SmartChristian Blog THE CHRISTIAN BLOGOSPHERE CONVENTION (GodBlogCon)

SmartChristian Blog � THE CHRISTIAN BLOGOSPHERE CONVENTION (GodBlogCon) This could be something big, or it could crash and burn. Watch and see, watch and see...

Friends of Democracy - Iraq Election News

Friends of Democracy - Iraq Election News A good place to keep checking back in the next few days.

Mail :: INBOX: Fw: No Relief in Sight for the Lincoln

Recieved via email: No Relief in Sight for the Lincoln By Ed Stanton It has been three weeks since my ship, the USS Abraham Lincoln, arrived off the Sumatran coast to aid the hundreds of thousands of victims of the Dec. 26 tsunami that ravaged their coastline. I'd like to say that this has been a rewarding experience for us, but it has not: Instead, it has been a frustrating and needlessly dangerous exercise made even more difficult by the Indonesian government and a traveling circus of so-called aid workers who have invaded our spaces. What really irritated me was a scene I witnessed in the Lincoln's wardroom a few days ago. I went in for breakfast as I usually do, expecting to see the usual crowd of ship's company officers in khakis and air wing aviators in flight suits, drinking coffee and exchanging rumors about when our ongoing humanitarian mission in Sumatra is going to end. What I saw instead was a mob of civilians sitting around like they owned the place. They wore various colored vests with logos on the back including Save The Children, World Health Organization and the dreaded baby blue vest of the United Nations. Mixed in with this crowd were a bunch of reporters, cameramen and Indonesian military officers in uniform. They all carried cameras, sunglasses and fanny packs like tourists on their way to Disneyland. My warship had been transformed into a floating hotel for a bunch of trifling do-gooders overnight. As I went through the breakfast line, I overheard one of the U.N. strap-hangers, a longhaired guy with a beard, make a sarcastic comment to one of our food servers. He said something along the lines of "Nice china, really makes me feel special," in reference to the fact that we were eating off of paper plates that day. It was all I could do to keep from jerking him off his feet and choking him, because I knew that the reason we were eating off paper plates was to save dishwashing water so that we would have more water to send ashore and save lives. That plus the fact that he had no business being there in the first place. My attitude towards these unwanted no-loads grew steadily worse that day as I learned more from one of our junior officers who was assigned to escort a group of them. It turns out that they had come to Indonesia to "assess the damage" from the Dec. 26 tsunami. Well, they could have turned on any TV in the world and seen that the damage was total devastation. When they got to Sumatra with no plan, no logistics support and no five-star hotels to stay in, they threw themselves on the mercy of the U.S. Navy, which, unfortunately, took them in. I guess our senior brass was hoping for some good PR since this was about the time that the U.N. was calling the United States "stingy" with our relief donations. As a result of having to host these people, our severely over-tasked SH-60 Seahawk helos, which were carrying tons of food and water every day to the most inaccessible places in and around Banda Aceh, are now used in great part to ferry these "relief workers" from place to place every day and bring them back to their guest bedrooms on the Lincoln at night. Despite their avowed dedication to helping the victims, these relief workers will not spend the night in-country, and have made us their guardians by default. When our wardroom treasurer approached the leader of the relief group and asked him who was paying the mess bill for all the meals they ate, the fellow replied, "We aren't paying, you can try to bill the U.N. if you want to." In addition to the relief workers, we routinely get tasked with hauling around reporters and various low-level "VIPs," which further wastes valuable helo lift that could be used to carry supplies. We had to dedicate two helos and a C-2 cargo plane for America-hater Dan Rather and his entourage of door holders and briefcase carriers from CBS News. Another camera crew was from MTV. I doubt if we'll get any good PR from them, since the cable channel is banned in Muslim countries. We also had to dedicate a helo and crew to fly around the vice mayor of Phoenix, Ariz., one day. Everyone wants in on the action. As for the Indonesian officers, while their job is apparently to encourage our leaving as soon as possible, all they seem to do in the meantime is smoke cigarettes. They want our money and our help but they don't want their population to see that Americans are doing far more for them in two weeks than their own government has ever done or will ever do for them. To add a kick in the face to the USA and the Lincoln, the Indonesian government announced it would not allow us to use their airspace for routine training and flight proficiency operations while we are saving the lives of their people, some of whom are wearing Osama bin Ladin T-shirts as they grab at our food and water. The ship has to steam out into international waters to launch and recover jets, which makes our helos have to fly longer distances and burn more fuel. What is even worse than trying to help people who totally reject everything we stand for is that our combat readiness has suffered for it. An aircraft carrier is an instrument of national policy and the big stick she carries is her air wing. An air wing has a set of very demanding skills and they are highly perishable. We train hard every day at sea to conduct actual air strikes, air defense, maritime surveillance, close air support and many other missions - not to mention taking off and landing on a ship at sea. Our safety regulations state that if a pilot does not get a night carrier landing every seven days, he has to be re-qualified to land on the ship. Today we have pilots who have now been over 25 days without a trap due to being unable to use Indonesian airspace to train. Normally it is when we are at sea that our readiness is at its very peak. Thanks to the Indonesian government, we have to waive our own safety rules just to get our pilots off the deck. In other words, the longer we stay here helping these people, the more dangerous it gets for us to operate. We have already lost one helicopter, which crashed in Banda Aceh while taking sailors ashore to unload supplies from the C-130s. There were no relief workers on that one. I'm all for helping the less fortunate, but it is time to give this mission to somebody other than the U.S. Navy. Our ship was supposed to be home on Feb. 3 and now we have no idea how long we will be here. American taxpayers are spending millions per day to keep this ship at sea and getting no training value out of it. As a result, we will come home in a lower state of readiness than when we left due to the lack of flying while supporting the tsunami relief effort. I hope we get some good PR in the Muslim world out of it. After all, this is Americans saving the lives of Muslims. I have my doubts. Ed Stanton is the pen name of a career U.S. Navy officer currently serving with the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group. Send Feedback responses to dwfeedback@yahoo.com.

B-36 PEACEMAKER MUSEUM in FORT WORTH

B-36 PEACEMAKER MUSEUM in FORT WORTH This is great news. The "Last Peacemaker" looks like it finally will have a permanent home. BUT - contributions are urgently needed. Click here to donate. Here's the story, in brief: The B-36 Peacemaker was the US's main heavy strategic bomber during the darkest days of the Cold War. 385 were built between 1946 and 1952. The last one was retired in 1959. Four survive today. The last one built, #52-827, was preserved in Fort Worth. During the 1970's it suffered extreme damage from vandals, and languished outside in the harsh Texas climate, slowly deteriorating. During the 1990s it was lovingly restored by a team of dedicated volunteers. Click here for before-and-after photos. However, plans to build a permanent home in which to display the massive aircraft have fallen through time and again. The current caretakers have been given space at the terminal of Ft. Worth's Meacham Airport to set up displays, and a promise of space on the airport to construct a building for the great plane, but they need to raise a construction fund of $2 million in order to convince the Air Force (who owns the plane) not to move the plane to the desert near Pima, Arizona. Click here to donate.

Mother's Day - a little early

James Lileks' Joe Ohio #16. I'm not a mother, but I'm married to one. This little gem of a column hits a home run.

Boyd on abortion

10 Christian Blogs I want to FURL this page, but for some dang reason, the Furl This button isn't showing up. Greg Boyd came out in favor of 1st-term abortions. Big-time news, for those of us in the evangelical camp. Another pastor is taking him to task and Greg is answering, point by pint. I don't have time or brainspace to read the whole thing now, and FURL isn't furling. grrr.

Senate Democrat crybabies

Yahoo! News - Cabinet Votes Stall in Senate They can't block Rice and Gonzales, and don't really want to, but they're going to have their little tantums. Sheesh.

Boeing VP has a blog

Randy's Blog Randy Baseler is Boeing's VP of marketing. He has a blog. Must have read Hugh's book! HT: Common Craft, which I found from Furl.

