Saturday, April 29. 2006
Ever seen John Waters' Pink Flamingos with Devine? Don't bother. We will tell you about it. "Mr. Egg Man, Mr. Egg Man, what kinds of eggs have you brought me today?" 
Friday, April 28. 2006
Santa Anna is smiling in his grave.  Story here. Please tell me, somebody: what laws do I need to obey, and which ones do not matter? Just curious... cuz I am a little bit confused. Details of the story at Linknzona.
Mommy, where does oil come from: Supply and What? Lib. Leanings Congress drives gas guzzlers to their offices, one block away. Phony jerks. Clever piece by Parker in the Charlotte Observer, re Duke: I know we're not supposed to question a person's character these days. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do and boys will be ... no, wait, that's wrong. Girls are virtuous because they're stripping to feed their children; boys are evil because they will pay a virtuous single mom to strip. It's all so confusing, isn't it?
The new Oslo Peace Process: Bend Over, Europe. Has anyone not yet read Fjordman's piece, posted at Gates of Vienna? If not, do so now.
On a transatlantic flight, a plane passes through a severe storm. The turbulence is awful, and things go from bad to worse when one wing is struck by lightning. One woman in particular loses it.
Screaming, she stands up in the front of the plane. "I'm too young to die," she wails. Then she yells, "Well, if I'm going to die, I want my last minutes on earth to be memorable! Is there ANYONE on this plane who can make me feel like a WOMAN?"
For a moment there is silence. Everyone has forgotten their own peril. They all stare, riveted, at the desperate woman in the front of the plane. Then an Italian man stands up in the rear of the plane. He is a drop-dead gorgeous hunk. Tall, slender, well- built with curly dark brown hair and hazel eyes.
He starts to walk slowly up the aisle, unbuttoning his shirt, one button at a time. No one moves. No one says a thing. He removes his shirt. Muscles ripple across his chest. She gasps in excited anticipation. He whispers in her ear, "Iron this, and get me something to eat."
This is getting stranger: the Duke kids used a broomstick? My skepticism about this case is growing by the day. Moslems in space? Daily Pundit Todd Beamer's Dad had a piece in the WSJ yesterday about United 93. A new Indian empire? India expands military bases to protect oil supplies. Captn. Ed. 52 Lessons that lawyers can learn from card players: Althouse Kudlow makes a visit to Planet Hillary: Kudlow (h/t, Powerline). Sounds very similar to what View from 1776 said this week. A quote: Hasn’t Clinton noticed the spread of free-market capitalism that has become such an enormous wealth creator across the globe? The growth principles of higher after-tax returns for work and investment, deregulation to limit government’s reach, and the privatization of government-run companies have become almost commonplace. Clinton would have us turn the clock. She defines her goals in terms of “a middle-class life, education, health care, transportation and retirement.” But all this is nothing more than a dose of government spending and regulating — a sure prescription for more taxes and a declining economy. Why not employ the tax code to reward success rather than punish it? What about investor-owned savings accounts for health care, retirement and education? Why not put pro-market consumer choice, rather than government, at the center of the 21st century economy? How about helping the nonrich get rich?
And that Kudlow piece on Hillary makes for a nice segueway to this piece on Chirac: He proposes a govt. commission for innovation? How is that for an oxymoron? The article really does read like a satire. Cannot be too cynical to understand politics: The Sen. Rockefeller memo, at YARGB. Yes, it is clear that there is a war going on, and the Dems are loaded for bear. What did Dana Priest know and when did she know it? New info, from Confed. Yank
Thursday, April 27. 2006
When women feel fertile, they are drawn to alpha males. Pejman. LaShawn is fed up with the Baby Daddy syndrome. So is everyone, LaShawn - you are not alone. A professor at Michigan State Univ. got in trouble for saying this: “I am offended not by cartoons, but by more mundane things like beheadings of civilians, cowardly attacks on public buildings, suicide murders,” Wichman wrote. He went on to say: “I counsul you dissatisfied, agressive, brutal, and uncivilized slave-trading Moslems to be very aware of this as you proceed with your infantile ‘protests.’ ”
What, may I ask, is wrong with that? Isn't that what 99% of people are saying? Story at LGF A fine holocaust memorial post, from Gates of Vienna: Last boat from Liverpool Part-time Pundit gives a full-time effort on the subject of marriage and gay marriage. One quote: If sex and procreation are merely private relationships, why can't friends be married for the sake of economics? I've never heard any explanation why polygamy won't be legitimized after gay marriage, and I've heard more than one supporter of gay marriage concede that it would. I challenge anyone here who will dispute the previous statement to explain to me how we can have gay marriage and not implicitly be forced to accept polygamy or other "forms" of marriage.
