This page contains links to items that are worth reading, to enlighten, entertain, or anything in between. Then I add pithy comments, so you know where I’m coming from, too. You’re welcome.
Main blog page is here.
Fed up with graft? You’re obligated to weigh in – dailyherald.com editorial, 05-11-2009 – Newspapers just now waking up to the fact that Illinois has long been dirty re: politics. Sure, cleaning it up is a grand idea. Good luck! And the fact that Democrats have run this state for decades, via the long arm of Chicago politics? Just a huge, monstrous, complete coincidence. No connection between corruption and Dems at all. So stop pestering them about it. (NOTE: Actually, to be serious for a second, I agree with one of the comments posted at the editorial by zeke2008: “Voters need to become better informed, more engaged and demanding of elected officials at all levels of government. It really is just that simple.”)
Obama’s Outrageous Sin Against Our Kids – Juan Williams, foxnews.com, 04-20-2009 – Juan Williams explains why Obama is not the “education president” and Secretary of Education Duncan seems to be more interested in protecting teachers in public schools than in educating kids. Maybe they should rename the office Secretary of Looking Out for Teachers’ Unions.
Why isn’t Detroit a Paradise? – Shannon Love, chicagoboyz.net, 11-01-2008 – Hint: unions and big government are involved.
History will show that George W Bush was right – Andrew Roberts, London Telegraph, 01-14-2009 – I suspect it will. Imagine how much energy many of us have wasted getting all exercised about what was basically partisan lies and obfuscation.
The Media’s Top 10 Worst Economic Myths of 2008; BMI’s collection of outrageous economic bias for the entire year: From the salmonella outbreak to the media’s call for a new, New Deal. – Julia A. Seymour and Paul Detrick,
Business & Media Institute, 12-11-2008 – Some examples of the reasons you can’t believe most of what you read in the business pages. Via Ed Driscoll.
Let’s End Drug Prohibition – Most Americans agreed that alcohol suppression was worse than alcohol consumption – Ethan Nadelmann, online.wsj.com, 12-05-2008 – There is a pretty compelling argument to be made that the costs of drug suppression are worse than the benefits. In particular, the rise in crime, the labeling of millions of Americans as felons, and the expansion in police powers (impounding vehicles and auctioning them has become a common fundraising technique), and higher taxes. To the extent that the War on Drugs is working — and I’m not sure it is — all these other things have concrete costs as well. In my mind, we’ve made it worse, not better.
Mumbai could happen just about anywhere – Mark Steyn, ocregister.com, 11-28-2008 – Hatred and nihilism still seethes in the world. The West continues to ignore and/or misread it. Tick. Tock.
Obama’s one trick wizards – Spengler, Asia Times, 11-25-2008 – On Obama’s incoming financial geniuses, in particular, the Harvard-Yale-Wall St. money club. Seems that it’s easy to make money with easy credit and a growing economy. A favorite paragraph:
Without leverage, the clever folk around Barack Obama are fleas without a dog. None of them invented anything, introduced an important new product, opened a new market, or did anything that reached into the lives of ordinary people. They wore expensive cufflinks, read balance sheets, exercised regularly, sat on philanthropic boards, and assumed that their flea’s ride on the Reagan dog would last forever.
The Zogby Poll – Richard Fernandez, Belmont Club, 11-18-2008 – Obama voters show an astounding level of ignorance, but they know Sarah Palin’s daughter was pregnant! Geez, might as well let our cats and dogs vote, too.
A 65th Birthday Tribute to Joni Mitchell – Jim Fusilli, online.wsj.com, 11-04-2008 – a nice look back at Joni Mitchell’s career, as she turns 65 years old.
Thomas Sowell has been on effing fire lately:
- Ego and Mouth – “Barack Obama has the kind of cocksure confidence that can only be achieved by not achieving anything else.”
- Obama, Powell, and Popularity – Colin Powell has an undeserved reputation as some sort of sage for the ages, but Sowell is not a big fan, and neither am I.
- A Perfect Storm – A President Obama will have serious economic and geopolitical challenges to face, and won’t be able to rely on “glittering generalities of rhetoric and style”.
- Taxing Times – Raising taxes is a bad idea. It has the effect of destroying wealth, it chases away foreign investment, it costs jobs, and a lot more. A free market economy is not a zero sum game, and taxing the rich or taxing big business has the effect of dragging all of us down.
Power in hands of few replaces liberty for all – John Kass, Chicago Tribune, 10-26-2008 – In an excellent column, Kass wonders what the future looks like for entrepreneurs, and by extension, for the economy, after the $700B bailout.
Hillary Backers Decry Massive Obama Vote Fraud – Kenneth Timmerman, newsmax.com, 10-27-2008 – Bringing busloads of black folks into a mostly-white Iowa county? That’s pretty brazen. If we had a news media that covered real voter fraud, instead of the made-up kind, more people might have heard about all this.
Obama Would Fail Security Clearance – Daniel Pipes, jewishworldreview.com, 10-23-2008 – Quoting Mr. Pipes: “… Obama’s multiple links to anti-Americans and subversives mean he would fail the standard security clearance process for Federal employees”. Ouch. Hey, wouldn’t this be some kind of … conflict of interest or something? How are they going to deliver the President’s Daily Brief — “the most highly sensitized classified document in the government” — if the President doesn’t have a security clearance, and has to leave the room every time? Gosh, that would be really inconvenient!
