Early labor. . . then back again!

So we went to the hospital late last night. Missy’s contractions were 5-6 minutes apart and 4cm dialated. The first nurse said stick around and walk, the second nurse said go back home, rest, and come back in the morning.

We call the doctor this morning, and the nurse there says we should have stayed at the hospital and we need to go back. So off we go. . .

In any event, I’ll be on baby watch. In the meantime, here’s some of the more interesting thins I read this morning!

Alexander the (not so) Great fails to conquer America’s homophobes

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=587778

A lame apologia for the failure of Alexander to perform at the box office due to a brief emphasis on Hephaestion. Big deal. I haven’t seen the movie, but the criticism doesn’t seem to be emphasized on a kiss between two guys. More like three hours of time most folks want refunded. As a history buff, I’ll probably see the movie at some point and come to my own conclusions, but much like Troy, we can expect another not-so-cheap imitator of Gladiator.

They knew they were right: Pius IX and Caesaropapism

http://www.lewrockwell.com/spectator2/spec521.html

Historically, the problem of the Catholic Church in the 19th century was to protect its own independence from the power of the state, not only in Italy but throughout Europe. The ultimate aim of ultra- montanism, with which Pio Nono is so closely (and mostly polemically) identified today, was to free the Church from national secular control by binding it more closely to a supranational papacy. In this, the movement was largely successful; it can also be argued that it left the Church in a more fit condition for its 20th-century resistance to totalitarianisms of both Left and Right. Pio Nono’s resistance to the Risorgimento was a useful preparatory exercise for John Paul’s more massive achievement in his epic confrontation with communism. Without a strong and supranational papacy could the Soviet bloc have been brought down as soon as it was? Discuss.

A great article from the Spectator revolving around Pius IX and the efforts of the First Vatican Council. Worth reading and sharing with others.

O’Reilly: Dan Rather got smeared

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/257225p-220135c.html

Bill O’Reilly breaks out the crying towels. He even rips off this little quip:

Let me ask you something: In the future, do you think potential public servants and social crusaders are going to risk being brutally attacked within this insane system? I don’t. I think many good people are simply going to walk away from the public arena.

Unfair freedom of speech did him in. This is not your grandfather’s country anymore.

First off, there is no such thing as “unfair speech.” Bad speech? Yes. But the best weapon against bad speech is good speech.

Which leads me to the former and point #2. Will potential public servants be scared away? Things were much worse in the 19th century in terms of civility and integrity within the system. Did people walk away from the public process then? No.

As a professed Catholic (albeit one who supports homosexual marriage), O’Reilly should be very well aware that during times of crisis, the Church produces her greatest saints. Likewise public service in times of corruption or turmoil. As a matter of fact, such a condition just might separate the weak-hearted do-gooders from the ones who really want to do the right thing regardless of the personal cost.

Councilman Kelly and Howard University

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2004/112004/11292004/1575990

When I helped Matt out in the 2002 City Council election, he mentioned this to me on a number of occasions. Pretty cool stuff.

A staunch abolitionist on his mother’s side not only served as a Union general, but after the Civil War headed up the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands–the federal agency created to help former slaves.

The same relative also is credited with founding Howard University in Washington in 1867 to assure blacks an opportunity for higher education.

Kelly describes Maj. Gen. Oliver Otis Howard as a principled man who put his beliefs into action.

“He stood by his principles and acted on them at a time when it was not popular, frankly,” Kelly said in an interview last week.

Very good article, read it when you get a chance. Or even better, talk to Matt and get even more history. It’s great stuff.