What Is Peace?

Lee Anne at Such Small Hands has many edifying posts about faith on her blog. She has two posts today regarding peace. The first, Real Peace vs. False Peace, points out that the search for peace needs to begin in your soul, and isn't merely an absence of external conflict.

The second post, More from Schaeffer, examines the great theologian Francis Schaeffer's views on pacifism and military preparedness. While I've read a book by Schaeffer's son, I have yet to read any of the senior Schaeffer's books. My reading list keeps growing and growing...

Slaughtered by Tyrants

Dean's World has a very important post about genocide...about the tens of millions murdered in 20th century by tyrants. Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao and The Young Turks together slaughtered over 100 million people. The post is accompanied by very upsetting pictures of the Armenian genocide.

Also, today is Yom HaShoah, which is the Jewish Holocaust Remembrance Day.

On the war and terrorism front...

JunkYard Blog has a couple of must-read posts:

• LETTERS FROM BAGHDAD HAVE FASCINATING DATES - Chris Regan examines links between Saddam and Al Qaeda, and how the Clinton administration dropped the ball.
• A CLEAN-UP JOB - Bryan Preston looks at how cleaning up the Islamic world is going very difficult, especially if moderate Muslims are reluctant to distance themselves from the radicals. (I've been thinking along similar lines lately. Since Saddam's regime is gone, the mullahs in Iraq see their chance to grab power. And they seem to hold much sway over a sizeable portion the Iraqi people. Talk about out of a frying pan and into another frying pan...)

Art Meets TV Land

Via Common Sense and Wonder comes the weird art of Isabel Samaras. (A warning -- some of the paintings are not work safe.) You know, I always thought that beneath Jeannie's bubbly, eager-to-please exterior lurked dark, seething resentment...

Round-Heeled Granny

Rod Dreher at The Corner posts about this unbelievable article:

New York Times: Sex and the Single Senior

It's about a 70-year-old woman who has decided that promiscuity is the path to happiness. She is even writing a book about her "adventures." Dreher pretty much said what I think of all this, but I'd like to comment on a couple of things:

Ms. Juska, a retired high school English teacher (round-heeled is an antiquated slang expression for a promiscuous woman), was moved to action after seeing Eric Rohmer's film "Autumn Tale." Its plot involves a woman placing a personal ad in a newspaper on her middle-age friend's behalf.

Okay, so this woman makes a life-altering decision based on...a movie. You've got to be kidding me!

"Before I got home I had written my ad in my head," Ms. Juska said. "But I did think, as if I were teaching a class and would ask my students, `What harm might this decision cause other people?' The only person that would be is my son. So I asked him, and he said: `Go get 'em, Mom. It's your turn.' The night I sent the ad in I felt so great."

My own mother is about the same age as this woman. I couldn't imagine saying to my mother, "Go ahead and sleep around, Mom! Have fun!" This is weird and messed up on so many levels.

"When women in particular hear about what I've done, the question which unbidden comes to them is, `What have I done with my life?' " she continued. "And lots of people at my age don't want to go back and look at it. That's why they're so nuts about their grandchildren. It keeps the focus off them."

So being promiscuous is "doing something with your life?" And maybe people your age are nuts about their grandchildren because they value family. I suppose this woman is too self-absorbed to see that keeping the focus off yourself and putting others first can be a good thing.

I don't know what annoys me more about this article, the woman it's about, or the breezy, look-at-this-plucky-old-lady-rising-above-repression tone. Ugh.

Skins Gallery

I have added a skins gallery with screenshots of all available skins. The link is on the sidebar. I will also continue to have direct links for each skin as well.

Haiku Blogging

Taking a cue from Dean, I'm going to use haikus to comment on a couple of much talked about items of the week:

Such hysteria
About Santorum's remarks
Just get over it

Ditzy Chicks find out
When all else fails, get naked
Airbrush works wonders

Extremists of the Left and Right

Frontpage Magazine has a scathing piece on the "red-brown alliance," where the Marxist left and fascist right are united by common hatreds -- anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism.

I've heard many say that the political spectrum is more like a circle, with the far left and far right meeting each other at the bottom. The Frontpage article demonstrates how true that is.

(Via Relapsed Catholic.)

New Skinning Method

I have implemented a new skinning method for this site, which will allow me greater flexibility in designing skins. The previous method was completely driven by style sheets, so I was locked into a certain design formula. The new method, which you can read about here, allows me to break out of that formula. (In fact, I've already changed the "All American" skin to look the way I originally intended.)

