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Thursday, June 30, 2005
NY Times Discovers Wealthy Don't Pay Much In Taxes; Kerry Haters Discovered That a Year AgoAs usual, you can read blogs or you can wait a year or so until the New York Times catches up with the story. The chances of having a large income but not paying taxes on any of it are growing, according to the data, issued in the Internal Revenue Service's annual report to Congress on well-to-do Americans who live tax free. About one in every 436 high-income Americans paid no taxes in 2002, up from one in 531 in 2001 and one in 1,010 in 2000.
Over all, the top 2 percent of earners, the 2.5 million filers with income of $200,000 or more, paid almost 27 cents in taxes for each dollar of income they reported in 2002, other I.R.S. data showed. This group accounted for 53.5 percent of the income tax paid by all Americans.
Among that high-income group, however, almost 83,000, or one in 33, paid less than a dime in taxes for every dollar of income. An additional 79,000 paid less than 15 cents. The average for all Americans was 13 cents.And among those who paid less than 15 cents in taxes for every dollar of income? Why, none other than Teh-RAY-za Heinz Kerry, as reported on the Kerry Haters blog on May 9, 2004, drawing from this article in the Washington Post. Heinz Kerry reported a taxable income of $2.3 million, primarily from dividends and interest on savings and investments. She earned an additional $2.8 million from tax-exempt bonds. So far, she has paid $587,000 in estimated federal taxes, an effective tax rate of 11.5 percent, compared with the top federal income tax rate of 35 percent.
Boobs Not Brains
New Blogger and Old FriendKitty mentioned that our longtime commenter and friend at Kerry Haters, Gayle Miller, is now part of the blogging community. Back in the early days of KH, before it became a big-time blog (topped out at #114 in the TTLB traffic rankings), it was frequently just me, Kitty, Gayle, Conservanatrix (where have you gone?) and Mike G in the comments. Gayle gave us great encouragement to keep going. She was a terrific commenter and I'm sure you'll enjoy her blog.
A ReminderOur buddies Teflon and Word Girl at Molten Thought are holding their blogathon this Saturday, July 2, for an excellent cause: The Armed Forces Relief Trust, an umbrella group for collecting donations to the Air Force Aid Society, the Army Emergency Relief Fund, Coast Guard Mutual Assistance, and the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society. You want to see how much two bloggers can do? Surf on over to Molten Thought! The blogathon has already been plugged by Michelle Malkin and Hedgehog Blog, so you'll have plenty of company.
Steyn on Batman BeginsHe didn't enjoy it as much as I did, although we have a lot of the same criticisms: But not here. In 1939, Bob Kane told the Batman’s origin in 12 panels — mugger shoots mom and dad, young Bruce Wayne vows in his candlelit bedroom to avenge their deaths ‘by spending the rest of my life warring on all criminals’, works out at the gym, and then, just when he’s in need of a secret identity, catches sight of a bat. Boom — and we’re off and running. Nolan’s ‘reinvention’, by contrast, consists mainly of making a meal out of everything. We don’t see the Batman until the second half of the movie, and then only in the briefest of glimpses as he takes on the hoods and punks who work for crime boss Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson). Meanwhile, we spend inordinate amounts of time watching him fine-tune the synthetic fibre on his body suit.Yep, that was my problem as well--the long build-up at the front end of the movie. Steyn does point out one problem; that it's all stuff we've seen before. I'd forgotten to mention the car chase scene, but it was pretty banal and unbelievable at the same time; after seeing the car put through its paces earlier in the movie it's simply not credible that police vehicles would be able to keep anywhere near it.
Splat!My Take on Things has some cool videos at this page. Definitely check out the "Jihadists Meet Allah" video.
Gee, Can't Imagine Why It's That HighThe Democrats commissioned a poll that reveals that only 38% of likely voters had positive feelings about their party.
Democrat Bonds?The jabronis over at Ankle-Biting Pundits (where yours truly will be guest-blogging next week) caught this one. Howard Dean's latest desperation fund-raising gimmick is what he calls a "Democracy Bond", but really should be called "Democrat Bonds". Why Democrat Bonds? Because a man's word is his bond. And the word on these bonds is that they pay no interest and don't even offer the return of your principal. Hence, they're worse than worthless, much like the word of a Democrat.
Global Warming UpdatesLooks like the full court press is going on with regard to global warming; I suppose the intent is to put pressure on President Bush in the runup to the G8 meeting in Scotland next week. Insurers claim damage costs from storms caused by global warming will raise the premiums on insurance policies. Meanwhile, pollution is credited here with preventing more global warming. The bad news? Air pollution is dropping. More bad news: global warming could lead to a "lopsided planet". A British think tank says nuclear won't work because we'll run out of uranium (where have we heard that before?). Robert Samuelson acknowledges the hypocrisy of Europe, which is not even close to meeting its CO2 reduction targets but then meanders into talking about needing to reduce our use of oil: Even with today's high gasoline prices, we ought to adopt a stiff oil tax and tougher fuel economy standards, both to be introduced gradually. We can shift toward smaller vehicles, with more efficient hybrid engines. Unfortunately, Congress's energy bills lack these measures.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
The Latest Goofy Trend from CaliforniaPam Meister has the details.
The Kiss of DeathHarry "Searchlight" Reid endorsed the notion of Lindsay Graham for the Supreme Court. I'd say that about does it for Graham's hopes for higher office, whether it's the Supreme Court or the White House.
You Shoulda Seen the One That Got AwayCheck out this fish.
John Hawkins Interviews Mark Steyn, Take TwoTerrific piece here. One can advance reasons for this - it's no coincidence that the most comprehensively wrecked people on the face of the earth are the ones who have been wholly entrusted to the formal care of the UN for three generations now. But the fact is what Israel is doing is the only thing that will force the Palestinians to get up off their allegedly occupied butts and run a state: the Israelis are walling off what they feel they need, or what they can get away with, and it will be up to the gangsters of Arafatistan to see if they now feel like dropping the jihad and getting on with less glamorous activities like running highway departments and schools.
Guilty Verdicts in East St. Louis Vote-Buying TrialJohn Ruberry has the details on a story that won't get much play in the MSM.
HmmmmInteresting headline on this article: Ga. Justice Is State's First Black WomanAnd here I thought there were lots of black women in Georgia.
New to the BlogrollCheck out Young Nationalist. I don't know if you'd call it a blog, per se, so much as it is a multimedia extravaganza. Lots of cool videos, games etc. Loved the video of the drunk getting tazed; Andrew Sullivan would no doubt be nauseated.
The SpeechLorie Byrd should get some royalties; the President's speechwriting team hit on many of the points that she raised in this post. Of course, in reality it just shows that Lorie and the writers are all on the same page. Either that or she's getting the morning faxes from Karl Rove telling her what to say. ;)
Guest Blogger at Ankle-Biting PunditsOur buddy Aaron from Lifelike Pundits has put up a wonderful post on President Bush's speech last night. Somebody must have alerted the moonbats, because they're out in force in the comments. Check out this "Moby": Our homeland is being invaded by illegal aliens and this clown is concerned about Iraq. Whether you call yourself republican, democrat or independent, if you support President Bush you are BRAIN-DEAD. Conservatives and liberals in the U.S. House should unite and IMPEACH President Bush while we still have a country. President Bush's only concern is channeling money in the pockets of plutocrats through deficit spending.
