Rendition flights

So, authorities in the European Union knew about this practice. Well, there's a surprise. NOT! I'm sure the biggest issue in the EU with regards to this practice is that the US authorities can't do enough to keep such things out of the press.

Transporting people on "secret flights" is one thing, but torture is another. The two issues have been, wisely, fused by those in the anti-war camp. I have no problem with al Qaeda members being whisked off for long stays in Guantanamo or wherever. They are, after all, the enemy. Torturing them is another issue.

Latvian sailor

Trinity College Economics Professor, Sean Barrett, says the Latvian sailor will be like the Polish plumber in Paris. He could be right, but what if the sailors weren't actually from Latvia? On December 4 Douglas Dalby wrote in the Sunday Times that Latvian sailors wouldn't work for the wages that Irish Ferries is offering.

Jazeps Spridzans, the director of the Latvian seamen's register, told Leta, the Latvian national press agency, that the Riga-based firm tasked with recruiting staff at €3.60 an hour will have to source contract staff from poorer former Eastern Bloc countries rather than Latvia, where ships' officers command better rates on German and Scandinavian ships.

This got me wondering - is Irish Ferries actually hiring Latvians? How do they know? Could they unknowingly be hiring sailors from non-EU countries? How does Irish Ferries know that their new employees are from Latvia and not from Russia or Byelorus or wherever?

Irish News

If anyone reading this can enlighten me, I'd love to know what happened to the Irish News web site. It's been down since early on Saturday morning.

A Bronx Tale

Yesterday, I read this in an article in Sunday's NY Daily News:

Lillo Brancato looked destined for great things.

Picked off a crowded Jones Beach by talent scouts who spotted the 15-year-old's natural tough-gangster looks, the Yonkers schoolboy was suddenly acting alongside his idol Robert De Niro.

But Steven Armento, his alleged partner in yesterday's break-in and the man who cops say fired the shot that killed Officer Daniel Enchautegui, was simply a career criminal.

Then last night I turn on the t.v. and what do I see on RTE2, but the Bronx Tale, the movie that was Lillo Brancato's big break. I guess it's not that weird, but I had forgotten all about the movie until I saw that article yesterday and then, there it was on RTE last night.

C.S. Lewis and the Culture War Chronicles

Someday you will be old enough to read fairy tales again
--preface to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

There's evidently a lot of agitation out there over this week's release of the movie version of the C.S. Lewis children's classic, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. What could be the problem with a movie about four children who discover a magical world by traveling through a wardrobe? As the Washington Post noted in its Style section yesterday, the controversy centers on the contention that the book is a Christian allegory. In an entertainment world filled with the empty-headed likes of Lindsey Lohan and Yours, Mine, & Ours, it's surprising to realize that a movie might be controversial simply because of religious undertones. But a lot of ink has been spilled already, apparently to warn heedless parents that they might be exposing their children to something insidious. They may think they're taking their kids to an adventure story about a fantasy world filled with epic animal battles, pitting good vs. evil, but actually, they're endorsing Bible Belt entertainment. The Passion of Christ without the gore. What's next? Nascar on Sesame Street?

As Peter Steinfels wrote last Saturday in the New York Times, "Critics uncomfortable about the religious subtext of Lewis's stories have been launching pre-emptive strikes to alert the susceptible. Stopping short of proposing a PG-13 label (Parental guidance strongly advised -- contains religious content and fleeting Christian imager"), they have recognized the seven Narnia books as good escapist fantasy but please, please don't pay any attention to the other stuff."

These critics are quite vocal, and quite worked up. Adam Gopnik writes in the New Yorker, "Aslan, the lion, the Christ symbol, who has exasperated generations of free-thinking parents" is "in many ways an anti-Christian figure." Hmm. A lion-king who can liberate a world from evil only by sacrificing his life -- and then miraculously returns to life? An anti-Christian figure? "The books are better when read without the subtext," wrote Charles McGrath last month in The New York Times Magazine. "Aslan, for example, is much more thrilling and mysterious if you think of him as a superhero lion, not as Jesus in a Bert Lahr suit." In Salon, Laura Miller states, "The religious right is hyping The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. But just how Christian is it?" She goes on to shudder, "In addition to the usual TV and newspaper ads and theatrical trailers, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is being promoted by the Barna Group, a marketing firm that specializes in generating buzz to the Christian scene, by making advanced screenings, study guides and block ticket sales available to churches. Right-wing groups like Focus on the Family have endorsed the film." Tuesday night, a CNN segment that seemed transparently designed to terrorize blue-staters reminded viewers of the box-office punch of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, focused on a Baptist minister's determination to include the movie in his sermons, and finally burbled, "But sometimes a lion is just a lion!"

