Ads for Colleges

During this football season. Everyone's seen em. Smiling youngsters, pursuing grand academic goals, hardly the college experience that I am experiencing. True college commercials would have me lying (laying?) on my couch on a Saturday afternoon with empty cans of Special Reserve Light thrown haphazardly around the apartment, along with empty quarter-pounder McDonald's wrappers from last nights 1:30 food run that I don't really remember. School work? Blah.

Best commercial- I confess that I haven't actually viewed it, but what the hell.

Bait the Ivy League: "Two years ago, the University of Alabama won another national championship, with more USA Today Academic All-Americans than any other school. Harvard was second," beams the SEC school's promotional spot. "Now the 2005 results are in, finding the University of Alabama again leading the nation. Do I hear dynasty?" When questioned about the budding academic rivalry, a Harvard spokesperson told me, "There is no response available."

hehe.

Repulsive

Is Larisa Alexandrovna's pathetic and disgusting response to Andrew Sullivan who correctly calls her out for this out of line tirade.
Her response?

I mean really, even a gay man who making his living pandering to homophobes should be able to see just how flaccid his argument is. But then again, a gay man hating gays is the new party platform for the right.

wow. What a bag full of lies. Someone correctly pointing out to Alexandrovna that yes in fact you are a rabid left wing lunatic really got under her skin, and she resorts to questioning Sullivan's commitment to equality for gay men and women. A man who wrote one of the most thoughtful and sincere articles concerning gay culture, and who consistently hammers home the point that homosexual couples should have all the rights and status as heterosexuals at his blog. Does she even read any of Sullivan's writings? Sullivan is hardly a fringe right lunatic as implied and comparisons with Michelle Malkin are ludicrous. Jesus Christ, he even endorsed John Kerry in the last election, how much of a crazed righty can Sullivan be?

Unbelievable. And if my Democratic party ever, ever became as "patriotic" as this shrill hack claims to be, I would leave in a heartbeat.

The O'Reilly of the left. Wonderful.

Response to Jarred Diamond

Latest work in the salvo of ideas about how the West become the predominant center of political and economic and, dare I say cultural?, power in the world from former Prof. Rodney Stark.

But the provocation doesn't end at the title. Stark, formerly professor of sociology and comparative religion at the University of Washington for more than 30 years, now at Baylor, amasses considerable evidence in support of his theory and isn't afraid to speak his mind. While Diamond examined geographical and environmental factors leading to Western hegemony, Stark argues that ideas trump geography, in particular that Christianity's emphasis on reason was key to the development of Europe.

For me this is the interesting aspect of Stark's work, and one that might stoke my inclination to read the work is this tidbit from the review.

Stark then explores the growth of capitalism from northern Italy to Flanders, Amsterdam and England, and presents case studies of early France and Spain where capitalism didn't take strong root. Along the way Stark finds no evidence for Weber's idea that Protestantism was essential to the growth of capitalism. He maintains that capitalism began under Catholicism, in the rational management of medieval monastic estates, and flourished in Italy long before Luther nailed his theses to a church door. Finally, Stark tests his theories against New World history, covering well-worn ground on the political and economic differences between North and Latin Americas.

Diamond's thesis about geographic considerations determine history has major flaws (600 pound gorilla-- the history of ancient China), but it is the best and most effective way of explaining the rise of the West. Always good to read works contrary to Diamond though.

Libya

The always informative Michael Totten writes about his Libyan vacation. Not a place that I plan on visiting anytime soon.

The freeway continued as far as I could see without any way for me to cross it. Traffic was relentless, and I didn’t dare wade into it without knowing the rules. I could have just bolted in front of the cars and they would have stopped. But I hadn’t been in the country for even two hours. I didn’t know how anything worked yet. So I went back to the hotel and ordered some dinner.

I’d say that was my mistake, but I did have to eat.

At the restaurant, there was no sign that said “Please Wait To Be Seated.” Should I seat myself? Who knew? I felt ridiculous just standing there at the entrance. So I found a table.

A waiter finally came over.

“Are you a tourist?” he said.

“Yes,” I lied. Libya is a total-surveillance police state. One person in six works for the secret police. Best, I thought, to keep my journalistic intentions to myself.

“For tourists we have fish,” he said. He did not give me a menu. I didn’t see a single menu anywhere in the country. In Libyan restaurants, you sit down and eat whatever they give you.

“What kind of fish?”

“Eh,” he said, taken aback by the question. “Fish. Fish. You know, fish.”

“Great,” I said. “I’ll have the fish.”

He brought me two small fish the size of my hand, each fried in a pan. Heads, fins and eyeballs were still attached. Bones and guts were inside. They tasted bad and smelled worse. The businessmen at the tables around me drank nonalcoholic Becks “beer.” But all I got was a bottle of water.

...................


So I did what I could to find out. I smiled at everyone who walked past. You can learn a lot about a people and a place by trying this out. In New York, people ignore you. In Guatemala City, people will stare. In Libya, they all smiled back, every last one of them, no matter how grumpy or self-absorbed they looked two seconds before.

I never detected even a whiff of hostility, not from one single person. Libyans seemed a decent, gentle, welcoming people with terrible luck. It wasn’t their fault the neighborhood stank of oppression.


....................

“And Qaddafi is our president,” he said. “About him, no comment.” He laughed, but I don’t think he thought it was funny.

“Oh, come on,” I said. “Comment away. I don’t live here.”

He thought about that. For a long drawn-out moment, he calculated the odds and weighed the consequences. Then the dam burst.

“We hate that fucking bastard, we have nothing to do with him. Nothing. We keep our heads down and our mouths shut. We do our jobs, we go home. If I talk, they will take me out of my house in the night and put me in prison.

“Qaddafi steals,” he told me. “He steals from us.” He spoke rapidly now, twice as fast as before, as though he had been holding back all his life. He wiped sweat off his forehead with trembling hands. “The oil money goes to his friends. Tunisians next door are richer and they don’t even have any oil.”

“I know,” I said. “I’m sorry.”

“We get three or four hundred dinars each month to live on. Our families are huge, we have five or six children. It is a really big problem. We don’t make enough to take care of them. I want to live in Lebanon. Beirut is the second Paris. It is civilized! Women and men mix freely in Lebanon.”

Read the entire thing. Fascinating. It's always refreshing to read a work about the Middle Easterners that isn't soley about Islamo-fascists, terrorists, the despotic leaders, and how everyone there hates us. People are people, even in the Middle East.

More on Munich

From David Edelstein. More focused on the morals and lessons of the film, rather than its historical context or accuracy. Interesting take.

Polls Polls Polls

Many on the far right have been touting the recently released Rasmussen report as evidence that Bush should continue to spy on US citizens without adhering to FISA. Remember that in polling how pollsters formulate questions impacts results a great deal, and that's the problem with Rasmussen's latest effort.

