Global Warming - Cause and Effect [UPDATED]

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Left: Cause of Unwarranted Hysteria................Right: Effect of Natural Changes

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Time's latest contribution to hyped-up hysteria, as pictured on the left (appropriately), starts with this headline on global warming: "Polar Ice Caps Are Melting Faster Than Ever... More And More Land Is Being Devastated By Drought... Rising Waters Are Drowning Low-Lying Communities... By Any Measure, Earth Is At ... The Tipping Point."

On the right, is an animated map from the Illinois State Museum showing the retreating North American ice sheet over the millennia after the end of the last ice age.

You can draw one of two conclusions: Either (1) the Earth has been warming naturally for the last 11,000 years or (2) prehistoric man was bad, bad, bad, and started the chain of events leading to melting glaciers today.

Early Man Emits Carbon into the Atmosphere

Innocent or guilty? Did prehistoric man trade his comfort for the devastation of future generations?

Frustrated Doc Sanity

One of my very favorite People in the blogosphere is having a tough day and is feeling out of focus; been there, done that, got the T-Shirt and for damn sure know how she feels. Go on over to Dr. Sanity give her a shout and a pat on the back. The blogosphere needs her and she is really good people!

CHARLSIE FARRIOR TEAL - RIP

Glen Reynolds Grandmother, Charlsie Farrior passed away yesterday at the age of 91. Glen, after all the links you have provided for so very many blogs, inlcuding this one, please accept our condolences.

If you wish to drop the Instapundit an e-mail here is his e-mail address: pundit@instapundit.com

Wounded Warrior - A Tribute To The Marines!

I have a friend. A really, really good friend, a retired Lt. Col of the United States Marine Corps. Tad teaches at a local college where I once taught and we initially became acquainted via a college forum where he and I found ourselves to be two of only a very small handful of conservatives.

Tad keeps me posted on lots of things, but today he sent me an email concerning one Marine wounded in Iraq one Lt. Col. Tim Maxwell.

Col. Maxwell received grievious injuries in the performance of his duties and writes about the process of recovery. As I am in the process of recovery from lung cancer, I found his article to be particularly moving and inspiring. Col Maxwell is currently stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C. and he exemplifies all the qualities we have come to expect from our heroes in the service of the United States.

A short quote from this remarkable Marine:

But I have learned something too: what it is like to be a wounded warrior.

We tend not to complain about our injuries too much. Most of us know others who are worse off � a guy with a bad leg knows a guy who lost a leg, or both legs. I, with a brain that is "cracked," know youngsters with brain injuries who are unable to walk or talk. We all know someone who died. So, it is not a good thing to complain. We are tough guys. We are all going to whip it.

And that is because in the Corps, we really learn to be part of a team. Not like sports, where players switch teams for more money. I am talking about a life-and-death team. Warriors will not switch teams � if they can help it.

But when they are wounded, they have lost control. They are off the "A" team. All their friends will tell them, as they board the helicopter to fly away, to take care of themselves. Not to worry about the team. They'll be OK. But they want to be back with their team.

[...]

And the goofy part? Marines do not whine. Therefore, I shall not whine. I agree with it all. I think it is good for us wounded Marines to whip it � the injury, the sadness and confusion. When you're in the hospital, your morale is OK. You are with other wounded warriors. You can chat about it. Sometimes we just look at each other in the hallway, and nod. That's all. Acknowledgment.

Where do we find such men in these United States? From whence does the heroism, courage and fortitude spring?

Col Maxwell, this old, ex-Army grunt Stands and tosses you a SALUTE and if I may be so bold as to say to all my Marine friends, Tad, Mustang, Ogre, Michael and so many others

Semper Fidelis

Note: If you would like to e-mail Col. Maxwell and all the others at the wounded warrior barracks write (and I strongly encourage you to do so) woundedteam@sempermax.com

The Mudville Gazette

A tip of the GM Derby to ROFASIX for the animated gif which they don't know I stole; until they get this trackback that is.

Under the weather

Blogging may be slow for a day or two... don't give up

German-American Relations Blog Carnival is UP!

Joerg Wolf and I established the German American Relations Blog Carnival in December 2005, and, if I may add, it was quite successful. This quarter, the carnival is hosted by two more terrific blogs (With Atlantic Review providing assistance as well).

English language entries are at American Future and have a terrific bunch of entries all well worth reading (including my entry here). German language entries are to be found at Statler & Waldorf. If you don't read German, use Google translation to get a good flavor of all that the German side of the Atlantic thinks. As I mentioned already, Atlantic Review is providing assistance with English language introductions to the German entries.

A bunch of good reading awaits you.

France: "anti-opportunity, anti-wealth, anti-jobs, anti-markets, anti-work, and anti-capitalism"

Larry Kudlow:

In France, you see, companies don’t grow because it’s too costly to hire while it’s against the law to fire. Hence, since they rarely add jobs, French businesses under-perform, under-produce, and under-employ. Think of it: It’s awfully tough to increase output without a growing workforce to produce it.

The Villepin reform, of course, would make it a lot easier for firms to hire since they would no longer have to lock-in high wages and benefit costs without first confirming worker productivity, at least for two years. But in response to this mild capitalist reform, a reported 500,000 students have emerged in angry protest. There’s now even a threat of a general strike, with government unions, trade unions, and student unions possibly teaming together to shut down the entire French economy (or what’s left of it).

Of course, it wasn’t all that long ago that young Muslims rioted and vandalized urban centers across France. Their beef was cultural in nature, but it was also rooted in the fact that France is anti-opportunity, anti-wealth, anti-jobs, anti-markets, anti-work, and anti-capitalism.

Exactly!!!

First Church of The Democrats comes to GM's Corner

GM Roper of GM's Corner is fighting cancer. A group of bloggers silently known as the South Park Republicans have joined GM in his fight. to raise money in order to fight cancer. Over the next few weeks, the Liberal Church will be travelling from blog to blog and all donations made will go to aid St. Jude in their fight against cancer. If you would like to donate by snail mail, St. Jude makes it available to do that. Cancer can be a very costly battle and your help is greatly appreciated. Please add a "Fight On" ribbon to your blog. Donations can be made by clicking on St. Jude's while the plate is passed. Find the participants of "Fight On". South Park Republicans

First Church of Democrats

Continue reading "First Church of The Democrats comes to GM's Corner"

Fraud audit cuts 105,000 from voter roll / Democrats expect to lose 105,000 loyal voters

After major reports of vote fraud in Milwaukee, an audit was conducted, which led to a cut in the voter roll by 105,000 names. Just which party do you think this might hurt? Keep reading.

This review was long overdue and really needs to be expanded to the entire state because of past voting irregularities in Wisconsin, as noted by others.

Voting: "You believe me, don't you?�

Well, it turns out “till death do you part� may be true in marriage, but not when voting for Democrats. The dead are very loyal Democrats.

Racine, Kenosha voter application fraud alleged

Project Vote, a national non-profit group headed by the former head of the Ohio Democratic Party, is among several non-profit groups that have run large-scale voter registration drives in southeastern Wisconsin. ...Last week, the Journal Sentinel reported that two of Project Vote's workers in Milwaukee are felons on probation, which makes it illegal for them to register voters. ...The workers also told the investigator that Jones had pressured them to meet a quota of completing at least 25 voter registration applications per day. The workers were paid $49 per day plus $1.50 for each application beyond the quota. Blakely also told the investigator that, to meet the quota, he completed voter registration applications by taking names from a phone book.

Wis. Gov. Vows Veto on Voter ID Bill

Wisconsin lawmakers passed a bill Wednesday that would require voters to provide a driver's license or other government-issued photo identification before casting a ballot. Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle said he would veto the measure.