Evidence Mounts: Ayers Co-Wrote Obama’s Dreams – Jack Cashill, AmericanThinker.com, 10-17-2008 – While far from conclusive, it is at least somewhat compelling. Why does it matter? Because lots of folks are (justifiably) impressed by a politician who can write well. And in Obama’s case, his books are one of the few things he can point to with any sense of pride or accomplishment. Or, not.
Late-Night Comics Skewer Republicans 7-to-1, Study Finds: If you’re a fan of Jay Leno or David Letterman, you may already know this: You have to listen to seven Republican jokes for every one the late-night comedians tell about Democrats – Jennifer Lawinski, elections.foxnews.com, 10-16-2008 – I’m sure a President Obama will be all over this with the Fairness Doctrine. Or, maybe jokes about Republicans are just funnier. Yeah, that’s it.
Another Random Coincidence: Obama Just Happened to Have Been Hired as a Summer Associate at Sidley & Austin Law Firm, Which Had Just Happened to Also Hire William Ayers’ Wife, Bernadine Dohrn – Ace of Spades HQ, 10-07-2008 – It’s amazing how many coincidences there are with Ayers and Obama! Good thing Obama barely knows him, otherwise it’d be sort of embarrassing and damaging to the campaign. Phew! Ace links to this piece, “Andy Martin exposes Barack Obama’s lies about William Ayers”, which is well worth reading, though it may overstate things a bit.
Clutch statistics for 2008 playoff teams – USA Today, 09-29-2008 – I’m not convinced that you can really quantify such a thing, but there it is.
CRA, ACORN, Obama, Democrats and the Housing Market Crisis – The Minority Report, 09-27-2008 – Funny how Barack Obama used to sue banks on behalf of ACORN, for not making loans to people who can’t afford mortgages, and now he acts like “Bush’s failed policies” alone caused all this financial mess. Also, funny how little interest the media has in this whole back story.
Must Watch Video: “Burning Down the House: What Caused Our Economic Crisis?”
Many of our elected officials in Washington and other places think we’re too stupid and uninformed to know or care about any of this. It’s up to US to make them pay.
Is Obama Another Dukakis? Why is Obama so vapid, hesitant, and gutless? – Christopher Hitchens, slate.com, 09-22-2008 – Christopher Hitchens riffing on somebody I don’t like and don’t trust? Sign me up. Via Ace of Spades HQ.
Historical revisionism revisionism – proteinwisdom.com, 09-16-2008 – The current mortgage crisis was caused by meddling busybody social engineering types who, back in the mid-1990s, (a) authored a flawed study that justified (b) a flawed Fed policy discouraging “arbitrary or outdated criteria that effectively disqualify many urban or lower–income minority applicants”. You know, things like credit worthiness, stupid stuff like that.
The Biker Read Hegel – Eddie Dean, online.wsj.com, 09-08-2008 – A review of Zen and Now, by Mark Richardson, about the true story behind Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig, the bestselling philosophy book of the 1970s, which I bought in college and read twice before I understood it. Underlying the plot and ideas of the book is a constant level of desperate melancholy and sadness, brought to life by the relationship between Pirsig and his (then) 11 year old son Chris. The reader was never sure how much of this was real, and how much was fictionalized for dramatic effect. Unfortunately, it was true, and things got worse for the family after the book was published. A tenth-anniversary version of “Zen” includes an afterword by the author explaining what happened, and how he learned to deal with. It’s a must-read for fans of the book.
Why Obama Can’t Close the Sale – Al Hubbard and Noam Nesner, online.wsj.com, 09-03-2008 – Folks are paying attention, and many don’t like what they see: limp-wristed foreign policy, high taxes, national health care, lack of energy policy vision, etc. Not to mention inexperience, Chicago machine politics, a loudmouth nutcase for a wife, and 20 years of attending a racist church. All this adds up to: “Hey, 60% of America, guess what? I’m not one of you! Please vote for me anyway.” Right.
Hollywood’s Hero Deficit – James Bowman, The American, July/August 2008 – “The movie industry no longer aspires to portray genuine heroism—even though that’s precisely what audiences want to see.” A great writer, on an important topic. Read the whole thing. Then go watch a Western or a war movie from the 40s or 50s or early 60s, and lament what we’ve lost.
Babble Rouser – Bernard Condon, forbes.com, 07-17-2008 – A man named Denis O’Brien, CEO of Digicel, is trying to capture cell phone markets in poor, violent, corrupt places like Papua New Guinea, Haiti, Fiji, and East Timor. “His bet: Give phones to the masses and they’ll fight your enemies for you.”
Going After Crimes — and Guns; Richmond, Va., Cleans Up Its Streets By Severely Punishing Any Firearms Offense – Gary Fields, online.wsj.com, 08-05-2008 – Wait a minute. Criminalizing only criminals who use guns, in commission of crimes, instead of mere possession of guns? Actual enforcement of laws, instead of grandstanding, platitudes, and pandering? And this new policy caused crime to go down? Huh. This would seem to indicate that the guns themselves are not really the problem, it’s more the perps who are the problem. Somebody should tell Mayor Daley.
Hollywood Takes on the Left: David Zucker, the director who brought us ‘Airplane!’ and ‘The Naked Gun,’ turns his sights on anti-Americanism – Stephen F. Hayes, weeklystandard.com, 08-11-2008 – Talk about your target-rich environments!