Proof the US Economy is the Strongest(Welcome Conservative Grapevine Readers) Here are the top ten countries in the world as ranked by the CIA for Gross Domestic Product Per Capita: 1 Luxembourg $ 58,900 2004 est. 2 United States $ 40,100 2004 est. 3 Guernsey $ 40,000 2003 est. 4 Norway $ 40,000 2004 est. 5 Jersey $ 40,000 2003 est. 6 British Virgin Islands $ 38,500 2004 est. 7 Bermuda $ 36,000 2003 est. 8 San Marino $ 34,600 2001 est. 9 Hong Kong $ 34,200 2004 est. 10 Switzerland $ 33,800 2004 est. Now you'll note that most of the countries on this list are teeny-tiny little dots in an ocean somewhere. Luxembourg, which is a teeny-tiny dot in the middle of Europe, has an economy that looks quite nice until you realize that the US GDP per capita is multiplied by 691 times as many people as Luxembourg's. Switzerland is the "big" country in population among the other nine, and even its 7.5 million population is dwarfed by the USA's 295 million. Add up all the other nine and we still outweigh them by a factor of 15 times and have a much higher GDP per capita. We start to see some bigger countries near the middle of the next ten: 11 Cayman Islands $ 32,300 2004 est. 12 Denmark $ 32,200 2004 est. 13 Ireland $ 31,900 2004 est. 14 Iceland $ 31,900 2004 est. 15 Canada $ 31,500 2004 est. 16 Austria $ 31,300 2004 est. 17 Australia $ 30,700 2004 est. 18 Belgium $ 30,600 2004 est. 19 United Kingdom $ 29,600 2004 est. 20 Netherlands $ 29,500 2004 est. But even so, the combined total of population of all those ten countries and the earlier nine is still only about half that of the US, and the big countries come at the bottom of this list, a full 20% or more below the US GDP per capita. And where are the worker's havens of France and Germany? 21 Japan $ 29,400 2004 est. 22 Finland $ 29,000 2004 est. 23 France $ 28,700 2004 est. 24 Germany $ 28,700 2004 est. 25 Man, Isle of $ 28,500 2003 est. 26 Sweden $ 28,400 2004 est. 27 Aruba $ 28,000 2002 est. 28 Gibraltar $ 27,900 2000 est. 29 Singapore $ 27,800 2004 est. 30 Italy $ 27,700 2004 est. Ah, there they are, over 27% (and $11,000) below the US. And the bad news is that while there is apparently a smoothing factor to prevent wild swings in GDP per capita from exchange rate variations, the fact is that overall the dollar's been strong compared to the currencies shown here in 2005. The dollar is up over 10% against the Euro, 6% against the pound, 4% against the yen. Odds are good that even before considering economic fundamentals (which favor the United States) the US will surge forward once again compared to the rest of the world.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Early Computer Reference in Batman?This panel comes to us from "Batman Goes to Washington", in Batman #28, April-May 1945. In the (excellent) story, Batman takes up the cause of former crooks who want to go straight but can't get jobs. He supports a bill by the government to employ these ex-cons in a factory that will show that they can be productive workers. Yes, it's a very liberal storyline, but quite in keeping with the zeitgeist of the postwar era. Anyway, Batman leads a small group of former crooks anxious to become members of the proletariat to Washington. In an amusing sequence, they tour the FBI building. Get this panel:  Art on this story by the superb Jerry Robinson, who believe it or not is still in the land of the living. A friend of mine interviewed him at a comic convention earlier this year; I'll put up the link as soon as I find it. Obviously the cards are part of a database, and the "machine" referred to is a card sorter, something of an early computer. Batman was always well ahead of the technology curve in the comics due to his lack of superpowers. But a 1945 computer reference is really quite early. I can't think of one in the comics before then; most of the ones I've read are from the 1950s.
Interesting StuffI really enjoyed reading this post at Jane Galt, which refers to this post at Crooked Timber (smarter than average leftism), which leads us to this article by the writer that CT is talking about. There is something to be said for leading the people to a place they may not realize that they want to go yet. But... as I mentioned in the comments on the Jane Galt post, the central flaw is the idea that economic populism will work, either politically or in the real world of economics, where being wrong can leave you far behind a la Europe over the last few decades. Despite the passionate wishes of folks like Robert Reich and Rick Perlstein, there is no sense in the United States that we wish we had France's economy or Germany's unemployment rate. Here's what I see as the key paragraph in the Perlstein article: Now maybe the members of Judis and Teixeira’s emerging Democratic majority indeed think in pretty much the same way as do Mark Penn’s “wired workers,” and maybe to veer toward economic populism is to risk losing their support. But might not it also be likely—especially with fears about the outsourcing of professional jobs abroad being the hottest new political issue—that the reason these people are becoming Democrats is despite the party’s turn from market interventionism, not because of it?I don't agree with Judis & Texeira's emerging Democratic majority either, but I seriously doubt that market interventionism is going to sell well to a bunch of people in this country. Our experience with it has been pretty bad, from Smoot-Hawley to public housing to welfare. But of course, in classic (not classical) liberal fashion, Perlstein seems determined NOT to learn from the mistakes of the past. Indeed, he could not be more plain: When social scientists render conclusions at odds with their own data, it is reasonable to wonder why. Again, one reason may be generational. Dissenters who do call for a bolder Democratic Party—one thinks of Robert Borosage of the Campaign for America’s Future—are sometimes dismissed as throwbacks to the ’60s. Well, I can’t be dismissed as a throwback. The ’60s ended when I was less than three months old. The traumas that shaped the world view of a Teixeira, a Greenberg, a Judis were the post-’60s backfirings of left-of-center boldness. The same goes for Al From, whose formative political experience, he has told me, was McGovern’s loss in 1972. The traumas of my own political generation, conversely, were the backfirings of left-of-center timidity.
Which may be why, when I read these writers’ stories about the history of the past 25 years, I don’t know what they’re talking about. Let's do a little math here, shall we? Perlstein says he was born in late 1969 (arguably late 1970 if he's using the "Jeopardy!" definition of the 1960s). So he's 35 years old now, and he wants to say he's an expert on the politics of the last 25 years... that means he's an expert on everything that's happened since he was 10 years old. Seeing a little problem here? Or maybe he means it literally--that he does not in fact know what they're talking about? I remember seeing a quote on somebody's blog earlier today about how conservatives believe in the wisdom passed down from generation to generation, while liberals believe in only what they themselves have experienced. It certainly appears to be true. And this: "Well, I can’t be dismissed as a throwback. The ’60s ended when I was less than three months old." is farcical. A throwback is always somebody who was born after his "normal" time. From dictionary.comA reversion to a former type or ancestral characteristic.As for Perlstein's economic populism, I would certainly like to see the Democrats embrace it heartily for one election cycle. Once and for all I would like to see this argument defeated in the court of ideas, but it won't happen. The problem has been that nobody has been willing to do it because it polls awfully. So the Democrats run as non-redistributionists (Kerry made a point of it), and when they then lose, the populists claim it was because they weren't redistributionist enough. The only way it will be settled is if somebody from the Democrats goes all Bolshie on us, and even then the Perlsteins of the world will attribute the loss to something else. Hat Tip: Conservative Grapevine
Moo-On MoronsMoveOn has unveiled commercials calling for an immediate pullout of US forces from Iraq. The liberal group MoveOn.org also unveiled television advertisements that call the Iraq war "a quagmire." "We got in the wrong way. Let's get out the right way," say the ads running in several contested congressional districts.The good news? The American people are smarter than the Moo-Ons: The survey found that only one in eight Americans currently favors an immediate pullout of U.S. forces, while a solid majority continues to agree with Bush that the United States must remain in Iraq until civil order is restored -- a goal that most of those surveyed acknowledge is, at best, several years away.I checked out the demographics (PDF warning) in the Washington Post poll cited above. They were, if anything, skewed to the Democrats, with 34% of the respondents identifying themselves that way, with only 28% Republicans.
Woooo-Hoooo!Guess who popped up in John Hawkins' favorite 40 blogs at #32? Brainster's Blog hasn't made an appearance on John's list previously although Kerry Haters got as high as #21 back in 2004. Be sure to surf over there and check out the other blogs listed; you may find a new favorite for your own list.
Lumpy on the Ten CommandmentsOur buddy Lumpy has some thoughts on the recent Ten Commandments decisions: It is a culture which provides the unifying foundation which directs a diverse populace towards some mutually beneficial goal. The purpose of culture is to unify diversity, to provide the structure whereby the individual pieces of the puzzle can be fitted together into a whole, completing the image of what it means to be a member of society within that culture. This is how diversification as a principle becomes a useful tool for survival. It is not how liberals view diversity.That boy can write!
Koran in the CrapperSigh. These stories get published. Vakhitov said he previously had been held by U.S. forces at Kandahar in Afghanistan, where many detainees were held before being sent to Guantanamo, and that he also saw Quran desecration there.
"In Kandahar, they tore up copies of the Quran and even put it in a bucket of feces," he said.Let's pass a law making that illegal. Then we can all enjoy it when the Supreme Court declares it unconstitutional.
Fatina Abdrabboh Gets Another WhackingJonah Goldberg takes the measure of Al Gore, hero. Let us also take a moment to honor the courage of the New York Times editorial board. So many of these men and women are products of Harvard and Cambridge themselves. (Recall, that just two years ago the Klavern of Klever Kambridgites showed their true colors and successfully schemed to have New York’s hometown newspaper endorse the Boston Red Sox over the New York Yankees). And yet they were willing to overcome their own personal legacies of bigotry. To evolve. They marched one by one from the primordial ooze of their own hatred into the office-supply closet and got little tiny bottles of Wite-Out® for their souls. They didn’t let their no doubt fond memories of late night, latte-soaked, bacchanalias of bigotry stop them from saving a little slice of America’s Most Important Op-Ed Page to speak truth to power.Aaron has a post on this subject at Lifelike.
