Quick Roundup 97

Wow! I'm closing in on 100 of these roundup posts and 1000 blog postings.

Byzantine Riot Updates

There was lost of good discussion (and I linked to a few pertinent items) at my last Friday post, about the latest Islamic riots. As of this writing, there are 13 comments, so reload the page if you've been there already.

Most notably, The Anchoress speculates as to whether the Pope sparked these riots intentionally. (The following is mostly lifted straight from this comment.)

... Benedict has managed - in his very scholarly fashion - to apply a very hot drawing poultice to the enormous and festering boils of both radical Islamism and rampant secularism. At the very least, it will cause some Muslims to insist that distinctions be made between them and their more extreme co-religionists, and it may rouse the West to examine how cavalierly it has tossed off the "shackles" of Christianity only to open itself up to the scimitar. Perhaps some will look at the spires of their great cathedrals and wonder if they really want to see them replaced with minarets.

This is an interesting interpretation. And, if true, the Anchoress rightly indicates that someone who values mystical insight over the verdict of his mind is capable of being quite reckless, something she has no problems with.

Maybe Benedict will just trust the Holy Spirit to use his words as the Spirit will - which can get pretty messy, and scary for some. Even for Christians, casting one's work to the wiles of the Holy Spirit can be scary. But then we can have faith that everything will work out for the best. And that's a powerful lesson, a tremendously frightening obedience to learn.

Remember, this is coming from the same source (i.e., the Vatican) as the recent condemnations of Israel's self-defense vs Hezbollah and a major proponent of Just War Theory.

Further updates on the riots can be found here, here, and here. Michelle Malkin (second "here") notes that in "secular" Turkey, Attack the Pope, a novel about the assassination of Pope Benedict (who is scheduled to visit soon), is on the best-seller list. We may also have our first fatality, an Italian nun shot to death in Mogadishu.

Riot Photo I

Via Issac Schrodinger comes this picture, whose file name I wish I had made up.


When I first saw this, I believe at Little Green Footballs, it reminded me of a quote from M. Northrup Buechner that a recent entry at The Charlotte Capitalist caused me to hunt for and find.

Morally self-righteous criminals -- that is the essence of the collectivist soul. The terrorist is its most consistent expression.

Riot Photo II


And then this one is not just laughable, I am surprised that I am, apparently, the first to think of the obvious retort: "Please go 'hump' yourselves!"

Castro in Pajamas

Via Michelle Malkin, it seems that after initially starting without Fidel Castro, who had been scheduled to appear there, all events at the world's summit of "non-aligned" nations have been canceled.

You can forgive me for initially thinking that he was too busy playing baseball to attend.

But I was obviously wrong. He isn't attending to either activity after hearing about Madman Mahmood's latest efforts. He appears to be blogging instead, based on his attire.

Or, perhaps, he has finally gotten around to manufacturing compost for the state.

Oh yeah. The "non-aligned" nations? Holy blast from the past, Batman! I thought that gathering of tinpot despots went the way of the Cold War. Live and learn.

Lindeskog Covers Elections

I'll end with a bit of good news this morning.

After reading somewhere that the "conservative" side in Sweden had no intention of dismantling the welfare state, I didn't think much would come of the elections there.

I was wrong. Martin Lindeskog quotes a local media outlet on the significance of their victory:

But the Swedish Moderate Party is less important for the European Right than the Social Democratic Party is for the European Left. The latter's total dominance of Swedish politics and society has given it almost totemic importance. Defeat for Persson on Sunday will send a chill wind through the ranks of Europe's socialist parties. (TheLocal.se, 09/17/06.)

His blogging landed him an Instalanche, by the way.

-- CAV