Rasmussen poll asks questions such as "Should the National Security Agency be allowed to intercept telephone conversations between terrorism suspects in other countries and people living in the United States?" (64% of Americans say hell yeah they should) The current controversy regarding Bush and his failure to follow FISA regulations and law has nothing to do with the question per se, and everything to do with is he legally able to spy on American citizens without a warrant or even applying for a warrant (as FISA allows the pres to legally spy on US citizens for 72 hours before obtaining a warrant). The poll fails to address that simple question, and in effect is pointless and worthless.

More

On Munich.

Oh Hell

Have conservatives on the brain today so here's some more on conservatism through the years.

Conspiracy Theory

AssRocketry style. If I remember correctly the WaPo was a accused multiple times (along with the New Republic) of being a bunch of war mongerers and Bush mouthpieces. Interesting then that they have a hidden agenda to misreport about the war they endorsed, and help bring about the downfall of the Bush Admin.

Really

The free-spending, big government loving, poke their damn noses into the citizens' business Republicans of today aren't in the mold of covervatives of lore? Shocking.

Goldwater or Bush, Goldwater or Bush.... what would I like more... neither give me Nixon! Kidding. Although the elder Bush was a good president.

Hehe

This happened to my uncle two Christmases (?) ago. He was not pleased.

Bits and Pieces

Regarding some books and movies that I have recently viewed and read.

Munich-- Go see it. Keep in mind that it's based on historical events, it does not purport to be a documentary, and has some noticeable distortions and omissions. The movie does not really do justice to the events that occurred at Munich and after. Read the book--One Day in September.

Take this test. And specifically the race test. A fascinating look at our own inner prejudices. Found the site from Gladwell's book, Blink, which I highly recommend.

Currently I am reading Al Franken's new book. It's alright so far with the usual tirades against kooky right-wing commentators, Bush, and Repubs in general, but is interesting and fun nonetheless, after all anyone who dislikes O'Reilly and Hannity and Limbaugh is a-ok with me.

Back to Arrested Development: Season 1.

Been

Busy and Lazy the past couple of days. Gorging myself on Christmas hams, potatoes, fruit salads, appetizers, and those little cookies, returning gifts, and watching Arrested Development dvds have meant little time for blogging. That probably won't change in the next few days, but after the New Year I will be back in business.

Another Wonderful Thing About Xmas

Law and Order marathon all day long. The pure, original version, none of this SVU: Special Victims Unit, stuff. 24 hours of Jerry Orbach's wise-ass remarks, nothing quite like it.

A Merry Christmas

It's a wonderful day, food, family, presents, what could be better? An Xbox 360 perhaps...

Kind of interesting tidbit:

After giving his blessing the Pope offered his Christmas greetings in over 30 different languages, following a custom established by his predecessor the late Pope John Paul II.

They included Chinese, Russian, Arabic and Swahili, tongues familiar to few in his audience, yet an indication of the worldwide reach of his 1.1 billion-strong Church.

Uh-Oh

Underage learning happening at my school? The horrors. Could this be a parody on the big Fox 9 news "investigation" into our Gopher hockey team? Perhaps.

We're More Popular than Sex

And Jesus. Seriously.

Hmmm

I believe that I have been violating a self-imposed ban on using profanity in my writing these past few days. A quote from an old grade school teacher that sticks in my head "People who swear cannot espouse their opinions in a coherent and articulate manner, and are just plain stupid." I admit to fudging the exact words of the quote, but the meaning holds true. Perhaps I will cut down on the profanity laced diatribes against people, policies, and people's actions that generally irritate and annoy me, but then again maybe not. Time will tell.

(anything to do with Bill O'Reilly is always and has always been a time when profanity is not only acceptable, but mandatory in nature because of all the ridiculous things that just spew out of his mouth)

Mmm... Lunch

Area religious leaders differ on intelligent-design ruling.

Damn

Don't really want to pack right now. So I will give you a round-up, a bit drunk but it will be worthwhile nonetheless.

Sully: We questioned authority this year and won! A lot of good that has done us...

Impeach all those judges for questioning what Bush can and cannot do, atrios laughs at the fools. Duh, he's our holy monarch. I liked the Hapsburgs didn't you?

Didn't read it but looks like something I would find interesting.

Yeah that Drudge is sure a left-leaning news organization. Damn idiots. Wait those two links should be reversed, or maybe not. Not sure. It will all work out though.

Mentioned it before but damn I sure love John Cole even though I disagree with him half the time. Oh and just for the record I hate Kos, even though I agree with him half the time, a conundrum I think not. And I always despise the godfather, and underpants media and powerline and littlegreenfootballs and michelle malkin and so on and so forth. To lazy to link to most of them but you can figure it out.

Time to stop.

Rockafella Tonight

Might have had a bit too much of this tonight:

What can you do? Done with exams, time to kick back and relax. Explain this one to me, turned in my final paper for mass media class two weeks ago, got it back tonight and my prof writesto me on it that he wants me to email him a copy so he can use it for future reference, but I only got an A- on it! WTF? Not pleased with that.

Time to pack.

Idiots

Referring back to my "godfather" post, more more evidence that he is just full of shit.

Watched This

Last night when I should have been studying. Scroll on down to read the debate between Feingold and Cornyn. I may not think he should be our next president, but damn I sure do respect and admire the man. And he knows his stuff.

For Cornyn: It's quite hard to argue when you have foundation upon which to build your argument, eh?

(FYI: Feingold kicked Cornyn's ass, actually mentioning specific details referring to the FISA act that Bush violated and is currently violating rather than Coryn's vague notions about the Constitution, which Feingold promptly refuted)

Back to Milwaukee tomorrow, and that's a good thing.

Haven't Quite

reached five thousand yet, soon very soon.

Ughh

Kaus makes a terrible argument for the legality and rationality of our government listening in on all of our phone calls and reading our emails. Just because some jackass person with a scanner does it (as Kaus states) doesn't mean that it is right. Sickos peer through their binoculars into people's houses that doesn't mean that our government should be allowed to.

His advocation for lowering the standards of obtaining search warrants and allowing mass warrants is puzzling and wrong. Already FISA allows the government to spy on American citizens for three entire days before obtaining a warrant, I fail to see how you can make that provision even more lenient without dismantling the 4th amendment in our Constitution, and Kaus's idea that the government should be allowed to search American citizen en masse with only limited supervision is chilling.

Kaus basically wants a return to the days where J Edger Hoover's FBI had unlimited authority to spy on American citizens and much abused their power, albeit this time the spyer (?) would be the NSA. Not a good solution.

Next of Fox News

Just saw this headline:

The war on Christmas is taking toll on American troops in Iraq.


Let's bring the troops into this bullshit WoC. Saying Happy Holidays is undermining our troops morale and causing us to lose the war on terror. Right...

Hmm Forgive Me

Forgive me if this is up twice. The times are screwed up.