His whole piece here. Emmylou Harris with Mark Knopfler. Reviewed at The Shelf Jane Jacobs is dead at age 89. Her writing helped a lot of us see what a city really is. Driscoll 49% of Egyptians believe that Israelis bombed the resorts in Egypt - to drive Israelis away from Egyptian resorts. With this kind of logic, I could blame Jews for Katrina. Augean Stables and Big Pharoah agonize over the stupidity of it all. The honor of working for a futile cause. S&M compares the Euston Manifesto with The Bridge over the River Kwai. Great piece. One quote: Not everything is worth doing merely for extrinsic purposes. Some things we do to signal who we are. People give to charity even if they suspect the money's just a drop in the ocean. They protest, though they know they won't change the government's mind. They vote, though their vote won't make a difference. They even die for their country and their friends.
Instrumental rationality is not the only rationality. There's also, as Robert Nozick argued in his best book, symbolic rationality - the effort to show who we are.
I would have to put blogging in the latter category.
Wednesday, April 26. 2006
Why are Jews liberal? Prager explains it. (h/t, News for Christians) In praise of opera on DVD: It's affordable, and has subtitles. Samiz. Big Oil? American oil companies control a mere 13% of the world's oil. They ain't so big: they're just tall, that's all. Oil pricing, at YARGB 60 billion emails are sent daily. Lots are spam, though. Is there such thing as too much communication? Are our media covering the war "on the cheap"? Kesler says so. A cool politician in Finland! From No Pasaran - a quote: "It may be good if the EU gets so big that it can no longer function — it will be like a rat with its hypothalamus removed, who keeps eating until it explodes," [Timo Soini] said, using the kind of colorful analogy that has made him popular with some voters.
What's going on with the Kurds these days? All kinds of complicated conniving, just as one would expect from Kurds. Strategy Pages. State corporatism. Hillary likes it. So did Hitler and Mussolini. The very notion gives me the creeps. View from 1776. Was there ever any doubt that the Left are the fascists? Why else would they call everyone else fascists, other than to deflect attention from their own impulses? Fun with al-Zaquari's happy video time: Confed. Yank. This guy is pathetic, but a sociopath. Snow Storm: We were certain yesterday it would be Tony Snow. Good move, for all involved. Put him out there as much as possible (even tho he is wrong on immigration).
Tuesday, April 25. 2006
 There is noone I would rather see as Press Secretary than the affable, warm, witty and relaxed Tony Snow. A superb human.
The administration is in desperate need of a good spokeman and a good salesman. He will be that, and more. I have no doubt that he will speak up at meetings. FOX's loss will be The White House's gain. There will be a pay cut, and he'll have to move his family, and he had a nasty bout with a GI cancer last year, but who could turn down such an exciting opportunity? He'll accept the job: his country needs him, and I am sure he'd rather be a doer than a talker. Let's make him begin working six months ago.
Monday, April 24. 2006
 Unwilling to give his pet issue a rest of more than a couple weeks, President Bush has made his way out to the west coast to spew the same old establishment talking points on immigration (see our helpful glossary here) in what seems to be a determined bid to rip apart the Republican party. In this particular speech Bush criticized those who advocate deporting all of the 10-20 million (no one knows how many, exactly) illegal aliens in the country with the convincing argument that "[massive deportation] is not going to work." In case that did not win over detractors, Bush added, "it's just not going to work."
