

Pathetic.

Supreme Court rules in favor of Alabama death row inmate

2012-01-18T11:47:00.000-08:00

The Supreme Court Wednesday ordered a new hearing for an Alabama death-row inmate who missed a critical appeals deadline because his lawyers at a prestigious New York law firm ceased to represent him without telling him or court officials.

The circumstances surrounding the appeals of Cory R. Maples--which included a mailroom mix-up at the law firm of Sullivan and Cromwell that returned unopened an adverse ruling against Maples--created a “veritable perfect storm of misfortune,” according to Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.

Such extraordinary events, the court ruled 7 to 2, meant Maples deserved another hearing.

“No just system would lay the default at Maples’ death-cell door,” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote for the majority.

The court went to some length to explain that it was not adjusting its previous decisions that in most post-conviction appeals, the mistakes of lawyers must be attributed to their clients and cannot be grounds for a new hearing.

“A markedly different situation is presented, however, when an attorney abandons his client without notice, and thereby occasions the default,” Ginsburg wrote.

Maples was convicted of shooting two acquaintances in the head in 1995. He stole money and a car, and he confessed when captured two weeks later. He is not contesting his guilt.

Read the rest here.

Some Sober Observations and Advice For Investing

2012-01-18T00:07:00.000-08:00

Doing some research recently I’ve found that almost 9 out of 10 of the trades on any given day on Wall Street are between professionals, not individuals. Think about that for a second. When you go to make a trade, 9 out of 10 times you are doing it against someone that does it for a living. And not just a living, but paid really big bucks to do it and has a tremendous amount of resources behind them. This includes mutual funds, pension funds, hedge funds, professional speculators, investment banks, etc.

But it gets even better. If 9 out of 10 trades are between professionals that means that most of the trades pros do are between each other. Now that’s interesting to consider. That means the average you see in the investing products on Wall Street represents the best that the pros on Wall Street can do in any single year.

Often I read about an investing strategy or trading method that claims to beat the broad market indices. That’s a pretty bold claim. I have to wonder if the sellers of these ideas are aware of the reality of trading on Wall Street. To think that you’re going to teach an individual investor to go up against a highly skilled pro and win. It’s kind of like telling an amateur golfer they are going to turn into Tiger Woods if they just buy the right golf club. It’s a fun thing to think about, but just not very realistic.

Even much vaunted hedge funds, the supposed masters of secret Wall Street strategies, often bomb. If they can’t do it, what chance does an individual have?

Read the rest here.

This is good advice. I particularly recommend the article linked in the source post.

Canada Accuses Naval Officer of Spying

2012-01-17T23:29:00.000-08:00

OTTAWA — A Canadian naval officer who worked in some of the country’s key military intelligence centers has been charged with breach of trust and passing along government secrets to a “foreign entity.” The officer, Sub-Lt. Jeffrey Paul Delisle, 40, remained in jail on Tuesday after his lawyer asked a court in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to delay a bail hearing to give him more time to study the government’s case.

Neither the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the military nor the government offered much detail publicly about the charges, including the identity of the foreign power. But the Canadian television network CTV said it was Russia, without giving the source for that information.

Read the rest here.

Hungary under intense pressure from EU over right wing constitution

2012-01-17T23:25:00.000-08:00

The European Commission has launched legal action against Hungary's Fidesz government for violations of European Union treaty law and erosion of democracy, marking a dramatic escalation in the war of words with the EU's enfant terrible.

Hungary's defiant premier Viktor Orbán has no hope of securing vital funding from the EU and the International Monetary Fund until the dispute is resolved, leaving him a stark choice of either bowing to EU demands or letting his country slide into bankruptcy.

Yields on Hungary's two-year debt jumped to 9.17pc on Tuesday, an unsustainable level for an economy in recession with public debt of near 80pc of GDP. Hungary's debt was cut to junk status by rating agencies last week.

Capital Economics said Hungary must repay €5.9bn (£4.9bn) in EU-IMF loans and raise external funds equal to 18pc of GDP this year, the highest in Eastern Europe. Two-thirds of household debt is in Swiss francs, leading to a lethal currency mismatch as capital flight weakens the forint.

"Hungary is playing with fire," said Lars Christensen from Danske Bank. "The EU is not bluffing. It will let Hungary go over the edge to make the point that EU countries must play by the rules. Our worry is that Hungary's government has not yet got the message."

Read the rest here.

Hungary's new government is clearly trying to set up some kind of authoritarian system. The EU is not going to stand for it.

NOTICE: Blog Blackout

2012-01-17T15:11:00.000-08:00

In solidarity with the widespread and growing internet protest of proposed legislation in Congress which would grant frightening powers to both the government and private businesses to censor web sites; this blog will be offline starting when I go to bed tonight until Thursday morning. I realize that this is a near insignificant token on my part compared to the similar blackout being planned by Wikipedia but I feel very strongly on this subject.