Obama’s Trip: No Bounce, Flags, or Wounded Soldiers – Newsmax.com editorial, 07-27-2008 – Apparently, the Obamessiah didn’t leave everybody fanning themselves with the vapors after his trip to Europe, Iraq, and Afghanistan, despite the breathless coverage I happened to see on CNN (while I was working out at the Y). Does Obama have anybody on his campaign staff who is realistic enough to say, “Uh, Barry, there are lots of people in America, who can vote in our elections, who might not appreciate pandering to European anti-Americanism. And those people have TVs and the ability to read newspapers, despite clinging to their guns and their religion.”? Maybe not. Also see this Richard Cohen piece Obama the Unknown — even a liberal Washington Post columnist notes that Obama has no real history of accomplishment.
AP’s ‘US Now Winning Iraq War’ Analysis Getting Light Exposure – Tom Blumer, newsbusters.org, 07-27-2008 – Some will tell you this is just a big coincidence. Sure it is.
Making It: How Chicago shaped Obama – Ryan Lizza, The New Yorker, 07-21-2008 – Because the entire country apparently wants politicians schooled in the Chicago machine-style. A.k.a., “where’s mine?”.
Sip it, sure, then zip it; wine fans have too much on palates – Joel Stein, L.A. Times, 06-17-2008 – Hilarious and on-target criticism of wine critics. A favorite passage: “Personally, I want to know if a wine is rough, balanced, acidic, sweet, simple, tannic, soft, hot with alcohol, minerally, watery or has a long finish. I want to know that a Zinfandel, our greatest native grape, tastes like America: big, bold, unsubtle and ready to fight.”
Obama the humble savior – Mark Steyn, Orange County Register, 06-07-2008 – Quoting: “To be honest I prefer a republic whose citizenry can muster no greater enthusiasm for their candidate than ’stilted cheers’ to one in which the crowd wants to hoist the nominee onto their shoulders for promising to lower ocean levels within his first term.”
What could Mark Steyn’s punishment look like? Look at Alberta – Ezra Levant, ezralevant.com, 06-06-2008 – Up in Canada, the government can order you not to talk about certain things in public for the rest of your life. Give yourself points if you wonder how such a place can still be called a “Liberal Democracy”; give yourself extra points if you also wonder why the U.S. media isn’t talking about any of these shenanigans. Via James Lileks’ Bleat.
Down the Memory Hole – Noah Pollak, commentarymagazine.com, 05-23-2008 – I’m sure its just a coincidence that the media refuses to review a book written by a man who might be able to shred their worldview to shreds. Yeah, that’s it. A coincidence.
America’s Most Overrated Product: the Bachelor’s Degree – Mary Nemko, Chronicle of Higher Education, 05-02-2008 – Does it make sense to spend $80k-120k for a degree that has limited value in the marketplace?
Sorry to ruin the fun, but an ice age cometh – Phil Chapman, The Australian, 04-23-2008 – This would be inconvenient, if true.
Liberalosis: The Newsroom Disease – americandigest.org, 04-08-2008 – Must read distillation of what newsrooms are reallly like, especially for anybody who dares to question news judgment. Quoting Van Der Leun: “This is the full text of a comment by “Been There, Done That” that was appended to today’s item, More Good News: Seattle Times Axes 200 @ AMERICAN DIGEST . It has the voice of bitter experience and I thought it would be a shame to leave it as a comment.”
Monday view: Cheap solar power poised to undercut oil and gas by half – Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, London Telegraph, 02-18-2007 – From the article: The “tipping point” will arrive when the capital cost of solar power falls below $1 (51p) per watt, roughly the cost of carbon power. We are not there yet. The best options today vary from $3 to $4 per watt – down from $100 in the late 1970s. Mr Sethi believes his product will cut the cost to 80 cents per watt within five years, and 50 cents in a decade.’ [...] Michael Rogol, a solar expert at Credit Lyonnais, expects the solar industry to grow from $7bn in 2004 to nearer $40bn by 2010, with operating earnings of $3bn. The sector is poised to outstrip wind power. It is a remarkable boom for a technology long dismissed by experts as hopelessly unviable. Mr Rogol said he was struck by the way solar use had increased dramatically in Japan and above all Germany, where Berlin’s green energy law passed in 2004 forces the grid to buy surplus electricity from households at a fat premium. (In Britain, utilities may refuse to buy the surplus. They typically pay half the customer price of electricity.)
My Old Man and the Sea – Christopher Buckley, nationalreview.com, 3-24-2008 – A touching, funny, life-affirming tribute to a dad from a son. Sailing is involved. Also, William F, Buckley, since he is the dad in question.
Iraq Is a Mess. But Germany Was, Too. – David Stafford, WashingtonPost.com, 04-06-2008 – Some would have us believe that the mess in Iraq is insurmountable; it may yet prove to be a mess, but if so, it won’t be because it should be over by now already. Purging a society of both the ideas, and the people formerly in power who held them, is not quick, or easy.
Sir Vidia Naipaul admits his cruelty may have killed wife – Nigel Reynolds, telegraph.co.uk, 03-27-2008 – So, apparently, the author V.S. Naipaul was a bit of a prick, to his wife, his mistress, and just about everybody else in his life.
