On the Radar

Goodbye!

2007-06-24T19:58:00.000-05:00

This will be the final post on On the Radar. It has been a fantastic nearly two and one-half years sharing my thoughts with the world, but unfortunately this time has come to a close.

You see, I am a conservative. Within my current realm of experience (higher education) this fact of my identity leaves me at a major disadvantage. My opinions and ideology concerning a number of political and social ideas places me in a fantastically small minority of individuals within my field. Considering the liberal slant of those in the majority and their predilection towards "diversity" and "privilege" it is even more disturbing the turn of events that has led me here. This minority status of my opinions and identity leaves me a target for virulent criticism and attacks by those in the ideological majority. Indeed, I have blogged anonymously from the start in order to protect myself from these attacks that would inevitably come. Although I rarely mentioned my upbringing or current surroundings, I still assumed that no one would go to the extensive trouble to find out my real name. I was wrong.

A few weeks ago a fellow student affairs professional - that I will not name or link to (I will provide him the courtesy that he refuses to me) didn't like what I wrote about Al Gore. He proceeded to check my site regularly, comment on posts that bothered him, and stalk me through search engines, Facebook, MySpace, and two university web pages. This individual was obsessed with finding out who I was. Why? Well - that is where it gets ironic.

I started this blog with the intent to comment on news stories that interested me, social issues that were in the news, and to use as an outlet for venting my frustrations with far-left craziness in academia. I assumed that what I had been taught within this liberal bastion of knowledge (to support diversity, to be tolerant of difference, to respect differing opinions) was the perfect auspices for writing on this blog. It is indeed with the most severe degree of irony that it is one individual who falsely claims to hold these values as important that has caused me to stop writing this blog because - if you can believe it - he disagrees with me, has decided that I am wrong and immoral, and has decided to let the whole world (or the five people that read his blog) know who I am as a result of his stalking.

This individual has made the classic far-left intellectual non-sequitur that has plagued liberals time and time again. They claim to support those that are different, but because they are so sure of the righteous rightness of their opinion instead attempt to destroy and belittle those with which they disagree. They support those who are different, but not those with differing opinions. Since I am fundamentally wrong for disagreeing with him I am "homophobic" and even "islamophobic." Because I blog anonymously he has decided the only way to get back at me is to reveal my identity - which he did with ease and enjoyment. I posted a comment immediately on his blog asking to remove the link that revealed who I am, or I would be forced to discontinue blogging. He has checked my blog at least five times since I made my request. He has failed to consider it (and I'm not particularly surprised).

So that's it. It's profoundly sad and ironic that it is the intolerance, ignorance, and general idiocy of individuals like this person that motivated me to blog in the first place that have used their ignorance, intolerance, and general idiocy to force me to stop. I truly pity this individual, and hope that in the future he will find it possible to consider conflicting ideas without rejecting and attacking those with which he disagrees (although I won't hold my breath).

I would like to thank slowpitch (my first blog-mate), Clint, and the Captain for their assistance with this blog. I would also like to thank mrs. radar for her patience in the time I spent here nearly every day.

I will leave the links along the left sidebar (slightly edited) for you all to enjoy. Remember to check Little Green Footballs, Powerline, and Michelle Malkin for the best real news from a conservative point-of-view. Those who run the previous blogs are truly lucky to be able to sustain their blogs regardless of the constant criticism and occasional death threats they receive for what they do.

Goodbye all! I wish you all well.

Christian Discrimination; Part II

2007-06-23T22:29:00.000-05:00

Here we go again - another case of discrimination towards Christian students has arisen in Great Britain. Apparently a student was told that her "purity" ring (worn to show her vow of chastity before marriage) violated the school dress code. She is fighting the order, claiming that her ring is a religious symbol of her faith. However, she is fighting the ruling also because Muslim and Sikh students in her school are allowed to wear their specific religious garb without a problem.

Britain's high court is now set to decide. I wonder what they'll say?

Liberal starlet forgets that murder is not "chic"

2007-06-23T10:22:00.000-05:00

Apparently Cameron Diaz went to Peru the other day, sporting a liberal-chic "communism is cool" handbag - the talk of all the fashion-conscious liberal elite (see Che t-shirts). Anyway, Cameron's bag had a red star and had "Serve the People" written in Chinese on it - a favorite slogan of communist murdering dictator of China, Mao.

While Cameron and the liberal elite like "communism chic" bags and accessories, they forget the real cost these murdering dictators had on the civil world. Maoist revolutionaries almost brought the government of Peru to its knees in the 1980's after a campaign of assassinations, murders, and bombings. Nearly 70,000 people were killed. Needless to say, Cameron did not receive a warm welcome.

The only question that remains - will leftist stars like Cameron Diaz realize and understand the true cost of communism and question the ridiculous capitalist patronage that communism receives from wealthy Americans? Maybe she would if she met some of those 70,000 victims of communism in Peru...

"Sucko"

2007-06-22T14:30:00.001-05:00

Michael Moore's new money-making enterprise is a mockumentary entitled "Sicko" that, among other things, is full of non-sequiturs and erroneous assumptions. "Sicko," built along the same bogus lie-infested worldview as Fahrenheit 9/11, continues Michael Moore's assault on reality, capitalism, and America.

What does Michael's fictional film require? The annihilation of the private health care industry, complete socialized government control of health care, and absolutely no profitability within the industry. Watch Michelle Malkin's take on the subject and decide whether you agree.

Troops? Whose Troops?

2007-06-22T14:20:00.000-05:00

Speaker Pelosi is having trouble with her website, and it's not the first time Democrats have had a similar problem.

It seems that on her homepage, which has been changed by now, she has an image of a Canadian soldier next to a story concerning veteran's health benefits. Whys is it so hard for liberals to realize that they know less about what our soldiers look like than the average American?

The Troubled Times

2007-06-22T13:51:00.000-05:00

It's not the first time the NY Times had trouble with those tricky things called "facts" but at this rate the rapidly declining newspaper shouldn't be in misery for too long:

The Keeping Score column on Sunday, about new baseball research into hitting and fielding trends that can help assess the impact of pitchers, referred incorrectly to the status of the journeyman Glendon Rusch. He is recovering from a blood-clot scare last season, and is not pitching now; he is not out of the game because he “appears to have run out of employers to disappoint” with his statistically below-average pitching.

Oops.

The "News" Disgusts Me

2007-06-21T17:46:00.000-05:00

Is it just me, or has the world gone crazy?

A huge storm system moved through town today, and so I was watching the local news channel for weather info. I left the TV on CBS and ended up watching Katie Couric's "News" cast. The entire thing has been the most insane take on "news" or even "reality" than I have seen yet - we're talking worse than CNN here.

Let me summarize my frustrations with a single segment - coverage on the war in Iraq. It's no question that casualty figures would frame the segment, and every mention of things going well in Iraq followed by the obligatory "but." The segment totally ignored the ongoing military operation in Baqubah and instead claimed with no evidence that the military admitted that top al Qaeda leaders "escaped" from the city. Casualty figures were then reported as if they were independent of the operation (and remember that the old media likes to describe casualty figures as if our solders were just standing around getting killed - but ignoring a 10,000 soldier operation should be criminal). Finally, the correspondent finished by claiming that the "surge" in Iraq was being met with an al Qaeda "surge" of its own as he signed off with the inevitable picture of Iraq citizens bleeding and being carried off on stretchers. "Reporting from the Pentagon" was the only informative thing the reporter said.

This kind of reporting begs the question of whether or not the national old media is honestly trying to deceive and mislead the American people, or whether or not the reporters in the field (or in a posh hotel in D.C.) are so inexorably anti-war and anti-administration that their reports are written in such a way that it seems they want those watching the newscast to think the war in Iraq is lost/our soldiers are dying for nothing/the entire Iraq situation is hopeless.

I absolutely despise the old media. If you watch ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, or even FoxNews it's time for you to branch out. The media does not want you to think for yourself - they want to tell you what the world is like and they want you to believe them. Even though they aren't even there to cover it.

A rock could do a better job of reporting the war in Iraq than Katie and her "news" team. Ridiculous.

The Old Media are Liberals

2007-06-21T10:53:00.000-05:00

Surprised?

Out of 144 journalists that gave money to political campaigns over the past 4 years, only 17 gave money to Republicans.

That's a 9 to 1 margin, by the way.

But remember that the news is impartial, as are those that report it. At least that's what they want you to think...

Don't Worry, Obama is "black enough"

2007-06-19T22:09:00.000-05:00

According to the publisher of the NAACP journal Barak Obama is "black enough." "Black enough" for what I wonder, but I'm sure "to be a liberal" or even "to be a black president" could follow after that statement.

After all, blacks can't be conservatives, so it's good to clarify who is really "black" (liberal) and who isn't.

Thanks for clearing that up NAACP!

Michael Moore a truther

2007-06-19T15:34:00.000-05:00

Who would have guessed?

MOORE: Well, I've had a number of firefighters tell me over the years, and since Fahrenheit 9/11, that they heard these explosions, that they believe there is much more to the story then we've been told. I don't think the official investigations have told us the complete truth. They haven't even told us half the truth. And so I support, and I hope, you know, if there's a new administration or somebody could open up a new investigation of this before we get too far away from it, to find out the whole truth.

Sick.

Wrong and Inaccurate

2007-06-19T15:26:00.000-05:00

First came the story from a 15-year old girl about not only the scientific troubles with global warming, but the lack of certainty and credibility in temperature surface stations used to determine global climate changes.

Now there are even more reports of temperature stations above grills, near A/C units, above concrete and asphalt, and within feet of large brick structures. Why the old media doesn't do an investigation on this, I'll never know (or I already do). Suffice it to say that a large number of temperature stations used to determine and "prove" climate change are irreparable compromised by their locations and are instead measuring urban heat cycles as opposed to global climate.

I would say "oops," if this weren't so contemptible. Where is the story?

The War is not Lost

2007-06-19T10:36:00.000-05:00

And the battle is on.

Michael Yon, the only real source of news from Iraq, tells us why.

Update: 10,000 troops in a major offensive. And who says the surge isn't working?

Christian; Muslim; whatever!

2007-06-18T20:22:00.000-05:00

Reality imitates satire.

The Episcopalian Church, the first church to lead the fight to ordain a gay pastor, is now admitting that one of their priests is a Muslim.

What?

Redding, who until recently was director of faith formation at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, has been a priest for more than 20 years. Now she’s ready to tell people that, for the last 15 months, she’s also been a Muslim — drawn to the faith after an introduction to Islamic prayers left her profoundly moved.

Right. I'm sure that it's no problem - only that Muslims deny the divinity of Jesus Christ. Which was, last time I checked, quite important to Christianity. However, Chrisitanity is apparently not important to the Episcopalian Church.

Enough Said

2007-06-17T22:50:00.000-05:00

"Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) shares a laugh with supporters during a town hall meeting at Charles City Elementary School in Charles City, Iowa."

Hillary and Che. Need I say more?

The Wisdom of Mark Steyn

2007-06-17T22:45:00.000-05:00

The immigration bill is a fraud. According to Mark Steyn:

On Fox News the other night, I was told by NPR's Juan Williams, ''You're anti-immigrant!'' Er, actually, I am an immigrant -- one of the members of the very very teensy-weensy barely statistically detectable category of ''legal immigrant.'' But perhaps that doesn't count anymore. Perhaps, like Colin Powell's blackness, it's insufficiently ''authentic.'' By filing the relevant paperwork with the United States government, I'm not ''keepin' it real.''

