The Morning Blog

Going to be a bit of a short post today unfortunately. My mother is off to welcome my shiny, new niece (Julia Elizabeth for those of you keeping score), to the world. As such, I've been drafted into getting her to the airport.

For the record, I hate driving and have largely avoided doing it for the past 10 years or so (one of the joys of city living). Unfortunately, it's gotta be done and as I glare balefully at the snow coming down...

Meh.

Anyways is anything interesting going on in the world?

Huh... Speaking of baby names... Having now read the story of Wilgefortis, I have to say that my sister made a sound choice opting for Julia.

Police arrested five IRA dissidents as well as weapons making material near Dublin. It feels a little anachronistic to me. I was under the impression that the IRA wasn't really an issue anymore. They seem more like dangerously misguided hobbyists, sort of the like people that do Civil War re-enactments in America only taking it a trifle too far.

Italy's top court will begin deliberations to decide whether the immunity law shielding PM Silvio Berlusconi is constitutional. Wouldn't it be great if they ruled that it was not? And wouldn't it be great if he went on the run? And wouldn't it be pants-wetting great if he teamed up with Randy and Evi Quaid? Just saying. Sounds like a match made in heaven to me.

I certainly don't want to be accused of "blood libel". After all, I grew up in a largely Jewish neighborhood, treasured the kugel that the nice, old lady next door used to make for me, and frankly love matzo ball soup and have a hard time accepting that it contains the blood of children. As such, I'm really not interested in getting involved in some sort of Dark Ages pogrom against my former neighbors. That said, Foreign Policy has a measured analysis of the sad, sad victimhood of Sarah Palin. She clearly has suffered the most as a result of the tragic events in Tucson. Well, except for the actual victims and their friends, families and colleagues. But they failed to put out a video.

Obama's speech at the memorial service in Arizona here. I have not had the chance to watch more than a few minutes myself. I have to say though, that the crowd could probably show a bit more solemnity. Really not the place to cheer when your college gets a mention.

The New York Times profiles the deep spirituality of Steeler safety, Troy Polamalu. Though I'm by no means a believer, I do respect that his faith helps him to find peace, not to mention a profound humility.

Speaking of God and football...

Ahem..."Football", British Edition.

Some lucky Dutch accountants are about to conduct the most interesting audits of their lives.

This makes me want to invest in a proper cell phone (as opposed to the rickety piece of crap I currently own). It also makes me resort to alliteration: This amazing app approaches awesomeness.

I'd be very interested in people's thoughts on this: The so-called sequel to the "Catcher in the Rye" has been banned in the US and Canada over copyright infringement. I tend to be a bit leery of intellectual property claims in general, particularly when they're being exercised by a man who after all, is dead. That said, I always thought that Holden Caulfield was a miserable, little turd. Anyways, your thoughts on this? Obviously, American readers will most likely not be in a position to chime in on the actual merits of the new book. I'm more interested in whether literature should or should not be permitted to pivot off of other books.

Ending things on a somewhat ironic note here...

The cruise ship, "Spirit of Adventure" was chased by (you guessed it), PIRATES!!

I bet the passengers wished they'd booked passage on the good ship, "Lazy Afternoon".