SLOW NEWS WEEK
All's well that ends well in Honduras. Good for them.
(Slow news week, eh? A short list of things I don't care about: Tiger Woods, White House party crashers, the recordings from Flight 188, Christmas shopping tips, and everything else that's been on the news since Thanksgiving.)
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Well, I am a little interested in the White House party crashers, but only in as much as it had the potential for a nasty security situation. I don't care who the president happens to be, the Secret Service, et al (realizing they aren't the only ones involved - ahem, social staff, ahem...) should have a better handle on such things. Next time, it might not just be a couple of ladder-climbers looking to hob-nob with the rich, famous & powerful....
Posted by: Miss Ladybug at November 30, 2009 07:30 PM (vqKnu)
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What about Christmas Cookies. I'm not ready for Christmas yet but Cookies? Yeah, I need to start making some. I think I will start with old fashioned molasses like my grandmother used to make. ::wanders off in pursuit of flour::
Posted by: Lemon Stand at November 30, 2009 08:09 PM (pwdPs)
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Lemon -- I bought ingredients to make some this week and mail to my husband's team. My favorite: Terminator cookies.
Posted by: Sarah at November 30, 2009 08:51 PM (gWUle)
When I first heard about the party crashers, I thought, leaky security! You and I were on exactly the same page.
I was going to write Sarah a letter called "Why People Care about the Crashers and Why People Should Care". You just made the argument for the latter. As for the former, I think it's because people are fascinated with status-seeking, and party-crashing is a way to break social barriers - a shortcut to the top.
I don't care about any of the other stuff Sarah mentioned. Not even Honduras. I know that's cold, but if Obama hadn't behaved ... a certain way, I wouldn't even know what had happened. Sadly, something horrible could happen in Honduras tomorrow, next month, whenever and hardly any non-Hondurans in the US, including me, would notice as long as Obama wasn't involved. How many Americans can find Honduras on a map? I couldn't; I know it's in Central America, but that's the extent of my limited knowledge.
I am not proud of my ignorance. But it reflects my priorities. I am an American nationalist, not a global affairs expert. This doesn't mean I know nothing about the outside world. On the contrary, I have devoted my life to studying other languages and cultures. I am hesitant to take a stand about Honduras because I am all too aware of how the media can oversimplify and distort what's happening far away. Consider this: if they can't even accurately depict what's happening in this country, how can be they be remotely right about alien nations, especially when they don't speak the language? And those do speak the language may not be very perceptive or may have their own agenda. Be skeptical.
What do I think should have been in the news recently?
My top story would have been Climategate which Sarah nicely covered in her next post. A story about global warming should surely take precedence over whatever happened between Tiger Woods and his wife.
On the domestic political front, what do people here think about Huckabee and clemency? Can he run in 2012 after what happened in Lakewood?
Anyone have any other suggestions for important but (relatively) ignored news stories?
Posted by: Amritas at December 01, 2009 06:05 PM (+nV09)
TABLES HAVE TURNED
My family is doing Thanksgiving today because my brother and dad had to work on the real holiday. And I got such a chuckle when my mom called to ask how I make my cranberry sauce. I'm just glad she didn't call me in the middle of the night!
PROFIT LOGIC
A good blog post via Amritas about how there's no logic to profit-based hatred:
while politicians routinely attack BIG oil for its high profits, the
same politicians are silent about the highER profit margins of Apple,
Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo. For every dollar Exxon keeps after paying
their bills, Google keeps $3. Exxon is attacked because they sell more
units than Google, but in reality, Google is keeping more of the
customer’s money. Politicians don’t concern themselves with this kind
of stuff, because Google is very popular with the electorate, and oil
companies are not.
Read the whole thing, and see if you can guess ahead of time how much profit medical insurance companies make.
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I totally agree and have been blasting liberals with this fact for years. Trust me, it's gets em every time. Next time you hear someone ranting about profits, ask them if they know what the profit margin is? Most don't which is the sad part. Thank you, Neal Boortz, for pointing this out to me because I too used to believe in the profit-bashing "logic."
The idea that Exxon produces a 3 - 10% profit margin and Google has around a 45% profit margin, yet all we hear is how "evil" Exxon is to the consumming public is such a double standard if there ever was one. In fact, in the Search Engine Marketing arena Google owns about 70% of the market share. To put it in perspective, around $20 billion is earned across all SEM annually, 70% of that would be around 14 billion to put it in perspective (just an estimation though). And we're not even talking about an industry that requires the overhead/operational expenses likes the oil industry.
Yet you don't hear a peep from Democrats about the near monopoly and out-of-control profits when it comes to Google. Good grief, I'm getting pissed off just writing about it.
Posted by: BigD78 at November 30, 2009 01:30 PM (W3XUk)
Google also has the advantage that its infrastructure is relatively unobtrusive: no pipelines, rail lines, foundries, etc.
If all our politicians permit to exist is businesses of this type, though, we will soon find ourselves starving and freezing in the dark.
I'm not sure the Google founders have sufficient intellectual depth to understand how the well-being of their own business is linked to the well-being of the so-called "industrial age" businesses.
There is a logic. Against each according to his unpopularity among the 'in' crowd. If given a choice to attack Apple or Microsoft, Leftists will choose the latter, even if Apple has a higher profit margin, because Windows is eeeevil and Macs Never Crashâ„¢.
I don't know what Apple's profit margin is. The point is that profit margins are irrelevant to Leftist targeting. And no, I wouldn't be happy if Leftists started obsessing over profit margins. The real problem is the Leftist anti-profit mindset. Even if profit margins were slashed to 0.0001%, it's not fair that those greedy monsters keep anything, unlike oh-so-noble Obama. Waaaahhhh!
How much does she make? $325,000 a year last I heard. I break that down as follows:
$50,000 a year for being a Princeton/Harvard Law grad who no longer practices law—that is, what she would make if she were white
$120,000 a year for combining black skin with preppy pearls and vocabulary
$155,000 a year for being celebrity Barack Obama’s wife
Profits earned without fraud are the product of merit. Leftism, on the other hand, is obsessed with prestige, not merit. Michelle Obama has all the proper aristocratic traits, so of course she 'deserves' $325,000. Conversely, Sarah Palin lacks all those traits, so of course she 'deserves' contempt, just like Sam Walton. John T. Reed sums up this aspect of the Leftist mindset (emphasis his):
They hate capitalism because it lets the “wrong†people win [...]
The left does not want maximum prosperity for all. They want all [uncool] rich
people who disagree with them to be stripped of their money. [But cool rich people like Obama and St. Gore can keep their money.] They
understand that this will impoverish all but the government apparatchiks. That is what they want. They plan to be government apparatchiks. The left wants to wipe off the face of the earth anyone of whom their side is envious.
BigD78,
Yet you don't hear a peep from Democrats about the near monopoly and out-of-control profits when it comes to Google. [Emphasis mine.]