Whew. Isn't this all a little -- disingenuous? Regardless of the critics' consternation, although it is first and foremost a good read, Narnia cannot be stripped of its Christian underpinnings. "The whole Narnia story is about Christ," Lewis once wrote. "That is to say, I asked myself, "Supposing that there really was a world like Narnia and supposing that it had (like our world) gone wrong and supposing Christ wanted to go into that world and save it (as He did ours) what might have happened?" He also wrote that he wanted "The Chronicles of Narnia" to take the parables of the New Testament and cast them "into an imaginary world, stripping them of their stained-glass and Sunday School associations," hoping that this would make them "appear in their real potency."

This is a problem? Then what are we to do with, well, much of the works of Western civilization? Skip Milton, because some ministers in a red state emphasize fire and brimstone, and we are so much more progressive? Turn our backs on Micaelangelo's Pieta, because its beauty and power are somehow negated by its subject? Avoid Dante, because hell is like, such a downer?

I can understand that non-Christians might not want to see some sort of dogmatic tract, but The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is, like most works of literature, something that can be enjoyed on many different levels. It has unmistakable echoes of World War II: The children have been sent out of London to the countryside during the Blitz -- Narnia can certainly double as a stand-in for the Third Reich and the deadly effects of a world conquered by evil. The Beavers represent the stalwart Brits, and so on.

But the book has endured precisely because of C.S. Lewis's restraint and lack of proselytizing. It's a timeless tale of children cast in a world without adults, children who must brave terrors and make ethical choices. It's filled with centaurs, fauns, dwarves and talking animals -- and sheer adventure. Many, if not most children, don't grasp much beyond the immediate story line -- but the chapter of Aslan's sacrifice is one of the most powerful and memorable in all of children's literature. My daugher turned her face into my shoulder and asked me to stop the first time we read it. Someday she will understand the deeper message in it -- one that a child of a different religion or no religion at all may not ultimately share, but can either appreciate or choose to igore. In the end, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is about the wonders of the imagination and the redemptive power of love. To try to undermine that is, well, sillier than hiding in a wardrobe.

Seabiscuit

Great book. Read it. I have pretty much zero interest in horse racing, but I could hardly put this one down. And, as the old saying goes, if you saw the movie don't let that put you off.

UPDATE - 11:40pm: Link to book fixed, thanks to comment from the helpful "joesoap".

"Parting is such sweet sorrow"

If Shakespeare was alive today, he might very have Juliet saying those words to an aging bus rather than a young man such is the reaction to today's final run for the Routemaster in London.

Immaculate Conception

Today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (not to be confused with the Immaculate Reception). I'm not sure why, but the church was nearly full today for Mass when it was probably no more than a quarter full the last Holy Day, All Saints Day. I couldn't come up with any possible explanation for why so many more people were at Mass today compared with November 1.

Women don't emit enough gas

That's greenhouse gas I'm talking about. Apparently, men are responsible for global warming. Ulrike Rohr, director of Genanet-Focal point gender, Environment, Sustainability is demanding "climate gender justice".

And, how does Ulrike know that men contribute more to global warming? "To give you an example from Germany, it is mostly men who are going by car. Women are going by public transport mostly". Well, there's no justice in that is there? She's got all the scientific evidence one could hope for to prove her case. I guess women will just have to drive more often.

I have to admit that I thought Ms. Rohr's argument was going to be about that other source of greenhouse gases and that she was going to bring up that old falsehood about men and their powers of production in this sphere.

Unions and child care

It's disingenuous to close schools (sub reqd) this Friday so that you can take part in a labor protest that really doesn't affect you and, at the same time, try to claim to be concerned about working parents. Nothing makes working parents angrier than unnecessary, unplanned school closings.

Listening on-line

One thing that makes listening to the radio on-line fun is getting to hear the local ads. Occasionally, I listen to KRLA from Los Angeles. One ad I heard last week gave me insight in what it's like to live in that part of the world (I've never even visited the area). The ad is for Housebath and begins, "Now that the fires are over . . .". I can't imagine living in a place that has a fire season. I've heard of a rainy season, a dry season, a growing season I've even heard of The Four Seasons, but I've never before encountered anyone talking about what sounds like a "fire season".

Burned on eBay - UPDATE

Well, I wasn't burned after all. The item I bought arrived today despite the fact that it really looked like it was a lost cause. The package came from Hong Kong, not the UK as I had been led to believe. The seller was guilty of deceiving the eBay buyers by claiming to be in the UK, but at least he wasn't just a crook.