...

The people who are truly ''anti-immigrant'' are the folks who want to send that immigrant from Slovenia or Fiji who applied in May 2005 back to the end of the line. But then ''comprehensive immigration reform'' is about everything but immigration, including subverting sovereignty and national security. Remember the 1986 amnesty? Mahmoud abu Halima applied for it and went on to bomb the World Trade Center seven years later. His colleague, the aforementioned Mohammad Salameh, was rejected but carried on living here anyway. John Lee Malvo was detained and released by U.S. immigration in breach of its own procedures and re-emerged as the Washington sniper. The young Muslim men who availed themselves of the U.S. government's ''visa express'' system for Saudi Arabia filled in joke applications -- ''Address in the United States: HOTEL, AMERICA'' -- that octogenarian snowbirds from Toronto who've been wintering at their Florida condos since 1953 wouldn't try to get away with. The late Mohammed Atta received his flight-school student visa on March 11, 2002, six months to the day after famously flying his first and last commercial airliner.

The government does not have all the answers, and shouldn't be your nanny. According to Mr. Steyn:

That's it? Anglicans need to fast-track a liturgy for gay couples so they can free up time to deal with the real issues like global warming? Half that catalogue of horrors seems to be different ways of saying the same thing ("child poverty… economic injustice… growing disparity") in order to give a bit of pro forma padding to the totally cool cause du jour of global warming. Which is so cool that, if an Anglican archbishop shows up at a climate-change conference, he'll be lucky to get in the room, and if he does he'll be stuck at the table with the wonky leg next to the toilet, barely able to see the Most Reverend Almer Gortry up on stage doing his power-point presentation and warning that rising sea levels will send tidal waves crashing through every gay wedding reception in Provincetown by Saturday afternoon.

...

Go back to those Canadian archbishops who want to worry about "child poverty." Poor children are the children of poor grown-ups. If the state assumes responsibility for those children from their parents, what kind of adults are you likely to end up with? And if you can't trust free-born citizens to reach their own judgments on cheeseburgers, what can you trust them with?

The Useless UN

2007-06-17T22:15:00.000-05:00

The UN "Human Rights Council" (mockery) has now made useful changes to its human rights violators' list, like removing Cuba and placing Israel there - permanently. Nice.

"Remember, have your conservatives silenced and vote for liberals. Oh, and 9/11 was an inside job."

2007-06-16T12:49:00.000-05:00

Bob Barker, although previously saying she shouldn't do the job, has now admitted that TV loudmouth, conservative hater, and 9/11 conspiracy theorist Rosie O'Donnell "can do the job" of hosting The Price is Right and may be in talks with CBS concerning the position. Can you imagine her sign-off line? Will they have "loose change" as an item to bid on?

New Look!

2007-06-16T12:44:00.000-05:00

Over the years I've changed the look of the 'ol blog a number of times, and here is the most recent adaptation. As you can see, Blogger now allows users to upload images as headers as opposed to simple text. A little fun with photoshop later and tada! Our new "radar" logo look. More new updates to come soon.

More bad news

2007-06-15T15:35:00.001-05:00

The national and international media is a joke.

First comes the AP (Associated [with Terrorists] Press) and their constant intentional propagation of terrorist propaganda. Now that the civil war in the Gaza Strip is over (with the terrorists winning - it hardly matters which side we're talking about) the AP has decided to print a variety of Hamas propaganda photos, with such sights as a terrorist with an AK coming out of a baggage x-ray machine, and terrorists with AK's and RPG's posed at computer terminals at a border crossing checkpoint in Gaza. These are not news photos, they are terrorist propaganda delightfully captured by terrorist-sympathizing Gaza strip photographers designed and transmitted with the intent to encourage other terrorists or simply emblazon Hamas' "success" to the rest of the world. It's a wonder I won't pay for a newspaper subscription - I'd rather not finance these monsters.

In other news, with word that the Jack Daniel's distillery in Tennessee is running low on water because of a drought, John Roberts of CNN playfully insisted:

...somebody said to me this morning that that will get Southern conservatives interested in global warming. (Laughs)

I ask - is this news? Is this commentary? Is this deliberate disrespect? Is this discrimination? Or is it simple a matter of liberal intellectual elitism and a nasty case of "I'm better than you conservative drunken idiots" syndrome?

The national media is a disgrace.

Silence in Massachusetts

2007-06-15T08:43:00.000-05:00

The Massachusetts state legislature denied the voice of the people of their state from being heard yesterday, by blocking the citizens of the state from having the opportunity to vote on gay marriage rights. State law requires that only 50 lawmakers out of 200 vote for approval of a state constitutional amendment twice before the vote can go to the people, and after passing earlier this year special interest lobbying caused the second vote to fail by a measure of only 5.

Regardless of how you feel about gay marriage, it's clear that a state legislature, requiring only a 1/4 threshold for constitutional amendments to pass, should not be blocking the people of a state from determining their own laws. As in nearly all cases of gay marriage state amendments, the pro-gay marriage side vastly outspent their opponents. It is clear from this quote exactly what happened:

Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute that backed the amendment, said his group was vastly outspent by gay marriage supporters. "It certainly does appear that money speaks in this building," he said.

Indeed. And it's a shame.

Update: Never mind about gay marriage. It appears that ABC thinks defining marriage as between a man and a woman is the redefining of marriage, not the other way around. Oh, I get it now. It's no wonder the old media is floundering.

We Lost, Again

2007-06-13T18:23:00.000-05:00

You'd think that the Democrats would have had enough of claiming defeat in the war on terror. Never fear, they have done it again:

Top US congressional Democrats bluntly told President George W. Bush Wednesday that his Iraq troop "surge" policy was a failure.

Senate Majority leader Harry Reid and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi challenged the president over Iraq by sending him a letter, ahead of a White House meeting later on Wednesday.

"As many had foreseen [it's amazing what you can "foresee" when you've already made up your mind what the results will be. - ed. mine] , the escalation has failed to produce the intended results," the two leaders wrote.

And now that key sentence:

The next critical point in the showdown between Bush and Congress over Iraq is expected in September, when US commander in Iraq David Petraeus is due to report on progress in the strategy to "surge" up to 30,000 more US troops into the war-ravaged nation.

So the commander of our forces in Iraq hasn't reported on the progress of the surge yet? I wonder what the Democrats are using as evidence for the "failure" then? Oh, and the "next critical step" is when General Petraeus gives his report? How can the Democrats' cry of defeat be a "critical step" in anything?

Finally, I've finally seen a picture that sums up the Democrats' mindset as far as troop levels, war powers, and the war on terror is concerned:

Yup: Cocky. Apparently that's the only word needed to sum up this Democratic congress. So sure of their rightness they needn't bother with anything else.

Update: Never mind. Harry apparently thinks that our military leaders are incompetent. No cockiness there! I guess Harry himself is the ultimate authority on war and defense.

Update again: I guess I now know why Harry jumped the gun in claiming our defeat in Iraq and calling General Petraeus incompetent: the General's report to congress and the nation is positive on the substantial gains made in Iraq due to the troop surge. I guess the Democrats know the media would rather report their claims of failure than a military leader's statements of success.

What if we built a memorial to 100 million murder victims and no one came?

2007-06-13T14:51:00.000-05:00

That's exactly what happened yesterday in Washington D.C. The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation hosted the groundbreaking ceremony for the Victims of Communism Memorial and the old media yawned. Why is it that communism is no big deal to the liberal elite?

In a perfect world communism is a great strategy. If you watch enough Star Trek, you'll see that their "world without money" is essentially the perfect communist paradise. The problem is, as the tragedy of the commons tells us, that communal governments never works because individuals take advantage of the situation. Therefore, communism only works under totalitarian conditions which inevitably deteriorate into torture, mass murder, and the annihilation of freedom.

Why is it that we forget the 100 million victims of communism? Why is it that the 25 million victims of Soviet rule, 60 million victims of the Chinese, and the torture and murders committed by Castro go forgotten? It's because in the perfect liberal society, the ultimate goal of socialism in economics and government inevitable falls forward toward communism. Never mind that socialism and communism are abject failures wherever and whenever they have been attempted - they are still the far left's perfect dream. The mention of communism in their minds brings up the "terror" of McCarthy, not the Soviet gulag.

The greatest scourge of the 20th century was the "evil empire" and the murderous thugs of communism around the world. If you want socialism head to Europe - if you want universal health care, I heard that Cuba is beautiful (and totalitarian) this time of year. As a great writer once said "Which way are the rafts headed?"

The Real Civil War

2007-06-13T08:33:00.000-05:00

Here's another civil war the press won't report: the Palestinian civil war. There is nothing more bloody than terrorists fighting terrorists, and it seems that the Hamas version has finally routed the Fatah version in the Gaza strip. After weeks of relentless violence capped off by the bloody murder in a hospital of the Fatah military leader while dressed as a woman (he was trying to escape) will the press finally cover the story or label it what it really is?

I wouldn't hold my breath.

The Perils of CNN

2007-06-12T16:13:00.000-05:00

CNN is best known for being the first major cable channel devoted to 24/7 news coverage. It's polite to say that CNN has fallen off the wagon in the past few years, with its ratings taking a constant nose dive - at time half the viewership of the FoxNews Channel, even in primetime.

Besides loving Bill Clinton, faking stories out of Iraq, and claiming US soldiers are "targeting" civilians, a CNN reporter has just now admitted to paying Nigerian soldiers to fake a news story, so that CNN "has its story" and he "has his fame."

Way to go, CNN. I'm always proud.

News Roundup 6/11/07

2007-06-11T22:13:00.000-05:00

The city of San Francisco continues its fight against the Blue Angels. Every year for fleet week in San Fran the Blue Angels come and do a fly-by over the city. However, in the liberal/socialist/marxist haven of San Francisco the city leaders think the aerial spectacular is evil because it's supportive of the military. Amazing.

Newsweek continues its series of articles on faith with the astounding question: "In obtaining salvation, in your faith perspective, which is more important, faith or good works?" Riiiiiiight...

The Democrats continue one of the most corrupt congressional sessions of all time. They have now, in addition to being indicted many more times than the previous congress, found a way to bypass the previous Republican congress' reforms. Oh, and will the media report that Harry Reid's approval rating is half that of the President's (19%)?

Finally, the Democratic congress has had another (near) victory. Unfortunately, in an attempt to avoid passing legislation the Democrats failed at a vote of no confidence for the Attorney General. I expect an email from John Kerry soon.

What I would do if I were president

2007-06-11T22:01:00.000-05:00

In the words of Chuck Norris himself (really).

How to beat your wife - according to Islam

2007-06-08T23:44:00.000-05:00

Bored? Looking for something good on TV? Check out Egyptian national television and watch the president of a major university explain the proper way to beat your wife - according to Islam.

Simply amazing.

It's Tough to be Al Gore

2007-06-07T16:17:00.001-05:00

It's also tough to still fight the "wide scientific consensus" fight that global warming alarmist cling to. Who is a member of this "wide consensus"? NASA's own James Hansen. Hansen made headlines claiming that his reports on global warming were "silenced" by the White House. However, now Hansen's supposed good nature and desperation to save the Earth has come into question.

