Miscellaneous Stuff Worth Reading

I've been too distracted to blog lately, but I've done some reading. Here are some things that I would like to discuss, but I either don't have the time or I can't muster the attention span to do so.

• First of all, you can check my Furl archives for items that have caught my attention. I'm going to try to get around to adding a Furl feed to my sidebar.
• Regarding the Mary McCarthy leak scandal, here is a primer on the whole story. I agree with Dean Esmay -- I think she is a traitor who has put politics over national security. (If she disagreed with the policy, there are plenty of legitimate ways she could have protested it.) Unfortunately, there are those who should know better who are rationalizing this act of treason.
• There's a lot of BS floating around about the Duke rape case. Steve H. at Hog on Ice cuts through it all.
• Dawn Eden has completed her conversion to Catholicism. Of course, during Holy Week and in the wake of her conversion, the feminists came after her with a vengeance. Ah, sisterhood...
• There is a new case in Texas similar to the Terri Schiavo case. However, there are two important differences: Andrea Clarke is not in a coma and she has made it clear that she wants to live. I knew things like this would start happening. Those who have spoken out against the Culture of Death are proven right again. But remember, we're the fanatics... /sarcasm

That's all for now. I'll try to check in again later.

A whiny filler post...

Sorry for the lack of posts...I just don't have the brain cells to post anything lately. My back is acting up again and my legs are also achy and stiff. I'm sitting with a heating pad on my back right now. I don't think I've done anything to strain it, so I was hoping that it was aching because we would be getting some rain soon. But it looks like the rain may just miss us yet again. It has been very dry and hot here this spring. We had a rather warm and dry winter this year as well. I have a feeling it's going to be a miserable summer.

While I'm complaining...I had to format and reinstall Mac OS X (Tiger) on my iBook for the second time this year. I'm glad I keep good backups (I have one of those Maxtor One Touch firewire drives.) Twice, the iBook has hung up while doing something perfectly innocent, like opening a program. This, of course, forced me to turn off the computer, since I couldn't shut down or restart. Upon restarting the computer, I would find that the operating system would not load. I used the start-up disk to correct any disk errors, but the damage had been done, so I formatted the disk and reinstalled everything. I just went through this drill again this week.

There are certain things about Apple I really like. I love my iPod and iTunes. (I was a die-hard WinAmp user before discovering iTunes.) But I've also had all kinds of problems with my Mac while my Windows PCs have stayed relatively trouble-free. I have never had Windows get so messed up from an ungraceful exit that I was forced to format and reinstall, whereas this happened to the iBook twice in about three months time. Last year, after having the iBook for eleven months, the hard drive crashed. I had to have it serviced twice because the first time they claimed the problem was the motherboard and not the hard drive. When I first upgraded to Tiger, it kept crashing my wireless router. I've had other little irritating problems that I won't go into here. My point is this: I don't understand why some people think Macs are superior to Windows PCs. They are different, but not better. And Windows PCs are a lot less trouble from my perspective.

Well, that's enough whining for the night. Hopefully, it will rain, my back will feel better and I will quit having problems with my iBook. Then I can post something more interesting... :-)

Bay of Pigs Anniversary

The failed Bay of Pigs invasion happened many years before I was born, but I was familiar with the generalities: that exiled Cubans tried to take back their country, but were unable to do so because America didn't help them. However, until reading this series of essays at Babalu Blog, I didn't fully realize the tremendous bravery of the Cubans who fought this battle and of the disgusting way the Kennedy Administration betrayed them. Here are a few excerpts:

Fontova mentions that Brigade 2506 was outnumbered by Cuban troops by almost 40 to 1! Two-to-one, or three-to-one are staggering enough odds, but forty-to-one? Nevertheless, it took the Soviet-backed Cuban forces three entire days to defeat a group of 2,000 men, and this was only after they ran out of ammunition. [...]

