Mark Steyn has profiles of some of the luminaries we lost in 2006. Many of them are too obscure for me to appreciate, but they are all delivered as only Mark can. Here is an example:
MAUREEN STAPLETON, actress
Miss Stapleton didn’t make it to the grand old age of my old friend George Abbott, who died at the age of 107 while working on rewrites of The Pajama Game. Mister Abbott directed Miss Stapleton in a Broadway play a few decades back, when he was a whippersnapper in his 80s and she was half his age. A very vigorous fellow almost to the end of his life, he began an affair with his leading lady, and Miss Stapleton started regaling her girlfriends with rather more details than they wanted about octogenarian action. But she was insistent about his prowess in that particular department that at the end one of them responded: “Wow! Has he got an older brother?”
Sunday, December 31, 2006
We should learn from China
If we are going to have a death penalty, this is the way it should be handled. Arrest them, try them, sentence them, give them an appeal, and then kill them if the appeal is upheld. Total time from start to finish is less than a year.
HARBIN -- A 33-year-old man who murdered six children after sexually assaulting them in northeast China was executed on Sunday.
HARBIN -- A 33-year-old man who murdered six children after sexually assaulting them in northeast China was executed on Sunday.
Gong Runbo had been convicted at the Intermediate People's Court of Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang province, of rape and the murders of the six children aged nine to 16.
The court heard he lured the children off street and from Internet cafe to his rented apartment in Jiamusi from March 2005 to February 2006. He also lured and molested five others aged 12 and 13.
He was arrested on February 28, when a boy managed to escape from the apartment and called the police.
Gong was sentenced to death on July 13 and was ordered to pay 661,840 yuan (84,743 U.S. dollars) to the victims.
He had pleaded guilty and said he would not appeal.
The victims appealed to the court to seek compensation from the Internet cafe and apartment owners.
The Heilongjiang Provincial Higher People's Court rejected the appeals and upheld the verdict on December 20.
Obama on Abortion
It should be interesting to hear the gifted orator from Illinois explain why, in 2002, as an Illinois legislator, Obama voted against the Induced Infant Liability Act, which would have protected babies that survived late-term abortions. That same year a similar federal law, the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, was signed by President Bush. Only 15 members of the U.S. House opposed it, and it passed the Senate unanimously on a voice vote.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
A Christmas Thought from Mark Steyn
"Nobody should be obliged to believe Jesus is the son of God, but likewise nobody should take such umbrage at trees and tinsel and instrumental versions of "Silent Night" that he would deny the reality of the land he lives in to the vast majority of his fellow citizens. Because the logic of that leads not to a diverse secular society but to an atomized ersatz non-society. And, as those other touchy types the Islamists well understand, once you put reality up for grabs, all kinds of pathologies suddenly become viable. "
That is not as warm and comforting a thought as one should have this season, but BestView wishes all who wander to these pages a very Merry Christmas.
That is not as warm and comforting a thought as one should have this season, but BestView wishes all who wander to these pages a very Merry Christmas.
Negotiations Anyone?
In a portion of the tape from Al qaeda No. 2 man, Ayman al Zawahri, made available recently, Zawahri says he has two messages for American Democrats.
"The first is that you aren't the ones who won the midterm elections, nor are the Republicans the ones who lost. Rather, the Mujahideen -- the Muslim Ummah's vanguard in Afghanistan and Iraq -- are the ones who won, and the American forces and their Crusader allies are the ones who lost," Zawahri said, according to a full transcript obtained by ABC News.
Zawahri calls on the Democrats to negotiate with him and Osama bin Laden, not others in the Islamic world who Zawahri says cannot help.
Al Qaeda evidently feels the Democrats are more likely to negotiate with them than the Republicans. He never asked Bush to negotiate. At the present time folks like John Kerry, Chris Dodd, and Bill Nelson are descending on Syria and Iran trying to impress us with the virtue of chats with despots. Even if you throw in a random RINO like Allen Specter, who is also heading to the mideast, it is hard to dispute the Zawahri analysis.
"The first is that you aren't the ones who won the midterm elections, nor are the Republicans the ones who lost. Rather, the Mujahideen -- the Muslim Ummah's vanguard in Afghanistan and Iraq -- are the ones who won, and the American forces and their Crusader allies are the ones who lost," Zawahri said, according to a full transcript obtained by ABC News.
Zawahri calls on the Democrats to negotiate with him and Osama bin Laden, not others in the Islamic world who Zawahri says cannot help.
Al Qaeda evidently feels the Democrats are more likely to negotiate with them than the Republicans. He never asked Bush to negotiate. At the present time folks like John Kerry, Chris Dodd, and Bill Nelson are descending on Syria and Iran trying to impress us with the virtue of chats with despots. Even if you throw in a random RINO like Allen Specter, who is also heading to the mideast, it is hard to dispute the Zawahri analysis.
An analysis of President Bush
An anonymous reader offered the following analysis of President Bush in a comment to a blog in the Washington Times. Hard for me to find anything to argue with him about except being a bigger liar than Clinton. No es possible.
Wait Too Late Bush. I call President Bush the wait-too-late president because he eventually waits too late to be effective at anything but liberalism. He waited until the WMD was out of Iraq before going into Iraq. He waited too late to secure the Iraqi border. He waited too late to send enough troops into Iraq to bring the war to an earlier close and do the job properly. He waited too late to secure our southern border. He had six years in which to stop the flow of illegal aliens from crossing our southern border but did nothing. He waited too late to make necessary changes to save Republicans in the last election. The list goes on and on. He is the biggest conservative disappointment in history and is a bigger liar than Clinton because he lied to us conservatives about being at the least a friend of conservatives. President Bush is now more dispised by conservatives then was Bill Clinton. At least with Clinton we expected what we got.