Some Thoughts On The Wreck Of The Costa Concordia

2012-01-17T14:18:00.000-08:00

I am following this tragedy rather closely not just for its tabloid news qualities, but because I spent 10 years of my life at sea. The entire event is so stunning that it beggars belief to anyone with any serious maritime background. Here are a few quick observations...

This aint the Titanic part II. People need to stop making that ignorant comparison. The Titanic was a monumental catastrophe with a horrendous loss of life. But more importantly on the Titanic almost without exception the officers and crew behaved with great professionalism and heroism in the face of disaster and their near certain imminent death. Indeed the top three officers all went down with the ship. The 4th most senior officer only survived by a fluke of luck. Almost all of the engineering crew remained at their posts to the end. Most are still there today. Same with the stewards and the ship's band that famously played almost until the water closed over their heads. And at least in the first and second class most of the passengers were calm and behaved well obeying the Birkenhead Drill (women and children first).
Accidents happen and most are the result of stupidity. Such was the case here. But the captain's behavior after the crash is inexcusable. Rank cowardice is the only term that can possibly apply. A captain must never abandon his ship before ensuring the safety of all of his passengers. By his actions he has dishonored himself, his profession and all seafaring men everywhere.
Why was no lifeboat drill held before leaving port? This is pretty much SOP for ships leaving US ports.
Given the radical list which incapacitated the port side lifeboats why was no effort made to prioritize seating in the starboard lifeboats? It is terribly old fashioned but the rule is still women and children first to which one should also add the elderly and infirm. Able bodied men should have been asked to stand back and wait for the second stage of the evacuation.
Panic thrives when there is a lapse in recognized authority. Someone (ideally the captain) should have stepped up and calmly explained what was happening and how the evacuation was going to proceed. The complete lack of direction caused uncertainty which lead to near panic on the part of passengers and crew.
Why was the crew so clueless in emergency procedures? It seems they did not know how to launch lifeboats correctly or how to organize an emergency muster and evacuation.
It is time for the people who draft the SOLAS rules to take a hard look at the design of modern cruise ships. Most now have only one deck that is open and runs around the ship's superstructure whereas in the past there were typically three with the lifeboats on the top deck. This seriously limits your potential evacuation staging areas. On the older ships you could lower the boats to each deck below and embark passengers from each point as needed. Also modern cruise ships have been adding more and more decks with less and less open deck space (private balconies being much in demand). This seems to me to create two distinct problems. First it can seriously add to stability issues with that much weight that far above the main deck. If you have a hull breach or any other event that could cause a serious list all of that added topside weight could destabilize the ship and increase the chances of capsizing. Secondly it also creates internal difficulties with evacuation. You have ships with more than a dozen decks, only one being open and with access to the lifeboats typically near the bottom of the superstructure, and the need to move as many 4000+ people in a very short time to muster and abandon ship stations. Elevators should be shut down in any emergency so that leaves stairs, in some cases perhaps ten or more flights. How do you manage that in a true emergency? Power may be out, the ship may be tilting, some areas may be blocked by fire or damage and you will have elderly, handicapped and potentially injured people in need of help. This is a recipe for a major calamity IMHO. In theory the standard is that ships must be able to get everyone off within 30 minutes of an abandon ship order. In reality this is not likely to happen in a serious emergency given modern ship design. See the below photos of a typical modern cruise ship, and a typical passenger ship of pre-floating condo design for reference.

R.M.S. Alcantara (click to enlarge) a medium sized passenger ship from the first half of the 20th century. Note three open decks with lifeboats arranged on the top deck.

The M.V. Carnival Magic (click to enlarge). Note only one open deck with lifeboats located at the bottom of the superstructure. I count at least eight(!) passenger decks above the lifeboats.

Romney says he pays about 15% in taxes

2012-01-17T13:02:00.000-08:00

FLORENCE, S.C. — Bowing to pressure from his Republican rivals as well as the Democrats, Mitt Romney told reporters here Tuesday that he plans to release his federal income tax returns this spring and estimated his rate at about 15 percent.

“What’s the effective rate I’ve been paying? It’s probably closer to the 15 percent rate than anything,” Romney, a GOP presidential candidate, said. “My last 10 years, I’ve — my income comes overwhelmingly from investments made in the past rather than ordinary income or rather than earned annual income. I got a little bit of income from my book, but I gave that all away. And then I get speaker’s fees from time to time, but not very much.”

Read the rest here.

This means Romney is paying a tax rate well below what most working class Americans pay. I also take note that he is delaying the release of his income tax returns, presumably until after he has wrapped up the GOP nomination.