Kennedy's decision not to engage angered many of the Navy trainers who worked with the Brigade before the battle. Four of the trainers decided to go anyway. Their names are Thomas "Pete" Ray, Riley Shamburger, Leo Baker and Wade Gray, and they were officers in the Alabama Air Guard. Against steep odds, they decided to stick with their fellow combatants. All four died on their first missions.

"The Republicans have allowed a communist dictatorship to flourish eight jet minutes from our borders," accused John F. Kennedy during his famous debate with Richard Nixon during the 1960 presidential campaign. "We must support anti-Castro fighters. So far these freedom fighters have received no help from our government."

Two weeks before that crucial debate in October of 1960, JFK had been briefed by the CIA (on Ike's orders) about Cuban invasion plans (what would later be known as the Bay of Pigs invasion). So JFK knew perfectly well the Republican administration was helping Cuban freedom fighters. But since the plans were secret, he knew perfectly well Nixon couldn't rebut.

Which is to say, to blindside his Republican opponent Kennedy relied on that opponent's patriotism. Let's face it, Republicans are at a woeful disadvantage here. Nixon bit his tongue. He could easily have stomped Kennedy on it. But to some candidates national security (and those freedom fighters' lives) outweighs debating points.[...]

"Where are the PLANES?" kept crackling over the invasion ships' radios. That was their commander, Pepe San Roman, roaring into his radio from the beachhead between artillery concussions. Soviet howitzers were pounding 2,000 rounds into the desperately embattled men (and boys). "Send planes or we CAN'T LAST!" San Roman yelled while watching the Russian tanks close in, his ammo deplete and his casualties pile up.

The pleas made it to Navy Chief Admiral Arleigh Burke in Washington, D.C., who conveyed them in person to his commander in chief.

JFK was in a white tux and tails that fateful night of April 18, 1961, having just emerged from an elegant Beltway ball. For the closing act of the glittering occasion Jackie and her charming beau had spun around the dance floor, to the claps, coos and titters of the delighted guests. In the new president's honor, the band had struck up the Broadway smash "Mr. Wonderful."

"Two planes, Mr. President!" Burke sputtered into his commander in chief's face. The fighting admiral was livid, pleading for permission to allow just two of his jets to blaze off the carrier deck and support those desperately embattled freedom fighters on that shrinking beachhead.

"Burke, we can't get involved in this," replied Mr. Wonderful.

"WE put those boys there, Mr. President!" the fighting admiral exploded. "By God, we ARE involved!"

Mr. Wonderful refused to help the freedom fighters. The advice from his Best and Brightest again prevailed. The election was over, you see. Now his "leadership" was on full display.[...]

"Russian tanks overrunning my position," San Roman on his radio again, "destroying my equipment." crackle ... crackle ... crackle ... "How can you people do this to us?" Finally the radio went dead.

"Tears filled my eyes," writes CIA man Grayston Lynch, who took that final message. "I broke down completely. Never in my 37 years have I been so ashamed of my country."

If JFK had not been assassinated, and therefore remembered as some sort of martyr shrouded in the carefully packaged "Camelot" mythology, I think history would have judged him far more harshly.

(Via Dean's World.)

Happy Easter!

He is risen!

Luke 24:1-12:

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

For Good Friday

(Click for larger view. Image of William Bouguereau - Compassion from The Art Renewal Center.)

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” -- Luke 9:23-27

Cram It, World!

That's my feelings about pretty much everything right now. I may go into more details later or I may not.

The song that just came up on my iPod is "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding. Fits my mood perfectly.

Update: My mood has been improved somewhat by a good, long nap.

Another Prayer Request

Please pray for my uncle...the husband of my Mom's younger sister. He has been diagnosed with congestive heart failure and is in the hospital. They are running tests. I'll update when we find out more.

Update (4/5/06): As it turns out, he does not have congestive heart failure. He actually has some pulmonary problems -- most likely stress-related asthma.

Update (4/6/06): They have found that my uncle has a blood clot in one of his lungs. He has to stay in the hospital a few more days until they can get it to dissolve.

Update (4/9/06): My uncle is doing much better and was released from the hospital today. Thank you for your prayers!