Don't really want to pack right now. So I will give you a round-up, a bit drunk but it will be worthwhile nonetheless.

Sully: We questioned authority this year and won! A lot of good that has done us...

Impeach all those judges for questioning what Bush can and cannot do, atrios laughs at the fools. Duh, he's our holy monarch. I liked the Hapsburgs didn't you?

Didn't read it but looks like something I would find interesting.

Yeah that Drudge is sure a left-leaning news organization. Damn idiots. Wait those two links should be reversed, or maybe not. Not sure. It will all work out though.

Mentioned it before but damn I sure love John Cole even though I disagree with him half the time. Oh and just for the record I hate Kos, even though I agree with him half the time, a conundrum I think not. And I always despise the godfather, and underpants media and powerline and littlegreenfootballs and michelle malkin and so on and so forth. To lazy to link to most of them but you can figure it out.

Time to stop.

Wednesday Night Drinking

With my final exam finishing up around 8.30 I will have ample opportunity to kick back and have fun before my journey home. On tap for tonight--


Good old fashioned beer die.

Cut, Cut, Chop, Chop, Slice, Slice

Just chop up quote into irrecongizable bits and pieces that bolster your position at the expense of truth.

And there might be more to come regarding Bush's misconduct.

Things That Irritate Me

The "godfather" of the blogosphere misconstruing people's comments on the transit workers strike in NY. He chops up comments to make the people opposing the strike appear rational. e.g. he mentions that one lady writes in to the Transit Workers unofficial blog:

I am thoroughly disgusted with the TWU. Who are you to think you're above the law? Who are you to take well-paying jobs (for your education levels) serving millions of people and then hold us hostage by striking?

I have a 16 month old son who will be taken to day care today in his STROLLER. In 20 degree weather. I am paid hourly and will lose today's salary.

He fails to leave out the next section in her comment:

You are TERRORISTS, and you are irresponsible, and you are pathetic.[her emphasis]

The comments in the section represent some people angry with the strikers, some supporting. People who cherry pick quotes and then chop them up to obscure the original message to support a point is not ethical. Disagreeing or agreeing with the transit strike is one thing, supporting your position with false examples is wrong.

Bob Jones University

Excerpts from their self-designed precalc textbooks:

If you are given the length of two sides and the angle measure opposite one of those sides, you can use the law of sines to solve the triangle. However, this does not always determine a unique triangle. As a result, it is called the ambiguous case. Ambiguous means open to multiple interpretations. Some people say that you can interpret the Bible in any way that you want. However, there is no ambiguity in the Bible.

.....


A person is eccentric if his behavior deviates from normal. Jesus Christ expects His disciples to be eccentric, since living a Christlike life is not normal in this world (Titus 2:14). Likewise, in mathematics, conic sections are eccentric if they deviate from a circle. Eccentricity is a measure of this deviation. The eccentricity of an ellipse (e) is the ratio of focal distance (c) to the length of the semimajor axis (a): e = c?a. Since c and a are distances and c < a, the eccentricity of any ellipse is 0 < e < 1.

Weird stuff. Wonder if questions on exams are structured in the same format: Q: if 45 Christians are being mercilessly slaughtered by hedonistic` Jews how many remain? A: all of them because God strikes down the Jews with thunderbolts. (trick question)

Intelligent Design

And the flying spaghetti monster.

Memo to the Man Upstairs (the President that is)

Rumblings in the conservative land over this egregious breach of our legal code. George Will:

On the assumption that Congress or a court would have been cooperative in September 2001, and that the cooperation could have kept necessary actions clearly lawful without conferring any benefit on the nation's enemies, the president's decision to authorize the NSA's surveillance without the complicity of a court or Congress was a mistake. Perhaps one caused by this administration's almost metabolic urge to keep Congress unnecessarily distant and hence disgruntled.

Coronation Commence

Bush mouthpiece #1, Bill Kristol argues that the FISA act, which explicitly allows the president to tap American communications if they are believed to be connected with terrorism, doesn't provide enough leniency to listen in on American communications. Here's the reality. The government can legally tap a citizen's communications for 72 hours before getting a warrant, the courts have only rejected four warrants out of thousands over the 27 years FISA has been in effect, and the president still needs to circumvent the process in the name of national security. Let's think here, after 9.11 had the president gone to Congress and requested any sort of reasonable change to FISA, the House and Senate would have been head over heels in granting any sort of "wartime" powers to our commander in chief. Possible explanation for the deception and cover-up from Josh Marshall:

I'm not sure it's data-mining precisely. Perhaps they're doing searches for certain patterns of words or numbers, perhaps something as simple as a phone number. But unlike 'traditional' wiretapping, in which you're catching the conversations of a relatively small and defined group of people, this may involve listening in on a big slice of the email or phone communications in the country looking for a particular phone number or code or perhaps a reference to a particular name.

From a technological point of view there's not really much outlandish about this at all. This is just the sort of thing the NSA is in the business of doing overseas. But you can see how this would just be a non-starter for getting a warrant. It is the definition of a fishing expedition.

When you have the government spying on those Quaker terrorists you know that all isn't well. 9.11 didn't mean that our civil liberties and rights guaranteed in the Constitution must be stolen away in the name of protecting us. A balance must be maintained, but unfortunately for us, the president has brazenly and unilaterally taken it upon himself to determine the appropriate balance, and this what you get, a return to the days of J Edgar Hoover.

Oh Hell

Sitting here waiting for my roommate to finish his PS2 NCAA football game so I can play mine, a few things I have come across.

An ambivalent article in the Boston Globe concerning the accuracy and worth of Wikipedia. I use it everyday and it is a valuable source of wealth and knowledge, and it's as accurate as "official" encyclopedias.

Lots of Catholics on the SCOTUS, five if Alito is confirmed. As a good born and bred Catholic boy it brings warm fuzzies to my heart. Slate looks at why we are so well liked.

British biologist, Richard Dawkins talks about evolution and religion (he's an atheist). A snippet:

They [atheism and belief in human evolution] clearly can’t be irrevocably linked because a very large number of theologians believe in evolution. In fact, any respectable theologian of the Catholic or Anglican or any other sensible church believes in evolution. Similarly, a very large number of evolutionary scientists are also religious. My personal feeling is that understanding evolution led me to atheism.

Some more on Dawkins and his critics.

As much as Democrats hate DeLay and his gerrymandering of Texas, we shouldn't do anything about it argues Law prof Richard Hansen.

Gotta love the Repubs adding ANWR drilling proposal onto a bill assigning funds for military spending. Vote for the bill and allow drilling in ANWR, vote against and be accused of being "anti-military." Damned if you do, damned if you don't. The bill's not going to get passed.

Well my roomie's done playing his game, off to play some football.

Torture

Things to ponder.

