Target Centermass

Category: General

  • Hitler ‘Ordered Pope Kidnapped’

    Interesting.

    Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler gave one of his generals a direct order to kidnap Pope Pius XII during World War II but the officer did not obey, Italy’s leading Roman Catholic newspaper reported.

    Avvenire, which is owned by the Italian Conference of Roman Catholic bishops, said new details of the plot had emerged in documents presented to the Vatican in favor of putting the controversial wartime Pontiff on the road to sainthood.

    Elements of alleged plots to abduct the pope during Germany’s occupation of Italy have already emerged in the past from some historians, but Avvenire’s full-page report said its details were new.

    Avvenire said Hitler feared the pope would be an obstacle to his plans for global domination and because the dictator wanted to eventually abolish Christianity and impose National Socialism as a sort of new global religion.

    ….

    It said that in 1944, shortly before the Germans retreated from Rome, SS General Karl Friedrich Otto Wolff, a senior occupation officer in Italy, had been ordered by Hitler to kidnap the pope.

    According to the newspaper, Wolff returned to Rome from his meeting with Hitler in Germany and arranged for a secret meeting with the pope. Wolff went to the Vatican in civilian clothes at night with the help of a priest.

    The newspaper said Wolff told the pope of Hitler’s orders and assured him he had no intention of carrying them out himself, but warned the pontiff to be careful “because the situation (in Rome) was confused and full of risks.”

    ….

    Avvenire said the details of the plot are in testimony Wolff gave before he died in Germany to Church officials accumulating evidence to back efforts to have Pius eventually made a saint.

    But the reports of Hitler’s contempt for Pius have contrasted with other versions by historians and authors who have depicted Pius as being pro-German and have accused him of intentionally turning a blind eye to the Holocaust.

    The Vatican’s procedures to put Pius on the road to sainthood have not been slowed or shelved despite concerns from Jews, and they will enter a new phase in March when Vatican historians will begin discussing many volumes of documentation.

    The Vatican maintains that Pius did not speak out more strongly because he feared it would worsen the fate of Catholics and Jews, and that he worked behind the scenes to save Jews.

    Pius’s pontificate has been one of the trickiest problems in post-war Catholic-Jewish relations.

    In 1998, there was widespread Jewish discontent with a Vatican document called “We Remember, a Reflection on the Shoah,” which effectively absolved Pius of accusations that he facilitated the Holocaust by remaining silent.

    But the current pontiff, Pope John Paul, has strongly defended Pius and once called him “a great pope.”

    Not sure I believe much of it, but it is interesting.

  • Sorry For the Delay

    Ended up spending more time than expected working on this site’s template last night and, after a couple of hours, ended up with a look identical to how I started. I know that sounds like a waste, but I was able to test a few settings and have the template prepared somewhat for the next wave of changes.

    Today has been wasted on errands and installing a new laser printer. I much prefer to edit from hard copy. I know, I’m so old school — blame it on my journalism background back in the days when PCs were just crawling out of the technological primordial ooze. Now, armed with a clipboard and a pen, maybe I actually be able to improve my posting efficiency. I know I’ll at least feel more in my element. My only remaining excuse is that I’m still on dial-up at home, but hopefully that will be resolved soon.

    Well, now let’s go see what’s in the news.

  • Warning: Testing in Progress

    I’m going to be messing around with the template a bit. Please be patient if things get jacked.

  • Atheist Protests Inauguration Prayer

    Here’s a fine example of one man overreaching and undermining his own cause.

    A federal judge heard arguments Thursday in the case of an atheist who wants to prevent a Christian minister from reciting a prayer at President Bush’s inauguration.

    Michael Newdow — best known for trying to remove “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance — told U.S. District Judge John Bates that allowing an overtly Christian prayer at the Jan. 20 ceremony violates the Constitution by forcing him to accept unwanted religious beliefs.

    Attorneys representing Bush and his inaugural committee argued that prayers have been widely accepted at inaugurals for more than 200 years and that Bush’s decision to have a minister recite the invocation is a personal choice the court has no power to prevent.

