Shaun Kenney | Politics and Religion in Virginia's Public Square

Sunday, July 31, 2005

OMT: The Chichester Case Against TABOR

Norman over at OMT destroys in its totality the case against the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.

Why Bush Bashing is Failing

... and the 30-year twilight of the liberal news establishment:

The bombings and attempted bombings in London have brought home to the American public that we face implacable enemies unwilling to be appeased by even the most emollient diplomacy. Yet, mainstream media coverage of Iraq has been mostly negative. But mainstream media no longer have a monopoly; Americans have other sources in talk radio, Fox News, and the blogosphere. Bush's presidency is still regarded as illegitimate by perhaps 20 percent of the electorate. But among the rest, the attempt to delegitimize him seems to be collapsing.

Ouch.

Runaway School Board to sue Spotsylvania County taxpayers

More on the war of words between Jerry Hill and the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors:

'I'm really flabbergasted that they have nothing else to do,' Supervisor Gary Jackson said. 'I don't see how this advances educational opportunity for children in Spotsylvania County.'

Jackson suggested he will give a cool reception to future monetary requests from the School Board.

'My confidence in their judgment is eroding rapidly,' he said. 'So when they ask me for money, and this is how they want to spend money, I don't have a very good attitude. I'm really disgusted by it.'

Board Chairman Bob Hagan complained of the school board's decision to 'communicate with us through the newspaper.'

What I and other taxpayers want to know is why the Gibson report findings haven't been rapidly implemented? Why the dragging of feet by Jerry Hill and this school board? To make matters worse, how is more money going to fix the gross lack of efficiency in the Spotsylvania school system?

The fact is that no amount of money is going to fix it, and worse still is that Jerry Hill and the School Board simply don't care - to the point of wasting more taxpayer dollars to justify the waste that's already there.

Until there is some serious reform at the Spotsylvania School Board in how our tax dollars are spent, the budget shouldn't rise a single red cent until the reforms are fully implemented and the waste and inefficencies eliminated. Period.

British Intelligence Targeting al-Qaeda Websites

Something that should have been done a long time ago:

Over the past fortnight Israeli intelligence agents have noticed something distinctly odd happening on the internet. One by one, Al-Qaeda?s affiliated websites have vanished until only a handful remain, write Uzi Mahnaimi and Alex Pell.

Someone has cut the line of communication between the spiritual leaders of international terrorism and their supporters. Since 9/11 the websites have been the main links to disseminate propaganda and information.

The Israelis detect the hand of British intelligence, determined to torpedo the websites after the London attacks of July 7.

Now there are those who argue we should leave them up in order to detect the movements and rhetoric of al-Qaeda and the militants. I disagree. al-Qaeda's network demands a degree of sophisitication when it comes to information and communciations. The harder you make it for them, the more likely they will start using methods we can track - such as human intelligence. Sleeper cells are very, very difficult to root out.

IDF to fire on Palestinians if threatened

The Israeli Defence Forces have threatened to open fire on Palestinians if they are targeted during the Gaza pullout:

Israel will launch a massive ground operation if Palestinian militants fire on Israeli soldiers and settlers during next month's Gaza pullout, the deputy defense minister said Sunday.

Translation: the IDF will launch a massive ground operation regardless of whether or not Palestinian militants fire on Israeli soldiers. Why? Because it's their last chance to dismantle the HAMAS and Islamic Jihad infrastructure. After the pullout there won't be a pretext.

The question becomes how many innocent civilians will die in the process. Many I would expect, which is what the militants want in order to draw the attention of the world.

Sad.

Friday, July 29, 2005

Water ice in crater at Martian north pole

We found water on Mars:

The crater is 35 kilometres wide and has a maximum depth of approximately 2 kilometres beneath the crater rim. The circular patch of bright material located at the centre of the crater is residual water ice.

This white patch is present all year round, as the temperature and pressure are not high enough to allow sublimation of water ice.

And what could be cooler than this? How's about a 10th planet?

The object was spotted independently by a group led by Jose-Luis Ortiz of the Sierra Nevada Observatory in Spain. Ortiz' team announced the finding in astronomy circles recently and the finding, including the claim that it might be twice as big as Pluto, was reported by an online news site today.

Ortiz said that based on his team's observations, there was one outlying theory could allow 2003 EL61 to be larger than Pluto, but he does not think it is right.

"I do not think it is larger than Pluto," Ortiz told SPACE.com today.

Neat stuff!

Hill vs. Spotsy Board of Supervisors

Even after the Gibson Report was published outlining $31 million dollars in waste, and even after a proposed $41 million bond referendum being put forward by the Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors, Spotsylvania Superintendent Jerry Hill has not only decided to rebuff the referendum, but to hire attorneys to enforce his will:

After the meeting, Spotsylvania Superintendent Jerry Hill said he hopes to avoid legal action, but there has been no fruitful communication between the two boards.

'They've been unwilling to meet,' Hill said. 'They've been unwilling to sit down and discuss the issues we've requested.'

But when reached by phone late last night, Bob Hagan, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, said he considers it too close to the election to make any changes to the referendum amount, other than to cancel it altogether.

'The only change we could make to it now would be to drop it, and I'm sure the Board of Supervisors would listen to that request, if that is the request the schools are making,' Hagan said.

Hill is demanding $184.8 million dollars in bonds for school construction. Wisely, the Spotsy BOS is demanding reform first. School board spending has increased dramatically over the past five years, well beyond the pace of growth and showing no signs of cooling off.

Curious to know why Republican Supervisors Jackson and Yakabouski weren't consulted for this article, when they most of all have asked for this kind of fiscal restraint.

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Vatican Raises the Ante on Israel

Been keeping an eye on the Vatican-Israeli tit-for-tat going on over the past few days. Pope Benedict XVI issued a condemnation of terror attacks in Egypt and mentioned a list of nations affected by terrorism. He did not mention Israel, in which the Israeli embassy sent a blistering condemnation to the Vatican ambassador, as well as taking their outrage to the public.

Now honestly, the omission wasn't deliberate. Could not have been. Israel already suffers a tremendous amount of terror attacks, but rarely do you hear of such a wide-ranging offensive in places such as Egypt and London. In short, the Israelis are playing the card of diplomatic hypersensitivity to use as leverage against the Vatican during negotiations -- especially concerning the status of the holy sites and the construction of the West Bank wall. So Israel threw what is tantamount to a diplomatic temper-tantrum, and the Vatican watched silently.

