Happy Birthday, Keefer

In a World too full of Beauty for Peace,
I have met nothing more beautiful.

Emily Dickinson
New Poems # 416

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 03/11/04 09:09:56 PM
Categorized as Other.

Spain Becomes Latest Victim of Muslim Hatred of Western Civilization?

Spain is our steadfast ally in the War on Terrorism, and has even been our ally in the War Against Saddam Hussein. Let us pray for the numerous victims of this latest violence, for their families, and for the whole Spanish nation.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 03/11/04 09:08:51 PM
Categorized as International.

"Kerry Compares Black, Gay Struggles"

Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode CCXXIV

Um... don't they mean "African-American"? Editor must have been snoozing.

From Monday's Boston Globe:

During a campaign swing through Mississippi yesterday, Senator John F. Kerry excoriated President Bush from the lectern of a black church, insisted that New England has much in common with the Deep South, and decried the "crucifixion" of the young gay man Matthew Shepard as he compared civil rights for blacks to gay and lesbian rights....

Early during the forum's question-and-answer period, an African-American woman stood up and asked Kerry to take her side in insisting that the cause of gay rights should not be mixed with the civil rights movement.

The senator replied by briefly noting his support of preserving marriage for a man and a woman, but then began making a full-throated defense of civil rights for gays and lesbians — recalling how minorities were once denied entrance to universities, and insisting that just as the Equal Protection Clause protected them, so, too, should it protect the rights of homosexuals.

At one point he compared the "crucifixion of Matthew Shepard," the Wyoming 21-year-old who was beaten, tied to a fence, and left to die in the fall of 1998, with the dragging death of an African-American Texan, James Byrd Jr., whose murder earlier in 1998 sparked new efforts for hate crimes legislation.

Kerry, in his remarks, however, misstated Byrd's last name, and referred to Byrd's sexuality when he meant to refer to his race.

"Let me tell you something, when Matthew Shepard gets crucified on a fence in Wyoming because, because, only because he was gay," Kerry said, "and Mr. King gets dragged behind a truck down Texas by chains and his body is mutilated only because he's gay, I think that's a matter of rights in the United States of America." Despite the slipups, his remarks drew strong applause from the predominantly African-American audience of 700....

Political campaigning in a church: where's the ACLU?

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 03/11/04 06:25:12 PM
Categorized as Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode & John Kerry.

White House Should Not Complain When Kerry Talks

Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode CCXXIII

I would be very remiss if I failed to note this AP article, yesterday (quoted ellipsis in original; I believe the elided words are "you know").

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry called Wednesday for deeper tax cuts for the middle class than proposed by President Bush and described his Republican critics as "the most crooked ... lying group I've ever seen." The chairman of Bush's re-election campaign called on Kerry to apologize "for this negative attack."

After urging labor leaders to support his campaign, Kerry met with one-time rival Howard Dean to discuss an endorsement and what role the former Vermont governor might play in his campaign.

Hoping to win over Dean, the presumptive nominee's staff greeted the fallen rival with a round of applause as he walked into Kerry headquarters. The two men shook hands, embraced briefly and raised joined hands for the cameras.

After the 45-minute meeting, officials close to the talks said Dean will endorse Kerry, with only the timing in question. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the best time might be March 25 when the presidential candidates join former Presidents Clinton and Carter for a Democratic Party fund-raiser.

"I will work closely with John Kerry to make sure we beat George Bush in November and turn our country around," Dean said in a statement that did not specifically mention an endorsement. "There is a lot we can do together to rebuild an America that belongs to all of us, and we'll be saying more about what our amazing grass-roots network can do to help with his goal." Dean has set March 18 to announce details of his grass-roots advocacy organization.

Kerry was scheduled to meet with another key rival, John Edwards, on Thursday.

Anticipating their meeting, the Bush campaign issued "Howard Dean's Greatest Hits on John Kerry," a 10-item recounting of Dean's criticisms. The quotes from news stories include Dean's statement in January that "you're not going to change America by nominating somebody who's a Washington insider whose biggest long suit is talk."

Kerry had 2,037 delegates after sweeping four Southern primaries Tuesday, an Associated Press analysis showed. He wasn't expected to reach 2,162, the number needed to secure the nomination, until next week.

Earlier Wednesday in Chicago, Kerry toughened his comments about his GOP critics after a supporter urged him to take on Bush. "Let me tell you, we've just begun to fight," Kerry said. "We're going to keep pounding. These guys are the most crooked, you know, lying group I've ever seen. It's scary.

