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Wednesday, November 30, 2005

 
Just In Time For Christmas

Potato gun. (Link via Glenn)



 
Global Warming Strikes Again

New Scientist reports:

The ocean current that gives western Europe its relatively balmy climate is stuttering, raising fears that it might fail entirely and plunge the continent into a mini ice age.

The dramatic finding comes from a study of ocean circulation in the North Atlantic, which found a 30% reduction in the warm currents that carry water north from the Gulf Stream.

The slow-down, which has long been predicted as a possible consequence of global warming, will give renewed urgency to intergovernmental talks in Montreal, Canada, this week on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol.



 
Which Is Better?

Preferences in boldface. Hat tip to Jen.

  1. CHEESE or CHOCOLATE?
  2. BLUEBERRIES or STRAWBERRIES?
  3. COFFEE or TEA? (iced)
  4. CORN MUFFIN or ENGLISH MUFFIN? (toasted, with melted Cheddar)
  5. PANCAKES or FRENCH TOAST?
  6. YOGURT or CREAM CHEESE?
  7. RICE or PASTA?
  8. CAKE or PIE?
  9. GROUND BEEF or GROUND TURKEY?
  10. HOT DOGS or HAMBURGERS?
  11. JELLY or MARMALADE?
  12. AMERICAN CHEESE or SWISS CHEESE?
  13. DIET SODA or NO SODA?
  14. LEMONADE or ICED TEA?
  15. CHERRIES or GRAPES?
  16. CHOCOLATE QUIK or STRAWBERRY QUIK? (chocolate Ovaltine)
  17. WAFFLES or PANCAKES?
  18. WHITE BREAD or WHOLE-GRAIN/WHEAT BREAD?
  19. PEAS or CARROTS?
  20. PUDDING or FRUIT-FLAVORED GELATIN?
  21. COLD CEREAL or HOT CEREAL?
  22. KETCHUP or MUSTARD?
  23. MUSTARD or MAYONNAISE?
  24. MAYONNAISE or KETCHUP?
  25. BLACK OLIVES or GREEN OLIVES? (good on pizza and sandwiches)
  26. ONION or GARLIC?
  27. PLAIN BARBECUE or BARBECUE WITH SAUCE?
  28. SCRAMBLED EGGS or FRIED EGGS?
  29. EGGS or EGG REPLACEMENTS?
  30. MEAT or VEGETABLES?
  31. CHINESE TAKE-OUT or PIZZA? (I've always had Chinese take-in, though)
  32. SUSHI or DELI SANDWICH?
  33. WHITE CLAM CHOWDER or RED CLAM CHOWDER? (I'm a Texan - I don't know the difference)
  34. KEY LIME PIE or LEMON MERANGUE PIE?
  35. PIE & ICE CREAM or CAKE & ICE CREAM?
  36. WHIPPED CREAM or CAKE FROSTING?
  37. HONEY or MAPLE SYRUP?

Update: Oops, I highlighted the wrong answer on #36 in the original post - that has been corrected.



Tuesday, November 29, 2005

 
Education And The Division Of Labor

One story in this week's EIA Communiqué invokes Adam Smith (scroll down to the heading "Parental Involvement: What Might Work"). Mike Antonucci reports an EdSource study on student achievement and offers this interpretation:

While all these things may be desirable, perhaps what the EdSource report tells us is that students do best when teachers teach and parents parent...

It's great when parents can supplement their children's education through their own knowledge of literature, math or history. But it's even better if they see to it that Johnny regularly attends class with his homework completed and that he will respectfully listens to the adults who are charged with providing his education. Teachers can then spend more of their time teaching, instead of riding herd.

This does have one application to homeschoolers, sorta. Generally the teaching is being done by only one parent (usually the mom), but both parents must be involved in the parenting.

Read the whole thing.



Monday, November 28, 2005

 
Selling Out Israel

Emperor Misha fisks a resolution issued by the United Methodist Church issued in May 2004 at the General Conference meeting in Pittsburgh. In short, it calls for the typical leftist-inspired Middle East "peace plan" that has as among its provisions a) Israel's withdrawal to 1948 borders and b) the creation of a Palestinian state.

