ishkabible

Dr. Hans-Peter Raddatz

If you were a molecule type of "personality" who has only one alternative of existence, namely being stripped of any individual ego and merged with the mass of the "umma", the community of Allah, you might also be tempted to look for some dynamite - or rather C4 - in order to focus your unimportant life into one single, supposedly grandiose moment. ... Some of the Palestinian suicide bombers wrap their penises into fire-proof aluminum foil to save them for the pleasures to come. ... Islam appears as a comprehensive spectrum that contains and encourages all sorts of behaviour but clearly favours deceit and violence as far as the achievement of goals is concerned, especially in "competition" with non-Islam. ... There should be consent not only on the spectral character of the Islamic culture but also the corresponding special kind of freedom it creates. As the Koran and tradition offer a wide variety of measures between peace and war, Muslim power has always preferred the violent side and, therefore, has brought about a historically grown phenomenon which I call "counter-ethics". This means to say that the special Muslim freedom created a similarly special inclination to violence wherever an opportunity arises to gain an advantage - inside and outside of Islam.

We should note here some very important examples I have mentioned partially in a previous round. They confirm the power of man and a rather free interpretation of what is referred to as "religion" but is merely naked and mostly quite primitive power politics. Firstly, Jews and Christians have been historically extinguished although there are Koranic regulations to the opposite. Secondly, women have been historically humiliated, beaten, raped and killed although there are Koranic rules and many traditions to the opposite. Thirdly, dissenters and apostates are badly beaten and often killed although there are clear rules saying that their punisment should be postponed into the beyond.

So we should not be very astonished if we are repeatedly confronted with "honor" murderers, suicide bombers and other Islamic geared perpetrators as long as our "elites" tell us that "Islam is not the problem".

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August 26, 2005

Mick Jagger jailed without trial!

The People's Cube reports that "In an unabashed show of Neocon power, the Bush administration dragged the legendary Rolling Stones' lead singer Mick Jagger off the stage and threw him in prison without trial." Ai yi yi yi yi ... it's starting ...

Posted at 09:29 PM   ·  Comments (0)   ·  TrackBack (0)   ·  Categories: Crime

"Symposium: Through the Eyes of a Suicide Bomber" - Nancy Kobrin

These Nancy Kobrin quotes are extracted from an article that appeared in Front Page, "Symposium: Through the Eyes of a Suicide Bomber," by Jamie Glazov, FrontPageMagazine.com, August 12, 2005

Dr. Nancy Kobrin, an affiliated professor to the University of Haifa, Arabist, psychoanalyst and author of the upcoming book, "The Sheikh's New Clothes: Islamic Suicide Terror and What It's Really All About."

Dr. Nancy Kobrin

Dr. Dalrymple has succinctly described the crux of the problem – that the other is always already guilty and hence expendable. Similarly Dr. Raddatz is correct in fore grounding the Ummah. Just as the child in Arab Muslim culture is not permitted to separate from the Umm [Ar. mother], this enmeshment gets repeated and reinforced by the Ummah as a singularly fused group.
...
If you are denied a life and live in a community where power [meaning absolute control of the other] is the rule of thumb and it is enforced brutally through honor killings, child beating, sexual abuse, beheadings etc., fear and terror are pervasive. The need to hate and the need to have an enemy are in place by age 3 – and the Jew is among the most hated of all. I will return to this in a moment. It is precisely because of the terror that few factor in the ramifications of shame-based child rearing practices because the implications are enormous and the ability to do effective interventions are highly compromised.
...
There are many adults who may appear to be high functioning but the splitting is there below the surface in their minds and they still struggle to be "free" from their terrors of abandonment and rejection, feeling humiliated and shamed by this impotent inability. So that when the terrorists and the Ummah scream in a deafening voice "we have been shamed and humiliated!" it might be worth the while to ask – how did they themselves participate in creating a collective self which is so easily shamed by others? If a person has a realistic sense of self, it is hard to buy into being shamed as an adult. There is the Arabic saying: "He hits me and cries, and races me to complain."
...
But in the mind’s eye of the Muslim, Judaism and Christianity and their believers are subjugated to Islam as Dhimma. The root of the word means to blame so that the Prophet Muhammad built into the religion an institutionalized ideology where you can always blame the other and never have to assume responsibility for your own community’s predicament.
...
You know, Musa (Moses) is the most frequently mentioned prophet in the Qur’an. Why? Because of the giving of the law at Sinai Moses makes divine will manifest in human discourse in the Torah. However, to be a believer requires a leap of faith. The Christians had to appropriate the giving of the law and then added to it with the New Testament. The Prophet Muhammad was faced with a much more difficult task since he had to juggle two preceding religious identities. Muhammad initially borrowed extensively from the Jews who at that time lived in what is now Judenrein Saudi Arabia. He borrowed with the hopes that the Jews would convert. When that didn’t happen, he became enraged and more deeply engaged in Jihad and Da’wa [the call to convert].
...
Jihad is unique to Islam – Judaism and Christianity have nothing remotely similar. People routinely fail to remember that the Muslims invaded Spain fi sabil Allah – [fighting] in the path of Allah in 711 AD. They came on Jihad. The Crusades were a response to massacre, forced conversions to Islam, Muslim invasion, conquest and the animosity for the Prophet co-opting the New Testament by the Quran. So the Islamic terrorists attempt to resolve their religious identity confusion by brute force, using suicide bombers as a tactical tool with this psychological undercurrent. By the way, the Sira (the biography of Muhammad) records that the prophet attempted suicide twice; though this has rarely been pointed out as a modeling moment for Muslim identity.
...
"Ego-extinction" (Arabic: tadjarrud) is an official, high-ranking mental exercise to get rid of individual temptations. Among the "normal" Muslims you will find very few who allow themselves an independent, outspoken opinion outside the official Islam mainstream. Whoever has lived for a longer period of time in Islamic countries - like myself - very probably has experienced that there is a lot of distrust and tactical behaviour within the closest family relations. He or she who violates the rules or just makes simply a wrong decision, does bring shame over the family, over the tribe and - ultimately - Islam.
...
Thus, we should not be too astonished at the Western process - at least in some major European countries like England, Germany and France - of a distinct approach and assimilation to Islamic rules and regulations. It is accompanied by long-term aspects which are clearly meta-historical and out of direct political reach, namely a growing hostility against women, combined with an equally growing "understanding" for homosexual and paedophiliac interests, as well as renewed anti-Semitism. The latter is not restricted to Muslims but being emancipated again in Europe nowadays. It is an old phenomenon as the repeated attempt to "overcome" traditional society patterns, particularly connected to the Jews as "inventors" of the first law as such in the development of mankind.
...
As for Muhammad’s biography (sira), the scholars are not very certain about the double suicide thing, as they are very shy about him altogether. We are faced with another psychological question here waiting for discussion and clarification. It has a lot to do with Muhammed’s wildly changing mental states and obviously deeply rooted, rather psychotic situations, reported by his companions. As the Koran waits for a historical analysis, Muhammad waits to be laid on the couch.
...
Those hijackers of 9/11 and the suicide bombers who were well educated and came from middle to upper middle class families had their own sense of emotional deprivation, rejection and abandonment which went undetected and which was accompanied by profound rage leading to violence and cold blooded murder.
...
It should not be forgotten too, that the Prophet Muhammad died with his head in the lap of his “favorite” wife Aisha whose name happens to mean ‘life’. Furthermore, he was buried in her room where she continued to live, earning her keep from the alms she received from pilgrims who visited the site. Think: Womb to Tomb. The image venerates a permanent fusion signaling that the ideal is never to separate.

And by the way, what’s with this ‘favorite wife’ business? Polygamy is nothing more than a clever way to pit one wife against the other and never have to deal with male rage. Plus if you don’t like what your wife says, you can merely blow her off and go on to the next so that you never have to learn how to resolve conflict. That would make learning how to negotiate a peace quite difficult – don’t you think? That’s why, if we are going to discuss “the military occupation,” it needs to be understood in light of Islamic history and its ideologies rather than taking it at face value. The ideology of submission, i.e. Islam, would make it very difficult for male Muslims to tolerate any other position than conqueror but certainly not that of the conquered.