Pray for Iraqi Elections

Received via email: > Captain Lyle Shackelford > Battalion Chaplain > HHD, 57th Transportation Battalion > > As a transportation battalion, my unit will be delivering the voting > machines and the ballots to villages and cities throughout Iraq during > the upcoming elections. (January 30/31) Our convoys are prime targets > for the insurgents because they do not want the equipment to arrive at > the polling stations nor do they want the local Iraqi citizens to have > the chance to vote; timely delivery must occur so that the elections > occur. Encourage your friends and family members and those within our > churches to pray specifically for the electoral process. Historically, > the previous totalitarian regime would not allow individual citizens > to vote. Democracy will not be realized in Iraq if intelligent and > competent officials are not elected to those strategic leadership > positions within the emerging government; freedom will not have an > opportunity to ring throughout this country if the voting process > fails. > Announce this prayer request to your contacts throughout your > churches, neighborhoods, and places of business. Those with leadership > roles > within the local church post this message in as many newsletters and > bulletins as possible. There is unlimited potential for God's presence > in this process but if we do not pray then our enemy will prevail (See > Ephesians 6:10-17) A prayer vigil prior to the end of the month may be > an innovative opportunity for those within your sphere of influence to > pray. This is a political battle that needs spiritual intervention. A > powerful story about God's intervention in the lives of David's mighty > men is recorded in 2 Samuel 23:8-33. David and his warriors were > victorious because of God's intervention. We want to overcome those > who would stand in the way of freedom. David's mighty men triumphed > over > incredible odds and stood their ground and were victorious over the > enemies of Israel. (Iraqi insurgents' vs God's praying people). They > don't stand a chance. > I will pray with my soldiers before they leave on their convoys and > move outside our installation gates here at Tallil. My soldiers are at > the nerve center of the logistic operation to deliver the voting > machines and election ballots. They will be driving to and entering > the arena of the enemy. This is not a game for them it is a historical > mission that is extremely dangerous. No voting machines or ballots. No > elections. Your prayer support and God's intervention are needed to > give democracy a chance in this war torn country. Thank you for reading > this e-mail. Please give this e-mail a wide dissemination. > > Thank you for your prayer support for me and my family. Stand firm in > your battles. > > Blessings, > Lyle > Captain Lyle Shackelford > Battalion Chaplain > HHD, 57th Transportation Battalion >

Spacecraft Landed in Mud on Saturn Moon

Yahoo! News - Spacecraft Landed in Mud on Saturn Moon We've landed on another world... again. Cassini was launched in 1997. It circled the sun for a couple of years, swinging around planets to pick up speed, then shot out to Jupiter. It passed Jupiter in December 2000, and for three and a half years years flew through the void to Saturn - at 12,000 miles per hour. 12,000 mph for three and half years. And that's just the gap between two planets in THIS solar system.

I love the Internet

So I'm getting my daily dose of Lileks. He's got this ongoing "Joe Ohio" feature where he's making up as he goes along the life story of a 1950's guy from Ohio based on a matchbook collection. He includes this link It's a painting of Azar's Big Boy restaurant in Fort Wayne, IN. A numbered print from a limited edition, for sale for $75. Only $75 for a numbered limited-edition print OF A "BIG BOY" RESTAURANT IN FORT WAYNE INDIANA. Wonder what it would go for on eBay?

Podhoretz - The War against WWIV

John Podhoretz is always worth reading. This one is an example of why paper will never be supplanted by the Web, though. I can't read thirty pages of text online. I've printed it out to peruse offline. It seems that it might be an interesting point-counterpoint to Chuck Colson's more optimistic assessment.

The New York Times > Technology > Free Speech, or Secrets From Apple?

The New York Times > Technology > Free Speech, or Secrets From Apple? As part of a lawsuit filed by Apple in Santa Clara County Superior Court on Dec. 13, the company obtained a court order allowing it to issue subpoenas to AppleInsider.com, PowerPage.org and Thinksecret.com. The three Web sites published or linked to information on what they said was a future Apple audio device that was code-named "Asteroid." The subpoenas are aimed at getting the operators of those sites to disclose the sources of the information that was reportedly leaked. I'm not an Applephile, so I'm not terribly interested in the technical details of "Asteroid." What is interesting here are the limits of free speech. A company or individual can prevent persons from saying X with a simple non-disclosure agreement. I've signed many of those in my work as a training consultant and multimedia developer. Here, it appears that someone violated the NDA, and Apple wants to know who it was. Historically, journalists have been afforded protection for their sources. Bloggers likely to be following this case with an eye towards the question, "are bloggers 'journalists'?" That's understandable given the "new-media-versus-old-media" meme that's emerged, but there's a much larger issue. Under what circumstances and for what reasons can the courts compel private citizens to reveal their private communication? Under what circumstances is an individual at risk for making private information public?

What a way to go!

Preacher Dies During Sermon About Heaven The Rev. Jack Arnold, 69, was nearing the end of his sermon Sunday at Covenant Presbyterian Church in this Orlando suburb when he grabbed the podium before falling to the floor, said the Rev. Michael S. Beates, associate pastor at Covenant Presbyterian. Before collapsing, Arnold quoted the 18th century Bible scholar, John Wesley, who said, "Until my work on this earth is done, I am immortal. But when my work for Christ is done ... I go to be with Jesus," Beates said in a telephone interview.

Barn burning, barn raising

Hugh is fulminating over the Rathergate report, and mystified that the center-right bloggers aren't joining in his indignation. I find myself strangely unmoved. OF COURSE the report is a whitewash. OF COURSE the Democrat insiders who tried to circumvent the law get off. OF COURSE Mapes et all will get sweetheart parachutes. I don't care. The truth came out, the new media forced the old media to back down and admit it screwed up, and no sane person one will ever again assume that anyone reporting news in any outlet has no agenda. The horses are loose, the barn is empty and burning. Let it. A new barn is already a-building. Join in.

9/11 and the tsunami - God's judgement or blessing?

This is a variation and expansion of a comment I left over on my pastor's blog. There is a difference between an "act of judgement" and a "God-ordained event". The Flood was a judgement by God on the sinfulness of the world. 9/11 was an act of evil that God permitted to occur (some Religious Right pundits notwithstanding). The tsunami was an act of nature that God permitted to occur. God foreordained each of those events, knew about them in advance, knew before the beginning of time the names of the people killed and the children orphaned. He also knew whether or not they were going to choose Heaven or Hell, either as a result of the hearing Gospel or along the lines Paul laid out in Romans 2. God will condemn those whom He will, and will show mercy to those whom He will. In my view, 9/11 was not a judgement. It was a blessing. The hijacked airplanes were nearly empty. So were the buildings. Many people escaped before the towers collapsed. The nation was drawn back to its knees, and awakened to the terrible danger of radical Islamism. As a direct result of 9/11, millions of people in Afghanistan and Iraq who were opressed are now tasting freedom. The Gospel is being proclaimed in nations that were closed. That doesn't mean we're airdropping Chick tracts. Christian soldiers and sailors are bearing living witness to the Gospel daily in their interactions with the people of those nations. God is being glorified. In the terrible aftermath of the tsunami, millions of people are seeing the compassion of Christians (and of non-Christians; let's be fair) as billions of dollars in aid comes in. Further, millions may be led to consider that their lives could be snuffed out in an instant as a sunny vacation turns in seconds to chaotic watery death. Who can tell how many will reconsider what "those crazy Christians" have been saying about a God who provides salvation from sin, if not from tsunamis? In the end, God WILL be glorified.

Caste system adds to misery

Yahoo! News - India's untouchables forced out of relief camps The "untouchable" Dalits of India - the lowest caste - are being forced out of refugee shelters by higher-caste Indians. The caste system goes back centuries. Hinduism perpetuates it, teaching that being born into a low caste is a punsihment for sins in a previous life. There is no upward mobility in Hindu society; one can only hope to to be reincarnated in a higher caste. I wonder what the liberal elite will think of this? It must conflict them greatly. One the one hand they are terribly enamored of Eastern religion and philopsophy. And yet the results of that worldview is an entrenched racism and social oppression.

'A good way to hide an intellect'

Y'all listen up, now, heah? Oh, this is sweet. Sweet. Sweet indeed. I was "growed up" in Texiz, though mah Daddy wuz from down in dem bay-yoohz in sout' Loozeeanah. (He went to work for IBM right after WWII, and was advised by his mentors to lose the "hillbilly" accent of southern Louisiana. He did. I was rasied with a very neutral accent. People who hear me speak often wonder where I'm from.) My Uncle Bill was a paratrooper in WWI (Normandy, Bulge, Purple Heart w/3 Oak Leaf clusters) and built a million-dollar oil field services company in the 1970's. You wouldn't know it to look at him or talk to him. He was jess' a good ol' boy. Once he went to look at a new bass boat (if you don't know, don't bother to ask) with his operations manager, Mike. Uncle Bill was dressed (as ususal) in a ragged, oil-stained jumpsuit. After wandering around the dealership he accepted some glossy handouts from the nattily-dressed salesman and went out to the truck to smoke a Lucky Strike, sip a Falstaff, and consider his options. The utterly clueless salesman asked the #2, "Can that old man really afford one of these boats?" To which Mike replied, "Son, that 'old man' probably has enough cash money in his pocket to buy this place and fire your ass." Not the only time a savvy Texas businessman has been misunderestimated.

Academic freedom?