Liberal Vote Fraud Must Be Stopped!

Democrat Party voter fraud is nothing new. In 2000 it was widespread. In at least two states, Wisconsin and Missouri, it tipped the electoral vote to Gore.

Fraud File: Poll Challengers OK'd

After battling over as many as 37,000 votes, the Wisconsin Republican Party and the city of Milwaukee have agreed that a list of 5,512 prospective voters with questionable addresses will be sent to poll workers to flag those people when they come to vote.

How Democrats Steal Elections - Top 10 Methods of Liberal Vote Fraud

Vote-buying. Purchasing votes has long been a traditional scheme by Democrats, and not just with money. In the 2000 election in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Democratic workers initiate a "smokes-for-votes" campaign in which they paid dozens of homeless men with cigarettes if they cast ballots for Al Gore (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 11/14/00).

Vote Fraud And Illegal Voting In Wisconsin

Shortly after the November 2 vote in which John Kerry carried Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes by 11,384 votes, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel began an investigation into vote fraud and irregularities in the city. The Journal Sentinel soon revealed that thousands more ballots were cast than people identified as voting and thousands of ballots were cast from invalid addresses around the city.

In 2002, Democrat Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle’s campaign held a bingo party at a home for the mentally ill and reportedly used quarters as bingo prizes and kringle and soft drinks to induce residents of the facility to cast absentee ballots.

But, if the Democrats lose 105,000 voters, they can turn it around and implement their new plan for success--slashing the tires of Republicans going to vote. That's one method that they found works and with no chances of being convicted.

Should anyone wonder why I don't trust Democrats?

To Freed Hostages - You're Welcome. So, be Christian about it.

How typical of the left. The organization and families of American activists, operating under a Christian banner and who were kidnapped and held hostage in Iraq, have not acted very Christian after they were freed by our armed forces. A simple "thank you" would have sufficed, but none came. Not only that, they blamed OUR government for the kidnapping and referred to our soldiers who freed them simply as occupiers. Still, our military does the right thing and risks the lives of soldiers to save even Americans who don't like them or appreciate them.

Here is coverage on the rescue of and responses about the three remaining workers of Christian Peacemaker Teams--freed in Baghdad and saved from the fate of another member who was murdered by terrorists in the region: The New York Times, Associated Press, and Canada's Pulse 24. What you don't see is any appreciation to our forces--but, only disdain for them. Am I missing something?

Maybe members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams should actually take a moment to learn lessons about an ungrateful heart or spirit of ingratitude by going here, here, or here--just in case they don't remember where they misplaced their Bibles.

via Drudge Report

More PC From The Anglican Church

The Daily Ablution has a remarkable post up on a Welsh Clergyman who is in trouble with the Anglican Church for publishing.......... Wait For Itt............. A CARICATURE OF MOHAMMAD.......New Riots Coming? Scott Burgess does a marvelous job of describing how to deal with the dreaded MOE or, Muslim Offence Emergency. A sample:

The recommended CCC response to an MOE or a potential MOE rests upon three pillars:

Containment - Inappropriate material, information and opinions must be prevented from infecting public discourse.

Culpability - Those who allow such material to be disseminated must be named and punished. Whether such dissemination springs from a deliberate attempt to offend is immaterial.

Contrition - Muslim leaders should be sought out and apologised to, preferably on more than one occasion.

Here is the "offensive" cartoon:

Stop complaining, Mohammad ... we've all been caricatured, here.

Hmmmm, now that I have published the cartoon, should I worry about Anglican Church Leaders taking my blog away? Nah, they aren't stupid enough to try that.

Death To The Bacterial Revisionists And Their Fellow Travellers!

BACTERIAL MOTIVATIONS AND MULTICELLULAR RELATIVITY is the title of a new post by Dr. Sanity. I gotta tell you, I laughed so hard I hurt my ribs and when you've had part of your lung removed, that ain't any fun at all. Although to be honest, it was really a minor pain and the laughter was well worth it. Dr. Sanity refers to the "always enigmatic" Gagdad Bob's post at One Cosmos. To better understand Gagdad Bob's pov, here is a sample, but go read the whole thing:

The ideals of abstract thinkers are utopian and unworkable because they forget all about embodied human existence--about reality. It is no coincidence that the great totalitarian movements of the past century--communism, nazism, and now Islamism--were and are the products of intellectuals. On the other hand, Christianity takes seriously the idea that we are unavoidably embodied and imperfectible. As a matter of fact, Judeo-Christian metaphysics solves the otherwise insoluble philosophical stalemate between idealists and materialists, because a logoistic reality means that the Word is made flesh: that the ideal is located in the real, not in some abstract, utopian beyond. The world is neither ethereal nor earthly: it is earthereal.

Abstract ideas are designed to understand and describe reality. But intellectuals turn this around and begin using their abstractions to judge reality. And if reality falls short, they don't abandon their ideals but jettison reality

The post excerpted above is priceless. But then Dr. Sanity has an incredible epiphany and a deeper understanding and appreciation of political correctness and multicultural, multicellular relativism. and takes off for the wild blue yonder. I'll give you a taste but then click on the "taste and read her whole post. Now, where did I put that anti-biotic?

Dr. Sanity:

Homo sapiens' multicellular delusions of superiority are completely unjustified due to the uniquely destructive and bad behavior displayed by most of the members of animalia chordata mammalia primata homo sapiens -- particularly those who reside in the United States, the home of the least sapien.

What makes us think that our pathetic little animalia kingdom--and in particular the imperialistic chordata phylum-- is better than the EU-bacteria or archaebacteria kingdom? Do bacteria have wars? Do they kill each other? NO! They live quiet lives, of peaceful and communal, self-sacrificing propagation. Their eight phyla are as deserving of life as homo sapiens; in fact they are more deserving and their right to exist predates ours by many millennia, thus their rights supercede any "rights" presumed by the animal kingdom.

Political Incorrectness Supported Here

Two Views on a National Leadership Style - Male and Female

Here are excerpts from two articles, which contrast the leadership styles of President Bush and the Clinton's--in terms of male and female qualities. Which is preferable and when?

First, President Bush....

Man Overboard, By Ruth Marcus, WashingtonPost.com, Tuesday, March 21, 2006; A17

I have a new theory about what's behind everything that's wrong with the Bush administration: manliness.

"Manliness" is the unapologetic title of a new book by Harvey C. Mansfield, a conservative professor of government at Harvard University.... Mansfield's thesis is that manliness, which he sums up as "confidence in the face of risk," is a misunderstood and unappreciated attribute.

Manliness, he writes, "seeks and welcomes drama and prefers times of war, conflict, and risk." It entails assertiveness, even stubbornness, and craves power and action. It explains why men, naturally inclined to assert that "our policy, our party, our regime is superior," dominate in the political sphere.

..."The problem of manliness is not that it does not exist," Mansfield concludes. "It does exist, but it is unemployed." Well, um, excuse me, but I think -- it's just my opinion, now, maybe you disagree, and I'm sure we could work it out -- Mansfield has it exactly backward. Manliness does exist. The problem is that it's overemployed -- nowhere more than in this administration.

...The undisputed manliness of the Bush White House stands in contrast to its predecessors and wannabes. If Republicans are the Daddy Party and Democrats the Mommy Party, the Clinton White House often operated like Mansfield's vision of an estrogen-fueled kaffeeklatsch: indecisive and undisciplined. (Okay, there were some unfortunate, testosterone-filled moments, too.)

...But the manliness of the Bush White House has a darker side that has proved more curse than advantage. The prime example is the war in Iraq....

