Category Archives: Media/TV

Protest Goes Over the Boundaries

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CNN.Com: Gay supporters denied communion at Chicago Mass; Minnesota Catholics blocked at altar

It’s nice that people are standing up for the rights of others but I really think the Rainbow Sash movement stepped over the bounds. The Mass is for worship, not airing one’s political views. The Chicago cardinal had a right to order that they should be denied communion as it *IS* Church teaching that homosexuality is a sin. If you disagree so fundamentally with the teachings of the RCC, why are you trying to participate in the Eucharist? The priest did the right thing in blessing them but denying them the sacrament as he affirmed their presence there but stood up for his convictions and the convictions of the Church.

On the flip side, the laypeople in Minnesota went too far as it the priest’s decision and not theirs as to who receives the Body and Blood. Kneeling in front of people and preventing them from participating diminishes the authority of the priest.

Abuse of Iraqi Prisoners

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Chris posted the following:

So this morning I watched a very little bit of Rumsfeld’s testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee, during which he offered an apology, and took full responsibility for the events at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. It’ll be interesting to see if he winds up falling on his sword over this. If he does, though, the pundits on the right might not agree that the right person took the fall. According to this analysis, the groups to blame for the prisoner abuses are either women or feminists or Muslims or the academic left.

But one factor that may have contributed — but which I doubt investigators will want to even consider — is whether the presence of women in the unit actually encouraged more misbehavior, especially of the sexual nature that the pictures reveal. –FOX News political analyst Linda Chavez

The image of that female guard, smoking away as she joins gleefully in the disgraceful melee like one of the guys, is a cultural outgrowth of a feminist culture which encourages female barbarians. GI Janes are kicking around patriarchal Muslims in Iraq? — The American Spectator managing editor George Neumayr

Some Arab commentators are repeating the myth that the West has, once again, humiliated Muslims. If there has been humiliation, it isn’t the fault of the West. It is Muslims’ fault. –Cal Thomas, columnist and host of a FOX News show

[I]ncreasing the quality of military recruits would probably help avoid future Abu Ghraibs. One constructive step toward that end would be for elite universities to drop antimilitary policies, so that the military would have an easier time signing up the best and brightest young Americans. — James Taranto, editor of OpinionJournal.com

My thought: [sarcasm] Yes… let’s blame everyone from feminists to universities. Better yet, let’s blame the people who protested this war. I mean, if they actually supported sending people over there to be used as human targets, this wouldn’t have happened, right? [/sarcasm]

I have a really novel idea: why don’t we blame the troops who committed these abuses? It seems like everyone is trying to put the blame on someone besides them. They acted on their own brutal impulses and they should be punished.

And yes, I am in favor of Rumsfeld resigning. It would be the honorable thing to do because it happened on his watch and he did not act on it at an appropriate speed. When the WTO riots happened in Seattle in 1999, Police Chief Norm Stamper resigned because it happened on his watch and he took responsibility as the one in charge. Technically, Dubya is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and *HE* should resign; but I seriously doubt that it will happen (mostly because simple logic and chain of command is lost on most people) because he was only informed about this a few days ago. Rumsfeld, on the other hand, knew about this for a few months and didn’t act on it — a very bad mistake on his part. Dubya apparently “showed his displeasure to Rumsfeld” but that isn’t enough. This kind of abuse should cost Rumsfeld his job and if he has any integrity or honor, he *WILL* resign.

Closing thought: Could we also muzzle Rush Limbaugh?

Pat Tillman Memorial

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After MSNBC decided to cut the memorial broadcast to engage in some really inane commentary, I decided to watch it online. I’m not a Cardinals fan — he grew up in my area, went to my high school, and I figured I’d watch it to see if there were people I knew there. His brothers Kevin and Richard were within a year of me there and watching it is also one of these “bonding with my roots” things even though I can’t say I spoke 10 words to him in my life (though I probably saw him around). Pat’s wife is also from the area and her younger brother Paul was in my graduating class. (He was a jerk and I really hope his ego got flattened at Cal.) In other words, he was from “the neighborhood”.

The pros and cons:

Pro
–Maria Shriver: very very tactful and personalized.
–his friends: very poised and very well-spoken.
–Terry Hardtke: well-spoken and didn’t go into his fame — talked about him as a person.
–Paul Ugenti (II): He did very well in his eulogy. Touched a lot on Pat’s example, which I think is good. Also looks the same as he did in high school.
–Paul Ugenti (I): his father-in-law who said some good words and was succinct.
–Jim Rome: Interesting stories and defined “hero” well.

Cons
–his brother Richard: you really shouldn’t say “he’s not with God, he’s f*ing dead” in front of your parents at a public memorial. It also appeared that he was drunk off his butt while up there. (This was later confirmed by the fact that someone mentioned the Guiness that he was drinking.)
–MSNBC: you cut out what was probably a really beautiful singing of “America the Beautiful” by Darius Rucker to basically repeat the same inane crap that has been on the news for the last few days. Kindly shut up next time and let people watch the memorial.

And to Pat’s father: God created the 1993 Leland varsity starting line-up, ergo He could have made the team. That is all.

CD Meme

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(From Rick, who has too much time on his hands…)

They’re gathered in circles
the lamps light their faces
The crescent moon rocks in the sky
The poets of drumming
keep heartbeats suspended
The smoke swirls up and then it dies

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1. Grab the nearest CD.
2. Put it in your CD-Player (or start your mp3-player, I-tunes, etc.).
3. Skip to Song 3 (or load the 3rd song in your 3rd playlist)
4. Post the first verse in your journal along with these instructions. Don’t name the band, nor the album-title.
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