The resolution is consistent with the goals of the World Council of Church's Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel. The overview states:

The EAPPI is an initiative of the World Council of Churches under the Ecumenical Campaign to End the Illegal Occupation of Palestine: Support a Just Peace in the Middle East. Its mission is to accompany Palestinians and Israelis in their non-violent actions and concerted advocacy efforts to end the occupation. Participants of the programme are monitoring and reporting violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, supporting acts of non-violent resistance alongside local Christian and Muslim Palestinians and Israeli peace activists, offering protection through non-violent presence, engaging in public policy advocacy and, in general, standing in solidarity with the churches and all those struggling against the [Israeli] occupation [of Gaza and the West Bank].

Time for a history lesson. The "occupation" is the legacy of the 1967 Six-Day War. The immediate casus belli was the massing of Egyptian troops on Israel's border in the Sinai. Some consider Israel's preemptive strike against Egypt unwarranted. But was it?

In addition to sponsoring attacks against Israel (often through Jordanian territory, much to King Hussein's chagrin), Syria also began shelling Israeli civilian communities in north-eastern Galilee, from positions on the Golan Heights, as part of the dispute over control of the Demilitarized Zones (DZs), small parcels of land claimed by both Israel and Syria.

In 1966, Egypt and Syria signed a military alliance, initiated for both sides if either were to go to war. According to Egyptian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Riad, Egypt had been persuaded to enter into the mutual defence pact by the Soviet Union. From the Soviet perspective the pact had two objectives: (1) to reduce the chances of a punitive attack on Syria by Israel and (2) to bring the Syrians under what they considered to be Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s moderate influence.

Syria was already at war with Israel prior to the Six-Day War - it just wasn't officially declaring so. Egypt committed an act of war by maintaining that mutual aggression pact while Syria was warring against Israel - Israel could have legitimately attacked Egypt prior to its Sinai troop deployments. Jordan has no excuse whatsoever; the first Israeli/Jordanian battles were started by the latter.

The solution is not warm and fuzzy. Israel is at war with several terrorist organizations and whatever nations supply them. The first ingredient to peace is Israel's victory over these aggressors. The Palestinians would demonstrate their ability to coexist with civilization by joining Israel's side against Hamas, Hezbollah, et. al. I'm sure there are some legitimate civil liberties concerning Israel. (I've got a few.) But the terror war against Israel is unjust, in the same way that lynching IRS agents as a means for tax protest is unjust; in both cases the attacker places himself/herself above the law, and targets those uninvolved in setting the disputed policy in question.

I have two questions for the WCC: why didn't Israel have peace when it did stay within the 1948 borders? And why did the violence escalate when it started giving away land?

This page lists all worldwide member churches of the WCC. If you object to your denomination's support for appeasement of terror, do something. Speak up. Hold a protest. Join a new denomination (as Misha intends). Secede. Just keep it peaceful.



Thursday, November 24, 2005

 
A Year Of Thanksgiving



Tuesday, November 22, 2005

 
Hollywood Squares Goes To Washington, DC

Contestant A: "I'll take Dick Cheney"

Host: "Mr. Vice President, was political pressure applied to skew WMD intelligence to justify the Iraq war?"

Cheney: "No."

Contestant A: "I agree."

Host: "'No' is correct. X gets the square."

Contestant B: "I'll take Karl Rove for the block."

Update: GOP and the City has the same idea.



Monday, November 21, 2005

 
Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?

Lunch, actually. As far back as May 1999, the Washington DC chapter of the Communist Party USA has been holding afternoon meetings in the cafeteria of the National Education Association - I am not making this up. This week's EIA Communiqué has the details, including the text of a mysterious document titled "The Cafeteria Manifesto."



Saturday, November 19, 2005

 
When You Get Tired Of The Thanksgiving Leftovers Next Weekend, Try This (At Your Own Risk)

The Ultimate Bacon Sandwich



Friday, November 18, 2005

 
Compassionate Liberalism

Example one.

Example two.



Thursday, November 17, 2005

 
Carnival Time Again

Dr. Charles is hosting COTV this week. My post on the California GOP is among the attractions.