Until now. In response to the Israeli showdown, Vatican diplomats have fired few shots across the bow, just to bring some perspective into the conversation:

'It's not always possible to immediately follow every attack against Israel with a public statement of condemnation,' a statement from the Vatican press office said Thursday night, 'and (that is) for various reasons, among them the fact that the attacks against Israel sometimes were followed by immediate Israeli reactions not always compatible with the rules of international law.'

'It would thus be impossible to condemn the first (the terror strikes) and let the second (Israeli retaliation) pass in silence,' said the statement, which had an unusually blistering tone for the Holy See.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry refused to comment on the Vatican statement.

In other words, the Israelis got the point. When you build barriers through Christian holy sites, when you shoot up the car carrying Bishop Marcuzzo (even when it was flying the Vatican flag), when you bomb out Palestinian police barracks in response to HAMAS terror attacks, one should reasonably expect a rather short leash when it comes to being able to claim a grieved status on terrorism.

Whether the Likud government wants a full-scale PR discussion on how Christians are treated in Israel is another story altogether. Personally, I don't think they relish the idea, and for good reason.

4-Year-Old Found Wandering Along Busy Virginia Highway

I saw this in the FLS this morning. Few things make me angrier than child abuse. I hate it with a visceral passion, and I feel nothing but utter contempt for those who engage in it.

In short, this made me angry:

Virginia State Police determined he was left there by his mother, 22-year-old Channoah Green, after she became upset with him. They said the Newport News, Va., woman has been charged with child neglect.

The boy was treated at a hospital for cuts and bruises. He was turned over to Fairfax County Child Protective Services. Authorities said the mother is also facing a hit-and-run charge in connection with an accident north of Richmond Tuesday night.

The FLS article had a small quote from a motorist who wished to remain unnamed.

"I said, 'Why are you out here?' And he said, "My mommy left me. She was angry and she pushed me out of the car," the driver, who asked not to be identified, told WJLA-TV.

The article went further to describe that the cuts and bruises the boy received were because the child was frantically trying to get back into the car after the mother had pushed the child out - and the mother drove off.

Anger.

IRA vows to end armed campaign

Wow.

I suppose the next question is when will the Protestant paramilitaries lay down their weapons?

At least this explains why there have been a spat of attacks on Catholic churches and pubs recently; most likely in an effort to derail the IRA disarmament. Still, for an organization that has been well known for terrorism, this is a very positive step in the right direction (even if they are socialists).

Let's hope this victory in the war on terrorism (and it is a huge victory for peace) will be followed in turn.

A Bit Confused. . .

I'm a bit confused with regards to the London train bombings.

Does this look like it can do this? Or this?

Those weren't nail bombs on those trains, guys. Sure anyone can make a nail bomb, but nail bombs aren't designed to do structural damage such as blowing off the roofs of trains and buses. Nail bombs hurt people, and they are designed to maim, not to kill (as a larger bomb might and did).

This is just odd. Why would terrorists with the capability to do tremendous damage with military grade explosives waste their time with nail bombs and detonation cords?

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Government Going Too Far (Again)

A mother takes a picture of a father kissing his son's belly button. They take the photos to get developed. An enterprising developer notices the pictures and presents them to police authorities. Guess what happens next:

When the photos were shown to the police, the couple was arrested, and Kristoff was put in protective custody, while his half-sister, Victoria, was handed over to her birth father.

Teresa Hamaty was released on bond, but wasn't allowed contact with her children for months.

Charbel Hamaty spent six months in prison before the charges were dropped because of a report submitted by an expert saying there was no criminal intent in the photos.

Six months?!

When Enron abuses the public trust, there is an outcry from citizens and many, many lawsuits with large settlements. When police in Raleigh (or anywhere for that matter) do the same, what are the consequences? The article doesn't say, but the consequences in this case should be severe.

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Virginia 2005 Elections

Not Larry Sabato(s) has/have a new place to stretch out at Virginia 2005 Elections. Not too shabby lookin'.

VOLTRON!

You knew it would come. Voltron the Movie is in production!

Now you too can have the theme song stuck in your head all day.

Piracy-check mandatory for Windows add-ons

You know what this is going to do?:

Meanwhile, those who fail the validation test will be presented with two options. People who send in their CDs, show proof they bought Windows and fill out a piracy report will be eligible to get a legitimate copy of Windows at no charge. Those who don't have CDs or a proof of purchase but fill out a piracy report will have to pay for a licensed copy--$99 for Windows XP Home and $149 for Windows XP Professional. Those prices are higher than the upgrade cost for Windows XP, but lower than the price one would have to pay for an entirely new copy of the OS.

Microsoft has been testing the Windows Genuine program since last September. At first, the program had neither benefits for those who passed inspection nor any penalty for those who failed or opted not to go through the piracy check. Gradually, though, Microsoft has been adding perks and moving to make the process mandatory.

How many users when confronted with the option to pay $99 for an OS, will simply jump ship and use Linux?

I doubt that many home users are the ones who have pirated copies. Rather, it's probably those with multiple workstations - businesses and the like. What is more cost effective to a small business? Paying $2,000 to get all the computers in the office up to snuff (and maybe more for all the MS Office installations), or simply moving to Linux and OpenOffice alternatives?

Welcome to the free market.

Monday, July 25, 2005

Discovery to Launch on Tuesday

NASA is taking some heat for making the command decision regarding the fuel gauge malfunction, but Discovery will launch regardless.

Tuesday, 10:39am. Be sure to catch it on NASA TV!

Goolrick: The Odd Couple

John Goolrick. For folks in Fredericksburg, to be mentioned in the same sentence with him is a peculiar honor. Half-historian, half-reporter, there's probably not a better person to know and talk to when it comes to Virginia politics.

In short I'm a fan, and what he writes I read with great attention.

So naturally, when I see a column in the latest edition of Bacon's Rebellion, I couldn't help but take a look. With great precision, he comments on what many outsiders might remark as a strange friendship between Speaker Howell and Senator Chichester, and how such civility has been lost and forgotten by many today:

As anyone who follows state politics knows, there is a huge intra-party fight going on in the Virginia Republican Party involving taxes and spending. Howell and Chichester are at the very eye of the storm and have quite differing opinions on the subject. As for me, I don't feel that I am the least bit under taxed, but when stuck in some horrendous traffic jam wonder where the money is going to come from to do something about all the congested roads.