Monday, MondayCaptain Ed has a nice long post on Chicago Cub Rick Monday's famed mad dash to save the American flag. Being a Dodger fan, Captain Ed manages to turn it into a post about the Dodgers. He does include one detail that I hadn't heard before; apparently the LA fans spontaneously burst into "God Bless America" after the incident. It's a good thing the incident happened in the fourth inning, or else nobody would have been there. I think Ed's right about that moment being something of a turning point. It being the bicentennial year also helped. Not that there weren't some more turns ahead; that was also the year we elected Jimmuh Carter. I included Monday's save in my trivia quiz about the 1970s a couple months ago. Hat Tip: Conservative Grapevine.
Terrorist Fights ExtraditionOf course, he's an eco-terrorist and he's in Canada, so he might succeed. Prosecutor Rosellina Patillo said evidence from the federal prosecutor in Oregon indicates Arrow was among four conspirators involved in the bombings of a gravel company and a logging company between April and June of 2001. The evidence comes from statements of Arrow's three coconspirators who have pleaded guilty.
The suspects intended to firebomb a U.S. Forest Service office, but abandoned the idea after they found the security system was too tight, Patillo said.The 30-year-old Arrow -- who says the trees told him to change his name -- contends he would not get a fair trial in the United States because of the FBI's assertion that his alleged crimes are acts of terrorism.This is the same Tre Arrow who fell out of a tree during a protest and broke his pelvis; apparently the trees forgot to tell him to stay awake.
Monday, June 27, 2005
The Reality-Based Community? Part LIThe Insane Clown Posse is at it again: Democrats are eyeing several parliamentary maneuvers to prod Congress into investigating the so-called Downing Street memo and other recently disclosed documents that they contend shows that the Bush administration manipulated prewar intelligence to build support for the war in Iraq.
Although any Democratic move will almost certainly fail in the face of vigorous Republican opposition, such maneuvers would constitute the first steps toward filing articles of impeachment, a bold step that some Democrats have left as an open question in recent weeks.Good grief!
What Would We Do Without ExpertsGet this silly story on Global Warming: A waste of more than $1,300 a year for every American, undermining economic growth and jobs? Or a lifeline for the planet costing just an annual $20 for each European?
The U.N.'s Kyoto protocol on curbing global warming looks utterly different when viewed from Washington, which opposes the 150-nation pact, or from its main backers in the European Union, Japan or Canada.
So who is right?Acceptable beginning, but here come the experts: Experts say there is no sign that investors are shifting to favor the United States out of worry that Kyoto's supporters are shackling their economies with vast costs to curb emissions of heat-trapping gases from power plants, factories and cars.Maybe it's because nobody's actually planning on meeting their targets?
Good Family Fare?That's what Lorie Byrd has to say about the new "Love Bug" movie. I'm just a little too old to have seen the original Dean Jones movies.
This Is UnbelievableCheck out this column on the idiotic things some people are saying about Douglas Wood, the Australian hostage in Iraq who was rescued by American forces, and wasted no time thanking President Bush and Prime Minister Howard. Jaspan is editor-in-chief of The Age, Australia's most Left-wing daily newspaper, and on ABC radio on Wednesday said how "boorish" and "coarse" Wood was at his press conference this week when he called his captors "a---holes".Said Jaspan: "I was, I have to say, shocked by Douglas Wood's use of the a---hole word, if I can put it like that, which I just thought was coarse and very ill-thought through and I think demeans the man and is one of the reasons why people are slightly sceptical of his motives and everything else.Actually, they are "slightly sceptical" for the simple reason that he didn't use his freedom to bash Bush and Howard. Had he expressed those types of thoughts, he'd be the toast of the left. Hat Tip: Conservative Grapevine
You Just Might Be a MoonbatMr Right has the warning signs.
Kristen "Not Very" BreitweiserHas an exceptionally stupid piece in the HuffPo. One month after 9/11, we invaded Afghanistan, took down the Taliban, and left without capturing Usama Bin Laden - the alleged perpetrator of the September 11th attacks. In the meantime, Afghanistan has carried out democratic elections, but continues to suffer from extreme violence and unrest. Poppy production (yes, Karl, the drug trade) is at an all time high, thus flooding the world market with heroin. And of course, the oil pipeline (a.k.a. the Caspian Sea pipeline) is better protected by U.S. troops who now have a “legitimate” excuse to be in that part of Afghanistan. Interesting isn't it Karl that the drug “rat line” parallels the oil pipeline. (Yet, with all those troops guarding that same sliver of land, can you please explain how those drugs keep getting through?)Note that Breitweiser can't even bring herself to admit that Osama was guilty; he's the "alleged" perpetrator of the 9-11 attacks. There is the usual fascination with poppy production in Afghanistan. Remember, Afghanistan is the war that the left supposedly agreed with. Yet Breitweiser makes a big deal out of the oil pipeline (Ted Rall must love her). But if that part's confused, get this: Karl, I mention Bin Laden because recently Director of the CIA, Porter Goss, has mentioned that he knows exactly where Bin Laden is located but that he cannot capture him for fear of offending sovereign nations. Which frankly, I find ironic because of Iraq--and let's just leave it at that. But, when you say that “moderation and restraint” don't work in fighting terrorists, maybe you should share those comments with Mr. Goss because he doesn't seem to be on the same page as you. Unless of course, Porter is holding out to announce that Bin Laden is in Iran. (Karl, I want Bin Laden brought to justice, but not if it means starting a war with Iran - a country that possesses nuclear weaponry. The idea of nuclear fallout in any quadrant of the world is just not an acceptable means to any ends, be it capturing Bin Laden, oil or drugs. But, Afghanistan and Bin Laden are old news. Iraq is the story of today. And of course, it appears that Iran will be the story of next month. But, I digress.)Well, Kristen certainly does digress. Get Bin Laden unless he's in Iran, in which case, as Emily Litella would say, never mind. And you gotta love the part about Iran possessing nuclear weaponry; where does Mrs Breitweiser's "intelligence" on that come from? The left, which has long hooted about WMD not found in Iraq suddenly "knows" that Iran possesses them?
Barone Gets It Right, As UsualCommenting on Rove's characterization of liberals, Michael Barone notes: One reason that the Democrats are squawking so much about Rove's attack on "liberals" is that he has put the focus on a fundamental split in the Democratic Party -- a split among its politicians and its voters.
On the one hand, there are those who believe that this is a fundamentally good country and want to see success in Iraq. On the other hand, there are those who believe this is a fundamentally bad country and want more than anything else to see George W. Bush fail.He's right; for the most part the actual politicos (except the odd Howard Dean or Dick Durbin) strike me as fundamentally on our side, but the rabid, partisan base is not. (Doh! Original version of this cited Mort Kondracke as the writer--my bad!)
Times Loves the Hate America MuseumNo surprise here: The protesters have objected to the proposed International Freedom Center, which they fear might someday sponsor discussions that cast America in a negative light, and to the Drawing Center, one of the cultural institutions invited to move to ground zero, which has displayed art that appears to criticize the Bush administration and the war in Iraq.
The protesters - and the governor - seem to have little faith in the emotional power of the memorial to the victims, which will be the central focus of ground zero, emotionally, politically and architecturally. The memorial's force will not be diminished by any other activities at the site, and it will inevitably serve as a locus of grief and remembrance for everyone who was touched by 9/11. But it is meant to remember something more than a day of tragedy. It's meant to remember the lives of those who died there, lives that were rich, complex and politically and culturally divided.
What those lives stand for now is American freedom, in its full implication and all its contradictions. That is what has gone missing in the governor's remarks, in which he demanded that the cultural organizations promise never to display art that might "denigrate" the victims of 9/11 or America in general. Mr. Pataki has accepted at face value the tenor of the protests at ground zero, which are, frankly, a call for censorship, indeed for censorship in advance - for political oversight of an artistic process that has only begun to evolve.I suspect that the Times would be happy to see any anti-Muslim art censored; it's only the anti-American art which needs protecting.
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Anarchists on the MarchIn San Jose: A crowd estimated at between 200 and 300 persons was far smaller than predicted by “anarchist” Web sites and Police Chief Lynne Johnson, who had estimated up to 800 persons or more might gather.