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August 25, 2005

"Atlantic Owner Scours Country For Cinder-Editor"

Tom Scocca has an article in The New York Observer about David Bradley's search for a new editorial team for The Atlantic ... August 29, 2005 ... he is moving the magazine's base from Boston to Washington ... we like his focus on The Wall Street Journal and The Economist ... which were held up as examples of the kind of writing we wanted to emulate at West's Legal News ... witty yet respectful, insightful, accurate ... my guess is Washingtonian will be an unintentional casualty if Bradley really wants to compete with New York magazine ...

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August 24, 2005

Google Talk

downloadsquad has a Google Talk Review ... "Basic IM capabilities, high-quality and easy to use VoIP, complete integration with Gmai" ... "Google tells us that SIP support is coming soon and are in talks with Skype, AOL, and Yahoo! concerning interoperability. Another big feature they're working on is 'joint search,' which would allow two or more Google Talk buddies using Google and surfing the web together." ... sounds interesting ... but we wonder about security ...

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If I Had My Life to Live Over, by Erma Bombeck

"If I Had My Life to Live Over," by Erma Bombeck

I would have talked less and listened more. I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television - and more while watching life.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner."

There would have been more "I love yous".. more "I'm sorrys"... but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute...look at it and really see it... live it...and never give it back.

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August 23, 2005

web sites from Rob Cockerham

Rob Cockerham has some very funny web pages

• How much is inside? My favorites:
  • "Sharpie"
  • "An Acre"
  • "Dust Off"
• Pranks - I like
  • "Starbucks Chairs"
  • "High-Profile Sculpture Replacement"
  • "Chad, the Cross-Country Googler Prank"
  • "Java City Lid Instructions"

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"Symposium: Through the Eyes of a Suicide Bomber" - Theodore Dalrymple

These Theodore Dalrymple quotes are extracted from an article that appeared in Front Page, "Symposium: Through the Eyes of a Suicide Bomber," by Jamie Glazov, FrontPageMagazine.com, August 12, 2005.

Dr. Theodore Dalrymple, a prison psychiatrist who has had much experience with treating Muslim patients in Britain and who has witnessed the "collision of cultures." He is the author of his new collection of essays, "Our Culture, What's Left of It. The Mandarins and the Masses."

Dr. Theodore Dalrymple

I agree that poverty and humiliation are not sufficient explanations of the phenomenon. These are things which are almost part of universal human experience.

I think the problem is a combustible mixture of elements.

The first is the belief that Muslims are in possession of the final revealed truth, and that they have a testament and a tradition of sayings of the Prophet that in essence answer all human questions, and by the light of which all such questions ought not only to be answered but are answerable. While no doubt there are Christians who feel more or less the same about their favoured scriptures, they now have to live in a world of competing ideas.
...
While in possession of transcendental religious and philosophical truth, however, it has not escaped notice that the Muslim world has fallen behind the rest of the world. Japan, China, India are fast catching up or overtaking the West: they have been able to meet the Western challenge. No Muslim country has managed more than a kind of parasitic prosperity, dependent on oil ....
...
The fact that Islamic civilisation was once exquisite, and in advance of most others, is in this context a disadvantage. It means that Muslims tend to think in terms of recovery of glory, rather than anything new.
...
In summary, we have:
* Metaphysical superiority.
* Technical and intellectual retardation.
* Self-hatred caused by the impurity of their own desires.
* No practical means of escape from genuine quotidian humiliations.
* The promise of rewards, for their families on earth and for themselves in the other world.
...
The suicide bomber is of above average intelligence.
...
The person who becomes a bomber often has a special, personal sense of grievance.
...
The point is:
i) that the Islamic terrorists, at least of the London bomber kind, have no specific demands to make
ii) they are clearly trying to resolve some conflict within themselves.

I think they are trying to prove to themselves that the west offers them no temptations, that they are actually more Islamic than the Prophet, though at the same time a still small voice tells them that this is not so. Death is a solution, it squares a circle.
...
Perhaps people will begin to see that some values are simply not compatible with others, and will now be prepared to stand up for those that we believe in. Certainly I hope people will start to examine the abominable abuse of women that, if not universal, is very widespread in the Moslem population, and that is a large part - I believe - of the attraction of Islam to increasingly and essentially secularised men.
...
In Britain, if we had the courage to defend Moslem women, I think Islam would lose a lot of it residual attraction. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister's wife went into court shortly before the last election to defend a Moslem schoolgirl's right to wear 'traditional' costume - not traditional in Luton, by the way - I suspect to obtain the Moslem vote for her husband, and probably knowing, and certainly with the duty to know, the often abominable social meaning of this costume.

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August 22, 2005

13-year-olds can get abortions without parental consent but 18-year-olds are still "children" if they want to join the military ...

Ay caramba! Mark Steyn writes:

They're not children in Iraq; they're grown-ups who made their own decision to join the military. That seems to be difficult for the left to grasp. Ever since America's all-adult, all-volunteer army went into Iraq, the anti-war crowd have made a sustained effort to characterize them as "children." If a 13-year-old wants to have an abortion, that's her decision and her parents shouldn't get a look-in. If a 21-year-old wants to drop to the broadloom in Bill Clinton's Oval Office, she's a grown woman and free to do what she wants. But, if a 22- or 25- or 37-year-old is serving his country overseas, he's a wee "child" who isn't really old enough to know what he's doing.

I get many e-mails from soldiers in Iraq, and they sound a lot more grown-up than most Ivy League professors and certainly than Maureen Dowd, who writes like she's auditioning for a minor supporting role in ''Sex And The City.''

The infantilization of the military promoted by the left is deeply insulting to America's warriors but it suits the anti-war crowd's purposes. It enables them to drone ceaselessly that "of course" they "support our troops," because they want to stop these poor confused moppets from being exploited by the Bush war machine.

"'Peace Mom's' marriage a metaphor for Dems," by Mark Steyn, Chicago Sun-Times, August 21, 2005

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August 21, 2005

"Symposium: Through the Eyes of a Suicide Bomber" - Jessica Stern

These Jessica Stern quotes are extracted from an article that appeared in Front Page, "Symposium: Through the Eyes of a Suicide Bomber," by Jamie Glazov, FrontPageMagazine.com, August 12, 2005.

Jessica Stern, an expert on terrorism, a lecturer on the subject at Harvard, and the author of "Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill."

Jessica Stern

From talking to terrorists and those who monitor them, I and others have learned that terrorism thrives in an atmosphere of humiliation, marginalization, and dashed expectations. ... I believe the best way to understand the situation in Palestine is to see suicide-murder as a kind of epidemic disease. Ordinary suicide has been shown to spread through social contagion, especially among youth. Studies have shown that a teenager whose friend or relative attempts or commits suicide is more likely to attempt or commit suicide himself. ... The notion that poverty causes terrorism has been disproven again and again, as the other participants have pointed out. But terrorists I have interviewed tend to emphasize humiliation and confused identity in their answer to the question -- why do you do what you do? Sometimes it also seems to be a kind of vicarious humiliation - the notion that my people are humiliated so therefore I must act to avenge their pain. ... Still, as our other contributors have made clear, most people feel confused about their identities at some point in their lives, and most people feel humiliated. I think of my university, Harvard, as a humiliation factory - everyone feels humiliated, except, perhaps, the president. And yet we don't see a lot of terrorists emerging from Cambridge. Not yet, anyway. So if humiliation is important, it is certainly not sufficient. Could it be that the shame-based child-rearing practices and splitting the world into good and evil are important additional ingredients, as you suggest? I think that Dr. Raddatz is absolutely correct in emphasizing Manichean world views. I have the feeling that honor and shame are also critical here, but at this point it's just a feeling - I haven't been able to do the interviews that would allow me to assess your hypothesis.

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"Did Lawyers Hinder Bin Laden Capture?"

From Jim Lindgren at Volokh Conspiracy:

It is quite depressing to read descriptions of how investigations or captures of Osama Bin Laden or other Al Qaeda were hindered by lawyers, rules developed by lawyers, or fears of lawyers. For example, there were the FBI lawyers who wouldn't allow seeking a search warrant to look into Zacarias Moussaoui's laptop computer in Minnesota just before 9/11/2001.

The latest set of lawyers' restrictions to be alleged grew out of a plan to capture Bin Laden. So great was the lawyers' concern for Bin Laden's comfort that a special chair was built to hold him and they were concerned whether the tape used to hold him would hurt his beard. This latest nonsense was revealed by the man who for 10 years headed the CIA's desk tracking Bin Laden, Michael Scheuer, interviewed by Nora O'Donnell on Hardball.