But I'm glad Bill Howell and John Chichester are still friends despite their political differences. Their friendship harkens back to an era in state politics when there was much more civility. I doubt that ethos is destined to return, but hearing of it does bring back fond memories for an old political reporter who witnessed the days when Republicans and Democrats would fight for their views and bills by day and drink together by night at the Holiday Inn Downtown bar.

Nowadays in the halls of the Capitol, some Republicans are not even on speaking terms with others.

Ah, to be able to genuinely disagree and debate the merits of a political issue. . .

Truth be told, the Howell/Chichester friendship is something I understand without a second thought. For a long time, I've been of the opinion that it's the hallmark of an open-minded person to be able to abstract ideas from individuals. I can think of a number of local Democrats I would much rather speak with than some of my fellow Republicans. I would like to think - however naively - that politics didn't always have to be a bloodsport, but perhaps I too am reminiscing of a day and discourse that is slipping away. Look at the way we eviscerate politicians that slip up, or how we prefer headlines (and blogs?) to an in-depth story.

Goolrick's lament is right. May those days speedily return!

Thursday, July 21, 2005

China's new destroyers feature Aegis tech copied from U.S.

Great. Just great.

The two Luyang II guided missile destroyers are Beijing's first Aegis-type ships. The ships are currently undergoing sea trials.

U.S. intelligence officials say China stole the technology for the Aegis battle management system by setting up a front company in the United States that became a subcontractor for the Aegis system manufacturer.

Now doubt something that our friends at China-e-Lobby will bristle over.

Blair Calls for Calm After London Blasts

Updates from the Washington Post:

Prime Minister Tony Blair said Thursday he hoped that London would return to normal 'as soon as possible' after explosions struck three Underground stations and a bus at midday.

'We can't minimize incidents such as this,' Blair said during a news conference with visiting Australian Prime Minister John Howard. 'They're done to scare people, to frighten them and make them worried.'

This time the reports are that it was detonation devices, not actual rigged bombs. If true, it could show a number of things; that the terrorist cell is running out of ammo, that they are proving a point by using only detonation devices, that the actual bombers may have lived to tell the tale, retaliation for the capture of the ringleader, that there is a second cell. . .

Developing, but something that adds an interesting element if you consider the UK claims all the 7/7 terrorists died and the ringleader is captured.

UPDATE: Possibility of a chem-bio attack? Here's clipping of a conversation from OSINT --

This accounts backs your assessment of a screw-up, but in all three-four incidents??? Perhaps the builder made the small error in all devices I'd like to know what was causing people to fall down. If the bomber thought something went wrong, it may be that he wasn't expecting a chem release. Were the fall-downs due to the panic and rush to get out, or was anybody incapacitated. Low-burst charges are designed for dispersing agent.

True...but it will take time to get the chem-bio reaction...if any...UK authorities may suppress that info.

If chem-nerve, almost immediate. If bio-toxin, like ricin, hours. If bio (smallpox, anthrax) it will be many hours, even days.

Yikes.

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Nominee would make fourth Catholic justice on US court

Something I wasn't previously aware of, but U.S. Supreme Court nominee John Roberts is Catholic:

Jane Roberts has been active in Feminists for Life, and is a member of the board of governors of the John Carroll Society, a Catholic lay organisation that sponsors the annual Washington archdiocesan Red Mass before the opening of the Supreme Court term.

If confirmed, Roberts would be the 11th Catholic ever to serve on the court and the fourth among current members, joining Justices Clarence Thomas, Anthony Kennedy and Antonin Scalia.Senate confirmation hearings are unlikely to begin before early September. The Supreme Court term begins on 3 October.

Now the left has been sabre-rattling already (CBS's American Prospect column starts it's interrogation beginning with "Let's begin with Roberts' women problem."). Of course, being Catholic doesn't demonstrate as much as it used to -- Justice Kennedy is Catholic and certainly doesn't uphold Catholic values from the bench.

We'll see how the confirmation hearings play out, but this is certainly something in Roberts background that plays to his favor.

Google Moon - Lunar Landing Sites

Neat stuff! For those of you unfamiliar with the Google Maps project, take a quick peek.

Be sure to zoom in to see the lunar landing sites close up. Very cool image.

CW: Heath Shuler Running for Congress

From the all-seeing eyes at Commonwealth Watch we learn that Heath Shuler is running for the 11th District in North Carolina... as a Democrat.

My vote is to send Gus Frerotte down and run him as a Republican (apologies to Rep. Taylor who currently holds the seat).

I can see the ads now with good ol' #5 getting sacked, picked, hurried, etc. Heh.

Michelle Malkin: Why the FBI watches the Left

Heh.

Oh, dear. Oh, dear. Civil liberties activists, anti-war organizers, eco-militants and animal rights operatives are in a fright over news that the nefarious FBI is watching them. Why on earth would the government be worried about harmless liberal grannies, innocent vegetarians, unassuming rainforest lovers and other "peaceful groups" simply exercising their First Amendment rights?

Let me remind you of some very good reasons.

And she does. Read on.

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Roberts Likely to Face Abortion Questions

The Washington Post begins the speculation on the question of abortion:

The biggest question mark may be his stand on abortion.

Abortion rights groups contend that he tried during his days as a lawyer in the first Bush administration to overturn Roe v. Wade. Roberts helped write a brief that stated 'we continue to believe that Roe was wrongly decided and should be overruled.'

Pressed during his 2003 confirmation hearing for the appeals court seat for his own views on the matter, Roberts said: 'Roe v. Wade is the settled law of the land. ... There's nothing in my personal views that would prevent me from fully and faithfully applying that precedent.'

Roberts was associate counsel to President Reagan from 1982-86 and then served in the first Bush administration, arguing cases before the Supreme Court from 1989-93.

Another Justice Souter? Who knows?

OMT: Kaine Won, Donate Now!!!

If you ever want to see the best dissections of campaign fundraising pieces (or any direct mail), go as Norman over at One Man's Trash.

Great post! He can sniff out a novice from a mile away. . . though even for criticism, it's a rare combination you can laugh at and learn from.

RTD Gubernatorial Poll

Go vote!

Tancredo: Just Joking Fellas. . . Kinda. . .