You will need to reset your skin selection, since this method uses a different cookie. The skins are still on the sidebar. However, when you switch, you will be taken to a page that will show you what the skin will look like. The next thing I'm going to add is a skin gallery, so that you can see screenshots and descriptions of the skins.

New Stuff for Bloggers

Two major blogging tools are introducing new services that should make blogging just a little easier:

• Six Apart, the folks who created Movable Type, are announcing a new, soon-to-be-launched service called TypePad. TypePad is a hosted service for weblogs that will be based on the Movable Type system.
• Blogger is rolling out an improved blogging interface called Dano. Eventually, all Blogger blogs will be migrated to Dano. According to the FAQ, all those archive bugs should be a thing of the past.

(First item via InstaPundit, second via Bene Diction.)

It never ends...

Clinton sleaze, that is:

NewsMax: Steven Brill: Hillary Fabricated 9/11 Records

And Brill is a former Clinton defender.

(Via Cold Fury.)

Why does this not surprise me?

Scott Peterson will most likely be charged with double homicide -- for the murders of both his wife Laci and their unborn son, Connor. NOW doesn't like this at all.

Fetal homicide laws have been opposed by some pro-choice organizations that fear they will undermine a woman's right to choose an abortion, even though the statues exempt legal abortions.

After watching news reports of Peterson's arrest, Stark expressed concern with the tone of the coverage.

"There's something about this that bothers me a little bit," Stark said. "Was it born, or was it unborn? If it was unborn, then I can't see charging (Peterson) with a double-murder." [...]

"He was wanted and expected, and (Laci Peterson) had a name for him, but if he wasn't born, he wasn't born. It sets a kind of precedent," Stark said, adding that the issue was "just something I've been ruminating on."

All they care about is abortion.

(Via Joyful Christian.)

Update: Kevin McGehee has also blogged about this article and makes a great point about the media.

Update 2: NOW is distancing itself from the statements of the Morris County chapter president.

A Blogger Returns

Mark Shea is back after his Lenten hiatus.

The Future of Warblogs

Fulton Chain has this post which examines the possible future of four well-know warblogs. I think what the writer has to say about LGF is more than a little unfair. LGF has done a great job examining one of the true "root causes" of terrorism -- radical, fundamentalist Islam. Some of the commenters do get out of hand, but I don't think it's fair to judge LGF on the basis of that.

(Via Bene Diction).

He Is Risen!

Have a blessed Easter!

From Matthew 28:1-10

The Resurrection

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

(Image of Rembrandt - The Risen Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalene from The Art Renewal Center.)

Baghdad Bob Lives!

And he's joined Happy Fun Pundit!

Seen and Heard at the Grocery Store

Seen -- A guy/gal/person wandering around the store in an Easter Bunny costume. (Not unusual, of course, on the day before Easter.)

Heard -- A few minutes later, on the grocery store's loudspeaker: "Easter Bunny, we need you up front! Easter Bunny..."

This made me giggle...I guess you had to be there...

Good Friday

From Luke 23:44-56

Jesus' Death

It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.

The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man." When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

Jesus' Burial

Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.

The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.

(Image of Rembrandt - Descent from the Cross from The Art Renewal Center.)

Travesty

In the name of all that doesn't suck, please don't let this happen. Sign the petition!

(Via Dean and Andrea.)

France

I haven't jumped on the bash-France bandwagon, because I don't like to make broad assumptions about an entire country based on what the leaders or a few protesters do. However, I want to point out a couple of posts that take a serious look at where France stands.

First of all, Joshua Claybourn points out that France may have violated the UN embargo on Iraq while also playing a large part in making UN resolutions meaningless.

Next, Midwest Conservative Journal has this post on what French journalist Guy Milliere has to say about France. According to Milliere, France is now deeply anti-Semitic and anti-American. France is also becoming increasingly identified with radical Islam. (Many posters over at LGF joke that France will be the first European country to institute Shari'a. If what Milliere says is accurate, it may not be a joke after all.)

I think America should be wary of France. While I wouldn't necessarily say that France is an enemy yet, she could become one eventually.

New Discovery

Notable new conservative website:

Who Are You Kidding?

Looks very promising...do check it out.

High-Tech Shoplifting

This site has to be seen to be believed. From the site's about page:

At stores which rely heavily on the barcode for your bill total, printed bar code stickers from this site could be used to relabel and re-code expensive products with cheaper prices. Rather than our competitors that allow you to compare apples to apples, we allow you the consumer to relabel dvd's with apple prices.