"Did Lawyers Hinder Bin Laden Capture?" by Jim Lindgren, The Volokh Conspiracy, August 20, 2005

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Movable Type resources

Learning Movable Type

MovableStyle.com

Planet Movable Type

MT support forum

default styles

Photo Galleries in Movable Type

beginners guide - from tokyo shoes

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Low Morale - crush me

don't know why but this resonates with me ...

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jcb, by nizlopi

Yi Wah - you'll enjoy this music video.

jcb, by nizlopi

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Street entertainers

The next time you stop and watch a street entertainer, think about these articles:

• "Essays: Steven Ragatz on Busking," March 1992
• "Primer on Busking With a Special Focus on Balloon Entertainment," by Larry Moss

Wikipedia on Busking

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MSM - political polarization - greater sensationalism - falling costs to new entrants

Richard Posner had an interesting op-ed in the NYT.

The current tendency to political polarization in news reporting is thus a consequence of changes not in underlying political opinions but in costs, specifically the falling costs of new entrants. The rise of the conservative Fox News Channel caused CNN to shift to the left. CNN was going to lose many of its conservative viewers to Fox anyway, so it made sense to increase its appeal to its remaining viewers by catering more assiduously to their political preferences.

The tendency to greater sensationalism in reporting is a parallel phenomenon. The more news sources there are, the more intense the struggle for an audience. One tactic is to occupy an overlooked niche -- peeling away from the broad-based media a segment of the consuming public whose interests were not catered to previously. That is the tactic that produces polarization. Another is to ''shout louder'' than the competitors, where shouting takes the form of a sensational, attention-grabbing discovery, accusation, claim or photograph. According to James T. Hamilton in his valuable book ''All the News That's Fit to Sell,'' this even explains why the salaries paid news anchors have soared: the more competition there is for an audience, the more valuable is a celebrity newscaster.

The argument that competition increases polarization assumes that liberals want to read liberal newspapers and conservatives conservative ones. Natural as that assumption is, it conflicts with one of the points on which left and right agree -- that people consume news and opinion in order to become well informed about public issues. Were this true, liberals would read conservative newspapers, and conservatives liberal newspapers, just as scientists test their hypotheses by confronting them with data that may refute them. But that is not how ordinary people (or, for that matter, scientists) approach political and social issues. The issues are too numerous, uncertain and complex, and the benefit to an individual of becoming well informed about them too slight, to invite sustained, disinterested attention. Moreover, people don't like being in a state of doubt, so they look for information that will support rather than undermine their existing beliefs. They're also uncomfortable seeing their beliefs challenged on issues that are bound up with their economic welfare, physical safety or religious and moral views.

"Bad News," by Richard Posner, New York Times, July 31, 2005

via anguswit

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facial attractiveness

the daily isolato links to a very interesting study on facial attractiveness ...

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NIMBY Of The Year Award

from West Virginia Political Sweatbox

Kennedy, along with a bunch of other millionaire/billionaire muckety mucks, like Walter Cronkite, and author David McCullough (who's recent book "1776," is excellent, by the way) are vehemently fighting the construction of this pollution free energy source [windmills off Cape Cod]. Why? Because they would be visible from their multi-million dollar beach homes on the Cape and they don't want to ruin their pristine view of the ocean. So, they are willing to demand everyone else clean up their rivers, and not pollute this and not pollute that, but when it comes to someone making pollution free electricity, RFK Jr.'s response?

"I'm all for that and think it's a great idea, but NOT IN MY BACKYARD."

And for this display of elitist greed and hypocrisy, we at the West Virginia Political Sweatbox, hereby award our first ever NIMBY Of The Year, to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. I'm sure his father would be proud. [Golf clap]

All joking aside, this is why people dislike "limousine liberals." People who are quick to condemn your lifestyle, under the guise that they know what you need, better than you. But, they don't often practice what they preach, as in the instant example.

"And the NIMBY Of The Year Award goes to.... May I have the envelope please....." August 17, 2005

via the Robert C. Byrd Hillbilly Carnival

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Star Wars , er, John Roberts papers opening ...

Dana Milbank had a piece in Friday's WaPo about the release of Supreme Court nominee John Roberts' (no relation, I don't believe, although he does look vaguely familiar...) archived government papers at the National Archives.

The throng of journalists lined up outside the National Archives yesterday morning made the place look like the Uptown Theater on "Star Wars" opening night, without the storm trooper costumes.

They had come to examine 39,000 pages of the paper trail of Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr. -- perhaps even to find the smoking gun that would brand him a hard-edged conservative or a closet moderate -- and they vied fiercely for 71 boxes of 20-year-old documents.

Archivists drew names from a large, yellow suggestion box, as if performing the NFL draft. USA Today, with the first pick in the first round, went with Box 49, "set-aside cases." Reuters, picking second, chose Box 1, "advisory committees." ABC News got Box 6, "briefing materials," and Fox News selected Box 11, "Contra Aid."

"Newshounds on the Paper Chase," by Dana Milbank, The Washington Post, August 19, 2005

via fishbowlDC

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Space Elevator

Interesting article about a space elevator.

Rockets are getting us nowhere fast. Since the dawn of the space age, the way we get into space hasn't changed: we spend tens or hundreds of millions of dollars on a rocket whose fundamental operating principle is a controlled chemical explosion. We need something better, and that something is a space elevator—a superstrong, lightweight cable stretching 100 000 kilometers from Earth's surface to a counterweight in space. Roomy elevator cars powered by electricity would speed along the cable. For a fraction of the cost, risk, and complexity of today's rocket boosters, people and cargo would be whisked into space in relative comfort and safety.

It sounds like a crazy idea, and indeed the space elevator has been the stuff of science fiction for decades. But if we want to set the stage for the large-scale and sustained exploration and colonization of the planets and begin to exploit solar power in a way that could significantly brighten the world's dimming energy outlook, the space elevator is the only technology that can deliver.

It all boils down to dollars and cents, of course. It now costs about US $20 000 per kilogram to put objects into orbit. Contrast that rate with the results of a study I recently performed for NASA, which concluded that a single space elevator could reduce the cost of orbiting payloads to a remarkably low $200 a kilogram and that multiple elevators could ultimately push costs down below $10 a kilogram. With space elevators we could eventually make putting people and cargo into space as cheap, kilogram for kilogram, as airlifting them across the Pacific.

The implications of such a dramatic reduction in the cost of getting to Earth orbit are startling. It's a good bet that new industries would blossom as the resources of the solar system became accessible as never before. Take solar power: the idea of building giant collectors in orbit to soak up some of the sun's vast power and beam it back to Earth via microwaves has been around for decades. But the huge size of the collectors has made the idea economically unfeasible with launch technologies based on chemical rockets. With a space elevator's much cheaper launch costs, however, the economics of space-based solar power start looking good.

"A Hoist to the Heavens: A space elevator could be the biggest thing to happen since the Stone Age, but can we build one?" by Bradley Carl Edwards, IEEE Spectrum Online, August 2005

via Instapundit

"Carbon Nanotubes," by Tim Worstall, August 21, 2005

"Nanotube sheets come of age," by Mark Peplow, news@nature.com, August 18, 2005

The Space Elevator Reference blog

Posted at 12:12 PM   ·  Categories: Technology

Hillbilly Carnival - Don Surber

Don Surber has a good blog, where he hosts the Hillbilly Carnival. Here's a post from today:

From almost the moment the second plane hit the World Trade Center, I have been hearing the don't-question-my-patriotism cha-cha-cha from liberals. That also came with the lectures on the First Amendment. Bill Press didn't even wait a month after 9/11 to declare on CNN on October 9, 2001:

"Americans are united in a war to stamp out terrorism. But terrorists have already won the first battle: they have succeeded in killing free speech."

Yes, that is why today 75 journalists are in jail. Oh wait. That's Cuba.

I laugh at the liberals who wrap themselves in the flag and declare that anyone who disagrees with them is questioning their patriotism and therefore, unpatriotic. Ah yes, the final refuge of the scoundrel is discovered by some of the more tedious libs. But I also think it is time to hold the most extreme liberals accountable for their actions.

Let's take the city of San Francisco's refusal to allow the USS Iowa to dock. She protected San Francisco and the rest of the nation in three wars and suffered a terribly tragic training accident.

Read the whole thing.

Hey Don! Could you make it easier to see all those Robert C. Byrd Hillbilly Carnivals ... by making a "Hillbilly Carnival" ... or "Robert C. Byrd" category or something ...