Following up on yesterday's comments, U.S. Congressman Tom Tancredo says he was merely speaking figuratively when talking about bombing Islamic holy sites in the event of a nuclear terror attack on American cities:

Colorado U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo said he was talking about deterrence when he raised the possibility of bombing Mecca if Muslim terrorists set off nuclear weapons in American cities.

On a Florida radio show Friday, Tancredo was asked what the response should be to a nuclear attack on U.S. cities. He answered that if fundamentalist Muslims were to blame, "you could take out their holy sites." When he was asked if he meant bombing Mecca, the congressman said, "Yeah."

But in a statement issued Sunday, Tancredo said he was talking about a making a threat that might deter such an attack, insisting: "I do not advocate this."

Speaking figuratively? Slip of the tounge?

Not really, if his refusal to apologize is any indication:

"It's a tough issue to deal with," Tancredo told reporters at a Capitol Hill news conference. "Tough things are said. And we should not shy away from saying things that need to be said."

Imprudent at best, Tom. Reckless at the very worst.

What Separates Us From the Terrorists

Gotta read this.

Reasons to be Moral

Reflections of the Aquinas Academy on the debate between Bertrand Russell and Frederick Coppleston:

The eminent Jesuit historian of philosophy Frederick Copleston debated the existence of God with Lord Bertrand Russell on BBC Radio in 1948. "I'm sure, Lord Russell, that you would say it was absolutely wrong to behave in the way that the guards in the German concentration camps behaved to the inmates." He [Russell] said: "Of course I would wish to say that is absolutely wrong, but it doesn't fit in with my theory, so I'm rather in a dilemma." Some may object: "But Bertrand Russell was a morally decent man and many believers are not morally decent people." That is not the point. The point is that Bertrand Russell had no reason to be moral. The believer does have a reason to be moral. The sad fact of the matter is that many a believer just doesn't hear and heed his/her conscience.

This debate always brings to mind the old question of whether or not you need God in order to be moral, and especially as to how this relates to lawmaking and ethics.

Most would answer God is essential to morality. However, Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics did precisely this - set up a moral framework - without using God or other deistic proposals or prepositions. John of Salisbury, Duns Scotus, and Thomas Aquinas all used the "natural law" as the embodiment of a moral system (even though it required a God to remain fixed and absolute). Opposed to that system is the Hobbesian social contract and variants thereof from Locke, Rousseau, and Mill. Nozick and Rawls go back and forth on justice as fairness, etc.

The question becomes which system allows for fixed moral values, so that in the case of Nazi concentration camps, the Nazis could not be excused for following an opposite and somehow legitimate and equal moral system. Relativism? Well, yes... that's precisely the problem all ethical and moral frameworks have to confront. The social contract fails miserably in this regard, as does Rawls' idea of fairness.

The question of the necessity of God (or a "god" to be more theistic about it) as a fixed frame of reference for morals is indeed a great question to think about and reflect upon. When viewed in this light, defenders of absolute moral values have many more friends from different faiths than we do enemies -- something to keep in mind as we careen towards this "clash of civilizations" or ideas.

Monday, July 18, 2005

Why Marx is man of the moment

Granted, the poll was conducted in Europe and among BBC readers. But the staggering lopsidedness of Karl Marx's victory as the leading philosopher of our age is nothing short of stunning:

The puzzlement is understandable. Fifteen years ago, after the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, there appeared to be a general assumption that Marx was now an ex-parrot. He had kicked the bucket, shuffled off his mortal coil and been buried forever under the rubble of the Berlin Wall. No one need think about him - still less read him - ever again.

'What we are witnessing,' Francis Fukuyama proclaimed at the end of the Cold War, 'is not just the ... passing of a particular period of postwar history, but the end of history as such: that is, the end point of mankind's ideological evolution.'

But history soon returned with a vengeance. By August 1998, economic meltdown in Russia, currency collapses in Asia and market panic around the world prompted the Financial Times to wonder if we had moved 'from the triumph of global capitalism to its crisis in barely a decade'. The article was headlined 'Das Kapital Revisited'.

The article offers a brief glimpse as to why this might be.

The result of this week's BBC poll suggests that Marx's portrayal of the forces that govern our lives - and of the instability, alienation and exploitation they produce - still resonates, and can still bring the world into focus. Far from being buried under the rubble of the Berlin Wall, he may only now be emerging in his true significance. For all the anguished, uncomprehending howls from the right-wing press, Karl Marx could yet become the most influential thinker of the 21st century.

What bothers me slightly more is who came in second place: David Hume with over 12%. A distant third is Wittgenstein, followed by Neitzche, Plato, Kant, Aquinas, Socrates, Aristotle, and Karl Popper.

Now it could be argued that we are talking about the most influential philosophers of our time. In one sense, the rise and fall of Marxist Socialism can be a signpost of influence. But what of the philosophies that brought the edifice down? Aquinas at 7th place?! No mention of Hobbes, Rousseau, Locke, Mill (none of the "social contract" philosophers made the cut), Kierkegaard, St. Augustine, Suarez, Descartes, Derrida, and suprisingly for a British poll, no Bertrand Russell.

I wonder what an American poll would look like? I would imagine Locke would fare much better, as would Aquinas (Thomistic philosophy is all the rage in Catholic universities here in the States). Still, it's disturbing to think that Marx is enjoying a renaissance of sorts in a post-Soviet era.

Tancredo: If Attacked, Bomb Mecca

U.S. Congressman Tom Tancredo is doing more than just sabre-rattling these days:

A Republican congressman said in a radio interview aired by a Florida station that if a multiple-city attack happened in the United States in the next 90 days, as predicted by an Israeli expert, and was found to be the work of extremist Muslims, then "we should take out their holy sites."

Now does that mean Muslims will have justification to take out Rome in the event of the bombing of Iran or Syria? Nazareth? Bethlehem? Jerusalem?

Here's the problem when you treat terrorists as religious believers, and the #1 problem I have with treating the symptoms of terrorism as if Islam were the root cause. It's not.

Space mission to photograph Apollo landing sites

From the "Oh wow, that's cool!" department:

US scientists are planning a 240,000-mile trip down memory lane - a tour of inspection of all the Apollo landing sites on the moon.

In 2008 a powerful camera aboard a new spacecraft called the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) will photograph the moon's surface in fine detail - fine enough to pick out the Apollo 17 moon buggy abandoned 33 years ago, along with lunar landing platforms and other relics.