Cardinal Koch on the state of Ecumenism (no imminent meeting with the MP)

2012-01-17T00:09:00.000-08:00

The Catholic World has an assessment of ecumenical relations from Rome's lead man. The section on relations with the Orthodox Church was of some interest, specifically his statement below on the likelihood of a meeting between the Pope and the Patriarch of Moscow. In my experience such sober realism is rather unusual among Catholics in general and the Catholic press in particular. I for one found it rather refreshing.

When asked about a possible meeting between the Russian Orthodox Patriarch and the Pope, Cardinal Koch answered that it “will not happen soon,” and noted that he himself had met with Kirill I in March 2011. The latter “clearly said that we cannot talk about dates yet, because it is more important to make intensive preparations for such a meeting than to publicize dates.”

Read the rest here.

HT: Blog reader Tim.

A Bank Finds a Trove of Historic Checks

2012-01-16T18:17:00.000-08:00

Bills... even presidents have to pay them. And that usually meant writing a check. The Huntington Bank recently discovered boxes of very old bank records containing checks from some of the most famous people in our country's history including George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. In the latter case the bank has a check for $800 he wrote to himself dated 13 April 1865, the day before he took his wife out for an evening at the theater that ended rather badly. And yes, $800 was a lot of money in those days. (Mrs Lincoln was a notorious shopoholic who regularly ran up big bills..)

Lincoln's 800 check to "self" dated April 13 1865.

A check to William Thornton for $500 from George Washington dated May 31 1799. Washington died six months later.

A check from President Harding to Mrs. Harding for $100 dated December 26 1916 (while he was still in the Senate). A Christmas present?

A check to William Carter for $1.56 cents from Franklin D Roosevelt dated January 5 1931, while he was Governor of New York. There is a story, widely accredited, to the effect that FDR once found himself owing the sum of $10 and some change to a gentleman after an evening of friendly poker. Roosevelt retrieved a $10 bill and the correct change and handed it over. The man then asked the president if he would sign the bank note. FDR took out his pen and was about to sign when he stopped and asked the man if he was gong to keep the $10 bill. The man assured him he would treasure it as a family keepsake. Whereupon Roosevelt pocketed the money and said "well in that case let me write you a check."

See many more photos of checks from famous people here.

The Fat Lady Is Warming Up

2012-01-16T17:35:00.000-08:00

Jon Huntsman is officially out. His relatively small slice of the electoral pie will almost certainly gravitate to Mitt Romney. Romney was polling at around 30-35% with Gingrich at somewhere between 15-20% (polling data varies) and Santorum in a statistical tie with Dr. Paul. Ron Paul is in this until the last dog dies and his supporters are by and large not going to anyone else. That's probably about 15% of the vote. Perry is done, you can stick a fork in him. Look for him to drop out after South Carolina votes. The anyone but Romney crowd is going to lose because they can't agree on a candidate and more importantly, the two leading social conservative candidates both have ego's that will not allow them to step aside for the team.

Of the various candidates only two have the money and organization to go all the way, those being Romney and Ron Paul. Gingrich and Santorum are killing each other and all but guaranteeing that mittens will be the eventual nominee. If there is any hope of stopping the Romney train it probably lies with Ron Paul, though I doubt that even he could pull it off. But money alone (or more accurately the lack thereof) will cripple both Gingrich and Santorum going forward. And the next state to vote is Florida which is one of the most expensive media markets out there.

If Romney wins in SC and FL it's probably game over for the nomination. Of course that will still leave Ron Paul who is going to go all the way to the convention and looks to have a sizable number of delegates. What will they do with Ron Paul's delegates? He is going to be the only one on the ballot besides Romney in a lot of states. That means he will be racking up delegates, even if not enough to win the nomination.

This could get very very interesting.

Wikipedia to Go Dark on Wednesday to Protest Bills on Web Piracy

2012-01-16T15:43:00.000-08:00

The wave of online protests against the Congressional efforts to curtail copyright violations on the Internet is gathering momentum.

Wikipedia is the latest Web site to decide to shut on Wednesday in protest against the two Congressional bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, and the Protect IP Act, or PIPA.

Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, confirmed the site’s decision on Monday on Twitter, writing: “Student warning! Do your homework early. Wikipedia protesting bad law on Wednesday!”

The members of Wikipedia have been debating and voting about whether the site should participate in a blackout, which several other Web sites, including Reddit, the social news site, and BoingBoing, a technology and culture blog, plan to join.

On Twitter, Mr. Wales said that Wikipedia would go dark beginning at midnight Eastern time on Tuesday and remain unavailable until midnight Eastern time on Wednesday. Visitors who try to reach the Wikipedia home page will be greeted with information about the bills and details about how to reach their local representative. Mr. Wales estimated that the blackout could affect as many as 100 million people.

“This is going to be wow, ” Mr. Wales wrote. “I hope Wikipedia will melt phone systems in Washington on Wednesday. Tell everyone you know!”

Source.

