ShaunKenney.com

The Redesign Cometh! (and that right soon)

2009-01-27T17:03:00.000-05:00

Yes I am finally making the transition to WordPress. The transition has been a long time in coming, but this blog outgrew Blogger about three years ago.

Stay tuned!

Vatican criticizes Obama on abortion issue

2009-01-24T19:06:00.000-05:00

The Vatican comes out with a strong statement condemning Obama's reversal of the Mexico City Policy:

"This deals a harsh blow not only to us Catholics but to all the people across the world who fight against the slaughter of innocents that is carried out with the abortion," another top official with the Academy for Life, Monsignor Elio Sgreccia, told the ANSA news agency.

"Among the many good things that he could have done, Barack Obama instead chose the worst," he was quoted as saying Saturday.

Indeed.

On the Western Banks of the Shenandoah

2009-01-20T23:31:00.000-05:00

Craig Orndorff blogging from up in Shenandoah County.

I am highly pleased (and not altogether surprised) at the quality of blogging talent on the right in Virginia.

The Hall of Justice

2009-01-20T22:29:00.000-05:00

New Virginia blog over at The Hall of Justice, headed up by Staunton GOP member Carl Tate.

Give it a read. Carl has a promising career in politics ahead of him.

QandO: The "Era of Maturity?"

2009-01-20T20:34:00.000-05:00

McQ over at Q and O offers the following"

Steve Benen at Political Animal quotes Adam Serwer's take on the Obama inaugural speech, and is sure an "era of maturity" has been ushered in today.

But some of us really have our doubts given what we've seen previously from those supposedly ushering in this era.

Freedom of thought as the crushing of dissent?

We shall see...

Rekjavik on Thames

2009-01-20T18:34:00.000-05:00

The UK Telegraph's hopes for PM Brown are dim indeed, and the solution isn't much better:

The PM and the Chancellor , both looking a year older every day, tell us that for their next trick they will buy more bank shares, create a giant insurance scheme for bad debt, pledge to honour liabilities without limit, cross their fingers and hope it all works. The phrase "bottomless pit" springs to mind for a reason: that is what they have designed.

In this gloom, the Prime Minister has but one slender hope: that somehow, by force of personality, the new President Obama engineers a rapid American recovery restoring global confidence, energising the markets and making us all forget this bad dream.

Obama is talented but he is not a magician. Instead, Gordon Brown's nightmare, in which we are all trapped, is going to get much worse.

Obamaessiah? What I heard today was a series of government interventions in the American economy, interventions that will freeze capital as businessmen and bankers wait to see what they playing field really is.

It's comparable to Obama taking a bulldozer to build the new baseball field while we wonder why no one is playing ball.

That the Bank of England should peer overseas for help... what a mess.

Isophorone: How Hamas Fights

2009-01-18T16:59:00.000-05:00

(h/t to Ron @ Isophorone)

The British Want Their Guns Back

2009-01-18T16:10:00.002-05:00

"Freedom is only for those who have the guts to defend it." Attributed to one Jeff Cooper Pericles (and not the Pericles of Greek mythology) of whom I have never heard previously.

Not sure if I agree with the philosophy... but I certainly agree with the sentiment.

BANG!

2009-01-17T20:14:00.000-05:00

-2.2

2009-01-17T07:47:00.000-05:00

The temperature this morning in Kents Store, Virginia...

Lee-Jackson-Longstreet Day? Of course not... (and here's why)

2009-01-16T12:24:00.006-05:00

I've offered my thoughts on previous occasions as to why Lee-Jackson Day should graciously end, and this year the movement to replace it with a "Virginia Heritage Day" was kicked off over at Bearing Drift by Jim Hoeft and others.

As a co-conspirator in the effort, I've made two distinct arguments: (1) that Lee-Jackson Day should end, and (2) that the romanticized assessment of Generals Lee and Jackson is precisely that -- romanticized -- and that Virginians deserve a better, more critical assessment of their character.

