Happy Columbus Day!

Celebrate Columbus Day. Upset a liberal. It's okay. Political correctness is not observed at this site.

Black and Latin Players in Baseball

Sheffield says Latin players easier to control than blacks - ESPN

The percentage of African-Americans playing Major League Baseball is at an all-time low and Gary Sheffield says he has a theory why that's the case.

In an interview with GQ magazine that's currently on newsstands, the typically outspoken Tigers designated hitter said Latin players have replaced African-Americans as baseball's most prevalent minority because they are easier to control.

Sheffield tries to clarify comments on Latinos in GQ - SI

Detroit Tigers star Gary Sheffield insists he meant "nothing derogatory" toward Latin players when he said Major League Baseball found it easier to "control them" than blacks.

"The subject was players of my race and what we deal with and why they don't look in the inner cities for that same talent that they do in other places," he said. "(Latin players) have a backing, a support when they come off the island, and black players don't. As far as authority figures, we're only going to respond to people who care about us. That's what I meant by it."

There are different opinions on racial opportunities in baseball. My belief is that there are relatively fewer blacks in baseball because black athletes in the U.S. today tend to migrate towards basketball and football, whereas athletes from Latin America concentrate in baseball, if they don't pursue soccer. In any case, I like Shef and see nothing wrong with him expressing an opinion that opens discussion and might bring about positive changes.

Buying Liberal Offsets? This Is The Place!

Are you sometimes ill at ease - even in Massachusetts - with the liberal tone of political discourse? GM and the WideAwakes are ready to help with the sale of Liberal Offset Certificates.

From the description by Kender on EBay -

Yes that's right, you can still say that the War in Iraq is wrong and as long as you have bought a sufficient amount of offsets your patriotism cannot be questioned. Walk around freely yelling "Bush lied - people died" and if you are confronted by a conservative, whip out your Liberal Offset Certificate and put them in their place. In fact you can spout almost any nonsense you want and as long as you have bought a Liberal Offset, nobody can say a thing.

Here's how it works. When you hold liberal beliefs many people believe you are simply insane, and Liberal Offsets counter that simply by taking the money you have paid for the Offset and...well, much like Carbon Credits nobody is really sure how paying some Voluntary Guilt Tax is supposed to offset the pollution you create, but believe us it does. Just ask Al Gore.

Liberal Offsets work the same way.

When you buy a Liberal Offset that allows you to spout insane viewpoints Justin from Right ON The Right, Kender from Wide Awakes Radio and, indeed the ENTIRE Wide Awakes Radio crew will continue to hold view points that are based in logic and argue from a position of Common Sense and Patriotism.

It is that simple.

Now you can hold positions that directly contradict each other and not have to explain the disparity between them.

Each Liberal Offset Certificate comes personalized with the name of your choice. For a limited time each Liberal Offset you buy will have 4 FREE Offsets added to each order, for a Grand Total of 5 Liberal Offsets for the amazing low price of $5.00 plus shipping. That is 125 hours of argument for each certificate. That should be enough to last until the 2008 Presidential election. Handling Charges are included in shipping.

Peter Porcupine, Right on the Right, Mr. Ogre of the Carolinas and the other Wide Awakes will continue to pump rational argument into the hyperbaric chamber of liberal thought, in order to keep balance and rationality alive. For instance, Peter Porcupine will even provide cogent arguments agaisnt the banning of dihydrogen monoxide, and other such substances.

A link to obtain your certificate is HERE - Kender will help keep the progressive movement from spining off any number of cliffs with this handy trade-off.

Sarkozy To The World!

Reading the oh-so-well-written Volokh Conspiracy today (H/T Instapundit) we find this article: "France will not abandon the women who are condemned to the burqa" which contains the following translated selection of Nicolas Sarkozy's first address to the French people:

La France sera aux côtés des infirmières libyennes enfermées depuis huit ans, la France n'abandonnera pas Ingrid Betancourt, la France n'abandonnera pas les femmes qu'on condamne à la burqa, la France n'abandonnera pas les femmes qui n'ont pas la liberté. La France sera du côté des opprimés du monde. C'est le message de la France, c'est l'identité de la France, c'est l'histoire de la France."