Wait Too Late Bush. I call President Bush the wait-too-late president because he eventually waits too late to be effective at anything but liberalism. He waited until the WMD was out of Iraq before going into Iraq. He waited too late to secure the Iraqi border. He waited too late to send enough troops into Iraq to bring the war to an earlier close and do the job properly. He waited too late to secure our southern border. He had six years in which to stop the flow of illegal aliens from crossing our southern border but did nothing. He waited too late to make necessary changes to save Republicans in the last election. The list goes on and on. He is the biggest conservative disappointment in history and is a bigger liar than Clinton because he lied to us conservatives about being at the least a friend of conservatives. President Bush is now more dispised by conservatives then was Bill Clinton. At least with Clinton we expected what we got.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Racism
Here is a very good opinion piece from the L.A. Times on racism which was authored by Shelby Steele, the author of "White Guilt". A sample is below.
"This does not mean that racist behavior today is somehow benign. It means that today racism swims upstream in an atmosphere of ferocious intolerance. Moreover, today's racism is no longer in concert with an overt and systematic subjugation of blacks. While racism continues to exist, it no longer stunts the lives of blacks.
Yet a belief in the ongoing power of racism is, today, an article of faith for "good" whites and "truth-telling" blacks. It is heresy for any white or black to say openly that, today, underdevelopment and broken families are vastly greater problems for blacks than racism, even though this is obviously true. The problem is that this truth blames the victim. It suggests that black progress will come more from black effort than from white goodwill — even though white oppression caused the underdevelopment in the first place.
In other words, this truth is unfair. And when whites or blacks utter it, they are instantly identified with the unfairness rather than with the truth.So propriety causes us to say that racism still explains black difficulty.
This explanation is also a source of power because it portrays blacks as victims. And wherever there are victims, there is justification for seeking power in their name. Thus the specter of black difficulty has been an enormous source of power for the left since the 1960s. To say racism is not the first cause of black problems is to put yourself at odds with the post-'60s left's most enduring fount of power."
"This does not mean that racist behavior today is somehow benign. It means that today racism swims upstream in an atmosphere of ferocious intolerance. Moreover, today's racism is no longer in concert with an overt and systematic subjugation of blacks. While racism continues to exist, it no longer stunts the lives of blacks.
Yet a belief in the ongoing power of racism is, today, an article of faith for "good" whites and "truth-telling" blacks. It is heresy for any white or black to say openly that, today, underdevelopment and broken families are vastly greater problems for blacks than racism, even though this is obviously true. The problem is that this truth blames the victim. It suggests that black progress will come more from black effort than from white goodwill — even though white oppression caused the underdevelopment in the first place.
In other words, this truth is unfair. And when whites or blacks utter it, they are instantly identified with the unfairness rather than with the truth.So propriety causes us to say that racism still explains black difficulty.
This explanation is also a source of power because it portrays blacks as victims. And wherever there are victims, there is justification for seeking power in their name. Thus the specter of black difficulty has been an enormous source of power for the left since the 1960s. To say racism is not the first cause of black problems is to put yourself at odds with the post-'60s left's most enduring fount of power."
Science to keep in mind
As you read the papers with regular stories of food contamination causing outbreaks of illness from such things as spinach, hamburgers, lettuce, etc., keep in mind one reason for much of this. Right now, the American Medical Association, the Centers of Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration, and the World Health Association have all certified that a big reduction in food-borne illness could be realized by food irradiation. In this process, a fixed and controlled source of gamma rays are very briefly focused on the food and 99.99% of E. coli, for example are killed. There is absolutely no effect on the food itself or any person who later consumes the food. Now, for a quick quiz. Why don't we use this life-saving food preservation method more extensively. If you guessed the lies, misinformation campaign, and lobbying by liberal groups like Public Citizen with its President Jill Clayborn being aided by the liberal media, you get a gold star. They have bullied the FDA into a position where it now requires a label to state that consumption of the product is "risky". In fact, the opposite is true and non-irradiated food should be so labelled.
When an outbreak occurs like the recent on with Taco Bell as the source, the liberal media blames a collusion between industry and the government who should be increasing funds for inspections which the industry doesn't want. Nonsense.
Ironically, Mexico and other countries such as India and Thailand do irradiate food before exporting it to the U.S. So you could well be safer eating food from such otherwise backward countries than from the politically correct U.S.
When an outbreak occurs like the recent on with Taco Bell as the source, the liberal media blames a collusion between industry and the government who should be increasing funds for inspections which the industry doesn't want. Nonsense.
Ironically, Mexico and other countries such as India and Thailand do irradiate food before exporting it to the U.S. So you could well be safer eating food from such otherwise backward countries than from the politically correct U.S.
Carbon Dioxide Facts and Figures
I was reading the other day that a group called Environmental Analysis and Remote Sensing Co. reported that if we scrap all the cars, SUVs, and trucks in America we could reduce greenhouse gasses by 2-3%. Of course, our economy would be brought to a halt and I would be hard-pressed to start riding a bicycle at my age.
According to this report, we could achieve this same reduction by simply putting out the open coal pit fires burning in the world--especially in China where 120 million tons of coal are consumed in uncontrolled fires each year. These fires emit not just carbon dioxide, which is not a pollutant, but many noxious gases, sulfur and soot. Left alone, these fires can burn for hundred or even thousands of years.
Armed with this information, you should now sit back and wait for idiots like Al Gore to suggest we put these fires out instead of wrecking our economy to make it comparable to the Europeans which these liberals admire so much. One action (putting out fires) would be desirable and the other (curtailing our economic activity) is not. Personally, I doubt we will see these liberal loonies stop jetting around the globe calling for the U.S. to adopt actions which lead us into economic oblivion.