Nope. Not a single demand for the eeeevil monopoly of Google to break up. (Not that I want a broken Google. I love Google. I just hate hypocrisy.)
I wonder how much Exxon contributes to the Democrats. Possibly more than Google?
david,
I'm not sure the Google founders have sufficient intellectual depth to
understand how the well-being of their own business is linked to the
well-being of the so-called "industrial age" businesses.
Most people, including successful businessmen, are tunnelers - experts in their narrow field who are wholly unaware of the big picture. Leftists can fool them into applauding the destruction of the businesses they depend on outside their 'tunnel'. "See, you'll do just fine, unlike those losers over there who 'deserve' the full statist treatment." But coolness doesn't last forever, and those who fall out of fashion may be new targets of the infinitely envious.
Posted by: Amritas at November 30, 2009 03:39 PM (+nV09)
SELFLESS PARENTS
Two years ago, I wrote about something my father did that I found completely selfless and the true essence of parenting: he lent me his glasses. But I never wrote the post I could've written six years ago when my mother did the same.
My husband and I hosted our first Thanksgiving dinner when we lived in Germany. I had called my mother ahead of time and asked for all her recipes and how to cook a turkey, stuffing, gravy, and just about everything. I got started on Thanksgiving morning, thinking that I was squared away, but once I began cooking, I realized I still had several questions. Questions that couldn't wait several hours until Mom's time zone caught up to morning.
And so I gulped and picked up the phone. I called my mother in the middle of the night back in the US to have her walk me through some last minute snags. (Like what in the hell I was supposed to do with the neck. Turkey neck is about the grossest thing I can think of. I'd rather have a mouse in my kitchen than deal with a turkey neck. I am already freaking out that I have to touch one tomorrow.)
My mom wasn't upset that I interrupted her sleep, she never acted put out, she just answered my questions and helped me keep on cooking. And poor mom had to make her own dinner in a few hours, now on much less sleep.
I have been feeling cold feet lately, worried that I might not be a good mother, that I might not enjoy it, that I will be overwhelmed by the magnitude of what I am taking on. But when I think of these times that my parents still selflessly help me out, even when I'm an adult, I figure that they wouldn't do that if being a parent weren't rewarding.
Thanks, Mama. And if I need help tomorrow, at least we're only one time zone apart this year...
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Thank you for sharing that Thanksgiving story. You have fine role models as parents and I have no doubt you will be a role model.
Your parents gave so much to you because you had earned their love. Rearing you was rewarding for them. I remember the glasses story, and I'll remember this turkey story.
I have been feeling cold feet lately, worried that I might not be a
good mother, that I might not enjoy it, that I will be overwhelmed by
the magnitude of what I am taking on.
Although it never occurred to me that you could be anything less than an ideal mother, it is healthy to have cold feet. Warm feet are a sign of overconfidence and ignorance.
I do worry about what lies ahead for you, but I think you are as prepared as you can be. I wish you the best of luck.
I am grateful to have known you for the last six years. I look forward to the next sixty.
Posted by: Amritas at November 25, 2009 06:48 PM (ogTuw)
Thank you for the kind words. I do remember that Thanksgiving, and even though you were in France and could not be home, it was the next best thing to your being home. I know it was not easy being away for a year and especially on holidays, but those phone calls made that Thanksgiving very special to me. Love you so much.
Posted by: Sarah at November 25, 2009 06:50 PM (0DENp)
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Parenting is not easy, but the love is. And it endures forever. You already love your little daughter, you have hopes and dreams for her. There is no love like mothers and fathers for their children. I am so glad thankful you are so close to the enjoyment part of your baby. We had some thankful news today, my daughter in law had all sorts of scans Monday and the news is good. She is still cancer free. Happy Thanksgiving to you and all your readers, yes, you lurkers, too!
Posted by: Ruth H at November 25, 2009 08:06 PM (JFseb)
if you did not question it I would think you were not human
As for the turkey neck and giblets, I cook with butter, onion, mushrooms, and celery, water, sage, and I use it for stuffing. After the neck simmers in there all day, I clean the turkey neck meat off, and put it in the stuffing, same with innards..
Posted by: awtm at November 25, 2009 08:40 PM (1Wrb8)
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It is very good of you to be wondering about your abilities, etc. as this is a major adventure on which you are about to embark. That you realize the gravity of the job now speaks volumes. Better to know now and plan accordingly then to not take it seriously and wind up in a mess later.
You are going to be a fine Mom and if in doubt, you have already know you can call yours day or night to ask for advice. Trust me. She'd MUCH rather talk about her grandbaby than turkey neck! LOL
I can't wait to meet your baby girl so I can tell her how lucky she is.
Posted by: Guard Wife at November 25, 2009 09:06 PM (I6LTM)
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Mama's will gladly wake up in the middle of the night to help our children. You learn how to be a parent from your parents. Sounds like you have had excellent teachers.
Posted by: Pamela at November 26, 2009 11:34 AM (KqPQU)
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Happy Thanksgiving! And I may have said this before, but you have very wise readers... You will be a wonderful mother - you already are.
Posted by: jck at November 26, 2009 07:11 PM (MUmm4)
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Ah! That's so sweet! And btw Happy Late Thanksgiving from a friend who also despises Turkey necks!! ...
Posted by: Darla at November 28, 2009 07:25 PM (XvIN7)
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btw and as much as I have quite the love/hate relationship with the phrase 'You will be great parent!' about as much as the 'Your husband will be home SOON'and 'I know what you feel!' [when they haven't done the infertility struggle] and my all time favorite 'this year you will get pregnant I KNOW it' [killer ESP abilities .... I just want you to know how excited I am about this whole thing for you! And I am so excited about your baby and this whole new adventure you will be embarking on and undoubtedly do so well! [we will all fail ... but we can all shine as well!] You are fantastic!
Posted by: Darla at November 28, 2009 07:42 PM (XvIN7)
WHO'S DELAYING JUSTICE?
Holder has some nerve. From Marc Thiessen:
Only after KSM had been exhausted as an intelligence source did President Bush transfer him and 13 other terrorists to Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba, for trial by military commission. Once the legal obstacles had
been cleared in 2008, the commissions finally got underway. And when
they did, KSM and his co-conspirators all offered to plead guilty
before a military commission and proceed straight to execution.
With his decision to send them to civilian court, Holder has
effectively rejected KSM's guilty plea and told him, "No, Mr. Mohammed,
first let us give you that stage you wanted in New York to rally
jihadists, spread propaganda, and incite new attacks." Indeed, a lawyer
for one of the detainees has said that all five intend to plead not guilty
"so they can have a trial and try to get their message out." Were it
not for Holder, they'd be on death row instead of preparing for a trial
that will take years and make the O.J. Simpson case look like a traffic court hearing. And Holder chastises President Bush for delaying justice for 9/11 families?