Based on the research of a 15-year old girl.

Kristen Byrnes, a 15-year old blogger, has researched not only Al Gore's tendency to lie about global warming, but also Hansen's ties to the Democratic party through endorsements and 6-figure donations.

Kristen has also noted the expanding research that says nearly 80% of rural temperature stations, whose numbers have been used to demonstrate the .77 degree increase in world temperatures over the past 150 years, may be compromised by their locations and surroundings. Having a temperature station that measures "rural" temperatures found above a concrete pad or next to a burn barrel might have raised that average temperature a bit.

Check out Kristen's site. It's tough to be outsmarted by a 15-year old, isn't it Al?

Comical

2007-06-06T21:45:00.000-05:00

To say the least.

It appears that the NY Times doesn't even know where Iran is.

Oh, well.

The Liberal - Conservative Gap

2007-06-06T09:33:00.000-05:00

I recently received an email link to a Gallup survey that focused on American attitudes towards various social issues. While I encourage you to go look for yourself, it was the liberal / conservative gap between these issues that really focused my attention. For example, liberals approve of the following social issues over conservatives by anywhere from 20 to to 60%:

Homosexual relations
Sex between an unmarried man and woman
Having a baby outside of marriage
Abortion
Divorce
Doctor-assisted suicide
Medical research using stem cells obtained from human embryos
Gambling
Cloning animals
Suicide

Liberals approve of the following over conservatives by anywhere between 10 and 16%:

Cloning humans
Polygamy, when one husband has more than one wife at the same time
Married men and women having an affair

Uh, why am I conservative again? Oh, that's right...

Wednesday News Roudnup

2007-06-06T08:22:00.001-05:00

Just another day in our world:

First, Bob Costas gave in to his severe case of BDS and stated on his radio show that:

I think it is now overwhelmingly evident, if you're honest about it, even if you're a conservative Republican, if you're honest about it, this is a failed administration. And no honest conservative would say that George W. Bush was among the 500 most qualified people to be President of the United States.

That's right: we can all have an opinion. If you disagree with mine - that George Bush is essentially a bumbling idiot - then you are one, too.

Next, on the Today show Matt Lauer did a public service announcement for everyone's favorite communist dictatorship - Cuba. He propped up how beautiful it was, how many tourists come, and how great Cuba is all around. What poor elitist Lauer fails to understand is that measly group of 2 million tourists that show up to Castro's island prison every year prop up the homicidal dictator, and thinking that the sunny beach they were allowed to film from is anything like the rest of Cuba is like assuming Cancun is like the rest of Mexico.

Finally, to wrap up entertainment news, the View, while now down a hostess after Rosie quit the show shortly after calling American troops terrorists, everybody's favorite unemployed actress - Kathy Griffin - claimed that Condi Rice is just a tool of the white man. Why? Because black people - especially black women - can't be conservatives! It's always staggering to me that in our progressive identity-minded world people can still claim to know more about who a person is than the person does themselves.

15 minutes that changed the world

2007-06-05T14:48:00.000-05:00

65 years ago today.

It's about time...

2007-06-04T16:10:00.000-05:00

Democratic congressman William Jefferson was finally indicted on over 12 counts of corruption. Savvy news readers will remember that Jefferson had $90,000 stuck in a plastic bag in his freezer. One might wonder whether the old media outlets will cover this story with the zeal they covered Republican scandals...

Academic Slavery

2007-06-03T23:15:00.000-05:00

Far be it for me to miss the news practically in my own back yard, but as I glanced over the news for the past few weeks I had not realized the connection. Recently Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez, the same professor who caused an uproar at Iowa State University for promoting the theory of Intelligent Design, was denied tenure. Dr. Gonzalez, without making the issue himself, was mocked with a "petition" claiming that his ideas and theories that relate to intelligent design should not be taught at institutions of learning. Apparently academic freedom only goes so far - you know, until you study something the academic elite disagrees with.

I'm not saying that there is necessarily any connection between Dr. Gonzalez's ideas and his denial of tenure, but he sure thinks so.

The Palestinian Death Cult

2007-06-01T16:21:00.000-05:00

A lot of things can be said for the Palestinian / Israeli conflict, but those who claim the Palestinians are innocent bystanders suffering under Israeli occupation are missing a (possibly the) main part of the story that is rarely if never told.

The Palestinians that live in Israel or next to it are raising their children to be anti-semitic Jew-killing suicidal murderers. There's no other way to describe it. Very rarely have we seen in human history an entire society based on the murder of a specific ethnic group.

Take two examples. The first is of a kindergarten graduation ceremony of Palestinian children shouting "Death for the sake of Allah!"

Next, there is a new film coming out focusing on the extremism fostered and bred in Palestinian children as a result of parental control, government propaganda, and one of the most vicious and successful spin machines in human history. Tokyo Rose of the 21st century is convincing children that murdering Jews in Israel gets you virgins and Ferris wheels after your suicide, and makes you an awfully cool kid right now. And it's getting worse.

Again, as with most stories worth knowing, the absence of media coverage concerning the Palestinian death cult is astounding.

The Most Dominant Mascot on Earth

2007-06-01T16:01:00.000-05:00

Cy the Cyclone is the most dominant mascot on Earth. Oh yea.

You know it.

Is this even news?

2007-06-01T09:27:00.000-05:00

Liberal speakers outnumber conservative speakers at U.S. university commencements 8 to 1.

Surprised? You shouldn't be.

Why Not to Vote for Hillary Clinton

2007-05-31T09:05:00.000-05:00

(As if you needed a reason?)

Hillary Clinton has a problem. For years she has believed, as did her husband (correctly, I might add) that the only way to win the presidency is to be a moderate. Hillary has taken this advice quite literally, unwilling to make a specific unified stance on anything from the war in Iraq to abortion. This week she suddenly and fundamentally changed course within this tactic and gave a speech at MIT. Within this speech Hillary calmly takes credit for carrying the torch of progressive economic policy, and single-handedly blames all apparent (or imagined) economic inequality solely on George W. Bush (that's called BDS, if you were wondering).

So why should we not vote for Hillary? Because she's a socialist.

Not only does Hillary believe that it takes a village to raise a child, she believes it takes the government to run the economy. Yes, that is called socialism. And in every country in the history of mankind it has ever been implemented it has been a total and catastrophic failure.

Hillary outlines 9 points of socialist economic policy she plans to implement as president:

1. Redistribute wealth from big corporations and force them to invest in government-controlled operations

2. Eliminate the ability to global and American companies to do business overseas.

3. Allow the government to be in control of wages in the private sector, especially in big companies among CEO's.

4. Raise taxes on big corporations.

5. Make college more affordable (The hilarious and constant rattle of the liberal left. Have they priced any state schools lately? Not everyone goes to Yale or Harvard after all...)

6. Encourage schooling for low-skill low-paying jobs.

7. Encourage unions, make unemployment more "affordable;" i.e. increase government support of the unemployed.

8. Universal health care. Also known as "HillaryCare." It's back, and it's bound the make the best healthcare system in the world resemble the dismal systems in western Europe, Canada, and Cuba.

9. Allow the government the rights and monetary support to research "new job opportunities for the middle class."

Hillary has finally made her stand, and it is - as far as economic policy is concerned - on the extreme left.

It's time for a new beginning, for an end to government of the few, by the few and for the few, time to reject the idea of an "on your own" society and to replace it with shared responsibility for shared prosperity. I prefer a "we're all in it together" society.

I'm sure she does. I would rather prefer a "government stay the hell out of my wallet" society, but we won't have that with Bill and Hillary back in the White House.

Update:

Need another reason?
Not really, but seriously?

Continued Corruption

2007-05-30T15:30:00.001-05:00

While the Democrats can apparently only offer insults towards Republicans and desperate unconstitutional tactics to end a war they don't like, they also often remind us that the 110th congress is quite possible the most corrupt in history:

As usual, the main protaganist is Rep. John Murtha, who smuggled into the intelligence authorization bill two earmarks. The beneficiary is a contractor headquartered in Murtha's hometown, whose executives are big contributors to Murtha's campaigns.

Murtha and his fellow Democrats pretended that the intelligence bill contained no earmarks, but Rep. Jeff Flake eventually found 26 of them. By the time he did so, however, it was too late to offer amendments. When Rep. Mike Rogers tried to eliminate the earmark for a National Drug Intelligence Center in Murtha's district, Murtha made his infamous threat, in violation of House rules, to retaliate against Rogers' earmarks.

Novak reports that, while Murtha clearly is an embarrassment to the Democrats, the party has no will or real desire to curb him, or themselves. Indeed, House Appropriations Committee chairman David Obey, who has falsely denied the existence of earmarks, now has decreed that earmarks in his bills will not be revealed until a measure passes both the House and the Senate.

Corrupt Democrats on the rampage? I must have missed that on the evening news...

An Assault on Reason, Indeed

2007-05-23T20:16:00.000-05:00

First, check out our friends at Amnesty International - who are in full BDS mode. They've posted a poll on their website asking people to vote for who they believe is worse on human rights: Darth Vader, "Hobgoblin," or Dick Cheney.

In other news, FoxNews' Jim Angle does a classic report on the ridiculousness of Al Gore's new book Assault on Reason, which, from all accounts, is truly right up the liberal left's alley - completely devoid of any connection with reality.

Headline? What Headline?

2007-05-22T20:15:00.000-05:00

The AP reported a frightening story today.

While nearly 80 percent of U.S. Muslims say suicide bombings of civilians to defend Islam can not be justified, 13 percent say they can be, at least rarely.

That sentiment is strongest among those younger than 30. Two percent of them say it can often be justified, 13 percent say sometimes and 11 percent say rarely.

26% of young Muslims in the US think that suicide bombings of civilians can be justified. 26%. What was the AP's headline?

Most US Muslims Reject Suicide Bombings

Don't you feel better now?

Do Something!

2007-05-22T13:52:00.001-05:00

I admit that in my haste and my transition I have deleted the common Howard Dean / John Kerry / Democrat email list messages that I have received of late. I, however, was foolish enough to open the email from Howard Dean today, titled, "Show them the door."

Democrats in the House and Senate are busy holding Alberto Gonzales and the rest of his cronies accountable for seven years of failed leadership. They're ready to cast a vote of no-confidence after years of the Bush Administration abusing its power.

Americans want action, and that's what Democrats are delivering. House Democrats Adam Schiff and Artur Davis introduced a resolution yesterday calling for Gonzales' removal, stating that he failed to "assure the public that the laws of the nation are being enforced in an independent, nonpartisan and judicious manner."

As Republican Senator Arlen Specter said Sunday, Congress's response is "a very forceful, historical statement" -- not the "meaningless political act" the White House would like Americans to believe.

It's time for that to change, and that will only happen if we put a Democrat in the White House. Help put an end to the failed Republican leadership once and for all:

The Democrats, after taking power, claimed that they were "ready" to "govern." In fact, they have done none of the sort. Wasting time on a no-confidence vote based on 3-year old emails and passing the largest tax increase in American history is all that the Democrats seem able to handle. Failed leadership? Must you at first lead to then fail?

Something to think about...