Positions have flown back and forth, along with some of the more scurrilous commentary from the fringe on both ends. Those arguments from "fire eaters" and their opposite cousins on the left have no merit, and aren't worth the patience to bear them out.

Likewise, I have very little use for the proportionalist view of history which neglects objective truths (e.g. slavery is wrong) in favor a subjective, more Marxist view of societies within their times. Men should be viewed in their times, and I agree it is naturally wrong to place 19th century men (or 9th century men) in a 21st century court of public opinion.

The rejection of lasting truths and the perspective of history, though, is a far greater evil. Moral equivalence and revisionism is terrible history. No one rightly argues that Rommel or von Rundstedt were justified in carrying out their orders in defense of Nazi Germany, no matter how brilliant their careers or the view of history. One could not charge an observer with "presentism" by arguing otherwise (though Rommel did attempt to end the war by unsuccessfully assassinating Hitler).

GENERAL JAMES LONGSTREET (CSA)

When it comes to the history of the Army of Northern Virginia, three men stand out: Lee, Jackson, and Longstreet. As a native of Fredericksburg, it's well known how Longstreet repulsed attack after attack at Sunken Road, while the real battle took place two miles south on now-Lee Drive. Jackson's lines momentarily broke before they were restored... a fact graciously omitted in the movie God's and Generals to preserve Jackson's reputation.

While most amateur historians believe Sunken Road to be "impregnable", it was most certainly not. Second and Third Fredericksburg repeated the same attacks, and both times Marye Heights were taken. In fact, Burnside's strategy was well placed -- assault the Heights, put as many Confederate soldiers there defending a safe position, and then take out the right flank of the Confederate Army on open ground.

It almost worked. Had Longstreet not kept his cool and demanded more men from the then-untouched right flank, Burnside very well might have won at Fredericksburg.

Longstreet was the tactical genius who drove McClellan off during the Peninsula Campaign. Longstreet demanded to pursue the fleeing Union troops after First Bull Run. Longstreet covered a blistering 30 mile march to meet Pope at Second Bull Run, throwing his 25,000 men at the Union lines and then honorably giving the battle's tactical brilliance to his commander -- General Lee.

It was at Anietam that Longstreet began what would become the innovative feature that would dominate warfare for nearly 80 years -- strategic offense with a tactical defense. This line of thought ran counter to the Napoleonic innovations of concentrated artillery providing cover for massive attacks along a front, but would be employed by both sides in places such as Chickamauga and Petersburg. Longstreet held of superior numbers at Antietam against McClellan, and for his actions received the promotion of lieutenant general one day before Stonewall Jackson, making him the senior Confederate general within the Army of Northern Virginia.

It was along the Sunken Road at Fredericksburg where Longstreet applied all his genius. Thousands of Federal troops fell before Longstreet's First Corps, to the loss of a few hundred Confederate soldiers in front of the Heights. "It is well war is so terrible, lest we should grow too fond of it" was an honor Lee bestowed on Longstreet's impeccable performance at Fredericksburg.

Jackson's crowning achievement came at Chancellorsville while Longstreet was besieging Union troops in Suffolk, Virginia. While Chancellorsville would claim Jackson's life, Suffolk would be yet another advance in modern warfare innovated by Longstreet, where the use of interior lines, strong modes of transportation, and the swift aggregation of superior numbers for pitched battles is reminiscent of Prussian, German, and later Israeli tactics.

At Gettysburg, it was Lee who reverted back to the old Napoleonic school on the third day, insisting upon an attack in the center of the Federal lines. Longstreet demurred, as he felt the attack foolhardly and counter to his previous experience. While Lee asked for the attack to commence at 11am, Longstreet waited until 4pm. The result was a repeat of Fredericksburg, only that the Federals repulsed the Confederate soldiers. Lee's grand strategy -- that Pickett's men would link up with Stuart's much guarded cavalry attack behind Federal lines at the moment of battle -- never materialized, as J.E.B. Stuart was blocked by George Armstrong Custer who would gain infamy at Little Big Horn.