...Mansfield writes that he wants to "convince skeptical readers -- above all, educated women" -- that "irrational manliness deserves to be endorsed by reason." Sorry, professor: You lose. What this country could use is a little less manliness -- and a little more of what you would describe as womanly qualities: restraint, introspection, a desire for consensus, maybe even a touch of self-doubt.

But that's just my view.

Hmmm, womanly qualities include restraint and self-doubt??? This from a woman? Maybe she should have applied some restraint and self-doubt before she wrote that.

Okay, now for the Clinton's....

I'm boss, Hil Tells Bill; By Kenneth R. Bazinet, Daily News Washington Bureau, Monday, March 20th, 2006

After being surprised by her husband's role in the Dubai ports deal, Sen. Hillary Clinton has insisted that Bill Clinton give her "final say" over what he says and does, well-placed sources said.

..."He knows it's Hillary's time now," said an adviser close to both Clintons who expects to play a key role in her likely 2008 presidential campaign.

Hillary Clinton's handlers are keeping a close rein on the former President's schedule to try to prevent another embarrassing screwup like their competing roles in the Dubai ports deal.

..."Hillary has final say," said the adviser, and the ex-President's staff has been warned not to do or say anything without running it by the senator's handlers.

"That was true in the White House during the [2000] Senate campaign," recalled another longtime aide who stayed close to the ex-President after he left office. "If he said the sky was blue and she said the sky was purple, then the sky was purple."

...Bill Clinton jokingly admits he's a liability. "It's fun to be able to say what you want, and I do that, but I do try to avoid doing anything that complicates Hillary's life," he says in a now-routine line in his public remarks. ........

Yeah, Bill, you wimp. You watch what you say, not because you don't want to complicate Hillary's life, but, because you don't want to complicate yours--not that I blame you, especially if I had to share a house with her...but, let's hope it's never the White House, again.

Well, in my view, if the first writer worries about the testosterone level in the Bush White House, then she will have a real shock coming if Hillary Clinton gets elected. On the qualities of a government being "male of female," in times of war and crisis I'll take someone who will kick some tails and take names later. But, I want the male qualities that will solve problems rather than qualities that are only interested in domination and holding power...which seem the way that they are expressed by the Clinton's.

Global Warming from the Left

Just to be fair, here is an article which discusses gobal warming and current proposals from the left.

What's your take on it?

Feinstein takes aim at global warming
Environmentalists praise proposal targeting immediate reductions in greenhouse gas emissions
By Ian Hoffman, STAFF WRITER, Inside Bay Area

California's senior senator laid out a blueprint Monday for curbing global warming, the latest congressional proposal for turning greenhouse-gas pollution into a multibillion-dollar commodity in hope of doing away with it.

Environmentalists gave generally good marks to Sen. Dianne Feinstein's new climate bill because they say it commits to immediate reductions in greenhouse gases, with an initial target of returning to 2006 levels of emissions by 2010 and making gentle but steady cuts totaling just more than 7 percent from then until 2020.

Feinstein pointed to signs of warming through-out the world, from more severe storms to masses of ice flowing into the oceans at the poles.

"The clock is ticking on global warming," she said in a statement. "If we do not slow, stop and reverse global warming soon, we will do irreparable harm to the world around us."

Continue Reading the Complete Article

Maybe we should implement her proposals in California first and see how they work before we apply them to the rest of the nation.

Cities Warm, Glaciers Melt, and Bush Does Nothing

There's disturbing news about our warming weather that will impact everyone in our country. We cannot say for sure that President Bush is responsible, but many in the scientific community believe that our nation's leader is doing nothing about this situation which will cause our cities to become hotter and glaciers to melt faster. Many of you may want to know what is happening and why Bush sits on his hands.

As you may know, very small changes to the Earth can result in major changes to our weather. Discover Magazine reported the latest impact with this information for the month of March: "Daylight increases at its fastest pace of the year: it grows longer by three minutes per day in New York City and Denver, seven minutes daily in Fairbanks, Alaska." Can you imagine what this added effect of the sun will do to our weather and our ice cap? Go to the information linked at "Continue Reading" to understand this better. And, oh yes, for our readers--everyone, don't worry...and enjoy the Spring.

Continue reading "Cities Warm, Glaciers Melt, and Bush Does Nothing"

Hollywood Sees a Need and Answers

Was there really a big demand for this movie? "Sarandon to Play Cindy Sheehan in Movie" I could watch a Jane Fonda film before this one. At least Fonda looked good.

AVI Strikes, Pundits of Polls Cringe

Regular readers of this blog have come to know (and appreciate) The Assistant Village Idiot, known to most of us, well, at least to me as AVI. AVI is one of those of us that Dr. Sanity calls members of the Psychbloggers (and by nefarious others as PsychSphere or Psych-O-Sphere), but I digress.

AVI has a new post up regarding the recent polls showing President Bush down to numbers in the 30's and discusses the punditocracies belief that this shows that Bush is (wait for it)........... DOOMED!!!

The money grafs:

Presidential approval poll numbers are especially deceiving. When Bush had 85% approval, he didn’t have 85% approval in the sense that he would garner 85% of the vote if the election were that day. It wasn’t a vote. In the same way, his 35-40% approval now doesn’t mean that’s how many votes he would get today. Because there is no vote today. It is the job of the political opposition to try and create a bandwagon mentality, giving people the idea that there is general dissatisfaction with the way things are, so why don’t you, John and Mary Public, get on the winning side with all the smart people?

It doesn’t mean we have to believe them. You would think this is obvious. But as commenters around the blogosphere know, references to Bush poll numbers frequently come up as evidence that “he’s wrong…everyone knows it…he’s not listening to the people…he’s tone deaf…only the blinkered are still supporting him…� Balderdash. Among those who disapprove of how the war is being handled, some think it should be prosecuted more forcefully. Some think it’s not going well but don’t necessarily think some other president would handle it better. Even among his supporters, much of the support is tentative. Neither the 61% who think it’s handled wrongly nor the 39% who think its handled well are solid numbers. Both disguise a variety of opinions by cramming them into an either-or option, when no such either-or option is necessary. We’re not voting for George Bush this week.

Go and read the whole thing.

Pehaps it is time to promote AVI to CVG - Chief Village Genius

Yada, Yada, Yada!

Gulag Nation - Black Spring

Foul deeds will rise, though all the earth o'erwhelm it, to men's eyes.
.......................................................Shakespere
Marc Cooper rightly takes the left to task for the lack of blogging about the 3rd anniversary of the arrest and subsequent trial/imprisonment of 75 persons in Cuba. Arrested as anti-revolutionaries for handing out library books. Library books for Pete's Sake!

More impotantly, this issue has also escaped much of the MSM and the right blogs as well. Everybody is pointing to the 3rd anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. But anti-war demonstrations have turned out to be more anti-American and/or Anti-Brittish/Australian demonstrations or just plain ole I hate Bushychimpmchitler. But this post is not about Iraq, it is about our friend Fidel in Cuba.

The Crime:

Between March 18-20, 2003, authorities rounded up about 100 dissidents and independent journalists.

Of those, 75 were quickly tried and sentenced to between six and 28 years in prison, including Cuba's best-known female dissident, economist Martha Beatriz Roque. Of those, 15 were gradually freed between April 2004 and December 2005.

Black spring is reported in a few blogs, newspapers, but not much else. And this is a shame, because it highlights the utter hypocracy of both the Castro regime in it's cry against the United States, and our supposed stand for human rigthts.

