Friday, June 22. 2007
Slideshow of Navy Seal trainee Hell Week.
Good summary by A Jacksonian
 Khatami indicted in Iran for holding hands. Gateway. He listened to too much early Beatles when he was just a little imam.
Like outboard engines? Look at this. I don't know what it is, but I bet it is loud. The story of the press donating 9:1 to Dems: I agree with Captain Ed. Let 'em do it. It's a free country. Pursue balance by starting your own newspaper, as did The New York Sun. Be glad you didn't read Krugman. Atlas. Betsy has been reading many of the same books I have been reading. She likes Jean Edward Smith's new bio of Marshall. OK, will do. Scientific proof that Cheney did 9-11. Attack Machine video. The Salon Blog Report has been reading and linking us lately. Much appreciated. Taunting the Thought Police: A few non-PC but typical man-on-the-street comments via Tim Blair, who is awaiting the arrival of the Thought Police as we speak. Photo: Theo stopped by to take a photo of one our our Maggie's Farm milkmaids wearing traditional Vermont barn clothing. When the gals head down to the cow barn at 4 AM in the summertime, they like to dress comfortably but elegantly. They need the gloves so they don't get calluses, and the heels keep them above the cowpies. The straps are, of course, a delicate female version of red suspenders.
Thursday, June 21. 2007
 Since when does "the public," ie the government, "own" the airwaves? A radio operator buys or leases a frequency, and then transmits radio waves on that frequency. Who gave the government ownership of frequencies? The government took them over in a weird example, I guess, of eminent domain, in the 1930s. However, the arguments used could just as well have been used for government ownership of news print.
Boortz makes the history of the notion very clear. Perhaps it would be analogous to the government taking ownership of bandwidth. How long until political use of bandwidth is regulated by Washington? We wrote about this yesterday. Photo: Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi. The first transatlantic radio message from the US was sent from Teddy Roosevelt to King Edward Vll in 1909, from good old Wellfleet on Cape Cod. The beach location is now called Marconi Beach, and it is surrounded by protected land - part of The Cape Cod National Seashore - thanks to JFK. Addendum: For fascinating historical detail about the early goverment intrusion into radio, read the first comment on this post.
Bill Roggio. On Day 5, it sounds good. I like the blocking troops to prevent escape. What kind of war is this, though? We are fighting al-Sadr's army which seems to be a proxy for Iran, and Al Quaida with all of their foreign fighters. This is no longer about Iraq at all. Iraq just happens to be the battlefield. That was the original idea, wasn't it? If this offensive goes well, watch Americans change their tune about Iraq.
Dalrymple reviews Walter Laqueur's The Last Days of Europe in The American Conservative. Naturally, it's about immigration, declining native populations, and economics. One quote: Laqueur is neither apocalyptic nor optimistic but measured and open-minded about the future. Yet given the earnest frivolity of the European political classes, who face up to and legislate for every problem except the serious ones, it is likely that his prediction for Europe is accurate: it will sink into insignificance, more important, it is true, than Africa but no more important than Latin America.
Here's the whole thing.
Take a minute and let them know your thoughts about illegal immigration and the bill which is back before the Senate this week. Phone - don't email or write. Phone info here. Addendum: Just heard Sean Hannity interview Trent Lott on the radio. Lott was unconvincing and I found his condescending manner obnoxious. It seems that his main point was "We have to do something." Why? Sean noted that Reagan had promised that his amnesty bill would close the borders, but had not. Lott explained that government is not efficient, things take time, etc. Sean said something like "If you couldn't do the border part of that bill, why should anyone believe that you will do the border part of this one?" Sean argued that a bill providing border control would enjoy huge popular support, and that Congress can deal with the other things later. Addendum: Congress is fed up with the voters. h/t, Insty. Why won't people leave them alone and let them do what is really best for us ignorant jerks?
 Czech Pres. Klaus interviewed on global warming hysteria.
I want Klaus to run for US Prez. How does a guy this good get elected? He is sensible on every subject, from climate to the EU to economics to tennis. The Czechs are lucky to have him.
Michael Yon in Baquba. Since Jules is following the battles so closely, I will rely on his links. It is getting quite interesting. Hey Harry Reid - It ain't over yet. I wish some wealthy person would donate Yon enough money for an assistant and a photographer. Yon does this work on his own, of course, and what is happening now looks like the big push of the entire Iraq story.
 How easy is it to cross the border from Mexico without hassles? Polipundit. Very.