Israel Faces Huge Rift Over Ultra-Orthodox And Women

2012-01-16T11:46:00.000-08:00

JERUSALEM — In the three months since the Israeli Health Ministry awarded a prize to a pediatrics professor for her book on hereditary diseases common to Jews, her experience at the awards ceremony has become a rallying cry.

The professor, Channa Maayan, knew that the acting health minister, who is ultra-Orthodox, and other religious people would be in attendance. So she wore a long-sleeve top and a long skirt. But that was hardly enough.

Not only did Dr. Maayan and her husband have to sit separately, as men and women were segregated at the event, but she was instructed that a male colleague would have to accept the award for her because women were not permitted on stage.

Though shocked that this was happening at a government ceremony, Dr. Maayan bit her tongue. But others have not, and her story is entering the pantheon of secular anger building as a battle rages in Israel for control of the public space between the strictly religious and everyone else.

At a time when there is no progress on the Palestinian dispute, Israelis are turning inward and discovering that an issue they had neglected — the place of the ultra-Orthodox Jews — has erupted into a crisis.

And it is centered on women.

“Just as secular nationalism and socialism posed challenges to the religious establishment a century ago, today the issue is feminism,” said Moshe Halbertal, a professor of Jewish philosophy at Hebrew University. “This is an immense ideological and moral challenge that touches at the core of life, and just as it is affecting the Islamic world, it is the main issue that the rabbis are losing sleep over.”

The list of controversies grows weekly: Organizers of a conference last week on women’s health and Jewish law barred women from speaking from the podium, leading at least eight speakers to cancel; ultra-Orthodox men spit on an 8-year-old girl whom they deemed immodestly dressed; the chief rabbi of the air force resigned his post because the army declined to excuse ultra-Orthodox soldiers from attending events where female singers perform; protesters depicted the Jerusalem police commander as Hitler on posters because he instructed public bus lines with mixed-sex seating to drive through ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods; vandals blacked out women’s faces on Jerusalem billboards.

Read the rest here.

10 Reasons Why The United States Is Starting To Resemble An Authoritarian Police State

2012-01-14T20:09:00.000-08:00

Every year, the State Department issues reports on individual rights in other countries, monitoring the passage of restrictive laws and regulations around the world. Iran, for example, has been criticized for denying fair public trials and limiting privacy, while Russia has been taken to task for undermining due process. Other countries have been condemned for the use of secret evidence and torture.

Even as we pass judgment on countries we consider unfree, Americans remain confident that any definition of a free nation must include their own — the land of free. Yet, the laws and practices of the land should shake that confidence. In the decade since Sept. 11, 2001, this country has comprehensively reduced civil liberties in the name of an expanded security state. The most recent example of this was the National Defense Authorization Act, signed Dec. 31, which allows for the indefinite detention of citizens. At what point does the reduction of individual rights in our country change how we define ourselves?

While each new national security power Washington has embraced was controversial when enacted, they are often discussed in isolation. But they don’t operate in isolation. They form a mosaic of powers under which our country could be considered, at least in part, authoritarian. Americans often proclaim our nation as a symbol of freedom to the world while dismissing nations such as Cuba and China as categorically unfree. Yet, objectively, we may be only half right. Those countries do lack basic individual rights such as due process, placing them outside any reasonable definition of “free,” but the United States now has much more in common with such regimes than anyone may like to admit.

These countries also have constitutions that purport to guarantee freedoms and rights. But their governments have broad discretion in denying those rights and few real avenues for challenges by citizens — precisely the problem with the new laws in this country.

The list of powers acquired by the U.S. government since 9/11 puts us in rather troubling company.

Assassination of U.S. citizens

President Obama has claimed, as President George W. Bush did before him, the right to order the killing of any citizen considered a terrorist or an abettor of terrorism. Last year, he approved the killing of U.S. citizen Anwar al-Awlaqi and another citizen under this claimed inherent authority. Last month, administration officials affirmed that power, stating that the president can order the assassination of any citizen whom he considers allied with terrorists. (Nations such as Nigeria, Iran and Syria have been routinely criticized for extrajudicial killings of enemies of the state.)

Indefinite detention

Under the law signed last month, terrorism suspects are to be held by the military; the president also has the authority to indefinitely detain citizens accused of terrorism. While the administration claims that this provision only codified existing law, experts widely contest this view, and the administration has opposed efforts to challenge such authority in federal courts. The government continues to claim the right to strip citizens of legal protections based on its sole discretion. (China recently codified a more limited detention law for its citizens, while countries such as Cambodia have been singled out by the United States for “prolonged detention.”)

Arbitrary justice

The president now decides whether a person will receive a trial in the federal courts or in a military tribunal, a system that has been ridiculed around the world for lacking basic due process protections. Bush claimed this authority in 2001, and Obama has continued the practice. (Egypt and China have been denounced for maintaining separate military justice systems for selected defendants, including civilians.)

