Wednesday, May 25. 2005
A Call for Information from the Blog-World We would like to collect information on the political activities and political agendas of innocent-appearing non-profit organizations. Our post today on the UCC was not our first on this topic, but the millions of blog-readers out there can collect the info better than we can. For example, we have been told by a reader that the National YWCA has a mission statement to "defeat rascism and sexism by all means necessary." We are all against racism and sexism, but what does that mean, is it true, and what do they do about it? This kind of stuff isn't on the organizational websites - you have to know it from the inside. We suspect that most people are not aware of what the national HQs of many non-profits are doing with their share of dues in Washington and in New York. Let's try to find out. Email us with hard data. Thanks.
Class Warfare Gwynnie recalls that since the major Republican wins in November a number of Liberal politicians have expressed disappointment in their constituents not voting in accordance with the priorities attributed to their perceived “class” by liberal theoreticians. Indeed, blue collar employees are expressing resentment at being described as “working class” by ivory-tower liberals. Class warfare, an invention of Karl Marx, has just about disappeared in the United States, and with it, the block which the Democrat Party is accustomed to assembling, leading, instructing and patronizing. This week, Gwynnie, while using the New York Times for her normal doggie purposes, noticed the three-part series on Class differences and is highly entertained. The articles were entitled: - Class in America: Shadowy Lines That Still Divide
- Up From the Holler: Living in Two Worlds, at Home in Neither
- When Richer Weds Poorer, Money Isn't the Only Difference - Marriage between people of different classes often means moving outside comfort zones
The Times’ message was that class is really important, even if Americans don’t think so. To prove its theory, The Times took a poll: “To discover how Americans regard social class and where they place themselves, The Times conducted a nationwide survey in March. The poll uncovered optimism about a financial future, opportunities and the reward of hard work. While there are differences in the views of rich and poor and some respondents have a sense of tension and inequality, there remains strong faith in the American Dream, however defined. ” [emphasis added] Gwynnie was curious about the concluding spin concerning “some respondents” so she looked at the data. As usual, the quote was negative spin very much in line with The Times’ usual editorial tactics. [Although Mr. Bush was elected, some people (reporters?) think he should have lost in Ohio. Although there are no more public hangings of women in the soccer stadium in Kabul, some Afghanis {Talibani?) find the occupation repressive.] Here are their data: - Is it possible to start out poor, work hard and become rich? 80% said Yes, 19% said no, vs. 57% yes and 38% no in 1983. [The number of respondents having “a sense of tension and inequality” is not revealed]
- Current class vs. when growing up: 45% said higher, 16% said lower
- Likelihood of upward movement vs. 30 years ago: 40% said easier, 23% said harder
- Upward mobility vs. in the EU: 46% said easier, 13% said harder.
“Where,” says Gwynnie, “are the ‘shadowy lines’? Although The Times is trying hard to make class important and thus reopen class resentment (and benefit old-line Democrat tactics), their data disclose just the opposite. The Times says, “The movement of families up and down the economic ladder is the promise that lies at the heart of the American dream. But it does not seem to be happening quite as often as it used to.” Gwynnie suggests that maybe that’s because so many are now in the middle, but not “happening quite as often as it used to” could refer to 1946, 1935, 1920 or even 1815. Here are The Times’ statistics for the period 1988-1998: MOVED STAYED MOVED
UP SAME DOWNTop 20% 52.5% 47.5%Upper middle 55.6% 30.0% 45.0%Middle 37.5% 27.5% 35.0%Lower middle 40.0% 37.5% 22.5%Bottom 20% 47.5% 52.5%
Note the following: - The same percentage moved up from the bottom as moved down from the top.
- For the middle 3 categories, more moved up than down
- An average of 40% stayed in place
If this is not mobility, what is? It is hard to wage class warfare if 60% of us will be in another “class” in 10 years! View from 1776 has a companion piece.
