Andrew Hagen

Jesus Gil reports on the 190 killed and over 1,000 injured in the latest act of war perpetrated on the free world, this time in Madrid, Spain. (*) (†) (‡)

This bombing is not the small-time bombing of the ETA, the Basque terrorist group. This huge, coordinated attack against innocent people on their regular morning commute has the hallmarks of radical Islamist terrorism. It doesn’t truly matter whether it is Al Qaeda or some other radical Islamist terrorist group.

My heart goes out to you, Spain, and especially to all of the victims and their families. I wish I could find words to console you.

When I was growing up here in America, we all learned about how Spain discovered America in 1492. We learned how it was Spain that established the USA’s oldest city, St Augustine, Florida. Our countries are friends and allies. We stood together against the Soviet Union in the Cold War.

I remember that Spain stood with my country after 9/11. I recall that Spain has stood with the free world against terrorism—against the ETA and in Iraq, where Spain’s courageous leadership and valiant military has proven invaluable. The Iraqi people are entering democracy with no small debt of gratitude to Spain. Spain has taken charge of counterterrorism efforts at the United Nations.

Now the terrorists have attacked Spain. Do not forget that these fanatics really believe that Spain belongs to them, and that Christians should again be enslaved to Muslims. Now we know they are crazy enough to act on this delusion.

Never forget that this is a Global War with the terrorists. On the one side is the free world where stand Christians, other non-Muslims, and moderate Muslims. On the other side stand the terrorists. Every day all of us, even the moderate Muslims, suffer attacks all over the globe, but rarely do the attacks reach the level of the depraved, immoral savagery the terrorists just visited upon the innocent men, women, and children of Madrid.

As an American, I want you to know you will always have my country on your side. The Madrid attacks have received a very high level of attention from our media. When we see what they have done to you, we are reminded of what they did to us. I know my country. We will always stand against the bullies and tyrants who seek to deceive and conquer the world. When Spain suffers, America suffers. Your enemy is our enemy. We stand shoulder to shoulder.

Even as we grieve let us resolve to not be defeated, but to protect our freedom even as we would our very lives.

Spaniards, resolve to not just fight the terrorists, but to be victorious over them. So long as you retain your determination you cannot be defeated, for they wage an aggressive and uncivilized war against you, and you are a noble and glorious people.

Their cowardice, fanaticism, and pitiless barbaric attacks cannot match your bravery and honor. Let us never forget any single one of the lives they took. Let us remember and honor all their names. God bless you all.

The winter months have wearied of their sovereignty over our humble land, and a sense of change awakens us, dreadful and florid.

Recently I was working on the design of this site. I wanted to implement a certain combination of features. Eventually, I would learn, such a web site cannot exist. It is impossible with current standards. This impossible combination of (X)HTML and CSS requires:

• a three column layout with header, each column stretching all the way to the bottom;
• a footer always at the bottom covering the full width of the page, no matter which of the three columns is the longest on any one page;
• no use of Javascript;
• no CSS hacks
• no use of tables for laying out the columns;
• and the columns appearing in any order in the (X)HTML. For example, if the columns were numbered from left to right as 1, 2, and 3, the columns must be able to appear in the (X)HTML in the order of 2, 1, 3, or in any other order without affecting the look of the site. This is important for accessibility. A “skip to content” link is an undesirable kludge.

Only if you subtract a feature might you create such a thing. Someday the Internet powers that be may see fit to bless us with an enhanced set of standards that allows this humble design, and then at long last the web browsers will support it. Storm clouds will then disperse, birds will chirp cheerfully, flowers will radiate vibrant colors, and cries of “Huzzah” will fill the sweet spring air. Until then compromise will substitute for joy.

A young female Ukranian motorcyclist offers an eerie photographic tour of the ruins of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. (*)

Update: 4 April 2004. Removed old link. Current link works.

Update: 7 July 2004. The Los Angeles Times is now reporting that this Chernobyl-themed web site is a hoax. (†) In part, the story reads:

The updated site does not appear to contain any authentic images of “Elena” or a motorcycle in any Chernobyl location. Four pictures on the updated site can be traced to a Ukrainian coffee table book published in 2000, some are aerial shots, and many are anachronisms. One photo is of chemical showers that have not existed for years. In another, the tall ventilation stack of the ruined reactor looms above some saplings. But those trees have since grown so high that only the tip of the stack is visible today.