Considerable philosophical effort has been put into explaining how one can relent in order to save Manhattan but still endorse an absolute torture ban. The doctrine of ''dirty hands,'' discussed by the political philosopher Michael Walzer in a landmark 1971 essay, argues that the torturer who saves Manhattan must still face criminal charges. Walzer concedes torture will happen in this situation but insists it must remain illegal. And if the torturer's sentence is suspended, as seems possible, he still must ask his God or conscience for forgiveness-acknowledging that, while necessary, his actions were immoral.

Harvard Law School's Alan Dershowitz points out a practical problem with this approach, drawing on his experiences with trials. Imagine things happen as Walzer describes them. No jury would convict a torturer who saved a city. Yet a jury might well convict and punish a torturer who had every reason to think she was saving a city, but failed for reasons outside her control.

No More Kenny G

For Iranians. I don't know what's more disturbing, Iran's ban of all Western music (not going to be effective) or the fact that Kenny G's saxophone is some of the Western music allowed on Iranian radio.

Unlimited Executive Power

Let the consolidation commence.

Things That I Noticed

Before I go off to study for my Arabic final.

Sullivan's take on the WoC.

Some of my slightly left of the center compatriots just plain don't like any aspect of Bush's speech, some do. I personally look at any acknowledgement that things might not being going so well in Iraq as a step in the right direction, with many many many more to go.

One step forward for Bush, means he has to take 10 steps backwards with his statement saying US spying program on its own citizens without judicial oversight is essential and legal. Only one problem, the president doesn't have to spy illegally, he can just get a legal court order specifically created to assist in the capture of American born terrorists and accomplices, and it's not like they are hard to get.

Man of much ignorance calls for a criminal investigation into the leak of classified info to the NY Times because the idea that some people might not like the government illegally spying on people is just un American.

Onwards and outwards I proceed.

SOSDD

In regards to Bush's speech. Except for this:

I also want to speak to those of you who did not support my decision to send troops to Iraq: I have heard your disagreement, and I know how deeply it is felt.

Yet now there are only two options before our country -- victory or defeat. And the need for victory is larger than any president or political party, because the security of our people is in the balance. I do not expect you to support everything I do, but tonight I have a request: do not give in to despair, and do not give up on this fight for freedom.

I like, I like. Even though you may hate the war, disagree with its premises, are repulsed by Bush, this is a fight we cannot afford to lose. We don't need another Afghanistan.

....WoC update: I wonder if O'Leilly will condemn the president for mentioning Hanukahh in the same breath as Christmas. By golly that's almost a sin, and must be condemned. Everyone knows that from Thanksgiving until February is Christmas season, and Christmas season only.

I Always Will Have a Soft Spot in My Heart

For those wonderful people who want to ensure that America maintains its lead as the world's primer innovator and creator. We must boost funding for the sciences. How about a race to energy independence?, not quite as sexy and awe-inspiring as the Space race, but much more important (I steal shamelessly from Thomas Friedman's grand idea).

Stick to Keeping the Mexicans Out of America

This sums up Pat Buchanan's ignorance in a nutshell.

And when you consider the clocklike precision of the planets in their orbits about the sun and the extraordinary complexity of the human eye, does that seem to you like the result of random selection or the product of intelligent design?,

This pile of shit was debunked in my first page of my (the horrors) human evolution textbook with an argument similar to this.

ery change had to confer a survival advantage, no matter how slight. Eventually, the light-sensitive spot evolved into a retina, the layer of cells and pigment at the back of the human eye. Over time a lens formed at the front of the eye. It could have arisen as a double-layered transparent tissue containing increasing amounts of liquid that gave it the convex curvature of the human eye.

In fact, eyes corresponding to every stage in this sequence have been found in existing living species. The existence of this range of less complex light-sensitive structures supports scientists' hypotheses about how complex eyes like ours could evolve. The first animals with anything resembling an eye lived about 550 million years ago. And, according to one scientist's calculations, only 364,000 years would have been needed for a camera-like eye to evolve from a light-sensitive patch.

The Horrors

The news media has a hard left bias is the conclusion of UCLA poly sci prof and Mizzou economist after scouring news media organizations for the past 10 years. How did he come up with his views? Here's how he determined biases in the media.

Groseclose and Milyo then directed 21 research assistants Â? most of them college students Â? to scour U.S. media coverage of the past 10 years. They tallied the number of times each media outlet referred to think tanks and policy groups, such as the left-leaning NAACP or the right-leaning Heritage Foundation.

Next, they did the same exercise with speeches of U.S. lawmakers. If a media outlet displayed a citation pattern similar to that of a lawmaker, then Groseclose and Milyo's method assigned both a similar ADA score.

So based on the citation pattern of major newsoutlets a determination was made about the supposed bias of the news organization? Some questions I have about the report. Did the study even take into account the stories and the context in which these citations were made? Just because a news outlet cites or quotes a particular organization opoliticianan doesn't mean it defacto supports it views. The major problem with the survey is because it bases its "center" on the ADA average score in Congress (50.1), and assumes that Congress is an accurate representation of America's political views. The Senate doesn't even come close to accurately representing American political thought, 2 senators from NY and 2 from Wyoming anyone? and ADA ratings are based on positions taken by Senators (study says it "compensated" for this, but I will be interested to see how exactly). Also with all the gerrymandering and wacky electoral districts created (DeLay and Texas debauchery) for House representatives, I would hardly consider the ADA's average score to be representative of the American public.

The study initially seems methodologically challenged to say the least, but I suppose I will wait until the final study is published and for political scientists to tear it apart before further commentary.

Something else to mull on: any political scientist who states that Drudge is left leaning needs to get their head checked.

Movie

Just came back from seeing Syriana, a fascinating and very well made movie, with the same style as Traffic. Unfortunately I missed the first 20 minutes of it because my roommates and myself got lost and couldn't find the movie theatre, and then had to sit next to an extremely large man who kept slurping his soda, nudging my arm, and making weird gurgling noises, so the movie experience wasn't quite up to par.

Has the standard story line of mega corporations running the world and politicians are always slaves big business, but it is presented in a very artful and thought-provoking manor (and I admit, tempting to believe with all the Abramoff scandals coming to light).

I would argue a bit with Syriana's portrayal of the current geo-political and economic realities, but the film delivers an impressive view of the world politics, and is well worth seeing.

WoC

Adam Cohen:

Religious conservatives are using Christmas for a political purpose: as a cudgel to push the prayers and displays of their own form of Christianity into public spaces, including public schools, and to make America more like a theocracy.

The Christmas defenders' real enemy is not secularism, but inclusiveness. Department stores have been using phrases like "Happy Holidays" and "Season's Greetings" because they want to make themselves appealing to as many customers as possible — including the nearly one-quarter of Americans who do not call themselves Christians — not because they hate Christmas. Governments walk a careful line regarding holidays because they don't want to fall afoul of the First Amendment, and because they want to make all of their constituents feel included in holiday celebrations.