Just awful. When people do things like this, it ends up hurting those of us who don't steal.

(Via Ipse Dixit.)

Update: At the bottom of the same about page, Re-Code.com says that their site is satire and does not endorse stealing. I didn't notice the disclaimer when I looked at it the first time. I have to say it's very good satire...

Update 2: There's much skepticism as to whether this is truly satire or if the disclaimer is just a cover. They sure are going to a lot of trouble collecting barcodes for a satire site.

Update 3: Here's a Salon article about Re-Code.com. (You'll have to sit through an ad to read the whole thing.) Apparently it's the work of some activist group who wants to stick it to The Man. Satire? Nah...

Update 4: Looks like they've been shut down.

On Mercy and Justice

Eve Tushnet has a great post about justice and mercy. (Blogspot permalinks are busted, of course...scroll down to the post entitled "JUSTICE, MERCY, AND THE FALL" from April 7.)

A few excerpts:

Have been thinking a lot recently about justice and mercy, especially about the famous Adam Smith tagline, "Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent." [...]

Smith's quote points out some of the ways that naive or misapplied mercy can become itself merciless, thoughtlessly cruel--an obvious example would be freeing a murderer who then kills more people. Many of the debates about how widespread welfare affects culture and creates perverse incentives revolve around more subtle examples of Smith's principle. Policing may seem like a "justice" act, but live in an unpoliced neighborhood for a while and you'll see that it can also be a great mercy to a populace terrorized by criminals.

But justice isn't just merciful to the innocent. It can also be a means of keeping the guilty from doing further harm--and thus a blessing in disguise to them. Chastisement can provoke repentance. Chastisement can force self-examination. [...]

But the justice-trumps-mercy stance is also flawed, because it divides the world into the Good Guys and the Bad Guys, and if you ever fall off the cliff into BadGuyLand, that's it for you--you'll get what you deserve. If you have a kid out of wedlock, don't expect my help--you should have kept your pants zipped. If you rob a store, don't expect me to visit you in prison, bring books to the prison library, or give you a second chance--I ought to ostracize you, both to maintain the disincentives to robbery and because you earned it. What have the sheep to do with the goats?

There are a lot of problems with this view, but perhaps the most obvious one is just that there is no one who does not need mercy.

Eve says that her thoughts on this subject are "unformed" and "scattered." I don't think they are at all...they're well worth reading.

Just a Reminder

April 15th is "Buy a Gun For to Spite Michael Moore Day."

I may not be able to buy a gun myself by then, but I'll at least renew my lapsed NRA membership in "honor" of SpongeMike Sweatpants.

Skin Changes

I changed the "All American" skin a bit. I got rid of the apples in the red, white and blue basket and replaced it with American flags. One reason I did this is I saw that the apples image was being used on another site. Since anyone who uses iStockPhoto.com can download that image, and since it's a nice image, it's not surprising that someone else somewhere on the web would be using it. But I felt weird about it, like wearing the same dress that someone else at a party is wearing. I didn't build the skin around that image, I just picked it because it fit the skin (it was America-themed and had a white background). I really wanted more American flags for the skin anyway, and more stars...so now I have them.

I also keep tweaking the "Monochrome" skin. I've never been 100 percent happy with it. I'm about 99 percent happy with it now, so I probably won't change it anymore.

Remembering Dad

Five years ago today, my father died of lung cancer. He died six days short of his 61st birthday.

He was diagnosed about fourteen months earlier. He had a cold that would not go away. He went to the doctor and found that he had pneumonia and a spot on his lung. The spot turned out to be cancer, an inoperable type that had already metastasized. And yes, he was a smoker -- had been since his teens.

He went through chemotherapy and radiation. It made him sick for a time, but it also extended his life. Without it he probably would have died a year earlier than he did.

I think his strong will kept him alive as well. The following July after he was diagnosed, my older brother died of a brain tumor. My brother's death was devastating beyond what I can express. I won't go into it in this post, but it was something that was not expected. I believe that my brother's death made my Dad more determined to live. He did not want to leave us so soon after what happened to my brother.

My Dad was not a religious man. He had reasons to be bitter and skeptical towards religion. His parents were very religious (his father being a preacher), but they divorced when he was young. He was exposed to a lot of religious people who were not very good Christians.

But as he grew sicker, he turned to God for strength. He spoke and prayed with my pastor and my sister's priest. My pastor baptized him a few weeks before he died.