At Chickamauga, Longstreet again displayed his talent for improvisation. Taking advantage of an opening in Federal lines, Longstreet poured nearly eight brigades through the gap (an attack reminiscent of German blitzkrieg tactics during the Second World War). Bragg was unable to follow up on the attack, turning what should have been a rout into a protracted siege.

After an aborted attempt to remove Bragg from command and having his plans rejected to catch Hooker strung out on the march in northern Alabama and Georgia, Bragg dispatched Longstreet to a campaign in eastern Tennessee against his old nemesis Burnside. While the campaign's overall objective was to transfer First Corps back to the Virginia theater, Longstreet's caution got the best of him. While in dismal winter quarters, he planned for a renewed offensive in eastern Tennessee, which though it gained the approval of General Lee, it was dismissed by both President Jefferson Davis and his new military advisor, General Bragg.

At Wilderness, Longstreet again proved his tactical brilliance, delivering a smashing attack on the Orange Plank Road. Had it not been for the fact that Longstreet was wounded by his own men in an event eerily similar to that which happened to Jackson, Longstreet could very well have pressed the attack. Lee stopped the attack, allowing Confederate lines to rest and Federal troops reform.

While a similar attack might have sent previous Union commanders reeling back across the Rappahannock, Longstreet knew better than this, as his longtime friend General Ulysses S. Grant. During the long Wilderness Campaign of 1864, Lee was without his "old war horse" as Longstreet recuperated. By the time Longstreet was well enough to retake the field, Petersburg was under siege and Longstreet transferred to the defense of Richmond.

After the fall of Petersburg, Longstreet retreated with First and Third Corps with Lee to Appomattox. Advising General Lee before the surrender, Longstreet counseled that Grant would honor any agreement and treat the Confederates fairly, but as Lee left to meet Grant, Longstreet cautioned one last time:

"General, if he does not give us good terms, come back and let us fight it out."

THE CHARACTER ASSASSINATION OF LONGSTREET

Thus was the storied career of Lt. General James Longstreet concluded.

..or so he thought.

Shortly after the war, while much of the South sulked in defeat, Longstreet removed himself to New Orleans. Applying for a pardon, then-President Johnson refused, stating that Davis, Lee, and Longstreet had caused the nation "too much trouble" to ever be offered such a pardon, a backhanded compliment if there ever was one. Eventually it was granted to Longstreet by 1878.

Sadly, it would be his compatriots in the South who would never forgive him his treason. The reason for this? Longstreet was as farsighted in his political temperament as he was in his military career.

Longstreet advocated for full suffrage for African-Americans in the South, as well as full unification after the War and the reconstruction of the South. Longstreet joined the Republican Party early, and in 1868 was present for his old-friend Grant's inauguration.

For these positions, Longstreet's reputation suffered immeasurably. During the 1870's, former colleagues such as Jubal Early would propagate the first attacks on Longstreet, insisting that his delay cost the Confederacy its victory at Gettysburg. Colonel Pendleton would repeat such stories about Longstreet's inaction at Gettysburg. Douglas Southall Freeman in his histories of the War continued this line of attack, as Longstreet -- ever one for caution -- never directly responded to these attacks until much later in life.

Longstreet was a convert to Catholicism in 1877, and remained a devout Catholic the rest of his life. After Reconstruction ended, Longstreet retired to his home and farm. A fire in 1889 burned many of his correspondence, though Longstreet was able to have his his memoirs From Manassas to Appomattox published in 1896. Longstreet remarried in 1897, and his wife (much younger than he) published a defense of her former husband against the Lost Cause revisionists in Lee and Longstreet at High Tide in 1904, shortly after the war horse's death in 1903.

THE POLITICS OF HISTORICAL ROMANTICISM

Longstreet arguably gave all for a state that was not his own, and for a cause he did not fully embrace. While he embraced States Rights, Longstreet never owned slaves (as did Lee and Jackson). After the war, Longstreet performed his duty, advocating not only for full reunion, but for the voting rights of free blacks in the South.