What do I mean by this? Simple. If we are to be the "City Shining On The Hill" then we also must condem the totalitarian forces that beset the peoples of the world. I'm probably going to be declared a heretic by my fellow conservatives, but I think that the way to bring Castro and his band of thugs down is to increase contact and trade with Cuba. Russia wasn't changed by the ability of the Communist government to control it's people, Russia was changed by the inability to keep up with the freedoms of the west. Likewise, the Cuban people if given free access to freedom as proposed by free trade, access to real information as opposed to contrived and controlled information of the Cuban government will opt for more freedom not less. In this, our refusal to deal with the people of Cuba has been a total failure. Cuba needs access to the benefits of a free society, and that and that alone will change the Cuban government.

Others reporting on the third anniversary of the Castro crackdown include: Wall Street Cafe, Uncommon Sense, Blog for Cuba, Marathon Pundit, Cuba Net and Babalu Blog.

The Cheerful Oncologist - What A Guy

One of the circumstances of getting a cancer diagnosis AND having a blog is meeting some of the most wonderful people I've ever had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with. One of these folk is Craig Hildreth, M.D. who writes the blog The Cheerful Oncologist. Dr. Hildreth is a saint among docs. Being an Oncologist is probably one of the absolute toughest jobs in medicine, yet, Dr. H. goes about it with a smile, a word of encouragement and a caring for his patients that just seems to flow from everything he does. When I first posted about having cancer, Dr. H sent me an email and we have been corresponding ever since. Today, I clicked on his blog on my sidebar and read something that is absolutely beautiful. If you don't go read it, you will have deprived yourself of a true bit of written gold. A Green Light That Burns All Night Drop by, say hi and tell him GM sent you.

BANDWIDTH ISSUES

Hi folks, I checked Bandwidth today and we are currently at 99% of our alloted bandwidth. In part this is due to a huge number of links from other sites and a huge and growing leadership. Unfortunately, I'm unable to continue to support the blog with finances the way they are (cancer treatments) If you can help (and if you can't that is OK too) please click on the PAYPAL button immediately below the elephant to your right and contribute only what you can.

Thanks.

GM

UPDATE: A couple of readers generously gave and we were able to purchase additional bandwidth. We are now at 65% with the purchase of 20 extra gigs. Thanks Michael And The other Woody

UPDATE: Bandwidth is no longer a problem thanks to the generosity of many of you. Special thanks are given to L.B. for her overwhelming generosity. Thank you all of my very dear friends.

GM Is an Anti-military, reactionist, no good rotten bum!

To those of you who know me, the title of this post may be a little difficult to understand, but if you give me a chance I'll explain.

A couple of days ago, I received an e-mail from someone I'll call PDD (pretty-danged-dim). PDD was surfing the internet a couple of days ago and found this entry from February of 2005 and sent me an email which I post in here:

I was out on the Internet gathering information when I ran across your story on Brad Kasal posted on February 2, 2005. Have you seen the comment that someone put out there on January 15th? That's horrible. Just plain sad.
Why do people stoop to this level? I think it would be more than appropriate to remove that comment.

The "January 15th" date was this year, so the post kind of stayed in limbo without much comment for almost a full year. PDD aparantly thought badly enough of the comment to ask me to remove it.

Any of my regular readers know that I'm an outspoken advocate of the 1st Amendment and have posted on that very issue a number of times here, here, here, here and here. Oddly enough, the first link was published on the same day PDD e-mailed me. My response to PDD is as follows:

Continue reading "GM Is an Anti-military, reactionist, no good rotten bum!"

Greetings From Hungary

I don't always respond to comments, part of the purpose of this blog is to put things out there and let the commenters have a go in response. But, I can't not put this comment up. I received this from a young fellow named Peter who is a student in Hungary in response to an older post here.

Peter, I don't know who you are, or where you live, but God bless you son, God bless you!

I dont know how to begin, so i just begin, and can just hope, that someone will read this comment. Im a Hungarian student, and its really good to see, that foreigners are also interested in Hungarian history, or at least a part of it. This year (2006) will be the 50th anniversary of 1956 october 23. Its kinda "funny" or maybe weird, that some things are getting to look like, as they were in 1956. The elections will be in April, and the current PM is selling a lots of stuff, and a complete idiot. (For example he sold the Budapest Airport) He also has a few interesting thing, that i wont list, because it would be nearly endless (illegal company for example). A few days ago the members of parlament, wanted to ask him about his things, but he didnt show up on that meeting. We can just hope, that his part (MSZP , hungarian socialist part) will not win the elections, otherwise, we can expect another uprising. We did it once, and we will do it again, if we need to.

Greetings from Hungary

Peter

The GM Straw Poll

OK, it's time to vote, 2008 is here in a virtual poll.

Another Cancer Patient Needs Help

No, not me, although I'm accepting prayers at any time. No, this is an appeal from a good friend Jerome who writes The Protrusion. Jerome is a blogger who has all but dropped out of blogging which is a shame because he was really good at left leaning satire. But, back to the topic. Jerome is asking for help as follows:

Something Serious - Need Your Help Hello, Sorry to post after so long with something that doesn't even resemble satire or comedy, but this is too important to worry about any of that. Rachel and I have a very dear friend named Jake. Jake's girlfriend Christine has cancer, and in order to survive she needs a bone marrow transplant. She is Filipino, and unfortunately, it is important that the donor also be Filipino. It doesn't matter what part of the country the donor is in. More details can be found at Christine's website. I urge you to take a minute and go there, and if you think you know someone who might be able to help, please contact Jake and let him know at jacobkrueger@gmail.com. Apparently the procedure for donating is very simple, and it could save Christine's life. Thank you all so much in advance. Jerome

If you can help, or if you may know of someone who can help, please do! Thanks!

Blogging Soldier in Iraq...Interview with The Real Ugly American

My very good friend The Real Ugly American has a great post up. It is an interview with Sgt. T.F. Boggs who blogs at T.F. Boggs A sample of TRUA's interview:
TRUA: "Can you tell us some of the things you have seen American Soldiers do for Iraqi children?"

Sgt. Boggs: I have seen soldiers do great things for Iraqi children from everything to giving them food, candy, clothes, toys, and wheelchairs. I have seen soldiers play games with them, hold them, hug them, smile and laugh with them. We see that Iraqi children need our help and we are willing to go to great lengths to provide for them. As soldiers we get aid to drive, shoot, build, and keep order but we help children because it is the morally right thing to do, it is completely selfless and I believe the children know or will come to realize that.

Read this entry from Sgt. Boggs, it should make you think about what is really going on with our troops in Iraq.

It is a terrific interview and I hope you will read it all as well as read all of Sgt. Boggs efforts.

Let Us Hope Germany Doesn't Go Down This Road Again

INTRODUCTION: On December 11th, 2005 Atlantic Review and GM's Corner hosted the first of what we hope will be a long blog carnival of articles regarding the relationship between our two countries. Joerg Wolf had the initial idea and proposed it to me and we both took off. The first carnival was published simultaneously in Germany at Atlantic Review and here. I believe that that was a first for the carnival meme. The second carnival is due to be published on March 25th at Statler & Waldorf in Germany and at American Future on this side of the Atlantic (Note: American Future is the new home of Dr. Demarche, one of my favorite bloggers).

From Agora comes this tidbit published in Jyllands-Posten (famous for the Muslim outcry following the publishing of 12 cartoon's featuring Mohammad) regarding a movement in Germany that has "gone to the prosecutors of several states to hinder the dissemination of the Quran. According to the indictment, the Quran is not just a religious and historic book, but also a political book, which is incompatible with the constiution."

As a staunch advocate of freedom of speech, this reminds me too much of the willingness of some to censor that which they cannot combat with ideas. This was, indeed, the nature of the Muslim rioting over the Mohammad Cartoons and the deserved, but too often muted, condemnation of those rioting. I am a firm believer that freedom of speech and all it's "problems" is far more democratic than attempting to shut down the ideas with which we are either not familiar, or perhaps not comfortable.