According to this report, we could achieve this same reduction by simply putting out the open coal pit fires burning in the world--especially in China where 120 million tons of coal are consumed in uncontrolled fires each year. These fires emit not just carbon dioxide, which is not a pollutant, but many noxious gases, sulfur and soot. Left alone, these fires can burn for hundred or even thousands of years.
Armed with this information, you should now sit back and wait for idiots like Al Gore to suggest we put these fires out instead of wrecking our economy to make it comparable to the Europeans which these liberals admire so much. One action (putting out fires) would be desirable and the other (curtailing our economic activity) is not. Personally, I doubt we will see these liberal loonies stop jetting around the globe calling for the U.S. to adopt actions which lead us into economic oblivion.
Annoying
While waiting in a line at the grocery the other day, I noticed a magazine with a cover story promising to list the 50 most annoying persons in 2006. I didn't look at the story and I have never really seen the TV program, but I am hearing enough about the principals on the show that I would be very disappointed if everyone on "The View" wasn't on the magazines list of 50.
Another Bush Failure
Most of the coverage you see about the recent report by the National Archives and Records Administration showing that Sandy Berger pilfered and hid documents from the archives under a construction trailer focuses on the mea culpa Berger offered that it was an "honest mistake" and that no real documents were removed---just copies. We may never know if that is the case since he admits to cutting them up with scissors and throwing them in the trash, but we do know he lied in his testimony about the incident.
My take is one which I have not seen. We all knew after 8 years that the Clinton administration was capable of misusing FBI files, losing documents required for court proceedings, and then lying about the events. Bush was expected to have different standards, at least by those of us who voted for him. This turned out not to be the case and the pitiful prosecution of Berger's case by the Bush Department of Justice is disgraceful. He should never have been allowed to plea bargain down to a misdemeanor with community service. At the same time, Bush is allowing Scooter Libby to be prosecuted about an account of a non-crime because his account of events differed from those of some reporters. This indicates to me that the Bush standards are no greater than those of Clinton and that is a shame.
My take is one which I have not seen. We all knew after 8 years that the Clinton administration was capable of misusing FBI files, losing documents required for court proceedings, and then lying about the events. Bush was expected to have different standards, at least by those of us who voted for him. This turned out not to be the case and the pitiful prosecution of Berger's case by the Bush Department of Justice is disgraceful. He should never have been allowed to plea bargain down to a misdemeanor with community service. At the same time, Bush is allowing Scooter Libby to be prosecuted about an account of a non-crime because his account of events differed from those of some reporters. This indicates to me that the Bush standards are no greater than those of Clinton and that is a shame.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Sounds good to me
John McWhorter is one of my favorite intellectuals. He is like Thomas Sowell in that the liberal media mainly ignore him, but I ran across an article today in the New York Sun which everyone should read and seriously consider. Because it makes so much sense and would require us to dismantle something which is a sacred failure, it won't happen. So we will continue with the current sham of an education system.
What McWhorter suggests is that we stop universal education at the 10th grade and let the students pursue the rest of their lives in whatever way seems most appropriate. His supporting reasons are compelling to me and I would love to hear a debate in which the education establishment attempted to defend the current high schools.
What McWhorter suggests is that we stop universal education at the 10th grade and let the students pursue the rest of their lives in whatever way seems most appropriate. His supporting reasons are compelling to me and I would love to hear a debate in which the education establishment attempted to defend the current high schools.
Is this time different?
Here is a pretty good essay on war Presidents. The last paragraph is given below, but the whole thing is a worthy read.
Wars are often darkest just before the light. In our day, we must pray for military leadership committed to making Baghdad secure, and Iran and Syria quite afraid. Even conceived of in these limited terms, we need top generals committed, as in 1864, to victory. Many Americans will not believe it can be done. That’s the way it was in 1777, when historians estimate that as many as two-thirds of all Americans in New York and New Jersey had come to support the British. During the meandering carnage of 1863 and 1864, many Americans also gave up hope. Americans ought never to forget Abraham Lincoln’s dark year, just before the sun of victory surprisingly broke through. Contemplating the sacrifices that so many hundreds of thousands had made to keep the Union whole, Lincoln did not believe that the God who gave us liberty when he gave us life, could in the end disregard the sacrifices of so many. That is how Lincoln held on in 1864. As did Washington (and even Tom Paine) before him in the darkest days of winter 1777. Those prayers of Washington and Lincoln would not be bad for Christmas 2006, either.
Wars are often darkest just before the light. In our day, we must pray for military leadership committed to making Baghdad secure, and Iran and Syria quite afraid. Even conceived of in these limited terms, we need top generals committed, as in 1864, to victory. Many Americans will not believe it can be done. That’s the way it was in 1777, when historians estimate that as many as two-thirds of all Americans in New York and New Jersey had come to support the British. During the meandering carnage of 1863 and 1864, many Americans also gave up hope. Americans ought never to forget Abraham Lincoln’s dark year, just before the sun of victory surprisingly broke through. Contemplating the sacrifices that so many hundreds of thousands had made to keep the Union whole, Lincoln did not believe that the God who gave us liberty when he gave us life, could in the end disregard the sacrifices of so many. That is how Lincoln held on in 1864. As did Washington (and even Tom Paine) before him in the darkest days of winter 1777. Those prayers of Washington and Lincoln would not be bad for Christmas 2006, either.
 |
Thursday, December 21, 2006
I need more Bacteroidetes
There is an interesting article in Nature this month describing a study from Washington University in St. Louis that showed obese folks have a different microbial flora in the gut than leaner subjects. This was attributed to the fatter people having greater numbers of organisms in a family called Firmicutes. Evidently these organisms are more efficient in converting complex carbohydrates into sugars which are absorbed by the intestines and converted to fat. If your gut is blessed with greater numbers of Bacteroidetes, on the other hand, the carbohydrates are excreted to a greater extent and sugars which can be converted to fat are not as plentiful.