    As an atheist, I find myself sympathetic to the effort to revert to the earlier form of the Pledge of Allegiance, one sans “under God” and all I feel that implies. I shrug with only mild interest at the concept of removing “In God We Trust” from money — I feel it would be proper but it has no effect on the beer-buying process.

    That said, this inauguration issue is a joke. Unless the prayer is a mandatory or statuatory portion of the ceremony, I see no grounds for this case.

    Much of the hearing did not focus on the merits of Newdow’s legal claims, but instead centered on whether the lawsuit should be thrown out because Newdow lost a similar case in California last year.

    The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2003 that Newdow did not suffer “a sufficiently concrete and specific injury” when he opposed prayers from being recited at Bush’s first inauguration.

    Newdow — arguing his case via telephone conference hookup from California — said his case is different this time because he actually has a ticket to attend the inauguration. That atmosphere, he said, is more coercive than four years ago, when he planned to watch the ceremony on television.

    Justice Department lawyer Edward White scoffed at that claim, saying the issues in the two cases are the same and that Newdow still has not shown how he would be injured by hearing the prayer.

    Hearing a prayer is not harmful, especially for one who is not compelled in any manner to attend. Granted, there are times when listening to the prayers of others can seem annoying (especially when it causes a delay in the commencement of the devouring of delicious holiday dinners), but we have no constitutional protections against mild annoyances. For that, Mr. Newdow should be thankful.

    George Terwilliger, appearing for the inaugural committee, said the details of the ceremony are not officially sanctioned government action but merely the personal choice of the president.

    That seems to sum up the case — just as I should have the right to not have religion thrust upon me, the religious should not have their faith stripped away, even in a public role.

    A decision is expected tomorrow.

  • Speaker Tells Students Stripping Can Be Lucrative

    Astoundingly dumb move.

    School officials in Palo Alto are reconsidering their use of a popular speaker for an annual career day after he advised middle school students that they could earn a good living as strip dancers.

    William Fried told eighth-graders at Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School that stripping and exotic dancing could be lucrative career moves for girls, offering as much as $250,000 or more per year, depending on their bust size.

    “It’s sick, but it’s true,” Fried, president of Foster City’s Precision Selling, a management consulting firm, told The Associated Press. “The truth of the matter is you can earn a tremendous amount of money as an exotic dancer, if that’s your desire.”

    Well, Mr. Fried, you’ve gone that far. Anything you want to add that can make it worse?

    Fried spent about a minute answering questions, defining strippers and exotic dancers synonymously. He told students, “For every two inches up there, you should get another $50,000 on your salary,” student Jason Garcia, 14, said.

    Well, yes, I guess there was something.

  • A Little Canadian Self-Examination

    Our neighbors to the north seem to be struggling with a bit of an identity crisis: are they allies or opponents to the U.S., contributors or pretenders as members of NATO and the international community? Ben at The Tiger in Winter takes an interesting and critical look here (hat tip to Damian Brooks at Babbling Brooks).

    We are unsteady as an ally. And this is not only a Liberal failing. In fact, the most egregious example was under a Conservative government. Diefenbaker did not co-operate with the Americans during the Cuban Missile Crisis — he refused to put the Canadian military on alert. (Canadian commanders, on the other hand, put themselves on alert.) That display prompted Bobby Kennedy to say of us, “in an emergency Canada will give you all aid short of help.”

    Go give it a read. Mr. Brooks adds his two cents to the piece.

    [Canadian conservatives] want Canada to live up to its potential, both domestically and internationally, so bad it hurts. That means making Canada stronger – economically, socially, and yes – militarily. The Canadian left likes to talk about charting an independent foreign policy from the U.S., but how can you remain independent with no assets to devote to your international goals – foreign aid, consulates and embassies, and yes again – military? How do you maintain true sovereignty over Canadian domestic issues without a strong and expanding economy – one that’s competitive worldwide without the crutch of a weak dollar?