Banning the Quran is far too close to the book burnings of the Nazi era in Germany, the novel Fahrenheit 451, and even the destruction of rock and roll records seen in this country not too many moons ago and even the really, really stupid McCain-Feingold Act of today.

If the West is to win this war of ideas, a couple of things must be made perfectly clear to all. 1) Democratic governance is prime including free speech, universal sufferage, and the rights of minorities; 2) terrorism in any form will be met with staunch resistance and harsh penalties; 3) we cannot stoop to the fascistic level of those we are fighting against because if we do, we become like them.

Continue reading "Let Us Hope Germany Doesn't Go Down This Road Again"

Pi Day Celebrates 300 Years!

As mathematicians are celebrating today, March 14th, as "pi day" (3.14--get it?), let's remind everyone about the problems with this complex number from a previous post:

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. � NASA engineers and mathematicians in this high-tech city are stunned and infuriated after the Alabama state legistature narrowly passed a law yesterday redefining pi, a mathematical constant used in the aerospace industry. The bill to change the value of pi to exactly three was introduced without fanfare by Leonard Lee Lawson (R, Crossville).... "We just want to return pi to its traditional value," he said, "which, according to the Bible, is three."

Almost prophetic, it was 300 years ago this year, in 1706, that the Greek letter pi was first introduced to represent this number used primarily to compute the area of pizzas. Furthermore, 300 years divisible by the traditional pi value of 3 equals 100, which is a perfect score. Does this now make sense?

Anyway, go here to send your dearest friends a Happy Pi Day card. Enjoy the parades and festivities.

NCAA 2006 Basketball Tournament - Conservatives Only

As conservatives have lives, we can enjoy activities outside of politics--unlike our liberal friends whose lives are consumed with gloom and despair. So, let's take a look at the 2006 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship tournament. As a service to our readers, here is a link to a printable bracket of the tournament showing locations and times of the games--suitable for penciling in your picks. In addition, here are links to NCAA Sports, Fox Sports, and CBS Sportsline for information to help with your selections. However, we remind you that gambling on the games (outside of Las Vegas) may be illegal--and we know that you would never participate in office pools.

Who are you picking to go to the Final Four, what upsets do you see, and which team do you think will take it all?

Appeasement Or Real Politik?

Marc Schulman has an interesting post up at American Future.

From The Telegraph:

School textbooks should be reviewed for intolerant depictions of Islam and other faiths by experts overseen by the European Union and Islamic leaders, the European Parliament was told yesterday. The call for a special committee to examine religious education in schools came from Hans-Gert Pöttering, the German Christian Democrat who heads the largest group of MEPs. Pöttering suggested that the EU could co-operate with the 56-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference, which has its headquarters in Saudi Arabia, to create a textbook review committee that could help to choose the experts to sit on the committee.

At least the cave wasn't complete:

Mr Pöttering, the head of the centre-Right, but largely federalist European People's Party, said the work of building bridges between Islam and the West had to "begin with young people".

He also called for similar tolerance in the Islamic world, holding up examples of anti-Semitic cartoons taken from the Middle East and suggesting a parallel review should be made of Islamic school books.

It's good to see that the proposal was immediately condemned as "appeasement" by Charles Tannock, a British Conservative MEP:

Marc notes:

This sounds like an exercise in political correctness and appeasement. I don't see why we should be bringing children into this debate.

After all, it is not the "children" that are currently the problem on either side. It is only the adults that don't understand the consequences of appeasement.

Last Warning

From Memri comes this little bit of terroristic threat. The so called Al Qaeda Undercover Soldier threatens the US with massive damage. Read the whole thing.

Purported "Al-Qaeda Undercover Soldier, U.S.A": Last Warning to American People - Two Operations Will Occur; Your Homeland Security Agency Must Surrender; States Far Away From Washington, D.C. Such as Arizona Will Be Hit; We Await Orders From Our Commander Osama Bin Laden; America Will Be Brought to its Knees

Continue reading "Last Warning"

More Wafa Sultan, M.D. taking on the Irrational Aspects of Islam

Wafa Sultan, listen and then comment.

Thanks to Dhimmi Watch

Conquering Fear!

Fear, abhorrence, agitation, angst, anxiety, apprehensiveness, aversion, awe, bugbear, chickenheartedness, cold feet, cold sweat, concern, consternation, cowardice, creeps, despair, discomposure, dismay, disquietude, distress, doubt, dread, faintheartedness, foreboding, fright, funk, horror, jitters, misgiving, nightmare, panic, phobia, presentiment, qualm, recreancy, reverence, revulsion, scare, suspicion, terror, timidity, trembling, tremor, trepidation, unease, uneasiness, worry and they all mean roughly the same. Fear: noun n.

1. a. A feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or imminence of danger.

b. A state or condition marked by this feeling: living in fear.

2. A feeling of disquiet or apprehension: a fear of looking foolish.

3. Extreme reverence or awe, as toward a supreme power.

4. A reason for dread or apprehension: Being alone is my greatest fear.

Well, I guess number two can be ruled out; anyone who blogs can't be worried about looking foolish.

When I first received the diagnosis of lung cancer, my first thought was, "Not me, it can't be, it must be a mistake" followed immediately by "Crap, now what do I do," and of course the answer was "fight back, fight on." And this is exactly what I have done. But I've also watched my beloved wife cry when she didn't think I was looking. I've seen my daughter cringe inwardly, but put a brave front up as long as she thought I was watching. I've heard people ask "How are you doing, oh George, I'm so sorry to hear that."

And I have to ask myself, what do they know that I don't know. Why aren't I afraid, and if I really am afraid, why am I hiding it. When I told my employer that I had cancer she remarked "How can you be so calm?" The answer is of course that I could choose to be something else. But what would it accomplish? How would unmitigated worry help me beat the cancer, a task I fully intend to complete?

A dear friend sent my beloved wife a book called "Nothing To Fear" by Larry Burkett. Mr. Burkett is a financial guru who was diagnosed with cancer of the kidney in 1995, the book was written in 2003 and we can presume that he is on the road to full recovery if not already there. He is a Christian and approaches the fight with that perspective. That is fine; it definitely fits in with my faith as well. There are some things I'm not sure I agree with, having a stronger faith in established medicine and not quite sure of many of the alternative medicine routes, but be that as it may, it's an excellent book. One of the things that Burkett said that really struck home and reinforced my optimism is this:

FEAR OF DEATH: Cancer not only has a bad reputation, but also has a very bad track record, because many of the people who are diagnosed with cancer don't survive it. But you know what? The people who have good health don't survive that either. I want to keep reminding you, just as I continually remind myself, that nobody lives forever. We're all going to die from something.

As I have said before, no one gets off of this earth alive except for astronauts, and not all of them. Which brings me right back to fear. The fear of death is almost a universal. We may have faith in an afterlife, but there is in many of us a niggling fear that we don't know. The atheists among us don't worry about that, they "know" there is nothing else (boy, are they gonna be surprised. ) But real faith in an afterlife indicates that the fear of death is exaggerated and we should really cast it aside. So, as far as having cancer is concerned, either I will live in spite of it or die from it. If I live, I win because I get to be with my family, I get to do the counseling work that I love, I get to attend movies, dinners with friends, church and just sit outside and enjoy the sunset or sunrise. If I die, I get to be in heaven with my maker. That is a win also. A true win-win situation.