This suggests some attractive approaches to countering weight gain through manipulation of the gut flora. Surely that would be more fun than a diet and more exercise.
This suggests some attractive approaches to countering weight gain through manipulation of the gut flora. Surely that would be more fun than a diet and more exercise.
White Christmas
Go here to read a fascinating account of the classic "White Christmas" as could be told by only one person....my favorite columnist. Here is a sample:
Some songs are hits - Number One for a couple of weeks. Some songs are standards - they endure decade after decade. And a few very rare songs reach way beyond either category, to embed themselves so deeply in the collective consciousness they become part of the soundtrack of society. They start off the same as all the other numbers - written for a show or a movie, a singer or an event - but they float free of the writer, they outlast the singer, transcend the movie, change the event. There were a couple of what we now think of as seasonal standards that predated Irving Berlin’s entry into the field, but neither became a pillar of the Xmas pop repertoire, because until “White Christmas” came along there was no such thing.
Some songs are hits - Number One for a couple of weeks. Some songs are standards - they endure decade after decade. And a few very rare songs reach way beyond either category, to embed themselves so deeply in the collective consciousness they become part of the soundtrack of society. They start off the same as all the other numbers - written for a show or a movie, a singer or an event - but they float free of the writer, they outlast the singer, transcend the movie, change the event. There were a couple of what we now think of as seasonal standards that predated Irving Berlin’s entry into the field, but neither became a pillar of the Xmas pop repertoire, because until “White Christmas” came along there was no such thing.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
A Gay Pride March to Mecca
PRESS RELEASE
EMBARGO DATE: December 15, 2006, 4 PM.
Read the whole thing. It is amusing to contemplate.
EMBARGO DATE: December 15, 2006, 4 PM.
IN THE NAME OF FREEDOM AND TOLERANCE, AND IN HARMONY WITH OUR GAY MUSLIM BROTHERS AND SISTERS, WE PROUDLY ANNOUNCE THE FIRST MARCH TO MECCA, FEBRUARY 14, 2007
Human Rights Watch, Moveon.org, ACT-UP, the Huffington Post and David Geffen are proud to present the March to Mecca, a celebration of peace that calls all gay brothers, sisters and people undergoing sex-reassignment to march to the holiest of holy cities, Mecca, the capital city of Saudi Arabia's Makkah province on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2007.
I like to wander over to the other side now and then to see how things are going and in so doing ran into this on The Huffington Post.Read the whole thing. It is amusing to contemplate.
Monday, December 18, 2006
Obama
From John Fund's Opinion Piece that argues Obama might not run:
"His record as a state legislator is even more liberal. In 1996, he spoke out against the Defense of Marriage Act, which the Senate approved 85-14 and Mr. Clinton signed into law. He twice voted "present" on a bill to ban partial-birth abortions. In 1999 he was the only state senator to oppose a law that prohibited early prison release for sex offenders. " As Fund says, Hillary would love to run against that record.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Solid Science??
I always enjoy pointing out "studies" which appear in the press which can almost certainly be shown to be the result of faulty science. The latest is an article I read which can be summarized as follows:
"A study of thousands of men and women revealed that those who stick to a vegetarian diet have IQs that are around five points higher than those who regularly eat meat.
Writing in the British Medical Journal, the researchers say it isn't clear why veggies are brainier - but admit the fruit and veg-rich vegetarian diet could somehow boost brain power."
Even though this is almost certainly a bunch of hooey, I am still tempted to explore ways to get the information to certain people I know.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Intelligence Chairman not up on basics
Jeff Stein interviewed Congressman Sylvestre Reyes who will be the new Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee since Speaker Pelosi passed over Jane Harmon and reluctantly decided against naming an impeached Judge Hastings. The following is a segment of that interview, but you can read the whole thing here.
We warmed up with a long discussion about intelligence issues and Iraq. And then we veered into terrorism’s major players.
To me, it’s like asking about Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland: Who’s on what side?
The dialogue went like this:
Al Qaeda is what, I asked, Sunni or Shia?
“Al Qaeda, they have both,” Reyes said. “You’re talking about predominately?”
“Sure,” I said, not knowing what else to say.
“Predominantly — probably Shiite,” he ventured.
He couldn’t have been more wrong.
Al Qaeda is profoundly Sunni. If a Shiite showed up at an al Qaeda club house, they’d slice off his head and use it for a soccer ball.
That’s because the extremist Sunnis who make up a l Qaeda consider all Shiites to be heretics.
Al Qaeda’s Sunni roots account for its very existence. Osama bin Laden and his followers believe the Saudi Royal family besmirched the true faith through their corruption and alliance with the United States, particularly allowing U.S. troops on Saudi soil.
It’s been five years since these Muslim extremists flew hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center.
Is it too much to ask that our intelligence overseers know who they are?
Clinton bugs Diana
It says here that the Clinton CIA was bugging the phone of Princess Diana when Atta was planning 9/11 and now the dems are all upset that Bush is bugging real terrorists.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Mark Steyn Analyzes the ISG
This is another great column from Mark Steyn. He focuses on just one of their recommendations, but he does it brilliantly. Read it all here.
Oh, but lest you think there are no minimum admission criteria to James Baker's "Support Group," relax, it's a very restricted membership: Arabs, Persians, Chinese commies, French obstructionists, Russian assassination squads. But no Jews. Even though Israel is the only country to be required to make specific concessions -- return the Golan Heights, etc. Indeed, insofar as this document has any novelty value, it's in the Frankenstein-meets-the-Wolfman sense of a boffo convergence of hit franchises: a Vietnam bug-out, but with the Jews as the designated fall guys. Wow. That's what Hollywood would call "high concept."
"RECOMMENDATION 5: The Support Group should consist of Iraq and all the states bordering Iraq, including Iran and Syria . . ."