Reading

I finally finished reading A Few Bloody Noses by Robert Harvey. It's a history of the American Revolution written by a British historian. It was the first time I read anything about that era from a British perspective. I had to fight myself to concede that some of what he had to say about America's founders was true, but just as true is the fact that he omitted much of what made them great. Almost none of them comes off well from this book.
And, Harvey is fixated on the Vietnam War, which he refers to frequently and annoyingly.

Now I'm reading Seabiscuit: An American Legend, which I'm enjoying a lot more than I expected. I'm only about half way through, but it's one of the best sports books I've read. And, I'm not a fan of horse racing.

Irish Ferries, the NUJ, the Irish Independent

Read Alan Ruddock's article in today's Guardian. The article is about the Irish media and the Irish Ferries dispute, but the problems he identifies are about more than just the Irish Ferries or even business issues.

The Irish media operate in a bubble that shields them from an evolving Irish society. Journalists are rarely sacked and can expect a job for life once they have union membership and a staff position. Culturally, they tend to come from an older Ireland: consensual, undynamic and left leaning. Just as significant, however, is the lack of diversity in Ireland's media, with none of the sharp ideological divides that characterise the British media. If there is a media bias against business, it is deep-set and cultural.

Best funeral

Oh my Lord, what's going on? I can understand worshipping your sporting heroes, etc., but isn't this going just a tad too far? People are camping out so that they can be among the 30,000 people who will be admitted to the grounds of Stormont for George Best's funeral. The other hundreds of thousands of expected mourners will have to make do with lining the funeral route. And, if you can't make it to the funeral, we're getting live coverage on UTV, RTE, BBC, and probably a couple of the news channels too.

If you have no idea who George Best was, here's his obituary from the Daily Telegraph. However, the combination of this from Sky News this morning, "He was a footballing genius" who "squandered two livers" and this headline from the Belfast Telegraph gives a great summary of who Best was: "Ex-wives to join girlfriend at the funeral". (Thanks Carrie.)

For rent – one ski lodge

Okay, not yet, but soon. According to this article in today's (London) Times, Ireland will soon be having much colder weather. That means my house, nestled snugly in the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains, will soon be next door to ski trails etc.

Okay, I admit, mediocre ski trails - the "Mountains" are not all that big. More like hills. Still, maybe skiers from London can be enticed over to rent out my 'lodge' for a weekend of skiing and night-life in Dublin (only 15 miles from here).

I can smell the money already. Almost as good as a mobile strip club and without the slimy trappings.

Bush Doctrine

I couldn't find this item in the Irish Times, Irish Independent or Irish Examiner this morning, but yesterday two Saudi women became the first women to ever win gain elected office in their country. They were elected to seats on Jeddah's Chamber of Commerce.

This is a result of the pressure being exerted by the Bush Administration for change in Saudi Arabia. Same with the elections in Egypt. The results may not be what the US wants, but there's no doubt that for good or ill the Bush Administration has decided that the US will continue to press for greater liberty and democracy in the Middle East.

Any entrepreneurs out there?

A would-be entrepreneur can wait a lifetime for an idea like this one. This is a sure-fire, can't-miss idea for the Irish market. Mobile strip clubs.

A Tampa-based businessmen unveiled the idea at last week's Buccaneers' game. They used a 40 foot long bus, in which they served alcohol and provided two classes of lap dances – the $20 dance and the $40 dance.

If you consider the fact that at current growth rates there'll soon be more 'gentleman's clubs' than coffee shops in Dublin and that there is an unsatisfied, pent up demand throughout the smaller cities and towns in Ireland then the mobile strip club surely has a future. And, those who would like to protest are now so brow-beaten, down-trodden, despondent that they know that no matter how much they hate seeing the mobile strip club parked next door to their local church, it would be like spitting in the wind to speak out.

A can't miss opportunity.

Paypal

Loads of people rave about eBay and, despite losing my few bucks, I can understand why. Almost anything you could imagine wanting is available there. Yet, it's Paypal that really amazes me. Anyone can now transfer money electronically to anyone else, regardless of where they live. Paypal even allows for different currencies. It allows you to link up with your bank so that you can transfer money back and forth between your Paypal and bank account.

When I was in college I worked as a bank teller during summer and holiday breaks. The bank made quite a bit of money selling money orders to people who had to send money across the country or bank drafts for those who had to send the money abroad. The inconvenience and cost of that to the customer was never a concern to the bank. Today all of that and more, much more, can be accomplished from a PC in the house, library, dorm room or whatever at zero cost.

Viva La Revolucion!

Burned on eBay

I don't buy much on eBay and this is why. A week or so ago I bought something from a seller about whom I knew nothing other than the 99+% positive ratings he (she?) had on eBay. I paid immediately, as I always do, and now I see that a week later this seller has racked up dozens of negative ratings since my purchase. And, he's quit eBay. Looks like my $20 is down the drain.