The purported author of the web site, Elena, nicknaming herself “Kidd of Speed” or “Kid of Speed,” has not responded on her site, now available to kiddofspeed.com. (‡)

Several years ago, newspaper editor Jerry Ceppos led the San Jose Mercury-News in publishing the famous “Dark Alliance” series, alleging that the CIA boosted the crack cocaine trade in the US. In the media squall that followed, Ceppos admitted error. Upon reflection, he drew from the experience a list of reasons why news sources, especially newspapers, are losing readership and credibility among their remaining readership.

Ceppos listed:

• not listening to readers’ complaints;
• framing and writing stories before getting all sides;
• refusing to explain actions or decisions to the public;
• pretending issues are black and white.

(*) That excellent list can be summed up as the avoidance of arrogance. I wish that list did not apply to any media organization, but I’m afraid that today they are all guilty to one degree or another. No journalist seems to have the guts to be both daring and humble anymore.

Noah Millman examines the meaning of marriage. (*)

I’ve made some changes in the software that manages this web log. I have dropped Greymatter (*) in favor of Wordpress.

That accounts for the new look. If something looks broken please say something.

Finally someone stands up for law and order. Green Party member and Village of New Paltz Mayor Jason West is charged with 19 criminal violations for performing gay-marriages in defiance of the law of the state. (*)

Thank you, prosecutors, for doing your job and upholding the law.

NASA tells the world of a historical discovery today.

In the 1870s, two Italians, priest Pietro Secchi and astronomer Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli, announced that Mars had canali. (*) Canali is Italian for “channels” but was translated into English as “canals,” implying construction. Subsequently a firestorm of intense scientific debate and public interest considered whether H₂O was present on the Red Planet. (†) (‡) (§)

In a news conference today, NASA has announced that its rover Opportunity has acquired evidence that the area in which it landed was once “drenched with water.” Mars has water. There may be a great deal of water under the Martian surface.

It is mission accomplished for NASA and its international partners, including Germany. We have made a huge leap forward in the search for life in the rest of the universe.

The immensely important field of space geology now gains a high level of public prominence.

Continuing coverage. (**) (††)

The historian who brought the world’s attention to the pseudo-event died this past weekend. Daniel Boorstin was 89. (*) (†)

I read Boorstin’s book, the Image, in high school and was much affected by it. Boorstin was properly intolerant of phoniness in politics and society. He upbraided the press corps for keeping the American public unaware for years that President Franklin Roosevelt sat in a wheelchair.

Some would term Boorstin a conservative, but an intellectual firmly grounded in reality as he was is a thinker whose thoughts are beneficial to all.

As the weeks roll on, the 2004 presidential election has developed into an immensely important vote fought over by incredibly boring campaigns. The next five years will be critical to the future of America and of the world. Everything from public morality to war to the economy hang in the balance. The man who serves as President from 2005–2009 will wield great influence in the course of events.

How should marriage and family be protected? Should the US invade Iran? How can we maintain our strong economy and create more jobs?

Yet each one of the candidates, Bush, Kerry, and Edwards, carefully dodge the issues and refuse to talk in detail about what specific policies they favor. The conventional wisdom is that a campaign devoid of substance can win. Due to their lack of substance, none of these candidates strike me as interesting or inspiring.

When we go to the polls on November 2nd, will we have any idea of what specific policies the candidates favor? We might as well cast our ballots for ghosts.

Although John Kerry refuses to predict a sweep today in the Super Tuesday primaries (*), the polls favor “Hairy” Kerry. (†) His only close rival is John Edwards, and the Edwards campaign predicts only that they will win two or more of the ten states. With over 1,000 delegates at stake, Edwards must either surprise Kerry today by winning two or more states, or face reality and drop out.

Edwards says he wants to win the nomination, but he has run a timid race. Staying positive has its advantages, but Edwards has given voters few reasons to consider him as their best choice. Edwards did not have to resort to negativity to contrast his stand on issues with Kerry’s. He just had to resort to specificity. If Edwards cannot pull out a startling upset today, he has only his own lack of leadership to blame.

The Super Tuesday primaries can be tracked online. (‡)