Israel says Syria nuclear base was raid target – Tim Butcher, timesonline.co.uk, 04-02-2008 – Confirming original reports (see entry below dated 09-16-07), and not surprising in the least. One of the rationales for Operation Iraqi Freedom — despite its altruistic name — was to have a base of operations for the future; things like this tend to justify that rationale. And, get this final sentence from the story: “Others questioned the accuracy of Mr Olmert’s claims, as they painted Israel and its armed forces in a positive light.” Um, wait, what?
Small soldier gets his wish – George P. Slefo, Killeen Daily Herald, 03-21-2008 – Five-year-old Gaven Cox has acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and for his one wish from Make-A-Wish-Foundation, instead of going to Disney World, he wanted to be a soldier for a day.
Tibet protest photos March 14-17, 2008 – Tibetan centre for human rights and democracy, via wikileaks.com, 03-18-2008 – Gruesome pics of murder victims of Chinese repression of Tibet. You’ve been warned.
Post ‘Post-Racial Candidate’: Things get out-of-his-tree flown-the-coop nuts on the campaign trail. – Mark Steyn, nationalreview.com, 03-22-2008 – Obama excuses the extreme nuttiness of Rev. Jeremiah Wright with an inventive “my grandma is a racist too, because she was scared of one particular black person, one time” strategy. Mr. Steyn isn’t buying it. Nor am I.
David Mamet: Why I Am No Longer a ‘Brain-Dead Liberal’ – An election-season essay – David Mamet, villagevoice.com, 03-18-2008 – This is a great essay, very well written, full of contemporary wisdom. Read it all. Twice.
… And Baby Makes Two: Forget Juno. Out-of-wedlock births are a national catastrophe. – Emily Yoffe, slate.com, 03-20-2008 – Marriage matters.
Iraqi Documents Show al-Qaida Ties – Ken Timmerman, newsmax.com, 03-20-2008 – That Pentagon report that was so breathlessly spun as showing “no operational ties” between Iraq and al-Qaeda? That was one sentence in a 94 page executive briefing. The details show a much different picture. For instance, “A 2002 annual report to the Iraq Intelligence Service M8 directorate of liberation movements shows that the IIS hosted 13 terrorist conferences during the year, and that Saddam personally received 37 congratulatory messages from international terrorist groups. The annual report also noted that the IIS had issued 699 passports to terrorists during the year.” So are we to believe that Saddam Hussein had no say in all this, and that the lack of an org chart proves that nothing was going on? Please.
Climate – Alan Sullivan, freshbilge.com, 03-08-08 – Well worth reading. This is what dispassionate analysis and great writing looks like. Killer quote: “There is one essential truth to emphasize: the sun is the primary driver. All other factors affecting climate are trivial in comparison, though sometimes they may briefly override the solar homeostasis.”
Why so much aid for the poor has made so little difference – Mark Lange, csmonitor.com, 03-11-08 – An interesting treatment of the topic. Seems to me that you can’t really export concepts like trust and mutual gain, which are the underpinnings for economic development. In other words, a culture has to support those first.
Why McCain has the best health-care plan – Shawn Tully, cnn.com, 03-11-08 – McCain’s plan puts choice and money in the hands of the consumer, the Dems’ plans put choice and money in the hands of the gubmint. Game, set, match.
A madrassa grows in Minnesota, at taxpayers’ expense – powerlineblog.com, 03-08-08 – And the ACLU jumps on this case — as a separation of church and state issue — in 3, 2, 1 …
Are Guns on Campus Uniquely Dangerous? – Jacob Sullum, Hit & Run, 03-06-2008 – Concealed carry laws on campus being considered in Arizona and 12 other states. If passed, is there some reason to think that the crime rate — or more specifically, the likelihood of more of these campus murder sprees via crazed gun-wielding nutjobs — won’t then fall on campus, like it does state-wide in those states that pass concealed-carry laws?
Troop Surge Belies Deeper Success of New Tactics in Iraq, Ex-Marine Turned Filmmaker Says – Kevin Mooney, newsbusters.org, 03-03-08 – The “surge” is just a convenient one-syllable word to describe a change in counter-insurgency tactics. Which I already knew; how many of the people who don’t “approve” the war in Iraq also know this?
Obama’s women reveal his secret – Spengler, Asia Times, 02-26-08 – And the secret is this: “he hates America”. Don’t hold back, Spengler.
Music Lessons – Seth Grodin’s Blog, 01-07-08 – Seth breaks down the music industry. The times they are a-changin’ …
Iraqi Hospital Chief Linked to al-Qaida – NPR, 02-13-08 – This unnamed man apparently “volunteered” two women afflicted with Down Syndrome for the suicide bombing missions last week that killed 99 people in Baghdad. Sacrificing the mentally retarded and young children in order to blow up innocent people — this tells us everything we need to know.
It’s all about the core; focusing on just ‘abs’ is out – Julie Deardorff, Chicago Tribune, 02-10-08 – Got to work the core. Easier said than done.
McCain or the Wilderness – Daniel Henninger, Wall Street Journal, 02-07-08 – Henninger says conservatives should calm down and support McCain. Maybe he’s right … but I wish McCain didn’t have so many issues. Henninger has a very good point, though, when he says “After six years of blood and treasure, and with the counterinsurgency working, to consciously turn over Iraq to Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama . . . words fail.”
Wow, it’s been a long time since I’d seen/heard that, very powerful.