Er, OK. I suppose that's what you famously hardheaded "realists" mean by realism. But wait, we're not done yet. For this "Support Group," we need the extra-large function room. Aside from Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Kuwait, the ISG -- the Iraq Surrender Gran'pas -- want also to invite:
". . . the key regional states, including Egypt and the Gulf States . . ."
Er, OK. So it's basically an Arab League meeting. Not a "Support Group" I'd want to look for support from, but each to his own. But wait, Secretary Baker's still warming up:
". . . the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council . . ."
That would be America, Britain, France, Russia, China. A diverse quintet, representing many distinctive approaches to international affairs from stylish hauteur to polonium-210. Anybody else?
". . . the European Union . . ."
Hey, why not? It's not really multilateral unless there's a Belgian on board, right? Oh, and let's not forget:
". . . the Support Group should call on the participation of the United Nations Secretary-General in its work. The United Nations Secretary-General should designate a Special Envoy as his representative . . ."
Oh, but lest you think there are no minimum admission criteria to James Baker's "Support Group," relax, it's a very restricted membership: Arabs, Persians, Chinese commies, French obstructionists, Russian assassination squads. But no Jews. Even though Israel is the only country to be required to make specific concessions -- return the Golan Heights, etc. Indeed, insofar as this document has any novelty value, it's in the Frankenstein-meets-the-Wolfman sense of a boffo convergence of hit franchises: a Vietnam bug-out, but with the Jews as the designated fall guys. Wow. That's what Hollywood would call "high concept."
More U.N. Lunacy
This might seem a big day for U.N. lunacy judging by the Title of BestView entries, but in fact every day could be filled with examples, I suspect. Now we have another guess with absolutely no more scientific basis than other global warming nonsense from this most worthless of institutions. Entire article here.
Mankind has had less effect on global warming than previously supposed, a United Nations report on climate change will claim next year.
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says there can be little doubt that humans are responsible for warming the planet, but the organisation has reduced its overall estimate of this effect by 25 per cent.
In a final draft of its fourth assessment report, to be published in February, the panel reports that the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has accelerated in the past five years. It also predicts that temperatures will rise by up to 4.5 C during the next 100 years, bringing more frequent heat waves and storms.
More U.N. Lunacy
This is the last one from Senator Coburn's web site. There is no reason to raise the blood pressure unduly, but this is just so outrageous that light must be shown on the extent of our unwise continued association with the U.N.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) paid $567,379 in 2004 for a historian to lavish praise upon itself in the form of a published book released this year entitled, UNDP: A Better Way? This included the following expenses:
UNDP pays historian half a million to praise itself
In the meantime, UNDP condemns the US for not giving it millions more "for the poor"
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) paid $567,379 in 2004 for a historian to lavish praise upon itself in the form of a published book released this year entitled, UNDP: A Better Way? This included the following expenses:
- $252,000 for the historian's 21-month salary
- $87,639 for the "project coordinator's" salary
- $91,559 for "research and editing"
- $37,299 for travel
- $26,752 for office space
- $55,452 for purchasing mass quantities of its own book
U.N. Kitchen Upgrade
The United Nations last week approved a $4.3 million plan for a super-luxe makeover to the Secretary General's New York apartment. The U.S. taxpayer, who covers 22% of all U.N. operating expenses, will be expected to donate $1 million towards this lush project.
Part of the plan is to spend $200,000 on a new kitchen alone. For $200,000, the U.N. could purchase 200,000 malaria pills to help save 200,000 kids suffering in Africa.
This and other examples of what happens to your money can be read daily on my favorite politician's web site nearly every day. Yes, it is Senator Coburn from Oklahoma.
Part of the plan is to spend $200,000 on a new kitchen alone. For $200,000, the U.N. could purchase 200,000 malaria pills to help save 200,000 kids suffering in Africa.
This and other examples of what happens to your money can be read daily on my favorite politician's web site nearly every day. Yes, it is Senator Coburn from Oklahoma.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Osama bin Laden Study Group
Scott Ott at Scrappleface announces a new study group being formed.
(2006-12-07) — Just a day after the Iraq Study Group released its report and dozens of recommendations to help the United States escape what it termed a “grave and deteriorating” situation, an unnamed al Qaeda spokesman announced the appointment of a similar panel by terror leader Usama bin Laden.
“Mr. bin Laden, peace be upon him, favors a transparent process of laying all of our military and diplomatic options on the table before the world,” said the source. “The civil war in Iraq hinders our efforts to establish Baghdad as the capital of our global Islamic Caliphate. Mr. bin Laden believes it’s not going well enough or fast enough, and he’s open to any good suggestions for finding a way out of Iraq,”
Unconfirmed reports suggest that Mr. bin Laden may terminate his stalwart second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and appoint a less controversial man who could garner broader support from the Muslim media and in public opinion polls.
However, an anonymous official at the White Cavern, Mr. bin Laden’s headquarters, provided The New York Times with a classified top-secret memo that indicates the al Qaeda leader is considering a “graceful exit” from Iraq, in order to avoid the political consequences of having the conflict drag on.
A Scientific Fork in the Road?
For several decades I taught medical students that the scientific basis of cancer chemotherapy was based on the concept that tumors were composed of cells which had been triggered to grow more rapidly and with different controls than normal cells. As a result our efforts to counter this proliferative abnormality had to be directed at discovering and targeting the slight alteration which allowed the differential growth rates of the tumor cells. Well, it turns out now that we should turn our attention to a different model. Recent evidence out of Canada suggests that it is stem cells which make cancers grow. This is based on the finding that tumor cells are quite diversified and some of them have very little proliferative potential and are thus unworthy targets of our chemotherapeutic agents currently in use. In fact, the evidence now is that when stem cells are removed the bulk of the tumor cells are not particularly nasty. So, if a tumor cell does not have the abnormal cell division potential, it poses very little threat. It turns out that in one study only 1 cell in 40,000 colon cancer tumor cells was responsible for all the growth in the tumor. Ergo, we need to change our thinking about cancer chemotherapeutic targeting.
