Maggie's Farm

Who is lying about Bin Ladin, Bill Clinton or Albright? Pardon my English.

Three myths about Islam. Atlas

General McCaffrey, a strong critic-skeptic on Iraq, has returned with a report, which does sound like a turning point has arrived, finally. Belmont

Herndon, VA sets a standard for the country. Wizbang

Too much good stuff today.

A fine blog, new to me: Middlebrow. Augustine, plus some very good art criticism.

A day without illegals? It was great. Keep it up. No problem. Moonbattery has "Why just one day?"

Somebody has Bob Herbert's number. Link at Powerline. This is the best the NYT can do?

Does anyone buy this BS anymore? Rich folks, playing the race card in court. Pathetic, and an insult to one's race. RTLC.

Also from Lee, why he is totally p-o'ed with the Repubs - for good reason.

We have posted on this already, but Captain Ed had more time to convince everyone that McCain is not fit for government. If the First Amendment doesn't matter to you, what does?

Dr. Bob is fed up with his paperwork and coding requirements. Who can blame him?  That isn't medicine - it's civil service.

What's all this about depilation? The new hairlessness craze. Is it a way to be totally naked?

Did Cory Maye get screwed? Aren't you allowed to shoot, in the US, when somebody breaks into your house? Yes.

Our only hope is for Mexico to have a functioning economy. Their corruption, semi-socialism, and total ineptitude are the reasons their people are fleeing. Calderon has a chance to win, or they will be the next Venezuela.

The US Economy.  From Breibart, h/t Pejman:

Manufacturing cranked up, builders boosted construction spending to an all-time high and consumers opened their wallets wider fresh signs the economy has snapped out of its end-of-year funk.

That was the message coming from the latest batch of economic reports released Monday.

A report from the Institute for Supply Management showed that factory activity expanded with gusto in April. The group's manufacturing index rose to 57.3 in April, from 55.2 in March. The showing was much better than the reading of 55 that economists were expecting.

In a second report, the Commerce Department said total construction spending in March climbed to $1.199 trillion, on an annualized basis, surpassing the previous record high set in February. That marked a big 0.9 percent jump from February's level a performance that exceeded analysts' projections of a 0.3 percent gain.

Private builders ramped up spending on a wide variety of projects in March, including residential construction and factories. The government also spent more on big public works projects, including power plants.

In another report from the department, consumer spending rose 0.6 percent in March, an improvement from the 0.2 percent increase registered in February. Consumer spending plays a key role in shaping overall economic activity.

Incomes, the fuel for future spending, advanced by 0.8 percent in March. That was up from a 0.3 percent increase in February and marked the largest gain since September.

An old Alden

A basket of fallacies: false positioning, personal abuse, weasel words, impugning motives, unfounded generalization, and moving the goalpost.

All in just one article about raising babies.

We are outsourcing this edition of Fallacy of the Week, because someone else did a better job with this: Humbug.

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.

 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."

Quoted from a piece from Winds of Change, on how bias infects all of our thinking, and decision-making:

"So who's right - the decision-makers who claim objectivity or the citizens who roll their eyes? Research suggests that decision-makers don't realize just how easily and often their objectivity is compromised. The human brain knows many tricks that allow it to consider evidence, weigh facts and still reach precisely the conclusion it favors.... People realize that humans deceive themselves, of course, but they don't seem to realize that they too are human."

True - one reason that intellectual diversity is so critically important in public and public trust sectors like the academic social sciences, not to mention the media et. al. Claims that abstract 'professionalism' will trump these tendencies are simply not credible to common sense or human experience. One may realize that one's friend knows a lot about drugs given that she is a highly successful consultant who devises physician marketing programs, with Eli Lilly as her #1 client - but one would be wise to add a grain or two of salt to her explanations about, say, the safety of Prozac re: potential side-effects. Both experimental and anecdotal evidence suggest that this is justified, and wise.

Read his entire piece.

Steyn on Facing Down Iran. Every American - no, every human - should read this, if they have not already. One quote:

If we’d understood Iran back in 1979, we’d understand better the challenges we face today. Come to that, we might not even be facing them. But, with hindsight, what strikes you about the birth of the Islamic Republic is the near total lack of interest by analysts in that adjective: Islamic. Iran was only the second Islamist state, after Saudi Arabia—and, in selecting as their own qualifying adjective the family name, the House of Saud at least indicated a conventional sense of priorities, as the legions of Saudi princes whoring and gambling in the fleshpots of the West have demonstrated exhaustively. Hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue—though, as the Royal Family has belatedly discovered vis-à-vis the Islamists, they’re somewhat overdrawn on that front. The difference in Iran is simple: with the mullahs, there are no London escort agencies on retainer to supply blondes only. When they say “Islamic Republic,” they mean it. And refusing to take their words at face value has bedeviled Western strategists for three decades.