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I wonder if accepting his guilty plea and setting him up for execution would have been giving him and his ilk exactly what they wanted in making him a martyr. Seems to me there are downsides to each decision. I'm not excusing Holder, Obama, or any of the rest of them. I just don't see any choices that are completely acceptable.
Posted by: HomefrontSix at November 24, 2009 03:03 PM (umhCJ)
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I agree that KSM wants martyrdom and that execution would give him what he wants. But giving him a stage in New York is also giving him what he wants. What are the alternatives? Detaining him for life at taxpayer expense? The jihadists could still use him for propaganda. So yes, "there are downsides to each decision." The enemy can exploit any outcome. Which of the worst outcomes is the best for us?
Posted by: Amritas at November 24, 2009 03:20 PM (+nV09)
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"And Holder chastises President Bush for delaying justice for 9/11 families?"
A-fucking-MEN!!!! to that statement. I seriously think L. Graham was on to something when he exposed that Holder and Obama are trying to criminalize the war. KSM can now plead not guilty by reason of insanity and Holder/Obama have the audacity to proclaim the outcome of the trial. Since when did we become Iran or the Soviet Union. I didn't know civilian court cases w/ due process had pre-determined verdicts. Gollygee wilickers!!!!
Posted by: BigD78 at November 25, 2009 09:55 AM (FFrzN)
Since when did we become Iran or the Soviet Union.
We became the USSA on November 4, 2008.
I didn't know civilian court cases w/ due process had pre-determined verdicts.
Due process is so old school. Now we have duh process. Where is Omerica's Andrei Vyshinsky?
In 1935 he became Prosecutor General of the USSR, the legal mastermind of Joseph Stalin's Great Purge. He is widely cited for the principle that "confession of the accused is the queen of evidence". His monograph that justifies this postulate, Theory of Judicial Proofs in Soviet Justice, was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1947. He was the prosecutor at the Moscow Trials of the Great Purge, lashing its defenseless victims with vituperative, sometimes cruelly witty rhetoric:
"Shoot these rabid dogs. Death to this gang who hide their ferocious teeth, their eagle claws, from the people! Down with that vulture Trotsky, from whose mouth a bloody venom drips, putrefying the great ideals of Marxism!... Down with these abject animals! Let's put an end once and for all to these miserable hybrids of foxes and pigs, these stinking corpses! Let's exterminate the mad dogs of capitalism, who want to tear to pieces the flower of our new Soviet nation! Let's push the bestial hatred they bear our leaders back down their own throats!"
Of course, the Omerican Vyshinsky would never speak of KSM in such terms. No, he would reserve his full verbal force for the truly deserving.
Posted by: kevin at November 25, 2009 07:41 PM (ogTuw)
When the book tour stop was announced in my town, Lorie Byrd contacted me and asked if I planned to go see Sarah Palin. I really hadn't considered it at all: standing in line for hours didn't seem like a fun idea while six months pregnant. And I'm not really an "autograph person"; I'd rather hear someone's ideas than just shake her hand. They had said Palin would not give a speech, and I didn't see much point in just getting her to scribble in a book with a sharpie. (Sorry, that's how I see autographs.) But I thought it could be fun to see Lorie, and we were on the same page that if it was too much of a zoo, we wouldn't wait all day in line.
Lorie decided that maybe one of her friends in high places could get us a better deal. She contacted a big-time blogger who checked into it. I had no illusions whatsoever that we would get special treatment, and we just headed to the signing like everyone else. But on the drive there, we got a call from Andrew, one of the organizers for the event. Amazingly enough, he gave us the VIP treatment. We got special seats within the inner circle of velvet ropes to watch the preparations and festivities. The staff was working hard and really efficiently. And Andrew even brought fatty fat me donuts.
When Sarah Palin arrived, we were the first people she greeted: me, Lorie, and another blogger from Conservatives4Palin. Yay for the perks of new media!
They got the ball rolling right away and she started signing books. The staffers moved everyone through efficiently and briskly, yet Sarah Palin had this amazing way of making you feel like you weren't rushed. She shook everyone's hands, asked people their names, held babies, and really made each person feel like the most special person in line. All while the staff moved like clockwork around her to hustle as many people through the line as possible. It was impressive.
We sat for a bit from our VIP chairs, trying to catch a photo of Palin in between fans. It wasn't easy. Lorie and I laughed and showed each other all of our blurry and bad photos. I only had one that was even remotely OK.
The staff then put Lorie and me into the line. They told Palin we were bloggers and that my husband is in Afghanistan. She said to tell him that she loves him for what he does, and then she pointed at my belly and asked how I was doing. She was as charming as can be.
Lorie's motto is "it doesn't hurt to ask," so she had asked if there was someone else from Palin's entourage we could briefly interview for our blogs. After we got our books signed, the staff showed up with Sarah Palin's father for us to chat with. Lorie asked him how the tour was going so far, but he had just flown in to join the tour the night before. He was super nice. I asked how his grandson was doing after his deployment, and we chatted a bit about how hot it gets in Iraq and about my husband being in Afghanistan. It was so nice of Mr. Heath to spend a few minutes with us. He was delightful as well.
I still can't believe Lorie had the guts to get us access. I am an absolute nobody, but we got treated so well and like real VIPs. And Sarah Palin is an genius at making everyone around her feel special and appreciated. She really made it feel like she was the one who was lucky to meet all 4,000 of us, and not the other way around. Now that's charisma.
I had a good time, and I'm glad Lorie is the type of gal who's a go-getter, otherwise I never would've had the day I had. And a special thanks to Andrew for treating a couple of bloggers like VIPs.
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I've been waiting to read this story, and it's even better than I expected! You are a VIP and you deserve VIP treatment. But you are not "fatty fat"!
I never understood the big deal about autographs, so I wouldn't have gone if I had the chance. I too think ideas are more important than hand-shaking. Nonetheless, I'm glad you did. Not just a moment with Sarah Palin herself, but a few minutes with her father!
I too have difficulty taking photos when I most need to. I wish I had a video camera strapped to my head so I could search the footage for usable stills later. Then again, I'd look pretty silly ... though I already do without the camera.
Posted by: Amritas at November 24, 2009 02:27 PM (+nV09)
Thankyou and your husband for you service and your selfishness for our country. I am glad to see that my faith in Palin is not misplaced. from your post it seems Gov Palin treated you and all 4500 people there with the respect and dignity that american citizens deserve. I think Palin understands that we are not subjects but citizens of the greatest country in the world.
Posted by: unseen at November 24, 2009 05:35 PM (aVGmX)
Posted by: unseen at November 24, 2009 05:37 PM (aVGmX)
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I'm not a big autograph fan myself. I just wanted to meet the governor and shake her hand and look into her eyes. Sarah said she liked my shirt which had the American Flag on it and said "the price of freedom is not free". It is certainly one of the more memorable experiences in my life. I have been telling everybody about it.