The Obesity Scam - who is behind this hysteria? There is NO obesity health crisis. Pure BS and pure pseudo-science, yet another big fat arena for the trial lawyers. Fat ain't very appealing, it's fatiguing, it makes you look like an out-of-control person, it's a turn-off, and it damages your hips and knees, but being fat doesn't damage your health all that much, especially when balanced with the joys of good food. Get fat if you want! It's a free country! All it is, is gross and it won't help your sports. Disclaimer: Yes, I do own shares of McDonalds, but I can't eat that crap myself. If you can't do the time, don't do the crime. And I hate the way they tie you down and force that Big Mac down my throat. Barf City. Global Warming - Antarctica ice cap is growing?!?!?http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050516/full/050516-10.html You call this a church? Photos and details of Oakland's new Christ The Light Cathedral, at Curt Jester. Amazing architecture. It would not go over in New England. The New Mai Lai. You can do 999 things right, and some jerk can do one stupid thing, and as far as the Left goes, you are now the Devil. Unless you're a Dem or a Lefty, in which case it is overlooked. I hear there are wives who think like that. Abu Graib is the current "one dumb" (trivial, tho illegal) thing. But Larry Summers is now being led around on a dog leash with a choke collar by rabid maiden schoolmarms in Cambridge, and no-one complains. Is it because he's not a Moslem? Where is Seymour Hirsch? On Abu Graib, there's even a new book out, and articles like this one. What I hate about this stuff is how delighted the hate-American-first crowd is when we screw up, and how depressed they get when things go well.
Tuesday, May 24. 2005
Judiciary Filibusters The Repubs have the votes, the power, the ideas, and the future - but they can't govern worth a damn.
Isikoff: It is a "blip" Innocent lives, far away, may be a "blip" to Isikoff - or is the main concern about the life of the magazine?
OPINION IN BRIEF
"It would be devastating to the egos of the intelligentsia to realize, much less admit, that businesses have done more to reduce poverty than all the intellectuals put together. Ultimately it is only wealth that can reduce poverty and most of the intelligentsia have no interest whatever in finding out what actions and policies increase the national wealth. They certainly don't feel any 'obligation' to learn economics, out of a sense of 'social responsibility,' much less because of any 'social contract' requiring them to know what they are talking about before spouting off with self-righteous rhetoric." --Thomas Sowell RE: THE LEFT
"How come it never occurs to liberals or Democrats that the very terms in which they phrase the question are part of their problem? These, after all, are people who are obsessed with politically correct terminology, from 'African-American' to 'fetus.' Yet somehow it never dawns on them that 'working class' is an insult. Think about it: Would you call a janitor, a secretary or a carpenter 'working class' to his face? The term connotes putting someone in his place: Your lot in life is to work. Thinking is for the higher classes. The questions the Democrats ask about the 'working class' reflect precisely this contempt: What's the matter with these people? Why don't they understand that we know what's good for them? Why do they worry about silly things like abortion and homosexuality? If they must believe in all that religious mumbo-jumbo, can't they keep it to themselves? Every time the Democrats lose an election, they make a big show of asking questions like these. Then, the next time they lose an election, they once again wonder why the 'working class' has forsaken them. Maybe it's as simple as: because they were listening." --James Taranto
Dance, White Guy, Dance - Video - thanks, AnkleBitingPundit.
The Death of the Environmental Movement announced by environmentalists. In Bidinotto Blog. Does the Int. Red Cross Hate the US? In WJS The End of the Repub Revolution? It does look like it. It's tough to get much done in DC. In Intellectual Conservative. Revenge of the Sith. Fine review of the series, with great attention to detail, by Captains Quarters; another appreciative one by Shape of Days. Language and the Left. Zide suggests changing the language of the Left, to make it more innocuous. No - dont consider changing the ideas which have been unchanged since 1930. Watch for new keywords to appear.
Monday, May 23. 2005
Sex Ed in Olde Massachusetts From Right Thinking, in his usual direct, refined style: As much as I often disagree with the social conservative movement, if the facts here are as they state them, this is one of the most offensive things I’ve ever seen. Not so much because of the content, but because someone thought that this was appropriate material to distribute at a high school. These same people, of course, would go apeshit if anyone dared to mention God or Jesus in a class, but see nothing wrong with explain to teenagers how to piss on each other, and give a list of clubs where they can go for sex. This should be national news. Can you imagine the outcry from the New York Times if a teacher had given out anti-gay material in a class? This is just despicable. Sex education is one thing. This doesn’t just cross a line, it demolishes it. Will you ever find this story, if accurate, in the MSM? No, because the Left loves this stuff. You figure out why. Read the piece.