Read the whole thing, or remain ignorant.

I try to bring a soft heart but a hard-headed approach to things in general, but I am afraid the illegal immigration issue is beginning to harden my heart. Here is why:

1. It is not right for foreigners, in our country illegally, to demand things. They are in no position to demand anything. Every one of them is deportable at any time.

2. I am suspicious of the Left's apparent support of open borders. No nation has open borders. Is it a nihilistic impulse, or pandering, or both?

3. I object to the application of the concept of "rights" to illegal foreign nationals. This is not a civil rights issue, because we are not dealing with citizens. There are legal pathways to American citizenship, open to all, and more readily available than in any other nation. "Get in line," as they say.

4. If the illegals have so much to protest about, then why are they here? Why no protests about conditions in Mexico?

5. If we will have a de-facto open borders policy with Mexico, then why not with China, India, Russia, Poland, Iraq, etc.? Sneak in, and start making demands. These protests are what I consider "working the system."

6. I resent the Administration for bringing this issue up at all, now. Stupid. Enforce our borders, and let the people think about the issue for a while. We are too far from a consensus.

7. Just out of curiousity, are our Meican and Guatemalan and Phillipino illegals paying their taxes to their home nations, as they are required to do?

Linkzona has some more thoughts from Arizona.

We will try to do a Holy Week post daily. I remembered yesterday why Christ rode a donkey into Jerusalem for Passover. A horse meant war - a donkey meant humility. A quote from David Warren's Palm Sunday post:

...Which is not to present Christ as the gliberals paint him today -- as some kind of fatuous pacifist preaching tolerance and multiculturalism. He was the one who said, in the Gospel of Matthew, “I bring not peace but a sword,” and that he would “set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother.” In Luke: “Do you think I come to bring peace on earth? I tell you, no.”

Upon entering Jerusalem through St Stephen’s Gate, he turned left and into the Temple -- to do what? He pushed over the tables of the money changers, made a whip to scourge the sellers of sacrificial cattle and sheep, told the dove-sellers to (euphemism) “get out of here”.

This is the Christ that Western man has deleted from his collective memory. The Christ who was not, incidentally, making some effete protest against the commercialization of religion. Rather, the one who, as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, and Amos before him, was denouncing the cult of animal sacrifice -- the reduction of religion to cheap acts of propitiation; the violence done to God. And the remark he makes about the “den of robbers” is quoted from Jeremiah, who had stood at the same spot, making the same point, six centuries before.

I can think of a few others, but the main downside is that wives don't like men to take naps, according to the always-wise Joe at Evang. Outpost:

We men realize that we are completely screwed up, yet, for some inexplicable reason, we don't feel the need to change. Since we can rarely muster the audacity to openly show disdain for the Master Plan, we have to take a more passive-aggressive approach. By napping we can enter an unconscious state where we don't have to think about our feelings, ponder where this relationship is going, or answer questions about why the floor around the toilet is always sticky.

Very fine brief essay by Dinocrat. One quote:

In a way, people live their lives as though magic existed, as the blogger Shrinkwrapped has stated. Flick a switch, the lights go on; get a sinus infection, take a pill and it’s gone; push control-alt-delete, and Windows just might fix itself. There is magic in technology, no doubt about it. But historically the American people have been a can-do bunch, tinkering, and fixing and creating, and not that much given to Utopian fantasies. How much that it still true today is, in our opinion, an open question. Certainly, as Thomas Sowell alluded to, and the Rahmatullah-Yale incident highlights, our educational institutions have become debased. Furthermore, as we discussed in How Your iPod is ruining America, there is a critical need to connect the people of today with the world of 130 years ago in America so they can understand how we came so far so fast from where we were, and this education is not happening. The lack of such awareness and education can lead to alienation, as well as ignorance, and that is quite dangerous.

Read it all. Lots of good links in it.

The dramatic growth of Right to Carry (ie concealed weapons) since 1986 occurred beneath my radar. "Shall issue" means a carry license will be issued if you pass the background check. I am getting mine - not because I want to carry, but because I want to be able to if I want to. It's a freedom issue. Brits and Aussies: Eat your heart out.

A nice summary of the subject, with maps, at RWN. Here is the current state of the states:

President Bush's proposal to return California to Mexico, or possibly Spain, is being opposed by leading Dems. And Mexican President Fox had some comments on the issue.

"California is our bread and butter," noted the cheerfully rotund Kennedy, as he sat on two chairs and sipped on a triple scotch this morning at a popular college bar in Georgetown. "Give away California, and we drown. I didn't go to electoral college for nothing, and I can count...We won't let Bush pull a fish one  a fasht one  a flesh one a fash one on us. Hellooooo?"