Posted at 11:29 AM   ·  Comments (0)   ·  TrackBack (0)   ·  Categories: Politics

August 20, 2005

Classified trouble for newspapers ... and eBay

AdJab links to a story "about the impact of craigslist on classified advertising, especially the growth of it online."

We use craigslist to advertise job openings ... and my 77-year old mother-in-law uses it to sell things that she used to sell on eBay ...watch out eBay ...

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Click Fraud Claims Drive Lawsuits

Adam Penenberg has a story in Wired about clickfraud ... this is why we eliminated our Overture spending and dramatically reduced our spending on google adwords ...

via theunofficialgoogleweblog

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Coyote v. Acme Products Corp.

To read the rest, click here.

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August 19, 2005

NK News

"Feeling a bit full of yourself lately? Try lowering your ego with the Random Insult Generator." from NK News ...

a searchable database of North Korean propaganda. This site contains nearly every article published on the KCNA's website, in English and Spanish, since Dec 2, 1996--over 50 MB of hard-core Stalinist propaganda! And each article written in that unique and indelible style of the KCNA.

via The Cranky Professor

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Saddam Hussein's Philanthropy of Terror

"Saddam Hussein's Philanthropy of Terror," by Deroy Murdock, Media Fellow, Hoover Institution at Stanford University, Adapted from a September 22, 2004 presentation at the Hoover Institution.

via Powerline:

It sets out, in simple form with lots of graphics, the history of Saddam Hussein's support for terrorist groups. It's a useful history lesson for those who haven't followed closely the connection between Saddam's Iraq and al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.

Posted at 03:29 PM   ·  Comments (0)   ·  TrackBack (0)   ·  Categories: Terrorism

Best line today

Best line today from Mediacrity: "This is the version of 'reality' you expect from people for whom 'terrorism' is getting bad sturgeon at Zabar's." ... "An Unreality Check at the Times"

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Free fonts

Site with lots of free fonts 1001fonts.com

via j-walk

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Academics as merit badge collectors

Asymmetrical Information has a great post about academics ...

Many academics of my acquaintance profess to be aghast at the "status seeking" in which their neighbours engage--and yet I have never met anyone as obsessed with collecting professional merit badges as an academic. Nor have I experienced any other organisational culture, even in hyper-competitive consulting or investment banking, in which professional success is so readily confused with personal worth.

"Money money money money" ... maybe that's because the free market isn't at work in the halls of the academy ... tenure ...

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bunnies go to Pottersville

Angryalien has a great web animation ... "It's a Wonderful Life in 30 seconds, re-enacted by bunnies." ... and make sure you click the bunny silhouettes at the end ...

Posted at 08:09 AM   ·  Comments (0)   ·  TrackBack (0)   ·  Categories: Holidays , Humor

Christmas light displays

Does your spouse think your Christmas light display is over the top? ... see this ... "Showing Off in 2004: Ready to see well over 150 of the best 2004 Light Displays!" ... from PlanetChristmas

Ay caramba!

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"Young People's Prayers"

Goodies First has a few prayers for young people ... from 1945, but still relevant ...

"Young People's Prayers" by Percy R. Hayward may have been published in 1945, but it speaks to me still, despite my not being all that young anymore. But hey, with today's bratty, self-absorbed society, ideals intended for teens half a century ago probably still haven't sunk in with the twentysomethings and beyond of present day. Sure they're funny, but damn if they're not relevant to the sinners, complainers and obsessors of the world like me. This book is so out-of-control specific, there are prayers for nearly all of life's quandries such as I Have Lost My Job, Save Me from Hating People, On the Coming of Vacation and Save Me from "The Blues."

"prayers: when all else fails"

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August 18, 2005

"High-priced housing faces risks"

Interesting list in USA Today

Fifty-three metropolitan areas representing 31% of the total U.S. housing market are considered extremely overvalued and confront a high risk of future price corrections, a study conducted by National City Corp. says. The study determines a market extremely overvalued if prices are 30% above where the study estimates they should be based on historic price data, area income, mortgage rates and population density.

DC is # 49 at 31% overvalued. Denver is 116 at 16%.

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August 17, 2005

What teenagers think and feel

"I think that overall, we allow - hell, encourage - a very disproportionate and inappropriate level of importance to be attached to what teenagers think and feel.

Contrary to the accepted wisdom out there, I have thought for a long time now that kids today probably should get a lot less attention, not more. Of course, this doesn't apply to poor pathetic ghetto kids whose parents barely even acknowledge their existence at all. But these school mass-murders aren't being done by those kids anyway. It's the kids who come from comfortable homes, whose parents are at least somewhat high achievers, and who have at least some potential for success in life themselves who are doing the killing out there, or at least the non-gang-related media-spectacular killing anyway.

I don't buy the argument that it's all because Mom and Dad are too career-obsessed and don't make enough time to throw the old baseball around in the backyard with little Johnny, or to "just talk." Nor do I think it has anything to do with Johnny's lowered expectations for his own life brought on by (insert one): a) the threat of nuclear war (an oldie but goodie); b) the perpetually-struggling economy; c) the destruction of our natural environment; d) general cultural malaise and lack of purpose or direction.

I think it has a lot more to do with the fact that so much of our culture is geared towards making Johnny feel as though he's the "hope for the future," that as soon as he or she graduates high school the world will be depending on his wisdom and vision to correct all the wrongs that all of us muddle-headed or greedy adults have been so unable or unwilling to rectify; that we're all just waiting for little Johnny to walk across that stage, grab that diploma, and get busy showing us what we've been doing wrong all these years. That's a lot of pressure to be putting on kids who basically just want to get drunk, hang out, and cruise chicks.

The idea, promulgated by the "Rock the Vote" folks and plenty of others, that the youth of today is just bursting with bold new ideas that We All Should Be Heeding is just a load of over-indulgent crap.

After all, take a look at some of the wonderful things that have resulted from excessive pandering to the youth market: Zima. Marilyn Manson. Bill Clinton. Stupid little Japanese pickup trucks slammed to the ground with neon around the bottom of them and dopey-looking Matchbox-car wheels. Greenpeace. Limp Bizkit. Rap music in every commercial you ever hear. Dennis Rodman. Pants that don't fit. Sneakers that look like something Neil Armstrong might've worn to walk on the moon.

My advice to the youth of today: lighten up. Enjoy what you can and deal with what you can't. Life is short, but it's also quite long too. And nothing is ever as important as your high-school guidance counselor says it is - not even you."

By Mike Hendrix at ColdFury.com, April 27, 2002

Posted at 02:57 PM   ·  Comments (0)   ·  TrackBack (0)   ·  Categories: Children , Good Advice , rules of life , students

Multiculturalism - based on a lie

Multiculturalism is based on the lie that all cultures are morally equal. In practice, that soon degenerates to: All cultures all morally equal, except ours, which is worse. But all cultures are not equal in respecting representative government, guaranteed liberties, and the rule of law. And those things arose not simultaneously and in all cultures but in certain specific times and places--mostly in Britain and America but also in other parts of Europe.

In America, as in Britain, multiculturalism has become the fashion in large swaths of our society. So the Founding Fathers are presented only as slaveholders, World War II is limited to the internment of Japanese-Americans and the bombing of Hiroshima. Slavery is identified with America though it has existed in many societies, and the antislavery movement arose first among English-speaking evangelical Christians.

"Cultures Aren't Equal," by Michael Barone, U.S. News & World Report, August 15, 2005

Other Resources

• "Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000: Trafficking in Persons Report," U.S. State Department, 2005
• "Saudis Import Slaves to America," by Daniel Pipes, New York Sun, June 16, 2005
• "Slavery in 2005 – Chann's story," DanChurchAid
• "What is modern slavery?," DanChurchAid
• "Rescued From Sex Slavery," 48 Hours, CBS News, July 22, 2005

Posted at 07:39 AM   ·  Comments (0)   ·  TrackBack (0)   ·  Categories: Bigotry , Nihilism

Ay caramba! Hope this isn't true...

Captain's Quarters is reporting that the City of New London, CT, which recently won in Kelo vs. New London, is now claiming that not only must the homeowners leave under eminent domain, the same homeowners owe the City of New London RENT for the years spent fighting the City of New London's eminent domain taking. AND, the homeowners will only be paid for the value of the proeprty at the time of the initiation of the suit, in 2000.

