Writing in the liberal New Republic, Harvard law prof William Stuntz http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=w051205&s=stuntz120605 draws
an interesting analogy between Iraq and the Civil War:
"Toppling Saddam and seizing his chemical and biological weapons probably wasn't worth the sacrifice of 2,000-plus American lives (as long as nuclear weapons weren't in the picture). Similarly, control over the Mississippi wasn't worth the bloodletting across the length of the Confederacy's border that took place in Lincoln's first term.
Thankfully, Lincoln saw to it that the war's purpose changed. George W. Bush has changed the purpose of his war too, though the change seems more the product of our enemies' choices than of Bush's design. By prolonging the war, Zarqawi and his Baathist allies have drawn thousands of terrorist wannabes into the fight--against both our soldiers and Muslim civilians. When terrorists fight American civilians, as on September 11, they can leverage their own deaths to kill a great many of us. But when terrorists fight American soldiers, the odds tilt towards our side.
Equally important, by bringing the fight to a Muslim land, by making that land the central front of the war on Islamic terrorism, the United States has effectively forced Muslim terrorists to kill Muslim civilians. That is why the so-called Arab street is rising--not against us but against the terrorists, as we saw in Jordan after Zarqawi's disastrous hotel bombing. The population of the Islamic world is choosing sides not between jihadists and Westerners, but between jihadists and people just like themselves. We are, slowly but surely, converting bin Laden's war into a civil war--and that is a war bin Laden and his followers cannot hope to win."
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Boss, Genius
Sorrell Booke (b. January 4, 1930 in Buffalo, New York – d. February 11, 1994 in Sherman Oaks, California) was a Jewish-American actor best known for his role as the heavyset, corrupt politician "Jefferson Davis 'Boss' Hogg" in the television show The Dukes of Hazzard.
Fluent in five languages, Sorrell (rhymes with "moral") Booke attended Columbia and Yale Universities and served in the Korean War as a counterintelligence officer. Booke had parts in noteworthy 1960s films such as Black Like Me and A Fine Madness before transitioning to focus primarily on television parts in the 1970s and voice acting in the 1980s and 1990s.
Booke earned himself an Emmy nomination for his appearance in the TV series, Dr. Kildare in the episode entitled, "What's God to Julius?" He also had a recurring role in Norman Lear's groundbreaking sitcom All in the Family as Mr. Sanders, personnel manager at Archie Bunker's workplace, Pendergast Tool and Die.
Most notable to his career was being cast in The Dukes of Hazzard as the humorously-wicked antagonist to Bo and Luke Duke, J.D. 'Boss' Hogg. The series ran from 1979-1985, and spawned an animated series, The Dukes (1983), two reunion TV specials, and a feature film.
He also once conducted the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
Fluent in five languages, Sorrell (rhymes with "moral") Booke attended Columbia and Yale Universities and served in the Korean War as a counterintelligence officer. Booke had parts in noteworthy 1960s films such as Black Like Me and A Fine Madness before transitioning to focus primarily on television parts in the 1970s and voice acting in the 1980s and 1990s.
Booke earned himself an Emmy nomination for his appearance in the TV series, Dr. Kildare in the episode entitled, "What's God to Julius?" He also had a recurring role in Norman Lear's groundbreaking sitcom All in the Family as Mr. Sanders, personnel manager at Archie Bunker's workplace, Pendergast Tool and Die.
Most notable to his career was being cast in The Dukes of Hazzard as the humorously-wicked antagonist to Bo and Luke Duke, J.D. 'Boss' Hogg. The series ran from 1979-1985, and spawned an animated series, The Dukes (1983), two reunion TV specials, and a feature film.
He also once conducted the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
That's not mine!
Penis Pump Judge Gets Trial Delay
CREEK COUNTY, OKLA-The trial of an Oklahoma judge, charged with three counts of indecent exposure while allegedly using a "penis pump" under his judicial robes while adjudicating two murder trials and a civil trial in 2003, has won yet another delay in his trial when a special judge recused himself.A preliminary hearing in the case against former district judge Donald Thompson, 58, was scheduled to be heard Friday but was postponed after Thompson's lawyers questioned a conversation the trial judge, Craig County associate district judge Gary Maxey, had allegedly had with a potential witness in the Thompson case. Defense attorneys asked for Maxey's recusal because of a conversation he had had with the legal counsel for the Oklahoma Council on Judicial Complaints which investigated Thompson. Maxey said that although he thought he could have been impartial in the case, he was required to recuse himself by the Code of Judicial Conduct. Another judge will have to be appointed before the case can proceed. Earlier this month, Thompson was charged with additional counts of indecent exposure and misuse of a state computer.The case had been postponed in September because a judge who had previously recused himself in the case then participated in the jury selection. Thompson was arrested last year. A judge for over 22 years prior to his resignation last year, Thompson could face up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine on each felony count and would have to register as a sex offender. Thompson has denied the accusations and says that the pump seized was a gag gift from a friend. The sex toy and another one found under the bench will be admitted as evidence at trial and jurors will be allowed to see the sex toy.The trial is expected to be graphic in detail with witnesses testifying that they could hear the noise of the device coming from under the judge's robe while he was conducting the trial and a court stenographer says the sounds were recorded on her tapes of the trial.