I'm reminded of my beloved grandfather Nat Melbert who had a long and active life as a Methodist Minister. He once joked, "I don't know why they always put fences around cemeteries. No one on the outside wants to be there and no one there can be outside." Daddy Bah (as we called him) exuded faith almost like no one I've ever met and his history is an amazing one. His body gave out after 90+ years and though I miss him, I never once heard him worry about dying. In September of '84, I received word that he was on his last legs and I had better hurry to San Antonio to see him. I drove up there as fast as I dared crying because I might miss saying goodbye. When I drove up to my mom's house to find out which hospital and room he was in, my Uncle Jimmy met me and said "like Mark Twain, reports of dad's death are greatly exaggerated." I rushed to the hospital and entering his room, Daddy Bah said "Hi Guy, I'm still here." [Guy is my family nickname - remind me to tell you that story some day.]

I learned a lot from my Grand Father, and optimism was one of those things. Because I'm an optimist, because I have a strong belief that I am a child of God I'm not worried about dying, that fear is not one that I carry around. I am not to say that I don't have fears, I do, but they are usually transient and short lived. Optimism does that for you.

Fear, from a psychological standpoint can be defined both psychologically and physiologically. From the physiological standpoint, symptoms can (but don't always) include increased heart rate, flushing, short/rapid breathing, urge to urinate or defecate, heightened sensory perception including hearing and vision, piloerection (hair standing on end), tightening of muscles in a flight or fight readiness and an increased startle response. All of us have felt one or more of those symptoms at one time or another. Many of us who enjoy horror films (I am especially fond of the American-International films of the late 50's and early 60's especially Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee films) like them because of the temporary thrill of the invoked fear response. But that appreciation is pseudo-fear, real though it may be for the nonce and boosting it may be for the system.

In real life, fear, especially psychological fear can be crippling because it robs you of the will to do. Psychology texts often define fear as: "A rational reaction to an objectively identified external danger that may induce a person to flee or attack in self-defense." While it may oft be a "rational reaction" the danger can be identified as both real and as perceived which may or may not be real. The Wikipedia site's entry on Fear states:

Fear is an unpleasant feeling of perceived risk or danger, whether it be real or imagined. Fear also can be described as a feeling of extreme dislike towards certain conditions, objects or situations such as: fear of darkness, fear of ghosts, etc. It is one of the basic emotions

Fear may underlie some phenomena of behavior modification, although these phenomena can be explained without adducing fear as a factor in them. Furthermore, application of aversive stimuli is also often ineffective in producing change in the behaviour intended to be changed. Fearing objects or contexts can be learned; in animals, this is being studied as fear conditioning, which depends on the emotional circuitry of the brain.

Fear inside a person has different degrees and varies from one person to another (see also phobia). If not properly handled, fear can lead to social problems. People who experience intense fear have been known to commit irrational and/or dangerous acts.

Some philosophers have considered fear to be a useless emotion; other thinkers note the usefulness of fear as a warning of potentially unpleasant consequences. Still others consider that fear is the fuel that feeds the ego's (as in "separating/judgmental agent") engine.[NOTE: There are additional useful links in the Wikipedia site, but remember that they are publically edited, not always by experts]

Fear can be engendered by being in a combat situation with the "enemy" shooting at you, or by receiving a message that "The boss wants to see you right now!" In both cases, the physiological response is the similar. But in the former, the danger is quite real. In the latter, it is a perceived threat, one that may or may not be a danger situation (unless of course, you know that you just recently screwed up and the boss has reason to see you "right now." ) In the former, you could get hurt or killed, in the latter, your mind is the controling factor even though the news may be good news coming (the boss is going to give you a huge raise, double your vacation time and make you the new Vice President).

There are many famous quotes regarding fear. Franklin Roosevelt's probably being the most famous: "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." But his wife Eleanor said it better: "You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do." Other famous quotes include:

Fear of self is the greatest of all terrors, the deepest of all dread, the commonest of all mistakes. From it grows failure. Because of it, life is a mockery. Out of it comes despair."
-- David Seabury.

"Fear; if allowed free rein, would reduce all of us to trembling shadows of men, for whom only death could bring release."
-- John M. Wilson.

"To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead."
-- Bertrand Russell.

"Fear cannot touch me. It can only taunt me, it cannot take me, just tell me where to go. I can either follow, or stay in my bed. I can hold on to the things that I know. The dead stay dead, they cannot walk. The shadows are darkness. And darkness can't talk."
-- Christopher Rice. A Density of Souls.

"Fear imprisons; faith liberates; fear paralyzes; faith empowers; fear disheartens; faith encourages; fear sickens; faith heals; fear makes useless; faith makes serviceable."
-- Harry Emerson Fosdick.

These and many more can be found here.

So, as George Patton once famously said: "Do not take counsel of your fears." and nothing could be truer. You can be afraid, but if you act on that fear, you imprison yourself and you feed the future a diet of failure and despair. If you act anyway, despite your fears, you may not survive, but you will have faced the future.

For many, many years, when people have asked me how I am, I answer "Alive and well, fat and sassy - not necessarily in that order." I find that to be just as good an answer today as it was before all this cancer stuff started.

I choose to face the fear, stare it down, and conquer. I choose to liberate myself from the cloying grip of worry and anxiety and fear, and look for that proverbial pony. Because, in that pile of manure, there must be a pony somewhere.

UPDATE: Welcome Instapundit readers. You can find more on this series by scrolling down on the sidebar for the CATAGORIES section and clicking on "Medical" At any rate, welcome, and stick around for a while, the ride is exhilarating.

UPDATE # 2/Correction: Larry Burke passed away on July 4, 2003. Thanks to reader Greg Marquez for the tip.

I'm Spiderman? Whattttt??????

Online tests can be fun and are sometimes even educational. over the years, I've taken my share of them and this one I just couldn't pass up.

Continue reading "I'm Spiderman? Whattttt??????"

Milosevic is Dead!

Slobodan Milosevic was found dead in his cell this morning. According to the Wall Street Journal he apparantly died of natural causes. Milosevic was on trial in the Hague for crimes against humanity by leading his country to slaughter tens of thousands from a would be break-away provence. Milosevic frequently and vociferously denied guilt. One would suspect that Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Mao and others would claim the same.

I don't know whether to be happy that the world is better off without one more madman or to mourn the fact that justice is denied. Perhaps the only justice meted out here was when his immortal soul found itself condemed to hellfire.

According to the WSJ:

A figure of beguiling charm and cunning ruthlessness, Mr. Milosevic was a master tactician who turned his country's defeats into personal victories and held onto power for 13 years despite losing four wars that shattered his nation and impoverished his people.

Mr. Milosevic led Serbia, the dominant Yugoslav republic, into four Balkan wars, but always managed to emerge politically stronger. The secret of his survival was his uncanny ability to exploit what less adroit figures would consider a fatal blow.

Each time he would bounce back, skillfully reinventing himself in a series of political transformations -- as a devout communist, a reform-minded nationalist, and again as a communist at a time when most of the world had abandoned Marxist ideology.

He once described himself as the "Ayatollah Khomeini of Serbia," assuring his prime minister, Mr. Panic, that "the Serbs will follow me no matter what." For years, they did -- through wars which dismembered Yugoslavia and plunged what was left of the country into social, political, moral and economic ruin.

But in the end, his people abandoned him: first in October 2000, when he was unable to convince the majority of Yugoslavs that he had staved off electoral defeat by his successor, Vojislav Kostunica, and again on April 1, 2001, when he surrendered after a 26-hour standoff to face criminal charges stemming from his ruinous rule.

Few will mourn his passing, and certainly not this blogger!

Insta-Update: Austin Bey has more, and it is well worth reading

Woman Standing Up To Muslim Irrationality

Watch this, in it's entirety, then comment.