In English: "France will be at the sides of the Libyan nurses locked up for eight years; France will not abandon Ingrid Betancourt; France will not abandon the women who are condemned to the burqa; France will not abandon the women who do not have liberty. France will be by the side of the oppressed of the world. This is the message of France; this is the identity of France; this is the history of France."

Whoa Mr. President Elect Sarkozy, are you out of your mind? Why that is so UN-PC you are sure to cause riots in Iran and Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and the West Bank, let alone Gaza that French folk will be unsafe for decades to come. Why, you might even have rioting in Paris!

On the other hand, damn, isn't it nice to see someone from la belle France thinking in classical liberalism for a change instead of that so called progressive stuff that passes for liberalism?

PC Dictionary Update

I apologize if I've ever used and offended anyone by using the term Stone Age to refer to any person or groups alive today.

'Stone age' labelled 'offensive'

The phrase "stone age" has been labelled offensive by anthropologists who say it should not be used to describe living peoples. It also says that "primitive" or "savage" are no longer acceptable terms for such groups of people.

Such terms damage the welfare of tribal people, say anthropologists. "All anthropologists would agree that the negative use of the terms 'primitive' and 'stone age' to describe [tribal peoples] has serious implications for their welfare," says a statement from the anthropologists' professional association.

ALL anthorpologists? What a special group to have unanimous agreement or, at least, to have the leftists say so.

So, today, how would this cramp the style of Gen. Curtis E. Lemay, who said "We should bomb Vietnam back into the 'stone age'" "Paleolithic" just doesn't have the same ring to it.

Anyway, watch what you call people. There are some who get offended (video) by insinuating that they are "pretty boys" or anything else that you call them.

Are we going to hear from the insurance caveman on this? (Go to his site and entertain yourself checking out his pad. Just don't say that the decorating scheme appears "stone age.")

What picky, insensitive words am I going to have to watch out for tomorrow?

Wimping Out to PC - NCAA Ignores Fans and Tradition

Fans and alumni are disappointed when economic considerations imposed by an elite, out-of-touch national ruling body kill their college tradition. It started with this, NCAA Drives Indians Off College Campuses, and continues with this latest victim:

Univ. of Illinois bars Indian symbol

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -- The University of Illinois will drop its 81-year-old American Indian mascot, Chief Illiniwek.... The move makes the school eligible to host postseason NCAA championship events, but it angered many Illini fans who say the chief honors American Indians.

The NCAA in 2005 deemed Illiniwek -- portrayed by buckskin-clad students who dance at home football and basketball games and other athletic events -- an offensive use of American Indian imagery and barred the university from hosting postseason events. American Indian groups and others have complained for years that the mascot, used since 1926, is demeaning.

"The Chief Illiniwek tradition inspired and thrilled members of the University of Illinois community for 80 years," Board of Trustees Chairman Lawrence Eppley said in a statement. "It was created, carried on, and enjoyed by people with great respect for tradition, and we appreciate their dedication and commitment. It will be important now to ensure the accurate recounting and safekeeping of the tradition as an integral part of the history of the university."

What's next? Are the Islamic students going to demand that they quit playing with a "pigskin?" Will the National Anthem and military flyovers be banned to appease the Left? I would be happy if they moved the drunks to one section so that they wouldn't spill their drinks on me. Oh, and they need better hot dogs. What bothers you that we can get the NCAA to address? They seem to have time on their hands.

You Can't Keep A Good Pig Down

The good folk at Qatar Living recently did a post on the absolute stupidity of censoring a child's book:

In Qatar there is only one decent bookshop (that happens to be a Saudi chain) that has a few shelves of English books. Shopping there is hit or miss - you don't go there to look for a title. You go there in the hope of stumbling upon something interesting.