FrontPage magazine.com :: Dissident Arab Gets the Treatment by Ahmad Al-Qloushi "By Ahmad Al-Qloushi FrontPageMagazine.com | January 6, 2005 I am a 17-year-old Kuwaiti Arab Muslim and a college freshman studying in the USA. ... Make Comment View Comments Printable Article Email Article Font 6pt 7pt 8pt 9pt 10pt 11pt 12pt 13pt 14pt 15pt 16pt 17pt 18pt 19pt 20pt Dissident Arab Gets the Treatment By Ahmad Al-Qloushi FrontPageMagazine.com | January 6, 2005 I am a 17-year-old Kuwaiti Arab Muslim and a college freshman studying in the USA. I was three years of age when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. My parents still remember what it was like for us during the invasion. Waiting for long hours in line for a few pieces of bread. We had darkness 24 hours a day from the burning oil wells. My two uncles are still traumatized from being kidnapped and tortured in Iraqi prisons. Most of all we remember our one-week-old baby cousin who died while the Iraqi invaders were stealing incubators from hospitals to sell them for profit. The Americans by contrast came in to liberate us and asked for nothing in return. I love this country for the freedom it provides and for rescuing Kuwait’s liberty in the first Gulf War. 12 Years later, America once again has selflessly protected my country and my people by removing Saddam Hussein. I arrived in the United States for the first time 5 months ago with tremendous enthusiasm to study the political institutions and history of this extraordinary country. I enrolled in Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, California and immediately registered for “Introduction to American Government and Politics." I was shocked by my Professor’s singularly one-sided presentation. Week after week, I encountered a lack of intellectual and political diversity that I would have more commonly expected to have heard on the streets of pre-liberation Iraq. In this particular class I heard only one consistent refrain: America is bad. ... The final exam consisted solely of one required essay: “Dye and Zeigler contend that the Constitution of the United States was not ‘ordained and established’ by ‘the people’ as we have so often been led to believe. They contend instead that it was written by a small educated and wealthy elite in America who were representative of powerful economic and political interests. Analyze the US constitution (original document), and show how its formulation excluded the majority of the people living in America at that time, and how it was dominated by America's elite interest.” ... I did not leave my country and my family to come to the United States to receive further brainwashing. I disagreed completely with Dye and Zeigler’s thesis. I wrote an essay defending America’s Founding Fathers and upholding the US constitution as a pioneering document, which has contributed to extraordinary freedoms in America and other corners of the world - including my corner, the Middle East. Professor Woolcock didn’t grade my essay. Instead he told me to come to see him in his office the following morning. I was surprised the next morning when instead of giving me a grade, Professor Woolcock verbally attacked me and my essay. He told me, “Your views are irrational.” He called me naïve for believing in the greatness of this country, and told me "America is not God's gift to the world." Then he upped the stakes and said "You need regular psychotherapy." Apparently, if you are an Arab Muslim who loves America you must be deranged. Professor Woolcock went as far as to threaten me by stating that he would visit the Dean of International Admissions (who has the power to take away student visas) to make sure I received regular psychological treatment. This scared me. I didn’t want to be deported for having written a pro-American essay, so as soon as I left his office I made an appointment with the school psychologist. She let me go with a comment that I don’t need regular therapy. As I left her office, I couldn’t help thinking that even my Palestinian high school teachers had never tried to silence me or put me in therapy."

The Resurrection

I'm having a discussion over at a non-blog discussion board; I thought I'd mirror some of my comments and arguments over here. The NT doesn't contain an account of the resurrection itself. It contains an account of an empty tomb, and eyewitness accounts of encounters with a risen Jesus. The rules of textual scholarship say that you give the text the benefit of the doubt - you don't call the contents a fabrication unless you have clear extra-textual evidence that it was fabricated. That the contents describe miracles is not itself a reason to discredit the texts, since 1. IF they are correct about who Jesus was, then it is possible that miracles actually took place as described, and 2., it is possible to find natural explanations for some events described as miracles (see the 1950's novel "The Robe").

Where In The Blog?

Generalissimo Duane is collecting photoshops of Hugh's new book. My own modest contribution is among them. Barbie ^tm is a trademark of Mattel, Inc., and the the copyrights of the other images used in the collage are retained by their original creators. Besides, it's satire.

Repeat this story 70,000 times, then do it again

A life sacrificed to let her daughter survive - Asia Tsunami - www.smh.com.au Then a second series of waves came a few minutes later. The Balachandras fought to make it to one of the few houses still standing but were separated. Trying to save the aunt and grandmother, Bernard was washed into the branches of a tree, where he survived despite being struck by debris. Asha and her mother tried to make it to one of the few houses still standing but, realising they would both drown if they clung together, Magdalene let her daughter go on to save herself. Asha recalled: "She said to me, 'No, Asha, I'm falling. You go ahead first, you lead.' She didn't want to hold on to me. This story alone is a tragedy. Multiply by 70,000, if you can. Seventy. Thousand. I'm not sure that I can. I work at a place that has about a hundred employees. A medium-sized business. I know most of my coworkers by sight, if not by name, and I recognize most of the names. Now I try to imagine seven hundred of those. I've been to a few big-league college football games, a couple of pro games, some rock concerts, a couple of Promise Keepers events. 70,000 is a LOT of people. UPDATE: That was a few days ago. The toll is DOUBLE that now. Words simply fail...

The Birth of Jesus

The Birth of Jesus Mark D Roberts' series on The Nativity. Bookmarked for later reading.

There's no pleasing some people

Yahoo! News - Aid Grows Amid Remarks About President's Absence $35 million in aid, with more - much more - to follow. (Compare to the EU's $4 mil.) An aircraft carrier. A division of troops. Hundreds of thousands of individuals donating through Amazon, to World Vision, the Red Cross/Red Crescent, etc. And still the Bush-bashers and America-haters find a way to criticise us. This is really tiresome. If we pulled all the troops out of Iraq and sent them to help, canceled all the military programs and sent the money to SEA, lassoed a couple of icebergs and towed them to the coasts of Sri Lanka and Sumatra, people would still call it insufficient. Exactly what is the President going to accomplish by going on TV and saying the obvious - that this is an unprecendented humanitarian disaster and America's response will be likewise unprecedented? But you know what? It doesn't matter. America - and Americans - will jump in to help. We always have, we always will.

Iranian bloggers tortured

BuzzMachine... by Jeff Jarvis Free the Persian Pajamahdeen! Paging Amnesty International... This is not to make light of a terrible situation, mind you.

"Suddenly we saw the ocean was disappearing"

'We Didn't Understand, We Were Just Paralyzed' (washingtonpost.com) Giske, a Norwegian real estate investor, and his Thai wife had been enjoying the holidays in a villa they own here. On Sunday, they had arranged for a sailboat ride with two other families and were down at Patong Beach, waiting for the vessel to arrive, when everything changed. "Suddenly, we saw the ocean was disappearing," Giske said. In the span of about 15 seconds, the water reaching as far out as 2,000 yards simply vanished. It was about 10 in the morning on one of the busiest days of the year. The sea was packed with families. The undertow was so powerful that anyone in the water was instantly sucked out, witnesses said. Then came a strange period of calm, the ocean gone, fish flopping on the abandoned seabed. Some people wandered out for a look. "Suddenly, we saw this big wave coming," Giske said. "It took all the yachts and swept them in. We didn't understand, we were just paralyzed."

Geraghty takes on Jarvis

The Kerry Spot on National Review Online - "A MORE DETAILED LOOK AT THE MERRY CHRISTMAS/HAPPY HOLIDAY DEBATE" ht:hh

A conversation on keeping Christ in Christmas

BuzzMachine... by Jeff Jarvis Is Christianity under attack in America? I think it's obvious that it is. Jarvis has a different take. An interesting conversation so far.

Jesus, Christmas & the Elves

Jesus, Christmas & the Elves A *holiday* classic by John Leo of USN&WR. ht: Tapscott

Spirit of Christmas Past

Yahoo! News - Ga. Town Proud of WWII Christmas Legacy In December 1944, workers building Liberty Ships at the Brunswick Shipyard in Georgia reported to work on Christmas Day to build one more ship for the war effort. Then they donated their overtime pay back to the Treasury to help pay for the war effort. Where is that spirit today?

The Man Who Saved the World

Star-Telegram | 12/17/2004 | LOST IN THE FALLOUT The man who saved the world from a nuclear holocaust in 1983 is living out his days on a meager pension on the outskirts of Moscow.

After three decades, Bill Moyers calls it a career

After three decades, Bill Moyers calls it a career I used to have respect for Moyers. Note the verb tense.

If today's media had covered the Battle of the Bulge

The Quagmire in Europe An uncle of mine was a paratrooper during the Bulge. He also jumped at Normandy. Purple Heart with four oak leaf clusters. FWIW, in the comments section of at Trasnterrestrial Musings I referred to "A History of the English Language" by me and Ben Tucker. Here's the link.

