One reason to like Live8

I'm not a big fan of rock stars engaging in moral preening, but if it allows Pink Floyd to reunite, then it might be worth it.

There is just too much

in this photo to mock.....that my brain is going into a meltdown.

Helpful British

Then again, why subject any American states to a little disintegrate the traditional family experiment when England has done it for us.
"Meanwhile, married couples with children no longer get preferential tax treatment, as Tony Blair's government has declared that no one form of "family" should have a tax advantage over another. Anything anyone chooses, however temporarily, to regard as a "family" is as good as any other."
Is one of the main arguments for preserving the traditional definition of marriage a slippery slope argument? Sure, but when you have a view of what lies farther down the slope (as well as evidence that the slope is slippery), the slippery slope case gains credibility.

Kinder, Gentler Jesse Helms

Jesse Helms is about to publish an autobiography. I admire the old man a bit more now, especially since he is acknowledging his wrongness on AIDS. I'm not a big fan of the 'judgment of God' view on AIDS - I mean, we're Christians and we should care when others are hurting, even if they may have brought it upon themselves. That said, I think that Bush is doing plenty to fight this scourge, despite what the critics may say. If anything, AIDS probably gets disproportionate amounts of government disease research. Well, that's my feeling anyway, I should probably get solid numbers to back it up. Regardless, an AIDS prevention pill or cure will probably come from the private sector anyway.

His views on race are the most interesting. Helms was constantly tarred as an old segregationist racist by the Revuhrennnnnn and his ilk. It seems he was more of the Goldwater school of race relations, more libertarian-"government-can't-make-people-like-each-other" in his approach. I think MLK and the civil rights heroes (many of them Republicans) deserve their credit for their nonviolent approach, but using the courts to impose unconstitutional laws, such as Brown v. Board of Education, was a bad way to finish it. People will change if their consciences demand it.

The Post Techie Conservative

I'd caught the Howard Dean said all Republicans are white christians part earlier, the context makes it even more entertaining. Incidently, in his interview on the Today show this morning, Dean said that the large percentage of hispanics who voted Bush don't invalidate his point because they want the same things as the white christians.

"Many Republicans probably voted for George Bush dozens, if not hundreds, of times in 2004, according to Democrat party Chairman Howard Dean, "by taking advantage of the fact that Democrat poll workers have difficulty distinguishing individuals from among a crowd of white Christians."

"Thanks to their pale skin, round eyes and khaki trousers, Republicans just blend in," said Mr. Dean. "So they vote, get in the back of the line and vote again. And because they've never made an honest living in their lives, they could do that all day long.""

Smart Jewish People

Marginally interesting study. I mostly just like this quote:
"It would be hard to overstate how politically incorrect this paper is..."
As the quote goes on to say, the idea put forth by the study is perfectly reasonable and well explained. Yet it's "politically incorrect" because it suggests that some people groups are inherently smarter than others. So to those who don't want to believe that intelligence is (in part) genetic, which do you not believe in: that human babies have DNA from their parents? that the brain develops based on the instructions in the babie's DNA? If you believe the latter please explain where to information to construct the brain comes from.
I guess it just bugs me when people lable something which is obviously factually correct as "politically incorrect."
What would be politically incorrect is to suggest that someone's ability to contribute to society is proportionate only to their intelligence. I'd rather employ (were I in such a position) a hard working guy of average intelligence than a smart slacker. The screaming moonbats seem to be unable to make this distinction though, so they just battle against the idea that intelligence is at all genetic.

Richardson Starts Campaign

Governor Richardson continues to campaign in his bid for the White House in 2008. On a totally and completely unrelated note, Richardson's administration is buying a new $5.5 million corporate jet. I'm sure Richardson wouldn't even think of using that new jet to fly to campaign destinations. There will no doubt be a perfectly good reason (in terms of the wellbeing of the state of New Mexico) for the good governor to go to every location to which he takes the new jet. In a way that's probably even true as Richarson no doubt has political allies in NM who he would pay back if he became president. Possibly resulting in extra funds for various state p...p...p...pork, i mean projects. So maybe I shouldn't be too upset that my state taxes will help support Richardson for president.

Forrester Wins

the GOP gubernatorial primary here in Jersey. Well, I did what I could for Schundler. Boy, this race will be something to get excited about - Democrat vs. Democrat-lite! At least I can say that I voted in my first primary now.