For this, Longstreet's political enemies attacked his military service, though the were cautious enough to do so well after Longstreet's best defender -- Robert E. Lee -- had passed away.

Certainly no general had given so much to the cause as Longstreet, and Lee honored and recognized this be giving him seniority over Jackson. The Army of Northern Virginia had no better commander, save perhaps Lee himself. Though Longstreet was not flawless as a military commander, he embraced all the principles and ideals that modern defenders of the Old South would recognize as their own -- states rights, suffrage for free blacks, and union.

Longstreet has a special place in Virginia's heritage, yet it is not celebrated or mentioned. In fact, many historians will vociferously blame Longstreet for his inaction at Gettysburg, thus dashing the Confederacy on the rocks. Longstreet's double villainy as an advocate for civil rights and reunion were added insult to injury for the "unreconstructed" rebel.

Certainly Lee and Jackson would have seen this differently, yet many trample Longstreet's reputation in order to purify and cleanse the romanticized idea of the Old South and the glory days of the rebellion.

As it is, the whole heritage of Virginia is slighted in turn. Two men, flawed as they are, are upheld as celebrated and beyond reproach by a brand of 19th century political correctness.

It is ignorant of the contributions of other Virginians who have helped create the rich tapestry of our history: John Smith, John Rolfe, Nathaniel Bacon, Alexander Spotswood, George Wythe, George Washington, Hugh Mercer, Thomas Jefferson, Matthew Maury, Patrick Henry, George Mason, Richard Henry Lee, Cyrus McCormick, Edgar Allan Poe, James Monroe, James Madison, Sam Houston, Henry Wise, John Sargeant Wise, John Singleton Mosby, J.E.B. Stuart, A.P. Hill, Walter Reed, Booker T. Washington, George Patton (his family has a long pedigree in Virginia), Douglass Southall Freeman, Ella Fitzgerald, Patsy Cline, Arthur Ashe, John Warner, Doug Wilder, and the thousands of unnammed heroes who have helped build our Commonwealth.

Add to it our achievements: The founding of a nation, the oldest representative body in the world, a Declaration of Independence, our Constitution, the ceding of most of the American Midwest to our young nation, the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, the flood of young Virginians who colonized and pioneered our Midwest, Texas, and the West in search for cheap land and a brighter future, the resurrection of Richmond after the War, the sons of Bedford County during the Second World War, the Shenandoah Valley, Colonial Williamsburg, one of the largest ports in the world at Hampton Roads, our State Capitol, Monticello, our universities and colleges, and the finest tradition of freedom and all that is best about America.

Of course, this isn't all. Slavery, the "triangle trade", segregation, sharecropping, destructive land use by plantation owners, the loss of our Native American population, the era of massive resistance, the hundreds of thousands of Virginians either killed or wounded during the War, Reconstruction, the crushing poverty of Appalachia and our inner cities, and the poor state of public education all hang in the balance as well.

Should we respect this history in it's totality? Or should we romanticize a tiny sliver of it, whitewash it, and present that as what Virginia honors?

Jefferson's reputation is a fine example. Once reviled, then honored, Jefferson's reputation came under fierce scrutiny as his popularity rose in the latter half of the last century. Rather than whitewashing it, Jeffersonians allowed it in spurts and struggled with his legacy as a slaveowner and with regards to Sally Hemmings. In the final analysis, we have a much clearer picture and better appreciation of the man, his times, and his own personal views.

Lee-Jackson Day is a holiday whose time has come and gone. It must end, not only because of what it tells the world about our values, but because it tells the tiniest fraction about who Virginians really are and what we honor.

I recognize right readily that many Virginians who care about Lee-Jackson Day will disagree, and for differing reasons. Those reason are either good or ill, and it's useless to speculate as to the reasons.

Further, I will not go into the flawed history that the Lost Cause movement has invested so heavily in, other than to note that it is indeed flawed and often hijacked by those with less to invest in good history and more to invest in racial discord.