Wednesday, November 16, 2005

 
Paper Chase

Stephen F. Hayes of the Weekly Standard filed a request from the Defense Intelligence Agency for numerous (mostly unclassified) documents whose titles suggest evidence of a relationship between Saddam Hussein and Osama bib Laden -and he's getting the runaround. One of the documents in question had already been released to the press once before:

One of the documents, "Iraqi Efforts to Cooperate with Saudi Opposition Groups and Individuals," had been provided to the New York Times last summer. Thom Shanker, one of the Times's best reporters, wrote a story based on the document, which was an internal Iraqi Intelligence memo. The Iraqi document revealed that a Sudanese government official met with Uday Hussein and the director of the Iraqi Intelligence Service in 1994 and reported that bin Laden was willing to meet in Sudan. Bin Laden, according to the Iraqi document, was then "approached by our side" after "presidential approval" for the liaison was given. The former head of Iraqi Intelligence Directorate 4 met with bin Laden on February 19, 1995. The document further states that bin Laden "had some reservations about being labeled an Iraqi operative"--a comment that suggests the possibility had been discussed. (According to another Iraqi Intelligence document, authenticated by the DIA and first reported on 60 Minutes, the regime considered bin Laden an "Iraqi Intelligence asset" as early as 1992, though it's unclear that bin Laden shared this view.)

According to a report in the Times, bin Laden requested that Iraq's state-run television network broadcast anti-Saudi propaganda; the document indicates that the Iraqis agreed to do this. The al Qaeda leader also proposed "joint operations against foreign forces" in Saudi Arabia. There is no Iraqi response provided in the documents. When bin Laden left Sudan for Afghanistan in May 1996, the Iraqis sought "other channels through which to handle the relationship, in light of his current location." The IIS memo directs that "cooperation between the two organizations should be allowed to develop freely through discussion and agreement."

Memo to the DIA: what part of "unclassified" don't you understand?



Tuesday, November 15, 2005

 
Queen Noor v. Civilized Society

In his recent article on the recent terror attack in Jordan, Daniel Pipes reports this:

Queen Noor of Jordan embodied this hypocrisy when she stated that the Amman terrorists "made a significant tactical error here, because they have attacked innocent civilians, primarily Muslims," implying her approval had the victims been non-Muslims.

Let's be more specific: she's implying that the hundreds of Israeli civilians victimized by suicide bombings are not innocent, that they were legitimate military targets. Or, at the very least, that they represented acceptable levels of collateral damage.



 
The Incredible Shrinking California GOP

This week's EIA Communiqué has this interesting passage:

An Associated Press headline screams, "Republicans Blame Schwarzenegger." That's chutzpah for you. This is a party that can't get anyone elected to statewide office and is heading for Hawaii levels in number of Republicans in the legislature -- despite gerrymandering. The only reason Arnold called a special election is because his party is too weak to do anything in the state, and the other party wouldn't cut a deal. He had one arrow in his quiver – his undeniable charisma – and he shot it. It got him nothing but a 30-point drop in approval ratings.

Without him, the California GOP has nothing. Fortunately, the governor still wields the veto pen, which should be enough to prevent any further raid on the state treasury.

Okay, it's audience participation time. Given the opportunity and the motivation, how would you rebuild the California Republican Party?



Sunday, November 13, 2005

 
Actually, I'm Her Twin Brother

You scored as Lara Croft. A thrill-seeking, slightly unscrupulous, tough-as-nails archaeologist, Lara Croft travels the world in search of ancient relics perhaps better left hidden. She packs two Colt .45s and has no fear of jumping off buildings, exploring creepy tombs, or taking on evil meglomaniacs bent on world domination.

Lara Croft

83%

James Bond, Agent 007

79%

Batman, the Dark Knight

79%

The Amazing Spider-Man

79%

Captain Jack Sparrow

67%

Indiana Jones

67%

Neo, the "One"

63%

The Terminator

63%

Maximus

46%

El Zorro

29%

William Wallace

21%

Which Action Hero Would You Be? v. 2.0
created with QuizFarm.com



Friday, November 11, 2005

 
President Bush's Veterans Day Speech

Political Teen has the video. Stop the ACLU has commentary. The Commissar has a brief history of the holiday.



 
FrontPage Magazine Symposium

The subject: American POWs held in Russia and North Korea.



 
Another French Intifada Pictoral

A reader alerted me to this image via email.



Thursday, November 10, 2005

 
Invasion Of Iraq Remembered

A Kurdish organization sends thanks:

"The Kurds of Iraqi Kurdistan just want to say 'thank you for helping us win our freedom. Thank you for democracy. Thank you America."

The print and broadcast advertisements are sponsored by the Kurdistan Development Corporation, an organization created by the government of Kurdistan to encourage international investment.