The camera will have a resolution of half a metre. So a moon buggy three metres long and two metres wide should show up clearly.

I wonder how long it will take before we start looking back at ourselves wondering how in the heck we ever made it to the Moon with such antiquated and risky methods and equipment. For as practical as the lunar landings and STS flights afterwards may look today, just think of how Apollo 11 will be mentioned in the same vein as Magellan, Drake, and Columbus.

Pretty cool stuff - and what's better is that we can observe, catalog, and pass on our explorations in ways our forefathers could not.

Is There Plenty Of Oil?

According to Business Week the answer is yes - to the tune of 6 billion barrels a day:

First came Holstein, then Mad Dog, and soon, Thunder Horse. Atlantis will join them next year. The four giant oil fields, operated by BP PLC (BP ) and located under thousands of feet of water off the coast of Louisiana, are just beginning to pump their first barrels. At their peak rates later in the decade, they'll produce some 500,000 bbl. per day, an amount akin to floating a small Middle Eastern country such as Syria or Yemen into the Gulf of Mexico. "Add them together, and it's a massive step change," says David Eyton, BP's vice-president for deepwater in the Gulf. "The investment we're making will more than offset declines we're seeing in Alaska and the Continental Shelf."

...

Thanks to a combination of higher prices, increased exploration and production spending, and improved technology (page 32), oil supplies are poised to grow much faster than they have in recent years. Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA), a respected energy consultant, sees 20 or more major new fields coming on line each year through 2010. Altogether those fields could boost worldwide production capacity 15%, from 87.9 million barrels per day to 101.5 million by the end of the decade, CERA estimates. As a result, supply should exceed demand by 7 million bbl. per day, a huge leap from the current cushion of 1 million bbl.

That's a lot of oil.

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Going to Herndon

Today is Father Buckner's ordination anniversary at St. Veronica parish in Herndon. Avoiding I-95 will be the name of the game.

Fr. Buckner, for those who are unfamiliar with him, was the former pastor at St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Fredericksburg during the 1990's.

Saturday, July 16, 2005

Who Won the Kilgore-Kaine Debate?

Depends on whom you ask. Conservatives are claiming an overwhelming victory, while Barnie Day makes the observation that Kaine beat Kilgore "like a baby seal."

So much for Kaine's PETA vote.

As is the case in most debates, the outcome changes depending on who's doing the talking. What is clear though is that Kaine did not do as well as expected, Kilgore came out on the attack.

It's going to be a long time until November. . .

What the Democratic Leadership Thinks of Republicans

We've heard it from Howard Dean. Most rational folks would put that his hate-filled comments about Republicans on the backburner and consider it the opinion of one man.

But when you hear it from former Clinton advisor Paul Begala, that's a problem:

Begala's presence on the panel created a stir when he declared that Republicans had 'done a p***-poor job of defending' the U.S.

Republicans, he said, 'want to kill us.

'I was driving past the Pentagon when that plane hit' on Sept. 11, 2001. 'I had friends on that plane; this is deadly serious to me,' Begala said.

'They want to kill me and my children if they can. But if they just kill me and not my children, they want my children to be comforted -- that while they didn't protect me because they cut my taxes, my children won't have to pay any money on the money they inherit,' Begala said. 'That is bulls*** national defense, and we should say that.'

It doesn't stop there,

A panel discussion entitled 'Winning the War of Ideas' centered on topics discussed in the book 'What's the Matter with Kansas' by Thomas Frank and detailed the challenges that Democrats face in persuading voters in the American heartland and elsewhere to embrace their agenda and support their candidates.

...

Frank insisted that Republicans are not quite as tough on national security as many Americans think.

"Franklin Roosevelt got us in World War II. They dragged the Republicans kicking and screaming. They didn't want to get in that war. They didn't have any problem with Hitler. I won't go so far as to say they thought Hitler rocked. But there were people in America who did, and they didn't want us to get in that war. Democrats have always been just as tough as Republicans once they're in office," Frank said.

Of course, this article shows shades of what has to be the most glaring of criticisms against Democratic stewardship of our intelligence services pre-9/11.

The Clinton administration's national security efforts involved the right blend of 'experience' and 'strength,' Begala said, an assertion with which the 9/11 Commission apparently disagreed.

For all the criticism against President Bush post-9/11, is it too much of a stretch to say that Republcians are literally playing catch-up for the Clinton-era faliures duing the 1990's when al-Qaeda was festering under the surface? A festering that Begala permitted under his tenure?

Maybe it's the idea that the smaller a group, the more fanatical its members become. I don't know. Some Republicans would like to sit back and let Dean, Frank, and Begala roll on, but they aren't going to go away. My concern is that these fanatical ideologues - and they are little else - will mainstream themselves in their own party for no other reason than they are the only ones providing vision and direction.

God help the Democratic Party. They need it.

Icing the Kicker

Guess what? It works 10% of the time.

Friday, July 15, 2005

Making their displeasure known...

Not just one, not two, but three solid responses from letter-writers about Mary Washington Professor Thomas Johnson's opinion column with regards to how America's soldiers are trained - and how that training reflects on American values (specifically obedience, humility, and self-sacrifice) he believes to be undesireable and contrary to individualism.

Most of this morning's criticism seems to center around the idea that Johnson was promoting his new book. Fair enough, though I honestly believe he was trying to make a point. My thoughts on this have already made the rounds and may just inspire a column of my own -- perhaps.

TurboTap!

Want your beer poured in less than three seconds? TurboTap to the rescue!

Of course, that's not why your local bar will be installing these new-fangled devices:

'People get their beer here fast enough,' he says, adding that it was the increased yield per keg that persuaded him to install TurboTap, not the promise of a faster pour. Stadium vendors say they're getting six to eight additional cups out of each keg -- or $30 to $40 in added revenue -- since TurboTaps were added.

It takes longer than two minutes to properly pour a Guinness. Properly.

Thursday, July 14, 2005

CATO: Governors Should Learn to Say No

Stephen Slivinski makes the argument that spend-happy governors should learn to hold back goverment spending before the real fiscal crisis begins:

It's instructive to remember how we got here, and what exactly the governors mean when they refer to the 'fiscal crisis' of the past few years. Less than five years ago, states had the largest surpluses on record. But by fiscal 2002, the weak U.S. economy had led to slower tax growth in states, and historic surpluses quickly turned into monumental deficits. Many of these deficits were the largest in state history.