Over the last few days, I have certainly been called all sorts of names for advocating this position, as well as encouraging a deeper view of Lee and Jackson as men. Such names that have been thrown my way are liberal, progressive, secular humanist, and advocate of presentism, scalawag, carpetbagger, self-hating white, or worse. Examples to change my mind have often been those who advocate ideas such as neo-Nazi historical revisionism, ideas of a "Jesuit-Masonic" conspiracy, or Marxist ideas of history commonly espoused by revisionist authors.

As you can see, this has been quite an enlightening experience. It's been moderately entertaining to see these individuals rail against socialism, but when it comes time to give up something the state provides and recognizes that you enjoy, it's very difficult to surrender this. Bastiat was right, after all.

States rights is a noble idea that, in the case of the Civil War, was used for ignoble ends -- the perpetuation of the enslavement of our fellow human beings. Until we learn to decouple the evils of slavery from one of the most fundamental principles of our government, we will never fix what is wrong about America in the way our Founders intended.

Longstreet was one of the few Confederate commanders who understood this. History (presentists?) at first judged him terribly... especially those who he had done so much for during the War. In time, history has vindicated a noble man for his military genius and his civic foresight.

It's time to end Lee-Jackson Day. Sign the petition and lend your support for a Virginia Heritage Day, and let's uphold the best of Virginia as a whole, not in part.

Fr. Richard John Neuhaus

2009-01-09T00:17:00.000-05:00

Sad news this morning as First Things founder Fr. Richard John Neuhaus passed away this morning. Editor Joseph Bottom conveys his early thoughts:

My tears are not for him�for he knew, all his life, that his Redeemer lives, and he has now been gathered by the Lord in whom he trusted.

I weep, rather for all the rest of us. As a priest, as a writer, as a public leader in so many struggles, and as a friend, no one can take his place. The fabric of life has been torn by his death, and it will not be repaired, for those of us who knew him, until that time when everything is mended and all our tears are wiped away.

Please accept our thanks for all your prayers and good wishes.

I started reading First Things in earnest shortly after September 11th, 2001. The candor, the erudite language and prose, and beyond all the open character of his journal was certainly what prompted me to start blogging. Fr. Neuhaus' efforts regarding ecumenism, his unflagging spirit, and often his humor permeated every inch of First Things.

His presence will be missed; his mission carries on.

WSJ: Argentina Short on Change

2009-01-06T22:39:00.000-05:00

Argentina is struggling with a crisis of it's own -- no spare change:

Why the shortage? Argentina's central bank blames it on "speculators," meaning everyone from ordinary citizens, who stockpile coins, to Maco, the private cash-transport company (think of Brinks) that repackages change gathered from bus companies to resell at an 8% premium. But those explanations ring false. "Black marketeering" would not exist if coins were easy to get in the first place. After all, Argentines could just as easily hoard razor blades or matchbooks. Yet there's no shortage of those. What's so special about coins?

The answer is that coins are supplied by the government alone. "Put the federal government in charge of the Sahara desert," Milton Friedman said, "and in five years there'd be a sand shortage." If Argentina wants to end the coin shortage, it ought to give up its monopoly.

Crazy? Not if history is the guide. Over two centuries ago, Great Britain faced a coin shortage more severe than Argentina's -- so severe that it threatened to stop British industrialization in its tracks. People struggled to get coins for everyday use. The average worker was lucky to make 10 shillings a week, while the smallest banknotes were for 10 times as much. So the coin shortage even prevented factories from paying wages.

The article goes into the history of private firms issuing their own coinage or script as a solution. Hard to imagine this sort of crisis in an era of digital money, though.

Jerusalem Post: Into Gaza

2009-01-04T14:47:00.003-05:00

The Jerusalem Post highlights the Israeli government's incursion into the Gaza strip, most notably reflecting on the lengthy amount of time Olmert took to make the call to invade and Barak's measured expectations:

And after eight years in which the home front, untenably, became the southern front line, on Saturday night the IDF was finally ordered to assert its obligation: to fight a vicious enemy and to safeguard the people of Israel.