  • Good Luck, Billy-boy

    I mentioned back in July that a good old buddy of mine had gone back in the Guard. Now he’s about to get his boots dusty.

    I first met William Hartman in the fall of 1990. He was fresh off of three years of active duty as an infantryman and starting at Texas A&M when he enlisted in my unit. We’ve been friends ever since.

    Here’s a pic of us in transition training at Ft. Hood in May 1993 as the Texas Guard moved from the M60-A3 to the M1. Bill, by then an ROTC cadet and SMP (Simultaneous Military Personnel, or “Dot” for their cirle rank insignia), is on the right and yours truly is on the left.

    On an M1 at Hood in May 93

    Since those days, Bill graduated and received his commission. After becoming a tank platoon leader, he talked me into transferring into his new unit and serving as his gunner. We crewed together until I left the Guard in ’99. Shortly after that, Bill moved laterally to a scout platoon leader position.

    A few years later, I crewed with him once again as one of his groomsmen. Not long afterward, 1LT Hartman resigned his commission, devoting himself to his civilian life and family and, to be honest, bored with the idea of the eventual staff-officer position that was looming. Staff work just isn’t his style.

    Civilian Bill, doing well in sales and enjoying family life with a beautiful wife and three young children. But there’s always the news.

    The stories can eat at a former soldier. The guilt can gnaw. Believe me, I know.

    Last May, Bill informed me that he was back in the Guard. Rather than go through all the hoops required to get his commission back, he went in as a sergeant based on his last enlisted rank of E-5 as a cadet.

    A voicemail from Germany this week told me where he is now headed.

    My friend Bill, along with a large contingent of the Texas Army National Guard, is going to Iraq.

    But Bill isn’t going quietly into that sandy night. A quick search found this story about the deployment, and SGT Hartman is mentioned and quoted extensively. No real surprise, knowing ol’ Billy-boy.

    For any athletes, constant practice and teamwork can make the difference between winning and losing a big game. But for the soldiers of the 36th Infantry Division’s 56th Brigade Combat Team, the intense combat training that they are performing here in preparation for their deployment to Iraq is no game, because losing can mean the difference between life and death.

    The call-up of about 3,000 Texas citizen-soldiers for duty in southwest Asia to support Operation Iraqi Freedom is the largest mobilization in the state’s history since World War II.

    After half a century, the 36th Infantry Division, formally the 49th Armored Division, was reactivated to help transform the Texas Army National Guard into a more mobile and lethal fighting force that will see a new generation of soldiers wearing the “T-Patch” committed to helping fight the global war on terrorism and carry on the proud legacy established by their predecessors.

    ….

    Some of the Guardsmen had to learn to re-think how to perform their mission and adapt to fighting the guerilla-style tactics the insurgents use.

    Sgt. William J. Hartman, an M1A1 Abrams main battle tank crewman, said that he and his fellow soldiers have a steep learning curve that they must overcome in just a few short months before they are sent overseas.

    Hartman explained that tankers are trained in armored warfare and are accustomed to fighting fast and striking the enemy from a distance in their tank. He said that reverting from an armored role to an infantry role presented a challenge in a number of different areas.

    “We as tankers have a comfort zone in that we are used to operating as a team inside a 63-ton vehicle that is our own little protective capsule,” Hartman explained.

    Hartman emphasized that they will have to think outside of the box and learn to adapt to infantry tactics because they are going to operate in an urban environment. That places a greater emphasis on the level of focus into the training that they perform.

    “We all believe in what we are doing and why we are here,” Hartman said. “When it comes to the training, our Soldiers know the importance of it and they want to get damn good at it, because we have a real-world mission ahead of us. Our lives and the lives of others depend on how well we learn our jobs and how we execute it.”

    But that’s not enough for Bill. The story can also be found here. And here. And here. And here. He even got face time, specifically the picture below (Bill is the one on the left), in the last two links, including this ridiculously large version.

    SGT Billy-boy -- still acting the officer

    My friend Bill is going to Iraq. I can’t believe he’s going to war without me.

    Good luck, Billy-boy, and be sharp — it’s a younger man’s game. Happy hunting, my dear friend.

