The Anchoress

I think the death of Anna Nicole Smith is pitiable and sad. She was young, she was messed up. I would imagine she was much sinned-against. She lost her beloved son. She died at 39, and I hope she is now in peace.

A family duty will keep blogging light today, but go read Siggy’s piece, wherein he looks at the energetic media coverage of Anna Nicole’s death, and their listless, barely there coverage of the Palestinian civil war. He’s passionate and angry. And he writes it very well.

To describe American soldiers who perish in Iraq as ‘mercenaries’ or as ‘wasted lives,’ is a clear indictment of the media for who and what they have become and to whom they pander. Dying so that others may know freedom is not a ‘waste’ of anything. It is just the opposite. Every soldier that is killed or injured in the line of duty is another link in the strong chain that secures this nation to her values. That chain’s original links stretch back to the War of Independence. The War of 1812, World Wars One and Two, Korea, Vietnam and every war in between added to the strength of that chain.

The media is nothing if not predictable. Notwithstanding the still warm body, the search for the next Anna Nicole Smith has already begun, even as the Palestinians are doing their part for the media, pretending that their train wreck existence and hatred is ‘civilized.’

Meanwhile, AJ has a story about our soldiers and AlQaeda that you’re probably not hearing. Please read it all. Then read Small Town Vets’ A Gathering of Eagles.

Michelle Malkin also notes what the death of Anna Nicole is overshadowing. Al Qaeda is quietly being brought the big stick, while no one is watching.

You’re also not hearing about these remarkable medical advances using amniotic (not embryonic) stem cells.

Jules Crittenden catches the press almost getting a story right.

Mary Katharine Ham is looking at trashtalk in the blogosphere, among other things.

Remind me, another day, to give a little tutorial on the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception because I see it misunderstood everywhere. In the past few days I have seen countless bloggers refer to one of the Edwards Campaign Blogmistress’s remarks (Q: What if Mary had taken Plan B after the Lord filled her with his hot, white, sticky Holy Spirit?) as referencing the Immaculate Conception. It’s not. That is referencing the conception of Christ. The Immaculate Conception is something completely different, and I wish I had time to go into it today. This weekend, I will!

And finally, because it’s just so good, and because we miss her, enjoy this essay on Verdi’s Requiem by the late, great Aussiegirl.

My L’il Bro Thom sent me this: a baby panda sneeze. Too cute.

Gotta dash, more tonight.