The kids selection is not bad though. The other night we saw Disney's "My Very First Encyclopedia with Winnie the Pooh and friends". We grabbed it and thought it was exactly what we needed for our daughter - not only does she love Winnie the Pooh but she's also started taking a keen interest in nature.

We flipped it open and noticed that some of the pages had been vandalised with a black marker. We figured it must have been bought and returned after some kids had got there hands on it. Further inspection made us realise that this was actually systematic. Someone had deliberately "censored" out each and every picture of Piglet from hundreds of pages in the book with a black marker (my guess is that the book got caught by Saudi Censors enroute to Doha).

Camper (the author of the post) provided a photo of the censored material.

Now, I don't know about you, but the deliberate defacement of a child's book like this would make me very, very curious as to what was inked out and would make me that much more interested in the topic than anything they could have done otherwise.

Being the curious sort that I am, I decided to call up the 100 Acre Wood and ask for my friend Piglet to see what Piglet thought about the whole brouhaha.

Ring, Ring, Riiiiiinnnnnnggggg!!!

Voice answers:

Helloooo? Christipher Robin here."

Me:

Christopher, it's me, GM. May I speak to Piglet please!"

Christopher:

Oh, hello GM, sure, let me get Piglet for you."

Piglet:

GM, so nice to hear from you once again. How have you been doing my friend."

Me:

Piglet, I'm doing fine. The wife and daughter are well also."

Piglet:

Oh GM, I'm so very glad to hear that. What can I do for you this fine February morning?"

Me:

Well Piglet, this is maybe a little insensitive of me, but I was wondering what you thought of having your picture magic markered over in Qatar?"

Piglet:

Oh yes, I read about that on one of the blogs just this morning with my cup of tea. I had Pooh over and we made scones with his favorite hunny. Well, GM, to be honest, I didn't think much of it. The people that did that really have no idea what they are doing, they are so confused and so backwards in their thinking. Besides, the last time I checked I was just a little insignificant cartoon.

"Oh, wait, they get really upset about cartoons don't they GM, well, as Pooh says, "Oh Bother."

Me:

But Piglet, do you mean to say that it really doesn't bother you at all? That you don't think it is anything to be worried about. After all, you live in England where there is a lot of unrest about what is going on in the Muslim world."

Piglet:

No GM, it really doesn't bother me. You see, I snuck into that bookstore in Qatar, you know the one owned by a Saudi chain and I fixed the problem I think. Here, let me share my "fix" with you. I'll send you an email with a picture of the fix."

Me:

Thanks Piglet. I knew I could count on you to figure something out. You know, if those folk had half your smarts, they wouldn't be as backwards as they certainly seem to be. Well, good bye my friend."

Piglet:

Good bye GM, and thanks for thinking of me. You know, we really must get together some time soon. When will you be back near the 100 Acre Wood?"

Me:

You never know Piglet, sometimes I just turn up and it may be there soon. Good bye again."

To see Piglet's solution, exactly as he emailed it to me, continue reading

Continue reading "You Can't Keep A Good Pig Down"

Violate PC Speech - Go to Jail

Want to know how bad penalties have gotten for violating politically correct speech codes? Consider this matter involving a fourteen year old female student in the U.K.

From "Blue Star Chronicles"....
British Student Arrested for Being Politically Incorrect

A 14-year-old British girl was arrested for racism when she asked to work on a project with English speaking students. It seems she was to work on this project with 'Asian' students (that's PC code for muslim) and only one of the group spoke English. The group was supposed to discuss the project.

She went to speak to her teacher ...."I said 'I'm not being funny, but can I change groups because I can't understand them?' But she (the teacher) started shouting and screaming, saying 'It's racist, you're going to get done by the police'."

More details can be found in the "Daily Mail" article titled "Schoolgirl arrested for refusing to study with non-English pupils," which adds this:

Codie said she went outside to calm down where another teacher found her and, after speaking to her class teacher, put her in isolation for the rest of the day.