Warrantless searches

The president may now order warrantless surveillance, including a new capability to force companies and organizations to turn over information on citizens’ finances, communications and associations. Bush acquired this sweeping power under the Patriot Act in 2001, and in 2011, Obama extended the power, including searches of everything from business documents to library records. The government can use “national security letters” to demand, without probable cause, that organizations turn over information on citizens — and order them not to reveal the disclosure to the affected party. (Saudi Arabia and Pakistan operate under laws that allow the government to engage in widespread discretionary surveillance.)

Secret evidence

The government now routinely uses secret evidence to detain individuals and employs secret evidence in federal and military courts. It also forces the dismissal of cases against the United States by simply filing declarations that the cases would make the government reveal classified information that would harm national security — a claim made in a variety of privacy lawsuits and largely accepted by federal judges without question. Even legal opinions, cited as the basis for the government’s actions under the Bush and Obama administrations, have been classified. This allows the government to claim secret legal arguments to support secret proceedings using secret evidence. In addition, some cases never make it to court at all. The federal courts routinely deny constitutional challenges to policies and programs under a narrow definition of standing to bring a case.

War crimes

The world clamored for prosecutions of those responsible for waterboarding terrorism suspects during the Bush administration, but the Obama administration said in 2009 that it would not allow CIA employees to be investigated or prosecuted for such actions. This gutted not just treaty obligations but the Nuremberg principles of international law. When courts in countries such as Spain moved to investigate Bush officials for war crimes, the Obama administration reportedly urged foreign officials not to allow such cases to proceed, despite the fact that the United States has long claimed the same authority with regard to alleged war criminals in other countries. (Various nations have resisted investigations of officials accused of war crimes and torture. Some, such as Serbia and Chile, eventually relented to comply with international law; countries that have denied independent investigations include Iran, Syria and China.)

Secret court

The government has increased its use of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which has expanded its secret warrants to include individuals deemed to be aiding or abetting hostile foreign governments or organizations. In 2011, Obama renewed these powers, including allowing secret searches of individuals who are not part of an identifiable terrorist group. The administration has asserted the right to ignore congressional limits on such surveillance. (Pakistan places national security surveillance under the unchecked powers of the military or intelligence services.)

Immunity from judicial review

Like the Bush administration, the Obama administration has successfully pushed for immunity for companies that assist in warrantless surveillance of citizens, blocking the ability of citizens to challenge the violation of privacy. (Similarly, China has maintained sweeping immunity claims both inside and outside the country and routinely blocks lawsuits against private companies.)

Continual monitoring of citizens

The Obama administration has successfully defended its claim that it can use GPS devices to monitor every move of targeted citizens without securing any court order or review. (Saudi Arabia has installed massive public surveillance systems, while Cuba is notorious for active monitoring of selected citizens.)

Extraordinary renditions

The government now has the ability to transfer both citizens and noncitizens to another country under a system known as extraordinary rendition, which has been denounced as using other countries, such as Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan, to torture suspects. The Obama administration says it is not continuing the abuses of this practice under Bush, but it insists on the unfettered right to order such transfers — including the possible transfer of U.S. citizens.

These new laws have come with an infusion of money into an expanded security system on the state and federal levels, including more public surveillance cameras, tens of thousands of security personnel and a massive expansion of a terrorist-chasing bureaucracy.

Some politicians shrug and say these increased powers are merely a response to the times we live in. Thus, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) could declare in an interview last spring without objection that “free speech is a great idea, but we’re in a war.” Of course, terrorism will never “surrender” and end this particular “war.”

Other politicians rationalize that, while such powers may exist, it really comes down to how they are used. This is a common response by liberals who cannot bring themselves to denounce Obama as they did Bush. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), for instance, has insisted that Congress is not making any decision on indefinite detention: “That is a decision which we leave where it belongs — in the executive branch.”

And in a signing statement with the defense authorization bill, Obama said he does not intend to use the latest power to indefinitely imprison citizens. Yet, he still accepted the power as a sort of regretful autocrat.

An authoritarian nation is defined not just by the use of authoritarian powers, but by the ability to use them. If a president can take away your freedom or your life on his own authority, all rights become little more than a discretionary grant subject to executive will.

The framers lived under autocratic rule and understood this danger better than we do. James Madison famously warned that we needed a system that did not depend on the good intentions or motivations of our rulers: “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”

Benjamin Franklin was more direct. In 1787, a Mrs. Powel confronted Franklin after the signing of the Constitution and asked, “Well, Doctor, what have we got — a republic or a monarchy?” His response was a bit chilling: “A republic, Madam, if you can keep it.”

Since 9/11, we have created the very government the framers feared: a government with sweeping and largely unchecked powers resting on the hope that they will be used wisely.