Said the perky but menopausal Californian Pelosi: "Giving California away as a gift is a moving, culturally-sensitive offer, but I wouldn't have a job anymore, would I?" She added "My sound bite for California is 'Mexican, but not Mexico.' By the way, "Pelosi" is a Mexican-sounding name, isn't it? How about Peliso?"

The not-so-perky, post-menopausal Reid said "I love California. I went there once, to Disneyland. 1955, it was, I think. It was great, and Mickey gave me some career tips, too."

Mrs. William Clinton offered this written comment: "We must be caring. We must be strong. We must be clear. We love Mexicans. We love Jesus. Love thy neighbor. We have a border. Yet we do not really have a border. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge."

However, Mexican President Vincente Fox offered this statement, through a spokesperson "We will take California back with pleasure, but we must build a wall on the border to keep the Anglos in. Otherwise, California will turn into another dump like Mexico, with chickens and dead dogs on the roads, barefoot kids begging everywhere and selling their sisters and mothers, and burritos burros for transportation. California without your Anglos we do not want."

Image: Ted Kennedy heroically volunteering to personally plug a levee breach in New Orleans last fall.

From ABC News:

"We construct your schools. We cook your food," rapper Jorge Ruiz said after performing at a Dallas rally that drew 1,500. "We are the motor of this nation, but people don't see us. Blacks and whites, they had their revolution. They had their Martin Luther King. Now it is time for us."

From an excellent piece in The Daily Pundit:

The tactically astute -- and blindingly obvious -- approach for the Administration and Senate would have been to let their open borders/amnesty plan sleep until after the November elections, when there would be a better chance of getting concessions from the House. But these folks aren’t the Stupid Party for nothing...

Flag image from Whittier, California, posted in a long and comprehensive piece at Michelle.

A 16 and 19 year-old posted photos of themselves on MySpace, the popular kids' social site, and are arrested for child pornography.

Three questions:

1. Can you commit pornography on yourself?

2. Are 16 and 19 year-olds children?

3. And what about this guy? (quote from The Globe article)

"A police officer assigned to Lincoln High School, where the girl was a student, discovered the photographs while monitoring the Web site."

This is said better, about the sad plight of the French, than I could say it, from No Parason:

Socialism teaches its citizens that they have a plethora of rights and few corresponding obligations -- except to be taxed. And that is why the citizens of less socialist -- and more religious -- America give more charity per capita and per income than do citizens of socialist countries. That is why Americans volunteer time for the needy so much more than citizens of socialist countries do. That is why citizens of conservative states in America give more charity than citizens of liberal states do. The more Left one identifies oneself on the political spectrum, the more that person is likely to believe that the state, not fellow citizens, should take care of the poor and the needy.

Under socialism, one is not only liberated from having to take care of oneself; one is also liberated from having to take care of others. The state will take care of me and of everybody else.

Image of a typical French person from party theme site here.

ROSALIA Puerto Rico,
You lovely island . . .
Island of tropical breezes.
Always the pineapples growing,
Always the coffee blossoms blowing . . .

ANITA Puerto Rico . . .
You ugly island . . .
Island of tropic diseases.
Always the hurricanes blowing,
Always the population growing . . .
And the money owing,
And the babies crying,
And the bullets flying.
I like the island Manhattan.
Smoke on your pipe and put that in!

OTHERS I like to be in America!
O.K. by me in America!
Ev'rything free in America
For a small fee in America!

Entire lyrics here. Image: The Rio Grande.

It gives me a migraine to think about the illegal immigration issue, but I think I understand what is going on.

My view is simple. Our representatives make immigration laws that hopefully serve the nation and reflect the feelings of the people. People who break these laws are working the system. That is not the right way to begin a new life in a new land. And it especially saddens me when it can be so difficult for people who want to come here legally - it's a hassle, there are quotas, employers have to demonstrate a specific need, etc.

Without boundaries, a country isn't a nation - it's just a place. But no ordinary place: it's a place to which countless millions in the world would come, if all they had to do was wade across the Rio Grande to get here.

I know why the Dems are inclined to support illegals - they want their votes. And the Repubs not only want their votes - their business supporters want their cheap labor.

I believe the majority of Americans, on the other hand, want their borders and laws respected, and do not want to be flooded by a de-facto invasion on which they were never consulted. Thus the majority of citizens are at odds with both parties of professional politicians. Being a regular sort of guy, I expect most Americans have the view that I do: Hey, illegals - stay home and fix your own countries, and make them be like us.

Rick Moran has written a fine and calm piece on the subject.