Alzheimer’s hits family hard: ‘Something’s not right with Mom . . . and now, Dad.’ – Melissa Isaacson, Chicago Tribune Magazine, 01-13-08 – A very moving and unforgettable retrospective by Chicago Tribune sports writer Melissa Isaacson about her encounter with both of her parents suffering from Alzheimer’s — at the same time. She followed it up on Super Bowl Sunday with “Alzheimer’s story brings writer a new bond” about all the mail she received from others with simliar stories to tell. Highly recommended.
McCain Derangement Syndrome: A reply to Roger L. Simon – ProteinWisdom.com, 01-30-08 – Karl at ProteinWisdom explores the reasons why John McCain doesn’t always please conservatives. I tend to agree, and am not very comfortable supporting McCain if he wins the nomination. Also see this Thomas Sowell article McCain’s Crooked Talk. None too impressed with McCain’s claims about “straight talk”. I liked this line: “Being a war hero is not a lifetime get-out-of-jail-free card. And becoming president of the United States is not a matter of rewarding an individual for past services.”
The Economy Is Fine (Really) – Brian Wesbury, Wall Street Journal, 01-28-08 – The economic indicators don’t indicate recession, except to those who find it useful politically. Hey, speaking of which … isn’t this an election year?
Firing of Islam Expert Decried – Ken Timmerman, Newsmax.com, 1-20-08 – This is awfully curious; it sure sounds like Maj. Stephen Coughlin got fired for “authoring an analysis of a Muslim Brotherhood document entered into evidence in the Justice Department’s case against the Holy Land Foundation”. And the name of the guy who fired him? Hesham Islam, an Egyptian-born former U.S. Navy officer. Just an ugly coincidence, I’m sure. UPDATE 12Feb08: Hesham Islam is apparently a terrorist sympathizer — imagine my shock — and was “asked” to resign. Via Ace.
Most Diversity Training Ineffective, Study Finds – Shankar Vedantam, Washington Post, 01-21-08 – It’s all about avoiding lawsuits. Imagine my shock.
Top Shocks of 2007 – military.com Top 20 most popular videos. Pretty cool.
Man who keyed car gets day in court; so do Marines – John Kass, Chicago Tribune, 01-20-08 – Dipshit anti-military lawyer Jay Grodner has his court date for keying the car of a U.S. Marine who was unlucky enough to be parked in the same vicinity as said dipshit; dipshit gets judge who is — wait for it — a U.S. Marine. Hilarity ensues.
Educating Juveniles Key to Future Security in Iraq – (Jamie Findlater, American Forces Press Service, 12-14-07) Did you know that almost 1,000 Iraqi young men and boys are security detainees in coalition prisons, because they were “offered money, given guns, and told they are part of a larger brotherhood”, and that they had no ideology to speak of? And they are being educated by Americans and Iraqis? For the first time, more or less? And they are learning that Islam and the Koran don’t condone murder, and that women and children should be protected? Neither did I. And if I hadn’t clicked over to defenselink.mil yesterday, I still wouldn’t know.
The Candidates: Faith & Values, An Occasional Series – (Christian Science Monitor) A great public service; I’ve never understood why more papers don’t publish general profiles of each candidate so that people can read them all and decide who they like.
If you like this (Chardonnay) … then try these (Viognier, chenin blanc and fiano di Avellino) – Bill Daley, Chicago Tribune, 01-02-08 – New varietals to try based on current tastes.
Most E-mailed Stories of 2007 – NPR, 01-01-08 – Some interesting stuff here.
Dear Diary, I Think I’m in Love – P.J. O’Rourke, WeeklyStandard.com, 12-31-07 – P.J. O’Rourke reviews the new book by Arthur Schlesinger Jr. P.J. O’Rourke is not a big fan. Hilarity ensues.
The Times notes: “There is no Marine Academy” – Powerlineblog.com, 01-01-08 – No kidding. Tells me everything I need to know about the New York Times’ coverage of everything military.
In War: Resolution – Victor Davis Hanson, Claremont.org, 12-14-07 – Always worth reading.
Its a Quagmire!… Media Reports 6 Bogus Stories in 6 Weeks! – GatewayPundit.com, 12-15-07 – Un … Freaking … Believable.
Babies gravitate toward good Samaritans, study says – Tom Peter, Christian Science Monitor, 12-12-07 – Pretty interesting, and not surprising.
Contaminated data – Ross McKitrick, National Post, 12-05-07 – If the science is so “settled” on global warming, why do I keep reading things like this, that poke huge holes in the underlying assumptions? And why does the IPCC have no answer for it? Oh, right: because it’s politics dressed up as science.
No Evidence of Dwelah Massacre! – GatewayPundit.com, 12-08-07 – But all those other massacres? 100% true. OK … maybe … maybe not. Whatevs. Don’t get bogged down in details. The essential “truthiness” is out there, people! (Via Ace.)
The Inside Story of the SwiftBoaters Finally Told – Bruce Kesler, Democracy Project.com, 12-05-07 – If you’re one of those people who thinks it is clever to use the term “Swift Boat” as a verb meaning “to destroy someone with lies”, you might want to read this. Or buy the book. Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life.
Citigroup Feels Heat To Modify Mortgages – Laurie P. Cohen, Wall Street Journal, 11-26-07 – Apparently Citigroup thought it’d be fun to play games with other people’s money by using it to buy “servicing rights to a problematic $45 billion mortgage portfolio”, in hopes of (in the company’s own words) helping “distressed borrowers remain in their homes”. So they enlisted the helpful Acorn Housing Corp., a “nonprofit group that counsels low- and moderate-income home buyers.” They bought this problematic pile of crap in September, well after fears of problem mortgages were already known. Well played! Fiduciary, schmiduciary.