What remains unsaid in the article, however, is that no one in either in the House or the Senate has ever pushed for the immediate deportation of millions of people, so Bush has merely set up a straw man in place of the reasonable arguments of those in his own party, thereby relieving himself of having to actually engage in serious debate. The sad fact that he is unable even to knock down the straw man is testament to the intellectual bankruptcy of the illegal alien lobby, which rarely if ever deigns to venture beyond clichéd soundbites and accusations of racism and nativism. Meanwhile, back on Sunday's Meet the Press, Teddy Kennedy was only too eager to urge the President on in his self-destructive quest, telling Bush to "take on the right wing" of his party, otherwise known as the approximately 90 percent of Republicans who are opposed to the President's stance on illegal immigration. Kennedy, who elsewhere in the interview sizes up the Democrats' prospects for regaining control of congress in the midterm elections, is no doubt well aware that any debate which pits House Republicans against Senate Republicans, and the President against his base, is an ideal debate to be holding in the run-up to November. My solution to the problem? Have Teddy personally drive the illegals back over the Rio Grande - that experience ought to discourage them from any further incursions. More: Linknzona has more on the "establishment" conspiracy to win votes and fool the public.
 Pentacostalism: Growing fast, around the world, with a big shindig in LA. CSM.
More bombs in Baghdad. The new govt must be driving them crazy. NY Sun. Sorry, guys. The war is over, and the good guys won. Now they are just killing their own people, for the hell of it. Libertarian Leanings points out that Iraq is doing well. Let's admit it. Male ratios in colleges dropping. Too bad. Of course, the feminists are not worried. Nor should anyone else be worried. Don't worry - Be Happy. Why does everything have to be a dang crisis? USA Today Academic English and noun-intoxication: If they knew what they wanted to say, it would not be so complicated. Language, grammar, and forthright, clear-thinking are cousins. Guardian Kerry-Kennedy quickly line up with Al Quaida. What world do these guys live in? More on Kerry's emotional immaturity from Boston's Soxblog. Penn State goes over the edge, in dhimmitude. Censoring a Jewish view, in art. Imagine if this were pro-Christian? Maxed Out Mama Estrich like totally embarassed by Dem Moonbats. HH has story. A quote here: Professor Estrich and I did agree that the incredible level of venom on the left --not only undenounced by Democratic leaders, but actually embraced-- is a huge problem for her party. After Susan McDougal had gone on a bender of how she absolutely hates George Bush, and psycho-babbling Justin Frank had encouraged everyone in the pretty far left audience to unleash their hate of Bush, ("I'm going to stand up for hatred," he said to Estrich's amazement and my glee), Estrich admonished the crowd that their cheering of such rhetoric would only doom the party's chances.
 New news about the art and science of hitting a baseball: "Don't keep your eye on the ball." Why? It's not possible.
Auster explains "anarcho-tyranny", as exemplified in Britain. He does have a point. All About Mary McCarthy - a couple of posts at Belmont. Wizbang comments on Kerry's bizarre claim that McCarthy did the right thing - and this guy wanted to be Commander in Chief? There is a big story here - maybe worth a Pulitzer? Duke: This was not a normal police lineup. (h/t, La Shawn) Where are all the Lutherans? Haha. Marg. Revolution knows. Celebrate NYC, and its secrets: Another goodie from Marginal Rev. If you haven't seen this: Anchoress on the Cult of Lying - Malevolent Mendacity Joe Jemail demonstrates how interviewing a witness should not be done. A bad lawyer - post, with video - by the Prof. Mobbing. An interesting group phenomenon. Something to watch out for in organizations. Here's an appealing new car. What is it? Story at Owner's Manual. I guess the NYC Auto Show is this week. 
Sunday, April 23. 2006
Enviros have been clamoring for expensive gas for years: they have figured that costly energy should be a driving force for less gas use, and for the development of alternative sources. Indeed, the US has been spoiled by dirt-cheap gas prices for many years. But the prices we pay now are in fact politics-created. If you want cheap gas: 1. Remove the taxes. What is the federal and state tax per gallon where you live? 2. Get rid of this dumb ethanol additive nonsense. It costs more, complicates distribution, and is nothing more than a boondoggle for corn farmers. 3. Let's drill for oil in the US. Let's use our own, offshore and in Alaska, etc. Or do not complain. 4. Let's increase refinery capacity. And, whatever is done, the price of oil will increase due to worldwide demand. Pejman takes a look at how gas prices have become a political football. And Ex-Donk takes a look at how the Dems will try to exploit it - without offering any solution other than empty bromides, like "alternative sources instead of drilling," as Brewton points out today. Attack, attack, attack.