A complaint was made to a police officer based full-time at the school, and more than a week after the incident on September 26 she was taken to Swinton police station and placed under arrest.

"They told me to take my laces out of my shoes and remove my jewellery, and I had my fingerprints and photograph taken," said Codie. "It was awful."

After questioning on suspicion of committing a section five racial public order offence, her mother Nicola says she was placed in a bare cell for three-and-a-half hours then released without charge.

How typical of the Left--punish everyone who doen't conform to their demands, and how typical of schools to allow themselves to be their tool for enforcement. Political correct speech is nothing but a weapon of the Left to stop debate from the Right, and it never applies to the Left--but, you knew that. However, the Left considers every foul word to be acceptable and even applauded when flaunted in public or used to describe President Bush.

Maybe the Left is a bunch of pansy retards.

Diversity and Political Correctness Run Amok!

Dangerously Subversive Dad has a post noting the ultimate in Diversity and Political Correctness.

It seems that a policeman in England, who happens to be a muslim, has been excused from having to guard the Israeli Embassy on "moral grounds,"

PC Alexander Omar Basha told chiefs he was unable to carry out duties at the London embassy — a top terror target — due to moral grounds after Israeli bombings in Lebanon.

DSD is obviously upset about this, but also upset by a Tory, specifically one Richard Barnes:

Richard Barnes, a Tory member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, accused senior officers of lacking tact. He said: ‘I think it was crass management in the first place. They should have recognised there could have been a problem and not suggested this officer be posted at this embassy."

"The Met keep banging on about diversity, but this case shows they have learned very little at all."

Officer Barnes, this is not about "diversity" this is about "Political Correctness" and it is monumentally stupid. As DSD notes:

The Tory Party has purely and simply endorsed racism here. The idea that any public servant is free to make moral judgments and then decide to exclude their service from those they deem unfit, immoral or evil for that service is a truly disgusting and pernicious one."

"I got mugged last week, and my mum last year. So I'm not serving you in this Post Office cos you're black and so were the muggers."

"So what if someone ripped off your veil and spat in your eye? I may be a copper but I dont like Muslims, I was on a tube train on 7/7."

"No, I'm not letting you through the ticket barrier - you're obviously a Sikh judging by that turban, and Sikhs killed the Prime Minister back in India, the bastards. As a good Hindu I reserve the right not to let you on the train."

"No way son, I know this is a youth club for everyone but well, you have to understand that as a Jew I feel you bear some responsibility for what is happening to the Palestinians. So you're not getting in."

DSD is right on the money, but the original jerk in this little drama, Alexander Omar Basha is not only wrong, he is so far off the mark as to be ludicrous. Which of course, brings me to a "moral" argument from the other side of the coin:

The Path To 9-11: The Left Is A Comedy For Our Times

The subject of 9-11 is frought with pathos. It is both a sad remembrance and an act of war. But, on the 5th anniversary of this tragic day, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) has decided to show a production of a "Docu-Drama" called "The Path To 9-11". Now, in and of itself, that is nothing remarkable, the history of the socalled "docu-drama" is long and comical for its historical inaccuracies and/or outright fiction, witness the productions of "Death Of A President" in England for example (which many have defended on the grounds of "free speech").

Yet, let a shibboleth of the left be challenged (Clinton was a terrific - though perhaps oversexed president) and watch the fur fly. The reaction of much of the left is almost comical, nay, it is entirely comical and I'll take a few snippits from here and there to prove my point.

First up my friend Marc Cooper (a self identified "progressive") posts "The ABC's of Panderning" in which he states:

L.A. Times media columnist Tim Rutten perfectly nails the shameless shlockmeisters at ABC who think it's just spiffy to capitalize on the pain of the 5th anniversary 9/11 to broadcast one more manufactured piece of dreck -- a two part "docudrama" on the Twin Tower attacks powered by blatant right-wing spin.