2007-05-22T09:53:00.001-05:00

From the irreplaceable Bill Whittle:

Throughout history, civilizations rise and fall. They fall for the same reason, by my reading of history: the lack of will to defend her, a cancer which starts not from the bottom but invariably from the top. A fish rots from the head, say the Russians, who ought to know. From Nero to Chamberlain, the elites evolve away from an understanding that retaliation against the lawless and the barbaric is not a vice but a virtue. They take the manifest blessings of civilization as a given and foist their own personal guilt and moral cowardice upon the entire city. They open the gates to the savage peoples who have always stood outside of progress and gentleness and culture.

It has always been this way. If you feel you see it happening now, before your very eyes, well… you are not alone. A society unwilling to enforce the laws that civilize it, that is unable or unwilling to see the advantages of civilization, a society led by the pampered, the narcissistic and the corrupt, is not long for this Earth. Our enemies look at us and see precisely these symptoms, and the symptons are worsening. Our unwillingness to retaliate when retaliation is called for – indeed, the uneasiness with the very idea of retaliation against betrayal – has them licking their lips in anticipation. They see all this decay and they are right to see it, for it is there.

One thing they do not see, however – also there. They do not see the Remnant. They do not see the power and resiliance of what the irreplaceable Victor Davis Hanson has referred to as “the Old Breed.”

Nock and Isaiah believed that the purpose of the Remnant was to rebuild a new civilization from the ashes of those destroyed by their own masters. And certainly to date this has always been their main function.

But there is something different -- just perhaps, something fundamentally different this time around. Because today, for the first time in human history, common people can communicate directly with one another. We are no longer dependent on spineless politicians and the jaded masters of the press to color our opinions of the world. For the first time in human history, the Remnant can reach out to each other on these gossamer threads of a world-wide web.

I believe – utterly – that this ability for the common person to communicate with other common people, this internet, will allow us to end-run the cycle of civilization. I believe it in my bones.

My friends, Western Civilization is not on its last legs.

Western Civilization is going to the stars. Count on it.

The Truther View

2007-05-22T08:27:00.001-05:00

Rosie is on her high horse again, and this time she's getting desperate. Rosie's not really been known for her accurate recollection of past events and statements (such as calling the US and the US military "terrorists") but she has come through for the View in one small way. Apparently she has booked conspiracy theorists and the 9/11 "Truthers" who created the laughably fictional "documentary" called Loose Change to appear on the View. Apparently true to her desire to talk about her insane conspiracy theories, she has yet to book a few individuals whose intellectual prowess on the matter tower over Rosie and the Truthers like my foot over a spider - the people at Popular Mechanics.

If Rosie actually does an entire show on how 9/11 is a government conspiracy, it'll be long past time for ABC to pull the plug on the whole thing. But the idiocy will be fun to watch...

Oh, and in case you have a few free moments and want to get some interesting information on conspiracy theories, see the second part of Bill Whittle's essay Seeing the Unseen.

Here I am!

2007-05-22T08:25:00.000-05:00

Sorry to all of you avid readers, but I have been off of the grid for a few weeks due to a recent move and change in employment. I've graduated and started a new job, and I'm sorry to say that the time I had previously spent blogging is going straight into my new place in the working world. I promise to update as much as possible, but bear with me throughout the transition.

The Scandal-Free White House

2007-05-02T10:12:00.000-05:00

Have you been watching the news? Reading the newspapers? Then you know that the White House is "consumed" by scandals.

The only problem is that no one can actually name any of them...

Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats

2007-05-02T09:56:00.000-05:00

The Democrats are continued their impressive reign as the majority party:

Someone Call Rosie!

2007-04-29T22:19:00.000-05:00

Quick! Someone tell Rosie "truther" O'Donnell that steel losses strength when it is surrounded by a 3,000 degree fire. Just see the story today when an overpass in San Francisco collapsed due to heat stress caused by an intense fire. So much for 9/11 conspiracy theories...

The Democrats in Action

2007-04-27T18:35:00.000-05:00

The Democrats have now passed an unconstitutional bill through both houses of congress that is both full of pork (in order for Democrats to vote for it) and also calls for our troops to retreat from Iraq. What on Earth do they think they are doing?

Elizabeth Edwards plays the "Black" card

2007-04-27T18:26:00.000-05:00

Oh, what if a political election season could pass without a little racism and BDS! Elizabeth Edwards, on the circuit for $400 haircut-receiving hubby John, claims now that George W. Bush went to Virginia Tech right after the shootings, and waited to go to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina because VT provided a "prettier picture" to the media (i.e. more white people). Not only should this be an indictment of the media and not the President but it is completely ridiculous. Let's not forget the derision towards President Clinton when he visited the site of a natural disaster for a photo op.

Elizabeth did say one intelligent thing, though:

"Issues that involve African-Americans in this country do not get the same amount of attention - it's in government things..."

That's right - the most diverse presidential cabinet in history is the one serving George W. Bush. What gets the headlines? Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi...

Comic Gold

2007-04-26T08:14:00.001-05:00

Expect to see this clip on every late night comic show for a week...

What are the Democrats doing?

2007-04-24T16:51:00.000-05:00

For all of those who voted for current members of the 110th congress I ask you: are you happy? Are you satisfied with your choice?

After the current Senate Majority Leader went on the national airwaves and proclaimed we had "lost" the war in Iraq, he's now saying that he plans to ignore the commander of American forces in Iraq, General Petraeus, if the general states that the surge of troops in Baghdad is working (and for all intents and purposes it is). Reid, in the same manner as Johnson and Nixon during the Vietnam war, believes that he as a politician is more intelligent and knowledgeable about war and peace than military officials, and that regardless of evidence or expert testimony he knows he is right and everyone who disagrees with him is wrong. How did this man make his way to the top of the Democratic leadership?

Next, after the President vetoes the unconstitutional troop funding bill that decrees our troops leave Iraq within a specific time table, the Democrats have promised to introduce another unconstitutional war funding bill that decrees American troops begin leaving Iraq on October 1st. Would the Democrats please read the Constitution (specifically Article II)?

Now, in the midst of far-left Democratic madness, Dennis Kucinich is introducing articles of impeachment for Vice President Cheney! What!? I watched an interview with Dennis on CNN, and he claimed that he is going after Cheney and not Bush because literally Cheney is worse! What are the charges? That Cheney:

...misled the nation about Iraq's having weapons of mass destruction; he had been deceitful about a nexus between Iraq and Al Qaeda and was being aggressive toward Iran "absent any real threat" from the Islamic Republic.

Dream on, Dennis. Did Cheney manipulate the Senate Intelligence Committee, French, Russian, and British Intelligence too? (Not to mention John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, and others...) Was there not a link between Al Qaeda and Iraq before 2003? Is Iran not a threat to world peace and security? Not to mention that are any of these items, if true, "high crimes and misdemeanors"?

Dennis Kucinich, Harry Reid, and the Democrats in congress are rapidly proving to be not only inept, corrupt, and desperately political, but completely and inconsolably insane.

Update: Speaking of insane:

Jim Manley, Reid's spokesman, said earlier that the "war is lost" comment was not in Reid's prepared text for the news conference last Thursday.

It has been almost a week since the majority leader uttered the unscripted remark...

Does it matter that it was "unscripted?" Yes, in that it shows what Reid really thinks outside of what his handlers allow him to say.

"I'm not going to get into a name-calling match with the administration's chief attack dog [Cheney]," Reid said, repeating "attack dog" three times.

Could you be considered certifiably stupid if in the same sentence you claimed to both not resort to "name calling" and call your opponent an "attack dog?"

Reid called Petraeus on Monday to offer his personal support for the troops fighting insurgents in Iraq, according to Reid's office.

Oh! Well, then! In that case Harry probably shouldn't have already said that regardless of what Petraeus says he still thinks the war is lost and the surge isn't working. Harry Reid, it would be best for everyone if you just stopped talking.

Three Great Strategies for Saving the Planet

2007-04-23T12:20:00.000-05:00

John Travolta, operator of several large private aircraft for purely recreational interest, recently suggested the rest of us start moving into domed cities and consider colonizing other planets to prevent further damage to the earth. Now Philosopher Sheryl Crow has added her hefty intellectual prowess to the search for ways to reduce our respective carbon footprints. From her Washington Post blog:

1) Host a reality show between contestants trying to live with the smallest carbon footprint. The winner gets a recording contract. (If you're an aspiring artist, start living outside without plumbing or fire and maybe cross the country planting apple seeds.)
2) Start wearing shirts with detachable sleeves, using them to wipe your mouth or blow your nose instead of paper products made from trees that didn't have to be cut down.
3) Require all citizens to use less than 3 sheets of toilet paper per bathroom visit to cut down on the paper products we consume in our daily acitivites.

I first thought her blog was a joke, but it appears to be an actual attempt to address what she believes to be a real problem. Algore is in great company. How about these morons begin by bringing their personal consumption down to the level of a typical American family before they can even begin to voice in the debate? Then we'll consider the detachable sleeves.

Update by radar: Sheryl should probably start her own reduction of global warming and environmental pollution by limiting the size of her 3 tractor-trailer, 4 bus, and 6 car entourage for each of her tour stops. I'm glad that Al Gore isn't the only mindless global warming alarmist hypocrite.

The rainforest strikes again

2007-04-23T10:51:00.000-05:00

The Des Moines Register reports on some more troublesome developments towards Iowa's new rainforest. Apparently, the developers are trying to sneak in a bill to get about $70 million more from the state's coffers, in addition to the $50 million already promised by the federal government. They claim that the revenue and employment generated by the Iowa rainforest will do more than compensate for the investment. If so, why haven't they gotten more private donors, and why are they being so sneaky about getting their millions from the state?

Don't get me wrong - I'm all for developments that create jobs and revenue. However, I'm not sure that the state should get involved with a potential disaster of a tourist trap that, for one, is based on something as completely absurd as an Iowan rainforest.

Response to a Tragedy

2007-04-23T08:52:00.000-05:00

There are a number of ways to respond to the shock of a national calamity. The shootings at Virginia Tech have awakened us in many ways to the lack of morality and Godlessness we see in our everyday lives. Some on the Left have chosen to use this as the calling card for gun control, or the outright repeal of the 2nd Amendment. Some on the Right have taken the opportunity to decry the foolishness in supposed "gun-free zones" and the lack of personal responsibility required of young adults in America.

Some, such as David Skorton, the president of Cornell and former president of the University of Iowa, and Betty Trachtenberg, the dean of students at Yale, have use the tragedy to advance their idiotic notions of morality and justice. Skorton has made calls for the country to honor the "33rd victim," the murderer of innocents as "a member of our family." The dean of students at Yale has used the shootings at Virginia tech to ban all weapons from campus - including fake ones used in dramatic productions. She then amended the ban so that students could use "obviously fake" weapons such as wooden swords in productions.

What really needs to be done? We need a culture of intellectual discourse and defense. Physical defense will follow intellectual defense, but in so many ways our institutions of higher learning do nothing to teach responsibility and logical discourse in the name of "diversity," "multiculturalism," or "sensitivity." We need college students to understand that the institutions will not and can not protect them - not from physical harm or unwanted intellectual stimulus. Students are adults and claiming colleges can protect them is both untrue and unwise. Finally, we must be "realistic about reality" and acknowledge that "gun-free zones" and attacks on our rights as Americans to bear arms does nothing to secure ourselves or our students safety. CNN anchors that accuse the gun store proprietor of murder never questioned the fertilizer store owner who sold ammonium nitrate in Oklahoma City or blamed the presidential administration for Columbine. Crime will not be stopped by preventing citizens from arming themselves, because the law-breakers won't stop buying guns when it becomes illegal.