The indefinite-detention provision in the defense authorization bill seemed to many civil libertarians like a betrayal by Obama. While the president had promised to veto the law over that provision, Levin, a sponsor of the bill, disclosed on the Senate floor that it was in fact the White House that approved the removal of any exception for citizens from indefinite detention.

Dishonesty from politicians is nothing new for Americans. The real question is whether we are lying to ourselves when we call this country the land of the free.

Source

HT: T-19

Three guesses how many of our current candidates for president oppose all of this unconstitutional crap...

Italian Cruise Liner Reported Sinking

2012-01-13T21:15:00.000-08:00

Details are sketchy but early reports indicate that the Italian flagged cruise ship M.V. Costa Concordia struck an as yet unidentified underwater object off the coast of Tuscany very near the island of Giglio. The collision which occurred during the evening meal, reportedly opened the ships hull for about 165 ft below the waterline. Crew members briefly and unsuccessfully attempted to assure passengers that the problem was an electrical failure even as the ship immediately took on a severe list. However as the extent of the emergency became clear orders were issued for passengers to put on life jackets. The most recent reports are that the abandon ship order has been given with passengers and crew taking to the lifeboats and some throwing themselves into the sea hoping to swim to the nearby shore. Witnesses and Italian media confirm that there have been an unknown number of fatalities. The Italian Coast Guard is currently attempting to rescue more than 50 passengers trapped on the sinking ship.

Europe Hammered By S&P Downgrades - Greek Debt Talks Collapse

2012-01-13T14:52:00.000-08:00

Friday the 13th was not a good day for Europe.

In the midst of the European trading day, news began circulating that credit agency Standard and Poor's would downgrade many eurozone countries, including France, Italy and Spain. Given Europe's deepening financial problems, that move had been widely expected.

What traders and investors did not expect was for talks to break down between Greek officials and bondholders over how to avoid a looming default.

"While we're all focusing the S&P cuts, we could come back next week and find out that Greece is about to go right over the edge," said Art Cashin, head of trading for UBS at the New York Stock Exchange.

After talks with creditor banks broke down, Greeks officials warned of "catastrophic" results if a deal to swap bonds is not reached soon. After more than three months of negotiations, the parties remain badly divided over how much Greece will end up paying and how big a hit the banks will take.

S&P, which took away the cherished AAA rating from U.S. government securities in August, took the same step with France Friday, cutting the rating one notch to AA+.

“This is not a catastrophe. It’s an excellent rating. But it’s not good news,” Finance Minister Francois Baroin told France 2 television, saying the government would not respond with further austerity measures.

S&P also downgraded eight other countries, including Austria and Slovakia by one notch and Italy, Spain and Portugal by two notches. Cyprus, Malta and Slovenia were also downgraded. S&P gave a negative outlook to 14 eurozone countries, meaning there is a one-in-three chance they could be downgrded again in 2012 or 2013. Only Germany and Slovakia were given "stable" outlooks.

Read the rest here.

Israeli Secret Agents Impersonated CIA In False Flag Operation

2012-01-13T13:56:00.000-08:00

Buried deep in the archives of America's intelligence services are a series of memos, written during the last years of President George W. Bush's administration, that describe how Israeli Mossad officers recruited operatives belonging to the terrorist group Jundallah by passing themselves off as American agents. According to two U.S. intelligence officials, the Israelis, flush with American dollars and toting U.S. passports, posed as CIA officers in recruiting Jundallah operatives -- what is commonly referred to as a "false flag" operation.

The memos, as described by the sources, one of whom has read them and another who is intimately familiar with the case, investigated and debunked reports from 2007 and 2008 accusing the CIA, at the direction of the White House, of covertly supporting Jundallah -- a Pakistan-based Sunni extremist organization. Jundallah, according to the U.S. government and published reports, is responsible for assassinating Iranian government officials and killing Iranian women and children.

But while the memos show that the United States had barred even the most incidental contact with Jundallah, according to both intelligence officers, the same was not true for Israel's Mossad. The memos also detail CIA field reports saying that Israel's recruiting activities occurred under the nose of U.S. intelligence officers, most notably in London, the capital of one of Israel's ostensible allies, where Mossad officers posing as CIA operatives met with Jundallah officials.

Read the rest here.

Someone explain to me again, slowly please, why exactly are we providing all of this massive aid to Israel?

France loses AAA credit rating

2012-01-13T13:35:00.000-08:00

PARIS — France lost its top-tier credit rating Friday, the finance minister announced, dealing a strong blow to the country’s effort to redress its finances and to President Nicolas Sarkozy’s campaign to get reelected.

The rating cut by Standard & Poor’s, expected to be announced later Friday in New York, moved France from AAA to AA+. It was a slight drop, but one likely to prove significant as the French government turns to financial markets to borrow money on top of an already crushing debt.

Read the rest here.