Oh, did I remember to mention that the article claims that the NLDC also insists that all rent collected from tennants of the people who thought they were the owners of their own property actually belongs to the City of New London, and must also be forked over, forthwith? This, too, could amount to tens of thousands of dollars that the hapless home(less)owners now owe the city... for having had the temerity to object to being treated like Mediaeval serfs, ousted at will by the local lord.

These erstwhile owners are in the process of having their lives utterly destroyed by the city in which most were born.

And thank God for Anthony Kennedy! If it weren't for him, these poor saps might have had to shuffle on through life laden down with all these, you know, dwelling places and such.

"Dafydd: Bride of Imminent Domain," Captain's Quarters, August 16, 2006

Other Resources

• "Court Says 'Public Purpose' Trumps Private Property Rights," The Heartland Institute, August 1, 2005
• CastleCoalition.org
• "IJ’s $3 Million National Campaign Tells Lawmakers: 'Hands Off My Home'"
• Wikipedia
• "The Kelo Case, Public Use, and Eminent Domain--Posner Comment," The Becker-Posner Blog, June 26, 2005

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August 16, 2005

Interactive Chessboard with Diagram Generator

"Just click a piece, then click the new square for the piece. When the board looks like you want it, click the Make Diagram button to generate a JPG file." ... Interactive Chessboard with Diagram Generator ... cool ...
via J-Walk Blog

Posted at 06:25 PM   ·  Comments (0)   ·  TrackBack (0)   ·  Categories: Fun

Blog from MS Word

If your blog is hosted on Blogger, you can now publish to your blog directly from MS Word using the new "Blogger for Word toolbar." ... sure makes spell-checking easier ...

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Google pauses library project

Just saw this article on c|net: "Google pauses library project" ... modifying its Library and Publisher programs ...

Posted at 05:51 PM   ·  Categories: Publishing

The Manila Massacre - February 1945

The Belmont Club has an untitled article remembering the "Manila Massacre" that took place in February, 1945. Japanese troops, as they retreated from Manila ... massacred 100,000 people ...

The 100,000 civilians who died in the largest urban battle of the Pacific War -- more than at Hiroshima -- are not remembered in beautiful candles floating down darkened rivers or in flights of doves soaring into the blue sky; there is no anti-American significance to their deaths.

Manila Massacre on Wikipedia

Years ago, my mother-in-law told me a story about how when she was a teenager in Malaysia, she had to cut her hair short and try to look like a boy ... hide in closets and the jungle ... so she would not be raped by the Japanese soldiers who had invaded Malaysia (1941-1945) ...

Research Alert: Cornell has a paper with lots of footnotes, by Cheah Boon Kheng, "The Japanese Occupation of Malaya, 1941-1945: Ibrahim Yaacob and the Struggle for Indonesia Raya" (pdf, 37 pages)

Posted at 06:45 AM   ·  Comments (0)   ·  TrackBack (0)   ·  Categories: History

August 15, 2005

Blogads - cost per cpm

Danny Carlton at JackLewis.net has written a script that provides an anlaysis of the cost per 100 visitors at sites selling blogads.

Posted at 06:03 PM   ·  Comments (0)   ·  TrackBack (0)   ·  Categories: Technology

Timewaster - blobs

Another timewaster from Haddon Derrick - blobs

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Ignorance about basic civics on proud display

Ay caramba! The ignorance about basis civics just boggles ... Matt Taibbi wrote a story for Rolling Stone on how Congress works, and concludes:

Taken all together, the whole thing is an ingenious system for inhibiting progress and the popular will. The deck is stacked just enough to make sure that nothing ever changes. But just enough is left to chance to make sure that hope never completely dies out. And who knows, maybe it evolved that way for a reason.

"nothing ever changes", which is why we still have slavery, right Matt? ...

Congress didn't "evolve" that way ... it was "designed" that way ... Matt, did you take high school civics or American history? ...did your editor? ... have you ever read the U.S. Constitution? ... is your story what passes for informed commentary about how Congress works? ... Ai yi yi yi yi ...

"Four Amendments & a Funeral: A month inside the house of horrors that is Congress," by Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone, August 10, 2005

Links

• U.S. Constitution, Article I., Section 7, Revenue Bills, Legislative Process, Presidential Veto

• The Federalist Papers, No. 62: "...a senate, as a second branch of the legislative assembly, distinct from, and dividing the power with, a first, must be in all cases a salutary check on the government. It doubles the security to the people, by requiring the concurrence of two distinct bodies in schemes of usurpation or perfidy, where the ambition or corruption of one would otherwise be sufficient."

• The Federalist Papers, No. 72: "The propensity of the legislative department to intrude upon the rights, and to absorb the powers, of the other departments, has been already suggested and repeated; the insufficiency of a mere parchment delineation of the boundaries of each, has also been remarked upon; and the necessity of furnishing each with constitutional arms for its own defense, has been inferred and proved. From these clear and indubitable principles results the propriety of a negative, either absolute or qualified, in the Executive, upon the acts of the legislative branches. Without the one or the other, the former would be absolutely unable to defend himself against the depredations of the latter. He might gradually be stripped of his authorities by successive resolutions, or annihilated by a single vote. And in the one mode or the other, the legislative and executive powers might speedily come to be blended in the same hands. If even no propensity had ever discovered itself in the legislative body to invade the rights of the Executive, the rules of just reasoning and theoretic propriety would of themselves teach us, that the one ought not to be left to the mercy of the other, but ought to possess a constitutional and effectual power of self defense.

  But the power in question has a further use. It not only serves as a shield to the Executive, but it furnishes an additional security against the enaction of improper laws. It establishes a salutary check upon the legislative body, calculated to guard the community against the effects of faction, precipitancy, or of any impulse unfriendly to the public good, which may happen to influence a majority of that body."

• "'Virtual Congress' Would Weaken Deliberative Process," by Rep. David Drier (R-CA), Roll Call, December 20, 2001: "The founding fathers purposefully conceived Congress as a slow-moving, inefficient institution. Congress is not meant to react to the public emotions and demands of the moment. Indeed, by its very design, it serves to check the popular passions and develop legislation through a deliberative, consensus-building process."
  

Update - we're below the salt: we've been forwarded some comments made by our betters ... that we didn't understand the article ... and that Matt wasn't talking about the Congress as devised by the Founders ... Ai yi yi yi yi ... when Matt states "Taken all together, the whole thing is an ingenious system ...." suggest our betters go back to school ... take, or retake, civics 101 ... and familiarize themselves with ALL of the First Amendment ... including ... speech ... peaceable assembly ... petition the government ... lobbying is what special interests do ... but our betters, of course, don't belong to any special interests ... except their own ... no unions ... no coalitons ... no trade or academic associations ... no dreams of an even bigger state telling us all what to do ... no political parties ... no churches ... nope, no special interests there ... only those below the salt and other unworthy people belong to special interests ... after reading the First Amendment, go read Mancur Olson's "The Logic of Collective Action" and Hayek's "The Road to Serfdom"

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August 14, 2005

Saints and Sinners

An acquaintance says that people who go to church are hypocrites who think they're better than others. My response is, "Most people who go to church do so because they realize what big sinners they are." I guess my acquaintance's point is that only saints should go to church. Hmmm... they'd be empty then. Oh. I guess that is her point - no one should go to church!

I'm also reminded of something Oscar Wilde, a deathbed convert, said, "The Catholic Church is for saints and sinners alone. For respectable people the Anglican Church will do." ... saints and sinners covers most of us ...

If my faith depended on how other people acted, I'd be admitting my lack of faith in Christ as the Messiah and in His promise that Hell would not prevail against His Church.

John Mallon sums it up well:

[I]f my faith depended on the sinlessness of priests I'd be in big trouble. I have known cruel and vicious priests as well as men of great kindnesses. John Geoghan was my parish priest when I was a kid, and I see the names of my schoolmates in the paper as his victims. I am not a Catholic because of how priests behave. I've known some very holy priests, I've known some very bad priests. Most are kind of a mixture of the two like the rest of us.

So some very bad priests committed some very evil crimes against God's precious little ones. And in dealing with it, Cardinal Law, by his own admission, really bungled it. So I'm supposed to let that ruin my faith? Rubbish! My faith is built upon the rock of Christ, who declared Peter to be the rock and built His Church upon him. Peter, the first Pope. Peter who betrayed Jesus. Yes, that is my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against her. As we have seen the gates of hell will certainly try to prevail, but don't expect me to jump ship.

. . .