Mary McCarthy, who was fired by the CIA this week for leaking CIA secret information to reporter Dana Priest, is just one of a bunch of ardently Democratic folks at State and the CIA who have been using their positions to undermine the Administration. A great Left-Wing Conspiracy?, asks Ace. McCarthy, Sandy Berger, Richard Clarke, Joe Wilson... Powerline has been talking about that for a year, in a non-paranoid manner, but I doubt that they imagined that such efforts might reach the level of treason. But it looks like it has, and she has let us down grievously and probably criminally. I doubt she was caught in a "mole hunt," as some have speculated - but she was caught in a leak-hunt. It matters not whether the CIA or NSA was sending terrorists to Uzbekistan for interrogation: the morality of that is a separate subject. From a piece by Protein on the subject: The subtext in the clause I highlighted suggests that these leak investigations could be a net negative inasmuch as they’re already beginning to “worsen” the White House / MSM relationship—one that the WaPo acknowledges was “already-tense.” And that of course misses the point entirely, I think, and is doubtless borne of press arrogance (which is now practically institutionalized) and 30+ years of having ideological reign over shaping and controlling narratives: because the fact is, the White House knows relations with the media will never normalize, it knows that it has been treated with hostility by an increasingly activist ideological press, and it has decided that protecting America’s security is more important than trying to get on the good side of the fourth estate, which has been hell bent on scandal-mongering, with the hope that something will stick and sink the Bush administration, ever since the start of the Iraq campaign. Further, Porter Goss said he was going to clean up the CIA, and he—like John Bolton—seems to take his job seriously. Which is why there was such resistance to both men, though the resistance against Goss happened once he was appointed CIA head and it became apparent he really meant to shake things up. And if this story breaks like I’m starting to sense it will (for instance, McCarthy was Larry Johnson’s boss, and the connections between familiar players favored by the anti-war left are starting to pile up1), the press calculus could play out in such a way that they see tough coverage of this scandal—an ACTUAL SCANDAL this time, mind you
Saturday, April 22. 2006
1. Travel Tip: When you're out for your Sunday drive tomorrow, watch out for old folks. They move slow, but they're mean and crafty. (video) 2. Still Free tags Air Force One. Amazing hoax video. 3. Rush Limbaugh on immigration: It sounds like a Rush rant - but wait 'til the end for the punchline: quick video download: Apr_6_Rush.wmv
Business news: Google is still on a roll. I sold all of mine already, but I try to be prudent with hot stocks. And guess who is back? McDonald's. Their food is revolting, but not their profits...except their fries - better than in France. I know people who pick up a load of fries there when they are grilling steak for dinner. What suckers! The Brits are moving their jail toilets to please Moslem inmates. Is there a better place to pray, or read, than on the old throne? It must be in the Koran, right next to "Kill the infidel": "Toilets must not face Mecca." Those Blairite Brits are turning into metrosexual saps. Katrina frauds don't want to give their money back. Huh? It's not their money. Go ahead, play the pity card. That card does not work with the IRS.
IowaHawk has outsourced his humor to India! Rooty toot toot! Protest season. Quote from NE Repub: How come when Clinton or Jimmy Carter, or any Democrat won a Presidential Election…..we don’t have Republicans protesting on the streets of Washington? Call me crazy…but I strongly feel it has something to do with “having to go to work”…………Conservatives need to go to work-right? They have kids, and jobs and all kinds of responsibilities..I mean, even I do.
How soon will Hamas collapse? The legal migration from the high-tax blue states to the red states: Why is it happening? Daily Pundit. The sky is falling. Justin on environmental hysteria. Russia's demographic choice: Suicide. Perhaps they might welcome 30 million Mexicans? Venezuela become a military camp. What a joke. I guess it keeps the population from getting pissed off at Chavez - plus gives them a job. Pathetic. Another quote from One Cosmos' confession (read it all here): While harping on my own shortcomings, mention should also be given to my intellectual arrogance and my moral superiority. Scratch any leftist and this is what you will find: a bottomless reservoir of conviction that they not only know more than you do, but that they are a better person than you are. You are greedy, or homophobic, or sexist, or racist, or hate the poor, or don't care about the planet, while I am the opposite of all those things. I am kind, compassionate, wise, generous and tolerant.