Falwell even is offering free legal help to those "persecuted for celebrating Christmas." And of couse its those damn Jews fault, who according to O'Leilly "gotta go to Israel" if they don't want to proselytized to in school.

The Bush's sent out generic Christmas cards to supporters, which stated have a happy Holiday season instead of Merry Christmas. The horrors.

The response from the kooks:

"This clearly demonstrates that the Bush administration has suffered a loss of will and that they have capitulated to the worst elements in our culture," said William A. Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.

Covert you hell-bound Jews and Muslims, or ship out.

Happy Holidays.

Journalism Professors Scream in Unison

Every single one of my journalism professors would laugh at this statement:

I cannot remember the last time, or first time, this newspaper reported a leak that was helpful to our war effort.

The news press is not supposed to be the mouthpiece of the government. If it happens to uncover governmental wrongdoings that threaten our civil liberties, even if they may help the "war on terror" they have a duty and obligation to report the facts. And if you don't like it, tough bananas.

Saturday Shooters, on a Friday

Exam will be the death of me; only one night of fun this weekend. Tonight the the drink of choice: Wild Turkey bourbon.


It seems like an old man's drink, but what the hell. I'll be old one day, might as well start off now.

Hope

Lawrence Kaplan.

Feingold Wins

In Senate legalese style, but ultimately will help defeat Patriot Act's renewal.

Bush Response

To his administration spying on Americans without judicial approval.

PRESIDENT BUSH:

Jim, we do not discuss ongoing intelligence operations to protect the country, and the reason why is that there's an enemy that lurks, that would like to know exactly what we're trying to do to stop them. I will make this point. That whatever I do to protect the American people, and I have an obligation to do so, that we will uphold the law, and decisions made are made understanding we have an obligation to protect the civil liberties of the American people.

But if we have to unilaterally take away some rights, well.... we at war, we at war, we at war

Bono

Just isn't helping life for Africans. Interesting stuff. Which I agree with to a point.

Wow

Why shit-head Democrats such as these will never ever win any sort of election if they hold and express views such as this.

I won't stand for the American flag because I won't stand for what is done in its name. I won't stand for the current war in Iraq, I won't stand for the last war in Iraq. I won't stand for all the wars before that. I won't stand for its selectively faulty electoral process and I won't stand for its unelected, renegade government. I won't stand for its medieval attitude towards sexuality and privacy, for its violent misinterpretation of Christianity, for its refusal to deal sanely with AIDS and all other global health crises, for its environmentally suicidal stance on climate change, for the hypocrisy of its practices, for the torture of its prisoners, for its executions and its drug wars and its oil wars. I won't stand for any of these things, and I won't stand for the United States of America, or its flag or its anthem, until they change.

Then you have the shitheads down at the comments comparing standing to our national anthem akin to Germans supporting Nazism and Hitler.

If you were in 1938 Germany, and you saw someone refuse to stand and shout Heil! would you gather some meaning from their act?

Protest is good. Mindless dribble comparing Bush to Hitler, whining about our electoral process however imperfect it might be, and just being a pain the ass by not standing for our national anthem is just ridiculous. Some on the far far far left cannot see that 1. not one mainstream American voter, whether on the left or the right, will ever see any sort of comparison between Hitler and any present day American politician, and in fact will be repulsed by any mention of the comparison. 2. Whining about every little wrong that America has done will not and cannot bring about change in any sort of meaningful way as most people just aren't going to listen. 3. All the wonderful European countries that are so beloved by Americans most certainly aren't the models of morality and civil liberties that many on the left hold them up to be (look at Britain's laws allowing newspaper censorship, French handling of riots in mid 90s) 4. Mainstream Americans realize that most people on the far far far far left just plain hate America.

The wacko right hates America for its moral decay, the kooky left hates America for being fascists. What wonderful bed fellows.

Hehe TNR's City Guide

To the GOP controlled DC. For travelling Dems here's some advice:

Washington is by and large a friendly and hospitable place. But, unfortunately, some prejudices can run deep here. The ruling Republicans are very contemptuous of Democrats, who are treated as inferiors and meddlesome interlopers. Just as Americans abroad may prefer to pose as Canadians, liberals visiting D.C. should consider disguising their political affiliation to avoid discrimination. Take care not to display anti-Bush materials near a presidential appearance, for instance, as Secret Service agents tend to bruise first and ask questions later. Drivers from blue states should consider renting a car in Virginia with local plates before approaching the Capitol or the White House. At least be sure to scrape off any lingering DEAN FOR AMERICA bumper stickers. And be prepared to encounter some conscience-shocking behavior: Visitors to the Capitol in particular may witness cruel and unusual treatment of the Democratic minority by GOP leaders. Republicans have even been known to mobilize the Capitol Police against insubordinate Democrats. In light of recent changes to federal detention and interrogation policies, you may wish to refrain from speaking out against such abuses.

Not Doing 'Nuthing Anyways

More interesting things.

Iranian president Ahmadinejad, "They have created a myth in the name of the Holocaust and consider it above God, religion and the prophets,"

Polls, polls, polls. Hate or love em, people need to write about em. Take this abc poll asking Iraqis about the current situation in Iraq. Just look these interpretations of the results, one moderately good, the other moderately bad. Then there's Powerline and they're just shrills for Bush so they don't count. I will wait for my Mystery Pollster to tell me what to think.

O'Leilley strikes another fearsome blow in the WoC, claiming in Dodgeville WI an elementary school changed the lyrics of O Silent Night to Cold in the Night! Oh what a fearsome deathblow struck by the benevolent general for the crusaders of Christmas. If only it were true. But it's all a big lie. In fact the youngsters even ended the program singing, we wish you a merry Christmas. Don't fret Bill, there's still a war to be won.

If anyone cares, Mitch Romney won't seek reelection in Jersey in '06 because the presidency is calling. Here's a profile on him.

It's the French version of 50dddy Cent.

While we're on the French check out La Haine my favorite French film.

good day.

Oh Balls

Some things I found interesting.

Sully is enamored with the salami argument! Get it? Salami, Sully haha... oh Christ all this studying is getting to my head.

Does the death penalty really deter crime? Its been a back and forth argument. Here's the latest installment:

For a state's first few executions, the deterrent effect is small. Only if a state executes many people does deterrence grow; only then do potential criminals become convinced that the state is serious about the punishment, so that they start to reduce their criminal activity

Well hell lets just start executing everyone Texas style.

Here's an argument for why liberals shouldn't give a flying damn about the Solomon amendment:

while most Americans have grown more tolerant of gay rights in recent decades, elites have become increasingly unwilling to serve in the military. The real shame at the heart of the Solomon Amendment scuffle, then, isn't the possibility of students being confronted by representatives from an organization that discriminates against gays and lesbians. It's the possibility of elites becoming even more isolated from the armed services that keep all of us safe.

Basic gist: society is moving towards equal rights anyway, this is just a potential blip on the radar screen

Haha this one hits right at home.