What response is necessary? Remember that you are responsible for yourself, and that you have only one comfort in life and in death.

We Lost

2007-04-23T08:50:00.000-05:00

Time to pack up and go home. It's now official: the U.S. military has lost the war in Iraq. Says who? Why, Harry Reid of course. I'm sure this doesn't embolden our enemies at all.

What's that phrase again? "Aid and comfort"...

Update: Watching a History Channel special called Shootout again tonight about the Tet Offensive in Vietnam in 1968 reminds me that wars are not always won by men or guns, but public opinion and the media. For a democratically elected representative to claim we have "lost" is indeed an attempt, whether conscious or not, to cause us to loose the war. Is such a statement patriotic or treasonous?

Update again: Joe Lieberman responds:

This week witnessed horrific terrorist attacks by Islamist extremists in Iraq, killing hundreds of innocent civilians and leading Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to declare that the war is 'lost.'

With all due respect, I strongly disagree. Senator Reid's statement is not based on military facts on the ground in Iraq and does not advance our cause there.

Reid, against his better judgments, falls into a pit of cognitive dissonance:

"In an effort to shift attention from this Administration's failed polities – and I say that in the plural – the President and his allies have repeatedly questioned whether I and my fellow Democrats support our troops," the majority leader told fellow senators. "No one wants us to succeed in Iraq more than the Democrats. We've proven that time and time again since this war started more than four years ago. We take a back seat to no one in supporting our troops, and we will never abandon our troops in a time of war."

No one wants us to succeed more than the Democrats. Except that we already lost. Oh, and we support the troops.

Is there something wrong with this man?

Tortured and Killed for being a Chrisitan

2007-04-23T08:43:00.000-05:00

Yes, this type of things still happens in our world. Not only were Christian evangelists murdered by Islamic fanatics for distributing Christian literature in Turkey, they were also tortured first.

Why does this kind of story come out? To make an example of others who would choose the same path. An important difference to note: Muslim martyrs kill themselves to kill others. Christian martyrs die in order to save others.

Guns aren't bad

2007-04-23T07:38:00.000-05:00

In a day in age when guns are targeted as the reasons for violence in our society, and everyone from politicians to CNN anchors are calling for gun control or the outright repeal of the 2nd Amendment, we have this story to remind us of an example of a law-abiding citizen exercising her right to possess firearms:

Venus Ramey has earned lots of fame in her 82 years.

She was Miss America 1944 and later a candidate for Cincinnati City Council and worked to save Over-the-Rhine's historic buildings. She performed on Broadway and in movies.

Now, though, she's in the news for another reason.

After confronting a man she said was stealing from her Kentucky farm, Ramey pulled out a gun and shot out a tire on his truck so he couldn't leave, allowing police to arrest him and two others.

"He was probably wetting his pants," Ramey said Thursday from her home in Waynesburg, about 140 miles south of Cincinnati.

She had to balance on her walking stick as she pulled out a snub-nosed .38-caliber handgun.

"I didn't even think twice. I just went and did it. If they'd even dared come close to me, they'd be 6 feet under by now."

Free speech strikes again

2007-04-18T21:17:00.000-05:00

At the University of Rhode Island, the College Republicans decided to protest racially-based scholarships with their own sponsorship of a $100 scholarship available to "white, heterosexual, American males." Regardless of the president of the university's reminder to the student senate of the Republicans' constitutionally protected right of free speech, the student senate still derecognized the organization.

Like I said, free speech to all, except towards those with which we disagree.

What is one of the most important jobs of a President?

2007-04-18T12:59:00.000-05:00

To appoint Supreme Court justices.

The Court split 5-4 today to uphold the federal ban on "partial birth abortions." Here is a summary of the majority ruling and opinion. I look forward to reading the dissent. Oh, and guess which justices were in the minority...

Update: Hot Air:

Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion? This is like Darth Vader throwing the Emperor down the well at the end of [Star Wars: Return of the Jedi].

Update again: Justice Ginsburg, who wrote the dissent (no!) accuses the majority opinion justices of simple and archaic sexism. Apparently, defending an unborn child is relegating a woman to the status of "mother" (which is apparently horrible). Of course, once you are pregnant you are a mother, a concept Supreme Court justices like Ginsburg simply can never understand.

Update again again: Where do your favorites stand?
Hillary, Obama, Edwards - all support partial birth abortion.
McCain, Guiliani, Romney - all oppose partial birth abortion.

Just an FYI...

Global Warming and Hurricanes - had enough?

2007-04-18T12:44:00.000-05:00

Global warming does not affect the number of or intensity of hurricanes as reported in a new study to be published in the Geophysical Research Letters. In fact, global warming may actually increase wind shear that disrupts tropical storm formation.

This flies in the of Al Gore's alarmism, but don't count on a reaction. I'm sure these researchers were funded by oil companies or some other nonsense.

Global warming does not affect hurricanes. This is a premise repeated again and again and again and again. Check it out.

Is anyone listening?

2007-04-18T12:36:00.000-05:00

There's no polite way or time to say it: American college and universities have become coddle industries. Big Nanny administrators oversee speech codes, segregated dorms, politically correct academic departments, and designated "safe spaces" to protect students selectively from hurtful (conservative) opinions—while allowing mob rule for approved leftist positions (textbook case: Columbia University's anti-Minuteman Project protesters).

Instead of teaching students to defend their beliefs, American educators shield them from vigorous intellectual debate. Instead of encouraging autonomy, our higher institutions of learning stoke passivity and conflict-avoidance.

And as the erosion of intellectual self-defense goes, so goes the erosion of physical self-defense.

...

Late last summer, a shooting near campus prompted students to clamor again for loosening campus rules against armed self-defense. Virginia Tech officials turned up their noses. In response to student Bradford Wiles's campus newspaper op-ed piece in support of concealed carry on campus, Virginia Tech associate vice president Larry Hincker scoffed:

"[I]t is absolutely mind-boggling to see the opinions of Bradford Wiles…The editors of this page must have printed this commentary if for no other reason than malicious compliance. Surely, they scratched their heads saying, 'I can't believe he really wants to say that.' Wiles tells us that he didn't feel safe with the hundreds of highly trained officers armed with high powered rifles encircling the building and protecting him. He even implies that he needed his sidearm to protect himself."

The nerve!

Hincker continued: "The writer would have us believe that a university campus, with tens of thousands of young people, is safer with everyone packing heat. Imagine the continual fear of students in that scenario. We've seen that fear here, and we don't want to see it again…Guns don't belong in classrooms. They never will. Virginia Tech has a very sound policy preventing same."

Who's scratching his head now, Mr. Hincker?

Title answer: no.

Update: I hope so, from the Instapundit (a professor of law at the University of Tennessee):

"Gun-free zones" are premised on a fantasy: That murderers will follow rules, and that people like my student, or Bradford Wiles, are a greater danger to those around them than crazed killers like Cho Seung-hui. That's an insult. Sometimes, it's a deadly one.

The title says it all

2007-04-17T18:46:00.000-05:00

"Chimps More Evolved than Humans"

Oh.

[Genetics researchers at the University of Michigan] found that substantially more genes in chimps evolved in ways that were beneficial than was the case with human genes.

You know, it became apparent during my recent flights to Florida and New York both the amazing technological skills and aspirations of the human race. I rode, for a small price, in a vehicle whose basic technology is barely a hundred years old that uses the atmosphere and physics to propel itself at hundreds of miles per hour through the sky from one destination to another.

I'm not sure if you've ever been in a plane as it flew through a thunderstorm, but it is another amazing experience. From the window I could see flashes of lighting: enormous discharges of static electricity that turn air into plasma that explodes in an instant causing a huge boom. This storm is capable of creating winds greater than any known force on Earth. It can cause rain to move up and down within the storm itself hundreds of time to form ice balls the size of a melon. A storm like this can also swat such an amazing piece of technology like an airplane out of the sky in a minute, which is why pilots and air traffic controllers avoid them.

The human innovation of flight is utterly under the constraints of nature, and of God. Not to mention the divine inspiration of humankind towards such an amazing idea as powered flight.

But it's good to think that scientists out there think that their theory of evolution means that humans are less "evolved" than an animal whose greatest technological aspirations are limited to poking a stick into an anthill. Next time the thunder rolls, remember your creator and the amazing things he has done. Or you can listen to the geneticists and hope that we still have more "evolving" to do.

"Our nation is shocked and saddened"

2007-04-16T21:07:00.000-05:00

May God comfort the loved ones of the victims of one of the worst tragedies in American history.

Update: Heroes emerge - people who barricaded the door or used their body to save students' lives. Powerline links to the Jerusalem Post in their description of such a professor. Also, the paper reminds us of other deadly university shootings, the worst until yesterday taking place at the University of Texas in 1966 when a gunman climbed the clock tower and began shooting at students. The paper claims that police killed the shooter in Texas. We should remember, though, that a citizen entered the tower with police, as citizens from all across the area provided cover for police with their personal firearms.

And let's also not forget the fact that University law enforcement officers can't carry guns in Iowa...

Culture of Corruption?

2007-04-16T10:48:00.000-05:00

On which side of the isle?

Apparently Democrats are attempting to relive 1993 with their congressional antics. Congressmen, women, and their spouses are flying all over the world and staying in $1,000+ per night hotels in Europe and the Caribbean on your tax dollars (not to mention all of those greenhouse gas emissions!) Don't worry, though, they're doing research...

Abortion in the News

2007-04-16T10:36:00.000-05:00

The Iowa State Daily reports on an abortion protest on Iowa State University's campus. Members of ISU Students for Life protested abortion by placing 6,000 white flags across central campus - one for every abortion that takes place in Iowa each year. The controversy arose when a concerned citizen decided that it was his "free speech" right to remove the flags. In a classic protest-counter protest move, as the one student removed the flags, ISU Student for Life replaced them.

When the organization finally called the police, it was revealed that they had overstepped the bounds for their protest, and had to relocate their flags within a smaller area.

The really amazing thing is that students now believe that it is their free speech right to interrupt and disrupt speech they disagree with. It's a scary new phenomenon.

Next in the news, it seems that British doctors in greater an greater numbers are unwilling to perform abortions. It's another interesting new trend...

Horror in Walcott!

2007-04-16T10:31:00.000-05:00

Iowahawk provides us all yet another view of terrorism in the midwest:

WALCOTT, IOWA - Clad in civilian Reeboks and Gem sweaters, clutching pink gift bags filled with hot Maid Rites and souvenir Herky the Hawkeye Beanie Babies, over three dozen smiling British Royal Marines waved for cameras and boarded a London-bound RAF bus this morning in the parking lot of Walcott's sprawling Iowa 80 Truck Stop.

The surprise morning release of the 38 sailors and marines ended a tense three-day standoff between the British government and a breakaway Lutheran militia group that controls large swaths of the notorious "Manure Triangle" region spanning Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

...

The visit was not without controversy. As a condition for meeting with Gunderson, Pelosi agreed to go on a tour of several Lutheran holy sites. Several right wing websites criticized Pelosi for participating in what they termed stage-managed insurgent propaganda, and were especially critical of Pelosi's decision to wear native garb while doing so.

