Some Guy makes a funny

At the Comic Sherpa, see this political comic strip--"Occasional Adventures of the D.C.Kid".. I found it to be very amusing. Kudos to its creator ("Some Guy").

Forecast: American Catholic Church soon to drop in membership

It's either going to have to change or die. If the Catholic church presses this "communion" issue to the point where it becomes a kangaroo court of canon law, priests (who haven't had such a great track record themselves as of late) will find they're preaching to empty pews.

Anonymoses comments on the subject.

In truth, religions are in the service of the master, not the slave. They extract the inherent power and freedom of the person and concentrate that ill-gotten power on "the church"...only weakening the power-giving individual.

Faith is free.

Religion binds with chains that empower the master.
This is not to say "stop being religious". Rather, it is to say "beware--be aware".

The faithful individual is greatly weakened by those who would use the power of the church to make that individual the target of mistrust and prejudice amongst his fellow community-members.

Chubby Salami Chalabi doesn't believe in Bath Nazis

Chalabi says the policy of allowing former Baathists to join a new Iraqi government is akin to putting back Nazis in charge of Germany. He says it will create major problems in the transition to democracy, endanger any government put together by UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi and cause it to fall after June 30.

I know Chalabi was way off on WMDs. (I didn't say he lied, but it doesn't rule out the possibility).

He's the embezzling schlump who cried "Wolfowitz!"

Perhaps Baathification would be a mistake as he says.

How can we believe anything he says anymore?


[LINK]

SeeYaGeroge.com

A message

Anonymoses sends an important message.

I pray that Peace will come to the Middle East and to the World. But it first has to exist in your hearts, our hearts. All our hearts.

Fear not. Rather love...with all your might, and all your heart. Pray for your enemy as well.

See John Kerry give tribute to Mary McGrory

At CSPAN you can see John Kerry giving a lovely tribute to Mary McGrory in his address to the American Society of Newspaper Editors at their annual meeting.
You can also see protestors march into the room chanting for Kerry to address AIDS funding as he gives his speech.
Making a plea for improvement in the tone of civil discourse in Washington, D.C., Kerry states: "The high road is harder, but it leads to a better place." Kerry goes on to lay out a new contract for America's middle class.
Related news article here.

From Kerry's speech:

"Two hundred twenty-nine years ago, the first patriots from Massachusetts put their lives on the line at Lexington Green. Nearby, Samuel Adams -- who was not only a patriot, but at times a newspaper editor -- heard the battle shots of freedom and declared, 'What a glorious morning for America is this!'"

"For once, an editor got it right." [Kerry said this of John Adams]. "Today, with all the grim news we read each day in your newspapers, it is important to remember what a glorious morning it has been for America -- and that glorious days lie ahead. I know that every four years people who are running for president tell you that this is the most important election. Well this one is different: It's the most important election in our lifetime."

Empty Days Blog:
On the role of high ideals in Realpolitik

This morning I'm showcasing Akim's blog.

Excerpt from above-titled entry:

The actual argument for the war sounds like this: we need to create a political and military base in Iraq and forcibly put a pro-american regime in place; if this can be done with american-style democracy, that's great, it would make for grand propaganda for our pretty suspect good intentions. If not, we'll be ok with any type of regime as long as we can easily manipulate it (unlike Iran - yet Iran is no worse a dictatorship than Saudi Arabia, in case you still think USA is really after dictators).

Bush and his eager cronies actually believe their own lies when they talk of "beacon of freedom" and "liberating" some selected "oppressed Arabs" - while talking of waging war on terror "abroad not at home". In the Middle East this peculiar mental confusion is called "American freedom" - as opposed to actual freedom.

Freedom implies the possibility of dissent and opposition - not only to your own home-grown dictator but also to the big dictator from abroad: who intends to dictate to you your thoughts and actions and hold you forever in bond for his supposedly selfless gifts. There is nothing moral or grand about dictatorially imposed "freedom". There is little selflessness or humanitarian concern in wanting to subjugate whole nations.

The book on the Wal Mart shelf
says the man o' sin is
coming soon

George Monbiot believes that U.S. Christian fundamentalists are driving President Bush's Middle East policy. He bases this theory on the Left-Behind-ers, a group of which he includes some of the most powerful men in America such as John Ashcroft and Tom DeLay. Monbiot thinks their beliefs are bonkers, but he understands they are at the heart of American power. He also believes they're actively seeking to provoke a new world war, seeing the invasion of Iraq as a mere warm-up act.