H/T (as she does such a damn bang-up job of everything) to Dr. Sanity

UPDATE: More of Wafa Sultan and the Islamofascists from Dhimmi Watch and here also

To Rape An Unveiled Woman

clicking on the "Continue Reading" link immediately below will show a graphic photograph of a rape victim. The link provided will take you to a valuable and very serious post. Continue reading "To Rape An Unveiled Woman"

The Very First Blond "GUY" joke

The very first ever Blond GUY joke..... And well worth the wait?

An Irishman, a Mexican and a Blond Guy were doing construction work on scaffolding on the 20th floor of a building.

They were eating lunch and the Irishman said, "Corned beef and cabbage! If I get corned beef and cabbage one more time for lunch, I'm going to jump off this building."

The Mexican opened his lunch box and exclaimed, "Burritos again! If I get burritos one more time I'm going to jump off, too."

The blond opened his lunch and said, " Bologna again! If I get a bologna sandwich one more time, I'm jumping too."

The next day, the Irishman opened his lunch box, saw corned beef and cabbage, and jumped to his death.

The Mexican opened his lunch, saw a burrito, and jumped, too.

The blond guy opened his lunch, saw the bologna and jumped to his death as well.

At the funeral, the Irishman's wife was weeping. She said, "If I'd known how really tired he was of corned beef and cabbage, I never would have given it to him again!"

The Mexican's wife also wept and said, "I could have given him tacos or enchiladas! I didn't realize he hated burritos so much."

(Oh this is GOOD!!)
(Wait for it!!!)

Continue reading "The Very First Blond "GUY" joke"

Are they NUTS?

Reuters:

A special U.N. rights envoy expressed alarm on Tuesday at allegations of ill treatment in Cuban jails, but said that a U.S. economic embargo was hampering attempts to improve Cuba's respect for political rights.

"The extreme tension between Cuba and the United States has created a climate which is far from conducive to the development of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly," French magistrate Christine Chanet said."

That comes from the esteemed U.N. Commission on Human Rights.

As Dr. Sanity might say: "Are they NUTS?"

Where the Hell is the MSM on this?

Sometimes the MSM does it's job. Most of the time it doesn't. Here it didn't:

Remember that kid, Farris Hassan, the 16-year-old from Florida, who went to Iraq a few weeks ago to allegedly find out for himself what conditions were like for Iraqis and to satisfy a requirement for this journalism class he was taking?

Remember also how his parents were all distraught not knowing where he was?

Remember how the media praised him for being so brave?

Would it surprise you to learn that NO NETWORK JOURNALIST took the initiative to do a little research?

Further, would it surprise you to learn that his parents KNEW where he was because they helped him get his ticket?

Would it surprise you to learn that his school has no such journalism class?

Would it surprise you to learn that his parents sent a note to school saying he'd be gone during that period?

Would it surprise you to learn his father was arrested for forging 2,000 Iraqi passports and was probably attempting to forge more?

Has it occurred to you that the student and his family may really be prospective terrorists in sheep's clothing?

Click this link and read about it because you WON'T hear it on the network news!

The MSM... Ain't they special?

Special H/T to JC - a regular reader

California Supreme Court Protects Child Predators

So much for protecting "the children...." It seems to me that a rational court would defer to stronger provisions by the governor and legislature on matters of protecting young people from sexual predators. But, they are in California...and, can stay there.

From KION 46: California Supreme Court rules on oral sex

California's justices overturned state law requiring adults 21 years or older who are convicted of having oral sex with 16- and 17-year-olds to automatically register as a sex offender for life. The California Supreme Court, ruling 6-1, said the law, first adopted in 1947, was unconstitutional. The majority said that the law was too harsh or unfair....

Righteous people of all faiths and beliefs should find this ruling and the trend of such rulings unacceptable and should stand up for what is right--and, pray for our nation before it completely loses its moral foundation. Our future and our children are at stake, and we should expose those who pretend to care about the children but really only care for their own "right" to do wrong.

Academic Reform -- Can We Trust the Professors?

I've never suggested reading an op-ed from "The New York Times"-until now. And, I'm doing this because an op-ed contributor got something right rather than half-cocked in the wrong direction. What's even more scary to me is that I even agree with a statement in the article by radical Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz. The issue has to do with problems in the field of academics--partly about the forced resignation of Harvard University's President Lawrence H. Summers, who was tarred and feathered by liberal professors, and it has to do with the future of who runs our universities. The current crisis should force academe to re-assess and reform itself--but it likely will not. If not, maybe contributors to the university might re-assess where their money goes and maybe someone else will step up to the plate to reform out-of-control professors. Here are selected passages from the article, but be sure to read all of it to get the full message from an excellent piece.

Academic, Heal Thyself
The New York Times, 03/06/06
By Camille Paglia, Op-Ed Contributor and
University Professor, University of the Arts in Philadelphia

What went wrong at Harvard?

...Larry Summers, a former Treasury secretary, assumed the presidency with a high sense of mission. ...But whatever his good intentions, Mr. Summers often inspired more heat than light. His stellar early career as an economics professor did not prepare him for dealing with an ingrown humanities faculty that has been sunk in political correctness for decades. As president, he had a duty to research the tribal creeds and customs of those he wished to convert. Foolishly thinking plain speech and common sense would suffice, he flunked Academic Anthropology 101.

...(T)he controversy that will inevitably symbolize his presidency was the manufactured outcry early last year over his glancing reference at a conference to possible innate differences between the sexes in aptitude for science and math. The feminist pressure groups rose en masse from their lavishly feathered nests and set up a furious cackle that led to a 218-to-185 vote of no confidence by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences last March.

...Mr. Summers's strategic blunders unfortunately took the spotlight off entrenched political correctness and changed the debate to academic power: who has it, and how should it be exercised?

...It now remains to be seen whether Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences is capable of self-critique. Will its members acknowledge their own insularity and excesses, or will they continue down the path of smug self-congratulation and vanity? Harvard's reputation for disinterested scholarship has been severely gored by the shadowy manipulations of the self-serving cabal who forced Mr. Summers's premature resignation.

...If Harvard cannot correct itself in this crisis, it will signal that academe cannot be trusted to reform itself from within.

Unfortunately, I'm betting that the faculty will only get worse from this "victory." In one divergence from the writer, I don't even want them or trust them to reform and keep power. They've had their chance and it's been too long. Maybe it's time to take away the somewhat phony and over-used "academic freedom" shield and make professors responsible for their words and actions. Maybe it's time to dismantle tenure and make them earn their jobs like we do. If you do a good job, you can come back the next day. If you don't, then you're gone...and, you don't get an extra year and a big pay-off like Chief Ward Churchill did from Colorado.

But, what's the first step and who is willing to take it? Who will have the nerve after this?

Earth in the Balance - And Liberals in the Dark

Global warming protestors should be upset about a recently publicized phenomena--U.S. cities being plunged into darkness by daily changes in our planet. Has mankind affected the Earth so much that this is the result, or are we to accept wing-nut claims that this is just part of nature? Just read excerpts from this article explaining the problem, likely causes, and reactions.

the Onion: Rotation Of Earth Plunges Entire North American Continent Into Darkness

NEW YORK�Millions of eyewitnesses watched in stunned horror Tuesday as light emptied from the sky, plunging the U.S. and neighboring countries into darkness. As the hours progressed, conditions only worsened.

As the phenomenon hit New York, millions of motorists were forced to use their headlights to navigate through the blackness. Highways flooded with commuters who had left work to hurry home to their families. Traffic was bottlenecked for more than two hours in many major metropolitan areas.

"Vast gravitational forces have rotated the planet Earth on an axis drawn through its north and south poles," said Dr. Elena Bilkins of the National Weather Service. "The Earth is in actuality spinning uncontrollably through space."

"I looked out the window and saw it getting dark when I was still at the office working," said Albert Serpa, 27, a lawyer from Tulsa, OK, who had taken shelter with others at Red's Bar and Grill. "That's when I knew I had to leave right away."