...

Her most controversial appearance was at Knoxville Raceway, where she posed next to a sprint car in the traditional summer Tubetop.

Essay Roundup

2007-04-13T16:26:00.000-05:00

Bill Whittle provides us some insight on conspiracy theories and theorists:

Recently, Rosie O’Donnell said on national television that she believes 9/11 was orchestrated by the US government.

...

Rosie O’ Donnell making such a claim on a major network is a national disgrace. The fact that much of the audience cheered and applauded is nothing less than a national catastrophe.

...

"This is the first time in history that fire has ever melted steel," she said. This is a statement of such pristine and perfect idiocy that it surely must be emblazoned in stone across the entrance to the Physics Imbecile wing of the Moron Museum of Natural History.

Victor Davis Hanson had a dream:

Those in Congress would not deny that Congress itself had voted for a war against Saddam on 23 counts — the vast majority of which had nothing to do with weapons of mass destruction and remain as valid today as when they were approved in 2002.

....

In this dream, I heard our ex-presidents add to this chorus of war-time solidarity. Jimmy Carter reminded Americans that radical Islam had started in earnest on his watch, out of an endemic hatred of all things Western. I imagined him explaining that America began being called the “Great Satan” during the presidential tenure of a liberal pacifist, not a Texan conservative.

...

I also dreamed that the British government only laughed at calls to curtail studies of the Holocaust in deference to radical Muslims, and instead repeatedly aired a documentary on its sole Victoria Cross winner in Iraq. The British, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, and Spanish foreign ministers would collectively warn the radical Islamic world that there would be no more concessions to the pre-rational primeval mind, no more backpeddling and equivocating on rioting and threats over cartoons or operas or papal statements. There would be no more apologies about how the West need make amends for a hallowed tradition that started 2,500 years ago with classical Athens, led to the Italian Republics of the Renaissance, and inspired the liberal democracies that defeated fascism, Japanese militarism, Nazism, and Communist totalitarianism, and now are likewise poised to end radical Islamic fascism.

Non-Scandal and Lost Emails

2007-04-12T21:49:00.000-05:00

A recent non-scandal that has the Democrats barking is that of the fired eight U.S. attorneys. It's customary for presidential administrations to fire U.S attorneys as they work at the convenience of the Executive Branch. The Justice Department fired these eight attorneys - some for poor performance, some for ethical mistakes, and others for (ironically) not being tough enough prosecutors. When asked about the firings, Attorney General Gonzales made statements that contradicted the Justice Department out of an apparent lack of communication. Regardless of Bill Clinton's Justice Department firing all 92 U.S. Attorneys in the 90's the Democrats took the red meat of a misstatement and ran with it.

Now it appears that White House officials, most likely having nothing to do with the firings, have been using Republican National Committee emails that have not been archived before 2004. The Democrats, seizing on this non-error concerning a non-scandal are crying foul. In a letter designed to alert the press rather than actually accomplish anything, Democrats are implying that these emails were improperly deleted, with Patrick Leahy even claiming that the emails aren't really deleted and that a child could find them.

Alberto Gonzales has agreed to testify before congress to clear up any misunderstandings, and the AP has already begun to play to the Left:

With five days left before Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testifies before Leahy's committee in an effort to save his job, lawmakers kept up the pressure in the latest dispute to grow out of the Justice Department's firings of eight federal prosecutors.

No doubt an interesting delusion considering Congress' complete lack of ability to remove him from his post.

I really wish this Democratic congress would do something besides stonewall and whine about conservatives. If a Democrat wins in 2008 what on Earth are they going to spend their time complaining about?

Update: Scott Ott weighs in. Are the Democrats stuck on "Congress shall make no law..."?

Jeb Bush College of Education?

2007-04-12T21:46:00.000-05:00

In an amazing case of university snobbery, the faculty of the University of Florida denied a motion to award Jeb Bush with an honorary degree. This virtually never happens, and the Florida legislature is fighting back.

This week their House evidently passed a bill to rename the U of Florida's College of Education after Jeb. Poetic justice?

Separation of Mosque and State?

2007-04-12T08:34:00.000-05:00

Why is it that in the Minnesota public university system you can't play Christmas music at Christmas, but a college will use public funds to install non-needed Muslim foot-washing basins?

Obligatory Gratuitous "Bush is Nixon" Comment

2007-04-12T08:17:00.000-05:00

Harry Reid is desperate. Running on a platform of "we aren't Republicans" has gotten the Democrats control of congress, yet they seem to be unable to accomplish anything. The continuing mockery of their first 100 hours of failure notwithstanding, the Democrats have seemed to hinge their hopes of control of the country on abandoning the fledgling democracy in Iraq.

The best way for Democrats to abandon Iraq is to compare Iraq at all times to Vietnam, and therefore Bush to Nixon. Reid excels at these comparisons and has dropped another whopper just the other day. Why? Because Bush is going to veto the "war funding" bill, because in actuality it is an "abandon Iraq and toss hundreds of millions of dollars at special interests" bill. If Bush vetoes the bill the Democrats will have to choose between abandoning our troops on the field or playing to their ravenous supporters on the far left. How desperate are they to do both?

Bush also objects to $20 billion-plus in "pork" spending programs that Democrats have included in the bill, although Democratic leaders defend the funding as need emergency spending for Hurricane Katrina victims, child health programs, and veteran care.

Eh? The Democrats have bought the votes to the "abandon Iraq" bill by pumping it full of millions of dollars of crap. The only reason a Democrat would claim this pork is needed is that they assume you, as an American citizen, are too stupid to find out for yourself what kind of unnecessary funding and special interest pacifiers have been tossed in it. Sugar beets, planting trees, and the University of Vermont don't have anything to do with Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, child health care, or veterans.

Keep going strong Harry. In no time an American public which is quick to ask "what have you done for me lately?" won't be keeping your party in office for long. Unless you write a few million dollars into a war spending bill for us...

"Jesus Tomb" story bogus

2007-04-12T07:56:00.000-05:00

No kidding?

This Discovery Channel special has been hit with criticism even before it was shown. It seems that filmmaker James Cameron was so desperate to prove Christianity wrong that he dove into a 20-year old already-solved mystery.

The entire documentary was based on Jewish ossuaries discovered in Jerusalem in 1980. The ossuaries were inscribed with "Jesus, son of Joseph," "Mary," Mariah," and "Judah, son of Jesus." The filmmakers used these names to attempt to prove that this was the tomb of Jesus, his parents, his "wife" Mary Magdalene (watching a little too much DaVinci Code?) and his "son" Judah.

Along with the initial criticism, (such as the common nature of those names in the first century) a number of other factual fallacies have come to light.

The statistics relating these three names was misstated.
The archaeologist who excavated the tombs opinion was ignored.
The ossuaries' names were mistranslated.
The DNA experty was misstated.
Pretty much the whole thing was crap.

This is just another attempt to "destroy" modern Christianity with forensic evidence. It isn't the first, nor will it be the last. It appears that some people are so guilty and concerned over the implications of Jesus' life on earth and his status as the Son of God they will do anything to try and prove these tenants false. I do take issue with one of other part of The Jerusalem Post article:

...as well as Christian leaders, who were angered over the documentary's contradictions of main tenets of Christianity.

Christians aren't arbitrarily "angered" over attempts at disproving Christianity; rather, we are supremely annoyed at factually and morally bankrupt attempts to disprove the Christian faith with shoddy archeology and lies. No one will ever be able to "disprove" Christianity (for good reason) and those who try will never face our anger - only our sympathy.

John Bolton on North Korea, Iran, Chavez and Pelosi

2007-04-11T19:51:00.000-05:00

*Exclusive* John Bolton audio at Miami University

John Bolton came to Miami University yesterday and spoke on a variety of foreign policy issues. His speech was excellent, and although he didn't comment much on the state of the United Nations, he did comment extensively on what he considers the largest threats to international peace and security - North Korea and Iran.

North Korea: The ambassador commented extensively on the futility of negotiating with the North Korean regime. Referring to the country as a "17 million person prison camp" it's important to remember that the only goals the regime has is to maintain its own power. North Korea will, as it has over and over again, stall and make deals that it immediately breaks in order to continue its nuclear weapons program. Every deal that is made provides the regime more time and money in order to maintain power. In order to solve the international crisis brewing Bolton urges us to use China's influence over North Korea and ultimately work towards regime change and reunification of the Korean peninsula. Listen to Bolton on North Korea here.

Iran: Bolton went on to discuss the second major threat to world peace as Iran. He reminded us that every pointless deal made with North Korea reminds the Mullahs in Tehran that the west can be bargained into inaction. He reminded us that there is no other way to interpret the nuclear program of the Iranians other than a program designed to create a nuclear weapon. This information is not only based on U.S. intelligence data, but public information available from the International Atomic Energy Agency. Further, Iran has been projecting power throughout the region and supporting international terrorism such as Hezbollah, and Hamas. Also, with the shenanigans involved with the kidnapping of the 15 British sailors Iran has tested the resolve of the west, the U.N., and the E.U. and found no real contest. Bolton urges the Iranians to follow the example of Muammar Qadhafi and Lybia who peacefully ended their nuclear program and in exchange dramatically increased the quality of life of the Lybian people. Lessening our dependence on oil and no longer allowing Iran to circumvent international law will be the first steps in reigning in this rogue nation. Listen to Bolton on Iran here.

The ambassador then opened the floor up for questions, and a few focused on Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez and Democrat Speaker of the House Pelosi. Bolton referred to Chavez as a "fruit loop" and "Castro without brains." He explained Chavez's attempt to buy a spot on the U.N. security council and buy his way into popularity in South America. Many nations beyond the U.S. see what an imminent threat Chavez's dictatorship is, and the ambassador reminded us that Chavez is unpredictable and a threat to the western hemisphere. Listen to Bolton on Chavez here.

Next, a question came up about Speaker Pelosi, and her recent trip to Syria. Bolton made no qualms about Pelosi's trip by saying "at best it's counterproductive" and reminding us that Pelosi was indeed trying to illegally establish alternative channels of foreign policy. Based on wide universal criticism of her actions, Bolton stated "I'll be surprised if she does much more of that." Listen to Bolton on Pelosi here.

John Bolton was articulate, knowledgeable, and direct when speaking about these international threats to world security. I can see clearly from this one experience that he was an asset to the U.S. and our mission within the U.N. It's therefore still unclear why and also unfortunate that the Democrats would rather play politics and refuse to ratify him within the post in which he was so exceedingly successful. The U.N is surely worse off without him.

Global Warming deniers - go to Hell!

2007-04-09T21:06:00.000-05:00

Vanity Fair magazine has pronounced its sentence: those who question global warming are going to Hell.

"Then there’s the final circle – hell itself – containing “Satan, and in his three mouths: Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), former chairman of the Senate Environment Committee, tireless denouncer of global warming as ‘a hoax’ perpetrated on Americans by alarmist liberal media; President George W. Bush; Vice President Dick Cheney, former Halliburton C.E.O., convener of top-secret energy task force, which met with oil and gas executives.”

Satan, George Bush, and anyone who questions global warming in Hell together. Only the American old media...

Two Americas

2007-04-09T10:18:00.000-05:00

Not in my backyard!

