Freedom Marchers.

More evidence of the extraordinary bravery of the Iraqi people:

Thousands Protest at Iraqi Bombing Site

By QASIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer; Tue Mar
1, 6:48 PM ET

HILLAH, Iraq - Thousands of mostly black-clad Iraqis protested Tuesday outside a medical clinic where a suicide car bomber killed 125 people a day earlier, braving the threat of another attack as they waved clenched fists, condemned foreign fighters and chanted "No to terrorism!"

...But anxieties over another attack did not prevent more than 2,000 people from gathering outside the clinic Tuesday, shouting "No to terrorism!" and "No to Baathism and Wahhabism!"...

The Power of Perception.

Tom Friedman clearly states the remarkable transformation in the last month:

Thanks to eight million Iraqis defying "you vote, you die" terrorist
threats, Iraq has been reframed from a story about Iraqi "insurgents" trying to liberate their country from American occupiers and their Iraqi "stooges" to a story of the overwhelming Iraqi majority trying to build a democracy, with U.S. help, against the wishes of Iraqi Baathist-fascists and jihadists.

Yes, the transformation of the MSM.

A Trip to the Moondog Kingdom.

No, not moonbat, but Alan Freed's "Moondogger Show", circa April 1954. For those of you that despise the unimaginative offerings modern FM radio (I can set my watch to when the local "classic rock" station will loop back to Stairway to Heaven), here's a great offering from the Reel Radio Repository. It's from the Bruce Portzer Collection of radio airchecks, a half an hour of the King of the Moondoggers (RealPlayer required) in his prime with some truly great R&B. And while you listen, why don't you enjoy a cold Erin Brew?

The Pope's Brave Witness to Faith.

William F. Buckley has recently admitted he now abstains from praying for the recovery of the Pope. He also comments:

The temptation is, always, to pray for the continuation of the life of anyone who wants to keep on living. The pope is one of these. In the past, he recorded that he did not plan ever to abdicate, that he would die on the papal throne...

...To leave it before death can be construed as forsaking a mission charged by God almighty. That isn't the consensus of theologians.

John Paul's ministry has had different phases - covert opposition to Nazi occupiers, not-so-covert subversion of Soviet totalitarianism, remarkable journeys across the world to celebrate Mass with Catholics everywhere, and holding firm to the sanctity of life in an era of rapidly advancing technology and rapidly declining morality. Perhaps this stage of his life may be another phase of ministry - showing us how bear suffering with grace, dignity, and a complete commitment to Christ and to life until God calls him home.