What caused the deficits? Many governors are loathe to admit that the shortfalls would have been much smaller if politicians in state capitals had simply restrained their big-spending tendencies. Instead, they committed their states to an ever-expanding array of spending programs during the 1990s. True, some governors also cut taxes. But, on average, for every three new tax dollars received by the states during the 1990s, only one dollar went to tax cuts. The remaining two went to new spending.

Take Medicaid, the state-run program that pays medical bills for the poor. It's the fastest-growing government program in most states, but not because more people are necessarily in need of it. State governments were expanding the number of people who could enroll in the program. According to the Congressional Budget Office, nonelderly Medicaid enrollment stayed relatively constant throughout the 1980s. But from 1990 to 2002, it more than doubled. State policymakers were practically guaranteeing their states would crash into a sea of red ink once the U.S. economy stalled. Historic increases in the budgets for all sorts of other programs were also a common occurrence during the economic boom of the 1990s.

A good point to make, and one that bears even more weight considering the economy isn't doing as well as it should.

Commentspamming NLS

If there's one measure of a person's reputation, it's the acidity of their critics.

As such, the VA 2005 HOD Blog continues to get hammered by a handful of people (or more likely, one overactive person) seeking to oust NLS as Ben Tribbett. I have no idea who Tribbett is, and I have reasonable sources that know who/what NLS really is/are. Frankly, I don't care what people are speculating, the information is solid and a perfect outlet for insider information.

Understandably, wannabe insiders take offense.

The comment spamming on the site is ridiculous, but it's altogether the best sign that "NLS" is indeed one of the top-notch bloggers in Virginia.

Planarity

You know those games. Those tricky little logic puzzles that people send to you that you get at work. Well now is your opportunity to waste countless hours of your time as well!

Neat game. Courtesy of my brother at Js Notes.

Va. Hopefuls Prep With Sparring Partners

Kilgore vs. Kaine in the ULTIMATE SHOWDOWN!

Well, not really. But the debate is definitely on. One curiosity though:

Delacey Skinner, a spokeswoman for Kaine, said the 'idea is to run through everything' in advance of Saturday's contest. The debate, sponsored by the Virginia Bar Association, will start at 10:30 a.m. at the Greenbrier in West Virginia. It will not be televised.

Virginia's gubernatorial debate in West Virginia? What am I missing here? And will "Jerry the Duck" show up?

Questions abound. . . but the real question is how the heck Tim Murtaugh managed to sneak this line in the Washington Post:

"Tim Kaine is a trial lawyer, well known as a smooth talker," Murtaugh said. "People say he's Clintonian in his debating style. He's a master debater, so we're certainly taking it seriously."

Master debater, eh?

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Space Shuttle Discovery: 3:51EDT

STS-114 returns to space at 3:51pm Eastern. If you want to watch from your computer, just click here and pick your favorite viewer.

UPDATE: Looks like there won't be a launch today. NASA TV is reporting a fuel line warning sensor malfunction. So the astronauts are climbing out of the shuttle and back to the crew quarters.

Obedience, Humility, and Self-Sacrifice

Wisdom from the Ivory Tower at Mary Washington, lamenting how our soldiers are treated and trained for war. At first, the article is a concern about how society trains people to accept war, but it evolves into something much different:

Just suppose you are a young person seeking employment. Can you think of any type of job, outside the military, where new employees are cursed at or physically attacked, have their heads shaved, screamed at up close by a trainer whose saliva runs down their faces, required to stand in hot clothes while carrying heavy equipment in 100-degree heat for hours, called all sorts of demeaning names such as maggots or rats, required to lie to certain questions or suffer immediate punishment, or made to jump into water over their heads even if they cannot swim, etc.?

I can think of many day-to-day jobs that - while they may not be so strenuous - would benefit from such training.

Of course, the author conveniently forgets that no matter how "civilized" or humane we may deem ourselves, it only opens ourselves to the savagery of others. War is not pre-school; it is a place where far worse things than being cursed at, having one's head shaved, or jumping into deep water. It's training for the real world.

Naturally, I find something else far more objectionable than his comments on the training methods of the (volunteer) American military:

For those who truly want a better world in the future, it will be necessary for them to open their minds and seriously question the structure and philosophy (which considers obedience, humility, and self-sacrifice to be virtues) of society's main institutions--for if they remain as they are, America's fragile and ever-decreasing freedom will continue to fade and disappear, leaving behind only a faint and tragic memory.

Obedience? Humility? Self-sacrifice? These are undesireable traits?!

Tangentially, I can hear the Marxist retort now. . . "you're just caught up in the trappings of a society who programmed you to think this way. . ."

To which an intelligent person might as how the Marxist broke out from their societal underpinnings to come to this gnostic understanding of how the world should be.

Regardless, at center court here is the idea that the traits of obedience, humility, and self-sacrifice are somehow undesireable. Presumably then, are their opposites then desireable? Disobedience? Pride? Self-aggrandizement?

While the author cites the Montessori method of education as an ideal (which emphasizes a strong, personal encouragement to allow the child to develop and learn independently), does he misunderstand this to be the breeding ground for a child that will grow to reject virtues that emphasize others over self? Is self-serving license to become the embodiment of liberty?

To the contrary, obedience, humility, and self-sacrifice are peculiarly American traits because they are simply the best tools to preserve liberty.

A disobedient, prideful, and self-aggandizing soul doesn't prize liberty for anyone but themselves. An obedient, humble, and self-sacrificing soul might be considered amongst the most free, because at root there is a recognition of something greater than themselves.

We get into other matters at this point. The relativist will heartily disagree, while one who believes in objective truths will readily accept the concept. One might argue that this "greater than themselves" object could be misinterpreted into the state, big business, slave masters, etc., but that would be both disingenuous and inaccurate.

Ideas aren't greater than people, and people aren't greater than people. Is it God? I'd argue so, but I wouldn't mean that in a religious sense, but perhaps a theistic consideration that what we do and how we do it ultimately matters.

New Post - About Face!

I feel bad for Tricord et al. But when the Army says no, elected officials tend to take a second look:

Ken Perrotte, A.P. Hill's spokesman, said in an interview yesterday that the Army is building an Urban Warfare Center on the base, a mere stone's throw from the New Post site.