James snobs Aldi

James Lileks doesn't like the discount grocery store, Aldi. His riff on it is pretty funny - the "brand" names are very alternate-universey. "Grandessa" for example - it's on the ice cream, the tomato sauce, etc. That doesn't mean that the quality of the products is poor, however. My kids love Aldi's sandwich bread and cinnamon rolls. Their "frozen chicken things" - Kiev, Cordon Bleu, etc. you know what I mean? - are just as tasty as the ones costing 50% more at Cub (or here in Cleveland , Giant Eagle or Tops). They have a really good muesli-type cereal, and their diet cola is drinkable, unlike the Wal-mart diet coke knockoff. (Sam's Choice Raisin Bran is the best on the planet, however.) Milk and butter are commodities - why pay more than you have to? I don't like their take on "Wheat Thins," but the kids like them, and their version of "Cheeze-its" is indistinguishable from the brand name box. Renting the carts for a quarter and selling the (sturdy and reusable) bags must help keep costs down. Think about what a place like Cub in our old stomping ground of SLP paid to keep carts back in the store - at least two stockboys making at least minimum wage, plus the depreciation on the radio-controlled "mule" they use. It's gotta add up to thousands of dollars per year. Cut that out of the budget, and you can reduce prices across the board. They also don't take checks or credit cards, which probably saves a huge amount in bank fees and write-offs. Aldi doesn't just use the savings to pass on low prices. They also pay their employees well - the ads say starting pay is $12/hr. It's annoying that they never seem to have enough checkout lanes open, but you can manage that by timing your trips to avoid the crowd.

Vox Bloguli VI - MSM versus IXThYS

Commisar Hewitt issued a call for comment on the recent Newsweek article on the birth of Christ and the more-than-able rebuttal by Mark D. Roberts and others, with the question, "What does Newsweek's story on Christmas tell us about MSM?". I've not had time to read the assignment, I'll admit. (I was practicing for the Christmas Eve service at church - can I get a pass, Professor?) But from what I have seen, it's not hard to form an opinion. If it changes after reading the original articles and the subsequent blog entries, I'll update this post. Not that I think it likely. Most of historical and much of modern "mainstream" Christianity is bound up in ritual. Ritual is a cultural thing - quaint, colorful folklore, the stuff of National Geographic and Discovery Channel specials. It is non-threatening. As long as Christianity is merely cultural and doesn't try to get personal, it's okay. But there's a new and dangerous kind of Christian around - Evangelicals. They elected the horrible Bushitler. And the key thing about these Evangelicals is that they ACTUALLY BELIEVE the stories in the Bible. They are growing in number. So it is imperative for those who control the nation's media to 1. try to get some of the new converts to question their new-found "faith" and 2. demonstrate to the "reality-based community" that these Evangelicals who are so certain they have a lock on Truth have really based their worldview on a lie. We all know that truth is relative - there IS no such thing as "absolute truth" - and the Newsweek article confirms this. Comfort ye, my people. /sarcasm, for the terminally clueless

On Lileks and books

James Lileks was in Chicago this weekend, ego-browsing bookstores to see how his new book is selling. He turns them face-out because, "People’s eyes skate over spines, but they linger over covers. For a second, at least." I understand his desire to make his book more noticable. If I ever get around to writing The Great American Coffee-Table Tome, I'd want it to sell, too. The problem is that the cover of THIS particular book will make your eyeballs explode from their sockets. Imagine the ugly scene in a crowded Chicago bookstore: A group of folks are gathered mournfully around the deep-discount table, looking sadly at the unsold stacks of obsolete anti-Bush screeds while throngs of harried holiday shoppers elbow their way past. Suddenly there's a loud, wet, "POP! POP!" and a pair of bleeding, melted optic spheres zip through the crowd, nailing an embittered blue-stater and his wife square in the temple. Down they go. Hard. "POP! POP!" again and a lady slumps over her stroller, double-tapped between the eyes. Screams. A mad rush for the exits. An old lady goes down in the crush, wailing piteously. James, you're a nice guy, but endangering the public in order to line your own pockets is simply reprehensible.

A discussion on the census in Luke 2

"We have conclusive evidence that an empire-wide (in decree, not necessarily execution, of course) registration occurred in the time frame described by Luke! Martin [CKC:89-90] summarizes the literary, archeological, and iconographic evidence for this: " A sixth reason for placing the nativity of Jesus in 3 or 2 B.C. isthe coincidence of this date with the New Testament account that Jesus was born at the time when a Roman census was being conducted: "There went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the IRoman] world should be registered" (Luke 2:1). Historians have not been able to find any empire-wide census or registration in the years 7-5 B.C., but there is a reference to such a registration of all the Roman people not long before 5 February 2 B.C. written by Caesar Augustus himself: "While I was administering my thirteenth consulship [2 B.C.] the senate and the equestrian order and the entire Roman people gave me the title Father of my Country" (Res Gestae 35, italics added). This award was given to Augustus on 5 February 2 B.C., therefore the registration of citizen approval must have taken place in 3 B.C. "

A ride in an F-14

CNN/SI - Inside Game - Sports Illustrated - Life of Reilly - Life of Reilly: On a Wing and a Prayer - Tuesday September 14, 1999 06:12 PM If you need a laugh, click and read. Milk Duds, indeed! ROFL!

Pearl Harbor - and the aftermath

Grim Economic Realities On another site I was shooting the breeze with some folks, speculating what would have happened had the attack at Pearl Harbor been a total military success. (They missed the carriers, most of the repair yards, and the oil facilities). A good fellow named "dc" pointed me to this article. Wow.

She's Having a Fetus

the evangelical outpost: She's Having a Fetus Superb satire. I don't think the phrase, "That's a valid choice" was penned by Orwell, but it might have been. It's Newspeak at its best.

The Groningen Protocol

It sounds like the title of a Robert Ludlum spy thriller. Fedora'd characters lurking in shadowed corners, blind drops and microdots, a retired Stazi officer making an unlikely alliance with an embittered, embattled CIA agent racing against time to save the world - and his girl. A terrific read, a lovely bit of disposable fiction. Would that it were. The Groningen Protocol is all too real. It is the process by which a committee of doctors at the Groningen Academic Hospital in The Netherlands decides to kill sick babies. Not turn off the life-support machines. Not stop treatment. Not decide not to use heroic measures, and provide palliative care until nature takes its course. Kill, as in inject with lethal drugs. The same as you'd do with a cat or dog. Put down. Euthanize. Put out of their misery. Kill. And unlike abortion, this is not the parent making the decision to kill the child. A panel of doctors decides. The parents wishes may be considered, but the decision is made by "medical professionals." The same ones, presumably, that once took an oath to "first, do no harm" and to "administer no deadly medicine." Hugh Hewitt wonders why much of the blogosphere has been silent on this issue to date. Perhaps, like me, other bloggers have simply been too shocked to have much to say. Those who have spoken have done so very elequently, and as a result, I don't have much to add. Perhaps I will later. Most likely. Pastor and theologian Dr. Mark D. Roberts has assembled a useful and insightful set of resources. UPDATE: A tie-in I have yet to see is the connection between the Groningen Protocol and Susan Smith. You remember her, right? She's the young mother - excuse me, that should be "young woman" - who murdered - excuse me, that should be "exercised her reproductive rights" her young children - excuse me, that should be, "products-of-conception" - by strapping them into their car seats and pushing the car into a pond - excuse me, that should be, "creatively utilizing the methods available to her". The reason she did that, she said at her trial, was that the young boys had become an inconvient drag on her social calendar. IOW, they adversely impacted her quality of life and mental health. I still don't understand why "reproductive rights" advocates are not agitating for her release. I'm certain that supporters and apologists for the Groningen Protocol will come to her aid. She's quite a heroine to the cause of individual freedom, wouldn't you say? Certainly not the cold-blooded child murderer she's been portrayed as. /swiftian sarcastic irony, for the clueless

Prozak for Lovers II

CD Baby: BRUCE LASH: Prozak for Lovers II - hear and buy it at CD BABY. If you like Talking Heads, you will LOVE Bruce Lash's take on "Psycho Killers." It is to laugh!

More crushing of dissent in schools

Yahoo! News - Principal Sorry for 'School Prayer' Poem To the people who complained: if the shoe fits, wear it!

Hmmm...

Yahoo! News - Top general warns Iran not to underestimate U.S. military "Why the Iranians would want to move against us in an overt manner that would cause us to use our air or naval power against them would be beyond me," Army Gen. John Abizaid, the head of U.S. Central Command, said in an interview on the way to his headquarters here from Afghanistan. ... Abizaid, the top commander for Afghanistan and Iraq, said any nation perceiving a weakness in the U.S. military should think twice. "We can generate more military power per square inch than anybody else on Earth, and everybody knows it," Abizaid said. "If you ever even contemplate our nuclear capability, it should give everybody the clear understanding that there is no power that can match the United States militarily." I'd like to see that whole interview, to get some context. But how much you want to bet that folks start screaming about how the top US general is threatening to nuke Iran?