Now, Marc is a friend of mine, and my 'blogfather' if you will and I highly respect him and his blog (though that does not apply to some of his more vociferous commenters). But gee could the rhetoric be more appalling, could the prose be a little more turgid? Understand please, as a progressive, Marc is no friend of the Bushes or the Republicans, but having said that, he is no friend of the Democrats either.

More amusing (if that is indeed the word) are some of the comments from that blog entry. This one for example:

NeoDude Says:
September 9th, 2006 at 9:14 am

When has Right-Wing Nationalists (SALUTE!!!), in any Western tradition, not exploit a national tragedy?

Oh gosh, "Right-Wing nationalists." Codewords for fascists perhaps? Oh, the humanity!

How about this one (if you are a fan of conspiracy theories you will LOVE this one):

r. l. c. Says:
September 9th, 2006 at 10:14 am

It really is obvious what happened here. These projects don’t get made overnight and when ABC Entertainment (NOT the news division) OK’ed this Bush was riding high - just been reelected and had increased majorities in both houses of Congress. And what were the pundits saying? Why the GOP wiould be ruling the roost for a long time to come and the Dems were in “Disarray� (a town near Vegas, I believe). So why not get in bed with right wing crazies? They would be in position to help the Mouse with issues like Intellectual Property and Media Ownership. Its not personal, just business.

(Hell Robert Iger was a Clinton Contributor, as were a lote of ABC/Disney Execs)

Sure the Dems would complain but what could they do? Well its now two months from an election that will probably produce a tsunami for them and the miniseries don’t look so hot now does it? That is what happens when you listen to experts!

Can you say "off base?"

But Marc's commenters are rational compared to others (although that is obviously not saying much). For example, Ann Althouse has a terrific post on some of these left-wing rantings here and she has a link pointing to something called "AMERICAblog" with some suggestions to sue, boycott etc Disney, ABC and Apple because of the so called docu-drama. A sample:

Certainly we're going to be live-blogging the show, Sunday and Monday. I'd appreciate those of you in Australia and New Zealand, if the show does air there shortly, please give us feedback as to what they cut and what's still in the show? It will give us a window as to what defamatory material Disney/ABC insisted on keeping in the show, which will help the lawsuits and our organizing.

Secondly, when the show airs in the US, if Disney/ABC still run it, I want to be sure a number of us are live-blogging it to list the defamation and the errors. If Disney/ABC insist on making a cartoon out one of the blackest days in America history, then we will hold them responsible."

Aren't these the same guys who "demand" freedom of speech on campuses and other venues? Does that apply only to speech from their side? Funny, I thought that speech was free for ALL OF THE UNITED STATES. I guess not. But I digress, as funny as the posting is, some of the comments (over 380 of them) are even funnier (or would stranger be a better word choice?) For example, this little bon mot:

I think iTunes is a really good place to hit Steve Jobs and Apple. It is direct and to the point, and it is not platform-based.

It is OUTRAGEOUS that they are offering this as a free download.

They would notice immediately if there was a slack-off in sales.

I have already written to Steve Jobs and the iTunes crew about this.
samia | 09.09.06 - 6:38 pm |

Wow, but this is mild compared to:

It appears that the governments use of the MSM for propaganda distribution is becoming extremely transparent. If we, as Americans, cannot stop this from happening, or becoming any worse, then we have lost the control of our public servents, and more drastic actions must be taken. Boycotts/leaflets/emails/videos/ demonstations etc.
Joe Danger | Homepage | 09.09.06 - 6:43 pm |"

Joe Danger, what a nom-de-pixel that is. Ok lets see, the government controls the MSM enough to make it a propaganda arm of the Bushies. So, how did the NYTimes sneak by with those "expose's" of our efforts to listen in to Al Qaeda or monitor financial transactions? Hmmmmm?