Obama seeks more power to merge agencies, streamline government

2012-01-13T13:33:00.000-08:00

President Obama asked Congress on Friday for the power to consolidate parts of the federal government, proposing a first step of merging several trade- and commerce-related agencies under a plan that the White House said could eliminate more than 1,000 jobs and save $3 billion over 10 years.

Obama said he would focus initially on entities that deal with small business, but ultimately would like to get rid of inefficiencies throughout the federal government. He noted to an audience of small business leaders that the bureaucracy included five different entities involved in housing, and more than a dozen agencies that regulate food safety.

Read the rest here.

$3 Billion over ten years??? If you ever wondered what rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic looks like, this is it.

A really really bad article on priests' wives

2012-01-12T20:56:00.000-08:00

I am not going to excerpt this one. If you want to read it go here. Seriously, it is so ridiculous it borders on insulting. This is not the Middle Ages. Catholics are not going to start running around treating the wives of their newly ordained clergy like she-demons. Even her (the author's) dating of theological issues is wrong. Both in the East and West there was a pretty clear understanding of the nature of Holy Communion dating to the earliest days of the Church. This entire article is so wrong I am tempted to use a very crude descriptive for it. But being a Christian blogger I am above that.

Is Ron Paul the anti-Romney?

2012-01-12T12:38:00.000-08:00

If someone were visiting from outer space and got wind of the Republican primary and caucus results, he might be a tad bewildered by the coverage. “This is clearly a two-man race now,” he'd say, waving a tentacle significantly. “There's only one candidate capable of a respectable showing on two separate occasions when everyone else but Mitt Romney struggled. Both times, he drew strong, passionate support, and landed in the top tier — a feat no one beside the front-runner could pull off. It's a two-man race now.”

We earthlings would try to explain. “Ah,” we’d say, “but — gee, look, uh, this — you’re talking about Ron Paul.”

“Why is the Mainstream Media not giving the man his due?” the alien would say, sounding a bit more like a Paul supporter every second. “Especially when polls indicate that if he ran as a third-party candidate, he'd pull in about 20 percent of the vote and change the game entirely.”

On Wednesday Paul’s campaign suggested that if you discovered that you were running for the Republican nomination and were neither Ron Paul nor Mitt Romney, the only polite thing to do would be to drop out. Paul is, they point out, the last best non-Romney hope, the only candidate whose results in both New Hampshire and Iowa were nothing to sneeze at, unless you sneeze at pretty decent polling results.

Read the rest here.

Personally I think he is more the anti-status quo candidate, and that is what we desperately need right now. Both of the two main parties represent just more of the same with very slight variations (mostly over exactly which aspects of our lives they think they should use the government to dictate). And just for the record, I am not into the whole cult of personality thing. There are areas where I have some respectful disagreements with Dr. Paul. Which is to say that no, I don't have any tattoos of his visage anywhere on my body. But I do think he is by far the best man running and he is right on almost all of the really important issues.

Cell Phone Rudeness: Are there any limits?

2012-01-12T11:42:00.000-08:00

The final movement of Mahler's Ninth Symphony is a slow rumination on mortality, with quiet sections played by strings alone.

During the New York Philharmonic's performance Tuesday night, it was interrupted by an iPhone.

The jarring ringtone—the device's "Marimba" sound, which simulates the mallet instrument—intruded in the middle of the movement, emanating from the first row at Avery Fisher Hall.

When the phone wasn't immediately hushed, audience members shook their heads. It continued to chime, and music director Alan Gilbert turned his head sharply to the left, signaling his displeasure.

Minutes passed. Each time the orchestra reached a quiet section, the phone could be heard above the hushed, reverent notes.

Finally, Mr. Gilbert could take no more: He stopped the orchestra.

A Philharmonic spokeswoman said Wednesday the music director has never before halted a performance because of a cellphone or any other type of disruption.

As the offending noise continued in a loop, Mr. Gilbert turned in its direction and pointedly asked that the phone be turned off. The audience let out a collective gasp.

The ringtone—believed to be an alarm—played on.

Read the rest here.
HT: T-19

In Rare Unanimous Decision Supreme Court Affirms Religious Exception To Employment Discrimination Laws

2012-01-11T13:12:00.000-08:00

The Supreme Court ruled for the first time Wednesday that federal discrimination laws do not protect employees of religious organizations who perform “ministerial” duties.

The court ruled unanimously that the First Amendment’s protection of the free exercise of religion dictates the organizations “be free to choose those who will guide it on its way.”

The case involved a Michigan schoolteacher who said Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church violated the Americans with Disability Act in 2005 when it fired her after she tried to return to work after being diagnosed with narcolepsy.

The church said Cheryl Perich was not fit for ecclesiastical office and that her threat to sue violated Lutheran teachings that disputes be handled within the church rather than in civil courts.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote for the court that such decisions are reserved to religious organizations.