CREEK COUNTY, OKLA-The trial of an Oklahoma judge, charged with three counts of indecent exposure while allegedly using a "penis pump" under his judicial robes while adjudicating two murder trials and a civil trial in 2003, has won yet another delay in his trial when a special judge recused himself.A preliminary hearing in the case against former district judge Donald Thompson, 58, was scheduled to be heard Friday but was postponed after Thompson's lawyers questioned a conversation the trial judge, Craig County associate district judge Gary Maxey, had allegedly had with a potential witness in the Thompson case. Defense attorneys asked for Maxey's recusal because of a conversation he had had with the legal counsel for the Oklahoma Council on Judicial Complaints which investigated Thompson. Maxey said that although he thought he could have been impartial in the case, he was required to recuse himself by the Code of Judicial Conduct. Another judge will have to be appointed before the case can proceed. Earlier this month, Thompson was charged with additional counts of indecent exposure and misuse of a state computer.The case had been postponed in September because a judge who had previously recused himself in the case then participated in the jury selection. Thompson was arrested last year. A judge for over 22 years prior to his resignation last year, Thompson could face up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine on each felony count and would have to register as a sex offender. Thompson has denied the accusations and says that the pump seized was a gag gift from a friend. The sex toy and another one found under the bench will be admitted as evidence at trial and jurors will be allowed to see the sex toy.The trial is expected to be graphic in detail with witnesses testifying that they could hear the noise of the device coming from under the judge's robe while he was conducting the trial and a court stenographer says the sounds were recorded on her tapes of the trial.
Monday, December 05, 2005
This is from a great article in the NYT Magazine that addresses European/Muslim issues. I like this quote- sound familiar?
"German immigration policies (and liberal multiculturalism) are only one side of the problem. The other side is the active refusal of many in the Muslim community to integrate. It is an illusion to believe that a German - or French or Dutch - passport and full rights of citizenship are enough to make all Muslims loyal citizens. "The attacks in London," Seyran Ates says, "were in the eyes of many Muslims a successful slap in the face to the Western community. The next perpetrators will be children of the third and fourth immigrant generation, who - under the eyes of well-meaning politicians - will be brought up from birth to hate Western society." It's only a question of time, Ates says, before Berlin experiences attacks like those in London and Madrid. When we spoke, the riots in France had not yet happened."
"German immigration policies (and liberal multiculturalism) are only one side of the problem. The other side is the active refusal of many in the Muslim community to integrate. It is an illusion to believe that a German - or French or Dutch - passport and full rights of citizenship are enough to make all Muslims loyal citizens. "The attacks in London," Seyran Ates says, "were in the eyes of many Muslims a successful slap in the face to the Western community. The next perpetrators will be children of the third and fourth immigrant generation, who - under the eyes of well-meaning politicians - will be brought up from birth to hate Western society." It's only a question of time, Ates says, before Berlin experiences attacks like those in London and Madrid. When we spoke, the riots in France had not yet happened."
Friday, December 02, 2005
Limbo Rock
VATICAN CITY (Reuters)
- Limbo -- the place where the Catholic Church teaches that babies go if they die before being baptized -- may have its days numbered.
According to Italian media reports on Tuesday, an international theological commission will Pope Benedict to eliminate the teaching about limbo from the Catholic catechism.
The Catholic Church teaches that babies who die before they can be baptized go to limbo, whose name comes from the Latin for "border" or "edge," because they deserve neither heaven nor hell. Last October, seven months before he died, Pope John Paul asked the commission to come up with "a more coherent and enlightened way" of describing the fate of such innocents.
It was then headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who was elected Pope in April. It is now headed by his successor at the Vatican's doctrinal department, Archbishop William Levada, an American from San Francisco. The commission, which has been meeting behind closed doors, may make its recommendation soon.
In his Divine Comedy, Dante passes limbo on his way into hell and writes: "Great grief seized on my own heart when this I heard, because some people of much worthiness I knew, who in limbo were suspended."
- Limbo -- the place where the Catholic Church teaches that babies go if they die before being baptized -- may have its days numbered.
According to Italian media reports on Tuesday, an international theological commission will Pope Benedict to eliminate the teaching about limbo from the Catholic catechism.
The Catholic Church teaches that babies who die before they can be baptized go to limbo, whose name comes from the Latin for "border" or "edge," because they deserve neither heaven nor hell. Last October, seven months before he died, Pope John Paul asked the commission to come up with "a more coherent and enlightened way" of describing the fate of such innocents.
It was then headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who was elected Pope in April. It is now headed by his successor at the Vatican's doctrinal department, Archbishop William Levada, an American from San Francisco. The commission, which has been meeting behind closed doors, may make its recommendation soon.
In his Divine Comedy, Dante passes limbo on his way into hell and writes: "Great grief seized on my own heart when this I heard, because some people of much worthiness I knew, who in limbo were suspended."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
On Francisco Franco
On Francisco Franco written by Charles Few Americans know much about Francisco Franco, leader of the winning side in the Spanish C...