If you want to improve national savings in this country doing it by waving the magical private account wand is just idiotic. Start by reforming predatory lending and bad practices by credit card companies. Too many people don't have any damn money to save.

Hmmm.. I bet this includes my job at Vikings games of giving away shirts, hats, and blankets in exchange for Mastercard applications. Siiiiigggnnn up, get a frrrrreeeee gift.

And last but certainly not least: Students Arrested For Oral Sex In Classroom. From who else but the king of sleeze himself, Mr. Matt Drudge.

I bid you adieu.

If You Haven't Noticed

Big ol' pissing match going on between Mark Levin at the old Corner and Andrew Sullivan over events that occurred at Abu Gharib and Gitmo. Strange thing is my ideas regarding the use of torture more closely adhere with Levin's than Sullivan's, but I still think that Levin is full of shit for his disingenuous arguments.

Torture is torture is torture. Sullivan and I both agree what constitutes torture, we differ in the effectiveness and legitimacy of its use, and while I disagree with his analysis I respect his opinion because he obviously has the evidence to back up his argument.

Levin on the other hand obviously doesn't know his head from his ass when he considers this list of government reports, news articles, and humanitarian reports that Sullivan posted "loony links" and asks Andrew, "I notice you didn't link to "this one".

A sample from the article that supposedly "proves" Levin's argument that things aren't that in our prisons at Gitmo.

There were 13 official "homicides," not 21. And documents associated with at most 5 of those homicides contain even the vaguest hint of possible wrongdoing by American personnel. The other 8 appear to have been "homicides" only in the technical sense that mortuary physicians use the term--to indicate any nonaccidental death resulting from human agency, whether sinister or innocent.

Oh... well are there is only 13 homicides as opposed to 21 everything's a-ok. (and tell me how do those caveats about the cause of death rule out any sort of, I don't know, torture as the cause of death?)

Boooooom

Goes the ticking time bomb scenario. Eliminate it from all consideration when formulating national policy regarding torture. I don't want to tackle Kinsley's salami logic at this point (basically where will you draw the line), but focus instead on his position that torture that it should be banned period, and that "what we would do or should do if this situation [ticking time bomb] actually arose is an interesting question for bull sessions in the dorm, but not a pressing issue for the nation." That's one way to weasel your way out of an argument, just acknowledge that there is none.

This line of reasoning is exactly the reason why Abu Gharib and Gitmo occurred. Advocates for the complete ban on torture hold their heads high and proclaim, "no torture ever, period, final, done".... well except, maybe, when the ticking time bomb scenario situation pops up again, but but but it should still be against the law! What are you going to do, prosecute the men and women who averted a major terrorist attack? or pardon them and by result nullify the law banning torture? This kind of murky and contradictory logic leads to confusion, broken rules, and innocent men and women being subjected to torture.

Make specific guidelines specifying who, what, where, when, and how torture is allowed, and laying out a system of regulatory bodies for oversight. Half-steps around the issue only lead innocent men and women hurt.

The Analysis Staggers Me

What insight, what austute commentary, what brilliance exhibited by political maestro Thomas Sowell.

The media seem to have come up with a formula that would make any war in history unwinnable and unbearable: They simply emphasize the enemy's victories and our losses.

Losses suffered by the enemy are not news, no matter how large, how persistent, or how clearly they indicate the enemy's declining strength.

And what prey tell would the stunning victories that have not been mentioned by the media in this ill executed war? The Iraqi elections, the signing of the Constitution, the bastard Saddam being captured, I do recall significant coverage of each. Remember all those pictures, videos of purple hands, Saddam emerging from his little rathole? Oh, he must talking about how primary school enrollment is up 20% since Saddam years or maybe that an Iraqi contractor brought his irrigation project 25-percent under budget and returned the unused money I cannot believe that the media focuses so much on the over 2,100 US troops killed or the dead Iraqi civillians which count over 25,000.

Please. We need to stay in Iraq, but to present misleading arguments about how gee golly great the situation just makes any logical, reality based argument impossible to sustain. No need to distort the situation, people need to know cold hard facts, not bullshit.

Persecution of American Christians by Those Damn Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Agnostics, Atheists, Buddhists, Taoists, Liberals, Secularists,: Round 52734

To the soldiers in God's army participating in the war on Christmas in order to defend the right for all to say Merry Christmas! from the evil secular, dare I say liberal?, men and women who want to abolish Xmas from our department stores and malls across the nation, here is the response to your misguided campaign to liberate stores from having to say Happy Holidays.

Quite a performance and one of the funniest debates I have seen all year. Nuclear weapons, torture, Nazis, its got it all. Seder delivers an appropriate response to a ridiculous topic.

How I yearn for the return of festivus.

A Few Interesting Things I Noticed Today

A la Instapundit.

Dennis Prager whines about the lack attention paid to the political power of the religious left by MSM, as it " at least as active in attempting to influence governmental policies as the religious right." Ahh another canonical masterpiece spouted from the pen of Mr. Prager. Could it be that the religious left (whatever that means) doesn't have leaders (Robertson, Falwell, Dobson) who preach bigotry and hatred?

Fascinating once a day news clips from Rocketboom. Today's clip a remembrance of John Lennon, with a litany of people reciting their favorite John Lennon lyric.

TNR's Michael Crowley writes in the NY Times Magazine detailing the relative effectiveness of Conservative and Liberal blogs. Republicans: charge forth into the fray Democrats: see the nuance. Winners: Conservative bloggers.

Rereading Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat, and a few quick thoughts. I agree with most of his main points, American falling behind in education and training, free trade is good, corporations aren't all terrible, globalization cannot be stopped and even if it could I don't think it should, but he is a bit to much of a technological determinist for my liking and cozies up a little to close to big corporations. While he acknowledges the inequities to globalization, he doesn't really cover how simmering inequalities could lead to political unrest (China and India for example) and focuses mainly on tiny sliver of each population that has the bling and the educational pedigree. More reviews here.

One of my favorite Middle Eastern analysts, Mr. Aardvark himself, buys his daughter a Charlie Brown style Xmas tree. ain't it precious?

European culture leaders "bending over" for fundamentalist Islamic kooks. Never liked the nutjobs in any religion. And at least the Dannish demonstrate some cajones.

James Wolcott believes that the recent Plame scandal and the altogether too close relationship between press and the Administration and consequently the subsequent sloppy reporting, ethical questions, etc. means journalists should no longer "lament bloggers' slapdash sourcing, to deplore their invective and lack of couth, to act as if they're civilized reporters forced to fend off laptop barbarians." Yes because bloggers are the new paradigm of journalistic integrity and honesty. Whatever its faults I'll trust the NY Times, CNN, Washington Post, and Star Tribune over Powerline and the Daily Kos any day of the week.

Back to work I go.