Yale Finally Boots God from Campus. View from 1776 has the story. Hey Yale, that's, like, really progressive, like, advanced, Dudes. Forget the past - Yale is really hip and cool now. Like finally catching up with Cuba. Like wow, man. I want to go to Yale - its Very Groovy. Can you dig it?
I suggest that the Chapel be converted to the Sex Ed Center. Let's fill those pews!
At the same time, we see religion returning to Brown, of all places - in NYT. Alabama Christian Coalition - Did they use gambling $ to defeat gambling initiatives? It's only fair - everyone has to reveal their sources of $. If true, shameful and embarassing. Everyone is a hypocrite but, jeez. James Watt was one of the favorite "demons" of the Reagan administration, but what Bill Moyers has done to him in his retirement is beyond shameful. When will that Moyers Generation retire? They are lost in the past. Powerline has the truth, as usual.
Saturday, May 21. 2005
Boston Radio station WRKO replaces a Newsweek program with a Pundit Review program. Via New England Repub. Dean falling flat as Dem spokesman? Party seems to be distancing themselves from the Vermont self-impressed hothead. Pardon me, Vermont. He was raised on Park Avenue and in the Hamptons. In Captains Quarters. Linda Foley is in hiding? KnoxNews has the story. As Bird Dog says, public figures have to watch what they say - it can go around the world in hours. VDH new piece - "Our Two Front Struggle." Just read it. It's tough to summarize.
Friday, May 20. 2005
Want another Pepsi? Powerline's update here. Curt Jester highlights a new Pepsi product. - for the Michael Moore Generation - thanks, Michelle. And Hugh Hewitt is staying on the story. I admit to feeling badly for Nooyi for writing a speech that she probably thought was cute and hip, but was stupid at the least. Pepsico is doubtless crossing their Frito-stained fingers and praying that this just goes away in the next news cycle. The power that blogs have acquired is mind-boggling. Public figures will take note - if you say it, be ready to defend it - if it's stupid, wrong, or propaganda, it could get noticed.
The End of Innocence The battle over the judiciary, after all of these years, represents the willingness of the Repubs to quit being loveable, and begin taking the reins. About time. Right or wrong, someone has to govern, and that means leading with authority and confidence as the other guys did for 40 years.
Oh, Canada Steyn has the story. It is about how corruption works well in politics - plus scaring the poor darn voters - plus voter apathy. A spineless country, addicted to dependency and weakness. What happened to their spirit, dignity, and self-respect? The entire country is becoming a comical Molson advertisement, eh?
Ann Coulter reviews Michael Isikoff's record of getting his reportage into print, and the results are distressingly predictable: When ace reporter Michael Isikoff had the scoop of the decade, a thoroughly sourced story about the president of the United States having an affair with an intern and then pressuring her to lie about it under oath, Newsweek decided not to run the story. Matt Drudge scooped Newsweek, followed by The Washington Post. Read the rest of her examples, and you'll get the picture.
"Remove Christians from society"? Perhaps the ACLU might wish to reconsider their wording? Honestly, this is Nazi-sounding language, regardless of the merits of the case. Story from Right Thinking here. One thing Canada and the US have in common: A desperate, hysterical, berserko, lying and dying Left. From Belmont Club: What characterizes much of the Left today as exemplified by behavior from George Galloway to Paul Martin is the increasing necessity to maintain their position By Any Means Necessary. While that is dangerous and infuriating, it is a reliable indicator that they have lost control of the system. Things just aren't working the way they used to. And that, despite everything, is cause for hope. Dying but, alas, not quite dead. Sorry, Canada. You got what you wanted yesterday. Star Wars is Anti-Bush Propaganda? Lucas says yes, sort-of. Gimme a break.