The reason why leftist ideas are so devoid of substance is that they often come down to a simple affirmation of these self-flattering adjectives, as in the example a couple weeks ago of Jimmy Carter's abuse of the innocent elementary school student. To summarize, it went something like this: "Are you a nice person?," asked Carter. "Yes," says the girl. "Then you are a Democrat." Easy.
Thursday, April 20. 2006
Second homes: They were 14% of the real estate market in 2004. Are they driving the real estate market? Clayton Cramer Georgia's new immigration law: details here at YARGB Free political speech and 527s. Coyote rips Repubs for their role in this mess. Carl Bernstein makes a case for impeaching Bush. Claims it's not partisan. I think it's just payback time. Rick Moran takes a look. What plants like to grow on beaches along the Atlantic coast? I have a project going, so I needed to check. Here they are.
The CEO of Tyson Foods manages to arrange a meeting with the Pope at the Vatican. After receiving the papal blessing, he whispers, "Your eminence, we have an offer for you. Tyson Foods is prepared to donate $100 million dollars to the church if you change the Lord's Prayer from "give us this day our daily bread" to "give us this day our daily chicken.'" The Pope responds, "That is impossible. The Prayer is the word of the Lord - it must not be changed." "Well," says the Tyson man, "We anticipated your reluctance. For this reason, we will increase our offer to $300 million dollars. All we require is that you change the Lord's Prayer from 'give us this day our daily bread' to 'give us this day our daily chicken.'" Again, the Pope replies, "That, my son, is impossible. For the prayer is the word of the Lord and it must not be changed." Finally, the Tyson guy says, "Your Holiness, we at Tyson Foods respect your adherence to your faith, but we do have one final offer. We will donate $500 million dollars to the great Roman Catholic Church if you would only change the Lord's Prayer from 'give us this day our daily bread' to 'give us this day our daily chicken.' Please consider it." And he leaves. The next day the Pope convenes the College of Cardinals. "There is some good news," he announces, "And some bad news." "The good news is that the Church has come into $500 million dollars." "And the bad news, Your Holiness?" asks a Cardinal. "We're losing the Wonderbread account."
Wednesday, April 19. 2006
Jetlag Cures: Water, darkness, and earplugs. The Chinese organ-selling story. Hey, why not? It is "rational", isn't it? Travel and Do Good: Adventurers bring cataract surgery to Indian villages. Only Americans would do things like this. An MD with a Medicaid practice: That ain't a medical practice - that's charity. God bless him. We agree with Pejman: Scott McClellan was never comfortable around the White House Press Corps. He was hardly what one would call an effective or charismatic spokesman for the Administration's interests. And at times, McClellan could just be clumsy. His successor will have a low bar to clear. As for Rove, it (embarrassingly) never occurred to me to think that the White House's political problems may stem from the fact that its chief politico took up policy matters in addition to his political portfolio at the start of the second term. Correlation is not causation, of course, but one cannot help but wonder whether the expansion of the Rovian empire might have detracted from the effectiveness of the Administration's political operations. In any event, Republicans will likely welcome the renewed attention that Karl Rove will pay to political matters. The midterms, after all, will be upon the country quite soon now.
The Boston Globe tries its hand at multicultural "understanding." Seems like they "understand" suicide bombers. Of course they do. Who could doubt it? As an essayist, I see Dinocrat rising to the level of the Great Right Wing Nuthouse. From a piece on multiculturalism: Modernity carries within it the seeds of its own destruction. Modern society, with its technology, ease, mobility, and wealth weakens the traditional bonds of tribe, religion, family and tradition that have been the bonding elements of human society over many millennia. One of the chief sources of internal rot in modern society is multiculturalism. Multiculturalism arises out of a number of factors, including (a) the lack of understanding and instruction about how our bountiful time was created; and (b) the guilt of Western elites. Multiculturalism both creates internal rot, and finds itself easily intimidated by and unable to deal with pre-modern societies with deep tribal and belief structures such as the sharia societies of Islam.
