Link: USATODAY.com - McCain won’t compromise on proposed torture ban.

I think he might be too emotional.

Here’s a holiday — excuse me, Christmas — question for you:  name all twelve of Jesus’ disciples?  I would imagine even the most faithful of Christians would have a problem with this.  When I was a child attending Sunday School I could name every last one of them, but in adulthood those little things can slip the mind.  Of course, we all know the "famous" disciples:  Peter, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  Some will even try to add Paul (nee Saul of Tarsus) to that group, but fascinating though he was, Paul was one of the disciples’ biggest critics before being confronted by Jesus on the Road to Damascus.  So in honor of the holidays — excuse me, Christmas — and with a little help from The Columbia Encyclopedia (6 ed.) here they are:

• Simon Peter, the most prominent of the disciples and considered by the Catholic Church to be its founding Pope.  He’s was also the disciple famously known for denying Jesus three times. (Matt. 26, NIV)  Martyred in Rome during the time of Nero by crucifixion.  At his request, he was crucified upside down so as not to be equated with Jesus.
• Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter and a fellow fisherman. He is the patron Saint of Russia and Scotland.
• James (the Greater), believed to have preached the Gospel to Spain, where he is known as Santiago.
• John, the brother of James.  May have been the author of all the Gospels including the Gospel of John and possibly Revelations.  Believe to be the Disciple "whom Jesus loved" and gave to him the care of His Mother, Mary.
• Philip, often confused with Philip the Deacon and Evangelist, a different person altogether.
• Bartholomew, also known as Nathaniel.  Martyred in Armenia by flaying; witness to the Ascension of Jesus.
• Matthew, the tax collector.  An Evangelist and the traditional author of the Gospel of Matthew.
• Thomas, one of the lesser mentioned Apostles.  From him we get the phrase "doubting Thomas" because he refused to believe in the Resurrection until he saw Jesus’ wounds.
• James, son of Alphaeus, yes there were two Apostles named James.  Is often referred as "James the Less."  Little is known of his ministry.
• Simon the Zealot, again you’re not seeing double.  Another of the lesser known Apostles.
• Judas Iscariot, the traitor who sold out Jesus to the Romans for thirty pieces of silver.  Was so guilt-ridden that he later committed suicide.
• Thaddaeus, also known as Saint Jude, the Patron Saint of lost causes.

Of course, we can’t leave out two very important Apostles:

• Matthias, replaced Judas Iscariot.
• Paul, or Saul of Tarsus.  He was sent to Damascus to suppress Christianity, but on that fateful Road he was confront by Jesus in the form of a blinding light Who asked, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" (Acts 9, NIV)  He did more to establish Christianity as a distinct religion than any of the other Apostles and brought the teachings of Christ to the Gentiles.  Martyred in Rome by beheading at the behest of Nero.

So, there you have it.  Paul, for me, is the most interesting of these 14 men.  So much of modern Christianity has been affected by the writings attributed to Paul.  Yes, they’ve been abused and warped, but that’s the price paid for having Free Will.  For a fictionalized version of Paul’s life and ministry I’d suggest reading Paul by Walter Wangerin, Jr.  The author comes at the life of Paul from an Evangelical Christian perspective, but it’s still a great read.

Two more anti-American, military-hating liberals for the right to villify.  Of course, what they have to say will be ignored no matter how right or wrong it might be.

President Bush must be thrilled at honoring a veritable who’s who of Hollywood liberals for the Kennedy Center.

This remark by John McCain, a man who has become quite emotional over issues of torture, was uncalled for and unnecessary.  Disagreement is fine, but this kind dismissal is why I’m increasingly disliking John McCain.  He may be everyone’s poster boy for the moderate Republican, but in the last two years McCain has shown he’s no better than anyone else when his career is at stake.

Stephen Spielberg’s soon-to-be-released film chronicling the murder of Israel athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich by the terrorist group Black September, and Israel’s eventual retaliation should be an interesting film.  While Spielberg thinks the film doesn’t demonize any particular group I doubt Israelis and Palestinians will see it that way.  Palestinians will be upset at what they see as the West’s continued bias towards them; and Israelis may not like the fact that Spielberg depicts the men tasked with carrying out the retaliations as anguishing over what they were doing.  Of course, that last part will bring the Hollywood-liberals-hate-America-and-Israel-crowd out in full force, but I’m sure Spielberg expects that.  I for one know very little of this horrible piece of history other than the bit and pieces I’ve learned in history courses, so I look forward to seeing the film.  Then I can judge it for myself.

I wasn’t all that interested in seeing The Triangle on SciFi Channel (which doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have watched it anyway), but after seeing a 10-minute preview on Yahoo it actually looks quite interesting.  It obvious they put some major money into creating a quality mini-series.  It was also written by Farscape creator, Rockne S. O’Bannon, so I trust it will be up to at least that level, or close to it.  Besides what else is there to watch when most other shows are in their December re-run phase?

UPDATE:  Reuters disagrees.  The Post-Intelligencer seems torn between love and hate.

Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco may still be held responsible for much when it comes to her administration’s reaction to Hurricane Katrina, but no one can fault her not being upfront.  In an unprecedented example of government transparency, Governor Blanco made available 100,000 pages of state documents — everything from e-mails to notes scribbled on legal pads — to the public for them to judge her performance.  Some of it may not be flattering to the governor and her staff, especially the blatant political maneuvering, but what it does is lay all the bad alongside all the good and allows the public, both her supporters and her critics, to decide whether or not she did the best possible job.  Some might see this as blatant political maneuvering in and of itself.  Of course it is, but by putting it all out there Blanco is getting ahead of the those who would use one of the most horrible natural disasters to strike our nation in a very long time for their own political gain.  Bravo, Governor Blanco!  I doubt we’d ever see President Bush do such a thing.

Steve Gilliard makes an important point no one else seems willing, or is afraid, to make: our service men and women are being sold out to the enemy by the very people we’re supposed to "helping"!  I’m all for completing the job the president has made for us, but come on people!  Let’s not make our military fodder for the enemy.