Books worth rereading

Hugh Hewitt asks for modern novels worth re-reading. I confess that my recreational fiction reading tends towards the mind-candy technothriller. These are generally single-use books, though the plots and characters tend to be repetitive enough that reading two of them might be considered the same as re-reading either. I've run across one or two books, though, that are worth re-reading. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet tells the story of the building of a cathedral at the transition from the Romanesque style with barrel vaults and thick walls to Gothic architecture, with its soaring expanses of stained glass and flying buttresses. The story captures the everyday squalor of medieval life and the power of the mounted man-at-arms over the peasant. The pervasive influence of the Roman Catholic Church is depicted without affection; the spiritually sympathetic character is a woodland "witch" who is persecuted for being a premodern feminist. This anachronism aside, it's a terrific read. I was therefore curiously disappointed when I reread Follet's Night Over Water, an espionage thriller set on a fictional flight of the grand Boeing Flying Boat at the outbreak of WWII. I recalled the book as going into a lot of techical detail about this marvelous flying machine. On the second reading, though, the story seemed to be mostly about sex. I finally got around to reading the last installment of the Left Behind series. The first couple of books were fascinating, but the quality of the writing seriously deteriorated as the series dragged on and on. You'd think that for a Christian author, describing the Parousia would be like an organist playing a Bach tocatta - a chance to pull out all the stops. But it falls flat. Frank Peretti wrote a couple of books that are worth a second look, particularly This Present Darkness. Someone really needs to make that into a movie. With today's digital effects, a competent visual storyteller could really bring to life this tale of Good versus Evil in a small town. Roy Scheider is probably too old to play the central character. Maybe Ed Harris? (Yes, I know he played a good guy opposite Max von Sydow's Devil in Needful Things.) My wife is currently re-reading the Zion Chronicles series by Brook and Bodie Thoene. And of course, C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia should be read and re-read. Aloud to your children.

USS Clueless - Inductive logic

USS Clueless - Inductive logic To read later...

IMAO: Our Military: Letters to Michael Moore

IMAO: Our Military: Letters to Michael Moore "Michael Moore asked for letter from veterans, and some responded and were nice enough to forward me [Frank J. at IMAO] their letters." Be careful what you ask for. You might get it. :-D

Eject! Eject! Eject!

Eject! Eject! Eject!: FOR SALE Bill Whittle of Eject! Eject! Eject! has a new nook out. In case anyone is reading this, hint hint, it'd make a GREAT Chrsitmas gift, hint hint....

Government Uses Color Laser Printer Technology to Track Documents

Yahoo! News - Government Uses Color Laser Printer Technology to Track Documents Why am I not surprised?

High to low, look out below

Yahoo! News - Jet Crashes Before Picking Up Elder Bush I'm playing amateur NTSB investigator here. The plane clipped a light pole on final approach in IFR. The weather map shows a stationary front across the flight path from Dallas to Houston. I'm guessing that the pilots may not have set their altimeters correctly for the approach. Coming from an area of relatively high barometric pressure to an area of low pressure, the altimeter would read higher than the actual altitude. (The low pressure makes the instrument think it's at a higher altitude than it really is.) Tragic.

WHOOP!

Mackubin T. Owens on National Review Online: "Of course, the red states would have to contend with their own nests of 'copperheads' - Austin, for instance. But I say a few Aggies could take care of that" Heh. Indeed!

Hoo RAH! Photoshop fest

Incoherant Ramblings and things better left unsaid - risawn.com

YUM!!

MSNBC - Hardee's unveils the �Monster Thickburger Ok, so welcome to last week. But GOLLY, this looks yummy! I suppose yet another way to divide people are those to whom the Monster Thickburger looks like death-on-plate, and those of us to whom it looks like some Serious Lunch.

Beating a child to death for eating - Bismillah!

IranPressNews (English): A 14 year old boy is sentenced to 85 lashes for breaking his Ramadan fast ! A 14 year old boy died on Thursday, November 11th, after having received 85 lashes; according to the ruling of the Mullah judge of the public circuit court in the town of Sanandadj he was guilty of breaking his fast during the month of Ramadan. Beating a child to death for eating, and do it in the name of God. I am speechless with rage and fury. Is this the fast that God desires?

Kmart, Sears to Merge

Yahoo! News - Kmart, Sears to Merge in $11 Billion Deal Sounds like they plan to give Wa-Mart a run for their money for the title of King of Mediocrity. I remember the Sears Catalog - especially the toy section! - from when I was a kid. It was the Big Wish Book. I spent hours poring over that thing, dreaming. In college, Sears Craftsman tools were still the best you could get for the home shop (yes, the professional grease monkeys used Snap-On, but they were EXPENSIVE. I figure they bundled the cost of their pin-up calendars with the price of the tools.) But in the past 20 years or so, Sears just seems to have slid. Maybe it's inept marketing, maybe poor management, but it's just not the same. And now, this. Kmart marries Sears. It's just not exciting.

Atlantis Found?

Yahoo! News - U.S. Researcher Says Finds Atlantis Off Cyprus Very, very cool. There are ancient stories all over the globe of cataclysmic floods. I've never been one to take Genesis literally - especially the pre-patriarchal stories, but it's clear that Genesis does preserve ancient "racial memories" - stories handed down from generation to generation, like the Austrailian Aborigine "Dreamtime."

Shooting of wounded Iraqi was justified

Yahoo! News - U.S. to Probe Shooting of Wounded Iraqi Here's the nub of it: ...a Marine in the same unit had been killed just a day earlier when he tended to the booby-trapped dead body of an insurgent. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice... BTW, wasn't it just a few weeks ago that a man running for President claimed he was qualified for the job in part because he once chased down and killed a wounded enemy combatant?

normblog: Gone wrong

normblog: Gone wrong A left-wing blogger asks a probing question - why were so many Kurds and Iranians happy to see George Bush win the election? Shouldn't downtrodden people yearning to be free fear a conservative adminintration? Shouldn't they look for hope to the marchers for "peace and justice?" Mazlow's ladder, Norm. Mazlow's ladder. You can feel free to march for a woman's right to kill the fetus living within her when she does not have to fear being publicly executed for being pregnant out of wedlock.

100,000 Dead? or 8,000 - How many Iraqi civilians have died as a result of the war?

100,000 Dead�or 8,000 - How many Iraqi civilians have died as a result of the war? By Fred Kaplan But read the passage that cites the calculation more fully:

We estimate there were 98,000 extra deaths (95% CI 8000-194 000) during the post-war period.

Readers who are accustomed to perusing statistical documents know what the set of numbers in the parentheses means. For the other 99.9 percent of you, I'll spell it out in plain English—which, disturbingly, the study never does. It means that the authors are 95 percent confident that the war-caused deaths totaled some number between 8,000 and 194,000. (The number cited in plain language—98,000—is roughly at the halfway point in this absurdly vast range.) This isn't an estimate. It's a dart board. Figures don't lie, but liars can figure. Figures, doesn't it?

It's not all bad being red

Michelle Malkin: MOST CHARITABLE STATES--RED OR BLUE? Hey, those of us in the Red states may be ignorant homo-hating Biblethumping anti-science keep-the-wimmin-barefoot-pregnant-an-in-the-kitchen gaptoothed redneck inbred uneducated NASCAR WWF country-music-lovin' idiots, but at least we're generous....

Dodged a bullet

I just witnessed in microcosm what might have happened had Kerry won. For several years I've been a member of Guitar.com. One of the features of that site was a free-wheeling discussion board called "Misc." The language there was often pretty rough, as you might expect fromm anonymous adolescent rock-n-roll fans. But I considered it my mission field, as it were. One thread on Christianity grew to over a thousand posts and lasted more than a year, with a rolling conversation between myself, a couple of other believers, and a handful of atheists (not to mention the trolls). The board was moderated, so if anyone got too far out of line they could be banned (forcing them to come up with a new user ID) and their posts deleted. Well, this evening someone guessed an admin's password. The hacker gave every user the power to be a moderator. It was an electronic version of the Fall of Rome. People were being banned left and right, posts deleted, truly offensive content being posted - pandemonium. The site owner just took all the discussion boards offline. ALL the boards, including sedate forums devoted to beginners tips, the technical minutia of recording techniques and signal processing. The children got put in charge, and all hell broke loose. Had Kerry won on Tuesday, the foreign and domestic policy of this nation would have been dictated by the likes of Michael Moore and MoveOn. Thank you, God.

Yassir, Yassir!