All priests sin. Surprise. Bishops, cardinals and popes too. (The pope goes to confession every week—do you think he needs to go more than you do?) Some priests commit crimes. They should be brought to justice. Some priests commit abominations and scandal. Jesus said, "Woe to him through whom scandal comes. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around his neck." So if you think you're angry, chew on that.

"I am Not Ashamed," by John Mallon, Peter's Voice

Posted at 07:33 PM   ·  Comments (0)   ·  TrackBack (0)   ·  Categories: Catholicism

Catholic Orders

Tom Kreitzberg said that he finds "that jokes are more helpful than solid overviews in understanding the differences [among orders]. In keeping with my personal motto of semper opifer, I offer this old chestnut:"

During a Eucharistic Congress, a number of priests from different orders are gathered in a church for Vespers. While they are praying, a fuse blows and all the lights go out.

The Benedictines continue praying from memory, without missing a beat.

The Jesuits begin to discuss whether the blown fuse means they are dispensed from the obligation to pray Vespers.

The Franciscans compose a song of praise for God's gift of darkness.

The Dominicans revisit their ongoing debate on light as a signification of the transmission of divine knowledge.

The Carmelites fall into silence and slow, steady breathing.

The parish priest, who is hosting the others, goes to the basement and replaces the fuse.

"Semper Op," by Tom Kreitzberg, January 2, 2003

Posted at 07:27 PM   ·  Comments (0)   ·  TrackBack (0)   ·  Categories: Catholicism , jokes

Pogo stick on steroids

MUG had a post about the Flybar ... a pogo stick on steroids ... a lot cheaper than a Segway

Flybar

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To Kill an American

This was included in an email today from Jim Hake at Spirit of America.

To Kill an American

You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.

So an Australian dentist wrote the following to let everyone know whatan American is... so they would know when they found one. (Good on ya, mate!!!!)

An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek.

An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan.

An American may also be a Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.

An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim.

In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses.

An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.

An American lives in the most prosperous land in the history of the world.

The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God given right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.

An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need.

When the Soviet army overran Afghanistan 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country!

As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan.

Americans welcome the best, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best athletes. But they also welcome the least!

The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty, welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America.

Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2001, earning a better life for their families. I've been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 other countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists.

So you can try to kill an American if you must.

Hitler did.

So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and every bloodthirsty tyrant in the history of the world.

But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.

Author unknown

Pass this around the World

Posted at 03:37 PM   ·  Comments (0)   ·  TrackBack (0)   ·  Categories: America , Terrorism

Bear Warning

This is an oldie, but I still like it.

The Forest Service has issued a BEAR WARNING in the national forests for this summer. They're urging everyone to protect themselves by wearing bells and carrying pepper spray.

Campers should be alert for signs of fresh bear activity, and they should be able to tell the difference between Black Bear dung and Grizzly Bear dung.

Black Bear dung is small, round and sometimes has seeds or squirrel fur in it.

Grizzly Bear dung has bells in it, and smells like pepper spray.

Posted at 03:06 PM   ·  Comments (0)   ·  TrackBack (0)   ·  Categories: jokes

Bolton a disaster ... destroying "the world's most credible organization."

"We warned President Bush against picking Bolton," said one Senate Democrat, "and now look what's happened -- criminal allegations in the world's most credible organization."

"Oil-for-Food Arrest Linked to Bolton Arrival at U.N.," by Scott Ott, ScrappleFace, August 9, 2005

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Zorbing

Zorbing: you are harnessed "into a VW-sized, transparent ball of plastic" and then rolled "down a steep hill at 25 mph." ... sounds like a great time if you love riding roller coasters ... via Gadling

. . .

The Zorb itself is a gigantic inflatable pvc ball standing about three metres in height, which contains another smaller ball that is suspended into position by thousand nylon strands of varying colours.

From Zorb South

"Have a ball with a Zorb," by Jayne Clark, USA TODAY, June 15, 2004

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Timewaster - machine

Here's a timewaster machine

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August 13, 2005

C.S. Lewis Quote

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

-— C. S. Lewis

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A message to Cindy Sheehan

from Irag the Model:

I realize how tragic your loss is and I know how much pain there is crushing your heart and I know the darkness that suddenly came to wrap your life and wipe away your dreams and I do feel the heat of your tears that won't dry until you find the answers to your question; why you lost your loved one?

I have heard your story and I understand that you have the full right to ask people to stand by your side and support your cause. At the beginning I told myself, this is yet another woman who lost a piece of her heart and the questions of war, peace and why are killing her everyday. To be frank to you the first thing I thought of was like "why should I listen or care to answer when there are thousands of other women in America, Iraq and Afghanistan who lost a son or a husband or a brother…”

But today I was looking at your picture and I saw in your eyes a persistence, a great pain and a torturing question; why?

I know how you feel Cindy, I lived among the same pains for 35 years but worse than that was the fear from losing our loved ones at any moment. Even while I'm writing these words to you there are feelings of fear, stress, and sadness that interrupt our lives all the time but in spite of all that I'm sticking hard to hope which if I didn't have I would have died years ago.

Ma'am, we asked for your nation's help and we asked you to stand with us in our war and your nation's act was (and still is) an act of ultimate courage and unmatched sense of humanity.
Our request is justified, death was our daily bread and a million Iraqi mothers were expecting death to knock on their doors at any second to claim someone from their families.
Your face doesn't look strange to me at all; I see it everyday on endless numbers of Iraqi women who were struck by losses like yours.

Our fellow country men and women were buried alive, cut to pieces and thrown in acid pools and some were fed to the wild dogs while those who were lucky enough ran away to live like strangers and the Iraqi mother was left to grieve one son buried in an unfound grave and another one living far away who she might not get to see again.

We did nothing to deserve all that suffering, well except for a dream we had; a dream of living like normal people do.

We cried out of joy the day your son and his comrades freed us from the hands of the devil and we went to the streets not believing that the nightmare is over.

We practiced our freedom first by kicking and burning the statues and portraits of the hateful idol who stole 35 years from the life of a nation.

For the first time air smelled that beautiful, that was the smell of freedom.

The mothers went to break the bars of cells looking for the ones they lost 5, 12 or 20 years ago and other women went to dig the land with their bare hand searching for a few bones they can hold in their arms after they couldn't hold them when they belonged to a living person.

Read the whole thing.

Posted at 04:50 PM   ·  Comments (0)   ·  TrackBack (0)   ·  Categories: Politics

Follow up to NYT Tipping Op-Ed

A Guy in New York noted an op-ed in the NYT last week, "To Tip or Not to Tip - NYT Op-Ed."

Joanne Jacobs has an interesting post about the author of a letter to the editor that appeared the next day, "Consistency"

Posted at 01:36 PM   ·  Comments (0)   ·  TrackBack (0)   ·  Categories: Economics

Potable water

A company named Water Security has developed a water filtration system that produces potable water for about 3 cents per gallon.

"It can take some of the dirtiest, nastiest water on the planet and produce clean, safe drinking water." says company vice president Ken Kearney.

Water Security has already begun putting the technology to work in areas where freshwater is in short supply. This summer, global relief agency Concern for Kids deployed a foot-powered purification unit in northern Iraq. Robert and Roni Anderson, Concern's founders, loaded it onto the back of a Toyota pickup and drove to dozens of villages to purify their groundwater. The unit pumps out 5 gallons per minute, and a single day of purification can sustain a village of 5,000 people for a month. The cost is about 3 cents a gallon. Iraqi water companies, by comparison, charge $4 a gallon.

"The Big Gulp: NASA pisses away millions hauling H2O into orbit. But there's a better way - recycle astronaut urine. Just one question: How does it taste?," by Tom McNichol, Wired, August 2005

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Freedom of Speech on the Subway

We meant to link to this article on A Guy In New York earlier ...

"Forced to Sing Show Tunes - Freedom of Speech on the Subway," August 7, 2005

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Communism as ... hypnotism

The landscape of Communism from East Germany to Cambodia, from North Korea to Cuba deserves to preserved as a monument to the greatest act of hypnotism in history. Piers Brendon, writing in the Dark Valley, described the pilgrimage of Western intellectuals to this palace of horrors, intent upon discovering paradise. And discover it they did.

"On a Weekend," The Belmont Club, August 6, 2005

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Work less and have a better life

Interesting article on getting more things done by observing the 80/20 rule in your life ... work less and have a better life.