Update:

In an email, Rick mentioned the "racism" charge which is often used against those who want our laws respected. Answer me this: If you were asked to vote in a poll for 13 million Brits, Poles, Irish, Yugoslavs or Russians to be shipped illegally and covertly to America, who would vote "Yes"? Damn few. I like Larry Kudlow, but he is wrong on this. Americans do not hate Hispanic people. Why would they?

A Slippery Slope fallacy is committed when there is no persuasive evidence or argument for things moving in the indicated direction.

That is bad writing, but blogging is hasty. Here's one example from Nizkor:

"We've got to stop them from banning pornography. Once they start banning one form of literature, they will never stop. Next thing you know, they will be burning all the books!"

or:

If we let Bush wiretap calls from Al Quaida, next thing you know he'll wiretap my calls to my secret grilfriend in Des Moines.

However, Slippery Slope arguments can be persuasive when there is reason to think that something will progress further:

"If you give that dog an inch, he'll take a mile."

When a slope is part of a political agenda, it is safe to assume that an issue may be in the process of being given a push down that slope, so it pays to be watchful. A strategery of "incrementalism" is often a clever political approach:

First we'll ban assault rifles, then handguns, then rifles, then shotguns, then, eventually, BB guns and finally squirt guns...and snowballs.

or

We'll focus on banning late-term abortions, which no-one likes, and move forward from there to making abortion a state issue again.

Like all of the logical fallacies we enjoy, Slippery Slope sometimes can be non-fallacious, which is from whence falllacies derive their power. Volokh recently posted an excellent example of the fallacy - with a good drawing.

OK. We have the apologist for the Taliban at Yale. And Abdul Rahman on trial for his life for converting to Christianity.

No wonder even some reasonable folks are growing weary of helping these people. What do they call Christians and Jews? "Sub-human feces-eating pigs." I do not disagree with Bush's aspirations, but I wonder if these stone-age people deserve it.

If Rahman is executed, there will be hell to pay. And hey, Lux et Veritas in New Haven - I'd prefer seeing these two guys in the opposite positions.

I wish I had written this piece by Sisu titled It doesn't require relgious faith to believe in something worth fighting for.

She addresses author Sam Harris' contention that religion concerns ideas which are "patently absurd and increasingly maladaptive." Harris appears to view religion as the prime source of evil in the world:

When we find reliable ways to make human beings more loving, less fearful, and genuinely enraptured by the fact of our appearance in the cosmos, we will have no need for divisive religious myths.

A three-times daily dose of pot, LSD, crystal meth, and heroin ought to work fine - or Soma: That quote sounds more than a little Brave New Worldish for me; as Sisu notes: "find reliable ways to make human beings more loving," "Make them...?"  We who?"

Right. I suspect he means more docile towards his view. What if it pleases me to be difficult and controlling and arrogant and cantakerous and opinionated....like Harris? Read her piece.

Print: Battle of Bunker Hill, 1775:

Real Irishmen like to have a pint at the pub on the way to work. Every day, not just on the Feast of St. Patrick, which is not a big event in Ireland. To make it breakfast, the barman stirs in one or two raw eggs. Then a fellow is ready for work.

But that is just breakfast. Here is the Irish version of haute cuisine. You cannot have too much mustard to go with it, and the meat has to be falling apart.

St. Patrick, himself, was a 5th Century missionary to Ireland. His career is well-addressed in Thomas Cahill's excellent and Maggie's-recommended How the Irish Saved Civilization. As wonderful as that book is, we found Cahill's Desire of the Everlasting Hills to be a Christian eye-opener, in the finest sense, and a book not-to-be-missed.

Via Anchoress  ("85 Years ago, Chesterton Nailed the Boomers") via Driscoll, from G.K. Chesterton, (who should have had a blog):

“A generation is now growing old, which never had anything to say for itself except that it was young. It was the first progressive generation - the first generation that believed in progress and nothing else…. [They believed] simply that the new thing is always better than the old thing; that the young man is always right and the old wrong. And now that they are old men themselves, they have naturally nothing whatever to say or do. Their only business in life was to be the rising generation knocking at the door. Now that they have got into the house, and have been accorded the seat of honour by the hearth, they have completely forgotten why they wanted to come in. The aged younger generation never knew why it knocked at the door; and the truth is that it only knocked at the door because it was shut. It had nothing to say; it had no message; it had no convictions to impart to anybody…. The old generation of rebels was purely negative in its rebellion, and cannot give the new generation of rebels anything positive against which it should not rebel. It is not that the old man cannot convince young people that he is right; it is that he cannot even convince them that he is convinced. And he is not convinced; for he never had any conviction except that he was young, and that is not a conviction that strengthens with years.”