Foolish People

The O'Reilly's and the Hannity's, and even to the Franken's. Here's why. Lesson to be learned: those that preach complexity and nuance almost always have a better chance of correctly predicting foreign events than foolish political pundits.

Tookie Williams: Killer

A man who ruthlessly murdered four innocent people twenty six years ago, and who has not expressed any feelings of remorse or even acknowledged his crimes should not be granted clemency. Period.

As for his miraculous conversion to the light, no way that Tookie would be writing childrens' books if his ass was not seated on death row. He organized one of the most deadly gangs ever seen in the United States, and would still be at the helm if not for his imprisonment. Nothing he can do can change the suffering he caused to countless grieving mothers and fathers whose sons and daughters have be taken from them.

As for his nomination for the Nobel Peace prize, what a joke. There are countless men and women who do more to benefit society than Tookie ever has or will, and somehow this killer gets more recognition? What a slap in the face. The founder of the Crips, responsible for untold killings, one of the principal reasons for groups such as anti-gang groups like Mothers on the March (created after Tookie's gang shot a 13 year old girl 15 times).

You reap what you sow.

World Cup '06

US has a tough road to duplicate their quarterfinal appearance in Japan/Korea. In their group of four, with perennial international soccer powerhouses Italy and the Czechs looking to take the top two spots needed to qualify for the knockout stage the US will be hard pressed to even advance (Ghana shouldn't be too of a challenge). Strange things have happened (Senegal defeating France in the previous World Cup).

Can't wait for the summer. Don't know what the time zone difference between Central Midwest and Germany is but the timing has to be better than the difference between Central and Japan (waking up at 5 to watch games... not fun).

...now back to writing essays

Balls of Steel

I might disagree with him on many issues and my initial feelings are not in favor of his (possible) presidential run, but I give my Wisconsin senator credit for sticking to his guns.

Russ Feingold:

I will do everything I can, including a filibuster, to stop this Patriot Act Conference Report, which does not include adequate safeguards to protect our constitutional freedoms

A Few Thoughts for the Day

Sullivan responds to Krauthammer's article detailing when torture is acceptable and not. 1. "ticking bomb scenario" 2. when interrogating high level terrorists (ie Khalid Sheik Mohammed). Sullivan's starry eyed arguments that the use of torture directly contradicts American ideals and values, and therefore should not be used do not dissuade me from my support of torture in the most dire of circumstances (ticking time bomb). His rhetoric and philosophically laden arguments against torture do not address practical reality enough for my opinion to change.

Torture is immoral, but sometimes states must choose between two evils, torture a captive terrorist who has intimate knowledge of an impending attack or let a potentially devastating attack occur. Many articles, books, and studies question the effectiveness of torture in obtaining information. My response: if there is the slightest chance that lifesaving information could be obtained, the state must weigh the consequences of inaction and act accordingly. Critics deride this line of reasoning with the argument that the chance of catching a terrorist who has impending knowledge of an attack is infinitesimal so the situation is irrelevant and should not effect the practice of torture. Every potential scenario must meticulously planned for, and situations where information could be obtained to save the lives of thousands especially so.

Abu Gharib and Guantanamo prison are atrocities. In no way, shape, or form do I condone the horrors at any of these places, but this occurred precisely because we don't acknowledge both the upside and downside of torture. The situations occur precisely because standards of conduct by interrogators are not either outlined or are just ignored with a wink from superiors. Appropriate congressional or judicial oversight independent of the military is desperately needed to prevent the horrors inflicted at Abu Gharib from becoming commonplace. The flip side is that torture would be allowed only in the most dire of circumstances, but would be overseen by appropriate auditors to prevent its spread.

Just a few thoughts on a very complex and challenging problem.

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Aggghh

Stupid haloscan. You will be the death of me. Hopefully I will be able to get this ridiculous site back in line, but for now no such luck.

Also my time spent in blogosphere land will be about nil over the next few days because it's crunch time and exams creep closer and closer. Somehow you will live without my astute commentary.

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

End of the Semester

And I've fallen behind in my schoolwork and it's beginning to catch up with me. Have an oral interview with my Arabic teacher next week, in addition to two papers and finals, not looking good. In other news, I recently finished Steve Coll's Ghost Wars truly a phenomenal book that I highly recommend. A detailed review might be forthcoming after finals, but for now the Foreign Affairs review will suffice.

Media in Iraq

I concur.

Marc Lynch:

A lot of defenders of the Iraqi payola adopt a seemingly pragmatic line - we do what has to be done to fight the media war. But this short-term vision is a textbook case of tunnel vision, winning a small battle while losing the war. The payola scheme has immensely corrosive longer-term implications for media institutions, for American credibility, for building the institutions of pluralism and democracy. Most immediately it has devastaging implications for the credibility of pro-American voices in the region (hence Alhomayed's dismay). Every pro-American voice in Iraq and in the region now comes under greater suspicion of having been on the take. Those voices already - often unfairly - risked being tarred as American puppets. Now their burden has become that much heavier. What's pragmatic about that?

When trying to win the "hearts and minds" being found guilty of media manipulation will not help the cause. As Andrew Sullivan aptly states:

The problem is that media is now global, the free citizens of Iraq can access information from almost anywhere on earth, and these stories will leak and backfire.

Economy

Not looking good for the little guy despite impressive GDP gains.

Paul Krugman:

So there you have it. Americans don't feel good about the economy because it hasn't been good for them. Never mind the G.D.P. numbers: most people are falling behind.

It's much harder to explain why. The disconnect between G.D.P. growth and the economic fortunes of most American families can't be dismissed as a normal occurrence. Wages and median family income often lag behind profits in the early stages of an economic expansion, but not this far behind, and not for so long. Nor, I should say, is there any easy way to place more than a small fraction of the blame on Bush administration policies. At this point the joylessness of the economic expansion for most Americans is a mystery.

Iraqi Elections

CS Monitor:

Like Ali, more Iraqis appear to be turning to one of the Dec. 15 election's secular parties as the best alternative for a unified and stable Iraq. Mostly it's better educated Iraqis or those from smaller ethnic groups who are making this choice, so their prospects for equaling the voting power of Iraqis following the electoral directives of religious leaders remains unclear.

But some of Iraq's top leaders say that the single most important choice Iraqis will make in the December vote will be between a secular and modernizing government and a religious-based one. The fact that Iraqis will be choosing their first permanent four-year government since Saddam Hussein's fall only adds to the significance, they say.

"This contest between the secular and religious visions of government is really the main choice to be made," says Adnan Pachachi, a prominent Sunni statesman who has joined Mr. Allawi's Iraqi National list. "It won't be decided in one election, but it is a basic choice between an open and progressive Iraq and one that is backward and continues to fall behind."

Secularization of politics most of the time good, but not always needed. Prominent counter example of an modern democracy controlled by Islamists, Turkey.

Fire Rumsfeld

A very persuasive case here, and one to which I fully subscribe.