Posted by: Bill Morgan at November 24, 2009 10:41 PM (tww4r)
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I hear you re. autographs. I would just like the chance to meet her (I already have her autograph from a thank you card I received back in February anyway).
Cool that you have a chance to talk with her Dad. I live in Des Moines, IA and hope to get up to her book signing in Sioux City (wish it were closer though).
My version of her motto is: If you don't ask, you don't get.
Posted by: Rob at November 25, 2009 12:28 PM (TtKVL)
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I am so jealous in a good way. I got the book several days early (thanks careless stock boy at Marsh!) and considered going up to her book stop in Noblesville. But like you,not an autograph person. Plus, I knew it would be a mad house. Plus, the whole...work thing!
What was funny to me was that a couple came into the office to sign their Wills and started arguing about the best time to go up to see the Gov. and just general strategy. They were in the conference room and the wife said "You make me miss my chance to meet Sarah and I will be a widow and and an heiress and a criminal all at ONCE!"
Posted by: MaryIndiana at November 25, 2009 09:13 PM (CYug5)
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Sarah,this makes me very happy as well. Their obsession with you has been strange to say the least. So to see Andrew take treat them so dismissively....fab-u-lous.
Posted by: MaryIndiana at November 24, 2009 11:45 AM (CYug5)
FOR THEE BUT NOT FOR ME
Via Instapundit, who says, "A rule under which only politicians have guns strikes me as the worst of all possible worlds."
Chicago politicians are zealously
committed to gun control in law but fairly relaxed about it in
practice.
In 1994, State Sen. Rickey Hendon had an unregistered handgun
stolen from his home in a burglary, and he didn't feign
contrition about his disregard of the ordinance.
"I have a right to protect myself," he declared, noting that he
had been burglarized before—and forgetting that the state
legislature of which he is a member allows Illinois cities to
deprive their citizens of that right. Asked if he would replace
the lost piece, Hendon said, "No comment." The police were kind
enough not to charge him.
U.S. Sen. Roland Burris, another Chicagoan, has endorsed a
nationwide ban on handguns and, in 1993, organized Chicago's
first Gun Turn-in Day. But the following year, while running
unsuccessfully for governor, he admitted he owned a handgun—"for
protection," he explained—and hadn't seen fit to turn it in along
with those other firearms. Lesser mortals apparently can protect
themselves with forks and spoons.
So they write gun laws for the peons and have no intention of following the laws themselves. Politicians are a real piece of work.
Posted by: airforcewife at November 23, 2009 09:44 PM (uE3SA)
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AFW, once again we agree! We are DIFFERENT. We are dominant!
In a perfect world that will be achieved through liberalism real soon now, there will be no more guns.
But in this imperfect world, Congresspersyns of the One Party are under perpetual threat from Republikulaks. Those who defend the masses' birthright to handouts must also have the right to defend themselves from those who don't believe in freebies. If the Rightist fanatics go rogue and harm our health care heroes, they'll never be able to pass the greatest bill in Omerican history - which of course won't affect them:
One of the most outrageous parts of Obamacare is that government
employees, politicians, and union employees are EXEMPT from it and will
continue to get their golden benefit packages. The GOP should have a
good ad out on this and be running it 1000 times a day on TV. If there
is anything people hate, it’s being told they are “less worthy†than
others.
Posted by: kevin at November 24, 2009 02:31 AM (ogTuw)
Posted by: Chuck Z at November 22, 2009 11:56 PM (bMH2g)
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I think we have a winner! So what prize can Chuck Z expect?
Posted by: Amritas at November 23, 2009 11:18 AM (+nV09)
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Hee, at least she's not flipping you off, like our son did in his 20 week ultrasound . . . He even looked like he was smiling. "What, Mom? This finger just doesn't bend like the others!"
It's so great to see their little fingers, though, isn't it? Tiny, delicate bones, practically waving at you.
I do like the caption the tech put on there.
Posted by: Deltasierra at November 24, 2009 06:25 PM (+Fbnb)
One of Hasan's commanding officers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center,
Lieutenant Colonel Melanie Guerrero, told investigators she had
considered failing him as an intern but "decided to allow him to pass
since he was going into psychiatry and would not be doing any real
patient care."
Wow, Army. I didn't think it was possible for you to look worse in this fiasco, but you've gone and outdone yourself. I think that's the most appalling thing I've ever heard.
No wonder soldiers hesitate to get treated for PTSD, if that's the attitude of the commanding officer of psychiatry services for the military.
I hope LTC Guerrero's attitude is unusual rather than typical. As I told you in my email, I think she believes that only things like surgery and physical therapy "count" as "real patient care." I have no idea if Hasan's other commanding officers agree with her, but the idea that physical work is more "real" (i.e., important) than mental/verbal work is unfortunately widespread.
Eowyn,
There's nothing merciful about a "mercy pass."
I never gave any when I was a professor. And no, I wasn't a meanie. I gave a lot of As. But they were all deserved. So were the Fs and every other grade in between. I set numerical standards on day 1 and stuck to them. No favoritism, no soft grading.
Posted by: Amritas at November 23, 2009 12:02 PM (+nV09)
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Did you hear that he actually told his paitents with PTSD to turn themselves in for committing war crimes? Pathetic. And I've heard that his good performance ratings and not being kicked out were because his superiors didn't want to deal with the paperwork. Really?
Posted by: Christa at November 23, 2009 02:19 PM (2qSbp)
To those who point out that we in the US spend more on medical care
than other developed countries, I would like to say this. We also spend
more on education, charity, pet food, entertainment, and probably lots
of other things I don’t know about.
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BOOK LIST V
I've got six weeks to catch Karl Rove...I might make it, if I didn't exhaust my light reading during this batch.
50) The Road To Serfdom (F.A. Hayek) The previous nine books have been largely fluff, so I decided I needed to do some mental calisthenics of my own. I thought Capitalism and Freedom was an easier read, but this wasn't as dense as I'd been warned. And I'm glad I read it.
49) Everything Bad Is Good For You (Steven Johnson) This was an interesting book, the premise of which is that popular culture is making us smarter, not dumber. It's the reassurance I need after watching Idiocracy! Johnson argues that people are doing more mental calisthenics these days from playing Sim City vs playing checkers or watching complex shows like 24 compared to the old Dragnet. He argues that our leisure time is spent following more complex forms of media, which work to make us smarter, counter to popular wisdom.
My favorite anecdote was this:
Several years ago I found myself on a family vacation with my seven-year-old nephew, and on one rainy day I decided to introduce him to the wonders of Sim City 2000, the legendary city simulator that allows you to play Robert Moses to a growing virtual metropolis. For most of our session, I was controlling the game, pointing out landmarks as I scrolled around my little town. I suspect I was a somewhat condescending guide--treating the virtual world as more of a model train layout than a complex system. But he was picking up the game's inner logic nonetheless. After about an hour of tinkering, I was concentrating on trying to revive one particularly run-down manufacturing district. As I contemplated my options, my nephew piped up: "I think we need to lower industrial tax rates." He said it as naturally, and as confidently, as he might have said, "I think we need to shoot the bad guy."
