DaveTown

The best thing about having a long Christmas break is that you can go all day not knowing what the actual date is, and it can’t be considered irresponsible.

“. . . it makes a great difference as to what goes on in your soul, whether you love a Person or an abstraction.”

– Thomas Merton, The Waters of Siloe

Julian Sanchez, writing for Reason Magazine Online: “The ultimate (campaign funding) loophole is the First Amendment itself. As long as ’special interests’ … can broadcast their views to the public, the public may be inclined to vote in accordance with those views. … We must close the First Amendment loophole once and for all, and recognize that constitutional protection of ‘free expression’ should be reserved for copies of Hustler, as the Founders intended, not extended to such dangerous frivolities as the expression of political views.”

Thanks to Heather

1. List your five favorite beverages.
* Coffee
* Sweetened iced tea.
* Newcastle Brown Ale
* Dr. Brown’s Cream Soda
*Well water from Isle of Wight County, Va.

2. List your five favorite websites.
* BigSoccer.com
* Roger Ebert’s Movie Reviews
* The Straight Dope
* Blogger
* Dappled Things

3. List your five favorite snack foods.
* Goldfish (the cracker, not the fish)
* Lay’s Potato Chips
* Chex Mix
* Cheezits
* Jerky

4. List your five favorite board and/or card games.
* Scrabble
* Chess
* Poker
* Gin
* Slapjack

5. List your five favorite computer and/or game system games.
* Fritz 8
* ChessMaster
* Pong
* Pinball (which is what we called video games when I was a kid)
* The little wooden paddles with the rubber ball attached with a rubber band.

This is the best piece I’ve read on the Catholic roots of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

“This is a sad day for the freedom of speech. Who could have imagined that the same court which, within the past four years, has sternly disapproved of restrictions upon such inconsequential forms of expression as virtual child pornography, tobacco advertising, dissemination of illegally intercepted communications, and sexually explicit cable programming would smile with favor upon a law that cuts to the heart of what the First Amendment is meant to protect: the right to criticize the government.”

Justice Scalia, from his dissenting opinion in McConnell vs FEC (The McCain/Feingold Campaign Contribution Reform Case)