OK, how about this one:

As well as an organized and long-term boycott of Disney and ABC, we should use this opportunity to call for reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine.
nervesofsteel | 09.09.06 - 6:50 pm |"

OK, now that really is scary. The fairness doctrine was less about fairness than it was a way to silence the broadcasters (radio and TV) from airing any "political" speech because the so called doctrine would allow opposing views time on air. General Managers would have a scheduling nightmare and we'd loose talk radio and have to go back to elevator music. No thanks! One more reason not to elect Democrats or liberal Republicans. Oh, and by the way, the above commenter's nom-de-pixel is "nervesofsteel" More like "nerves-of-tinfoil." What a frightened little bunny!

The latest (well, maybe not the absolute latest) lefty "talking point" (I'm being generous here you understand) is that this is NOT the same as Michael Moore's fatuous "Farenheit 9/11" which everyone now says was a "polemic." A polemic?

WordNet
po·lem·ic (p-lmk): adj : of or involving dispute or controversy [syn: polemical] n 1: a writer who argues in opposition to others (especially in theology) [syn: polemicist, polemist] 2: a controversy (especially over a belief or dogma)

Really, seems to me that at the time many on the left didn't see any controversy at all, it was truth and a terrific slam on the Bush Administration (note: Marc Cooper, always his own man, saw it different and the vast majority of his commenters agreed - at the time, not now; now it's just a polemic).

Again, I digress, the whole point of this little exercise is to point out the utter insanity of the left in regards to this docudrama. Reminds me of the "revised" words of the Bard: "The left doth protest too much, methinks."

Cross posted at The Real Ugly American

Update, I've only scratched the surface of the left's response to "The Pathway to 9-11" but James Joyner at Outside The Beltway has looked at how "The Left Remembers 9-11." It's an excellent read and I'm in awe of his article.

Mo(re)-HAM-Add(ed)

Put your cursor on Mo-Ham-Add and he will oink with pleasure, keep tickling him and he will get muddy... then, click on the "more" box in the right hand corner and clean him up with a spray bottle, then feed him an apple. Mo loves this kind of treatment.

adopt your own virtual pet!

A tip 'O The GM Derby to Mikes America

A Lexicon For The Left

I absolutely LOVE liberals. If it weren't for liberals those of us who can think rationally would have nothing to laugh at. For example, I was reading about the Governor of Maryland today and the words used for him was "Moderate." Now, the Governor of Maryland is a Republican, he is also conservative and has beaten back many of the really stupid, anti-business, anti-citizen, anti-just about everything except taxes, and that he has beaten back many pro-tax initiatives of the heavily Democratic legislature. So, to tick off the conservatives, who are somewhat upset with some of the Governor's actions, they call him a "Moderate." As if that will keep the conservatives from voting for the only Republican Governor elected in a very blue state for some time. So, let us begin:

Abortion: Does not exist, in its place is an action of a woman exercising her right to privacy and full control over her body. Full control over her body does not apply to the concept that unprotected sex may lead to pregnancy and if it does, it’s the damn guys fault anyway.

Cold Blooded Murder: Prejudging any action by a soldier in a combat zone if and only if done before an investigation is concluded, charges have been filed or guilt (if any) ascribed to a specific individual. If a Republican administration initiates an investigation before anyone else knows about a suspected illegal action but charges are not filed against the President, Vice President, Karl Rove or a high ranking General, then it is called a Cover-up.

Cover-up: See Cold Blooded Murder immediately above.

Culture of Corruption: Any Republican for any reason or for no reason at all. This opprobrium does NOT apply to Congressman Jefferson (D., La.) or Congressman Jim Moran (D., Va.) or any other individual at the local, state or national level if they have a D behind their name.

Free Speech: Any thing uttered in any circumstances by a Democrat. Given the same circumstances when uttered by a Republican it is called Hate Speech.

Hate Speech: An utterance by a Republican that points out the error of thinking as applied to “affirmative action,� “abortion,� or “the marriage amendment/laws,� or anything else the Democrats dislike.

Indictment: Any legal action that should have been taken against Karl Rove but wasn't (See also Culture of Corruption above).