The NAEP Doesn’t Lie – Sol Stern, City Journal, 11-15-07 – NYC schools spending up $7B in five years — a nearly 50% increase — yet NAEP (National Assessment of Education Progress) scores barely budge, improving only in 4th grade math. Couldn’t see THAT coming!
Global Warming is a Scam – John Coleman, Coleman’s Corner website, KUSI-TV – John Coleman is a long time meteorologist (well-known to Chicagoans of a certain age) and the guy who started The Weather Channel. He says Global Warming is a scam. He also gives more details in The Global Warming Frenzy, Comments on Global Warming, and Are Carbon Dioxide and Fossil Fuels Responsible for Global Warming? Isn’t it interesting that the one group of people whose primary goal is to predict weather, and who have advanced degrees in such things, are conspicuously absent from the Global Warming / Climate Change train? You’d think lots of people would be asking why. You’d be wrong, pal.
A loss for civilisation – Mark Steyn, The Australian, 12/03/07 – Lamenting the exit of Aussie PM John Howard.
Only 1 in 5 high school graduates are ready for college – Emily Krone, Daily Herald, 11/25/07 – Part 10 in a Chicago Daily Herald series about education. Here is the table with the raw data. As a taxpayer with kids, where do I go to get my money back?
‘I Found Saddam’s WMD Bunkers’ – MelaniePhillips.com post about Dave Gaubatz – Related to John Loftus link directly below.
Shattering Conventional Wisdom About Saddam’s WMDs – John Loftus, FrontPageMag.com, 11/16/07 – Lots of good info here, read it twice. Sounds true-ish enough for me. I’ve long thought that a whole variety of explanations existed for the inability to find WMD in Iraq post-invasion, but none of them were “Iraqi WMD were a figment of Bush’s imagination” or “the UN inspectors cleaned that up years ago”.
Anatomy of an Apology – Philip Klein, American Spectator, 11/05/07 – An overheated Keith Olbermann? No way! Way.
Failing Grade – James David Dickson, American Spectator, 11/01/07 It costs more than ever before, to educate your college kids less than ever before.
Hidden Cost of Tenure – a series of newspaper articles about hidden costs in education due to tenure policies. Also see Hidden Violations, another series about failure to prosecute wanton teacher misconduct. Dunno about you, but I’m not a huge fan of having my money used to fund protectionism, sloth, perversion, and general ineptitude . Both from the Illinois Policy Institute.
Media myths about the Jena 6 – Craig Franklin, Christian Science Monitor, 10/24/07 – Quoting: “The media got most of the basics wrong. In fact, I have never before witnessed such a disgrace in professional journalism. Myths replaced facts, and journalists abdicated their solemn duty to investigate every claim because they were seduced by a powerfully appealing but false narrative of racial injustice.” Hmmm. Shocking. NOT. The media seriously needs to re-examine what its core competencies are. Or, if it has any. Other than pandering, of course. Via Instapundit.
Why The NY Times Sucks … A Continuing Series” – Ace of Spades – Navy SEAL Lt. Michael Murphy to get Medal of Honor … (cue sound of crickets chirping). More here.
“The Legacy of Little Rock” (Shelby Steele, OpinionJournal.com) and “Little Rock Boils Over” (Jack Kelly, AmericanHeritage.com) – Couple of interesting pieces about the use of federal troops to force racial de-segregation on an unwilling, white, Jim Crow South. Eisenhower does not get nearly enough credit for risking political suicide by doing the right thing in this matter, which was the first real-world test of Brown vs. Board of Education.
No Desk Jockeys Need Apply – (Wall Street Journal Online, 9/20/07) A mini-review of a new book by Robert D. Kaplan, Hog Pilots, Blue Water Grunts. “Embrace the suck” explained to a general audience. As with Kaplan’s other books, like Imperial Grunts and Balkan Ghosts, this looks like something I need to read.
Israelis ‘blew apart Syrian nuclear cache’ – (timesonline.co.uk, 9/16/07) Nobody is officially acknowledging it, of course. But this makes even more sense when you consider the recent sequence of events: the Norks just gave in to diplomatic pressure on nuclear negotiations, after years of resistance. I.e., they gain much-needed cash, AND help another ally in the power struggle against the U.S., AND throw a bone to the international community, AND get to say “see, nothing here!”.
The Decline & Fall of the New York Times – (Thomas Lifson, RealClearPolitics.com) New low plumbed by NYT editorial policy, by accepting “Gen. Betray Us” advertisement. First rule of holes: stop digging.
Really, you might not know Jack – (Ron Collins, from upcoming book “”) – Jack Kerouac: devout Catholic, free marketeer, William F. Buckley fan. Who knew?
New Peer-Reviewed Scientific Studies Chill Global Warming Fears and Breaking: Less Than Half of all Published Scientists Endorse Global Warming Theory – (EPW Minority Blog) Shocking, just shocking.
Death of a Phony – (Thomas Lifson, AmericanThinker.com) Arthur Miller, deep thinker, put his Down Syndrome son into an institution at one week old and cut him out of his life completely, for nearly 40 years, until his son-in-law, Daniel Day-Lewis, talked some sense into him. Now I don’t feel so bad for having no use for Miller and his preachy, moralistic plays; he’s a phony and a putz.