"Learn to live the 80/20 way," by Richard Koch

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Headline abusive? NARAL ad: "Roberts 7, Harpies 0"

Michael Barone describes the ad that NARAL pulled, but

wonders whether the NARAL ad would have been shot down so soon without the blogosphere-speed postings of the Committee for Justice and the determination of Senate Republicans to see that Roberts and other Bush nominees are treated civilly.

"Roberts 7, Harpies 0," Barone Blog, August 12, 2005

ScrappleFace also has a report: "NARAL: Roberts' Adoptions Jeopardize Abortion Rights," by Scott Ott, August 11, 2005

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Lee Hamilton and Thomas Kean can't keep their stories straight .... protecting Jamie Gorelick?

Captain's Quarters has an interesting post about Lee Hamilton's and Thomas Kean's memories:

The AP reports tonight that 9/11 Commission co-chairs Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton have changed their story yet again. Now the two say in a joint statement to the press that they do recall hearing that Able Danger had identified Atta, two days after Hamilton categorically denied it -- and for a man who had supposedly never heard of Able Danger, Hamilton's recall of detail of the briefing appears impressive.

"Commission: Able Danger Only Told Us About Atta," August 12, 2005

And John Podhoretz reminds us that Jamie Gorelick, a member of the 9/11 Commission, was one of the people in the government responsible for creating the wall between foreign and domestic intelligence agencies.

Here's my theory: Very early on, the commissioners decided that the Bush administration was their adversary. The Bushies didn't want to share documents or give them access to documents, didn't want anybody to testify, didn't want Bush to testify, and so on -- and they came to take this not only politically, but personally. . . . This development proved unexpectedly useful for Gorelick personally when the fact that decisions she had made in government were central to the Commission's mandate to describe why this massive intelligence failure occurred.

"The Gorelick Conundrum," by John Podhoretz, NRO, August 12, 2005

baldilocks has a good overview, "Commission Admission," August 12, 2005

Chris Muir has a relevant cartoon at day by day, August 13, 2005

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August 12, 2005

More Timewasters

Here are some more timewasters:

Lite-Brite

Optical Illusions - Michael Bach

What kind of Princess are you?

The Treb Challenge

Turn off the Internet
(Hint: once you've enjoyed shutting down the Internet, press to start it back up - works best with IE)

These next 2 are best on a big screen

self-hypnosis I

self-hypnosis II

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Mini Golf online

Hey Tin Man ... thanks for helping me waste part of my afternoon ... Mini-Putt online ... and the 18th hole is NOT a 2 stroke hole ...

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Hipster PDA

I like this version of the hipster PDA by Doug Giuliana at SolutionJunkie: "Getting Things Done -- my way" ... uses a carabiner and sailcloth covers ...

To see Thomas Jefferson's version of the hipster PDA, see "Ye Olde Hipster" at 43 Folders.

I'm going to try Doug's version ... the butterfly clip version is not finger-friendly ...

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It isn't you ... it's me ...

Islamists have killed thousands of Westerners over the past couple of years -- thousands in New York City alone. But they have killed far more of their own fellow Muslims in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, and too many other places to list. The Terror War, or whatever we ought to call it, is not about us. It's a war waged by totalitarian Islamists against the rest of the world. We aren't targets because of what we do or even because of who we are. We are targets because we are not them. They hate everybody and we're part of "everybody."

. . .

The overwhelming majority of Islamist killers aren't terrorists. They are soldiers and members of state-sanctioned death squads. Most victims of Islamists violence aren't Westerners...they're the Islamists' fellow Muslims. It's easy to forget this -- or not even be aware of it -- if you aren't interested in what happens inside the Muslim world when George W. Bush, Tony Blair, and the rest in the West aren't involved.

Read the whole thing.

"Pape-al Fallibility: It's Not All About Us," by Michael J. Totten, TechCentralStation, August 12, 2005

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Record Oil Prices?

Steve Verdon points out that

the "record" isn't a really a record. Sure it is a record in nominal dollars, but this is like looking at your paycheck and saying you are rich because you are earning so much more than you did 25 years ago. You see, 25 years ago the price of oil was just under $40/barrel. So what is $40 from 1980 worth today? Ninety four dollars and 42 cents.

the difference between inflation adjusted dollars and nominal dollars ... there's a link to a good chart in the article ...

"Record Oil Prices?"

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X-ray backscatter technology

The Blemont Club has an interesting post, "Unintended Consequences," on how the military is using mobile X-ray backscatter to look for bombs and people hidden in cars.

What's new is the ability of these vans to "drive by" whole streets at normal speed and examine each and every vehicle it passes. The manufacturer's website describes this capability in more detail and provides a video, complete with cheerful music, showing how the equipment can turn everything it passes into the opacity of clear glass. The backscatter X-ray is tuned to organic wavelengths, enabling it to find hidden people and explosive. But this is not all it can do. For an optional extra, the Z-Backscatter Van can also find those pesky dirty bombs and nuclear weapons that every well-managed city wants to be rid of, all at a low price and in an environmentally responsible manner: getting frisked by the Z-Backscatter Van only requires an exposure equivalent to a fifteen minute flight on a commercial aircraft.

Coming soon to ports and large cities near you ...

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Jack Abramoff Indicted with Mattress Man

To the mattresses ...

Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff and a business partner were indicted by a federal grand jury in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday, charged with five counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy in their purchase of a fleet of Florida gambling boats from a businessman who was later killed in a gangland-style hit.

Abramoff, 46, was arrested in Los Angeles in the late afternoon and was expected to be taken before a U.S. magistrate there on Friday. He was indicted along with Adam Kidan, the former owner of the Dial-a-Mattress franchise in Washington. Kidan, 41, of New York City, will surrender to the FBI here by Friday morning, his attorney, Martin I. Jaffe, said in a written statement.

"Abramoff Indicted in Casino Boat Purchase," by James V. Grimaldi, The Washington Post, August 11, 2005

Update: Jonah Goldebrg at NRO said, "Assuming he's guilty -- a pretty easy assumption, but give the courts a chance to work, blah, blah, blah -- I'm delighted about the Abramoff indictment. My prediction is that he will have almost no defenders in the conservative media whatsoever. And whatever voices you do hear in his defense will come from a three-square-block area around K-Street."

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J-Walk Blog Link Experiment

Attention Bloggers! this is an experiment ...

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August 11, 2005

Asymmetrical Warfare

In a good story about what "arms race" really means, The Belmont Club gives some interesting historical examples of the competitive development of weapons and tactics in "The Unstoppable IED."

Many bomb jammers work by preventing the triggerman from sending his detonation signal to the explosive device. Other equipment relies on detecting the electronic components of bombs, which echo a signal from a sniffer. The JIN neutralizer, now being test fielded to Iraq is an interesting application of directed energy weaponry. It works by using lasers to create a momentary pathway through which an electrical charge can travel and sending a literal bolt of lightning along the channel. A link to a Fox News video report on the manufacturer's website shows a vehicle equipped with a strange-looking rod detonating hidden charges at varying distances, some out to quite a ways.

Just as the enemy has resorted to bigger bombs to defeat better armor, so too will they seek ways to defeat the new American countermeasures. Yet it seems clear that the IED, like the submarine and bombing airplane before it, is not some mystically invincible device, but simply a weapon like any other caught up in a technological race with countermeasures arrayed against it. One consequence of this development is that while the enemy may employ larger numbers of IEDs against Americans, the number of effective IEDs -- the bigger and better ones -- available to them may actually have declined.

There are many links in the original article.

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airborne cats

This is a link to photos of flying, er, airborne cats, on flickr ...

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Anti-Semitism

Anti-Semitism, in fact, often seems the rule rather than the exception in international relations. It was only days before the 2001 attacks when the United Nations held a shameful conference in Durban, South Africa.

Ironically named the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance, it let anti-Semitism all hang out. The conference itself condemned the Middle East's only democracy, calling Israel a "racist, apartheid state" — not surprising in an atmosphere where Jewish nationalism itself has long been considered a form of racism.

However enlightened we may believe we are, ignorance and hate flourishes in our day. As Phyllis Chesler, author of The New Anti-Semitism, has argued, "Many people still believe that the Jews run the media, control the banks, killed Christ, seek world domination, and have ears everywhere." And today, add to that a global reach — where "Jew hatred is being mass-produced." When that hate finds its way into the mainstream consciousness, it might as well be true.