For Israelis, and for all those who recognize the threat to freedom everywhere posed by the death-cult Islamist extremism of which Hamas is only a part, it now remains to hope that the IDF's actions in the coming days restore peace to the South, and restore the tranquility that all civilians have the right to expect.

Barak's tone has been quite different than the tone of Israeli leaders during the 2006 invasion of Southern Lebanon. In contrast, while Barak has been neasured, the IDF has been wildly successful on the ground thus far.

War is an extension of politics, and what was not achieved at the negotiating table (if Hamas dared to actually sit with the Israelis) will now be concluded by force of arms.

The families of Sderot, having lived under the terror of Hamas rockets without the concern or sympathy of the world press for years, will at least sleep easier knowing the battle has been carried elsewhere.

UPDATE: Just to show you what the Israelis in Sderot were living through:

Look at those, and compare the reaction of the press and so-called humanitarian organizations to the Gaza incursion today with the months and months of terror inflicted by Hamas on southern Israel.

UPDATE x2: �Or perhaps, it's not Hamas after all... but the al-Asqa Martyr Brigades seeking to destablize Hamas?

(h/t to the UK Guardian)

UPDATE x3: �For the latest, or just to know what the citizens of Sderot have lived through, visit their media center. �

10,046 missiles. �They have a Qussam counter, for crying out loud...

Wilder Visions

2009-01-02T20:50:00.000-05:00

Another former governor blogs... this time former Governor Doug Wilder over at Wilder Visions.

OUTSTANDING! Welcome to the blogosphere, Governor!

TNR: The Solution for All Problems Facing the Right...

2009-01-01T18:17:00.002-05:00

Patrick Ruffini has the solution for what ails the party.

Guess what? They're all logistics, folks:

Face it, Barack Obama's web team did not beat John McCain. John McCain (and the GOP baggage he carried) beat John McCain. If McCain and Obama had swapped their web development teams, Obama still would have won.

Consider that you are constructing a building. While the building can't be built without the right tools for the job, it takes a lot more than tools (even neat hypothetical power tools like the "rightroots") to get the job done.

It takes people, and lots of them. Carpenters, plumbers, electricians, delivery drivers, equipment operators, investors, supervisors -- and someone in charge to make key decisions and direct the operations. Without people to operate the tools, the tools themselves are relatively worthless.

It takes architectural drawings and blueprints. Without a coherent plan which everyone can follow, the result will be a disaster. The Republican Party could build a socially conservative and fiscally liberal house. Alternately, the GOP could decide to build a socially tolerant but fiscally conservative house, or even a socially liberal and fiscally liberal house. However, fiscally conservative fixures built upon a socially conservative foundation only lasted a generation or so. It might be time to rethink the concept of fusionism.

It should also be noted that if the leaders provide reasonable plans but immediately deviate from them, the workers will quickly lose confidence in their bosses. It doesn't matter whether it is a project manager substituting a lower grade steel or a congressman voting for an increasingly bloated federal budget.

Eventually the workers are either going to stay home or find work on a liberal or libertarian project.

It takes a winning plan. It takes people willing to work together to develop the plan. It takes leaders -- but many of them will emerge from those developing plans or working to make the plan reach fruition. Then we can start purchasing tools. Otherwise, we are putting the cart in front of the horse.

I'll stop there. The rest follows as a long digression about nuts-and-bolts campaigning, but mostly on substance and much on getting away from style, echoing many of my comments about the Virginia Republican Party earlier in December.

Definitely worth the read, because radically few people in Virginia are getting this job done on the right.

Your Four Minutes of Civilization

2008-12-28T23:31:00.001-05:00

"Voce di donna o d'angelo" from the opera La Gioconda. It was the best way I could think of kicking off the last week of 2008.

If an Asteroid Hit Earth

2008-12-28T19:32:00.000-05:00

To Pink Floyd's "The Great Gig in the Sky":

That is particularly awesome.

Red NoVA

2008-12-28T16:44:00.001-05:00

The 8th District GOP takes up the call for new media integration and is blogging at Red NoVA. Excellent start!