Yahoo! News - Arafat Fighting for His Life in Paris: "A prolonged Arafat incapacitation -- or death --could have profound impact on the Middle East. " One presumes that Arafat's death would indeed be "prolonged." These AP writers must be too young to recall SNL's "Francisco Franco is still dead" headlines....

A Small Victory - The Morning After

A Small Victory - The Morning After Well said.

Who said what?

Match the speaker with the speech. Can you discriminate between John Kerry, Michael Moore, and Osama bin Laden? I got 12 out of 20 right. I got 3 Kerry quotes right, 4 Moore quotes, and 5 OBL quotes. I looked at the style of the language, since the content was pretty much indistinguishable. Scary. I missed 2 Kerry quotes and 3 each of Moore and Osama, attributing 2 Kerry quotes to Moore, 1 Moore quote to Kerry, 2 Moore quotes to OBL, 2 OBL quotes to Kerry and 1 OBL quote to Moore. Twice I thought it was Kerry, but it was Osama. Twice I thought it was Moore, but it was Kerry. Twice I thought it was Osama, but it was Moore. At least I didn't attribute any genuine Kerry quotes to Osama. Still pretty scary, though, how hard it was to tell the difference between a mass murderer, a radical film maker, and a man who a lot of people want to be the next President of the United States.

Kerry's ignorance, megalomania, and anti-Americanism converge

Captain's Quarters So now John Kerry is going to single-handedly revise the US Constitution to please a Finnish election observer. Simply. Amazing.

The ABC / AQ tape

DRUDGE REPORT: CIA, FBI AUTHENTICATE NEW QAEDA TERROR TAPE Given that the person on the tape warns that the attack is in retribution for "electing George Bush who has made war on Islam by destroying the Taliban and making war on Al Qaeda", I suspect that the attack is not planned for before the election. Bush didn't destroy the Taliban or make war on AQ until AFTER 9/11. The tape was probably intended to be aired after the election in the event of a Bush victory. The tape may have been inadvertently released early. Or maybe not. Perhaps the intent in releasing it now is to warn that IF we re-elect Bush, there will be an attack. (There doesn't seem to be a promise of peace if we elect Kerry, however.) Little matter. We expect them to try again, and our homeland security is oriented toward the threat. Memo to AQ: The US is not Spain.

Pilot Error Blamed for Flight 587 Crash

Yahoo! News - Pilot Error Blamed for Flight 587 Crash Seems to me this is a problem with the flight-control software. The Airbus is a fly-by-wire machine. The pilot's controls are not directly connected to the control surfaces. The pilot's control inputs are evaluated by a computer (a voting troika, actually), which then moves the control surfaces. So the flight-control software should be able to prevent overcontrolling in all flight regimes. But it's far easier to blame the pilot. He's dead, after all.

Shared learning objects

Shared learning objects A good resource for educators at MidSouth Community College.

The weekend's big story

Security Council members deny meeting Kerry - The Washington Times: Nation/Politics - October 24, 2004 So this is the big story? What's the big deal? Kerry met with the Security Council over lunch at all those Washington restaurants where he met with the other foreign leaders who told him to win.

Bears and Wolves

The Daily Recycler: Oh My Reagan's famous "Bear" ad, and the new Bush "Wolves" ad. I think Bear was far more powerful. The visuals in Wolves are terrific - especially the final shot where the pack gets up and moves toward the camera - but the script is poor IMO. UPDATE: Inspiration struck when I read whay Jeff had to say over at Shape of Days. Here's my alternate script: We all know they exist. But what are they, really? Some say they're dangerous, vicious brutes who attack without warning. They must be exterminated before they attack us - or our children. Others say they're merely misunderstood, that we must learn to live together. That we can be friends. [shot of pack moving toward camera] Nice doggy...? Whaddya think?

The Commoners are Revolting!

Yahoo! News - Blair Faces Growing Revolt From Lawmakers Well, that IS what the story says...

Well Said.

American Digest: Fifty Reasons Why Indeed. In Deed.

ACLU comes clean about its agenda?

Yahoo! News - ACLU Turns Down $1.15 Million in Funding Hm. The ACLU turns down $1.5 million because the grant stipulates that the money cannot be used to "directly or indirectly engage in, promote, or support other organizations or individuals who engage in or promote terrorist activity." At least they're being honest.

HH Symposium - I hear and obey, Master!

Hugh Hewitt has another symposium question: Why vote for Bush, and what's wrong with Kerry? Just to be contrarian, I'm going to turn it around. Also, I recall what a wise friend once told me - you don't really understand an argument until you can argue both sides. So. Why vote for Kerry, and What's wrong with Bush? Vote for Kerry because: 1. He's not Bush (see list of Bush's faults below) 2. He will make America better-liked by other countries 3. He has a plan for dealing with the looming health care crisis 4. He promised not to raise my taxes unless I more than triple my income 5. He's been in combat, so he knows what it's like to be ordered into battle What's wrong with Bush: 1. He can't say 'nuclear', or give an extemporaneous speech 2. He's so focused on Iraq that our armed forces are spread too thin 3. He didn't have a plan to secure Iraq after Saddam was driven from power 4. He spends too much 5. He doesn't care what other countries think of America OK, I tried. Really, I did.

Wah...wahh....wah-CHOO!

The Washington Monthly Stuff on the flu vaccine shortage. As is expected in the blogosphere, there's a lot of meat in the comments (about 50% meat, 50% fat, same as a decent rack of ribs). I'm not sure where I stand on the issue. I got my shot with no waiting, and YES, I'm in a high-risk group. Should it be a campaign issue? Maybe, if the election were 90 days away, since that's how long it would take to adequately disseminate the detailed technical information needed to make an informed opinion of the administration's handling of the situation. (See the comments to the post above.) As it is, there's only enough time for the Democrats to cry, "Bush's focus on Iraq is going to make Grandma and Baby Jane die of the flu!" How do YOU spell 'desperate'?

Hitting bottom

Hugh Hewitt's weekend symposium #3 How deep a hole have John Kerry, Mary Beth Cahill and the Edwards dug for themselves? How lasting the damage? There are two ways to hit bottom. One, of course, is to simply stop digging. The other is when things get worse faster than you can lower your standards. Democrats have this key principle backwards. The Democrat's standards of decency are plummeting towards the core, and show no signs of slowing, much less stopping. As they realize that they are losing votes on the issues that really matter to most Americans, they embrace the politics of personal destruction they hypocritically claim to decry. Kerry and Edwards' pathetic, desparate, and despicable attempt to score cheap political points from Mary Cheney's private life is just one more example of how low the Democratic Party and its supporters have sunk. Today's Cleveland Plain Dealer reveals that the Democrat sleaze machine is once again attempting to drag the private life of a top-shelf Republican candidate - Congressman Steve LaTourette - through the mud. This is reminiscent of how Democrat operatives managed to get access to Illinois Senate candidate Jack Ryan's sealed divorce files, forcing him to drop out of the race amid strongly denied, unproven charges that he wanted to have sex with his wife. In a strip bar full of likewise consenting adults, yes. So what if it's kinky? They're married. The people who dug up and publicized these charges cheer men in pink tutus French-kissing each other in public on Gay Pride Day, and maintained that the President getting oral sex from an intern, and then lying about it to a grand jury and the American people, is a "personal matter". But a Republican who might want to add some zing to his marriage is tres outre'. They embraced sleazeball filmmaker Michael Moore, who calls his films "documentaries" until the lies are documented, then hides behind the label "artist". They did their damndest to once again dredge up the spurious story of Bush's service in the Air National Guard. Having exhausted all the real evidence (Bush's teeth showed up for duty, but he did net, apparently), they ran a prime-time story based on laughably bad forgeries. They've slimed and smeared the honorable men of the Swift Boat Veterans and POWs for Truth, who have much to lose by coming forward and telling their side of the story, but nothing to gain - except their dignity. They've organized terror attacks on Republican campaign offices, using union muscle to intimidate, vandalize, and assault. They've lied about a draft. They've made fun of kids with developmental disabilities. And so on, and so on. I'm sick of it. I'm no dyed-in-the-wool conservative. I rejected my father's support of Nixon and Goldwater. I opposed Reagan's arms buildup. I worked on Paul Wellstone's first Senate campaign. I voted for Bill Clinton. I was lukewarm about Bush in 2000, though I slightly preferred him to Gore. I thought we went into Iraq too soon, though I have changed my mind as the evidence has come to light. I disagree with a number of the President's domestic policies, though he is clearly the better choice for Commander in Chief in this war. I have never voted a straight-party ticket in my life. This year, I will. The Democrats have proven that they do not deserve to be elected to County Dead Skunk Scooper, much less any higher office. They smell worse than the skunks.

Read. This.

Telling Them Nothing to add.

