Loving

Today is the 40th Anniversary of Loving v. Virginia.

Prior to Loving interracial marriage remained illegal in the core Southern states. In the rest of the U.S. such laws had been taken off the books or made moot by state court decisions. Barring a Supreme Court's decision it is difficult to imagine what could quickly rid the rest of the states of such laws.

Henry Rollins

See Rollins' writing a thoughtful letter to Michael Chertoff here.

Oradour-sur-Glane

Souviens Toi.

La mémoire est belle et terrible.

Some images of Oradour-sur-Glane from the opening scene of The World At War.

A New Legislature

PARIS, June 8, 2007 (AFP) - Reeling from Segolene Royal's defeat in the presidential race, France's Socialist Party (PS) faces the prospect of a humiliating wipe-out in this weekend's legislative elections which look set to deliver a huge majority for President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Only the lower house (the National Assembly) is directly elected in France. The Senate faces an indirect election by polling the local elected officials.

Anyway, the upcoming election of National Assembly won't - if predictions hold true - change who controls that body. If the PS really poorly however, it will mean even greater control for the UMP and those parties allied with it.

Today's X-Files Quote

SCULLY: Right, but what am I looking for?

MULDER: Anything strange, unexplainable, unlikely... boyfriend?

DER FÜHRERBUNKER

What is remarkable (to me) about Hitler's bunker was just how tiny it was. Clearly it wasn't designed as a long-time living area. See for yourself here.

Bonus link on the Nazi Party Rally Grounds.

Political Theology

"All significant concepts of the modern theory of the state are secularized theological concepts." - Carl Schmitt, Political Theology (trans. George Schwab), p. 36

The essential argument here is that - for example - equality before the law is based on a secularized religious notion of Christian equality. I think there is something to do be said for this idea but it is a bit reductionist for my taste. More specifically it doesn't fully illustrate the radical difference between the modern and the ancient polity.

Hello Kitty!

TOKYO - Japan’s cutest cat in glittering crystal decorates NEC Corp.’s new pink laptop in the Japanese electronics maker’s latest effort to woo working women.

Wouldn't a lot of working women be turned off by this thing?

Ducks Win

ANAHEIM, Calif. - The Anaheim Ducks were born on the silver screen and came of age by capturing the shiniest of silver cups.

This must drive many Canadians crazy.

Pakistan Media Situation

EMERGENCY media controls were signed into law by embattled President Pervez Musharraf yesterday in a desperate attempt to thwart the "revolution by television" taking place in Pakistan against his rule.

...

PAKISTAN'S President, Pervez Musharraf, has cracked down on the country's television networks in a move against growing calls for a return to democracy.

This needs as much attention as the media situation in Venezuela.

Yet More...

Nessie footage? I post, you decide.

The Return Of...

Gary Brolsma!

Edit:

Oh, and just for comparison sake here is the original.

Nessie

Amazing new Loch Ness monster footage!

Troy

I saw a short portion of the movie Troy today. If I recall correctly one of the scenes which was missing from the movie (but is in the Iliad) is Hector's concern over Andromache losing her freedom. Interesting that the notion of freedom is found so early.

Of course the movie differs from Homer's epic in a number of ways. That is not say that it was a bad movie. I thought that it was pretty good in comparison to a lot of what Hollywood has created out of classical texts.

Japanese Holdouts

So, I wonder what it is like to spend nearly many years* in the jungle waiting for your comrades to return?

*Close to thirty for a few.