Bush-Cheney campaign chairman Marc Racicot called on Kerry to apologize.

"Senator Kerry's statement today in Illinois was unbecoming of a candidate for the presidency of the United States of America, and tonight we call on Senator Kerry to apologize to the American people for this negative attack," Racicot said in a statement. "On the day that Senator Kerry emerged as his party's presumptive nominee, the president called to congratulate him. That goodwill gesture has been met by attacks and false statements."

Kerry spokesman David Wade said earlier that Kerry was referring to Republican critics in general and that the comment was intended to convey the message that "he's a Democrat who fights back."

The Bush-Cheney campaign didn't see it that way. "John Kerry has run a relentlessly negative campaign from the very beginning and this comment is completely consistent with that," the campaign said.

In a satellite address to top AFL-CIO leaders meeting in Florida, Kerry said a "Bush Tax" stemming from the president's economic policies has driven up costs for working families. He vowed to reverse that trend while asking those making more than $200,000 a year to pay the same taxes they paid under President Clinton, effectively repealing portions of a tax cut Bush pushed through Congress.

Kerry also proposed creating a $50 billion fund to help states provide relief from state and local taxes for working families that he said have been struggling.

"Under George Bush's policies, middle-class families are paying more," he said. "America's middle class can't afford a tax increase. That's why we're going to give the middle class a tax cut."

In response, the Bush campaign accused Kerry of favoring broad tax increases that would affect all taxpayers.

"John Kerry has voted for higher taxes 350 times and his numbers for new spending don't add up," said Steve Schmidt, a Bush campaign spokesman. "His campaign-trail promises mean he is going to raise taxes by at least $900 billion." It is the first time the Bush campaign has put a number on tax hikes it says Kerry favors.

Kerry said a middle-class tax cut would do far more to spark the economy than what Bush has pushed, by helping people afford college costs, pay for health care and make ends meet.

"If this president wants to make this election about taxes after he's cut billions for billionaires and given middle-class families a larger share to pay, we're ready for that fight," he said.

Kerry also addressed Democratic National Committee staff, seeking to end speculation that chairman Terry McAuliffe's role will be diminished. "No one can do what this man has done," Kerry said, according to Kerry and DNC aides in the private meeting.

---

AP Political Writer Ron Fournier contributed to this report.

The Blog from the Core asserts Fair Use for non-commercial, non-profit educational purposes.

Hey. Dr. Dean. Your "amazing" grass-roots organization really helped you a lot, huh?

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 03/11/04 06:05:59 PM
Categorized as Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode & John Kerry.

The UN's Oil for Graft Program

Remind me: what good purpose does the UN serve anymore?

The Wall Street Journal broke the story, Feb. 9, about the UN's oil-for-food program for Iraq (quoted ellipsis in original):

On Dec. 5, during a trip to Baghdad, Claude Hankes-Drielsma faxed an urgent letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Mr. Drielsma, the U.K. Chairman of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, had recently been appointed to advise the Iraqi Governing Council. What he saw in Baghdad left him shocked. "As a result of my findings here, combined with earlier information," he wrote, "I most strongly urge the U.N. to consider appointing an independent commission to review and investigate the 'Oil for Food Programme.' Failure to do so might bring into question the U.N.'s credibility and the public's perception of it.... My belief is that serious transgressions have taken place and may still be taking place."

Just how serious these transgressions were became clear late last month, when the Iraqi daily Al Mada published a partial list of names, compiled by Iraq's oil ministry, of those whom Saddam Hussein rewarded with allocations of Iraqi oil. Mr. Hankes-Drielsma, who says he was among the first to see the list in early December, says it is based on numerous contracts and other detailed documents and was compiled at the request of the Iraqi Governing Council.

The list, a copy of which has been seen by the Journal's editorial page, is in spreadsheet format and details (in Arabic) individuals, companies and organizations, grouped by country, who oil ministry and Governing Council officials believe received vouchers from the Iraqi regime for the purchase of oil under the oil-for-food program. Mr. Hankes-Drielsma said the recipients would have been given allocations at below-market prices and then been able to pocket the difference when a middleman sold the oil on to a refinery; 13 time periods are designated and with indications of how much crude, in millions of barrels, each recipient allegedly received.