I am struck by the way in which this could mesh with an observation by others that when we try to use embryonic stem cells to cure such things as diabetes in animal models, we almost always end up with cancers. This sad fact is no deterrent to the liberals who will not be content until we create embryos on a massive scale to pursue what now seems a dead-end in stem cell research as opposed to the use of adult stem cells which have been shown to be effective in 78 different medical conditions. This perhaps because the adult stem cells cause the proliferation of cells which are deficient in a given medical condition. Thus, nerve cell regeneration, pancreatic cells which make insulin, and other conditions are amenable to treatment with adult stem cells, but not with embryonic stem cells which have not yet differentiated.
I am struck by the way in which this could mesh with an observation by others that when we try to use embryonic stem cells to cure such things as diabetes in animal models, we almost always end up with cancers. This sad fact is no deterrent to the liberals who will not be content until we create embryos on a massive scale to pursue what now seems a dead-end in stem cell research as opposed to the use of adult stem cells which have been shown to be effective in 78 different medical conditions. This perhaps because the adult stem cells cause the proliferation of cells which are deficient in a given medical condition. Thus, nerve cell regeneration, pancreatic cells which make insulin, and other conditions are amenable to treatment with adult stem cells, but not with embryonic stem cells which have not yet differentiated.
Mark Steyn on the ISG
And the only specific strategic proposal is a linkage between Iraq and a “renewed and sustained commitment” to a “comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace” – which concedes the same ludicrous rationale that the Saudi King Abdullah and all the rest of them make: that one tiny ten-mile sliver of Jews is the reason why millions of Muslims from the Straits of Gibraltar to the Emirates are mired in dictatorships, failed economies and jihadist fever. For the Baker group to endorse this clapped out pan-Arabism is disgusting. An “Arab-Israeli peace”? What does that mean? What exactly is Israel doing to Iraq, or Tunisia, or Qatar, or any other Arabs except those in the “Palestinian territories”? To frame it in those terms is to adopt the pathologies of the enemy. Shame on Baker, Hamilton and all the rest.
Read it all here.
Read it all here.
Friday, December 08, 2006
Teachers don't understand written English
Teachers unions are supposed to promote the financial interests of, well, teachers--but not in Washington state. Here, the Washington Education Association is fighting some 4,000 nonmember teachers who don't want their paychecks raided each year and used for political activities that they don't believe in. "The right of free speech is being trampled" by the union political spending, complains Scott Carlson, a business teacher in Spokane. "And that's a right I hold very precious."
Too bad the unions don't. The WEA derisively refers to teachers like Mr. Carlson who want their money back not as free-speech advocates but "dissidents." The goal is to squash these dissidents by overturning Initiative 134, a law--approved by 72% of Washington voters in 1992--that requires unions to obtain written approval from teachers before dues are spent on campaigns or candidates. Back in March, the unions got a surprising assist from the state Supreme Court, which ruled that the paycheck protection law places "too heavy" a burden on the free-speech rights of the union.
The Washington law states unambiguously that a union may not use dues "for political purposes without the affirmative consent of the nonmembers from whom the excess fees were taken." The Washington Supreme Court somehow twisted these words to mean that the unions can spend as they wish unless workers object and affirmatively opt out. That's a big distinction, because the unions make it as time-consuming and cumbersome as possible to get the money back once they snatch it.
The case is discussed here and will go before the U.S. Supreme Court in January. Let's hope the court will help the teachers understand their liberal causes should not be supported by coerced money.
Paper Tiger
For some time now I have been uneasy about the action of the U.S. in response to the situations which have arisen in the past few years. The problem has become increasingly evident though the presidencies of the two Bushes and Clinton. In these years we have become increasingly less willing to assert our perogatives and act as the lone superpower on earth should. When Reagan took the oath of office, the Iranians released the hostages immediately. This act revealed an enlightened self-interest which is currently being exhibited again by the Iranians as they openly pursue nuclear weapons because they know that Bush is content to wait for the U.N. to pass another worthless resolution despite opposition from Russia and China. This passive response by Bush is proceeding despite repeated assurances from Ahmadinejad that he will use these same weapons to eliminate Israel.
In Iraq, you have very little talk about victory in a specific sense. Instead, we hear about wanting stability and our generals appear before congressional committees explaining why they can't defeat a militia headed by Muqtada al-Sadr. In the meantime our soldiers who were trained to wage war venture out of the Green Zone to pass out candy and soccer balls to children in the streets.
In other areas we sit by and let Putin resurrect a dictatorship in Russia while providing Iran with anti-aircraft missiles and nuclear technology to be used against us. We let Hugo Chavez solidify his hold on an important country in South America while he develops anti-American alliances with Iran, North Korea and liberals like Joe Kennedy who accepts his heating oil to help the "poor". We apologize for removing 6 Islamic clerics from and airplane, offer to provide them with a meditation room at airports while denying our children in elementary school the right to sing Christmas carols.
Osama bin Laden said early on that America would cave in as we did in Somalia under Clinton, fail to follow through on commitments liked Bush 41 did when he asked the Iraqis to rise up against Saddam, and Bush 43 is continuing in the same timid vein when he ignores his post 9/11 assertion that we would hold those nations who harbor and support terrorists to full account. Such nonsense. How frightened is Iran right now? Syria? Venezuela? North Korea?
It is all very sad and ominous.
In Iraq, you have very little talk about victory in a specific sense. Instead, we hear about wanting stability and our generals appear before congressional committees explaining why they can't defeat a militia headed by Muqtada al-Sadr. In the meantime our soldiers who were trained to wage war venture out of the Green Zone to pass out candy and soccer balls to children in the streets.
