tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63309052009-02-21T06:49:35.404-05:00My personal space to discuss religion, baseball and politicsPaul Smith Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05544231455809008497noreply@blogger.comBlogger1951125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6330905.post-1151717879749354842006-06-30T21:36:00.000-04:002006-06-30T21:38:00.000-04:00

I've got a new home page for blogging. You can see me at Gazizza.net. So far, you can read my review of Superman Returns there. More will come.

Paul Smith Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05544231455809008497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6330905.post-1151684330820133302006-06-30T12:18:00.000-04:002006-06-30T12:18:51.700-04:00

According to the linked article, the creators of Superman conciously created his back story and motivations to make reflect the Jewish experience in America.I still believe he fits the Christ story even better, which Superman Returns really plays up.Link via The Corner.

Paul Smith Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05544231455809008497noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6330905.post-1151680479485753782006-06-30T11:14:00.000-04:002006-06-30T11:14:39.930-04:00

Hilarious video. Not for all tastes, though.Link via The Corner.

Paul Smith Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05544231455809008497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6330905.post-1151634826653180062006-06-29T22:33:00.000-04:002006-06-29T22:33:46.700-04:00

Go see it. Go see it now! Freakin' great movie.

Paul Smith Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05544231455809008497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6330905.post-1151605561895938702006-06-29T14:26:00.000-04:002006-06-29T14:26:08.546-04:00

Canon lawyer Ed Peters defends latae sententiae excommunication for embryonic stem-cell research (discussed here yesterday) as flowing from the historical development and understanding of canon law.Hat Tip: Mark Shea

Paul Smith Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05544231455809008497noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6330905.post-1151543569194973782006-06-28T21:12:00.000-04:002006-06-28T21:12:49.256-04:00

And Alabama rejoices!

Paul Smith Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05544231455809008497noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6330905.post-1151541924292626522006-06-28T20:45:00.000-04:002006-06-28T20:45:25.270-04:00

Ah, yes, the need to distinguish between public and private. It’s a familiar observation, but I’m not sure I understand it.Nearly every examination of a historical figure ends up looking intensely at his home life and seeing how it influenced his public actions, whether it’s Pontius Pilate and his wife or Warren Harding’s scandalous presidency. Historians know: There is no great divide between

Paul Smith Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05544231455809008497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6330905.post-1151532999443721882006-06-28T18:16:00.000-04:002006-06-28T18:16:39.446-04:00

New Blog. Check it out!

Paul Smith Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05544231455809008497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6330905.post-1151532500027830902006-06-28T18:08:00.000-04:002006-06-28T21:59:26.390-04:00

Scientists who conduct research involving the destruction of human embryos are subject to excommunication, the president of the Pontifical Council for the Family has warned.This is only right; research on embryos kill a living human person.UPDATE: The Curt Jester makes an amusing point as to why Catholic politicians who promote laws that endorse or allow embryonic stem-cell research or abortion

Paul Smith Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05544231455809008497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6330905.post-1151524745538411892006-06-28T15:50:00.000-04:002006-06-28T15:59:05.603-04:00

"Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall, when the wise are banished from the public councils, because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded, because they flatter the people, in order to betray them." —Joseph Story "Our country offers the most wonderful example of democratic government on a giant scale that the world has

Paul Smith Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05544231455809008497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6330905.post-1151421900030277372006-06-27T11:25:00.000-04:002006-06-27T11:25:01.556-04:00

I've always assumed he'd die. Given the link that exists between Harry and Voldemort, it made sense to me that perhaps one can't die without the other dying as well.Mark Shea argues that Harry is a Christological figure and therefore he will die and rise again. I don't know that I buy that. I've never seen Harry as Christ, and don't really get how he is a figure of Him.

Paul Smith Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05544231455809008497noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6330905.post-1151350324449744942006-06-26T15:32:00.000-04:002006-06-26T15:32:04.526-04:00

I have never understood the rationale behind needle exchange programs. "I'm intending to an illegal, immoral and harmful thing to myself. I think you, a law-abiding moral person should be drawn into my depravity by being forced to pay for some of my expense."We're supposed to do this to reduce the spread of AIDS. But making it easier for people to have drug habits will just lead to more people

Paul Smith Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05544231455809008497noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6330905.post-1151348083790795702006-06-26T14:54:00.000-04:002006-06-26T14:54:44.253-04:00

Unfortunately not permanently. The flood wasn't big enough for that.