48) The Apostle (Brad Thor) I think I might've liked this one better than The Last Patriot. Blasphemy! And now I'm out of Brad Thor.
47) The Last Patriot (Brad Thor) Like the Da Vinci Code, but for Islam. I think I may have built up the excitement too much over the past two years, but it was still enjoyable.
46) The First Commandment (Brad Thor) I'm on my way to The Patriot, finally. I liked this one, as usual. A very good use of Biblical plagues...
45) Glenn Beck's Common Sense (Glenn Beck) I enjoyed this book, but I am finding that right-wing nutjobbery just doesn't do the same thing for me that it used to do. Back when I read Larry Elder or Dinesh D'Souza for the first time, I had never been exposed to writers who said the things I was thinking. Now that I surround myself with likeminded people, these books aren't as shocking as they once were. Still worthwhile, but they don't pack the punch they once did.
43) Never Again (John Ashcroft) My aunt lent me this book while I was visiting my grandparents, and I read it in a day. I enjoyed reading about the rationale behind the PATRIOT Act and other aspects of 9/11 that I was too clueless to follow at the time.
42) Eaters of the Dead (Michael Crichton) I finished the previous book on my flight out to San Diego and started this one on the way home. It was unlike his other books, and not really my favorite, but it was OK.
41) Sphere (Michael Crichton) I needed a quick book to read on the airplane, so I always reach for Crichton. As usual, he didn't disappoint.
1
Micheal Crichton wrote a book called Travels back in '88 that was a really good read. Apparently I've lost my copy... :-(
Posted by: Beth at November 20, 2009 10:25 AM (ZT9NN)
2
Are you excluding For the New Intellectual from your list because it's really only a new essay plus a lot of reprints from books you're already read? (I can't remember if you've read For the Living.)
I have not read Everything Bad Is Good for You, but if we assume its premise is correct, I must be one of the stupidest people in America, since I read zero popular fiction, have not seriously watched any TV other than V in years, have never played a video game designed after the mid-90s (and even that attempt lasted a few minutes in 1996 and was the first time I had played any video game since 1985), etc.
Seriously, I wonder, does this increased ability to deal with complexity have any sociopolitical consequences? I doubt it. Being able to follow a complex TV show makes you more ... able to follow a complex TV show. Millions of these modern media sophisticates voted for Obama, even though it does not take a genius to question his credentials.
Complexity is not intelligence. The former often entails a lot of brute force memory which may or may not be accompanied by analytical ability. Is a speaker of Sanskrit more 'intelligent' than us because his adjectives have 72 forms corresponding to a single form in English? There are perhaps a billion people who use Chinese characters, but how many of them understand how their writing system works?
I am finding that right-wing nutjobbery just doesn't do the same thing
for me that it used to do. Back when I read Larry Elder or Dinesh
D'Souza for the first time, I had never been exposed to writers who
said the things I was thinking. Now that I surround myself with
likeminded people, these books aren't as shocking as they once were.
Still worthwhile, but they don't pack the punch they once did.
I know what you mean. I thought Dinesh D'Souza was a big deal when I discovered him back in 1992 and I enjoyed Goldberg's Bias in 2002. But I now find most Rightist writing to be extremely boring. I pretty much know what they're going to say, and I don't need the reinforcement. But I can still be surprised ... e.g., by Lindsey Graham the other day.
Do you watch the movie adaptations of Crichton's books?
Posted by: Amritas at November 20, 2009 01:53 PM (+nV09)
3
I didn't mean my first question to sound hostile. Sorry if I came off that way.
I was too harsh when I wrote,
"There are perhaps a billion people who use Chinese characters, but how many of them understand how their writing system works?"
The vast majority of users understand the basic principles, but the structure of many characters - including the most common - is probably opaque to most users. For instance, the standard Mandarin possessive marker 的 de - the most common character of all - is composed of 白 bai 'white' + 勺 shao 'ladle'. Why? (The answer is on my blog.)
Chinese writing is like English spelling - one uses it every day without thinking too much about it: e.g., why write words with silent gh? (Hint: compare such words with their German cognates containing nonsilent ch:night with Nacht,through with durch, etc.)
"But I can still be surprised ..."
It would have been better if I had ended that sentence with an example of a surprising passage in a Rightist book instead of Graham's behavior. But I can't remember a single passage in, say, Bias - I just remember thinking, I feel like this guy!
Posted by: Amritas at November 20, 2009 03:55 PM (+nV09)
4
Sweetie (or in this trimester, sweaty may be more appropriate) did you know the movie "the 13th Warrior" is based off "Eaters?"
I could recommend a few really good history books, if you ever finish this list. They aren't texts, per se, but they are fascinating reads.
As for light reading, I am all into John Ringo for scifi--and believe it or not, got hooked by his "The Centurion" a non-scifi but very near future yarn. Excellent read. David Webber is another really good read--I am starting his second book in the Armageddon's Reef series. Horatio Hornblower meets LtCDR Data. Fun reads, and like the old masters, based on a view of what could happen in our own society.
And for chuckle till the bed shakes and read whole passages to the Mrs. reading, I totally recommend Tim Dorsey. His hero is a bipolar manic depressive serial killer, who uses really creative and interesting ways to kill people. But the real gem is the dialog and the way he absolutely NAILS Florida culture and inhabitants.
Amritas, You have a golden opportunity to start a blog based on pictures of Chinese character tattoos--what they say and what their wearers think they say. If you are ever bored, I could think up about a thousand sayings I would love translated into Chinese, Korean, whatever. The fact that you understand the language, beyond just the mechanics, fascinates me as much as it humbles me. I am a smart guy, but damn. Compared to you, on a scale between Smart and Dumb, I'm just above knowing better than to eat my own boogers and yet still doing it.
Posted by: Chuck Z at November 22, 2009 12:39 AM (bMH2g)
5
Chuck Z, the Asian tattoo blog you described already exists. It's so painful to read that I only visit it about once a year. I could never write such a blog.
Posted by: Amritas at November 24, 2009 04:02 AM (ogTuw)
RIGGING THE GAME
So, I'm trying to understand this, really. The prison at Guantanamo is illegal and illegitimate, but Obama and Holder saying we'll try these men in NYC and, duh, of course they'll be convicted and will never be released...that's somehow more legitimate?
I heard someone on TV say, and I'm sorry I don't know who, that we all kinda thought OJ Simpson would be convicted too. Heh.
The whole point of a fair trial is that the person has a chance of being acquitted. If there is no chance of being acquitted, if the game is rigged from the outset, then there is no point in having a trial. So if you're going to guarantee that KSM will be convicted, you can't have a trial. It's simple. You cannot guarantee the outcome of a trial. If you do, it's a farce. And if we're setting all this up to be a farce, just leave them at Gitmo.