In other areas we sit by and let Putin resurrect a dictatorship in Russia while providing Iran with anti-aircraft missiles and nuclear technology to be used against us. We let Hugo Chavez solidify his hold on an important country in South America while he develops anti-American alliances with Iran, North Korea and liberals like Joe Kennedy who accepts his heating oil to help the "poor". We apologize for removing 6 Islamic clerics from and airplane, offer to provide them with a meditation room at airports while denying our children in elementary school the right to sing Christmas carols.
Osama bin Laden said early on that America would cave in as we did in Somalia under Clinton, fail to follow through on commitments liked Bush 41 did when he asked the Iraqis to rise up against Saddam, and Bush 43 is continuing in the same timid vein when he ignores his post 9/11 assertion that we would hold those nations who harbor and support terrorists to full account. Such nonsense. How frightened is Iran right now? Syria? Venezuela? North Korea?
It is all very sad and ominous.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Liberal Folly
BestView has observed several times how the loony left seems to have accepted the conclusion that man has caused the global warming and that if we don't take some ill-advised action right now to correct the situation, we are all doomed to some myriad forms of calamity. When they are confronted by the fact that the science behind this chicken-little conclusion is not settled, they say that is better to take some action "just in case".
Contrast that to their idiotic position on a missile-defense system. It is, unfortunately, advanced by Senator Carl Levin who is now going to be Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He is following a long established democrat position against the development of an anti-ballistic missile system on the basis that it has not been proved to work and we should not do the research to make it work because then it might work and that would be destabilizing in some way. Yes, I know it is moronic, but that is what Levin and his liberal fellow travelers say. He objects to the situation we have now where we have tested parts of a missile-defense system and had some success because the conditions of the test were not against a missile launched by a hostile nation. So the only tests he will accept are those which would come when North Korea actually lobs one our way and the idea that we should follow the flawed logic of the wacky environmentalists and do something "just in case" is not applicable in this case.
Contrast that to their idiotic position on a missile-defense system. It is, unfortunately, advanced by Senator Carl Levin who is now going to be Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He is following a long established democrat position against the development of an anti-ballistic missile system on the basis that it has not been proved to work and we should not do the research to make it work because then it might work and that would be destabilizing in some way. Yes, I know it is moronic, but that is what Levin and his liberal fellow travelers say. He objects to the situation we have now where we have tested parts of a missile-defense system and had some success because the conditions of the test were not against a missile launched by a hostile nation. So the only tests he will accept are those which would come when North Korea actually lobs one our way and the idea that we should follow the flawed logic of the wacky environmentalists and do something "just in case" is not applicable in this case.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Jimmy Carter's Legacy?
It will be interesting to see how much of the following makes it into the news and public discussion. Since I consider Jimmy Carter a traitor to his country, my bias would support the view that the Professor is correct in his description of the situation. Read the whole thing here.
Monday, December 04, 2006
Mark Steyn Is Right Again
Here is how Mark starts his latest essay. Be sure to read the whole thing.
James Baker's "Iraq Study Group" seems to have been cast on the same basis as Liza Minnelli's last wedding. A stellar lineup: Donna Summer, Mickey Rooney, the Doobie Brothers, Gina Lollobrigida, Michael Jackson, Mia Farrow, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Jill St. John. That's Liza's wedding, not the Baker Commission. But at both gatherings everyone who was anyone was there, no matter how long ago it was they were anyone. So the fabulous Baker boy was accompanied by Clinton officials Leon Panetta and Bill Perry, Clinton golfing buddy Vernon Jordan, Clinton's fellow sex fiend Chuck Robb, the quintessential ''moderate'' Republican Alan Simpson, Supreme Court swing vote par excellence Sandra Day O'Connor . . . God, I can't go on. I'd rather watch Mia Farrow making out with Mickey Rooney to a Doobie Brothers LP. As its piece de resistance, the Baker Commission concluded its deliberations by inviting testimony from -- drumroll, please -- Sen. John F. Kerry. If you're one of those dummies who goofs off in school, you wind up in Iraq. But, if you're sophisticated and nuanced, you wind up on a commission about Iraq. Rounding it all out -- playing David Gest to Jim Baker's Liza -- is, inevitably, co-chairman Lee Hamilton, former congressman from Indiana.
James Baker's "Iraq Study Group" seems to have been cast on the same basis as Liza Minnelli's last wedding. A stellar lineup: Donna Summer, Mickey Rooney, the Doobie Brothers, Gina Lollobrigida, Michael Jackson, Mia Farrow, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Jill St. John. That's Liza's wedding, not the Baker Commission. But at both gatherings everyone who was anyone was there, no matter how long ago it was they were anyone. So the fabulous Baker boy was accompanied by Clinton officials Leon Panetta and Bill Perry, Clinton golfing buddy Vernon Jordan, Clinton's fellow sex fiend Chuck Robb, the quintessential ''moderate'' Republican Alan Simpson, Supreme Court swing vote par excellence Sandra Day O'Connor . . . God, I can't go on. I'd rather watch Mia Farrow making out with Mickey Rooney to a Doobie Brothers LP. As its piece de resistance, the Baker Commission concluded its deliberations by inviting testimony from -- drumroll, please -- Sen. John F. Kerry. If you're one of those dummies who goofs off in school, you wind up in Iraq. But, if you're sophisticated and nuanced, you wind up on a commission about Iraq. Rounding it all out -- playing David Gest to Jim Baker's Liza -- is, inevitably, co-chairman Lee Hamilton, former congressman from Indiana.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Pretty good analysis
From Hillbilly White Trash:
George W Bush invited James Webb into his home. Webb accepted his hospitality by showing up then snubbed his host by refusing to go through the receiving line and shake the President's hand. Mr. Bush made a point of ignoring the insult and reached out to Mr. Webb on the one area in which any civilized person would assume that they could agree - the well being of Mr. Webb's son.