Dad was a very intelligent man who was good at almost anything he put his hand to. He renovated an old dumpy house he and my Mom bought when I was eleven. Mom and I helped, but he did the hard stuff. He made it into a lovely home. I have a rifle he built before I was born. It's a .243 target rifle. He won a shooting competition with it. He could fix just about anything. He taught himself to write very complex programs on his computer. He loved chess and studied books on chess strategy.

He was not perfect, and he had his demons he struggled with. But he was a good man. I love him very much and I miss him every day.

Iraqi Liberation Posts

Here's a roundup of some posts about Iraqis celebrating freedom from Saddam:

• Balloon Juice - A Tale of Two Cities - A Photo Essay
• Joshua Claybourn - Iraqis Celebrate
• Dean's World - I Had To Be a Part Of It (Paul Fallon) and Letters from Women for a Free Iraq
• InstaPundit - Saddam crumbles.
• Occam's Toothbrush - Dancing
• One Hand Clapping - Iraqis to human shields, "Go home, wankers!" (This is not photoshopped, BTW. I saw this footage replayed on FNC this evening. I bet the sign originally belonged to the human shields and the Iraqis swiped it and added the words "human shields" to it.)

Update: Here's a couple more good ones that I missed:

• Ben Domenech - This Is Freedom


• Michael Totten - The Happiest Day of Their Lives

Remembering Those Lost

Susanna Cornett has created a new website that will have information on the soldiers who have died in Operation Iraqi Freedom:

The Ultimate Sacrifice - Operation Iraqi Freedom

Also, Joshua Claybourn will be posting about some the fallen soldiers over the next couple of weeks.

Fresh New Skin

I've just finished another skin for this site. It's called "Citrus Clean." It has a clean, white background with some orange, green and yellow. All the skins can be found on the sidebar.

Here I am...

Yes, I'm still around, I'm just really busy. I'm in a training class for my job -- C/C++ Programming. The last time I programmed with C was when I did a directed study project in college (I was a Computer Science major). A lot of this stuff is familiar, but there's a lot of new material, too. I will be in training classes every other week for the next couple of months. I'll be learning Java and all kinds of new stuff.

In the weeks when I'm back at work, I'll have another deadline nipping at my heels, so no more slacking off. If I don't have a deadline, I have a tendency to sneak too many peeks at favorite blogs, or post to my own, during work hours. I know I shouldn't do this. So, unless I can get in a quick post or comment during lunch, you will probably only see me around in the evenings. (The place where my training classes are at is only about five to ten minutes from my house, so I can come home for lunch just like I do when I'm at work.)

Just letting you know...

Perspective

I feel really lame for complaining about my problems with insomnia when I see pictures like these and these.

God and Guns

Here's an interesting article that's sure to raise some hackles:

The Washington Times: Preaching for God and guns

Black ministers practicing politics from the pulpit are nothing new. Since the genesis of the modern civil rights movement a half-century ago, no group has had more influence on the politics of rank-and-file black voters than their clergy.

But seldom have black preachers mixed Bible readings, political debate and target practice.

Meet Kenneth Blanchard, the "Pistol Packing Preacher." That is the title of a motivational compact disc aimed at black and Hispanic audiences, his chosen demographic for preaching about the "sacred right" to self-defense.

"Gun rights are civil rights," says Mr. Blanchard, who is licensed as an assistant minister by the Mount Sinai Baptist Church in Washington. "Self-defense is a divine right." [...]

Asked to reconcile his self-defense advocacy with the Christ's admonition to turn the other cheek, Mr. Blanchard said the two philosophies are compatible.

"Jesus was not some pacifist wimp, as many like to portray him, but a really tough guy," Mr. Blanchard said. "His advice to turn the other cheek did not mean to lie down and give up, but to be cool, careful and calculated. It means to control your emotions and actions through inner, spiritual strength, to not react in anger or rage, but carefully."

The article goes on to talk about how gun rights played a significant role in the early civil rights movement.

I have to say that Mr. Blanchard's interpretation of "turn the other cheek" is similar to mine. To me, it means that you should control your anger and not be vengeful. I don't think it is telling people not to defend themselves and others from harm, because defense and vengeance are two completely different things. Defense of self and others is motivated by love, whereas vengeance is motivated by hate.

(Hat tip: laughin.)

Beautiful

I think this picture is beautiful:

From the source:

NASIRIYAH, Iraq (Apr. 2. 2003) -- Chief Hospital Corpsman David Jones of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) (15th MEU (SOC)) holds the two-hour- old newborn Rogenia Katham, daughter of Jamila Katham. The infant was born in the Battalion Landing Team 2/1's Battalion Aid Station after arriving at the 15th MEU's position. U.S. Marine Corps Photo by SSgt. Robert Knoll.