Shortly before 7 p.m., a group of anarchists arrived with banners, and a masked speaker -- wearing a scarf covering his lower face and a black hooded sweatshirt -- made an impassioned speech against the Iraq war and evil effects of world corporate power. Most of those present then took to the streets, marching around downtown Palo Alto, under the Caltrain tracks and forming in the parking lot Bloomingdale's at the Stanford Shopping Center, later heading back into downtown.Lots of pictures here.
This Guy's a Law Professor?This is pretty funny. A blogger and law professor by the name of Brian Leiter apparently wrote an update to this post in which he claimed that Instapundit was behind this site. He claims: I was misled by this, to which others had referred, and by the fact that the site in question seemed to evince the same moral sensibility Professor Reynolds typically expresses.What a maroon! The Iraq War Is Wrong is a very silly site, either run by a total moron or someone imitating one. There is zero chance that Professor Reynolds would have the patience to do something this silly. Hey Professor Leiter? You want to know who I am? Click no further!
Mississippi DishRight Wing Sparkle remembers growing up around Mississippi politics and gives us a little dish.
Anarchy in the UKHere's an inside look at the nuts who will be invading Scotland next weekend to disrupt the G8 conference. A young man, with blue hair which covered only one side of his head, introduced himself as simply 'an anarchist'. Although he had no clear idea of what he wanted to achieve, he knew he wanted to at least be involved, preferably within the groups arranging suitable squats in the Edinburgh area. It was more of a Citizen Smith kind of scenario than a well-drilled hard-left revolution.
But alongside him were representatives from the Dissent network and the Working Group Against Work, an Edinburgh-based movement against low paid, insecure jobs.
New and Exciting Post over at LifelikeI take a little whack at deficit hawk Nick Kristof.
Steyn on Flag-BurningHe manages to surprise and delight: Banning flag desecration flatters the desecrators and suggests that the flag of this great republic is a wee delicate bloom that has to be protected. It's not. It gets burned because it's strong. I'm a Canadian and one day, during the Kosovo war, I switched on the TV and there were some fellows jumping up and down in Belgrade burning the Stars and Stripes and the Union Jack. Big deal, seen it a million times. But then to my astonishment, some of those excitable Serbs produced a Maple Leaf from somewhere and started torching that. Don't ask me why -- we had a small contribution to the Kosovo bombing campaign but evidently it was enough to arouse the ire of Slobo's boys. I've never been so proud to be Canadian in years. I turned the sound up to see if they were yelling ''Death to the Little Satan!'' But you can't have everything.
That's the point: A flag has to be worth torching. When a flag gets burned, that's not a sign of its weakness but of its strength. If you can't stand the heat of your burning flag, get out of the superpower business. It's the left that believes the state can regulate everyone into thought-compliance. The right should understand that the battle of ideas is won out in the open.He mentions Rachel Corrie's flag-burning escapades; here's the picture:  If you make a point to watch, very few of those supposedly burning the flag are burning an actual flag; usually they're like pathetic little Rachel here, burning a piece of paper or a sheet colored to look like a flag.
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Jest for FunBuckley F. Williams says if you've got these signs, you might just be a Gitmo internee.
Medal of Honor Winner PassesSay a little prayer for Gen. Louis H. Wilson Jr. tonight. He received the Medal of Honor, the military's highest award for valor, while fighting Japanese forces at Fonte Hill, Guam, on July 25 and 26, 1944. At the time, he was a captain and the commanding officer of a rifle company.
Launching a daylight attack against massive machine gun resistance, he pushed his men 300 yards across open terrain and captured a portion of a hill that contained the enemy command post. That night, he took command of other disorganized units and motorized equipment and fortified defenses while risking exposure to enemy fire.
Wounded three times within five hours, he briefly sought treatment before volunteering to return to duty to defend against counterattacks that lasted through the night.
At one point, he dashed 50 yards through flying shrapnel and bullets to rescue a wounded Marine beyond the front lines. That was followed by hand-to-hand fighting over a 10-hour span, repelling Japanese troops that sought to overrun the Allied lines through 11 full-fledged attacks.
His Medal of Honor citation continued: ''Then organizing a 17-man patrol, he immediately advanced upon a strategic slope essential to the security of his position and, boldly defying intense mortar, machinegun, and rifle fire which struck down 13 of his men, drove relentlessly forward with the remnants of his patrol to seize the vital ground.''
Marvel Versus DCI've always been a DC guy, but I had a lot of interest in the Marvel Comics of the Silver Age, especially the Spider-Man saga of the first 150 issues or so, where seemingly every character introduced eventually became a super-villain. Here's a little column in the WaPo that discusses the extension of the DC versus Marvel argument to the silver screen.
Friday, June 24, 2005
Batman Begins ReviewFinally got some time to head to the theatre this afternoon. Capsule review: Slow beginning, wonderful second half, overall just a hair under classic. Start with the understanding that I probably know more about Batman than all but maybe 20 people in the world. I've read almost all the comics, especially the core adventures appearing in Batman and Detective. I've seen all the movies, even the wretched serials. I have a copy of the Batman Encyclopedia from the 1970s (Michael Fleischer is probably one of the 20). So I came to this movie with a critical eye. I'm also something of a purist for the original Batman legend, as it was developed up until about 1980, so I don't like a lot of tinkering. Hence I was annoyed at R'as Al Ghul training Bruce in hand-to-hand combat. The guy didn't even come along until 30 years into the saga, after Batman was plainly well-established in Gotham City. And the character of Rachel Dawes was somewhat baffling; is she supposed to be Talia? I don't recall her appearing in any of the comics, although it's possible that she showed up briefly. However, the creation of the Batman--the suit, the car, the Batarangs--was spectacular, as was the whole climactic scene. I loved the bit with the Scarecrow; he first appeared in 1940 and although he wasn't Arkham Asylum's doctor in the books, it makes some sense. The master plan was sufficiently diabolical, and the method of salvation worked. Solid acting by Christian Bale, and obviously the guys around him (Oldman, Freeman, Neeson, Caine, etc.,) know their stuff. I liked the way some of the more modern elements of Batman were worked in--Wayne Corporation and Lucius Fox, for example. Overall I liked the look of Gotham City--it certainly appeared big and progressive-looking in the early sequences, and gloomy and oppressive in the later ones (symptomatic of the rot that had set in).
York: Move-On Opposed Afghanistan WarThe Rove comments continue to reverberate: Some officials at the internet activist group MoveOn are denying charges made by top White House aide Karl Rove, who said in a speech to a conservative group in New York Wednesday that "In the wake of 9/11, conservatives believed it was time to unleash the might and power of the United States military against the Taliban; in the wake of 9/11 liberals believed it was time to submit a petition." Rove continued: "I am not joking. Submitting a petition is precisely what MoveOn.org did. It was a petition imploring the powers that be to 'use moderation and restraint in responding to the terrorist attacks against the United States.' "
After Rove's comments, MoveOn released a statement saying flatly, "MoveOn did not oppose the U.S. military action in Afghanistan." And in an interview with the Washington Post, reporter Dan Balz wrote that MoveOn political chief Eli Pariser "disputed Rove's characterization of the petition calling for moderation and restraint, saying that the petition was a personal project before he was affiliated with MoveOn and that it was not on the group's Web site at the time of the Afghanistan war."This has become part of the left's effort to demonize the Iraq War. They pretend that they supported Afghanistan at the time, which is a bit puzzling. After all, if the left were behind the Afghanistan war, then who was warning us about the brutal Afghan winter? Who was calling it a quagmire? Who was it that told us that the British and the Soviet empires had both crumbled against the fierce resistance of the mighty Afghan warriors?
Who is Fatina Abdrabboh? To understand this one, first you've got to read this post of mine over at Lifelike about one of the silliest op-ed columns in the history of the New York Times. But Ankle-Biting Pundits wasn't satisfied with just a chortle. They decided to poke a little deeper into Ms Abdrabboh's past. Turns out she's a professional victim of American bigotry against women wearing the hijab (scarf). Terrific post by the Ankle-Biters, and a textbook example of how to blog. By checking Ms Abdrabboh a little further, they have provided a more well-rounded portrait of her and the reasoning behind her column.