Bill Gates needs a basic econ course. RCP Candidates: Who gives you the creeps? Somebody did a poll. Shuttle update. They had an interesting trip, but it's time to come home. EU running scared of the people. Brussels Journal/ Tell me what the difference is between what Napoleon wanted and what the EU wants. More: Editorial on the subject of the EU Constitution at NY Sun. I remain confused about why the Europeans would want anything more than an economic treaty. What for? To solve what problem? French regs putting French grape growers on the ropes. Newt's immigration video. To the point. What if the middle east doesn't want peace? What if many of them like to fight, and find peace a bore? What if many of them don't care whether they live or die? A bad time to be a Christian in Gaza. But Gaza's wishes all came true, didn't they? This kid has balls. RTLC. And so does this kid. Aussies building a big new navy. At the same time that the Brits are shrinking theirs to nothing. The immigration bill is back, key vote Friday. Not your father's NH. NH bans bar and restaurant smoking. Trans fats next, and then guns? Charles Kesler in the Claremont Review, via No Left Turns. A quote: "The writ to use force against him [Saddam] and his regime was cogent and persuasive. But the decision to turn that deterrent, punitive, and preventive action into the occasion for elaborate democratic reconstruction was, alas, ill-conceived. Iraq was not that important to us. It could seem that important...only by imagining that an utterly transformed Iraq would be an outpost of liberal democracy in the Middle East...and that Iraq in turn would utterly transform the whole Middle East into a land of milk and honey, not to mention democracy and peace."
A reader quoted at Insty about Congress' terrible poll numbers: I think there is a greater disconnect between the Political Class and the Public than ever before -- and, to quote a phrase -- deservedly so. The most liberal senator has more in common with the most conservative senator than either has in common with you or me, and we know it.
Image: A Cezanne still life
Yesterday we commented that the major offensive in Iraq was being ignored by the MSM. Turns out that the AP decided to write about it. Crittenden. Lots of links with other articles, too.
Buffalo Hunt, 1897. More of his work here. (thanks, reader). Two wonderful things about Montana (among others) are Russell and A. B. Guthrie. Yes, that painting is what the Montana high plains look like. They are desert-like, since all the rain gets dumped by the weather as it rises over the Rockies, heading east. 
Wednesday, June 20. 2007
Story at Think Progress. It's a seriously, frighteningly wrong impulse to consider shutting up voices you don't agree with. The way I see it, conservative talk radio emerged and blossomed because conservative views had been suppressed for so long in all mass media - TV, print, and radio. Back in the 80s, I would hear people say things like "Until I heard Rush on the radio, I thought I was the only person who thought that way." Around 60 million people listen to Rush Limbaugh now, I believe. AM radio was a dying animal until daytime talk came along. The fresh viewpoints have been great for the country, in my opinion. The debate is good for everyone, because it makes us think and re-think instead of stagnating. Even when you disagree, it helps sharpen and clarify your thoughts. Talk radio remains one of the few places where alternatives to the MSM "establishment" views and spin can be heard. If print and TV were more balanced, some talk radio and some blogs wouldn't feel the need to exist. Their markets would shrink. Still, I suspect that if some cheerful, optimistic, warm-hearted, avuncular, humorous, and self-mocking (all traits I attribute to Rush) liberal came along on the radio, he or she could build a sizeable audience. But maybe not.
 About clouds and solar wind, from Canada's National Post, a quote:
Solar scientists predict that, by 2020, the sun will be starting into its weakest Schwabe solar cycle of the past two centuries, likely leading to unusually cool conditions on Earth. Beginning to plan for adaptation to such a cool period, one which may continue well beyond one 11-year cycle, as did the Little Ice Age, should be a priority for governments. It is global cooling, not warming, that is the major climate threat to the world, especially Canada. As a country at the northern limit to agriculture in the world, it would take very little cooling to destroy much of our food crops, while a warming would only require that we adopt farming techniques practiced to the south of us.
Not only will we all freeze to death in ten years, but the freezing of Arctic ice will kill off all of the seals and Polar Bears, not to mention all of the Eskimos. "Mommy, let's take the SUV so the Polar Bears don't freeze to death." Addendum: We tend to see it the way Vaclav Klaus sees it.
 750 lb. male Griz caught in Montana, collared, and released, near beautiful Choteau, MT - "The Paris of the Rocky Mountain Front."
In reality, if he was looking for a decent meal then downtown Choteau is not the place, but you can buy cigareets and whusky there. I have been there.
Volunteers at Good Samaritan Hospital (not sure which one) in 1957, delivering cigarettes and candy to patients. I'll take two packs of Luckies and a Clark Bar please, Ma'am, and some matches. 
It begins right now. I need to follow Bill Roggio daily to keep up with all of the action. I thought the "surge" would entail more aggressive policing, but no. This is turning into the first set of battles with Al Quaida. The bad guys are now facing a large group of tough customers, and what seems most hopeful is that they are being attacked everywhere at once. No place to hide. But why isn't this battle being reported?
There are plenty of provocative ideas in this piece in The American Thinker that make sense to me. Education cannot be bought, even though it is marketed as if it could be. Credentials can be - and nowadays, must be - bought, but not education. All education is self-education.