The ad campaign began Monday in the United States with ads in The Wall Street Journal and on Fox News Channel. Ads begin airing Nov. 14 airing in Europe.

The group is critical of US press coverage of the war:

"We feel the mainstream media," she tells Newsmax, "is focusing on the negative stories coming out of Iraq and very rarely highlighting the good news."

"We’re not saying that the media doesn’t tell the truth. They do tell the truth. There is violence. There is an insurgency. But it’s not the whole truth, or the whole picture."

"The truth is that while there is violence," she continues, "there are big strides being taken towards democracy in Iraq, particularly in Kurdistan. There are vast sections of Iraq, and again particularly Kurdistan, where the region is safe, stable, and people are getting on with their lives, doing business, trying to build a future."

Indeed, not a single coalition soldier has died in Kurdistan since March 2003.



 
Semper Fidelis

Happy 230th birthday to the United States Marine Corps.



 
The Cowering Inferno

The Rottweiler has the visual to go with that phrase.



Tuesday, November 08, 2005

 
Hey Teacher, Leave That Blog Alone

The Education Intelligence Agency has the story:

EIA Blog Under Scrutiny by Tribal Charter School Board. The following item appeared in the October 17 EIA Communiqué:

"Charter for Chippewas Goes Union. The Michigan Education Association has won a union representation election for the 33 teachers at the Joseph K. Lumsden Bahweting Anishnabe charter school in Sault Ste. Marie. The school is located on the reservation of the Chippewa Tribe. Bahweting is a high-achieving school, but also high-spending. With funding from state, federal and tribal sources, the school spends about $15,000 per student."

The next day, I updated the story on the EIA blog, Intercepts. And on October 20, my blog entry noted that MEA had filed an unfair labor practices complaint against school officials, because they announced they would "freeze Bureau of Indian Affairs funding that provides more than half of the school's operating budget" and Tribal Chairman Aaron Payment "threatened to let the school's charter expire at the end of the year, and then open a new, non-union charter school next year, in which the teachers would be tribal employees on loan to the school."

The October 20 item caught the eye of people involved in the story, on both sides, and for the past three weeks they have "adopted" that portion of the blog as a sort of bulletin board to argue their positions. As I write these lines, there are 233 anonymous comments on the Bahweting page.

Evidently school and tribal officials have gotten wind of the blog, and are under the mistaken impression that it was created by teachers at the Bahweting school. A well-placed source tells EIA that the board is threatening retribution against anyone "who set up the blog," to include the loss of his or her job.

These efforts would be either funny or pathetic if it weren't for the fact that there are teachers who are understandably fearful of losing what might otherwise be considered an attractive job. I encourage Bahweting's teachers to continue posting on their adopted blog. There is absolutely no way for school or tribal officials to learn your identity, should you wish to remain anonymous.



 
Blogroll Additions

Tammy Bruce Her bio describes her as "an openly gay, pro-choice, gun owning, pro-death penalty, voted-for-President Bush progressive feminist." The one-time president of Los Angeles chapter of NOW has a talk radio gig and has written several books decrying the abuses of the Left. In recent posts she comments on the recently thwarted piracy attempt off the coast of Africa, and tells readers how she's voting on key propositions in today's elections in California. Don't miss the Bush icon on the bottom of the right sidebar.

Ursi's Blog "Fine things for your delight" Switzerland now joins the Henderblogosphere. This is mainly a photoblog - Ursi has cool pics of a dragonfly, Japanese garden, clouds, and Steve McQueen. An older post links an introduction to Scientology.



 
I Hope There Aren't Any Bottled Water Companies Operating In The Area

In England, the Thames River is showing unusually high concentrations of cocaine.



Monday, November 07, 2005

 
The Commies Are In Town

Today is the anniversary of the start of the October Revolution (At the time Russia was still on the Julian calendar, which placed the date at October 25.)



 
Diagnosing New Orleans' Ills

Nicole Gelinas has a fascinating article on the Big Easy over at City Journal. Check it out.



 
Birthday

Last Saturday was my 45th birthday (and the third blogiversary of the Henderson Prize for the Advancement of Liberty). Spent a day and a half with relatives.

November 5 is also a big day in the UK.

This was originally posted yesterday, but Blogger was having technical difficulties - it wouldn't publish anything other than the title text.



Wednesday, November 02, 2005

 
COTV #163

Free Money Finance is hosting the Carnival this week. My costume party is among the attractions.




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