Why The South Rankles the DemocratsConservative Grapevine linked to this post over at MyDD (one of the bigger liberal blogs) about the things that are wrong with the "Progressive Blogosphere". I agree with some of the points (like the rampant homophobia expressed by liberals casually), and disagree with some of the others, but this one caught my attention: Most discussions about "the south" are not a favorite of mine, to say the least. Whether we are being told how we can win "it," or why "it" is so stupid, I for one would like to know what the fuck "the south" actually is. Even as an electoral concept, I don't think it stands out as a distinct region anymore. Even apart from all that, I really want to know why we are so ridiculously obsessed with it. In case people out there hadn't noticed, the New Deal coalition is dead, and as a result of wide ideological differences, Democratic Presidential nominees are not going to win very many (a couple, but not very many) states that were once in the confederacy anytime soon (maybe in a couple of decades, but not very soon), no matter what we do. End of story. Even the most rudimentary political analysis should make this obvious by now, which in no way means we should stop campaigning there. Can we move on please, or should we instead engage in detailed discussions about how to move Rhode Island out of the "Swing State" column and into "Solid Democratic?"There's a lot of foolishness packed into that one paragraph. First, it absolutely does make sense to refer to refer to the South as a distinct region from an electoral concept. If we define the South as the states below the Mason Dixon Line and east of the Mississippi, it becomes pretty obvious that it does vote pretty much as a block; almost always has and almost always will. When the Democrats are able to win one or two of those states, as in 1992 (Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky) or 1996 (Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida) they can win. When they lose the entire region, as in 1984, 1988, 2000, and 2004, they go down to defeat. This isn't even remotely controversial. So why do Democrats hate to talk about the South? Well, mainly because the focus on the South gives Southern Democrats more power, because inevitably the conclusion is that Democrats only win states in the South when Southern white men are at the top of the ticket. This bugs self-styled progressives like Chris Bowers for several reasons: 1. Southern Democrats are more conservative than Northern Democrats. Some of this may be protective coloration, but look at the voting records of, say, John Breaux and John Kerry and it will immediately become obvious that most of the moderates in the Democratic Party come from the South. 2. It elevates in importance an increasingly smaller sliver of the party. As Southern white men have declined as a percentage of all Democrats, they have surged as a percentage of all Democratic tickets. Defining the South a little more loosely, the last two Democratic tickets without a Southerner in one or both of the slots were 1972 and 1984; not years that Democrats are apt to remember fondly. 3. Liberals are conditioned to hate certain groups as oppressors in society, and if you work it out, Southern (check) white (check) men (check) happen to fit all the boxes rather neatly. Yet there seems no escaping the predicament. With the South continuing to grow and the North continuing to decline, it is hard to see how the Democrats can overcome this disadvantage without making a strong effort to court white Southerners.
Rove's CommentsSeem relatively non-controversial to me. "Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers," Mr. Rove said at the annual dinner of the New York State Conservative Party.Unless the liberals are objecting to the term "savagery" (they'd probably prefer something like "justifiable nature"), I don't see the controversy. Wanted to prepare indictments? Check. John Kerry last year was talking about terrorism as a legal problem. Offering therapy and understanding? Check. The libs were all claiming that terrorism was caused by poverty in the Middle East and asking "Why do they hate us?" In reality what the libs are trying to do is get the attention away from Durbin's stupid comments.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
The Problem with Live 8Is that it is inevitably going to be associated with people like this.
Big Bird Slips the Necktie PartyCheck out the lede of this article: Big Bird and National Public Radio won a reprieve Thursday as the House restored $100 million that had been proposed as a budget cut for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.I guess without that, Big Bird would have had his (long) neck on the chopping block, eh? And didn't NPR get a huge windfall a year or two back from Joan Kroc? The bad news, for liberals at least, is that Republicans are in charge at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The Right-Wing Democratic National CommitteeReports that while some folks had trouble voting in Ohio, there was no widespread electoral fraud that threw the election to President Bush. The detailed report, released Wednesday, said that disproportionately high numbers of blacks and young people had complained about long lines, intimidation and malfunctioning machines. But Democratic officials said they could not conclude that Mr. Bush's Democratic challenger, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, would have won in Ohio even if voting had gone smoothly.Sounds to me like they just weren't used to voting.
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Downing Street Memos Evoking Memories of the Cold WarChristopher Hitchens, who pursued the "October Surprise" like the Holy Grail back in the early 1980s isn't buying this conspiracy theory: Over the past month, I have hardly been able to open my e-mail without a flood of similarly portentous tripe concerning the "Downing Street Memo(s)." This time, it is not the interior of a Templar Church but the style of a clerk in the British Foreign Office that furnishes "the key to all mythologies." A former CIA hand named Ray McGovern has challenged me to debate about the "smoking gun" contained in the Downing Street palimpsests, and I have agreed, in principle. Other correspondents have helpfully added other "smoking guns" as e-mail attachments. A man named Morgan Reynolds, a former chief economist at the Bush Labor Department and now an instructor at Texas A&M, has proof that the World Trade Center was laid low by a "controlled demolition" and not by the hijacked planes. This is a refreshing change from the Gore Vidal view that the Bush administration knowingly grounded all military aircraft in order to give the al-Qaida teams a clear shot. But perhaps both those theories are congruent: One wouldn't want to exclude any options if one were a Republican seeking to incinerate the downtown business HQ of capitalist globalization.Teflon at Molten Thought links to another debunking of the memo's significance in the AmSpec and muses that for the left, this must be like the good old days of anti-anti-communism. I had similar thoughts yesterday when Anthony Lewis returned to the pages of the Times.
Superhawk Defends Flag Burning?And what's more, I agree with him. But... I also think that beating up flag burners should be allowed under a "fighting words" type exception to assault laws. Captain Ed has more thoughts here.
Post #1,000 at LifelikeAt little look at the past of the group blog where I post reviews of New York Times' Op-Ed columns. Lifelike's a terrific blog and we've gotten some compliments on it from some very famous people. Kudos to Aaron and my co-bloggers over there, who do a great job.
Rating the Senate VulnerablesNational Journal has its picks up for the most likely turnovers. Interesting list, but Jon Kyl (shown as 12th most likely to lose) is safe. He's low-key and not as well known as the senior senator from Arizona, John McCain, but he's far better known locally than Jim Pederson, who's running for his first elective office. A better measure of Kyl's invulnerability is that nobody ran against him the last time around in 2000. Kyl will win easily, by 15-20 points at least.
New To the BlogrollSay hello to Combs Spouts Off. Spotted his blog in my trackbacks, and saw he had some nice things to say about this blog. Looks like he's similar to me, Republican with Libertarian influences (correction: In the comments he says "Libertarian with Republican influences). And when I saw he had a button on his site for Rick Rescorla, that clinched things.
Operation Homecoming UpdateThird Wave Dave has the links.
I Hate It When That HappensA Guinness Book of Records attempt goes south: The 25-foot-tall, 17 1/2-ton treat of frozen Snapple juice melted faster than expected Tuesday, flooding Union Square in downtown Manhattan with kiwi-strawberry-flavored fluid that sent pedestrians scurrying for higher ground.
Just for LaughsVia Conservative Grapevine, we learn that prisoner abuse is going on not far from Mount Pilot.
She Doesn't Look an Ounce Over 350 to MeThe AP slanders Hillary and John McCain: "They're 800-pound gorillas," says Democratic consultant Jeff Link of Iowa.A gross exaggeration as this photo reveals:  Michelle Malkin weighs in on McCain's supposed frontrunner status. Captain Ed pounds the writer as well. John Hawkins thinks the article was written by a lightweight.
What's Wrong With Andrew Sullivan?Gay Patriot West asks the question. His fall is a sad one. He was the first gay writer/speaker (with a national platform) to challenge the left-wing orthodoxy that pervades the gay community. And now he seems to have become a spokesman for that orthodoxy.The answer is a simple one. When it comes right down to it, the way we all analyze any news story has a lot more to do with trust than it does to the basic facts. When I see an article about the latest allegations of abuse at Gitmo, I tend to trust the soldiers. In my younger, more liberal days, I would probably have tended to trust the media, and distrusted the soldiers. Andrew lost his way because he decided gay marriage was the single most important issue to him. He lost his trust in President Bush when the president endorsed the Federal Marriage Amendment allowing states to ignore gay marriages performed in other states. As a result he sees almost every issue in terms of his trust or lack thereof. We all do this. I trust President Bush; ergo when I read stories that reflect negatively on him, I'm always looking for the mistaken assumption or the assertion that disproves the article. Andrew does just the reverse.
Floriduh Democrats Fail to Make Payroll Tax PaymentsIn addition, $900,000 is missing. Broke and without enough money in the bank to pay its bills after the end of the month, the Florida Democratic Party has now been slapped with a lien by the Internal Revenue Service for failing to pay payroll and Social Security taxes in 2003.