John Edwards, famous for his belief in "two Americas" seems to have failed to pass that memo to his wife. In an interview this week she called her neighbor who she has never met but "wouldn't be nice to" regardless a "rabid, rabid Republican" because he chased someone off of his property with a handgun. Mrs. Edwards thinks that the gentleman has left his property next to the Edwards' posh 28,000 square foot mansion "slummy" in order to make her upset.

"I have to budget. I have to live within my means," Johnson [the rabid Republican] said. "I don't have millions of dollars to fix the place."

Indeed. Irony meter - again off the scale. It seems some people really don't get it.

Modern Journalism

2007-04-09T09:33:00.000-05:00

Recovering from a week of anti-Christian TV spots for the Easter season, it's no wonder I am supremely annoyed (but not surprised) at the following:

The London Telegraph reports that the bitter old BBC won't air a drama about Britain's youngest surviving Victoria Cross hero "because it feared it would alienate members of the audience opposed to the war in Iraq."

British soldier Private Johnson Beharry saved his fellow soldiers twice while putting himself at great personal risk in Iraq. First he pulled his comrades out of a burning military vehicle while under enemy fire, and the other time he drove his armored vehicle out of harms way after getting a rocket-propelled grenade to the head (among other things). He has been given Britain's highest military commendation, and Britain's national TV network won't air his story. Modern journalism and political correctness at work.

An Example

2007-04-09T09:29:00.000-05:00

It might have helped those British sailors and marines to have an example of "not cooperating" with enemy propaganda attempts. From a U.S. Marine, also a former hostage of the Mullahs in Iran:

During the ordeal they would try to tape us for propaganda purposes. Personally, I would keep looking down to the ground or hide behind others so that my face wouldn't show (in fact, after a couple of months of not seeing me in any of the videos my records I was classified as MIA). Another Marine and I shared the same cell and when they came in with cameras we'd strip down. I heard a rumor that one of the other Marines smeared ketchup on his face and started howling.

They day before they released us, we were taken to a room with a camera and Mary the Terrorist who was going to interview us. We were threatened that if we didn't say the right things we wouldn't be released. Some Marines gave only name rank and SSN, others sang (Marine Corps Hymn or God Bless America), others just said nothing.

On the day they let us go, I was being herded towards the airplane by a couple of those monkeys. I pulled my arm out of their grasp and let them know that "We're number one"...but used the wrong finger.

News Roundup 4/8/07

2007-04-08T22:33:00.000-05:00

On the ABC's World News Tonight on Saturday the producers decided to follow up a story on the (century-record breaking) cold spell across the country with their new segment, "Going Green." This week on "Going Green?" "Fresh ideas for coping with the warming planet." Irony meter: off the charts.

Global warming realist Dr. Richard Lindzen, a professor of meteorology at MIT, reminds us all in Newsweek of the real science of global warming:

There is no compelling evidence that the warming trend we've seen will amount to anything close to catastrophe. What most commentators—and many scientists—seem to miss is that the only thing we can say with certainly about climate is that it changes.

Mark Steyn sums up the lessons of the British hostage crisis:

Even if it were true (which it's not) that Valerie Plame's crack commando units are rappelling down the walls of every presidential palace from Sudan to North Korea, in a media age what matters is not only what's going on behind the scenes but the scenes themselves. And scenes of British servicemen fawning on Ahmadinejad along with scenes of a headscarved Nancy Pelosi doing the same to Bashir Assad project a consistent message.

Finally, Christian cartoonist Johnny Hart, creator of the B.C. comic strip, died today. In an era of liberal anti-religious cartoons in newspapers, Hart was noted for the definitive Christian themes of his prehistoric characters. Banned by such old media outlets as the LA Times, it's only fitting that his death on Easter be remembered for one such inflammatory message too controversial for major national newspapers:

Picture yourself tied to a tree,
condemned of the sins of eternity.
Then picture a spear, parting the air,
seeking your heart to cut your despair.
Suddenly—a knight, in armor of white,
stands in the gap betwixt you and its flight,
And shedding his 'armor of God' for you—
bears the lance that runs him through.
His heart has been pierced that yours may beat,
and the blood of his corpse washes your feet.
Picture yourself in raiment white,
cleansed by the blood of the lifeless knight.
Never to mourn,
the prince who was downed,
For he is not lost! It is you who are found.

News Roundup 4/7/07

2007-04-07T15:12:00.000-05:00

The Social work academic program at Missouri State University got the worst evaluation its president has ever seen of a program. What alerted the administration that there was a problem? When a Christian student refused to complete an "assignment" to send a letter to the Missouri legislature requesting that gay couples be allowed to foster children.

The lovely and peaceful Iranians seemed to not have treated their British captives very humanely after all. In an attempt to violate as many provisions of the Geneva Convention as possible, they lined up the captives (bound and blindfolded), placed them against a wall, and faked their executions. How nice.

Finally, a lesson in media bias via Powerline blog. In one "news" story, the world's foremost expert on hurricanes becomes a mindless old coot "railing" and "out of the mainstream" when it comes to his criticism of Al Gore and global warming. Simply amazing.

51 Thins to Save the Earth

2007-04-05T23:47:00.000-05:00

Time Magazine Continues it's proud journalistic tradition with 51 things we can do to save the Earth. Not wearing a tie, paying a non-existent carbon tax, and not making left turns are among the items on their list.

Journalism at its best.

Time Magazine Declares: "America's Broken-Down Army"

2007-04-05T15:28:00.000-05:00

Don't forget - they support the troops. It's just that they slander the military establishment with John Murtha quotes and unsupported facts to make the point that the war in Iraq has broken the U.S. military.

You know who they forgot to interview? A current U.S. Army soldier.

I wonder why?

I have heard, yet I do not believe

2007-04-05T00:23:00.000-05:00

I recently returned from the student affairs event of the decade - the 2007 Joint Meeting of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) and the American College Personnel Association (ACPA). This conference of higher education student affairs professionals is held every year by each organization, and jointly every decade. Nearly 10,000 college administrators and graduate students attended, and guess who they got as their keynote opening speaker? Al Gore. (The picture is about 10 years old, in case you were wondering).

Although I think I've had my fun debunking the myth of man-made "global warming" and have already tossed a few mockeries out about the Goracle himself, I always intended to watch An Inconvenient Truth myself and debunk it. With Al's speech at the Joint Conference, I've already seen and heard all I need to.

He essentially gave his Inconvenient Truth speech, which was about as silly as it was factually a joke. A few highlights:

Hurricanes: Amazingly, Al Gore has retained the hurricane section of his speech, even though linking hurricanes to global warming is something only he still believes in. Recently, the world's #1 expert on hurricanes was not asked to write the hurricane section of the U.N.'s climate change report, because for years he has seen no evidence linking the two. Gore claimed that while some scientists state that global warming has no effect on hurricane numbers, scientists do state that global warming affects hurricane strength. The problem with this is that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Hurricane Center knows and has stated on a number of occasions that hurricanes are controlled by a natural cycle - not global warming (if global warming even exists.)

Gore went on to claim that a hurricane last year was the strongest ever recorded. He's right if he meant by atmospheric pressure - wrong if by size or wind speeds. The hurricane winners in those categories were back in the 1960's and '70's. He also claimed that Wilma in 2005 made scientists question the need for a "Category 6" hurricane on the previously 5-point scale. I can find no record of such an inquiry in NOAA or the NHC's websites - only in the media.

Finally, Gore tossed up a graph of yearly hurricane damage dollar amounts showing a wild increase from year to year. He reminded the audience that although inflation and population growth fuels this upward trend, hurricane intensity is the main factor. This is a foolish assessment at best. Considering the exponential population growth the coast of the U.S. has seen in the past century, it is no wonder the damage numbers are now much higher. I'm sorry Al, but comparing the cost of the damage to Galveston, Texas in 1900 to Central Florida in 1992 isn't really indicative of anything other than inflation and population growth.

Antarctic Ice: Al tried to scare us with a variety of ice-melting pictures and disaster scenarios. Unfortunately his data on Antarctica was amazingly wrong. While he focused on one relatively small ice sheet that broke up a number of years ago, he failed to mention that ice and snow on the continent has grown exponentially in the past few years. Antarctic ice is not melting - it's growing!

CO2: My education in post-modernism has increased my attention to the regular failure and suspect nature of cause and affect relationships. Unfortunately for the Goracle, his "science" relies on the same false connections as does all "global warming" "science": the idea that carbon dioxide is the sole reason for global warming. The simplistic nature of this notion is hard to immediately dismiss alongside graphs showing corresponding temperature and CO2 increases (over 60 years? How old is the Earth again?) but in essence is a silly reductionist approach to science. Gore claimed as evidence for his theory that Venus is warmer than Mercury because of carbon dioxide. He, of course, forgot to mention that Mars is also warming on a planet-wide scale - without more CO2, humans, or $1100 monthly energy bills. Maybe solar radiation is involved?

Kyoto: The second most lie-infested part of the presentation was when Al mentioned Kyoto. He claimed, in the final moments of his speech, that "deniers" claim that the Earth is too far gone for us to save from the perils of global warming. He rejected that statement, and astonishingly claimed Kyoto as evidence of the ability to reverse course. The only problem with this, of course, is that Kyoto acknowledges global warming as unstoppable, and its mandated restrictions on CO2 are only 1/10th of what the treaty itself says is necessary (not to mention that 13 out of 15 European nations are ignoring their signatures). Saying Kyoto is the solution to global warming is shamelessly playing on our collective ignorance of the agreement, assuming that Al is not also ignorant of these facts.

Religion: The final and possibly most frightening part of Al's presentation was the literal religiosity of the entire affair. Pictures of melting glaciers were met with gasps, insulting phrases toward global warming "deniers" were met with laughs and snickers, and the final parts of his presentation - a call to "save the Earth" as he named states and cities combating global warming - were feverishly presented to ever-increasing roars from the crowd. Al doesn't want people to think, or he would have presented factually accurate information. Al wants you to believe. He wants you to believe in global warming. It is truly a religion - a religion with a prophet (Gore), a god (Earth), and a penance ("carbon neutrality").

Also sprinkled throughout his commentary were jokes concerning the 2000 election, and he was listed in the program as "winning the popular vote," which is kind of like matching 3 out of the 5 lottery numbers. It's been 7 years Al - get over it already.

Finally, I have great concerns over what this session means for higher education in general. Al made a number of requests that "global warming" not be a political issue. However, global warming is of course political, regardless of whether or not the prophet Goracle declares it to be. Hearing that Al was coming made a number of even my liberal colleagues wonder what on earth he would speak about that connected to higher education. However, Gore went ahead and gave his global warming speech anyway. Is this what the organizers intended? I have a feeling yes, and I'm sure Gore was happy to come. What more friendly of an audience can he get for his pseudo-science than a group of liberal academics?

In short, Al Gore, like global warming, is a joke.

The American Left Strikes Again

2007-04-04T22:46:00.000-05:00

This time, in addition to regularly attacking conservative speakers on college campuses, blocking Karl Rove's motorcade and throwing rocks at him, and stealing American flags and burning them the modern leftists have struck another target.

This time anti-vehicular bike-riding liberals attacked a mini-van full of children. Because, apparently, the bike-riding leftists don't like mini-vans.