Instead of answering his hosts sincere question with a polite response like, "he's fine, I just heard from him", he chose to give an answer which said, in effect, "screw off, it's none of your business". Well I'm sorry Mr. Webb but as the Commander in Chief the welfare of an active duty Marine is damned well George Bush's business.
Also, consider how much political hay the left could have made if Bush had shown no concern whatsoever over Mr. Webb's son. Would not the mainstream media's action line be something like, "Bush sends Webb's kid to war and then can't even be bothered to ask how he's doing"?
George W Bush invited James Webb into his home. Webb accepted his hospitality by showing up then snubbed his host by refusing to go through the receiving line and shake the President's hand. Mr. Bush made a point of ignoring the insult and reached out to Mr. Webb on the one area in which any civilized person would assume that they could agree - the well being of Mr. Webb's son.
Instead of answering his hosts sincere question with a polite response like, "he's fine, I just heard from him", he chose to give an answer which said, in effect, "screw off, it's none of your business". Well I'm sorry Mr. Webb but as the Commander in Chief the welfare of an active duty Marine is damned well George Bush's business.
Also, consider how much political hay the left could have made if Bush had shown no concern whatsoever over Mr. Webb's son. Would not the mainstream media's action line be something like, "Bush sends Webb's kid to war and then can't even be bothered to ask how he's doing"?
Is this the proper attitude?
I just noticed this in the paper and it seems a bit strange to have a major legal entanglement arise within a religious denomination like this.
Virginia Episcopal Bishop Peter J. Lee is threatening to sue conservative Episcopal churches that soon will vote on whether to leave his diocese, saying individual members of each congregation's governing board will be liable.
In a four-page letter released late Friday, the bishop of the country's largest diocese, with 90,000 members, sent a letter to parishes conducting a 40-day period of discernment on whether to leave the Episcopal Church.
Thousands of Episcopalians already have left the 2.2 million-member denomination over arguments about biblical authority and the 2003 consecration of New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson, an active homosexual.
"I believe your successors in the future will regret that decision and its destructive consequences to the whole church," the bishop wrote of congregations threatening to leave the diocese. Any congregation attempting to leave without a negotiated settlement with the diocese "will have repercussions and possible civil liability for individual vestry members."
Virginia Episcopal Bishop Peter J. Lee is threatening to sue conservative Episcopal churches that soon will vote on whether to leave his diocese, saying individual members of each congregation's governing board will be liable.
In a four-page letter released late Friday, the bishop of the country's largest diocese, with 90,000 members, sent a letter to parishes conducting a 40-day period of discernment on whether to leave the Episcopal Church.
Thousands of Episcopalians already have left the 2.2 million-member denomination over arguments about biblical authority and the 2003 consecration of New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson, an active homosexual.
"I believe your successors in the future will regret that decision and its destructive consequences to the whole church," the bishop wrote of congregations threatening to leave the diocese. Any congregation attempting to leave without a negotiated settlement with the diocese "will have repercussions and possible civil liability for individual vestry members."
Liberal Compassion
The always insightful Thomas Sowell has skewered the liberals with solid evidence that despite their constant call for forgiveness of loans to 3rd world countries, a living wage for the poor, and a safety net for all, these are all governmental acts of compassion. How about situations where the actual help for someone or something comes out of their own pockets? Not so caring, it seems. You can read his essay here, but at the end you may be reminded as I was that when the press looked at Al Gore's tax information while running for President, they found his charitable contributions for an entire year was $768.00.
The Kyoto Price Tag
There is every indication that carbon dioxide emissions will become an international concern which almost matches the attention currently being paid to Britney's crotch. IBD has an editorial reporting that 90% of Europeans believe that man is responsible for the current warming trend. Even more interesting is the poll showing that 68% of them would be in favor of lifestyle restrictions to help address this "problem". The question now is how much in favor they really are. If the Kyoto accords are actually met by Europe, it is estimated the EU would lose from 1.5 to 4% of their GDP and millions of jobs. This would be 4 million in Spain and 1 million jobs a year in Britain from 2008 to 2012. The Clinton administration correctly concluded that the Kyoto Treaty should not even be submitted to the Senate because it would cost us $400 BILLION a year and nearly 4.9 million lost jobs. Maybe this would be acceptable to the Europeans since they aren't all that crazy about work in the first place, but someone should consider the calculation that each one- billionth if warming avoidance will cost $100,000. So, in order to reduce the global temperature by about 1 degree Celsius, it would cost $100 TRILLION.
As IBD points out, the loony environmentalists bemoan the cost of doing nothing (which is at least as theoretical as the calculations above), but Europeans should at least consider the cost before getting in line for a dubious remedy to a nebulous problem. The same admonition should be made to the newly empowered Dems in the U.S. Congress who will be inclined to follow everything European.
As IBD points out, the loony environmentalists bemoan the cost of doing nothing (which is at least as theoretical as the calculations above), but Europeans should at least consider the cost before getting in line for a dubious remedy to a nebulous problem. The same admonition should be made to the newly empowered Dems in the U.S. Congress who will be inclined to follow everything European.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Bush needs to take another look
When they first met, President Bush said he looked into Vladimir Putin's soul and liked what he saw. As Putin continues on his current path to destroy all semblance of democracy in Russia and eliminate his critics by whatever means necessary, Bush needs to reconsider what a proper soul looks like.
Diversity Anyone
The loony left is quite insistent on society providing for diversity unless that includes ideas which come from anywhere this side of Marxism. Witness the reaction on college campuses when speakers who are invited which have ideas that do not comport with their extreme ideology. Such violent demonstrations have been directed toward Ann Coulter , John Bolton, and now Tom Tancredo.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