In 2002, for instance, it was widely reported that Israel had perpetrated a massacre in a Palestinian refugee camp in Jenin. The British Guardian editorialized that Israel's actions in Jenin were "every bit as repellent" as the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. The Jenin atrocity, however, never happened, even according to a U.N. investigation. But people believe that it did to this day—again, the damage had already been done.

Instead of being unacceptable — as it should be — all too often anti-Semitism is tolerated by civilized people who should be repulsed and outraged by it. That it is a centuries-old bias often makes it somewhat "dog bites man" — which is all the more reason to condemn it clearly and loudly and often. And it doesn't help the cause of good versus evil when the prime minister of Britain speaks on the floor of the House of Commons after the London bombing, and, in listing nations that have also fallen victim to Islamic terrorism, leaves out Israel (where bus bombings have long been a reality, not a fear).

You don't have to be anti-Semitic to be part of the problem. Consciously or not, what is not said by a prime minister and what is erroneously reported by a wire service are all symptoms of a malignant societal tumor.

"Where’s the Outrage? Anti-Semitism cannot be tolerated. But, of course, it is." by Kathryn Jean Lopez, National Review Online, July 27, 2005

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August 10, 2005

Why Do They Hate Us?

Why Do They Hate Us?

That's the question we've all grown sick and tired of hearing since Sept. 11, 2001. It's not that the query is inherently objectionable; understanding what motivates the enemy is obviously helpful in wartime. But the people who ask this question almost never genuinely seek to understand; rather, they have their own axes to grind against the U.S. or the West, and seek to use the prospect of terror attacks to scare the rest of us into supporting their views. This we have dubbed vicarious terrorism.

Now and then a terrorist actually takes the trouble to explain his motives. London's Daily Telegraph reports on the trial of the man who allegedly (and now confessedly) murdered Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh:
Mohammed Bouyeri, a baby-faced 27-year-old with dual Dutch-Moroccan nationality, broke his vow not to co-operate with the Amsterdam court by admitting shooting and stabbing his victim last November.

"I take complete responsibility for my actions. I acted purely in the name of my religion," he told its three-strong panel of judges.

"I can assure you that one day, should I be set free, I would do the same, exactly the same." . . .

Bouyeri then turned to the victim's mother, Anneke, in the public gallery, and told her he felt nothing for her. Mrs van Gogh watched as he read out from what appeared to be a statement: "I don't feel your pain. I have to admit that I don't have any sympathy for you. I can't feel for you because you're a non-believer."

This had nothing to do with Israeli "occupation" of "Palestinian lands," America's "unilateral invasion" of Iraq, "torture" of prisoners at Guantanamo or Abu Ghraib, the widening "income gap," or any of the other litany of complaints that the terror apologists trot out. Islamist terrorism arises from religious fanaticism and hatred, plain and simple.

"Why Do They Hate Us?" by James Taranto, Best of the Web Today, OpinionJournal, July 13, 2005

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Bumper Sticker

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August 09, 2005

Unite Against Terror

We are frequently urged to understand the terrorists, but too often the call to understand is code for justification and apology. There are always other, better, more effective, and more human ways of opposing injustice than by killing yourself and others in a symbolic act of hatred. Muslims who have pursued modern democratic politics have often been the first in the firing line of the terrorists. The road to a just solution in Israel-Palestine is signposted by 'mutual recognition' and 'political dialogue' not the blind alley of terrorism.

We stand firmly against the racists who seek to exploit the current tensions for their own agenda.
We stand firmly against those who apologize for the terrorists and who misrepresent terrorist atrocities as 'resistance'.
We offer our support and solidarity to all those within the Muslim faith who work in opposition to the terrorists and who seek to win young people away from extremism and nihilism, towards an engagement with democratic politics.

We believe that democracy and human rights are worth defending with all our strength. The human values of respect and tolerance and dignity are not 'western' but universal.

Unite Against Terror

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August 08, 2005

"What you'll wish you'd known," by Paul Graham

It's dangerous to design your life around getting into college, because the people you have to impress to get into college are not a very discerning audience. At most colleges, it's not the professors who decide whether you get in, but admissions officers, and they are nowhere near as smart. They're the NCOs of the intellectual world. They can't tell how smart you are. The mere existence of prep schools is proof of that.

Few parents would pay so much for their kids to go to a school that didn't improve their admissions prospects. Prep schools openly say this is one of their aims. But what that means, if you stop to think about it, is that they can hack the admissions process: that they can take the very same kid and make him seem a more appealing candidate than he would if he went to the local public school. [6]

Right now most of you feel your job in life is to be a promising college applicant. But that means you're designing your life to satisfy a process so mindless that there's a whole industry devoted to subverting it. No wonder you become cynical. The malaise you feel is the same that a producer of reality TV shows or a tobacco industry executive feels. And you don't even get paid a lot.

So what do you do? What you should not do is rebel. That's what I did, and it was a mistake. I didn't realize exactly what was happening to us, but I smelled a major rat. And so I just gave up. Obviously the world sucked, so why bother?

When I discovered that one of our teachers was herself using Cliff's Notes, it seemed par for the course. Surely it meant nothing to get a good grade in such a class.

In retrospect this was stupid. It was like someone getting fouled in a soccer game and saying, hey, you fouled me, that's against the rules, and walking off the field in indignation. Fouls happen. The thing to do when you get fouled is not to lose your cool. Just keep playing.

By putting you in this situation, society has fouled you. Yes, as you suspect, a lot of the stuff you learn in your classes is crap. And yes, as you suspect, the college admissions process is largely a charade. But like many fouls, this one was unintentional. [7] So just keep playing.

Rebellion is almost as stupid as obedience. In either case you let yourself be defined by what they tell you to do. The best plan, I think, is to step onto an orthogonal vector. Don't just do what they tell you, and don't just refuse to. Instead treat school as a day job. As day jobs go, it's pretty sweet. You're done at 3 o'clock, and you can even work on your own stuff while you're there.

"What you'll wish you'd known," by Paul Graham, January, 2005 (excellent advice for young people)

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August 07, 2005

big grinning slab of rich immigrant cheer ...

You can’t expect 22 minutes of incisive analysis or brilliant rhetoric; that’s just not Arnie [Schwarzenegger]. Wattage, not heat; heft, not depth. The guy’s a rock; you like him or you don’t. Me, I like him. One big grinning slab of rich immigrant cheer.

"Medicine Square Godden?" Bleat by James Lileks, September 1, 2004

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August 06, 2005

Dressing up no longer acceptable ...

If little Jack Roberts Jr. had been bopping around in a Spongebob T-shirt, he would have been the darling of the press. “In a White House Obsessed With Appearances, a Note of Abandon.” And you suspect that Washington commentators would have noted how Spongebob’s sexual ambiguity stands in ironic contrast to the administration’s support of a controversial amendment, and how various state cases on gay marriage may confront the Supreme Court in years to come, etcetera, etcetera.

You can’t blame the Roberts family for wishing to dress up nicely. But the Roberts went too far. Do you understand? They went too far. If that child’s nice old-money anti-hoi-polloi skirt didn’t sound your klaxons, you’re just not paying attention. People who dress like Mormons are creepy. Creepy as real Mormons. Women who do not feel a surge of resentment when they put on hosiery are traitors to the gender; men who carefully knot their ties are repressing something, probably sexual; parents who put their kids in nice dress-up clothes that are 21% more formal than a newspaper reporter would have worn on Friday are rejecting modernity and the lower four quintiles. You. Have. Been. Warned.

Sexual orientation and obsession over other people’s tighter standards of public decorum: file under Obsessions I Do Not Understand, but enjoy watching displayed, for all to see.

Like a bad tattoo you got when you were 22, and knew it all.

"English vogue, american vogue, french vogue, bloody aba-bloody-synnian-bloody vogue, darling," Screedblog, by James Lileks, July 25, 2005

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August 05, 2005

Charity

"When thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." - Matthew 6:3

"Charity never humiliated him who profited from it, nor ever bound him by the chains of gratitude, since it was not to him but to God that the gift was made." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Humility and charity go hand in hand. The one glorifies, the other sanctifies." - Padre Pio

"A man should fear when he enjoys only the good he does publicly. Is it not, publicity rather than charity, which he loves? Is it not vanity, rather than benevolence, that gives such charities?" - Henry Ward Beeche

"You have not lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you." - John Bunyan

"To give without any reward, or any notice, has a special quality of its own." — Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Anonymous charity is one of the best antidotes to pride.

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