Thursday, May 19. 2005
Four US Nationals Reported Jailed in Guadalajara Four American citizens were arrested by Mexican military officials yesterday after being caught crossing the border into Mexico in a remote rural area. According to military officials, the four surrendered to an armed Mexican border patrol force without resistance, and are now in the custody of Guadalajara police. According to the brief military report, the four white males claimed that they were from Minnesota, and were seeking to relocate to Mexico for "fun and sun and work" in Tijuana. They did not have American passports or Mexican work permits. Entering Mexico without proper documentation, and bypassing offical entry zones, is illegal and punishable by incarceration. It is government policy to provide strict enforcement of the national borders to prevent illegal immigration into Mexico. The four have not been permitted to communicate with the press or with attorneys. There has been no date assigned for any hearing regarding their status at this time, and the police have thus far refused to release their names or to comment on their condition. The accuracy of this report has been confimed by neither the Newsweek staff nor by Al Jazeera News Service.
Rush is Back! It has been quite a while since I listened to Rush for more than a few minutes, but while doing errands at lunchtime today I happened to spend some time with him. He is back to his inspired, wickedly hilarious self. I wondered whether it is because he has gotten past his many problems, but I suspect it is because the Left has been providing so much great material. Anyway, if you haven't heard him lately, and thought he was getting repetitive, give the big guy another chance. Highly entertaining and smart as a whip. The guy is an on-the-air blog...or are blogs off-the-air, would-be broadcasters? Hmmmm.
 Pepsi Gives the US The Finger: The Final Episode
What an embarassing episode. The speech sounds remarkably naive, oblivious to the sophistication and IQ of the audience, unintelligent, condescending, anti-American in its undertones, sophomorically full of mixed metaphors that don't add up, and plain painful to read, much less to have heard. I entirely agree with Scott in that assesment. She needs a speechwriter - fast. PepsiCo can afford it with their profits from the trash they peddle around the world. Powerline is all over the story, in a balanced way, and has posted the text. One can only feel badly for Nooryi - she isn't quite ready for prime time, and no doubt she has learned this by today. If it were a guy, you would throw tomatoes, or at least nicely give her the old hook and yank her offstage for her own good. But who is ready for prime time, except for Krauthammer? Just one question - How does Great Scott at Powerline find time for all of this? And forget boycotting PepsiCo in indignation - who eats or drinks their junk anyway? I will promise one thing: If the MSM covers the story, I will eat a (small) bag of Fritos.
Rather is gone. Uzbekistan next domino to fall? In Jane's Space weapons "may be opposed by our allies." As in who? In NYT. Mexico protests US not issuing drivers' licenses to illegals. And Fox apologizes for offending American blacks. (See Foxes and Aliens, below) From New York, Hillary looks like a winner. In The Week. Auster from 1992 on the Forbidden Topic. Click here: Still "the forbidden topic" after all these years ( the effects of large-scale immigration on a culture) Whose side is the press on? Good one in New Criterion - plus Kipling too.
Wednesday, May 18. 2005
Bare Naked. Travelwire: The agency in charge of the nation's air security expects later this year to begin using a controversial X-ray machine that will show airport screeners a clear picture of what's under passengers' clothes — whether weapons or just bare skin.Screeners plan to test the "backscatter" machines at several U.S. airports, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) says. The refrigerator-sized machines are considered a breakthrough in scanning technology but have been labeled "a virtual strip search" by the American Civil Liberties Union. http://www.travelwirenews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000038/003873-p.htm Seattle High School Blocks Army Recruiters. What is it with these people? From CSM: "They're spending $4 billion a month in Iraq, but we have to cut our race relations class, which costs $12,500," Ms. Hagopian pointed out. "That's an important class for our kids." Cannes. From My Way News: The dark underside of the United States has taken center stage in several films at Cannes this year, capped on Monday with a scathing attack of past and present racism in America by Danish director Lars von Trier. The State of Marriage around the World. Perry Anderson in The Nation: What, then, of marriage? Here, certainly, contrasts remain greatest. In speaking of "the core of romantic freedom and commitment in the modern European (and New World) family system," Therborn implies this remains specific to the West. But while the caste system or Sharia law plainly preclude extempore love, does it show no signs of spreading, as ideal or realization, in the big cities of East Asia or Latin America? The imagination of urban Japan, he shows, is already half-seized with it. Not, of course, that the decline of marriage in Western Europe, with the advent of mass cohabitation, has so far been replicated anywhere else. But here a different sort of question might be asked. Is it really the case that the negative rates of reproduction that have accompanied this pattern are as unwished-for as Therborn suggests? He relies on the discrepancy between surveys in which women explain how many children they expect and those they actually have. But this could just mean that in practice their desire for children proved weaker than for a well-paid job, a satisfying career or more than one lover at a time. Voters in the West regularly say they want better schools and healthcare, and in principle expect to pay for them, and commentators on the left often pin high hopes on such declarations. But once such citizens get to the polling booth they tend to stick to lower taxes. The same kind of self-deception could apply to children. If so, it would be difficult to say European marriage was in such good shape, since there would be no stopping place in sight for its plunge of society into an actuarial abyss.