Meanwhile, the state party's budget and finance committee voted Tuesday to ask for a new audit to account for more than $900,000 it believes somehow disappeared from the books during the 2003-2004 calendar years when the party was led by Scott Maddox, who is now seeking its nomination for governor.Sounds like he'd be the perfect nominee.
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Suddenly Political Bias at PBS is an Issue?Because it's not the right kind of political bias: Sixteen Democratic senators called on President Bush to remove Kenneth Y. Tomlinson as head of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting because of their concerns that he is injecting partisan politics into public radio and television.And get this "error" discovered by the Times in their piece: Mr. Mann, who was paid $14,170 for his work by the taxpayer-financed corporation, rated the guests on the show by such labels as "anti-Bush" or "anti-DeLay," a reference to Representative Tom DeLay of Texas, the House majority leader. He classified Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska as a "liberal," even though Mr. Hagel is well-known as a mainstream conservative Republican.I didn't know there were "mainstream" conservative Republicans; presumably the term means conservative Republicans who knock Bush.
Meet Leigh Ann Hester, Hero Check out this thrilling report of an action in Iraq where Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester showed heroism and skill in combating an ambush: The sergeant runs low on ammo and runs back to a vehicle to reload. She moves to her squad leader's vehicle, and because this squad is led so well, she knows exactly where to reach her arm blindly into a different vehicle to find ammo-because each vehicle is packed exactly the same, with discipline.
As she turns to move back to the trenchline, Gunner in two sees an AIF***** jump from behind one of the cars and start firing on the Sergeant. He pulls his 9mm, because the .50 cal is pointed in the other direction, and shoots five rounds wounding him.****** The sergeant moves back to the trenchline under fire from the back of the field, with fresh mags, two more grenades, and three more M203 rounds. The Mk 19 gunner suppresses the rear of the field.
Now, rejoined with the squad leader, the two sergeants continue clearing the enemy from the trenchline, until they see no more movement. A lone man with an RPG launcher on his shoulder steps from behind a tree and prepares to fire on the three Hummers and is killed with a single aimed SAW shot thru the head by the previously knocked out gunner on platform two, who now has a SAW out to supplement the .50 cal in the mount.
The team leader sergeant--she claims four killed by aimed M4 shots.
The Squad Leader--he threw four grenades taking out at least two AIF, and attributes one other to her aimed M203 fire. Wonderful story. Kudos to Bill Ardolino for pointing me to it. Washington Post coverage here. The media love this story because of the women in combat issue, and for once I agree heartily with them.
Another HehCheck out this post by a Christian screenwriter talking to a NY Timesman who's hot on the trail of the evil Christians in Hollywood. It's truly hilarious. Hat Tip: CrosSwords, a terrific little blog that not enough of you are reading.
Hugh Hewitt Debunks Gitmo Horror StoriesIn an interview with a soldier from the NJ National Guard who served there. Hugh: Any violence, in terms of physical brutality of the prisoners you observed?
Pete: Absolutely not. In fact, my men and I spent nine hours on a runway waiting to try and get a detainee to go back home who had refused to do so because he wanted to stay at Guantanamo because he was being treated so well.Hmmmm, anybody know of any internees at Auschwitz or Bergen-Belsen who didn't want to leave? Can you imagine Dith Pran wishing he could have spent another month or two in the Killing Fields, or Solzhenitsyn expressing homesickness for the Gulags? Me neither. Of course, Andrew Sullivan will no doubt be issuing his apology at about the same time the Minneapolis Star Tribune does.
HehHere's an amusing story about how to buy your way out of guilt for owning an SUV. For $160 you can turn a Hummer H2 into a zero-emissions vehicle. No tools or mechanical ability are required.Of course, I could turn your Hummer H2 into a zero-emissions vehicle as well; by taking the keys. ;) Hilariously, though, they are not hitting their target market: Not surprisingly, few SUV drivers have been buying them. Most have gone to owners of fuel-efficient cars that produce relatively few pollutants.
That initially surprised Arnold.
"We fully expected to target SUV drivers with SUV guilt," he said. "It just doesn't exist"No fueling!
Turban DurbinLucky Dawg has a video to remind Turban Dick Durbin what true Nazis do. Warning: This contains pretty graphic depictions of violence; not for the faint of heart.
Mystery SolvedKitty discovers why a sexually-oriented group linked to one of her short stories. I have to confess, the fetish described here (G-rated) is a new one on me.
Klocek Case On O'ReillyJohn Ruberry continues his relentless coverage.
Blame It On Bush--UpdatedVia Michelle Malkin, we find this incredible obituary: Alas the stolen election of 2000 and living with right-winged Americans finally brought him to his early demise. Stress from living in this unjust country brought about several heart attacks rendering him disabled.Just goes to show you that bitterness and bile will get you nowhere but six feet under. Update: Looks like Dadahead is a good candidate for a heart attack. For the record, we are not mocking his death, we are mocking the ridiculous diagnosis of death by stolen election. California Conservative has another report of Bush Derangement Syndrome, fortunately not fatal. Bronx Pundit checks in here.
Only Person to Survive Rabies Makes a Difficult ComebackHere's the concluding chapter to this terrific story which I highlighted yesterday. It wasn't long before the cries became words. Single words to start with: Hi. Bye. Mom. Dad. Her voice had little volume. Her vocal cords were healing from the breathing tube.
As a typical teenager, Jeanna had her moods. Some mornings, she didn't want to get out of bed; others, she awoke fully engaged, eager to pick out clothes to wear and videos to watch.This is a three-handkerchief article, but you'll be glad you read it.
Dean & Moore Tie For First in Poll On Who's Screwing Up AmericaJohn Hawkins polled a bunch of conservative-oriented blogs (including this one) and that was the conclusion. It's a solid list, pretty much in accordance with the ones I picked last week. Unfortunately I made my choices before Turban Durbin made his foolish remarks or I would have included him instead of David Brock, and as I commented over at Tinkerty Tonk, Noam Chomsky just slipped my mind.
Power Line Posts Copies of Kerry's Forms 180The front pages are here. Power Line notes that John O'Neill has commented that the forms don't tell us if documents were previously purged from the record. There appears in my mind to be one big red flag that this is the case. Note the careful wording: "A single, one time, copy of the complete military record....""To provide on a 1 time basis, a complete copy...."Remember, when promising Tim Russert that he would sign the Form 180, Kerry made this interesting comment: "I'm going to sit down with them and make sure that they are clear and I am clear as to what is in the record and what isn't in the record and we'll put it out," he told "Meet the Press" host Tim Russert.Sounds like Kerry got the Navy to remove some items in the record, then made absolutely sure that there would be no screwups, say three years from now, with somebody releasing the undeleted file by specifying that this was on a "1 time basis". Ankle-Biting Pundits (where I will be guest-blogging in a couple weeks) notices something else missing.
Monday, June 20, 2005
The Lumpy WorkoutGotta love a man who can laugh at himself.
A Question for Andrew SullivanHe has a question for Hugh HewittI've now read and re-read Senator Dick Durbin's comments on interrogation techniques at Guantanamo Bay. They are completely, perfectly respectable. The rank hysteria being perpetrated by some on the right is what is shameful. Hugh Hewitt should answer one single question: does he doubt the FBI interrogator who witnessed the appalling treatment of some detainees at Guantanamo?Here's the question for Andrew, since he's sticking up for Dick Durbin: Do you believe that the treatment described by the FBI interrogator rises to the level of what was "done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime--Pol Pot or others..."? The good news for Sully is that he's getting some new friends.
Saddam a Dorito-Holic?Michelle Malkin must have some interesting Google and Yahoo news searches in her favorites list, as I can't imagine how she found this interesting article in the India Daily on Saddam's routine in prison otherwise. I got a chuckle out of this anecdote: Once, when Saddam fell down during his twice-a-week shower, the article says, "panic ensued. No one wanted him to be hurt while being guarded by Americans." One GI had to help Saddam back to his cell, another carried his underwear, it adds.Hmmmm, carry a naked, dripping Saddam or his underwear... there is no good option between those two. And it turns out that Saddam has similar tastes to mine in food: For a time his favorite food was Cheetos, and when those ran out, Saddam would "get grumpy," the story says. One day the guards substituted Doritos corn chips, and Saddam forgot about Cheetos. "He''d eat a family size bag of Doritos in 10 minutes," Dawson says.When I'm on a Dorito binge it's basically as fast as I can stuff them into my mouth. That said, I don't think I could get through a family-sized bag in one sitting.