“The interest of society in the enforcement of employment discrimination statutes is undoubtedly important,” Roberts wrote. “But so too is the interest of religious groups in choosing who will preach their beliefs, teach their faith, and carry out their mission.

“When a minister who has been fired sues her church alleging that her termination was discriminatory, the First Amendment has struck the balance for us.”

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Obama administration had backed Perich’s suit against the Redford, Mich., religious school.

Read the rest here.

Wow. Not often you get a unanimous decision on any hot button case from the Supreme Court. I actually can't remember the last time it happened. Even bigger shock, Justice Alito coauthored a concurring opinion with Justice Kagan!

Ron Paul: The most dangerous man in (and to) the Republican Party

2012-01-11T12:27:00.000-08:00

In the wake of his second-place showing in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday night, Texas Rep. Ron Paul declared: “We are dangerous to the status quo of this country”.

He’s right. And that could be a very bad thing for a Republican party hoping to take back the White House this November....

...Should Paul decide that his cause is best championed via a third party bid for president, the impact would be disastrous for Republicans next fall.

How disastrous? Take a look at the Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted in mid-December. In it, President Obama and Romney are tied at 47 percent in a traditional two-way race. Add Paul in as a third party candidate and Obama takes 42 percent, Romney 32 percent and Paul 21 percent. That’s a pretty stark difference in potential outcomes.

Read the rest here.

Stephen Colbert Rips Obama On Military Detention Of US Citizens

2012-01-11T12:06:00.000-08:00

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Anti-Semitism And The Ugly Double Standard In California State Colleges

2012-01-10T18:22:00.000-08:00

Imagine the outcry if students on a university campus in California set up "checkpoints" to find out whether students with tan complexions are really African-Americans, or whether students heard conversing in Spanish are citizens or illegal immigrants. Screams of protest would rise if students set up similar barriers to check whether olive-complected schoolmates are outfitted with suicide bombs, or if anyone stopped students of any type demanding to know their sexual orientation.

Cries of bigotry would be deafening — and accurate.

But when Muslim student groups at U.C. Berkeley in 2010 dressed in combat fatigues and carrying fake but genuine-looking weapons manned such checkpoints and demanded that passing students tell them if they were Jewish? No outcry, no protest.

Nothing at all. Not a peep from the large corps of university administrators. Not a move by campus police, even when a counter-demonstrator was whacked with a shopping cart. No demonstrations anywhere.

The only action came from two students who filed a lawsuit charging that Berkeley administrators disregard intimidation by Arab students and foster a climate of anti-Semitism.

Meanwhile, the checkpoints have continued sporadically on campus.

Now a federal court says any attempt to stop them would "raise serious First Amendment issues." So, implied U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg of San Francisco last month, campuses can ban use of "hate speech" like the N-word and anti-gay smears, but outright physical attempts to intimidate Jewish students and impinge on their walking space are OK.

Read the rest here.

New Hampshire: Romney Wins (no surprise), Ron Paul Is Strong Second

2012-01-10T17:35:00.000-08:00

Votes are still being counted but its safe to say that Mitt Romney has won the New Hampshire Primary. This is not even remotely surprising given it neighbors his home state and he owns a vacation home there. The battle for second place has always been far more important, and Ron Paul seems to have won that by a wide margin. Although third has not been called yet it looks like that will go to Jon Huntsman. This is likely to weaken the two neo/social conservative candidates going into South Carolina.

Slow Posting

2012-01-10T17:27:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the slow posting. I have a nasty chest cold that started as allergies and it doesn't want to let go of me. Those familiar with the Central Valley of California know how bad the air is here.

Christmas Liturgy From Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow

2012-01-08T19:34:00.000-08:00

Part 1

Part 2

Navy SEAL dies after accidentally shooting himself

2012-01-07T22:45:00.000-08:00

SAN DIEGO — Navy officials have confirmed that a Navy SEAL who accidentally shot himself in the head has died.

Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Frank Magallon tells the U-T San Diego (http://bit.ly/ycqw4O ) that Petty Officer 3rd Class Gene "Geno" Clayont, Jr. was taken off life support on Saturday. He is survived by his parents and three sisters.

San Diego police were called on Thursday after the accident. Police say Clayton had gone to a bar and brought a woman back to his apartment and was showing her guns when he put a pistol to his head, believing it was unloaded, and pulled the trigger.

Paramedics took Clayton to a San Diego hospital where he was placed on life support.

Source

Firearms Safety
Rule # 1 ALL GUNS ARE LOADED... ALWAYS
Rule # 2 Never point a weapon in any direction where you are not prepared for the consequences if it goes boom.

There are more rules but these were the first two that got beat into my head in the Navy. If you just remember these two you will eliminate 98% of the tragic accidents like that described above.

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

2012-01-07T12:33:00.000-08:00

Христос родился! Merry Christmas to all those on the traditional (right) church calendar!

Vigil for the Nativity at Optina Monastery.