Our dinner with the Stirlings.

Steve Stirling and his wife Jan were in town for a local sci-fi convention two weekends ago, and they generously offered to take us out for dinner. Apparently, Dale III overheard me talking to Heather about what he was doing in town, and asked, as we pulled up to the hotel to meet them:

"So, is he done entertaining the nerds yet?"

Steve laughed out loud at that one. Jan and Steve are wonderful folks, and a great time was had by all. I managed to avoid any embarrassing fanboy moments. At least I think so. I also understand why Steve decided against being a lawyer, and I can't blame him.

Thanks, my friends!

Free speech isn't free.

Former Canadian "Human Rights Commission" employee and noted



Richard Warman continues his war against free speech and has filed
yet another lawsuit-for-intimidation-purposes-only against the Canadian free speech blog, Blazing Cat Fur.

Any financial help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Can't say as I care for what you're breeding up there, Canada.

The tolling of the bells.

They toll for us. Beautifully.

In our new home, there is a Catholic church about four blocks due north. On a pleasant Sunday, it's a fine walk. It's also worthwhile--the Mass is reverent, the homilies solid, the people friendly to us and our squad. Architecturally--whoof. Built in 1956, the high altar is still intact, and there's even a baldacchino still in place. The spiritual descendants of Constantine V have not found this place.

But I think one of my favorite things about the church is that you can hear the bells toll on the hour from 9 am to 6 pm, every day. The beginning and ending hours usually toll hymns. So far, I've identified Pange Lingua Gloriosi and To Jesus Christ Our Sovereign King.

I think we've found the right house. Thanks be to God.

[Update: My Much Better Half reliably informs me that the hymns play at noon and 6pm.]

Learn something new every day.

Did you know Münchausen syndrome by proxy is a "new model of Church"?

I sure didn't. Interesting.

The first rule of Purge Club is you don't talk about Purge Club.

The Catholic blogosphere, rather like the rest of the net, is a mixed bag. Even the orthodox ones run the gamut. For some reason, that's news today. It's not particularly impressive, though it does correctly note that blog reporting brought to light the problems with CCHD fund recipients. And, yes, some Catholic bloggers who pride themselves on their orthodoxy misplace the charity button and behave like jerks. But overall, the reporting carries with it the suggestion of cultural incomprehension: a coastal reporter discovers and is repelled by the weird rituals performed by the bumpkiny types in flyover country. Note the terms used: purge, enraged, starkest, dissecting. Hard to see a similar article looking at the Kos bloggers or even the staff blogs at the Reporter, despite the recurrent nastiness of Mr. Winters at the latter publication.

Somewhat interesting, but mostly the same old same old. Still, I was baffled by this reference:

Thomas Peters, who runs the popular "AmericanPapist" blog, said fellow orthodox Catholics have embraced the Web because they feel they finally have a platform that can compete with well-established liberal Catholic publications, such as the National Catholic Reporter. (Some conservative bloggers call the paper "the National Catholic Destroyer.")

I'd never heard that one before. Tom's never used it. I've read "National Catholic Distorter," yeah. But "Destroyer"? Never.

Curiously, a Bing search reveals that every single reference to the "National Catholic Destroyer" is from this article or commentaries on it.

Not a single independent reference. If bloggers are using it, you'd think there'd be some actual evidence for it on the internet. Peculiar.

The perils of undergoing a classectomy.

The side-effects are lifelong and difficult to treat, as a distinctly churlish commentator at the Reporter demonstrates.

In the past, Winters was a sometimes-challenging read, but his increasingly-venomous streak has made it not worth the bother.

Thank God for grown-ups.

A Muslim writer protests the Williams firing.

And in even better news, a group of American and Canadian Muslims stand up for free speech. I especially appreciate this part:

We are concerned and saddened by the recent wave of vitriolic anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic sentiment that is being expressed across our nation.

We are even more concerned and saddened by threats that have been made against individual writers, cartoonists, and others by a minority of Muslims. We see these as a greater offense against Islam than any cartoon, Qur’an burning, or other speech could ever be deemed.

Bravo, ladies and gentlemen! Thanks for standing up and being counted.

Half the World.

Waaaay back, during the abortive attempts of the Iranian people to be free of the Revolutionary Guard and the Jew-hating messianic dwarf who fronts for them, I said I was going to post something about one of my favorite cities: Esfahan (Isfahan), Iran.

The traditional capital of the Safavid dynasty, Esfahan is an architectural marvel, as well as a center of Persian culture. Indeed, the city is so justly proud of its heritage that it uses the couplet: "Esfahan, nesfeh jahan!" Esfahan, half the world! The following photos should demonstrate why.