(Via The Command Post.)

Michael Kelly

I was very saddened to hear of Michael Kelly's death. This is his last column:

Across the Euphrates

Here is an archive of his columns going back four years.

He was truly one of the good guys. May he rest in peace.

Cheesy Christian Knickknacks

Via Joshua Claybourn and Jordon Cooper comes this:

The Hamilton Collection: Lord Bless This Defender of Freedom Figurine

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not against praying for God to look after our troops. Quite the contrary. But stuff like this is just so cheesy! I've seen nativity knickknacks similar to this, which I always thought were bizarre...Oh, here's one now.

Okay, I'll stop before I go into a sugar coma...

An update...

If you will remember, I linked to this story by Ken Joseph, Jr. a few days ago. At the time, I noted that the website had said that the tapes were going to be on ABC news, but that information had been removed.

Well, I just got a comment to that post with some more information on the tapes:

Regarding Ken Joseph, I just got this from them:

Sorry for the confusion. We had an exclusive with BW/ABC setup, but they kept delaying, so we backed out of the offer. They wanted a black out on media. So, the interview will not air.

Ken is slated to be live via satellite tonight on MSNBC -- either at 8pm or 10pm ET -- they haven't determined which yet.

We're having problems getting the tapes here from Amman and edited, too.

Posted by Matt at April 3, 2003 01:44 PM

I will be watching MSNBC tonight. I hope they get the glitches worked out. Thanks to Matt for the update!

Update: There's more info on Dean Esmay's post about this story.

Update 2: Matt has informed me that the people at the Assyrian Christian website say that the interview may take place Friday (I assume on MSNBC).

Update 3: **sigh** Well, either I missed it or it wasn't on tonight either. I didn't tune into MSNBC until about 7:30 central because I took a long nap after work (insomnia stinks).

St. Robert Goulet of the Pantsless

It's been a while since I've posted about a bizarre item seen on the web. Well, the dry spell is over, for A Saintly Salmagundi (permalinks not working -- scroll down to post entitled "Nuttiness Beyond Compare") has turned up this...thing:

Christ portrayed as Lord of the Dance

I agree with one of the commenters on the post...it does look like Robert Goulet.

(Found via E-Pression.)

Shameless Capitalism

It seems that everybody has been talking about this new Blogshares thing. It's a fantasy stock market for weblogs. Even this humble blog has been listed. I was surprised to find that someone has already bought some LilacRose shares! (Thanks!)

Okay, I admit that I don't know much about the stock market. In fact, any knowledge I have comes from playing the Stock Market board game. And I would usually lose because I would end up with a bunch of shares of International Shoe, with the value sinking like a stone.

I'll check out Blogshares more thoroughly when I get some time. It looks like it could be fun, and it may even serve as a learning tool for stock market know-nothings like myself.

Rose Update

Remember the Moon Shadow rose I planted? At the time, I was afraid I may have hurt the roots when I planted it. But it seems to be doing great so far. Its first bloom opened this weekend and it was beautiful!

The kids may be alright...

Are kids today more pro-life? According to this article, they may be:

New York Times: Surprise, Mom: I'm Anti-Abortion

It seems many of the adults are saying, "What's the matter with these kids today?"

"I was shocked that there were that many students who felt strong enough and confident enough to speak about being pro-life," said Nina Verin, a parent of another student in the class (whose oral argument was about war in Iraq). "The people I associate with in town are pro-choice, so I'm troubled — where do these kids come from?"

Apparently, the kids are thinking about this issue differently than their parents:

Britni Hoffbeck, another speech student at Red Wing High who opposes abortion, and who says her views are more conservative than those of her parents, put her argument succinctly: "It's more about the baby's rights than the woman's rights."

Tom Cosgrove, a communications consultant in Cambridge, Mass., who has researched the views of young people for national abortion-rights groups, said: "All the restrictions that the right-to-life movement has imposed young people look at and say, `They're a good thing, because it's meant to protect a young woman's health.' They don't want the label of pro-choice. The pro-life side figured out a long time ago that this is about children, whereas the pro-choice movement is focused on women and choice."

I'll take this as a good sign, although teenagers have a tendency to change their views about things as they get older. For example, I went from being pro-life to pro-choice and then back to pro-life again (as an adult). But maybe there is a true shift in public opinion coming on this issue. Perhaps by the end of this century, people will look at abortion the same way people look at slavery now.

(Via E-Pression).