Marine to sue Murtha over irresponsible Haditha accusations – (HotAir, 8/30/07) Congressman (and ex-Marine) John Murtha now being sued by two Marines from the Haditha case, which is rapidly falling apart. It is becoming pretty clear that those Marines did what they were supposed to, as Marines nearly always do. And it is already quite clear that Cong. Murtha is an opportunistic piece of human scum. Duly noted.
Government regulations nurtured subprime mortgage crisis – (Thomas Sowell, 8/8/07) Government interference in free markets, pushing prices artificially high, thereby causing mortgage failures and bankruptcies … I’m shocked! Shocked, I tell you!
On E-Toll Roads, Beware ‘Orphan Exit’ Fee – (Red Tape Chronicles, msnbc.com) That fantastic EZ-Pass thingie on your windshield? Pretty cool, except when it doesn’t work, and the tollway system computers have no idea where you entered the roadway, and so charge big $$$ when you exit.
Mass Destruction, Mass Distribution – (William Langewiesche, WSJ Online) Folks who simply must find a crisis, in order to worry about it, might want to take a look at this one. Or, continue obsessing over a theoretical man-made warming of the planet. Totally up to you.
Warming Debate: Scene 1, take 2 – (Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe, 8/19/07) This one sentence tells you all you need to know: “The latest issue of Science magazine notes that many researchers are only beginning to factor the planet’s natural climate variations into their calculations.” Part 2 of a two part series.
Hot tempers on global warming – (Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe, 8/15/07) As Jacoby points out, what’s with all the hysteria? Science relies on proof, not consensus; there is a big difference. Part 1 of a two part series.
The religious state of Islamic science – interesting discussion of the history of science viewed through the prisms of Christianity and Islam.
Local man helps family find wreckage, peace – an amazing story.
Propaganda Redux – Today’s Left doing the bidding of yesterday’s KGB. By ex-KGB Ion Mihai Pacepa, who should know.
Banality of Evil – Wretchard’s take on war atrocities, with particular attention to the WWII Japanese in Manila, and in comparison to today’s Al Qaeda. Pretty gruesome, but war against unfettered evil looks, ummmm, evil; look away if you must, but that’s exactly what they are hoping for.
Halberstam’s History – Mark Moyar wants to delay the sainthood ceremony for journalist David Halberstam. Forever, pretty much.
Zambrano’s heart on his sleeve — interesting interview with Carlos Zambrano’s wife, Ismary. They’ve been married 7 years and have 3 little girls. And after his recent fight with his catcher Michael Barrett, his 4 year old daughter gave him the big cow eyes and asked him why he fights, and he couldn’t give her an answer. He’s vowed not to do it again.
Too Bad, President Bush has torn the conservative coalition asunder – Peggy Noonan is not happy with George W. Bush.
I Was On the Global Warming Gravy Train – David Evans ran carbon accounting models for the Australian government for 6 years. He has this thing called “evidence” he presents. Huh. But the important point, which is always glossed over by the hysterical coverage of man-made global warming, is the confluence of politics and science and cash: the gravy train. Money, as usual, drives everything.
Mission Accomplished – Frank Martin notes how difficult it was to rebuild post-WWII Germany, and how long it took, even when the cultural divide isn’t that big and the economy is a major industrial power. The Marshall Plan was the most audacious nation-building plan ever conceived, and it worked, but it wasn’t clear at the time that this was the way to go.
In Praise of Senator Biden: Survivable Rides for the Troops – Joe Katzman describes the battle to get a better vehicle for the troops to Iraq, because of the known problems with the flat-bottomed Hummers.
John McCain’s Speech – the speech Bush should have given 6x per year since 2003.
web Nikoli Puzzles – A bunch of logic puzzles.
Capt. Michael MacKinnon’s final letter to his family – Painful to read. Read it anyway. Back story here, photo gallery here.
Judge to tell teachers: No sex with students – A rather stunning list of women teachers charged with having sex with their male students. Q: If the sexes were reversed, would we be hearing a constant barrage in the media about an “epidemic of out of control male teachers”, instead of the, you know, crickets chirping that we’re hearing now? Or, has this female teacher + male student = hot fun in the sack thing been going on for decades, and only now we think of it as a crime? And if so, where was mine? Or does the media just not care that much about such things if they can’t attach the imagery of the big bad powerful victimizing male exploiting the young innocent powerless victimized female? Dunno.
The ‘Surge’ is Succeeding – (Robert Kagan, Washington Post) Great opening line: “A front-page story in The Post last week suggested that the Bush administration has no backup plan in case the surge in Iraq doesn’t work. I wonder if The Post and other newspapers have a backup plan in case it does.”
PBS: Raising Boys – An interesting compendium of issues and advice about raising boys in today’s openly — and overly — feminized society.
Major Weapons Cache Seized in Iraq – The AP reports from Baqouba, Iraq: “U.S. and Iraqi forces have seized a large weapons cache that includes parts for sophisticated roadside bombs that are believed to originate in Iran, U.S. military investigators said.” My comments: that’s nice. What are we going to do about it? Probably not much, at least for now, and as far as you and I will ever know. Most of us seem more comfortable with waiting for a better reason, like radioactive ruins where major cities used to be.
Primary Mortgage Market Survey Archives – (Freddie Mac) Lots of interesting historical info on mortgage rates, including downloadable spreadsheets.