You Think the Whining Has No Effect?

On the quality and depth of journalism? From Rush to O'Reilly to Hannity to Coulter to Malkin to Hewitt... the list of whiners complaining about the always present hard left wing bias inherent in every news article. (you can look the other way and hear complaints of right wing bias in Huffingtonpost and Media Matters, but the decible of their cries don't come close to the aforementioned whiners) Here's the result.

This is not to deny that the best newspapers run many first-rate stories, [Ken] Silverstein [LA Times investigative reporter] said, or that reporters working on long-term projects are often given leeway to "pile up evidence and demonstrate a case." During the last year, he has written articles on the ties between the CIA and the Sudanese intelligence service; on American oil companies' political and economic alliances with corrupt third-world regimes; and on conflicts of interest involving Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha. When it comes to political coverage, though, Silverstein told me, newspapers are too often "afraid of being seen as having an opinion." They fear "provoking a reaction in which they'll be accused of bias, however unfounded the charge." The insistence on a "spurious balance," he says, is a widespread problem in how TV and print organizations cover news. "It's very stifling."

As Silverstein suggests, this fear of bias, and of appearing unbalanced acts as a powerful sedative on American journalists—one whose effect ha been magnified by the incessant attacks of conservative bloggers and radio talk-show hosts [3] One reason journalists performed so poorly in the months before the Iraq war was that there were few Democrats willing to criticize the Bush administration on the record; without such cover, journalists feared they would be branded as hostile to the President and labeled as "liberal" by conservative commentators.

..... lack of money and pressure from parent companies significantly effect the quality of news reporting, but that is for another day

Al-Jazeera Intl.

What ever its flaws may be, on the whole Al-Jazeera is a positive force for America in the Arabic world. Al-Jazeera remains the most watched news network in the Arabic world, and will continue to occupy its status as top dog. The Bush Administration needs to work with the news organization, not against it. The United States' funded Al-Hurra not surprisingly receives little attention in the Arabic world. This makes the success of Al-Jazeera, one of the few generally free press organizations, vital to United States' interests. Rather than shunning the news organization as the Administration has done, the US must embrace it and engage the news organization. Having US officials appear on Al-Jazeera's numerous free wheeling debate shows will give additional perspective to current events and influence audiences much better than any government propaganda articles ever can.

There is a reason that Western reporters such as David Frost agreeded to assist Al-Jazeera's fledging international news channel. Hopefully American audiences viewing this new English-language channel will open their eyes to a different perspective on foreign affairs and appreciate the need to engage with Al-Jazeera rather than dismissing it out of hand as an Osama station. For better or worse the Arabic world turns into Al- Jazeera for its news. The US must deal with that fact and work with it.

Muslim Assimilation

Not just a French problem, but the consequences of failed assimilation begin to boil to the surface in Germany. The main issue: women's rights.

Munich Massacre

Drudge has a news flash about Spielberg's new film about the massacre of 12 Israeli athletes in the 1972 Olympic games in Munich, where the Palestinian terrorist group Black September . Specifically the movie focuses on the Israeli hit team, termed Operation Wrath of God, that Israeli PM Golda Meir commissioned to track down and assassinate the surviving members of Black September. Only two of the men responsible for the execution or planning of the Munich Massacre remain alive today.

A fascinating subject that can be explored in greater detail in Simon Reeve's One Day in September, or read this.

Saturday Shooters

Some enjoy Friday Beer bloggingas do I, but a new niche cries forth. Henceforth on my site Saturday Shooters will commence as I will describe the concoctions that I consume on Saturday evenings. Tonight I taste the five times distilled sweetness of Svedka (very strange site). Mmmm. A little lime juice and Svedka goes down smoooooth.

It truly is an abhorrent vodka, but hell, I'm just a poor college student, not a Rockafella'.

....

A Bit of Insanity

Georgetonian:

Desperate times call for drastic measures
Student calls for use of landmines to secure borders

By JOHN SOSBE
Staff Writer

There has been a gradual invasion of our country for many years, and it is time we began to defend against it more effectively. I am of course talking about the problem of defending the Mexican border from illegal immigrants. While I am sure it will be criticized by many as harsh, or even inhumane, I advocate the use of landmines as a deterrent to illegal immigrants. I would like to think that it is not necessary to resort to such an extreme measure, but I warn you that it is indeed necessary.

By placing large fields of landmines, we could deter many illegals from trying to enter the country. This would free border patrol agents of patrolling long empty stretches of border, and funnel illegals to chokepoints where they are more likely to be captured. This would be more cost effective and successful than hiring more border guards.

There are those who decry landmines as inhumane, but that is not always the case. When it is plainly advertised that an area is mined, it causes a person to reconsider crossing the area. I would be just as happy if none of the mines were ever detonated, because the same purpose was still served. Illegal immigrants would be much less likely to enter the country if they thought it might cost them their lives.

I despise the idea of illegal immigration, and all Americans should find it equally loathsome. America was founded as a nation of laws, and our highest principles all stem from a lawful society. To try to reap benefits from a lawful society by entering it illegally is a slap in the face to our ideals.

What’s more, it is an offense to those productive and hardworking individuals who come to this country legally, with intentions of becoming productive members of society. These people honor the laws of their new home and should be welcomed as honorable citizens.

Not only do these people threaten our livelihoods and culture, but a very real physical threat is introduced by illegal immigration. Recent intelligence shows that al-Qaeda terrorists are likely to enter the country through the Mexican border, James Loy, the deputy secretary of the Homeland Security Department, said in February. “Several al-Qaeda leaders believe operatives can pay their way into the country through Mexico and also believe illegal entry is more advantageous than legal entry for operational security reasons,” Loy said in testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee.

There was a time in history when the Native Americans were faced with wave upon wave of uninvited immigrants. The illegals of that day used the same logic that they were coming for a better life. They too came without contributing to the society they were overrunning. The Native Americans made one mistake: they waited too long to use lethal force on the invaders. It is a mistake we cannot afford to make.

Oh What a Beautiful Morning

Oh what a beautiful day...

hell of a way to start off the day.

Lets See Here

Perusing the Minnesota Daily and I came across an editorial advocating for city wide wireless. Internet access in large apartment complexes, such as mine, is monopolized by a single company that can charge each separate resident a monthly internet fee. Residents have no alternative options. Providing city wide wireless would eliminate the internet service providers monopoly and would lower my costs. That's a good thing.

Of course my roommates and myself have set up our own wireless network allowing each of us to access the internet while paying for only one connection. ssssshhhhh don't tell anyone.

The Laughs Just Keep Coming

From those people who drool over anything Bush says, does, implies, thinks. This time Powerline, which gushes over yesterday's Bush speech writing, "President Bush has articulated his policy vision more consistently and more eloquently than any President since Lincoln." Right... Assrocketry indeed.

Bill the Bastard Cont.

Olbermann rips him a new one.

[Video]