Democratic Moderate: A Democrat who toes the Democratic Party line and adopts the Democratic Party Talking Points regardless of that individuals voting pattern (Republicans use the term Liberal). This applies to everyone except Joe Lieberman (D, Conn.) who is according to the Kossacks and DUers a turncoat. It does not apply to Senator Zell Miller (D., Ga.) who gave a fine address at the Republican Convention in 2004, he is also a turncoat.

Lied us into war: This applies to any mention of WMDs or any other reason mentioned by Bush, Cheney, Rove, any neo-con or any member of either Bush Administration. Of course, they cannot pin down any specific lie, the fact that not only the United States intelligence had them in Iraq, German Intelligence had them in Iraq, French intelligence (yes, that is an oxymoron) had them in Iraq, Russian intelligence had them in Iraq and British intelligence had them in Iraq. That doesn't matter, nor does it matter that Saddam Hussein (pieces be on him like his protégé Zarqawi) tried really hard to convince everybody that he had them.

Moderate: A conservative Democrat who they don't want to use, or a liberal Republican they want to stay put. Sometimes it also means a conservative Republican who has some "moderate" bits to his record so the other Republicans won't vote for him. (and yes, him as used here, is the inclusive pronoun - PC language be damned)

Pro-choice: Any action taken to insure that the prospective mother does not give a live birth. (See also Abortion)

Tax cuts for the rich: Oh, this is a goody. Of course the Democrats cannot explain why the amount of taxes paid by the rich has increased, nor can they explain why tax revenues have substantially increased to the point where the deficit may be halved 3 years earlier than forecast. According to the Democrats, if you make more than the poverty level, you are rich and all of your income should be turned over to them for them to decide how it should be spent. If you are Paul Krugman, you are just clueless anyway.

Speaking Truth to Power: A term that originally meant telling someone in power something they didn’t want to hear and that could get the speaker tossed in jail, or executed or loss of something significant. For Democrats, it is applied to scoundrels such as Jack Murtha (D., Pa.) who mouth off at the administration about anything that the Democrats think will elect them in the fall or give them back the White House in 2008.

Whistle blowing: An act by a Democrat or Democrat sympathizer that exposes anything a Republican administration does, up to and including exposing national security information that would land anyone else in jail. This specifically does not apply to anything a Republican does, that is called illegal outing of a covert operator (read spy) in order to get even with a former ambassador who lied about his actions anyway and has been exposed by numerous bodies as a liar. When legal charges are applied to members of the media it is called “suppression of free speech.�

This concludes today’s lesson, I’ve talked about these things in the past and this message/lesson has been brought to you as a public service. If you have additional words to add please add them in the comments section. That’s all of my time and I thank you for yours.

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?

Tag! You're It!

Well...it seems that the anti-fun police have struck again, this time at Adams Elementary in Spokane, WA. Apparently, Principal Mary Perrizo-Weber decided that there was a dire problem of children being "coerced" into playing tag. Yep, you see, if one child runs up to another and touches him while simultaneously voicing the phrase "Tag! You're It!," that is coercion. Therefore, out of fear of multi-billion dollar anti-Tag lawsuits that are apparently sweeping the nation and in order to keep children safe from anything that might resemble competition or fun, she banned it (video on Fox News).

Fortunately for potential future victims of schoolyard skullduggery, she rejected the obviously ridiculous petition circulated by 3rd Grader Kuby Boyd and signed by 45 other potential bullies which suggested that those playing the game too aggressively be punished. Thank goodness she had the fortitude to stand fast against such pressure. I mean really, do you know how bad it makes kids feel when they are being punished for doing something wrong. They could be scarred for life. It is much better to just nip any problems in the bud before they could happen.

However, for some reason she has seen fit to continue allowing children to play football. At least she has banned them from running when they play it. Who knows what kind of self-esteem damage could be suffered by a child that could not run as fast as the other children. That is the kind of thing that creates future serial killers. In fact, it is well known that Ted Bundy once lost a race from the fence to jungle gym in 4th grade. The rest is history.