'That's going to become one of the most widely used facilities at Fort A.P. Hill,' he said. 'It's going to be combat in cities--with small-arms firing and light demolition charges and, at times, intensive aviation activities involving everything from air lifters to light aircraft to helicopters of various shapes and sizes.'

The resulting noise, Perrotte suggested, might lead residents to call for scaling back training exercise on the base, which, in turn, would make A.P. Hill less efficient. Such a situation, he argued, would breed 'unhappy campers' on both sides.

A.P. Hill is right from a military standpoint, but New Post is the way to go when it comes to development, and I seriously doubt that A.P. Hill will close anytime soon thanks to BRAC. If New Post is willing to live with the noise, then let 'em build!

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Cops Shoot Baby Used As Shield

I'm sorry, but does anyone else think the police acted inappropriately here?

You don't shoot hostages. Period. Rather than 300 rounds, why didn't a sniper end this quickly and decisively early on if the threat to others was grave enough to kill an 17-month old child taken hostage in the process? Or does it matter that the child was the man's daughter?

For Liberals, High Stakes at High Court

Question: If the liberals... ahem, progressives lose the fight over the Supreme Court nominees, what happens to liberalism as an effective political coalition? Amongst the left, it's all or nothing:

If the Coalition for a Fair and Independent Judiciary the lobbyists head is unsuccessful, it will risk not only seeing the courts tilt decidedly more conservative but also seeing the liberal movement lose further credibility as an organizing and advocacy force in Washington. 'The stakes are enormous -- they could not be any higher for us,' Aron said. 'Progressive organizations throughout the country understand how much is at stake with a change on the Supreme Court.'

It would certainly be the final blow of a Republican trifecta (Bush 2004, the War on Terror, SCOTUS). Would it be the end of liberalism? Not exactly. One might think that a realignment of sort would spawn a more conservative GOP, but the neo-conservatives and the moderates hold sway at the moment. Champions of smaller government, while the majority of their own party, are led by those who fight for the middle-ground.

So will it be the end of liberalism as we know it? Not likely. But it will mean the beginning of an era that Russell Kirk would no doubt smile upon. Whether or not the outcome pleases social conservatives and those of the more classical liberal/libertarian mindset is another matter altogether.

It's Time Virginia

Time to raise your taxes that is.

Another litany of complaints begging for more funding for Virginia transportation. Nevermind that we have an additional $10 billion in revenue from the previous biennium. Nevermind the Virginia General Assembly continues to raid the Transportation Trust Fund. Nevermind state expenditures are far outpacing income growth in the Commonwealth. Nevermind the fact that Virginia taxpayers overwhelmingly rejected transportation bonds in 2003.

It's time to raise taxes, they cry. Now we might not read this on this website, but we all know where this line of reasoning leads. The radio ads are up, and the cheerleading from a vocal minority with plenty of cash to raise taxes is on the march.

And while this group in particular is long on complaints, they are preciously short on solutions. Why should the state be making the transportation decisions when it is localities who determine land use? Transportation initiatives should work from the bottom up, not the top down. Why throw more money at a transpotation process that needs restructuring, not billion dollar band-aids?

Brace yourself folks, and be sure to ask legislators whether they too will be joining the cacaphony of special interests supporting higher taxes in '06.

Explosions at Spanish power plant

This time, it's the ETA that's behind the attacks:

After the warning calls to the Basque newspaper Gara and to the Basque emergency road service DYA, police rushed to the plant, in the Basque city of Amorebieta, and evacuated the workers.

The explosions occurred in quick succession between 2:05 pm and 2:15 pm local time.

The gas-fired thermal power plant is in a testing phase and not yet on line.

Much different than the al-Qaeda approach of killing as many people as possible. The ETA has long been a thorn in the side of the Spanish government, though their numbers have been on the decline.

Monday, July 11, 2005

Unnatural Selection

David Boaz comments on the impact of the Scopes trial and the relationship it has with the free market:

A state monopoly on electricity generation may be economically inefficient, but it's not likely to generate political conflict over moral values. But the state education monopoly is something else again. Education deals with topics that many people feel strongly about, and a monopoly requires them to fight over whose values will prevail in the single school system.

What sorts of conflicts can arise? Parents, taxpayers, and other voters can disagree over school prayer, ethnic history, the Pledge of Allegiance, school uniforms, gay teachers, teaching tolerance, drug testing -- or evolution vs. creation.

In a market system, customers can choose from a wide variety of options. Don't like steak? Eat at a vegetarian restaurant. Don't like traffic? Live in a bucolic neighborhood.

In a political system, like the school system, however, one group 'wins,' and the losers are stuck with products or services they don't like. Different preferences become the subject of endless political, legislative, and judicial squabbles.

Thus the reason why school choice and the free market have so much more to offer than state-imposed monopolies.

Sunday, July 10, 2005

The Jaded JD: When good blogs go bad

Jaded JD has some comments about the Virginia 2005 Elections website and it's recent fumblings (which might be too strong a word).

Is NLS looking for a way to stay relevant during the dry season between now and September? Perhaps so. . . maybe focusing on the statewide races would be a good focus in the meantime? A couple of debates about the direction of RPV and the DPVA? Third party candidates? I don't really have those answers. The personal zingers don't enhance a well-earned reputation though. When NLS does reveal himself/herself over time (and privately I hope that doesn't occur), people will judge the blog on the quality and insight of its posts. Thus far, that reputation continues to hold firm.

For one, I particularly enjoy the site, and even enjoy the controversy "not jim gilmore" created. Frankly, if the comments came anonymously from the "Gang of 17", it's very telling to see what they really think of Virginia's conservatives. Name one other website with the clout to pull similar information?

It's a great idea, a great blog, and has spawned more than one imitator. Looking forward to a day when the site returns to it's target-rich environment.

London - Round 2

London's Metropolitan Police are gearing up for a second round:

BRITAIN'S terrorist alert has been raised to its highest-ever level because the London rush-hour bombers are alive and planning another attack, The Times has learnt.

Security services, military and police are on "severe specific" alert - the second highest status and higher than after the September 11 atrocities - after it emerged that the terrorists who killed as many as 70 people were not suicide bombers.

My brother was telling me there was a specific journalist/commentator who threw back the comment that the IRA was much better at this terrorism thing. Interesting comment, considering that the IRA has been known to train the ETA, FARC, HAMAS, Hezbollah, the PLO, and possibly al-Qaeda cells inside Venezuela and Colombia.