Build a better Bush

Build a better Bush This. Is. HILARIOUS!!!!

Special, indeed

Michelle Malkin: MORE DESPICABLE DEMOCRAT BIGOTRY This is about the wretched hate piece being distributed by Democrats in Tennesee. It shows Bush's face photoshopped onto the body of kid running a footrace. The caption reads, "Voting for Bush is like running in the Special Olympics - even if you win, you're still retarded." I've seen something similar in Internet discussion forums, but it's "Arguing on the Internet is like..." I have a step-brother with Down's. A party this despicable deserves to lose and lose soundly. This piece says three things to me: 1. The supposed party of inclusiveness, the ones who fight for the little guy, who champion the disenfranchised, will not hesitate for a moment to callously exploit them them for political gain. 2. They know they are going to lose, and lose big. This ad cannot possibly convince a voter who is somehow still on the fence to come over to their side. 3. They are totally out of arguments on the issues, so they are left with nothing but personal insults for their opponents. They remind me of the picture of a mouse giving the finger to the eagle swooping down on him. The mouse may be defiant, but he's still lunch.

Was Kerry dishonorably discharged?

HT: Captain's Quarters Hm. Maybe this is Rove's October Surprise? If only Kerry had signed his Form 180 to release his records.... Here's the discharge letter from Kerry's website.

Interesting optical illusion

Interesting optical illusion HT: Stones Cry Out

UN: Iraqi Nuclear-Related Materials Have Vanished

Yahoo! News - UN: Iraqi Nuclear-Related Materials Have Vanished Well, this is troubling. If whole buildings and outdoor stockpiles have vanished under the noses of the CPA, that's ammo for Kerry, no doubt. Of course, it's also possible that the materials were removed by the CPA but simply not reported to the IAEA. However - if these stockpiles and equipment are so valuable for making nuclear weapons, then Saddam's nuclear capability must have been a real threat, right? But if Saddam's nuclear capability was NOT a threat, then the missing materials must not be very important. If that's so, what's the fuss?

and sin not: Kerry's answers tell some

Red Daddie Steve has a very apt analogy of Kerry as a parent who blusters but never follows through. "If I'd been president, I'd have wanted the same threat of force." This is a bit more of his underlying strategy showing; I want to be able to threaten them and they WILL comply. He mentioned it during the debate of the NBB "that we would EVEN CONSIDER using." stating that he would never even consider using the ones already in stock. This is the strategy of a 'repeating, threatening parent' You've seen them "if you don't stop I'm gunna" ten times in the grocery store, and that is just on aisle one, the poor child gets yelled at but never learns to do what is right. Early on with my own kids, I used the "one... two..." routine. One day my eldest, then about 5ish, was doing something he shouldn't. I "oned" him. He just looked at me and continued to do whatever he was doing. "TWO!" He stopped, looked at me, looked back at his activity. I leaned in, looked him in the eye, and said softly but firmly, "Do you know what happens when I get to three?" He hadn't really thought about it. You could see him working it over. "No, Daddy." He seemed a little concerned at the prospect. I continued to look him right in the eye. I spoke slowly, softly, clearly. "Do you want to find out?" His eyes got big. He shook his head. "No..." We clearly told Saddam what would happen if we counted to three. He didn't believe us. Qaddafi saw what happened. He didn't wait for us to look at him and say, "TWO!"

Draft Lileks!

American Digest: Senator Lileks?! Hey, You Laughed at "Governor" Ventura. I want a T-shirt!

Kerry and Bush on General Aviation

I'm a pilot and a member of the Aircraft Owners and Pilot's Association, a terrific lobbying and service organization dedicated to general aviation. This month's AOPA Pilot (the monthly magazine for members) contains a Q&A with Bush and Kerry on issues related to general aviation. It's telling. I wish I could link the text of the article, but it's not online. If you're interested in direct quotes rather than the paraphrase here, leave a comment and I'll transcribe. Each candidate was asked the same questions. When asked about their experience with GA, Bush notes his ANG flight time, then explains how as a private businessman he used GA to build his business, and how as governor of Texas he used the state's air fleet to help him get around the vast state. Good, detailed answer that shows he understands the benefits of general aviation. Kerry just says, "I've been a pilot for thirty years, so I'm obviously very familiar with general aviation." Riiight. No mention of his ratings or experience. Just trust him when he says he's very familiar with GA. Both candidates agree that the current system of how GA services are funded (a combination of fuel taxes and general revenues supporting the FAA, with some other things thrown in) should not be changed. (There's a move afoot in some quarters to move to a pay-for-service scheme, where pilots would be charged for getting a weather briefing or to file a flight plan. That would have a truly chilling effect on safety.) Bush's answer is much more detailed, laying out the different funding avenues of the current system. Asked to list some recent pro-aviation government activity they've been a part of, Bush lists a bill he signed this year that ups the federal budget for needed improvements at small airports, and supports upgrades to the Flight Service System. Kerry notes the 1994 General Aviation Revitalization Act, which he says he supported. (We should fact-check that claim, since the Act limited tort exposure for airplane manufacturers.) He also mentions his support for a more recent bill that has some tenuous connection to aviation. Again, Bush gives a clear, detailed answer. Kerry speaks in non-sequiturs. On the subject of privatizing air traffic control, Kerry just says he's against it. Bush again lays out the issues, notes that there are no plans to "privatize" ATC, but that the current system of contracting for services at low-volume airfields would continue. As to who would lead the FAA, Bush praises current FAA boss Marion Blakely, who by all acocunts has indeed done a superb job over the past several years. Kerry gives the ususal spiel about the position requiring someone with experience, integrity, blah, blah, blah. Overall: For a nuanced fellow pilot, Kerry gives the impression that he doesn't know a whole lot about GA. Bush comes across as a thoroughly competent administrator who has a good grasp of the issues related to this small-but-important part of the enterprise he leads.

Hugh Hewitt's Symposium

Hugh Hewitt asks bloggers, "What do Kerry's answers to [yesterday's] press inquiries tell us about Kerry's worldview and character?" Nothing that we [the sensible center-right who haven't drunk Moore's ABB koolaid] didn't already know. The Democrats desperately want anyone but Bush in the Oval Office, so Kerry is trying to please them by being anybody but Bush. Except, of course, when he has to be Bush, as for example, promising that he'll allocate troops to Iraq according to what the commanders on the ground ask for. [DUH!] Kerry is not a bad man, he's simply delusional. I don't mean that mean-ly, it gives me no pleasure to say that, it's just that he seems to have been living in a parallel universe that only occasionally intersects the real one the rest of us inhabit. The Cambodia stories, the Magic Hat, no link between Saddam and WMDs - he truly believes this stuff, it appears. (The fact that he's a licensed pilot makes this a little scary; the possibility of his becoming President is alarming.) It's me-first-who's-next. And that me-first attitude certainly applies to his approach to doing the hard work of keeping America safe. He reminds me of John Rhys-Davies' character in Indiana Jones: He and Indiana stumble across a pit of vipers. They look in. "Snakes," he says. "Very dangerous. You go first." That'd be fine, if France and Germany had half the backbone of Indy Jones. But they don't, they've admitted it, but Kerry persists in his delusional belief that he could have overcome Saddam's coercion and bribery with his diplomacy. The French and Germans may not understand a lot of things Texan, but do understand this: "Money talks, and bullsh!t walks." Saddam was talking loud and clear - "Bling, bling," he said - and Annan, Chrirac, Schroeder listened closely. That Kerry equivocates Russia and China with North Korea and Pakistan further demonstrates the danger of electing this man. The other bloggers who've responded to Hugh have already said this more eloquently than I could; I don't have anything to add.

Kerry versus the Green Berets?

NRO: THE TORA BORA LINE - CHENEY DIDN'T REFUTE IT, SO I WILL Money line: "Yeah, John Kerry, you tell the commander of the Special Forces Group that he did his job wrong. And that you - Mr. Magic Hat in Cambodia - would do it better. Throw a medal or a ribbon at him while you're at it, too." OWWWTCH!

Deterrence

Eject! Eject! Eject!: "And all of this rage and fury and spitting and tearing up of signs, all of these insults and spinmeisters and forgeries and all the rest, seem to come down to the fact that about half the country thinks you deter this sort of thing by being nice, while the other half thinks you deter this by being mean. It's really just that simple. " Read the Whole Thing ht:HH

TCS: Tech Central Station - Space Warfare: On the Way?

TCS: Tech Central Station - Space Warfare: On the Way? Ben Bova, where are you?

WorldNetDaily: Is this one of Saddam's mobile bio-weapons labs?

WorldNetDaily: Is this one of Saddam's mobile bio-weapons labs? But, but, but, everyone knows that Iraq had no WMD capabilities! Right? Riiiight...