We Shall OvercomePatrick Hynes reveals that he secretly likes the protest songs of the 1960s and later. Growing up in a liberal family, I'm the same way. I still enjoy Peter, Paul & Mary, Dylan, Pete Seeger, Barry McGuire, Phil Ochs, the Pogues, etc. I especially like the way Patrick ends this piece; we shall indeed overcome.
Blogathon ComingOur friends at Molten Thought are going to be holding a blogathon on July 2nd for a worthy cause: the Armed Forces Relief Trust, an umbrella group for collecting donations to the Air Force Aid Society, the Army Emergency Relief Fund, Coast Guard Mutual Assistance, and the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society. I'll put up a link again around July 1st. Teflon and Word Girl are to be commended for this effort.
Moron Dick Durbin--Updated!Third Wave Dave called around to the courageous members of the Illinois congressional delegation to find out if they think Durbin should apologize. In fairness, this may be a case of professional courtesy, like the way sharks don't attack lawyers. Update: Chris at Lucky Dawg has an appropriate Photoshop.
Terrific Article on Faith and MedicineDiscovered this one over at Lucianne. It's the story of Jeanna Giese, a teenaged girl who got rabies from a bat bite, and nearly died, before an experimental treatment and a lot of praying turned things around. One of those rare mainstream media articles that is respectful of religion, and a superb, dramatic story. The final article in the series has yet to be published, but I didn't want to forget to point you to this.
Sheets Byrd ExposedJohn Hawkins has a terrific post with more details on Robert Byrd's past in the Ku Klux Klan.
Sunday, June 19, 2005
Cleveland Pix & CommentsI had some time on Friday while waiting for everybody else to arrive, so I did some walking around near the hotel. Here is Cleveland's old Terminal Building, now called Tower City. (Note: On all these pics, you can get a larger view by clicking on the picture, and an even larger view by clicking on it a second time. Kudos to Hello, which really does a great job with putting free images up on your blogger blog. Also thanks to Kitty who did some lightening of the inside photos.)  I love old buildings; that's one real negative with living in Phoenix. Out here an "old" building is one that's been around since the 1950s. I should have taken some interior photos of the arcade area inside this building; it's really pretty. Just across the way from the old Terminal Building is the War Memorial; two guesses as to which war it commemorates. Hint: 1861-1865. Inside we encountered a really nice and informative guide who had recently retired after 20 years as a Navy submariner. That's one thing I didn't mention before, was how helpful and friendly everybody in Cleveland was.  Here's a picture of some fat old geezer pretending he knows how to play guitar in front of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. My brother is the musician in the family; I used to practice my notes while reading a Hardy Boys' book.  Here's a picture of the five brothers on my dad's side of the family: The Old Man (Jean Shepard always called his dad The Old Man), and my uncles Kevin, Jack (father of the bride), Jim and Tommy. Great guys all. You can probably tell from this photo that I listen to the Kevis hair restoration commercials on the radio with more than an academic interest.  Here's a shot of my cousin just after the conclusion of the wedding. As you can see, her husband is a handsome guy; always glad to see those ones marry my relatives as it eliminates some of the competition without reducing the pool of women available for me. She's a pretty gal, and a doctor to boot.  My sister Carol is the blonde with the zombie eyes at the far left; next to her is my father. For more on Cleveland, check out John Ruberry's terrific post on his experience running the Cleveland Marathon a couple weeks ago.
Happy Father's Day, Dad! Here's a pic of the Old Man motoring around in the desert. We love to take little hikes in Squaw Peak Park, which is about 2 miles south of my home.
Update on Conservative Versus Liberal BlogsGot a little reaction on this post that I'd like to elaborate on. Both Paul and Lone Ranger commented that what we could be seeing is the effect of crossover readership; maybe conservatives read liberal blogs and liberals read conservative blogs. I'd suspect that argument has quite a bit of validity, although since I was looking at changes since the election, I don't know if it would really have a dramatic impact. Scrapiron (who's a terrific commenter) smacked me upside the head for believing what I read on a left-wing blog. However, I didn't believe the left-winger at first; it was only after I looked at the numbers that I began to wonder if he had a point. Coalition of the Chillin' member the Strata-Sphere put up a solid post on this, noting that how you define "community" may have a lot to do with the differences between the right side and the left side of the blogosphere. The right side links quite frequently to other blogs on the right side, while the left is a little more apt to say, "Come post your 'diary' pages on our blog." It's the rugged individualists versus the communitarian hive. The Strata-Sphere also links to the always-interesting Patrick Ruffini, who has this to say: Bowers disparages the proliferation of large numbers of mid-tier conservative blogs, but in what way is this unhealthy? In fact, most of the cooperative, traffic-sharing arrangements in the blogosphere have emerged on the right. These days, it's hard to keep track of all the various carnivals and link-fests, from the Cotillion to Carnival of the Capitalists to Classiness All Around Us to Conservative Grapevine. These link-fests are vital to mid-range blogs getting noticed, and probably in keeping with its more selfish, celebrity-seeking nature, such link-fests are much less prevalent in the left-blogosphere. Also, contrast the top liberal and "conservative" blogs. Glenn Reynolds is much more generous in linking to other blogs than Markos.I don't think there's any denying that observation; in fact there was a study a number of months ago that found that conservative bloggers are much more interlinked than liberal blogs. This was what I was getting at with these observations: Second, it certainly looks to me like Kos is absorbing the left-wing of the blogosphere. It's ironic that the poster at MyDD was making a big thing about them catching the righties because of their sense of community, when his community was suffering the biggest drop in traffic since the election of any of the blogs. It's quite possible that Kos' big jump since New Year's has come at the expense of many other liberal blogs.
Third, Instapundit may be losing his traffic to smaller right-wing bloggers. Certainly I suspect a lot more people go to Power Line and CQ directly these days rather than waiting to see the link from Glenn.
Omigosh!Just noticed who's now on Michelle Malkin's blogroll, right in between Brain Fertilizer and Broken Masterpieces! =^) Thanks, Mrs. M!
The Return of Fake But Accurate?Via Captain's Quarters, we learn today the startling news that the infamous Downing Street Memos are not originals, but retyped "copies". The originals were supposedly burned by the reporter who did the retyping job. The eight memos — all labeled "secret" or "confidential" — were first obtained by British reporter Michael Smith, who has written about them in The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Times.
Smith told AP he protected the identity of the source he had obtained the documents from by typing copies of them on plain paper and destroying the originals.This is interesting because I noted some concern about the first memo way back on May 6th, when I initially looked into the case: I suspect that the memo has received some degree of vetting; the London Times is not CBS News (DOH!). Unfortunately, the Times has only the transcript and not a copy so it can't be verified in any other way (e.g., initials, signatures, etc.). But I'd be very surprised if this is a completely original memorandum prepared shortly after a meeting on July 23, 2002 as it is purported to be.Not bad, if I do say so myself. Now if I can just call the chiropractor to get me out of this contorted position caused by patting myself on the back. Update: Mr Right has a terrific post on this with lots of links to different reactions to this news. In particular, check out Power Line's comments, which I generally agree with. However, if the real memo ever surfaces, I will bet you dollars to donuts that the line "There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action." turns out to be an addition to the original memo.
Interview With Geldof, Bono and CurtisPretty interesting article in Time. The questions are a little on the boring side but the answers are quite good. GELDOF And we didn't just pick this moment out of the sky. This G-8 is in the U.K., where the Prime Minister was once a young git with the worst haircut save mine. He attended Live Aid and was informed by it, so he's in tune with where we've come from. Then a lot of these G-8 guys are on their last political legs. Schroder's going to lose in Germany. Chirac won't stand because he will lose. Berlusconi? Might have a year left. [Canadian Prime Minister] Paul Martin is clinging on. George Bush can't stand again, and Tony Blair said he wouldn't. It gives us a chance to appeal to their sense of legacy. Bono is the rock god of the Establishment. Richard is the filmmaker of the Establishment.
And I'm just a paddy with a hat on. [Much laughter.]As I commented before, Geldof seems to be a master at putting on the face that gets his message across--witty and self-deprecating with the press, serious and hardnosed with the conservative bloggers.