Shah Abbas I was the greatest of the Safavids, the Shia dynasty that ruled Iran and the surrounding areas for over 200 years. A perpetual thorn in the eastern side of the Ottomans, the Safavids made life miserable for the Sultans in Constantinople, committing the powerful Ottomans to a draining second front during the peak of the Turkish empire. Abbas triumphed over the Ottomans, and used his wealth to create architectural masterpieces like the Sheikh Lotfallah Mosque (above). He moved his capital to Esfahan in 1598, and naturally, he had to spiff it up to his demanding specifications.



As impressive as it is on the outside, it is the interior of the Lotfallah mosque that truly dazzles.



The dome is simply a marvel.





Shah Abbas was known for genuine tolerance of Christians, once saying he'd prefer the dust off the lowliest Christian's foot to the presence of the kingliest Ottoman. He resettled Armenians liberated from the Turks in Esfahan (which was followed by a steady stream of Armenian immigrants) and permitted them to build the Holy Savior Cathedral.



The Cathedral frescoes are stunning. Note the similarity of certain decorative motifs in both the mosque and the cathedral.









There's even a memorial to the Armenian genocide in the Cathedral courtyard.

Despite the glory of the Lotfallah, Shah Abbas was not finished adorning his new capital. Yet another mosque, even grander, arose: the Shah Mosque.

But that will have to wait for another post.

"I think he can *hear* you, Ray."

Juan Williams' sin was simply in voicing NPR's own fears out loud.

In the end, NPR did not post the cartoon, although it is readily available around the Internet. Many listeners wrote to say that they were disappointed with that decision.

. . .

Listeners who are strong First Amendment advocates say NPR's response is insufficient. Many have written asking that NPR join with other American media and stand up to extremism and intimidation. But NPR also has, in my opinion, an obligation not to exacerbate the tensions that already inflame relations between Muslims and non-Muslims. Would posting the cartoon help or hinder the goals of free speech and a free press in the Muslim world?

To put in another way — would NPR post racist or anti-Semitic cartoons on its Web site in the name of free speech? Or do the values of public radio demand another, more measured response?

NPR may have a special role in this: In radio, the shock of the visual can be avoided by clearly describing why the cartoon is considered offensive. This does not compound the offense by re-publishing it. There is a value in euphemism, even though the temptation to poke radicals in the eye is strong.

NPR resisted that temptation, much to the dismay of some listeners who want NPR to use the cartoon as a weapon against radical Islam. In reporting this story, NPR has been clear, but not provocative. It's been a tough call all around, but I think that NPR did the right thing.

Translation: we submit--don't behead us.

Blogivaria.

Mark Sullivan moved, quite a while ago (not that I updated my link--yeesh) to The Jury Box. Sorry, Mark. And start blogging again--you're making me nervous.

Mike Inman informed me that he's no longer blogging, but you can find him on Facebook, the last refuge of the ex-/hibernating blogger.

Thomas McDonald, Plenipotentiary Gamemaster and Lord Savant of Fun, has the State of Play blog up and running at high speed. Game reviews--electronic and board--aplenty. Read--a lot.

Any other new blogs/updates I should be aware of?

Crocodile tears.

Or, "Progressives pretend to be upset about the iconoclasm they've tried to ram down everyone's throats since 1965."

The merry band of lassies and lads at the Reporter claim to be appalled--just appalled!--by a pastor's decision to cover a mural of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I agree--it's a horror. The Archbishop is screwing this one up.

But...color me skeptical that the folks at the Reporter are truly upset by the actual covering, though. The Reporter piece reeks of opportunism, getting the chance to rage at a despised bishop to their right (which, yes, is most of them). I mean, how can the same people who rip out baldaccinos, high altars, altar rails, statuary, crucifixes, etc. at the drop of a hat really be upset by the covering of a mural above the altar? Or am I to believe that the Reporter crowd suddenly got the bulletin from II Nicaea, rekindling that ol' time religion?

Even better: there's evidence for the opportunism. From right here in Michigan, when some of the late bishop Untener's apparatchiks did the exact same thing to a Hispanic parish in Saginaw, removing the statue of the Guadalupana commissioned by the Mexican families in the parish back in 1961. Reporter coverage of that abuse of the religious sensibilities of Hispanic parishoners? Zilch. Try it yourself. I used "Guadalupe statue" and "rainbow parish."

Can't embarrass the administration of a late progressive hero, can we? But the Devil Chaput? Avengers assemble!

Nice bit of canned outrage by the folks in KC. Need to work on making it less transparent next time, though.