--- Good.

Even better.
I don̢۪t want to give John Paul II too a hard time, because I think,
underneath all of the politicking and agenda pushing, he is a very holy
man. Yes, you read that correctly. No matter what problems I have with
the Church, he is not responsible for all of them. If nothing else, his
failure to be brave enough to push the Church further, to challenge the
conceptions of the Curia and the conservatives, is enough to convince
me that, even if he is the Pope, he really is just a priest wrought
large. He has faith, and he struggles with it; that convinces me of his
goodness. I̢۪ve seen on TV and read stories from people who have
prayed with him and who had a palpable sense, that, yes, he was
actually communicating directly with God. No one prays harder than he
does. Those qualifications given, I̢۪m glad they didn̢۪t give him the
Peace Prize. There̢۪s no question of him deserving it. He does. He
played a massive role in ridding the world of Communism, and for that,
we should thank him. But not having the courage to bring the largest
organized religion in the world into the 21st Century speaks volumes,
and no amount of success in bringing down a much hated and repressive
ideological system is going to make up for the fact he failed to
confront the big challenge that was presented to him when he became
Pope: to bring a church---a church that is potentially the largest
force for social justice in the world---together. He chickened out. I
fail to see the argument to reward him for his cowardice.
--- Is Sex Necessary?

Duh.

--- Vodkapundit
has an interesting piece on China̢۪s first manned space flight this
morning. I, too, find the notion of space to be a very exciting one. I,
too, think we need to figure out what̢۪s going on up there and how we
can best harness the potential of space. I̢۪m not saying I̢۪ll ever
sign up to be a part of colonizing the moon or Mars (I̢۪m of the
opinion that good ol̢۪ Earth is the best place in the universe to be:
why should we try to improve on perfection?), but I can see the need to
explore up there.
Stephen̢۪s got a point about this: With the Soviet bear dead and buried, maybe we need Chinese competition to give us back our derring-do.
Yes, it̢۪s true. We did work hard on going to the moon, partly, to
beat the Soviets back. Competition does spur creativity. But this next
bit is irrational given our current capabilities. “And then there's the threat to be considered.
I recently finished re-reading George & Meredith Friedman's 1996
book, The Future of War. In it, they make the persuasive case that if
American power is to survive, it must include control of space, at
least out to the 22,241-mile point of geosynchronous orbits.
(Note: This is the Friedman's second book. Their first, 1990's The
Coming War with Japan, is laughable just by the title. And in the
build-up to Desert Storm, George claimed we faced two years of war and
tens of thousands of casualties. This more recent book contains some
howlers, too, but their point on space control is well taken.)
America can't fight its wars, warn its allies of danger, or even aim
its smartest weapons without intelligence and communications provided
by satellites. Even today, our civilian economy could barely function
without reliable satellite communications. And in the coming age of
hypersonic orbital "cruise" missiles, semi-robotic "Starship
Trooper"-type soldiers, and other such exotica, protecting our space
assets will become just as vital tomorrow as it is today to protect our
aircraft carriers.
China's space program isn't just another reason to be hopeful that
mankind can, perhaps, outlive the rock where we evolved. It could also
be a knife at our jugular.
I hope the Chinese example spurs us all on to further peaceful uses of
space. But the future of war lies there, too – and we can't afford a
December 7 or a September 11 in orbit.”
To presume that there is, indeed, a threat against our satellites would
also require making the presumption that a country---whomever---has
also come up with the technology to take out satellites in such a way
that would not harm their own satellites. Currently, the only
technology I̢۪m aware of that will disable a satellite, besides just
hitting it with a rock, is a low-earth-orbit EMP blast, and that
technology has not been refined enough to do the job. Currently, the
only people I can see that this would be a benefit for are Luddites,
and even they wouldn̢۪t know how to do it. Such a thing is not
possible, now, nor will it, I suspect, be a possibility in the next
seventy-five years at the rate science is progressing in regards to
space based technology. It is wishful thinking on Stephen̢۪s part to
assume that the Chinese, who are just getting around to things the US
achieved forty years ago, will spur NASA to get its act together, let
alone that this will make governments think that their satellites are
vulnerable and need protecting in the first place. --- Chuckle for the Day.
I̢۪m fairly certain the Vatican has a press release all typed up and
ready to go, condemning such a thing.
Ya̢۪ think?
---I did not go swimsuit shopping yesterday. I just couldn̢۪t bring
myself to go and do the most horrible thing you can do as a woman: try
on swimsuits. This, undoubtedly, is the task that sucks more
efficiently at your soul than an industrial strength vacuum cleaner on
a dirty carpet. I would skip it entirely if I could, alas, however, the
siren call of the beach is ringing in my ears and my plane ticket
states rather clearly that I must be on board tomorrow night or my
frequent flyer miles will go to waste. My task is clear. All that
remains is for me to accomplish it. Pray for me. I̢۪m going here
tomorrow.
Yes,
white sand, green sea, my parents and my fat ass hanging out. A good
time will be had by all. However, there are two glitches. Firstly, the
husband has to work, so he will not be joining me. I̢۪m pretty sad
about this because I love my sweetie and don̢۪t like to be away from
home without him. I wish he was coming with. Dems da breaks,
however. Secondly, there is only one phone line in the folks̢۪ condo.
This is bad on many fronts: my parents are bringing their own computer
with them and have top priority on the dial-up line and my mother is a
chatty soul who likes talking on the phone and despises having it tied
up. I am taking wee bastard with me, but I am low woman on the totem
pole when it comes to accessing the phone line, so I will not be
producing the Cake Eater Chronicles next week. It would be just too
much of a pain on everyone involved; it̢۪s best to scrap the idea of
remote blogging this time around. (We̢۪re not even going to mention
that I have a nasty habit of forgetting there is such a thing as the
Internet when I̢۪m on the beach.)
But, there is good news: you, my faithful readers, will have a whole
week of guest bloggers! Friends Mr. H., ML, and the man you all know
and love as “the husband” will be taking it over until I get back
and can resume my queenly duties. Mr. H, will be writing on Monday and
Thursday; ML on Tuesday and Friday; and the husband on Wednesday. And
providing none of the four planes I have to travel on crash and I die a
fiery death, I will be back on Monday, October 20th, with many details
of my vacation. Have a great week. Enjoy the guest bloggers. They̢۪re
all people I love dearly. But, more importantly, I respect their
intelligence, their points of view and their ability to get them
across, and I hope you will as well.
Oh, just in case you were wondering, I still haven̢۪t found the All You Can̢۪t Leave Behind disc yet. Sigh.

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