Paul Smith Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05544231455809008497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6330905.post-1151338339579936972006-06-26T12:07:00.000-04:002006-06-26T12:12:19.663-04:00

"A free people [claim] their rights as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate." —Thomas Jefferson "One of these days they are going to remove so much of the 'hooey' and the thousands of things the schools have become clogged up with, and we will find that we can educate our broods for about one-tenth of the price and learn 'em something that they might

Paul Smith Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05544231455809008497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6330905.post-1151337480558322482006-06-26T11:58:00.000-04:002006-06-26T11:58:06.163-04:00

Mark Levin makes a good point:Does the First Amendment prohibit states and localities from outlawing flag burning? The Supreme Court says it does. Does the First Amendment prohibit states and localities from outlawing cross-burning? The Supreme Court says it does not. Will those who oppose a constitutional amendment outlawing flag burning in the name of free speech propose a constitutional

Paul Smith Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05544231455809008497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6330905.post-1151077893679338382006-06-23T11:51:00.000-04:002006-06-23T11:51:34.870-04:00

Today opponents of the new translation cite concern over the effects the changes will have on congregations, which have grown accustomed to ICEL's old renderings. While change can certainly be destabilizing, there is a difference between changing in order to move away from tradition and changing in order to return to it. And it is odd for those who pushed for a radical shift in 1970 to be now

Paul Smith Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05544231455809008497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6330905.post-1150996113695404502006-06-22T13:08:00.000-04:002006-06-22T13:08:33.760-04:00

Freedom is my anti-gov!

Paul Smith Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05544231455809008497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6330905.post-1150995028351337532006-06-22T12:50:00.000-04:002006-06-22T12:50:31.840-04:00

It has occurred to me that both parties increasingly dislike their bases, but for different reasons and to different degrees. By both parties I mean the leaders and representatives of the Democrats and Republicans in Washington. I believe I correctly observe that they feel an increasing intellectual estrangement from and impatience with the activists who people their base of support....In the

Paul Smith Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05544231455809008497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6330905.post-1150915622855668752006-06-21T14:43:00.000-04:002006-06-21T14:47:02.960-04:00

"Liberty is the prevention of control by others. This requires self-control and, therefore, religious and spiritual influences; education, knowledge, well-being." —Lord Acton "Most of the work of government does not need to be done. And, if you can remember that, if we could all remember that, this country would be better off." —Lyn Nofziger "We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected

Paul Smith Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05544231455809008497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6330905.post-1150898804308889022006-06-21T10:05:00.000-04:002006-06-21T10:06:44.423-04:00

1968 Through legislation signed by Governor Charles Terry, tavern patrons were allowed to stand up to a bar and drink alcohol.That's amazing to me. So were barstools in existance or did people have to sit only at tables? What was it like before this?

Paul Smith Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05544231455809008497noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6330905.post-1150841842861341192006-06-20T18:17:00.000-04:002006-06-20T18:17:23.050-04:00

Amy Welborn does her usual insightful job discussing the issue of whether Catholic pro-abortion politicians should be denied Holy Communion. I've argued in the past that they should. For example, Senator Biden has been staunchly pro-abortion pretty much his entire career. Persuasion and cajoling haven't worked; he knows the Church's teaching on abortion and the sacredness of the Blessed Sacrament

Paul Smith Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05544231455809008497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6330905.post-1150840292743429422006-06-20T17:51:00.000-04:002006-06-20T17:51:33.673-04:00

The Peanuts gang dancing to "Hey Ya" by Outkast.Absolutely brilliant.Hat Tip: The Corner.

Paul Smith Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05544231455809008497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6330905.post-1150742189251734842006-06-19T14:32:00.000-04:002006-06-19T14:36:29.313-04:00

"An elective despotism was not the government we fought for; but one in which the powers of government should be so divided and balanced among the several bodies of magistracy as that no one could transcend their legal limits without being effectually checked and restrained by the others." —James Madison "There are in fact four very significant stumbling blocks in the way of grasping the truth,

Paul Smith Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05544231455809008497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6330905.post-1150723757622201672006-06-19T09:29:00.000-04:002006-06-19T09:29:18.130-04:00

The Supreme Court opened the door Monday to new constitutional challenges to lethal injection, the method used by most states and the federal government to execute death row inmates.In an unanimous decision, the court allowed those condemned to die to make last-minute claims that the chemicals used are too painful _ and therefore amount to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the

Paul Smith Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05544231455809008497noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6330905.post-1150654534119159112006-06-18T14:14:00.000-04:002006-06-18T14:15:34.163-04:00

I was just sent this via email:I assume many of you haven't seen the reports about how Sears is treating its reservist employees who are called up? By law, they are required to hold their jobs open and available, but nothing more. Usually, people take a big pay cut and lose benefits as a result of being called up...Sears is voluntarily paying the difference in salaries and maintaining all

Paul Smith Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05544231455809008497noreply@blogger.com1