Raskalnikov, a Canadian Indian, is fed up with blogging. One quote from Manitoba (with comments from S,C and A, where you can read the whole piece): The white liberal guilt in this country has gone into overkill. It's like a dysfunctional family that buys new appliances when one son comes out of the closet, or the youngest daughter gets pregnant. Throw money at it, spend it away, ignore it under a pile of material compensation. Granted some if it does go to honorable ideas such as education, culture and health. These are vital aspects of life and the opportunities in them for us are now endless. The playing field may not be completely level, but it's much better than it was 50 years ago. Shit, 20 years ago. Any Indian not handcuffed by mental illness or addiction can be anything he or she wants to be. A doctor, a cop, whatever. It's sad most of them choose to keep on perpetuating the victimhood cult. In a society where we place such small value on thinking, is it any surprise the victimhood pimps use emotional fervor to brainwash future generations into whining and bitching? Mix this with the revolting, degenerate hip-hop destroying the minds of our youth and it sure beats having to take responsibility for yourself. And the welfare being handed to us by the Government only serves to put more value on the role of victim; not only does it appeal to baser human instincts, but you can get paid for it too.
As for our own Leadership, as much as I despise most Chiefs and Councils in this country, they are only human. How many of us could be handed endless streams of money, then find out all you need to do is cry racism when anyone asks what you did with it, and not be corrupted? This certainly doesn't pardon them, but I can sympathize with their fallibility. That being said, they are reprobate thieves and sawdust dictators for the most part. There should come a point when you recognize the errors you have made. We Indians are supposed to be so wise, especially our 'leaders". Yet we keep on making the same mistakes over and over, first and foremost keeping our lips tightly sealed on that big sweaty bleeding-heart progressive tit. Raskalnikov is tired- and has been, for a while. ...I expect more. I am, by nature, a very cynical and skeptical person, however as I got older I realized, of course, most of that was just my own crap to deal with, and life, and people, really aren't that bad.....then I read something or hear something that just verifies my cynical outlook and I get enraged. Wow. People really are that stupid. Life really is meaningless and nasty, solitary, brutish and short. All that Nietzsche and Schopenhauer and Camus I read isn't just adolescent navel-gazing. People really are dogshit on the sole of the universe. And I guess nowhere is this more blatant than in politics and current events.
From the Financial Times on Hollywood’s Pellicano scandal: “The scandal in Hollywood, by contrast, is about that community’s special currency, deal-making leverage. The leading man is Anthony Pellicano, a private investigator, who has been indicted for bribery, racketeering and illegal wiretapping. Mr Pellicano is alleged to have secretly listened in on celebrities and entertainment industry figures, including Nicole Kidman (when she was divorcing Tom Cruise), on behalf of industry big shots. At issue in the ongoing investigation is whether the agents and studio executives who hired Mr Pellicano to gain the upper hand in their negotiations and lawsuits understood his methods. “It may be far from routine for Hollywood bigwigs to stick spies on their enemies or send goons to intimidate prying journalists, as is alleged in this case, but the ruthlessness and aggression that prompted producers, agents and L.A. lawyers to hire Mr Pellicano are perfectly normal in Hollywood. This is merely a hyperbolic expression of the narcissism and paranoia that characterise the movie mogul’s relentless drive for dominance in pursuit of mediocrity.”
Indiana Federal Judge upholds voter ID law. How can that be news? How can anyone expect to vote without identifying themselves? Vote fraud in some of America's Democratic Machine cities is famous and well-known. There is no American who does not carry some form of ID, and I have always assumed you needed some to vote anywhere. The chutzpah of the Dems to angrily oppose this is an astonishing admission of devious intent. Working on a tow-boat. A romantic, macho, outdoor career with echoes of Mark Twain. CSM Some scientists need to determine to what extent the hot air from Al Gore's speeches contributes to global warming. I have become convinced that this "issue" is primarily ideological/political. The only good outcome of this movement might be to hasten the construction of new nuclear power plants. Like others of the limo liberals who don't need real jobs - Robert Kennedy Jr. comes to mind, these bozos, who couldn't pass Physical Chemistry - a highly cool area of rigorous study - march off with their junk science as if experts, to make themselves feel, and appear, virtuous. "Is a stay at home Mom a traitor to feminism?" Sort of a bizarre question, since it postulates 1) a war, of sorts, and 2) that having a career is the highest expression of being human, when what it mainly is is a way to pay the bills. Cathy Young at Reason takes another look at careers vs. Mommys. As a bit of a Momma's Boy myself, I side with the Moms. The Death Cult of Islam takes another step forward. Gateway. If you want to be a suicide bomber, get in line. They have 70 already waiting to get into Israel.