The list reads like an official registry of Friends of Saddam across some 50 countries. It's clear where his best, best friends were. There are 11 entries under France (totaling 150.8 million barrels of crude), 14 names under Syria (totaling 116.9 million barrels) and four pages detailing Russian recipients, with voucher allocations of over one billion barrels. Many of the names, transliterated phonetically from Arabic, are not well-known or are difficult to identify from the information given. Others stand out. There's George Galloway, the Saddam-supporting British MP recently expelled from the Labour Party, who has always denied receiving any form of payment from Saddam. Other notables include Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri (also listed separately as the "daughter of President Sukarno"), the PLO, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Russian Orthodox Church, the "director of the Russian President's office" and former French Interior Minister Charles Pasqua. Some — including Mr. Pasqua, the Russian Church and Ms. Megawati — have denied receiving anything from Saddam. Patrick Maugein, a close friend of Jacques Chirac and head of Soco International oil company, says his dealings were all within "the framework of the oil-for-food program and there was nothing illegal about it." ....

WaTi ran a follow-up, Feb. 20:

The latest revelations that the deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein used oil sales under the U.N. oil-for-food program to buy friends and influence policy around the world should turn on an alarm in Washington, New York, Paris and other capitals. Saddam's influence buying is only a part of a broader phenomenon. Other oil-producing countries are engaged in similar activities on an even larger scale.

Several important lessons arise from discovery of Saddam's buddy list. First, this is just the beginning: There are thousands of documents in Baghdad that American and Iraqi intelligence officers need to catalog, translate, analyze and investigate. The precedent — the Eastern German intelligence service STASI archives, which exposed hundreds of spies in Europe and America.

Second, the U.N. may have done more damage than good in Iraq — and may do so again. The U.N. oil-for-food officials knew about the global bribery effort and did nothing to stop it. Moreover, it is possible the officials in that august body facilitated and benefited from at least some of the transactions.

A key question is whether a "Mr. Sevan" who allegedly received oil export vouchers in Panama is the same person as the U.N. Assistant Secretary General Benon V. Sevan, who ran the oil-for-food program. So far, U.N. Secretary General Koffi Annan has refused an internal investigation, and the U.N. bureaucracy has stonewalled and resisted an external investigation of the oil-for-food program....

NRO picked up the story, yesterday:

In the growing scandal over the United Nations Oil-for-Food program, which from 1996-2003 supervised relief to Saddam Hussein's Iraq, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and his staff have excused themselves from any responsibility for the massive corruption involving billions in bribes and kickbacks that went on via more than $100 billion in U.N.-approved contracts for Saddam to sell oil and buy humanitarian supplies. U.N. officials have denied that this tidal wave of graft in any way seeped into their own shop, or that they even had time to notice it was out there. They were too busy making the world a better place.

That's fascinating, not least given the ties of Annan's own son, Kojo Annan, to the Switzerland-based firm, Cotecna, which from 1999 onward worked on contract for the U.N. monitoring the shipments of Oil-for-food supplies into Iraq. These were the same supplies sent in under terms of those tens of billions of dollars worth of U.N.-approved contracts in which the U.N. says it failed to notice Saddam Hussein's widespread arrangements to overpay contractors who then shipped overpriced goods to the impoverished people of Iraq and kicked back part of their profits to Saddam's regime.

Cotecna was hired by the U.N. on December 31, 1998. Shortly afterward, press reports surfaced that Kojo was a partner in a private consulting firm doing work for Cotecna, and that just 13 months previously he had occupied a senior slot on Cotecna's own staff. Asked about this in 1999 by the London Telegraph, a U.N. spokesman, John Mills, replied that the U.N. had not been aware of the connection, and that "The tender by Cotecna was the lowest by a significant margin."

It seems there's a lot the U.N. managed not to be aware of. But the information that Cotecna — while employing Kofi's son in any capacity — put in the lowest bid by far for the job of authenticating Saddam's Oil-for-Food imports, is not necessarily reassuring. Cotecna, which got paid roughly $6 million for its services during that first year (the U.N. will not release figures on Cotecna's fees over the following years) was bidding on work that empowered its staff to inspect tens of billions worth of supplies inbound to a regime much interested in smuggling, and evidently accustomed to dealing in bribes and kickbacks as a routine part of business. The issue was never solely whether the monitors were cheap, but whether they were trustworthy....

And the Wall Street Journal chimes in again, today:

"If there is evidence, we would investigate it very seriously," Kofi Annan insisted last month when presented with allegations that U.N. officials knew about and may have benefited from Saddam Hussein's corruption of the U.N.'s Oil-for-Food Program. Fortunately, Saddam appears to have been a stickler for record-keeping.