Steyn on GitmoHe makes a great point here, that to Democrats, it's always America the Horrible (unless of course the Democrats are running things): So, until Guantanamo, America was "viewed as a leader in human rights"? Not in 2004, when Abu Ghraib was the atrocity du jour. Not in 2003, when every humanitarian organization on the planet was predicting the deaths of millions of Iraqis from cholera, dysentery and other diseases caused by America's "war for oil." Not in 2002, when the "human rights" lobby filled the streets of Vancouver and London and Rome and Sydney to protest the Bushitler's plans to end the benign reign of good King Saddam. Not the weekend before 9/11 when the human rights grandees of the U.N. "anti-racism" conference met in South Africa to demand America pay reparations for the Rwandan genocide and to cheer Robert Mugabe to the rafters for calling on Britain and America to "apologize unreservedly for their crimes against humanity." If you close Gitmo tomorrow, the world's anti-Americans will look around and within 48 hours alight on something else for Gulag of the Week.Yes, and in fact, they will take to barking even louder at the moon, encouraged by their success.
Cleveland TripThe wedding went off without a hitch and an excellent time was had by all. Saw some cousins I hadn't seen in 20+ years. My brother, sister, brother-in-law and two of their children went to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday. Our reaction was pretty much uniform; after you've seen a couple stage costumes and guitars, you've seen them all. Some of the knicknacks were cool, but how much real interest is there in seeing Jim Morrison's third grade report card, or his handmade Mothers' Day cards. There was really nothing to engage the kids; not much interactivity. We were encouraged to see the film showing all the inductees performing; it wasn't terrible, but 20 years of inductees adds up to a fair amount of time. Oddly, I don't recally any profanity in the film, but while we were waiting to enter the theatre there was a loop running of some induction ceremonies and there were several f-bombs lobbed in that could at least have been bleeped. Not that kids would enjoy the film anyway; there is a rule that nobody can be inducted until 25 years after their first recording, so most of the performers were largely unknown to my (bored to tears) 12-year-old nephew. And there was a distinct aroma of Political Correctness in the selections; it seemed like every class had to have a black musician or group. While some of them were obviously legitimate either as rock performers (Jimi Hendrix, Temptations, Parliament/Funkadelic), inspirations (Leadbelly, Howlin' Wolf) or other contributions (Berry Gordy of Motown), it was also clear that the weakest selections were among these performers as well. I mean, the O'Jays? The Shirelles? Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers? "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" is a terrific song, but there are a lot of terrific songs out there. Not that there weren't some ridiculous selections among the white folks as well. Ricky Nelson was inducted in the second class, in 1986, a pick that obviously had more to do with his untimely death the year before than to his body of work. As for Cleveland itself, it was bigger than I expected, but kinda gritty. Walking a mile or so, you'd get approached by at least half a dozen panhandlers. And the bugs were not to be believed; fortunately it was mostly the non-biting kind. I got a couple pictures I'll put up in a bit.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
I'll Be Away Until SundayHeading out of town for a cousin's wedding; may be able to put up a post or two or not depending on who's bringing a laptop. In the meantime, please visit some of the wonderful people along the left sidebar, especially Lifelike Pundits.
Is the Liberal Blogosphere Beating the Pants Off the Conservative Blogs?Came across this topic through Conservative Grapevine yesterday but didn't have a real take on it at the time. Then this afternoon I happened to be surfing through a couple of the left-wing blogs and noticed something. Post time! A blogger over at MyDD (moonbat territory) put up a post claiming that the left-wing blogosphere was pulling away from the right-wing blogosphere: As I have always been prone to do, I spent much of the morning looking at the Blogads traffic rankings. Adding up the 200 blogs that are concerned with politics and either identify or have been identified with Democrats / liberals or Republicans / conservatives, I found 87 blogs that general fit into the "liberal" category and 113 blogs that fit into the conservative category. However, despite the greater number of conservative blogs, the liberal blogs totaled nearly ten million page views per week, while the conservative blogs managed just over six million. I have been tracking the comparative audiences of the two blogosphere off and on for the past nine months, and this is the largest lead for the liberal blogosphere that I have ever found. In September, the margin in favor of Democrats was 25%. In winter, it was 33%. In the spring, it was 50%. Now, it has risen to 65%. This is particularly amazing, since less than two years ago the conservative blogosphere was at least twice the size of the liberal blogosphere.
So the liberal blogosphere is beginning to pull away from the conservative blogopshere in terms of audience size. At the same time, there appear to be more conservative blogs than liberal blogs. In fact, when it comes to total number, new Republican / conservative blogs might even be outpacing new Democratic / liberal blogs. What could be the cause of this?His conclusion is that the big right-wing blogs don't allow comments and diaries and such, while the left-wing blogs do, and that the resulting sense of community is driving traffic to the liberal blogs. Now first of all, note the point about page views. This is a little inside blogging stuff (which seems to bore everybody except bloggers to tears), but basically there are two simple metrics for site traffic on the blogs: Unique visitors and page views. Unique visitors tracks how many individuals visit your blog, while page views counts how many total pages you see. For example if you were to come to my site, then click on one of my archive pages, then leave, you'd be counted as one unique visitor and two page views. Now I don't know too many people who pay much attention to page views. The TTLB (which by the way has undergone quite a facelift) has two main ways of ranking blogs: by links and by traffic. The traffic metric chosen is uniques. Anyway, here's a gander at the month-by-month site meter of a rather famous left-wing blog, Oliver Willis:  If he were shedding pounds as fast as he's shedding readers, Oliver would be svelte by now. (Note: On all these graphs, you should ignore the June drop-off; it's solely an artifact of the month not being over yet.) How about MyDD, the blog where this was originally posted?  Daily Kos has indeed done quite a bit better than those two:  Now let's take a look at the guys who've been getting thrashed. Let's start with Instapundit:  Power Line:  And Captain's Quarters  Okay, a couple things pop out at me from those graphs: 1. Everybody lost traffic from October to November and November to December. In a way this is no surprise. We're all talking baseball here, and after the World Series ends in early November, baseball news cools down for a couple months. Of course, baseball=politics and World Series=Presidential election. 2. Everybody rallied in January, but all three of the conservative blogs did better than MyDD or Daily Kos. Oliver Willis clearly got attention for something in January, although I don't have a clue as to what it was; that's why his traffic for the rest of the year looks so terrible. 3. Captain's Quarters is the only blog with a month in 2005 that's had more traffic than October 2004. Of course, he got half of Canada reading him in April, eh, while the Adscam thing was brewing and the press up there was under a gag order. 4. (And most important): There is some evidence from these numbers that the lefty blogs are racing ahead of the right wingers. Or rather, I would say they are not decelerating as rapidly. All of the blogs have had declines since October, but here are the percentage declines from October-May: Oliver Willis: -58% My DD: -74% Daily Kos: -19% Instapundit: -49% Power Line: -35% Captain's Quarters: -24% Now of course, looking at the percentages it may not be obvious, but because Instapundit is so much bigger than the other right-wing blogs, and Daily Kos is so much bigger than the other lefties, the Koufaxes as a group only declined by 24%, while the Drysdales declined by 43%. What's going on? I suspect there are three factors. First, it is well-known that the intensity level goes up more among party activists after a loss than a win. The winners say, well, okay now I can go back to making money, while the losers have new battles to face to limit the damage their causes take. Contributions to Planned Parenthood and the Sierra Club go up when Republicans win, and down when Democrats win. Second, it certainly looks to me like Kos is absorbing the left-wing of the blogosphere. It's ironic that the poster at MyDD was making a big thing about them catching the righties because of their sense of community, when his community was suffering the biggest drop in traffic since the election of any of the blogs. It's quite possible that Kos' big jump since New Year's has come at the expense of many other liberal blogs. Third, Instapundit may be losing his traffic to smaller right-wing bloggers. Certainly I suspect a lot more people go to Power Line and CQ directly these days rather than waiting to see the link from Glenn. I'm not trying to say that this proves the original blogger's point, but I certainly started out thinking he was wrong, and had to change my mind when I looked at the numbers hard. Daily Kos has done the best and despite my loathing for that particular blog, nobody would deny that Kos has done the best job of welding his commenters and posters into a community. Oliver Willis and MyDD have made strides in that direction, but apparently not fast enough to avoid getting left at the dock. If you rank those three conservative bloggers by sense of community, I don't think there's any doubt that Captain's Quarters is #1, Power Line #2 (since they are pretty responsive to emailers) and Instapundit #3. Not a criticism, just an observation. It's also true that's the inverse order of establishment of the blog, so maybe it's just that Instapundit has hit the wall where growth will be sluggish; the law of big numbers as Wall Street puts it. And the sense of community may change when Pajamas Media gets rolling. So maybe the criticism is valid, maybe it's not; certainly it does not seem to be absurd. Long-term of course, I have a hard time believing that the audience for liberalism will be larger than the audience for conservatism, regardless of how much community is established.
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