We always hear about the uninsured. Who are they? Some answers. (h/t, Dr. Helen) Comment from Dr. Bliss: A recent exchange with a new consultation, after three office visits during which we had established some good rapport and understanding: "My recommendation to you is that we begin a course of psychotherapy to deal with all of these issues, which I believe are connected and which I think we can do something about." "OK, I knew that, and I guess I have known that for a long time. But will my insurance cover it?" "I don't know. I would need to meet with you two times a week to do this properly. But whether your insurance will or will not help you with that, I will expect you to pay me from your own pocket, beyond and above whatever your insurance reimburses you." "You will? I have car payments, credit cards, tuitions, vacations planned - all sorts of expenses. If insurance doesn't cover it, I don't want do it. I don't see how." "Well, it's a matter of priorities. I'd suggest that you think it over for a little while to decide how important dealing with these things is to you. If something is valuable enough to you, you will find a way to pay for it."
Life is like that, isn't it? Everybody is now trained to want a free lunch... but when they get it, it is no darn good, because the free lunch is a baloney sandwich on Wonder Bread. Life is filled with tragedy, is it not? These sorts of situations sadden me deeply, but reality is about limits. It is useless to pretend that it is not.
The true and best solution to illegal immigration will be for Mexico to get its act together.
 The Left dislikes Bloomberg's pay-for-grades idea. Why? From Moonbattery:
Incredibly, moonbats are attacking the program from the left. Screeches Margy Waller, a domestic policy advisor in the Clinton Administration: It just reinforces the impression that if everybody would just work hard enough and change their personal behavior we could solve poverty in this country, and that's not reflected in the facts. You see, the idea that people could rise out of poverty through their own effort is dangerous crazy talk.
Sheesh. Talk about dangerous crazy talk. Is she saying that everyone wants to come to America for the government freebies and not for opportunity? That is sick. If you have kids after you get married, and stay married, and finish high school, and quit drugs, and maybe move to where jobs are, it is almost impossible to be poor in America. Otherwise, you must want to be poor. And, speaking of the Mayor, his party switch is really meaningless. He was a Dem, switched to Repub to run for Mayor. Now he's indep. I like and admire the guy, but his politics are for the birds. He is very smart but unwise. I agree with Glenn: I'd like to see a third-party candidate, but I'd like one who stands for more freedom, not less, and the nannyish Lee Kuan Yew-wannabe Bloomberg clearly doesn't fit that description.
James Hansen ups the ante yet again. But we're still not scared, Jim. Lubos Motl takes a look at Hansen's paper. And now China passes the US in CO2 production. Ethanol: A farm subsidy program pretending to be an energy policy. Exactly. The idea of using food for fuel should be crazy on the face of it. Gas prices: From Bernard at TCS: Like most of the American public, I have stood at the pump at my local filling station and cursed the cost of gasoline. Yet, after filling my tank I inevitably drive to Starbucks to stand in line with other women seeking a reprieve from morning mommy detail, handing over $4.24 without batting an eye as I order my beloved venti, soy chai latte.
And re taxing "big oil," guess who will be paying those taxes. Sneaky, because it won't show up as a tax at the pump - just in the pricing. So you won't get mad at Congress - you'll get mad at Mobil. Environmental Economics asks how high gas prices need to be before people reduce consumption. The Scottish Enlightenment and the idea of America. View from 1776. This is pretty funny: Hillary picking her theme song, Sopranos-style. video. Al Gore made 100 million since he lost the election. Lucky or smart? Or handed deals because of who he is? I don't know about you, but I prefer my gravy smooth and the sausage on the side.
Tuesday, June 19. 2007
Teddy Roosevelt wrote to one of his sons: "I would rather have a boy of mine stand high in his studies than high in athletics, but I would a great deal rather have him show true manliness of character than show either intellectual or physical prowess." A quote from Cassandra's very fine Father's Day essay.
 Outdoor people often tend to misunderestimate black bears and only fear Grizzlies. Bad bear story. Tragic indeed. Up here in the Massachusetts Berkshires, we have tons of Black Bears. I saw one two weeks ago running across the road.
Brand new pair of rollerskates. Update on Melanie and Donovan. Assistant Village Idiot The Pres of Vietnam comes to call. Not a free country, but definitely capitalistically-inclined. Gateway Free Scooter Libby! Hitchens. The entire story stinks, in my opinion. Not to defend perjury, which needs to be a crime but which is frequently not pursued as a crime. I must confess that I had to look up "nugatory." Cool word because it sounds so nugaty. More Hitchins: Fine summary of the story of Jefferson and the Barbary Pirates. America's first encounter with pesky Moslems helped create our idea of the United States. Recycling is bad for global warming. But since I don't care about global warming, should I begin recycling? Church shopping in the 1980s. Right Wing Nation Go to jail in Sweden if you say something unpleasant - if accurate - about Kosovar Albanians. Gates of Vienna. Aren't they drug dealers? Getting serious about Key Lime Pie. We are always serious about Key Lime Pie. In fact, in season, you can buy fresh Key Limes up here - in the fancy stores.
 From a piece at One Cosmos: No philosophy could be more impoverished than one which denies the existence of this radiant interior Light -- or that reduces it to some material property of physics. "Divine light" is not a metaphor borrowed from our sensory apparatus. Rather, the reverse is true: the radiant light that fills the cosmos is an analogue of God's infinite luminous presence.
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