That's my major problem with this idea. But Lindsey Graham also brings up another facet of the issue that's just as troubling.
(And I agree with Goldberg that, "For those of us frustrated with Graham, this makes up for a lot." Heh.)
1
Does it disturb anyone else that the AG is wholly unprepared to discuss this topic with any depth or clarity? And, this is the man we're trusting to craft the arguments that are going to 'guarantee' a conviction of KSM. I mean, KSM already has a nickname...that's bad.
Also bad? Providing him with Constitutional rights equal to our own.
Even more bad? Creating a situation where IF he were acquitted or so much evidence is suppressed b/c the threshold in military court for evidence is different than civilian court, he should, technically, walk. Holder seems to suggest he wouldn't walk. Well, if that's the case, then why even have the trial? If he could walk, where is he walking? Holder seems to suggest it wouldn't be in the USA, but that it would be somewhere. Sorry, but "failure is not an option" is not an answer to what do we do if the jury sets him loose? Even a brand new trial attorney knows that strange crap happens when a jury is involved. Have evidence problems and it gets even trickier.
It seems like someone wants to put the past on display, air our secrets and do further damage to our ability to prosecute this war.
NOT happy with this decision. But, what else is new?
Posted by: Guard Wife at November 19, 2009 07:44 PM (I6LTM)
2
Schwing! Thank so much for sharing that...I feel so much smarter now.
Posted by: Kate at November 19, 2009 07:45 PM (J1l7A)
3
Um, my question was, where are they going to find a jury of his peers? And just by having the trial in the US, doesn't that almost automatically give them grounds for appeal, because it would be unfair...not to mention NY, near Ground Zero. Are they now going to decide that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is not going to be tried by a military tribunal (because he might claim that he is a military combattant or something)? And so let's say that the White House is going to strong arm the courts in NY to make sure a convinction happens, because failure isn't an option. It almost sounds like they aren't going to afford KSM due process, which nobody really cares about for that particular accused, but it perverts our legal system and creates a precedent for US citizens losing their rights as the accused. There is so much unbelievably wrong about this, that I hope they realize their mistake before it's too late. It is such a farce.
Posted by: Calivalleygirl at November 19, 2009 09:12 PM (irIko)
4
Day by Day showed us today where the jury of peers could be found, I thought that was a good idea, Chicago, of course. I almost came up with some respect for Graham over this, but still he has a LOT make up for.
Posted by: Ruth H at November 19, 2009 11:31 PM (WPw5a)
NOTHING GENTLE
A horrifying ad found by Mike Potemra:
Here’s a little something I noticed, while Googling an abortion-related issue. I file it away in a little time capsule for the writers of that 2049 show. An ad for an abortion clinic was headlined “Gentle Abortions 4-24 weeks.†And the ad promised: “No pain. No memory. Abortion $340. Pill $400.â€
I am 24 weeks right now. I feel the baby all the time. She wiggles, she kicks, she hops and jumps. And I'm getting big; I look like this:
There would be nothing "gentle" about aborting her now. Nothing at all.
1
Um, yeah. Being pregnant, and having a better idea of what was going on development and feeling-wise really made me even more horrified about abortion.
Posted by: Calivalleygirl at November 17, 2009 03:31 PM (irIko)
2
When I first scrolled across this entry, I saw the words "A horrifying ad" followed by your photo and wondered how you ended up in an advertisement. That picture is the opposite of horrible. It's beautiful.
Why 2049? Given that 2009 - 1963 = 46, I'd expect the Mad Men (Psychologically Diverse Persyns?) of the future to be aired in 2009 + 46 = 2055. I guess the author was adding a nice round figure to 2009.
A more important question is, why will the people of 2049 or 2055 be mocking us? Because we're too PC, or because we're not PC enough?
Posted by: Amritas at November 17, 2009 03:44 PM (+nV09)
3
Amritas is right, it is a beautiful picture.
It is so ironic to advertise a gentle abortion. Not gentle for the woman and definitely not gentle for a baby. Truth in advertising? I think not. It is insulting to our intelligence.
Posted by: Ruth H at November 17, 2009 09:33 PM (WPw5a)
4
You guys are too kind. I simply HATE taking these photos of myself...I can never get the camera aimed right while keeping my face from looking goofy.
Posted by: Sarah at November 17, 2009 09:59 PM (gWUle)
5
You look great!!!!!!!!!!! Cute baby "bump". I read an article recently about a woman who worked at Planned Parenthood and after several years of working there, she finally watched a video of an abortion. She almost immediately quit her job and is now working for a prolife group. Honestly, for me, I cant imagine anything being "gentle" or "kind" at any time during pregnancy, but definitely not at 24 weeks...
Posted by: Keri at November 17, 2009 10:35 PM (dtvJC)
Posted by: Susan at November 17, 2009 10:40 PM (EU2Wl)
7
Sarah ... I'm not sure if anyone told you yet ... but it looks like you are smuggling a BABY!! grats on that status ...
Posted by: Darla at November 18, 2009 12:56 AM (XvIN7)
8
Can you use the time delay on your camera? I managed to figure mine out when I was finally brave enough to take pictures of myself (after 20 weeks, when I actually finally looked pregnant).
Stick it on a counter, or on a box on a counter, and play with it to get the right angles and stuff, and then use that every time you want to take a profile shot. Mine weren't always straight, but I got the cat in there a couple times.
That's what Photoshop is for, anyway.
Posted by: Deltasierra at November 19, 2009 02:25 PM (+Fbnb)
9
I agree with everyone else! I wish I had looked that good at 24 weeks. I didn't want ANYONE near me with a camera. I have only one picture of myself pregnant with our first. I was wearing maternity BDUs and my husband's combat boots because my feet were too swollen to wear my own. I looked like Goofy. (My husband has hidden that picture for ransom)
You look like an advertisement for the best things about being pregnant.
Posted by: Lemon Stand at November 19, 2009 04:48 PM (a+4Ku)
POLITE SOCIETY
Related to the granting the premise idea, here's Roger Kimball on Lou Dobbs and what the media deems acceptable:
The English critic William Hazlitt once spoke disparagingly of "common
place critics" who pretend to put themselves "in the middle, between
the extremes of right and wrong." Something similar could be said of
the rancid, illiberal liberalism of commentators like Krugman and
Burns. They look upon their own opinions less as opinions than as
universally applicable observations that reflect the state of nature.
Their opinions are just what any enlightened, virtuous member of
"polite" society believes. Only those who disagree with them have
"fractious," line-crossing opinions unacceptable to such polite company
as represented by Krugman, The New York Times and Media
Matters. Here's what's really at stake in the controversy of Dobbs and
CNN. It's not only Dobbs who's been rusticated: It's also the robust
liberalism that thrived on disagreement, argument and polemic.
1
I hate it so much when people say use the term "the middle ground."