Tuesday, April 18. 2006
Whoops, Perhaps We Spoke Too Soon -- Worst Music Video Ever His name, and the name of his children--Jochi, Ogudai, Hulegu, Tolui, Chagatai -- struck fear in the hearts of the fiercest warlords. His mongol hordes, drinking the blood from cuts in their horse's necks to avoid stopping, swept through empires and tribes and established Khanates from the Caspian Sea to the Sea of Japan. The Chinese were child's play; the Great Rus to the north reduced to mere vassals. And now the Awesome and Terrible name of Genghis Khan has been reduced to this: My Spanish is a little rusty, but in the middle, they say "Kunta-Kinte says Hi!" I think that's what it says. I blacked out. Posted by Roger De Hauteville
The conservative divisions on illegal immigration: self-government vs. economic determinism. Auster. Kevin Philips is worried about theocracy. Bogus scare tactics, if you ask me. Why is it creeping theocracy when conesrvative religious folks offer an opinion, but not then leftist religious folks do the same? Enviros are finally coming around to nuclear. That makes sense. Instap. Big White House staff shake-up coming soon. Good idea. United 93. Prager says all Americans must see it, as an antidote to denial.
Monday, April 17. 2006
They worshiped Thor, Odin and Freija once. The very mention of their longboats struck fear in the hearts of Europe and Britannia. They held the Russian bear at bay for centuries. And now, it's come to this - (h/t, Derbyshire at NRO): Posted by Roger De Hauteville
Saturday, April 15. 2006
Johnson at Front Page has a fine piece on the doublespeak of immigration. A simple translation of the language of immigration "reform," at NRO. The Dems are abandoning the blacks for the illegals, says Gay Patriot.A look at past college sports team rape accusations, Revenge of the Nerds by Smerconish. Bob at One Cosmos has written his story of his conversion from liberal to conservative. I have no doubt that it will ring true to many, and it contains most of the themes about we have written over the past year - but Bob writes gooder than we do. One quote: Leftism continues to be a children's crusade against the adult world, and we are in desperate need of adults who will stand up to the children and not worry about trying to be their "friends." As a parent, you simply have to do what you need to do, because children don't really know how to raise themselves. (If I had more time, this would be a good place to expand upon this vis-a-vis Will's comment below on the spirit of rebellion that animates the Left. This rebellion is an inevitable artifact of childhood, and is oedipal to the core. To gratify it is to create a monster.)
Read it all. I agree with John at Powerline, re the trumped-up Rumsfeld pseudo-issue (my bold): JOHN adds: When you're President, you get lots of free advice. Some of it is well-intentioned; much of it is not. Here is why I think so many liberals are anxious for President Bush to replace Rumsfeld: they have staked a great deal on the proposition that the Iraq war has not gone well, and, in fact, has been a disaster. But they are troubled because they are not at all sure that is true. By any reasonable standard, casualties have been low and Iraq's progress toward democracy has been impressive. This doesn't mean the project couldn't still go off the rails; it clearly could. But it is also possible--likely, I think--that the Iraqis will succeed in forming a government, violence will continue to decline, our troops levels will be substantially reduced, and, in a year or two, the consensus will be that the war was pretty successful after all. This, I think, is what liberals fear most. They want President Bush to stipulate, in effect, that the war has been poorly conducted and has been a failure. That's the way in which firing Rumsfeld would rightly be interpreted. This would largely insulate liberals against the consequences if the war does, in fact, turn out to be successful. The same logic, I think, explains why liberals are always hectoring President Bush to "admit his mistakes." What they fear, deep down, is that the President's policies haven't been mistakes at all.
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