Ronald Jarrett, a professor of economics at George Washington University who left his office after darkness blanketed the D.C. metro area, summed up the fears of an entire nation, saying, "Look, it's dark outside. I want to go home," and ended the phone interview abruptly.

Is this the future of the planet--nightly darkness?

Why should you be concerned? Because the threat to life, the anecdotal evidence, and the prevailing claims of Bush's culpability on this are just as valid as similar proof and claims on global warming. If you can accept one, then you can believe the other. Save the Earth! Show your degree of logic and intelligence by writing letters to the editor to oppose the darkening of our hemisphere every single day. Don't accept crazy claims that the setting sun is a natural occurence, do demand billions for research...and, be sure to blame Bush! The Democrats need issues.

Tolerance - Redefined

Jackie Mason and Raul Felder penned (pixilated?) a scathing indictment of the Muslims who practice Islamofascism, their anti-semitism, and their totatl irrationality. A sample:

The Muslims have pronounced their verdict. The cartoon man has been found guilty. The real crime is, of course, not being a Muslim. Now that they have established the crime, they have also pronounced the sentence. Even if you never saw or heard of the cartoon, you deserve to be hit with rocks, your car wrecked, and your embassies destroyed because you are an infidel � and incidentally, there are no appeals. There was even television coverage of a Muslim religious leader screaming in some unintelligible language. However, on the bottom of the screen the translation appeared. This religious leader was shouting that whoever drew the cartoon should have his hands cut off. This hardly seems for us to be a reasonable penalty for somebody taking a piece of paper, picking up a pen, and drawing something.

Ending with:

Everyday Muslim and European newspapers insult and degrade Jews as animals and rodents, which is not only insulting but, additionally, encourages the hatred of Jews. But did you ever hear any Jewish authority anywhere demanding that we find any of these cartoonists so that we can choke them to death or cut them up. Did you ever hear of an Israeli death squad searching for a cartoonist? If the Jewish people applied the same insult standard requiring a death sentence no Muslim would be safe now, anywhere in the world. Could you picture a Jew deciding that he has the right to kill but you have no right to draw an insulting picture?

Nobody has ever died from a cartoon [until Muslims began the killing]. If the worst thing the Nazis ever did had been to draw cartoons of death camps instead of putting Jews in them, six million Jews would be alive today. When was the last time any country decided to kill a Muslim anywhere in the world because they felt insulted? But the Muslims have created a new international law called the "insult law." This means they have the right to kill you whenever they please, and you have no right to do anything about it. If a Muslim were walking down a street in Israel with a picture of an insulting cartoon in hand, no Israeli would threaten his life. They would be too busy celebrating the fact that it was a cartoon and not a bomb.

H/T to Vanderleun at American Digest

I Want My Country Back

Rick Roberts of KFMB Radio gave a rant not too long ago entitled "I Want My Country Back." I found it while surfing the web and noted that Mr. Roberts gave permission for it to be posted at will. Thanks Rick, both for the permission and for saying what many of us feel.

I don’t mean to go off on a rant here, but here’s the bottom line, I want my country back.

I want my kids to be able to walk to the store or walk to school without being abducted by some 3-time convicted child molester. And the politically correct powers that be in this country just can’t seem to get over themselves with “CAN’T WE JUST HELP THIS PERSON!� No! You can’t. But they’re let loose to prey on more children.

I want my kids back. I want my country back.

I don’t agree with everything this President does. I’ve never agreed with anything 100% that any President has done or said.

You know, I was very young during the Vietnam War. So I probably missed that thing by a hair. I don’t know whether I would have agreed with that or not at the time. I was too stupid to have an opinion at that point and time even though I thought I did.

I want my country back.

I want some semblance of respect for authority, whether I agree with it all or not.

I want the Boy Scouts to be “boy� scouts, not boy and “we think she’s a girl� scouts. I want Girl Scouts to be “girl� scouts not Girl Scouts and “Bruce.�

I want my country back.

I want to be able to wake up in the morning knowing that I can walk outside without some gang-banger on parole taking my life.

Or being able to go down and purchase a car without having to worry about you know 90% of the parts being made overseas in some sweatshop.

I want my politicians, when they finally do get my vote, to do what the hell they said they were going to do in the first place.

I want the Abramoff’s of the world to be labeled what they…nothing more than organized crime in a better suit.

I want the Hollywood elite to make movies to entertain me. Not use their celebrity to sway me politically one way or the other.

Quite honestly, if you’re a has-been-pseudo-celebrity I want you to go away quietly, so that I can remember you fondly through your “artiste work� that’s left in the archives.

I want people to say something and when they say something look at me in the eye. And mean what they say. Not say what they think I want to hear. And then do what they want to later politically or any other way.

I want to be able to go out and work and make a decent wage and buy a home. Half the people that are listening to me right now can’t even afford to buy a house unless they’re working three jobs.

And I want America to be America. All of those opportunities, all of those things that made her great, I want those returned to the forefront. If you want to come to this country we welcome you with open arms. We simply ask that you abide by our laws. I don’t want you to snub your nose at our laws, then take advantage of our opportunities, and then cling to the constitution most of which you can’t even read because you don’t speak the language.

I want us to secure our borders because the country is worth securing. The people that live here are worth protecting.

I want my country back. I want my children back.

I want some semblance of what this country used to be.

It’s worth protecting. It’s worth defending.

I don’t recognize this country anymore.

Not politically, not philosophically, not spiritually.

Whether you like it or whether you don’t God was a part of building this great nation. To remove him is to take away the very foundation of what this country was all about.

I don’t care about your political correctness!

I don’t want to know your sexual preference!

I could care less about all of that. Stop making it the headline of the day!

That’s not America.

I want my country back!

And the only way I’m ever going to be able to get this country back is if I reach out to the brothers and the sisters that all feel the same way and we say “Hell No! You can’t have our country.�

It’s not for sale! Take the price tag off this country!

Take the price tag off the heads of our children!

Stop it already!

The politically-correct-psychobabble-hug-a-tree-experts ; You are not qualified to release sex offenders back into our neighborhoods.

The southern border, more than any other border, needs to be secured tomorrow. For all those that wish to come to this country to take advantage of her opportunity, to live under a constitution a living document that breathes in and out just like you do, this country is not for sale.

I should know. I’m one of the owners. You can’t sell it without my permission.

I want my country back!

16 Things It Takes A Lifetime To Learn

I have a very dear friend that I worked with at the college. She is bright, articulate, conservative and funny as hell. She sent the following to me via e-mail and they were just too good not to pass on. So, without further ado:

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative
on the same night.

2. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race
has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that
word would be "meetings."

3. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

4. People who want to share their religious views with you almost
never want you to share yours with them.

5. You should not confuse your career with your life.

6. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.

7. Never lick a steak knife.

8. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.

9. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling
reason why we observe daylight savings time.

10. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests
that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby
emerging from her at that moment.

11. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a
big deal about your birthday. That time is age eleven.

12. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age,
gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep
down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.

13. A person, who is nice to you, but rude to a waiter, is not a nice person.

14. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.) Your
friends love you anyway.

15. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built
the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

16. Thought for the day: Men are like fine wine.. They start out as grapes,
and it's up to the women to stomp the crap out of them until they turn
into something acceptable to have dinner with.

FINAL THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: There is more money being spent on breast
implants and Viagra than on Alzheimer's research. This means that by
2030, there should be a large elderly population with perky boobs and
huge erections and absolutely no recollection of what to do with them.

Mohammad and the Jooooooos

1.

H/T and a Big Thanks to Jeff of A Little More To The Right