No news on American transportation systems though, but let's keep in mind that for the millions and millions (billions?) of dollars we spend fighting terrorism, a handful of people with backpacks wrought the damage on July 7th. The best defense against terrorism is the eyes and ears of the average person.

Israel Cabinet Endorses Jerusalem Barrier

I've only heard of some of these barriers, part of which runs through Franciscan and Orthodox monasteries. Regardless of the protests from the Palestinian Authority and the Vatican, Likud still seems driven to complete the project:

The Israeli ministers acknowledged about 55,000 Palestinian residents in four neighborhoods will eventually be cut off from their city by the separation barrier, meant to stop Palestinian bombers, and promised to come up with a plan by Sept. 1 on how to alleviate some of the hardships.

Critics warned that despite the new provisions, tens of thousands of Palestinians, who have Jerusalem residency rights and pay municipal taxes, would probably face major delays in crossing through 11 gates in the barrier every day on their way to jobs and schools. Only half of the barrier has been built.

Palestinian officials rejected the Israeli Cabinet decision.

Understandably so. I haven't been back to see the new barrier, but it runs through Christian land the same way it runs through Palestinian land (Muslim or Christian). Sad really.

Top 10 downloads of the past 10 years

How many do you have?

Sadly, I can only claim five.

UMW crew causes row at Lake of the Woods

One more case of insurance getting in the way of a good thing.

Only 15 minutes outside of Fredericksburg, we might recommend a much more accomodating venue: Historic Port Royal

Saturday, July 09, 2005

Another London Bombing Attempt?

This one being reported by Reuters as occuring on Thursday:

A New Zealander working for Reuters in London says two colleagues witnessed the unconfirmed shooting by police of two apparent suicide bombers outside the HSBC tower at Canary Wharf in London.

The New Zealander, who did not want to be named, said the killing of the two men wearing bombs happened at 10.30am on Thursday (London time).

Following the shooting, the 8000 workers in the 44-storey tower were told to stay away from windows and remain in the building for at least six hours, the New Zealand man said.

This following reports from the London Metropolitan Police that the bombings occured within seconds of one another, and not over the course of an hour as previously claimed.

Odd stuff.

NASA's Deep Impact Tells a Tale of the Comet

More on Tempel 1 and the Deep Impact experiement:

'The major surprise was the opacity of the plume the impactor created and the light it gave off,' said Deep Impact Principal Investigator Dr. Michael A'Hearn of the University of Maryland, College Park. 'That suggests the dust excavated from the comet's surface was extremely fine, more like talcum powder than beach sand. And the surface is definitely not what most people think of when they think of comets -- an ice cube.'

How can a comet hurtling through our solar system be made of a substance with less strength than snow or even talcum powder?

'You have to think of it in the context of its environment,' said Dr. Pete Schultz, Deep Impact scientist from Brown University, Providence, R.I. 'This city-sized object is floating around in a vacuum. The only time it gets bothered is when the Sun cooks it a little or someone slams an 820-pound wakeup call at it at 23,000 miles per hour.'

Interesting stuff. What will be even more interesting is how precisely these comets go about accumulating this dust over time.

Memories. . .

Care to take a peek at how the Internet has evolved? Here's some of your favorite websites as they looked in 1995.

88th District - Feldbush vs. Cole

Mark handily beat Chuck Feldbush in 2003. While no one wants to be apathetic, the results shouldn't be any different this time around.

However. . .

One thing to keep an eye on is whether or not Feldbush does better than in 2003, and by how much. If it's closer (as in better than 60-40), this could be the beginning of the Democratic resurgence we're starting to see in Northern Virginia proper. While Stafford and Spotsylvania remain overwhelmingly Republican, a narrowing of the 2-1 margin we enjoy is a demographic change that all political analysts focusing on high-growth localities should keep an eye upon.

Friday, July 08, 2005

Embattled cardinal seeks Pope's support

Spanish Cardinal Antonio Rouco is appealling to the Pope to help with the cultural crisis in Spain:

Cardinal Antonio Mar'a Rouco Varela of Madrid told Pope Benedict XVI this week that in Spain 'there is a denial not only of faith, but also of human intellect, as can be seen in the recent legislation on marriage and the family'. The Socialist Government of President Jose Luis Zapatero passed legislation on 30 June that makes same-sex unions legal in Spain, and allows homosexual couples to adopt children.

Cardinal Rouco, accompanied by 2,000 pilgrims from the Madrid Archdiocese, was received by the Pope on Monday in the Paul VI room at the Vatican. He told Benedict XVI that Spanish society is "strongly tempted by a relativist culture and radically secular lifestyle choices taken as if God did not exist". The Pope did not refer directly to the new law on same-sex unions but asked Spaniards to spread the word of God "in a society thirsty for real human values, which is suffering from such great divisions." He said all believers should "feel impelled to go, as if sent by Christ, in search of those who have distanced themselves from the community."

An appropriate and bold answer. If not for lazy Christians, would relativism thrive as well as it does today?

Hotels 'cash in' on bomb attacks

Briefly, we saw this in New York and Washington after Sept. 11th.

Briefly.

A Trading Standards Institute spokesman said hotel profiteering after a bombing attack was reprehensible.

With the transport networks down and no way of returning home, one businessman from Manchester told the BBC he had paid £250 for an £80 room.

Commuters said they were appalled, and thousands chose to walk for hours to reach home rather than stay the night in a hotel.

Indeed. There's always folks out there who see disaster as an opportunity to cash in. Hopefully, Londoners will remember who decided to take advantage of them in their hour of need and repay them in kind -- by simply ceasing to patronize their businesses.

She's not saying no

To being Justice Judy that is. . .

All eyes are on Washington waiting for the next SCOTUS vacancy.

Thursday, July 07, 2005

SST: Rehnquist? and Stevens?

The rumor mill is running at full tilt.

O'Connor, Rehnquist, and now possibly Stevens? A conservative hat-trick to coincide with the return of hockey season?!

Perhaps not, but a guy can hope, can't he?

Vatican Criticizes Catholics on Communion

The preliminary texts of a new Vatican document regarding the Eucharist are being prepared for the October synod. What's interesting is that when Pope Benedict XVI and others spoke of a smaller,