More Democratic Diplomatic Delusions

2007-04-04T22:42:00.000-05:00

Make way for the Democrats and their new diplomatic stance on terrorism! The House Armed Services Committee has banned the phrase "global war on terror." You know, because Bush uses it...

An interesting question

2007-04-04T15:30:00.000-05:00

Powerline asks the question of why the old media, such as the NY Times, seem to be obsessed with debunking Judeo-Christian religions?

We're all still waiting for similar attacks on Islam.

Still waiting.

Democratic Diplomatic Delusions

2007-04-04T15:21:00.000-05:00

Now we see the real failures and danger of Nancy's junket to our terrorist enemies. It seems she told the Syrians a lie:

“We were very pleased with the reassurances we received from the president (Assad) that he was ready to resume the peace process. He was ready to engage in negotiations (for) peace with Israel,” Pelosi said.

“(Our) meeting with the president enabled us to communicate a message from prime minister Olmert that Israel was ready to engage in peace talks as well,” Pelosi, the third most senior official in Washington, told reporters after talks with Assad.

...

An Israeli government official said that was not the message Olmert had asked Pelosi earlier this week to convey to Assad, who seeks the return of the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

“The prime minister said Israel is interested in peace with Syria, but Syria would first have to abandon the path of terror and providing support for terrorist groups,” the official said, in reference to Palestinian group Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Oh, yea. That's why the Speaker of the House is not given diplomatic duties. Unless it comes to terrorists I guess.

A Thought on the British Hostages

2007-04-04T12:26:00.000-05:00

Mark Steyn, as always, has a thought on the capture and lack of action concerning the British hostages in Iran:

The U.N. will do nothing for men seized on a U.N.-sanctioned mission. The European Union will do nothing for its "European citizens." But if liberal transnationalism is a post-modern joke, it's not the only school of transnationalism out there. Iran's Islamic Revolution has been explicitly extraterritorial since the beginning: It has created and funded murderous proxies in Hezbollah, Hamas and both Shia and Sunni factions of the Iraq "insurgency." It has spent a fortune in the stans of Central Asia radicalizing previously somnolent Muslim populations. When Ayatollah Khomeini announced the fatwa against Salman Rushdie, it was not Iranians but British, Indian, Turkish, European, Asian and American Muslims who called for his death, firebombed bookstores, shot his publisher, fatally stabbed his translator and murdered anybody who got in their way.

So we live today in a world of one-way sovereignty: American, British and Iraqi forces in Iraq respect the Syrian and Iranian borders; the Syrians and Iranians do not respect the Iraqi border. Patrolling the Shatt al-Arab at a time of war, the Royal Navy operates under rules of engagement designed by distant fainthearts with an eye to the polite fictions of "international law": If you're in a ''warship,'' you can't wage war. If you're in a ''destroyer,'' don't destroy anything. If you're in a "frigate," you're frigging done for.

On Sept. 11, a New York skyscraper was brought down by the Egyptian leader of a German cell of an Afghan terror group led by a Saudi. Islamism is only the first of many globalized ideological viruses that will seep undetected across national frontiers in the years ahead. Meanwhile, we put our faith in meetings of foreign ministers.

"It is better to be making the news than taking it," wrote Winston Churchill in 1898. But his successors have gotten used to taking it, and the men who make the news well understand that.

Democratic Diplomacy Revisited

2007-04-04T12:17:00.000-05:00

Nancy must have had a hay-day in Syria over the weekend. It's not every day you can wear a symbol of misogyny, undermine your country's foreign policy, and meet with terrorists all in the same day.

However, Nancy Pelosi seems to have done it all.

I'm not sure if I can describe the extend by which I despise this shamelessly political course of action, but let me say this: the Democrat's recent and continuing inability to take international affairs and terrorism seriously is one of the most shockingly underreported stories of late.

Therapy

2007-04-04T12:16:00.000-05:00

I must warn you, it is rather shocking...

Democratic Diplomacy

2007-03-31T19:24:00.000-06:00

Aren't you glad the Democrats are in control of congress? Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi decided this week to not allow the House to vote on a resolution condemning the Iranians for their illegal capture of British sailors and immediately demanding their release. A similar resolution already passed the Senate, but evidently Pelosi thought the resolution would do more harm than good.

I remember a time not too long ago when the Democrats' battle cry was "we have alienated our allies!" Since when do the Democrats and Pelosi think that we can ignore our strongest one?

Oh, and Nancy is heading out for a junket in Syria. You know, to lend some credibility to the dictator that is #2 on the list of our terrorist enemies in the middle east.

A letter from Iraq

2007-03-29T16:58:00.001-06:00

...to the Democrats in congress. They should probably listen, but I doubt they care.

Global Warming Punishment

2007-03-29T07:42:00.000-06:00

I've recently discovered a new blog called Notes in the Margin, written by a meteorologist in Kansas that, among other things, is concerned with bunk "global warming" science and alarmism.

Today he reports on yet another official silencing of a scientist that dared question humankind's supposed influence on climate change.

Washington Associate State Climatologist Mark Albright was stripped of his title this week for questioning bogus snowpack shrinking numbers in the Cascade Mountains. Pointing out the mistake by email was enough for his supervisor to demand all further correspondence go through him first. When Albright refused, his title was removed. Luckily he'll still be employed by the University of Washington anyway. However, the governor has announced new 6-digit funding initiatives for the recently purged State Climatologist's Office that I doubt Albright will be privy to.

This isn't the first time state climatologists have been stripped of their titles for pushing back against the "man-made global warming" status quo, and I'm sure it won't be the last. What I can't understand is the scientific community's acceptance of these purges.

What does science mean anymore when scientists are fired for holding differing opinions?

A Lesson in Media Bias

2007-03-29T06:29:00.000-06:00

Newsbusters reports on the mockery of Democracy that is taking place in the Maryland state house this week. Democrats want to give illegal aliens in-state tuition. You know, like the citizens of Maryland get.

Nevermind the outright ridiculousness of this bill (which passed their House) but check out the way the Washington Post labeled both sides of the isle:

Del. Patrick L. McDonough (R-Baltimore County) told his colleagues, "We are aiding and abetting people who are in this state illegally." His voice rose in anger. "Welcome to Maryland. We are a sanctuary state. We will provide services to you. We will break the rule of law."

The comments infuriated many Democrats, who rose to speak for the bill. The most eloquent was Del. Melvin L. Stukes (D-Baltimore), who spoke with the fervor of a preacher. He compared opposition to undocumented students with the 1700s view of slaves as less than human.

Republicans getting angry; Democrats speaking "with the fervor of a preacher." Doesn't that violate the separation of church and state?

Acts of War

2007-03-28T11:56:00.000-06:00

I haven't commented on it too much, but it seems clear now that the time to act has come. The British government has made clear the reality of the situation - British Marines and sailors had boarded a merchant ship well within Iraqi waters. The Iranian navy boarded the ship and captured the British sailors, and hauled them off quickly into Iranian waters. A British frigate was nearby, but to avoid international incident she did not intervene once the Iranians had crossed back into their territory. The Iranians first acknowledged the position of the merchant ship, then changed their story.

Now the Iranians have stepped it up. Tony Blair has severed diplomatic relations, and the Iranians have paraded their prisoners on national TV, interrogated them, forced them to write "confessions," and dressed the lone woman up in a burqua.

John Hinderaker wonders, "Does the Geneva Convention apply to anyone other than the U.S.?"

No word yet about whether the British have been forcibly converted to Islam.

On wonders now - how many more acts of aggression is the Western world ready to tolerate, and what kind of an act of war by Iran and its insane leaders will we finally consider such an act?

The Beauty of Socialism

2007-03-28T11:49:00.000-06:00

Mark Steyn reports on the glories of living in a socialized Germany:

Desperate mothers are being urged to drop their unwanted babies through hatches at hospitals in an effort to halt a spate of infanticides that has shocked Germany.

At least 23 babies have been killed so far this year, many of them beaten to death or strangled by their mothers before being dumped on wasteland and in dustbins.

Mark says:

Germany has one of the lowest fertility rates in Europe, net population loss, and a rapidly depopulating east that’s economically unsustainable. Thirty per cent of German women are childless, 40 per cent of female university graduates are childless...

By the way, look at the first word of that report, from The Times of London: “Desperate” mothers. Why, in a land of socialized health care and lavish welfare, are mothers so “desperate”?

Why, indeed...

Ignorance on Parade

2007-03-28T06:35:00.000-06:00

I feel bad for people who make a stand on positions of ignorance. Take Burger King for example. Apparently, the #2 burger joint in the nation is going to "begin buying eggs and pork from suppliers that did not confine their animals in cages and crates." I admit, I don't know much about chickens, but I helped raise hogs for about a decade.

Burger King wants "10 percent of its pork to come from pig farms that allow sows to move around inside pens, rather than being confined to crates." Of course, for those of us who know (and Burger King clearly does not) allowing sows to "move around" in their pens and not be in cages mean that hundreds and hundreds more baby pigs will be crushed and suffocated to death.

Do you know why sows are put into crates? Because when sows are tired and lie down, they don't care what they lay on, and often lay on top of their own young. Maybe one or two baby pigs a day will be crushed to death, screaming for hours until they finally give up. (You can tell which ones get crushed by sows because they die with their tongues hanging out; screaming.) Crates confine sows and allow the baby pigs some safe room to move around so that the sows can't squash them. Which is more humane?

Next, my favorite taco joint, Chipotle, is about as stupid as Burger King. Here's a sign they routinely display:

We serve naturally raised pork and chickens
*never given antibiotics
*never given growth hormones
*humanely raised
*vegetarian fed

Do you know what this sign means? It means the pigs it buys for pork were sick a lot. I'm not so keen on growth hormones, or vegetarian-fed animals, but if they were never given antibiotics they are telling me that their pigs were sick and did not receive treatment.

Pigs are like us in many ways (biologically very much so) and as a pig farmer, if you go out and hear pigs coughing (yes, they cough) then you find out what they are sick with (often the flu) and give them some yummy anti-biotic powder, or if you are serious a shot of antibiotics. All Chipotle is advertising is that their pigs were sick. A lot. And a number of them most likely died from the elements, since I doubt they were housed indoors (un)"humanely."

Before these big chains restaurants start advertising their ignorance, they should learn few facts about the livestock they depend on.

Congressional Democrats Hard at Work

2007-03-27T18:55:00.000-06:00

The Senate Democrats today, in their first non-symbolic vote, passed an unconstitutional bill demanding U.S. troops leave Iraq by this time next year. The Democrats in the House did the same earlier this week. Unfortunately, only the President controls the armed forces. Also unfortunately, congressional Democrats had to sell their souls to get the bill through.

As you can see, Democrats in both houses of congress, in order to get support from everyone, added hundreds of millions of dollars of crap to the bill. A couple million to sugar beets, another couple to planting trees, and even $2 million to the University of Vermont. Why? Because the Democrats are willing to sell votes in order to sell out our allies in Iraq.

Shameful? I think so.

Thanks for voting for Democrats

2007-03-27T09:07:00.000-06:00

Here is what they do best - raise taxes.

It will be the largest tax increase in U.S. history.

Bye-bye strong economy...

100 Million Pixels

2007-03-26T12:23:00.000-06:00

The greatest resolution virtual reality room in the world. The first is still the best. Sweet.