Blogworthies XLVI

Because The Blog from the Core simply can't cover everything.

Noteworthy entries @ The Diplomad, The Corner, Recta Ratio, Christifideles, Belmont Club, Training for Eternity, Right Wing News, IraqPundit, Let's Try Freedom, Power Line, cut on the bias, No Left Turns, Discriminations, Off the Record, Laudem Gloriae, Catholic Light, The Diplomad (again), Hoystory.com, Power Line (again), HerbEly, GetReligion, The Paragraph Farmer, and Against the Grain.

Not Your Father's Marxism... @ The Diplomad:

The Don of International Marxism, the USSR, is dead — killed by Ronald "Elliot Ness" Reagan. For roughly the past fifteen years, we, thankfully, have lived without the threat of global nuclear annihilation that the USSR's Marxist vision posed. With the Soviet demise, international Marxism as we knew it for nearly the entire 20th century also died. Unfortunately, however, the forces that fathered and nurtured Marxism did not die: envy, resentment, and fear of competition and failure remain with us, alive and well....

Transforming Iraq @ The Corner:

Rick: It would indeed be a great thing, to lift up Iraq to a merely Tunisian level of political civility.

But, even assuming it is possible, why should we bother? A chaotic, road-warrior culture in Iraq would be just fine, so far as I can see. In what respect would it not be fine? (Fine for **us**, I mean. It would of course be hard on the Iraqis, but that is not America's problem.) Because "chaos breeds terrorism"? What environment does NOT breed terrorism? The 9/11 hijackers were mainly products of Saudi Arabia, one of the least chaotic societies that ever existed. 1960s Belfast was not the least bit chaotic, but it produced a crop of terrorists that plague it to this day. Hamburg, Madrid, Paris, have all turned out plenty of terrorists. The Japanese "Red Brigades" were some of the most vicious terrorists of modern times. Is Japan "chaotic"?...

Marmion: A Christmas Poem @ Recta Ratio:

By Sir Walter Scott....

Meekness: The Forgotten Virtue @ Christifideles:

I recently discovered a virtue that I realized I had been seriously lacking: Meekness.

I never really realized until this Immaculate Conception that I never really knew what the meaning of "meek" was. I knew it wasn't a matter of allowing yourself to be a doormat, but other than the fact that it had something to do with non-aggression, I never quite grasped what it was....

The Lidless Eye @ Belmont Club:

Most everyone on the blogosphere has probably followed the Glenn Reynolds link to a Mosul chaplain's blog. More than 20 people, including US military and civilian personnel, were killed in a mortar attack on a base mess tent in Mosul. Chaplain Lewis was at the site. His narrative of the followup attack on the wounded and the medical personnel who responded stood out....

Mascal @ Training for Eternity:

By the time I got back to our compound it was all over the news. It seemed like the thing had just happened when in reality I had been neck deep in it for several hours. And there it was on TV. Frankly, it's kind of a blur....

The Democratic Underground Post Of The Day: Three Cheers For Castro! @ Right Wing News:

It started out well enough. A DUer, to his credit, posted a thread called Castro loving is a problem. Hey, that's worthy of a little applause isn't it? I mean how many Democrats are willing to confront the wackos in their party who give them a bad name?

Of course, there were some more DUers who agreed with the original poster and added their support. But, by the time the thread was done, it had regrettably turned into a big ole Fidel Castro luuuuuuuv-fest! And of course, what's for a leftie not to love about a Commie thug who hates America? =D, Ok, that was a little unfair since there were plenty of libs at the DU who came out against Castro, but just check out the comments from all of the diehard, Commie lovin', libs who are still out there....

"Impact" @ IraqPundit:

Tuesday's Washington Post front page was dominated by a banner headline stretching across all but one column, and proclaiming that "Bush Acknowledges Impact of Insurgents." That's a reference to the president's Monday's press conference, where he said, "But no question about it. The bombers are having an effect. You know, these people are targeting innocent Iraqis. They're trying to shake the will of the Iraqi people and, frankly, trying to shake the will of the American people."

This conversation between the president and the press is not about Iraqis so much as it is about polls....

A Visit From Saint Nicholas @ Let's Try Freedom:

As retold by Ernest Hemingway

by James Thurber

Originally published in 1927....

The thundering herd speaks, sort of @ Power Line:

The mainstream media have perfected the art of the stampede, and it seems to be on display in the case of the now-infamous Rumsfeld autopen....

That may be egg beaters, but I know it wasn't turkey bacon! @ cut on the bias:

Apparently I wasn't meant to go to the Sleep Clinic. Last May I made an appointment with the doctors there, and on the way in my check-engine light came on. I canceled. This time the doctor visit went fine, and the sleep over was scheduled for last night. The coldest night of the year. Temperatures in the teens with a brisk wind slicing through the mid-weight clothes that pass for a winter wardrobe in Alabama. While my brother and his family headed off to a party after church, I headed off in the cold for the 45 minute drive to B'ham....

The "Holiday" Brunch @ No Left Turns:

Last weekend my husband and I were obliged to attend the "Holiday Brunch" sponsored by his boss (he works for a major Pharmaceutical company) for the research and development department of his company. Of course, it was very nice of his boss to go to the trouble and the food and the company were all just fine. The problem was the huge exercise in absurdity that kept all of these executives from saying "Merry Christmas." ....