American Digest

American Digest A new daily favorite! (Hat tip: Lileks) Check out the "Smart car" story. Zut alors mais oui!!

Once again, judical fiat overrules the will of the people

Yahoo! News - Amendment Banning La. Gay Marriage Tossed Millions of voters overwhelmingly approve a law, and one man tosses it out. Someone explain to me how this is not an example of tyrrany? This could be a law banning billboards, and the issue would be the same. This isn't a case of constitutional checks and balances. This is the will of the people being squelched.

Exclusive: Saddam Possessed WMD, Had Extensive Terror Ties -- 10/04/2004

Exclusive: Saddam Possessed WMD, Had Extensive Terror Ties -- 10/04/2004 This could be - COULD be - vital news. We need PDFs of the originals, a chain of custody, and some more independent translations. If these check out, it's Bush in a landslide.

Fox News Channel admits reporter posted fake story about Kerry

Yahoo! News - Fox News Channel admits reporter posted fake story about Kerry Not exactly a fake story, but rather an obvious spoof, along the lines of Reagan's famous "I have just signed legislation outlawing the Soviet Union" mike check. A "fake story" is what CBS broadcast, or the AP saying a pro-Bush crowd booed at the news of Clinton's heart problems. THOSE are fake stories. This was an obvious spoof, and not deliberately intended to mislead.

A LIBERAL solution to Europe's economic woes - Barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen?

TCS: Tech Central Station - Will Hutton's Fecund Suggestions Very funny. Author Tim Worstall seems to be channeling Lileks at one point: The UK, which is much less accommodating to the needs of mothers and their children, has [a fertility rate] of 1.65 [children per woman]. You might also be interested in noting that the USA, a place where people work the longest hours of any rich country, where anything more than a few days off for the stitches to take after parturition is regarded as malingering, where paid paternity leave is almost unheard of once it is confirmed that the babbie can work out how to suck on a teat, that hellhole of family unfriendly policies has a fertility rate of 2.07. It might just be different immigration rates of course, as first generation such are known to be more philoprogenitive but then Sweden has a higher rate than the UK, 5.4% to 4%, of foreign born residents. So there seems to be something empirically wrong with the suggested solution. We cannot see that actually having more of these sorts of policies does in fact increase the birth rate. We might have known that there was indeed something wrong with the analysis as Mr Hutton gravely informs us that Italy's exceptionally low number of children, (1.12% fertility rate) is actually caused by the Catholic Church. No, don't laugh, Will Hutton is a highly respected liberal intellectual and commentator, former editor of The Observer (The Guardian's sister paper), chief executive of The Work Foundation (formerly the Industrial Society) and a Governor of the London School of Economics. If he says that a Church which outlaws both abortion and contraception, one which regards any sexual act which does not contain the possibility of conception as sinful, if he says that this Church and its teachings are leading to underpopulation, well then, it is so and no sniggering at the back there. Given the growing Islamicsization of Europe, Mr. Hutton just might get his wish. Of course, one should be be careful what one wishes for.

Did Kerry write own report of disputed clash?

Did Kerry write own report of disputed clash? I've been wondering about this for a while. A faded 35-year-old operations order recovered from the Naval Historical Center in Washington bears directly on the ongoing dispute between Sen. John Kerry and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth about who wrote the key after-action report that ended Kerry's service in Vietnam. The report appears in the official Navy records and is posted on Kerry's presidential campaign Web site. The report details Kerry's participation in a naval operation on the Bay Hap River on March 13, 1969, in such glowing terms that he was awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for pulling Special Forces officer James Rassmann out of the water while under heavy enemy fire. This third Purple Heart allowed Kerry to cut short his Vietnam tour after only four months. ... So according to this report, which now stands as the official Navy record, this swift boat mission concluded by running a three-mile gantlet of enemy fire from both banks, the detonation of three mines, and yet the only casualties occurred on the boat that hit the first mine. The boats managed to escape and, even more miraculously, retrieve the sinking boat, PCF-3, without getting a single bullet hole in any vessel or crew member. "It is miraculous all right because it never happened," recalls Larry Thurlow, a Kerry critic who commanded the mission. "PCF-3 hit a mine; all of my boats directed suppressing fire on both banks, expecting the mine to be followed up by gunfire. But after a couple of minutes, we ceased firing and took steps to aid the sinking PCF-3 and its injured crew members. There was never a shot fired at us, and no additional mines went off, either. And if we had been facing gunfire from both sides of three miles of riverbank, I would have called in the standby air support. I didn't." ... As the commander of the mission, normally Thurlow would have filed the disputed after-action report. But he denies writing it. And the after-action report supports his denial. It was written by someone designated "TE 194.5.4.4/1." ... "TE" refers to a "task element," which is defined by the numbers to the right, which show the command structure over the task element in action. "194" is Adm. Elmo Zumwalt, commander of U.S. naval forces in Vietnam; "5" is Hoffman's swift boat command; "4" is Lonsdale's command, and the last "4" is Capt. George Elliot's swift boat base at An Thoi, where the boats on this mission were based. The last "1" indicates someone other than the commander of the mission. ... According to a Navy communications expert, Chief Petty Officer Troy Jenkins, who has examined the message traffic, the report in question was sent from the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Spencer, Lonsdale's command ship, at 11:20 that night. Only three of the officers on the mission that day were on the Spencer, John Kerry, Dick Pease and Donald Droz. Droz took the wounded from the mine explosion to be examined and treated at the Spencer, including the third officer, the severely wounded Dick Pease. Since the Spencer had no helipad for the evacuation of the wounded, Droz then had to return to the USS Washtenaw County, stationed about 25 nautical miles away, leaving only Kerry aboard the Spencer at the time the message was sent at 11:20 p.m. Could Droz have somehow written the report? Lonsdale says command precedence of days in swift boat service alone rules this out. "According to the command procedure I set down, Kerry would have been the only logical candidate." ... The head of the Operational Archives Branch of the Naval Historical Center in Washington, Kathy Lloyd, has verified Hoffman's operations order. Neither Kerry's campaign nor his swift boat veteran critics contest the validity of the after-action report by "TE 194.5.4.4/1." Kerry spokesmen have repeatedly insisted that Kerry denies writing the report and that the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth were arguing with the official Navy record. But if "the official Navy record" now turns out to have been written by Kerry himself, the principal beneficiary of its glowing references to his performance, the swift boat critics' charges look far more consequential. After all, the report completely leaves out how Kerry's own boat, PCF-94, ran down river leaving James Rassmann overboard and the other three boats to deal with the ambush and the sinking PCF-3. All of the living boat commanders on that mission are in firm agreement on that action by Kerry and agree that the report is a fraudulent misrepresentation of an action they remember well. The Kerry campaign didn't return calls for this article. But members of Kerry's crew have said Kerry is telling the truth. And Rassmann said he has vivid memories of enemies firing at him from both banks. So Kerry and some men from Kerry's crew - are they on the campaign payroll? - say there was enemy fire. Rassman, who says he spent most of the incident under water and has told different stories about which boat he was knocked off of, says so too, though he doesn't seem to have been in much of a position to know. Everyone else who was there says there was no enemy fire, and the damage reports on the boats seem to bear that out. Jooohhhneeeee?!?!! You got some 'splainin' to do!

A Former SEAL nails Kerry on Tora Bora, too.

Froggy Ruminations I'm not a vet, but I've got nothin' but props for these guys. Next stop, Blackfive...

A warrior fisks Kerry on "outsourcing" Tora Bora

Citizen Smash - The Indepundit R. T. W. T.

Weblogg-ed - Using Weblogs and RSS in Education :

Weblogg-ed - Using Weblogs and RSS in Education : This is a very interesting blog on using blogs in education (a meta-blog?). They're focused primarily on K-12, but a lot applies to postsecondary as well.

HughHewitt.com

HughHewitt.com This post underscores why Hewitt is rapidly becoming one of the most influential people in politics. Clear and incisive. Read especially his notes to his producer about what audio clips to put together for the radio show. For example, In the exchange I numbered 5, Bush slams Kerry for inconsistency and talks about leading as Commander-in-Chief. Take the whole thing. This is also, I think, where Bush rips Joe Lockhart for calling Allawi a "puppet." (Try and get the C-SPAN clip of Lockhart calling the debate a draw, and marry it to Lockhart telling Carl Cameron --TiVoed around 7:45-8:00 that Kerry won going away. Marry that as well with Terry McAuliffe with us at the DNC admitting he'll lie every time he has to.) and "In exchange 12, Lehrer says to Kerry that he has accused the president of lying. Kerry says he never used that "harshest" word. After he says that, marry the clip from spring "these guys are the ..." " My favorite line is this: "Gallup says viewers gave Kerry the win 53 to 37%. Heh. That's like saying the horse thief who sold rope to the posse was a good businessman. "