  • A Big Aggie Whoooop For Hoops

    Winless in the Big 12 last season. 18 straight conference losses. Tenth-ranked Longhorns in town, riding a 10-game winning streak as visitors against the Aggies.

    What does all that add up to? A good old fashioned spanking, of course. The surprise is that it was the Aggies spanking the Horns.

    Before a school-record crowd of 12,811, Law helped A&M end the Longhorns’ 10-game winning streak in College Station and improve its record at Reed Arena to 12-0 this season.

    The Aggies also knocked off their first Top 10 foe, and fourth overall, since beating Texas in 1982.

    ….

    Despite getting off to such an impressive start, A&M had generated little attention mostly because of a nonconference schedule that included games against Prairie View A&M, Texas-Permian Basin and Trinity, a Division III school.

    Let there be no more doubt – A&M is for real.

    Coming off a tough 65-60 loss at No. 2 Kansas last week, A&M surprisingly seized control of this game early and never let the Longhorns back into it.

    The Aggies’ lead reached 21 points early in the second half, but Texas (12-3, 1-1) fought back behind a full court press and scoring spurts by Tucker and Aldridge.

    It wasn’t enough.

    Rank us, dammit!

  • NATO Organizing Shipment of Arms to Iraq

    Iraq doesn’t need to go to the local military surplus store for a great deal on old equipment. How about some weapons for free?

    NATO is organizing the shipment to Iraq of thousands of AK-47 assault rifles, dozens of Soviet-designed tanks and other weapons as part of the alliance’s program to help train and equip the Iraqi military, officials said Wednesday.

    Romania has offered 6,000 AK-47’s along with 500 machine guns, 300 sniper rifles and 100 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, while Estonia has offered 2,400 AK-47s and Denmark 104 pistols, alliance officials said.

    NATO also is arranging the transport of 77 T-72 tanks from Hungary to Iraq, the officials said on condition of anonymity.

    All arms and military hardware were being given as a donation.

    The alliance agreed last year to help coordinate the supply of weapons to Iraq’s fledgling armed forces.

    Several former Warsaw Pact nations that joined NATO last year have surpluses of Soviet-era equipment, which military experts say is ideal for the Iraqi military because it [sic] familiar with those weapons from the days of Saddam Hussein.

    Okay, so they’re crappy tanks. They’re still tanks nevertheless, and the Iraqi government certainly cannot complain about the price. Besides, a bad tank is still pretty good against a terrorist packing a rifle.

  • French Pol: Nazi Occupation Not Brutal

    An anti-Semite politician has France in a stir.

    The Nazi occupation of France was not particularly brutal, French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen was quoted as saying.

    The comments by the National Front leader were published in the small extreme-right newspaper Rivarol.

    “In France at least, the German occupation was not particularly inhuman, even if there were a few blunders,” he was quoted as saying. Such things were “inevitable” in a country of 220,000 square miles, he said.

    Le Pen’s office confirmed the interview had taken place but said it could not verify the exact comments, as no one had checked them against a recording. The remarks were published in the paper’s Jan. 7 edition but did not come to wider attention until Wednesday.

    French Justice Minister Dominique Perben said he was outraged and immediately asked for a preliminary inquiry into Le Pen’s remarks.

    “He will have to explain himself before the justice system,” Perben said.

    CRIF, an umbrella group of French Jewish organizations, said it was “particularly shocked” by the comments. During the war, some 76,000 Jews, including 12,000 children, were deported from France, many to Auschwitz. Only 2,500 survived.

    “These comments taint the memory of all victims of Nazism — deportees and the Resistance, and the entire French population, which was subjected for more than four years to the most atrocious of occupations and humiliations,” CRIF said in a statement.

    Le Pen, 76, has a history of making such remarks, and he has been convicted of racism or anti-Semitism at least six times. He once called the Nazi gas chambers “a detail of the history of the Second World War.”

    Sickening? Inaccurate? Pathetic? Yes. But should it be criminal? I don’t think so.