Affirmative Mismatch @ Discriminations:

I have had several occasions to discuss the forthcoming study by UCLA law professor Richard Sander arguing that racial preferences in law schools actually reduce the number of black lawyers....

the new & serious apostolic visitation @ Off the Record:

The working document for the upcoming visitation of the U.S. seminaries — known in Vatican slang as the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind — occasioned some grim prognostications on our part that were blogged below. Yet I passed over the single ray of hope given by Bishop Nienstedt: his assurance that "a key element of the visitation is that any faculty member or student will be allowed to speak with the visitation team about the condition of the seminary." Provided there isn't an antecedent desire to bury negative feedback, this is a great step forward....

First, many thanks to readers for their kind wishes.... @ Laudem Gloriae:

.... It's wonderful to read your thoughts, and I want to return my thanks.

Here's the tired little pumpkin at three days old....

Bush's Five-Fingered Canadians @ Catholic Light:

Like I do every month, here's the unedited December installment of Canons and Culture — the monthly column I write for the Wanderer: ....

It's all over!!! @ The Diplomad:

According to the EU, all life as we know it has at most six more months. In fact, it could come to a crashing halt at any time; it seems that the clock might have run out on December 3 of this year!

We explain — and hope we can finish this before the world ends!...

Compare and contrast @ Hoystory.com:

A story came over the wire yesterday on a Cornell University survey that shows *horror* that Americans believe Muslims are more likely to be terrorists — fancy that. Of course, the survey wasn't phrased in quite that way....

The gospel according to Saint Nick @ Power Line:

And then doubting David came unto Saint Nick the exegete, directing his attention to the text: ....

New Years' Resolutions and Individual Development Plans: They Can Work! @ HerbEly:

During my career as a federal supervisor, I made many new years resolutions, wrote my own Individual Development Plans (IDP) and approved plans for my employees. As a retiree, I no longer have to deal with performance appraisals and IDP’s. Still I feel that mixture of hope and frustration as I think about the New Year and that desire for change and improvement....

Our Lady of Guadalupe and the emerging Methodists @ GetReligion:

One of the trend stories right now in hip evangelicalism centers on what is called the "emerging church," a concept that is rooted in postmodernism and is just as hard to define.

Wait a minute. Can something be "rooted" in postmodernism?

Anyway, you might be wondering: What, precisely, is an emerging church? Is this a kind of megachurch for people who know "The Matrix" by heart? Are these churches for evangelicals with NPR coffee mugs on their desks....

Must be a pony in here somewhere @ The Paragraph Farmer (italics in original):

We're told that Advent is a time to prepare the way of the Lord. This is a polemical attempt at some of the spadework such preparation entails. Because this involves analyzing a feature story on so-called Christmas controversies, the metaphor is apt: when you go looking for Christmas in Newsweek, you need a shovel....

"FUGGEDABOUTIT!?" — A response to Rev'd Canon Lesley A. Northup @ Against the Grain:

Nathan at Fides, Spes, Caritas calls my attention to the text of what I would describe as "a spirited homily" by Episcopalian Rev'd Canon Lesley A. Northup, calling upon her parishioners to "Get Real — Read The Book"....

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sat. 12/25/04 11:46:28 AM
Categorized as Blogworthies.

Three for Christmas Day

Poems by Sister M. Madeleva, C.S.C.

Ways

God has most simple ways.
He likes a stable's covering,
And little lambs that shepherds bring.
His majesty aside He lays,
You would not know He is a King,
He has such humble ways.

See, where He lies, quite sweet and small,
A Baby in an ox's stall
Smiling to meet His mother's gaze.
You could not fear this God at all,
He has such tender ways.

But look you, how the heavens blaze!
And hark you, what angelic praise
Resounds! Indeed, He is a King,
And these be Godlike ways.

Christmas Song

The earth is very beautiful with stars
And there are wise men yet who love their light,
Shepherds who watch their flocks and gather songs
From the still night.

And though the hostels of the world be thronged,
Its mangers wait, its stable doors swing wide.
Mary, young girl, this is their hour and yours;
Come, come inside!

Jesus, young child, content You here to lie
Among clean kine and men bemused with awe.
Remember, dearling, when You made Your world
You willed this straw.

The world is blind; the world is Bethlehem
But over it Your stars are very bright.
With weak and wise, with Mary here I am,
Young child, tonight.

To Be Enrolled

This is the month for census-taking.
I come to be enrolled in Bethlehem,
The House of Bread, to which I legally belong.

Already I foresee that not one of its hostels will receive me.
I shall seek lodging in a manger-cave at the town's edge.
Joseph, my kinsman, will be there
With Mary, his espoused wife, and her Child
Who is the Son of Cod.

This year and every year He comes to Bethlehem
To be enrolled among the sons of men.
And I, who am the merest of them,
I also am a son of God.
I also come to be enrolled with Him.

(all from American Twelfth Night)

The Four Last Things: Collected Poems (1959) pp. 111f, 123, 121.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sat. 12/25/04 09:24:50 AM
Categorized as Literary & Religious.