The 1.2 Billion Dollar UN Makeover For that kind of money, surely we could built a nice lodge with hot showers for the UN, somewhere in Saskachewan or maybe Manitoba? Or, second best, have Trump do the job for half the money in half the time. The UN is a mockery of itself.
What do the jihadists want? LGF has the answer: Islam will rule the world and wipe out the Jews - from the horse's mouth. Did Pepsi Give America the Finger? Powerline has it. Good eyes. Barlett at RCP caught the similarity in the pieces in the NYT and the WSJ, both on the same upcoming Dem talking point. WSJ a shill for the Dems? Or innocent victim of press releases? Summers is a Weenie. Larry Summers submits to castration by deranged band of schoolmarms. Now being led around on a dog leash by leather-clad dominatrices. Michelle has the story. Bad News for Unions and the Dems, from American Thinker: Harold Ickes is right. The situation is very, very serious. The Democrats are losing an important source of strength, and there is nothing on the horizon to replace it.
Read entire. Dems and Christianity, from New England Republican: There is a reason why Democrats are called anti-Christian - because they are. AND now they're resorting to McCarthyism to keep the Courts in their bloody hands. For anyone who hasn't noticed -there is a culture war going on and liberals are taking no prisoners. Do Republicans have what it takes to prevent liberals from the Borking that took place in the Reagan/Bush years? I have my doubts....
Read entire.
Tuesday, May 17. 2005
Angry 
primitives
with no understanding of a free press,
with no sensitive multiculturalism, who are freedom-hating and who view non-Moslems as animals. The photo (from Right Thinking) tells it all. And why can't Newsweek spell Koran? I mean Quran? I mean....
Hey, lighten up, you Islamofascists - you should see how Christianity is sometimes treated in the USA. Not that you would care. Are these people for real? This nasty, butt-ugly, wife-beater-looking, semi-tough dude needs a makeover, a new suit, a little dental work, an attitude adjustment, and a sales job for IBM. Or maybe Pepsi might feel more congenial? (I'm sure the photo is a joke - what's with the red beard? Plus who in the ME can spell "apologise"? And, for that matter, who in the US can spell it?)
"Newsweek lied; People died." Michele Malkin is on top of this story at least as effectively as many other excellent bloggers. Like the Rather story, and the Eason Jordan story, this is a perfect blog story because it exposes the MSM once again - exposes its arrogance, its political agenda, its greedy and power-hungry self. That's why we need blogs. 8 million of them. Someone needs to get the news out.
"Very Unfortunate." Indeed, Condi. Fine summary of Toiletgate at Austin Bay. Iowahawk does the NYT. The diseases of the Chavez revolution. Dr. Bob on the "theocracy" propaganda. An excellent piece. A sample: I’m an optimist by nature–but optimism is the opiate of fools, they say, and this time I think they’re right. The danger lies in the use of anti-religious fervor for political advantage. Like the blacksmith’s bellows, the left is superheating the political dialog by feeding oxygen to baser instincts. As high heat changes the structure of metal, this rhetorical inferno against the religious right will harden those so disposed to create an indelible association between faith, intolerance and hatred. Fanning religious hatred for political gain is a dangerous game; just ask the Jews. Read entire. Paul sounds a similar theme on Powerline.
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