A letter has come to The Wall Street Journal supporting allegations that among those favored by Saddam with gifts of oil was Benon Sevan, director of the U.N.'s Oil-for-Food Program. As detailed on this page on Feb. 9, Mr. Sevan's name appears on a list of individuals, companies and organizations that allegedly received oil allocations or vouchers from Saddam that could then be sold via middlemen for a significant markup. The list, compiled in Arabic from documents uncovered in Iraq's oil ministry, included many of Saddam's nearest and dearest from some 50 countries, including the PLO, pro-Saddam British MP George Galloway, and French politician Charles Pasqua. (Messrs. Galloway and Pasqua have denied receiving anything from Saddam.) According to the list, first published by the Iraqi daily Al Mada in January, Mr. Sevan was another beneficiary, via a company in Panama known as Africa Middle East Petroleum, Co. Ltd. (AMEP), about which we have learned quite a bit.

Mr. Sevan, through a U.N. spokesperson, has also denied the allegation. But the letter, which two separate sources familiar with its origins say was recovered from Iraqi Oil Ministry files, raises new questions about Mr. Sevan's relationship with Iraqi authorities....

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 03/11/04 05:46:50 PM
Categorized as International.

Five-Twenty-Sevens in Trouble?

Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode CCXXII

WaTi reports today that Senators McCain & Feingold are not happy with what's going on with all the attack ads being run by "527" groups (brackets in original):

Sen. John McCain threatened yesterday to sue the Federal Election Commission if it fails to enforce federal election laws against groups that use "soft money" to influence presidential and congressional races.

"Senator [Russell D.] Feingold is right, use of soft money contributions by '527 groups' whose major purpose is to affect federal elections is not legal," the Arizona Republican said in a Senate Rules and Administration Committee hearing yesterday.

"If the FEC decides not to enforce the laws or fails to act I will go to the courts," he said, giving the FEC an April deadline.

A "527 group," named for the section of the IRS code under which it files taxes, is a private nonprofit political organization with the primary goal of influencing elections at the state and local level.

A large number of 527 groups, most with ties to the Democratic Party, have been created recently. On Tuesday, President Bush's re-election campaign asked the FEC to investigate whether a $5 million, 17-state TV ad campaign by a 527 group, the Media Fund, is illegal. The ad names Mr. Bush and says "it's time to take our country back."

The Media Fund, along with groups such as MoveOn.org, has been financed with huge amounts of "soft money," unregulated contributions from corporations, unions and businesses.

If the Media Fund or MoveOn.org were found to have as a primary goal affecting the election of House, Senate or presidential candidates, limits would kick in on how much any one individual, union or corporation could give to the group. It also would have to submit to a variety of federal regulations on registrations and quarterly reports on contributions and expenditures.

The Media Fund has been generously subsidized by liberal billionaire George Soros, who has said he wants to defeat Mr. Bush in November and has compared the president to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.

According to Mr. McCain and Mr. Feingold, some "527 groups" are being dishonest in denying that their goal is to influence federal elections....

See also George Soros, Call Your Office and "The Bubble of American Supremacy".

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 03/11/04 05:29:44 PM
Categorized as Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode.

Blasts from the Past

One year ago today, I blogged On the Edge of Forever: Star Trek and the War on Terrorism.

Two years ago today, I published the first part of my six-part article on The Situation. All six parts together are available at Catholicity @ ELCore.Net.

BTW, my articles at The View from the Core are indexed in the Column Archive. (This one, in particular, was very popular.)

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 03/11/04 07:08:48 AM
Categorized as Literary.

On The Passion of the Christ II

A review by Leslie Ann Long.

Suspension of Disbelief

The phrase “suspension of disbelief” was coined by Samuel Taylor Coleridge to describe the willingness of an audience (member) to suspend their critical faculties in order to go along for the ride, so to speak. Modern moviemakers have found it more difficult to attain this because of more educated and special-effect savvy moviegoers. Mel Gibson’s film, however, has succeeded in more than just getting us to “go along for the ride”: it evokes a visceral immersion in the tale of the crucifixion of the Christ.

Imagery and Metaphors

This movie was brimming with metaphors. Starting with the imagery of the washing of the hands of Pilate that melds into the washing of the feet of the disciples: we see that the selfish and cowardly act of one is transmuted by the selfless and loving act of Jesus. Mary Magdalene's sight of the Cross — His torture and torment at the hands of the people — melds into reflection on her own torture and torment. We see how He spared her, but she cannot help Him, for He was meant to spare us all. Later, Christ’s fall while carrying the Cross causes Mary, His mother, to flash back to an image of Him as a child falling. She ran to Him to pick Him up, then, but the Mother cannot protect the Son anymore, for the Son was sent to protect us all. The compounded imagery and metaphors elicit an emotional response from the viewer throughout the story.