The Middle Ground is a stupid idea. The truth is never at either extreme, but never is it in the middle, either. The idea of that in order to be "fair" one must split the difference makes me want to hurl. It's just stupid and it exists only on the premise that the rest of us are stupid enough to fall for the idiotic premise that the truth is always at the 50/50 mark.
Well, that's crap.
We will always need to compromise and work together, because that's how life is. It's that way micro and macro (case in point - my house, which is neither the all-white-in-every-room preference of my husband, nor the bright-colors-everywhere that I would have chosen). But that does NOT mean that you abandon all premise but "being on the middle ground" as if that is some sort of moral victory.
If you ask me, that is the absence of morals and a vacuum of moral thought.
Either stick to straight news (which even the most PBS inclined among us has to admit gets very boring) or pepper your staff with both views and allow robust debate. Defending our positions is how we learn, not by being surrounded by people in an echo chamber.
CNN reminds me of that book by Judy Blume - Freckle Juice, where the boy is told in the end that all perfect people do is sit and drink weak tea all the time. BORING. And totally not worth emulating, either.
Posted by: airforcewife at November 17, 2009 09:33 AM (uE3SA)
The truth is never at either extreme, but never is it in the middle
I would say the truth is what it is. People think in terms of spectra. Suppose we define a spectrum in terms of 0 to 10. The truth could be at one extreme (0) or the other (10) or in the middle (5). Or the spectrum could be completely wrong, and the truth is really a negative number or infinity or A.
I do not rule out the extremes because existence is extreme. Either something exists or it does not. If "the truth is never at either extreme" and is never "in the middle," then something can never exist or not exist or be halfway between existence and nonexistence; it can only almost exist or almost non-exist. If nonexistence is 0 and existence is 1, then 0, 1, and .5 have to be ruled out, and the only possible values would roughly be 0.0001-0.4999 and 0.5001-0.9999. (The exact number of zeroes and nines after the decimal point would be infinite.) But some things are binary in the real world. Ayn Rand's John Galt either exists or does not exist in real life. (Bad news: he doesn't exist.)
I am not saying truth is whatever we want it to be. I am saying that truth is independent of our fantasies and our mental shortcuts like 'the truth is never X or Y'.
We can compromise on things in the future. We can decide to aim for 5 instead of 0 or 10. But the past and present are less subject to negotiation; we can change our minds about them, but they exist independently of our thinking. When someone says the truth is always/never X, they are trying to project their desires upon reality. And they may not realize what powerful words 'always' and 'never' are. They are not synonyms for 'usually' or 'rarely'.
I realize I have simplified a complex subject. Not all reality is binary. Before we can speak of whether X exists, we have to agree upon what counts as X. Semantics is fluid. Language is just labels; reality exists independent of it. We can abolish a word, but its referent won't vanish from history just because its tag is gone.
If you ask me, that is the absence of morals and a vacuum of moral thought.
The irony is that those who claim to be in the middle believe they are on the moral high ground. Quite the opposite. They are distorting reality. How can that be moral?
Defending our positions is how we learn, not by being surrounded by people in an echo chamber.
I strongly encourage people to listen to others who share some common ground with you but otherwise are diametrically opposed to what you stand for. Some degree of overlap is needed so you respect them and can keep listening to them. Otherwise you'll run away and won't be able to learn from them at all. I have rejected a lot of my old positions by leaving the echo chamber and reading blogs written by my partial opponents.
Posted by: Amritas at November 17, 2009 12:43 PM (+nV09)
Posted by: david foster at November 17, 2009 02:45 PM (uWlpq)
4I strongly encourage people to listen to others who share some common
ground with you but otherwise are diametrically opposed to what you
stand for. Some degree of overlap is needed so you respect them and can
keep listening to them. Otherwise you'll run away and won't be able to
learn from them at all. I have rejected a lot of my old positions by
leaving the echo chamber and reading blogs written by my partial
opponents.
Amritas, that is an excellent way to put it. You have to be willing to listen to someone to hear what they have to say, and you're far more likely to do so if you can see the complex person beyond that particular opinion. If someone is knee-jerkedly a "neocon" or what-have-you, you have made them into a caricature, which is easy to dismiss.
I think that I probably didn't explain myself very well about the scale, though. And I was thinking in terms of the linear scale you used, too! The truth is definitely the truth, but I think that there are truths and then there are truths. One thing that I find so interesting about studying the history of conflicts is the reasoning people use for their participation. There is truth, definitely, but there is also the greater good and the lesser evil. And all these things work together to make an answer that we may not like in any way, and yet understand to be the best solution that is possible. In the meantime, with each addition of a new aspect, the truth is sliding around on the 1 - 10 scale from one place to another, since very rarely are we analyzing things like "WWII happened", and more often we are analyzing things like, "We need additional troops in Afghanistan."
Yes, I think we do. Because I want to win the war and it seems to me that the analysis says those troops are necessary to smack the crap out of AQ and move forward to a holding pattern with fewer troops. Others might think we need NO troops, pull them all out, it's useless. Etc, ad infinitum.
That's what I meant by the fact that there's truth and then there's truth. And the scale never being at an extreme or the middle.
If that makes sense. I'm sure it's utterly boring - sorry for that.
Posted by: airforcewife at November 17, 2009 03:02 PM (uE3SA)
ZOD KNEELS
If there's a bad reference to Superman II, I haven't heard it:
Think of it as “Superman II,†if the main characters had landed on
Earth convinced that they had to “rebuild Krypton’s relationships†with
the universe. In that case, you don’t kneel before Zod; Zod kneels before you.
1
Dick had this posted on his FB, I thought it was funny. I asked about the arguement about Shakira, and Jessica Beal...he said it happens more often than you would imagine.
Posted by: awtm at November 15, 2009 09:53 AM (dxTUZ)
2
I know, ha. Who else do you think ArmyHusbandPuppyDad is??
Posted by: Sarah at November 15, 2009 10:02 AM (gWUle)
3
I saw this link a few days ago on my iPhone but was reluctant to play it, or to share it with you. I'm relieved that you and the ArmyCouplePuppyParents like it. Now that I've seen it, it's even funnier than I expected.
Posted by: Amritas at November 15, 2009 12:57 PM (G4Rx6)
4
I about DIED watching this! I love it, and I can't wait to show AFG!