Kenney Family Traditions

2008-12-23T20:02:00.000-05:00

Every year since the extended version of the trilogy came out, my family and I manage to watch "The Lord of the Rings" over a three day period over Christmas.

Not a bad deal, especially if your are a Tolkien fan. I won't bore you with any of the details, the Catholic references, the moralistic prose or how much better the book really is than the movie (if that can be imagined).

The short version is that as a family, we'll sit down and enjoy about three hours of collective story-telling an evening. I probably enjoy that more than anything else over Christmas, with the exception of a Sunrise Mass.

RCP: The Growing Case for Inflation

2008-12-21T21:33:00.000-05:00

So argues Steve Chapman:

The best part of inflation is that it avoids the need for the government to embrace vast spending initiatives and micromanage capitalist enterprises it is not equipped to run. And unlike government programs, inflation doesn't last forever.

One of the historic evils of inflation is that by reducing the value of debt, it rewards borrowers while punishing lenders. But this time, both sides may gain from a rising consumer price index -- borrowers because their properties will be worth more than they owe, and lenders because their customers will find it easier to meet their obligations.

Once inflation has performed its useful role, it will have to be tamed. But the Fed has a lot of experience doing that. What it doesn't have is experience bringing the economy out of a deep recession or a depression.

An interesting theory, though such a solution would absolutely destroy the value of the dollar overseas. Deflationary pressures would encourage savings, reduce the cost of many items, and force firms to innovate better products and methods.

Inflationary pressures allow the same mediocre system to persist.

Of course, the real elephant in the room -- a vast reduction of government spending -- hasn't even been discussed much less contemplated.

Anchoress: Slouching Toward Bethlehem

2008-12-20T15:28:00.000-05:00

Might not be the best titled post in the world, but take about five minutes of your time and watch how a single good example can make a difference:

Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller fame) is probably the hardest of the hard core when it comes to atheism. That he was this visibly moved tells me a lot, not just about the character of the man proselytizing, but also about Jillette's character as well.

Now this was the effect of just one good example. Imagine if it were hundreds? And do you and I live our faith in this way?

In my brief experience in this world, I have discovered atheists to have just a devout "search for God" as some of the holiest of men and women I've met. Rarely do I meet the "lazy atheist" (more properly termed an agnostic) who just doesn't believe in at least the idea of a higher being. I have found more often than not that otherwise well-intentioned yet rigid individuals will present their faith in terms of fanaticism, which has more to do with coercion than anything else.

I think this video is quite awesome. That Jillette had the courage and intellectual honesty to post his reflections is pretty amazing unto itself. Let's hope it leads somewhere interesting.

(h/t to The Anchoress)

BD: Ordered Chaos or Chaotic Order?

2008-12-20T09:17:00.000-05:00

Amit Singh asks your preference between the two in the form of an essay contest.

Winner gets to test their hypothesis on 25 scratch-off tickets.

SMB: Is Senator Lucas trying to influence City Council?

2008-12-20T09:15:00.000-05:00

...and when Scott's doing the asking, there's going to be an answer:

Senator Louise Lucas� two corporations, Victory Conference Center LLC and Victory Conference Center Hotel LLC, have filed a lawsuit against the City of Portsmouth for failing to give her access to 38 million dollars in bonds for a business venture.

She is claiming, oh wait, I�m sorry, the corporations are claiming that City Council denied her, oh wait, I�m sorry again, the corporations access to the bonds because she is, darn, I did it again, the corporations are primarily African-American owned.

Did I mention that Victory Conference Center Hotel, LLC is owned entirely by Senator Lucas and only Victory Conference Center, LLC is owned by the investors and Senator Lucas?

That's a pretty damned hardcore strongarming tactic if you ask me. Let's hope the MSM gets to the middle of it (before the blogosphere does anyhow).

Your Three Minutes of... Civilization?

2008-12-16T21:03:00.000-05:00

Not quite civilization, but few things really beat Beaker singing Coldplay's Yellow.