Is it anti-Semitic?

Jesus was born a Jew. His people were the Jewish people. It was pre-determined that He would be condemned by His own people but still choose to give His life for them. If Jesus had been Irish, the crowd would have been Irish... would that have made the movie anti-Gaelic? If anything, the movie was “anti-human”. It evoked the feeling that we all condemned him. It was human sin that condemned Jesus and led to the crucifixion. But He forgave their sins. (“Forgive them for they know not what they do.”)

Is it violent?

To accurately convey the story, violence is needed. For years, we have wondered whether Hollywood was going too far in their depictions of violent scenes. Without the confluence of events that has made it possible for something this violent to be portrayed, would we need for it to be portrayed? The degradation of morality in Hollywood has allowed this movie to be made. There isn’t another time in the history of filmmaking that something this horrific would have been allowed. Do you not know the story? Have you not read the book? It was real. It was violent. The movie is accurate; therefore, it is violent.

Be it known that the number of armed soldiers were 150; those who trailed me while I was bound were 23. The executioners of justice were 83; the blows received on my head were 150; those on my stomach, 108; kicks on my shoulders, 80. I was led, bound with cords by the hair, 24 times; spits in the face were 180; I was beaten on the body 6666 times; beaten on the head, 110 times. I was roughly pushed and at 12 o’clock was lifted up by the hair; pricked with thorns and pulled by the beard 23 times; received 20 wounds on the head; thorns of marine junks, 72; pricks of thorns in the head, 110; mortal thorns in the forehead, 3. I was afterward flogged and dressed as a mocked king; wounds in the body, 1000. The soldiers who led me to the Calvary were 608; those who watched me were 3, and those who mocked me were 1008; the drops of blood which I lost were 28,430. (Excerpt from St. Brigitta of Sweden’s Visitation)

Personal Reaction

As for how I personally feel about it? I expected the story. I expected the violence. What I didn’t expect was how rapidly and intensely that the story becomes personal. The viewer becomes involved. I became involved. I felt as if I were there, watching, helpless. I cannot say that this was a thumbs up or thumbs down movie. I do not believe Mr. Gibson meant to do that. It is a personal experience. Everyone will be affected differently by it. To try to quantify it or clarify it is almost like trying to lasso a snowflake. I think it depends on where you are personally in your life as to how this movie will affect you. We need to see this. We need an experience like this to bring the story of the Christ, in a tangible way, into our lives.

It is precisely in the Passion, when the mercy of Christ is about to vanquish it, that sin most clearly manifests its violence and its many forms: unbelief, murderous hatred, shunning and mockery by the leaders and the people, Pilate’s cowardice and the cruelty of the soldiers, Judas’ betrayal – so bitter to Jesus, Peter’s denial and the disciple’s flight. However, at the very hour of darkness, the hour of the Prince of the world, the sacrifice of Christ secretly becomes the source from which the forgiveness of our sins will pour forth inexhaustibly.” (Excerpt from the Catechism of the Catholic Church # 1851)

Will it change the unbelievers? I guess that’s a matter of how well it performs in the genre of suspension of disbelief. Ultimately, this is a personal experience and the only way to know is to experience it yourself.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 03/11/04 06:58:34 AM
Categorized as Religious.

Poetry by W. B. Yeats

Three poems by William Butler Yeats.

He tells of the perfect Beauty

O cloud-pale eyelids, dream-dimmed eyes,
The poets labouring all their days
To build a perfect beauty in rhyme
Are overthrown by a woman's gaze
And by the unlabouring brood of the skies:
And therefore my heart will bow, when dew
Is dropping sleep, until God burn time,
Before the unlabouring stars and you.

(from The Wind Among the Reeds, 1899)

The Lover pleads with his Friend for Old Friends

Though you are in your shining days,
Voices among the crowd
And new friends busy with your praise,
Be not unkind or proud,
But think about old friends the most:
Time's bitter flood will rise,
Your beauty perish and be lost
For all eyes but these eyes.

(from The Wind Among the Reeds, 1899)

He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

(from The Wind Among the Reeds, 1899)

Collected Works: Volume I: The Poems (1989), ed. Richard J. Finneran, ## 63, 70, 74.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 03/11/04 06:55:32 AM
Categorized as Literary.