Posted by: airforcewife at November 15, 2009 07:15 PM (uE3SA)
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There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness. We must have felt what it is to die, Morrel, that we may appreciate the enjoyments of living. --The Count of Monte Cristo--
While our troops go out to defend our country, it is incumbent upon us to make the country worth defending. --Deskmerc--
Contrary to what you've just seen, war is neither glamorous nor fun. There are no winners, only losers. There are no good wars, with the following exceptions: The American Revolution, WWII, and the Star Wars Trilogy. --Bart Simpson--
If you want to be a peacemaker, you've gotta learn to kick ass. --Sheriff of East Houston, Superman II--
Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without an accordion. You just leave a lot of useless noisy baggage behind. --Jed Babbin--
Dante once said that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in a period of moral crisis maintain their neutrality. --President John F. Kennedy--
War is a bloody, killing business. You've got to spill their blood, or they will spill yours. --General Patton--
We've gotta keep our heads until this peace craze blows over. --Full Metal Jacket--
Those who threaten us and kill innocents around the world do not need to be treated more sensitively. They need to be destroyed. --Dick Cheney--
The Flag has to come first if freedom is to survive. --Col Steven Arrington--
The purpose of diplomacy isn't to make us feel good about Eurocentric diplomatic skills, and having countries from the axis of chocolate tie our shoelaces together does nothing to advance our infantry. --Sir George--
I just don't care about the criticism I receive every day, because I know the cause I defend is right. --Oriol--
It's days like this when we're reminded that freedom isn't free. --Chaplain Jacob--
Bumper stickers aren't going to accomplish some of the missions this country is going to face. --David Smith--
The success of multilateralism is measured not merely by following a process, but by achieving results. --President Bush--
Live and act within the limit of your knowledge and keep expanding it to the limit of your life.
--John Galt--
First, go buy a six pack and swig it all down. Then, watch Ace Ventura. And after that, buy a Hard Rock Cafe shirt and come talk to me. You really need to lighten up, man.
--Sminklemeyer--
You've got to kill people, and when you've killed enough they stop fighting --General Curtis Lemay--
If we wish to be free, if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending, if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained -- we must fight! --Patrick Henry--
America has never been united by blood or birth or soil. We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests and teach us what it means to be citizens. Every child must be taught these principles. Every citizen must uphold them. And every immigrant, by embracing these ideals, makes our country more, not less, American. --President George W. Bush--
are usually just cheerleading sessions, full of sound and fury and signifying nothing but a soothing reduction in blood pressure brought about by the narcotic high of being agreed with. --Bill Whittle
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
--John Stuart Mill--
We are determined that before the sun sets on this terrible struggle, our flag will be recognized throughout the world as a symbol of freedom on the one hand and of overwhelming force on the other. --General George Marshall--
We can continue to try and clean up the gutters all over the world and spend all of our resources looking at just the dirty spots and trying to make them clean. Or we can lift our eyes up and look into the skies and move forward in an evolutionary way.
--Buzz Aldrin--
America is the greatest, freest and most decent society in existence. It is an oasis of goodness in a desert of cynicism and barbarism. This country, once an experiment unique in the world, is now the last best hope for the world.
--Dinesh D'Souza--
Recent anti-Israel protests remind us again of our era's peculiar alliance: the most violent, intolerant, militantly religious movement in modern times has the peace movement on its side. --James Lileks--
As a wise man once said: we will pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
Unless the price is too high, the burden too great, the hardship too hard, the friend acts disproportionately, and the foe fights back. In which case, we need a timetable.
--James Lileks--
I am not willing to kill a man so that he will agree with my faith, but I am prepared to kill a man so that he cannot force my compatriots to submit to his.
--Froggy--
You can say what you want about President Bush; but the truth is that he can take a punch. The man has taken a swift kick in the crotch for breakfast every day for 6 years and he keeps getting up with a smile in his heart and a sense of swift determination to see the job through to the best of his abilties.
--Varifrank--
In a perfect world, We'd live in peace and love and harmony with each oither and the world, but then, in a perfect world, Yoko would have taken the bullet.
--SarahBellum--
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free. --Ronald Reagan--
America is rather like life. You can usually find in it what you look for. It will probably be interesting, and it is sure to be large. --E.M. Forster--
Do not fear the enemy, for your enemy can only take your life. It is far better that you fear the media, for they will steal your HONOR. That awful power, the public opinion of a nation, is created in America by a horde of ignorant, self-complacent simpletons who failed at ditching and shoemaking and fetched up in journalism on their way to the poorhouse. --Mark Twain--
The Enlightenment was followed by the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars, which touched every European state, sparked vicious guerrilla conflicts across the Continent and killed millions. Then, things really turned ugly after the invention of soccer. --Iowahawk--
Every time I meet an Iraqi Army Soldier or Policeman that I haven't met before, I shake his hand and thank him for his service. Many times I am thanked for being here and helping his country. I always tell them that free people help each other and that those that truly value freedom help those seeking it no matter the cost. --Jack Army--
Right, left - the terms are useless nowadays anyway. There are statists, and there are individualists. There are pessimists, and optimists. There are people who look backwards and trust in the West, and those who look forward and trust in The World. Those are the continuums that seem to matter the most right now. --Lileks--
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
--Winston Churchill--
A man or a nation is not placed upon this earth to do merely what is pleasant and what is profitable. It is often called upon to carry out what is both unpleasant and unprofitable, but if it is obviously right it is mere shirking not to undertake it. --Arthur Conan Doyle--
A man who has nothing which he cares about more than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the existing of better men than himself. --John Stuart Mill--
After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America said, "Thank God I wasn't on one of those planes." The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, "Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference." --Dave Grossman--
At heart I’m a cowboy; my attitude is if they’re not going to stand up and fight for what they believe in then they can go pound sand. --Bill Whittle--
A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship. --Alexander Tyler--
By that time a village half-wit could see what generations of professors had pretended not to notice. --Atlas Shrugged--
I kept asking Clarence why our world seemed to be collapsing and everything seemed so shitty. And he'd say, "That's the way it goes, but don't forget, it goes the other way too." --Alabama Worley--
So Bush is history, and we have a new president who promises to heal the planet, and yet the jihadists don’t seem to have got the Obama message that there are no enemies, just friends we haven’t yet held talks without preconditions with.
--Mark Steyn--
"I had started alone in this journey called life, people started
gathering up on the way, and the caravan got bigger everyday." --Urdu couplet
The book and the sword are the two things that control the world. We either gonna control them through knowledge and influence their minds, or we gonna bring the sword and take their heads off. --RZA--
It's a daily game of public Frogger, hopping frantically to avoid being crushed under the weight of your own narcissism, banality, and plain old stupidity. --Mary Katharine Ham--
There are more instances of the abridgment of freedoms
of the people by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. --James Madison--
It is in the heat of emotion that good people must remember to stand on principle. --Larry Elder--
Please show this to the president and ask him to remember the wishes of the forgotten man, that is, the one who dared to vote against him. We expect to be tramped on but we do wish the stepping would be a little less hard. --from a letter to Eleanor Roosevelt--
The world economy depends every day on some engineer, farmer, architect, radiator shop owner, truck driver or plumber getting up at 5AM, going to work, toiling hard, and producing real wealth so that an array of bureaucrats, regulators, and redistributors can manage the proper allotment of much of the natural largess produced. --VDH--
Parents are often so busy with the physical rearing of children that they miss the glory of parenthood, just as the grandeur of the trees is lost when raking leaves. --Marcelene Cox--