Power, Faith, And Fantasy in the Middle East – Michael J. Totten interviews Michael Oren, author of the new book Power, Faith, and Fantasy, about America’s 200+ years of involvement in the Middle East, all the way back to the Barbary War from 1783 – 1815. Fascinating and essential reading, and that book is now on my reading list.
Equity Within Reach: Insights from the Front Lines of America’s Achievement Gap – (Teach For America) – Some pretty interesting feedback from the “boots on the ground” at some of our failing schools, the main one being that expectations are the biggest obstacle, not funding.
Why Housing Hasn’t Hit The Skids – Low rates are a major factor – Also if you don’t live in certain pricey sections of Florida or California, or on the East Coast in general. As if I needed another reason not to live in those places.
Faith-based organizations play a major role in HIV/AIDS care and treatment in sub-Saharan Africa – World Health Organization discovers, to its shock, that their efforts would be mostly for naught if not for Western Christians.
The hard balance of real life renders Jon Dee Graham’s body of work all the more impressive – a very moving, beautifully written piece by Grant Alden about a man in search of meaning. Some great quotes by Jon Dee Graham. No Depression, indeed.
They Want It, Let’s Give It To Them – Tales of spitting on Vietnam Vets, which seem to have happened to actual people, with actual spittle, despite a lack of documentation in the press! For real! Inspired by clueless media shill Jack Shafer: “If there was no media coverage of an event, it probably didn’t happen.” Did it ever occur to you, Jack, that the press might have been doing some of the spitting — whether speaking figuratively or literally, take your pick — and weren’t the most objective avenue to be presenting any such news? Also worth reading: Many 1967-72 Spitting Incidents Are Documented in the Press (Jim Lindgren, Volokh Conspiracy Blog)
Elites to Anti-Affirmative-Action Voters: Drop Dead – (Heather MacDonald) How hard is college these days? Not very hard. This explains why, in part.
Fallujah Torture House Busted – “Coalition forces discovered a building with blood-stained walls in southeast of Fallujah late Monday night and rescued three Iraqis found shackled inside. One of the victims was so badly beaten he had broken limbs.” Draw your own conclusions on whether the media cares anything about reporting what real torture looks like.
Climate scientists feeling the heat – The subhead captures it perfectly: “As public debate deals in absolutes, some experts fear predictions ‘have created a monster’”. Ya think?
The immortal words of 2LT Mark Daily – A very wise 23 year old man, dead in Iraq. The least we can do is to honor his words, and his memory.
Weather Channel Mess – Weatherman James Spann writes that neither he nor the dozens of TV weather folks he knows buys into man-made global warming.
Telegraph Series on Global Warming
Deadly Immunity – Robert F. Kennedy on mercury and autism (followup here). This whole thing makes me say “hmmmm”. My odds that the years 2008-2012 or so will see the following change in the rate of autism diagnosis in kids three through eight, vs. the rate as seen in the late 90s-2004:
- go down, possibly dramatically: 3-2
- go up or stay the same: 6-1
Odds that it had nothing to do with mercury in any form: approaching zero. Don’t forget, pregnant moms have been advised to avoid canned tuna for a few years now too, because of mercury. Place your bets.
The Same War – Michael Ledeen comments on the Israel/Lebanon situation, and notes that Iran is really the key player here, and that we need to do something about them sooner or later.
Actual Science Disputes Theory Of Man-Made Global Warming – Global warming stopped in 1998? Quick, alert the media! Comments to this post are interesting as well.
Are Facts Obsolete? – Thomas Sowell laments the fact that denial of reality has become commonplace, and discusses the ways that costs us as a nation.
The Last Helicopter – Amir Taheri notes that Middle East dictators are more than happy to have Congressional Democrats and U.S. media do their bidding for them.
Early Downward Trends in Neurodevelopmental Disorders Following Removal of Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines – David A. Geier, B.A., Mark R. Geier, M.D., Ph.D., Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons – Suddenly, diagnosis rates for autism and other PDD disorders drop precipitously, a few years after thimerosal disappears from childhood vaccines.
Saddam’s Delusions: The View from the Inside – By Kevin Woods, James Lacey, and Williamson Murray, from Foreign Affairs, May/June 2006
Myths of Iraq – Ralph Peters on the poor quality of reporting in Iraq.
Who’ll Let the Docs Out? – Stephen Hayward documents apparent foot-dragging by John Negroponte, Dierctor of National Intelligence, hampering efforts to release Iraqi documents that may establish Russian ties to Saddam Hussein’s regime, and proof of Saddam WMD programs.
What Colleges Forget to Teach – Robert P. George on the importance of civics.
Creation and Evolution in the Schools – Orson Scott Card on Darwin, Evolution, Intelligent Design, and how to understand this whole issue. Very interesting and informative. And, from where I sit, right on the money.
Gramscian Damage – Eric Raymond on the corrosive effects of Stalin’s disinformation campaigns. In the United States. Today. Especially in academia. (via Classical Values)
On Fights in Which I No Longer Own a Dog – Don’t miss Gerard Van der Leun taking stock going into the new year
Judging the Case for War - Chicago Tribune Editorial, Dec. 28, 2005
‘Simple’ scheme nets big gains for trio of defenses – Michael Smith, espn.com. He explains the “Cover 2″ defense and how the Colts, Bears, and Bucs use it
Why Bush Approved the Wiretaps – Not long ago, both parties agreed the FISA court was a problem. By Byron York, NRO, 12/19/2005