Clarence Thomas

is the most principled originalist on the Supreme Court (via Instapundit). With the talk of Rehnquists' eventual retirement, I had favored Scalia for Chief Justice, primarily because I knew a lot about him and knew him to be an extremely witty originalist. However, he sacrifices his principles in this case and the dissenting Thomas does not. When Rehnquist retires, Pres. Bush should nominate Clarence Thomas to be Chief Justice.
Update: Even Kos agrees with this analysis (well, except for the whole elevate Thomas to Chief part, I'm sure). I'm sad to say, Scalia certainly does look like a partisan hack on this issue - although I'll have to read his opinion to make that statement with certainty.

Soutwest Airlines supports gay marriage?

Not really. That's just what I was afraid I was going to find when I saw this on their frontpage:
"Help repeal the Wright Amendment and Set Love Free! Visit setlovefree.com for more details. "
Not that I know of any marriage amendment called the Wright Amendment, but I thought maybe I'd just not been paying attention.

Where's the UN?

A Kofi Annan interview by Katie Couric was on Today (not GMA, disregard my misnaming of morning TV shows) this morning. Why didn't she ask him about a UN response to this? Oh yeah, the UN can't even keep it's own "peacekeepers" from raping the populace.
It really makes me sick to see just how much the rest of the world doesn't care.
Incidently, Kofi's goal for his reign as Secretary-General is that the UN will be a little better than when he got there. Cough. Cough.

Enemies abound

"[The Grey Lady] revealed the use of aircraft charter companies by the CIA and other intelligence agencies, together with specific aircraft markings, bases, routes, and other information helpful to identification of such flights."
"If the authors were just publishing their article to get a chance at a Pulitzer, I really have no moral quarrel with them at all, any more than I would have with a crocodile that eats a child or a raccoon that raids my larder. However, if they do have a moral identity as human beings, they should know that, if a certain civilian plane comes down over an unnamed Middle Eastern country, and all the US personnel aboard are killed, there is one compatriot who will regard them as murderers. May they think of this as they look in the mirror."

Just thought I would point this issue out. The quoted article can be found on the website who's name Jonah doesn't care for and where the Instapundit occasionally contributes. I don't intend to make it any easier to find the actual info which could get Americans killed. Yes, yes, I know that this blog is unlikely to be read by any badguys. But just in case.

Bwahahahahaha

was my reaction to this story - seems that Bush actually had a higher average than Kerry at Yale! He actually only got one D during his college years, while Kerry got five. But the funniest thing about this story is the Lurch-like photo of Kerry. Also funny: one of his highest freshman grades came in French class.

Update: Evidently the blogosphere was waaaaay ahead on this story.

Worse than Watergate

With the media waxing nostalgic on their bringing down a popular president (because of the recent revelation of Deep Throat's identity) NRO posts a column noting LBJ's far greater abuses of power that somehow the media failed to report on.

I've never been a huge fan of Nixon, who based on my knowledge ran a pretty liberal administration, but I think he's gotten a bad rap in history based on Watergate. Ben Stein's column defending Nixon I think goes a bit over the top - he makes valid points, but saying Nixon lied for peace is a bit of a stretch. I think Nixon lied to preserve his hide more than anything, which is exactly the same crime a certain recent president (who his hypocritical cronies in Congress helped to preserve) committed.

One more quick historical fact - remember the real reason that Nixon was brought down in Watergate. He was an unapologetic anticommunist, defeating House and Senate candidates from the Democratic party by exposing their Commie sympathies. His ultimate crime, however, was his dogged pursuit of the case against Alger Hiss, everyone's favorite Commie spy. Read Whittaker Chamber's Witness for a gripping narrative of this account. Nixon, Chambers, and all who participated in this case were ultimately vindicated by the Venona cables which unbelievably some idiotic leftists still refuse to believe provides sufficient proof.

And the right shall reign supreme

A Wired article and Instapundit entry about the idea that the Information Age has been driven by left brain skills (add, subtract) while the coming Conceptual Age will be driven by right brain skills (art, come up with new proof method). The basic premise is that all the left brain stuff will either be outsourced or done by machines. I don't think things are quite as cut and dry as the book (idea is from this book) presents. I would suggest that America has risen in the Information Age because of a combination of left brain technical ability and right brain type innovation. I don't think we are going to see a wholesale paradigm shift away from the Information Age anytime soon. If those who care about such things decide to lable a new age, it will probably be the Nano Age or the Bio Age.
Maybe this book is just a bit ahead of it's time. Once we can make anything we want via molecular assembly, be anything we want via bioengineering, and solve any problem with quantum computers, then maybe productive humanity will start to shift more toward touchy feely right brain stuff. Until then, there's a whole lot more information to be extracted from the Information Age.

It's True

the rumors are true about Apple-Intel. Sorry Vetes, looks like IBM's down. At least my coworkers will hopefully getting a little boost in their stock (currently down). I wonder how long it will be until Bill Gates absorbs Apple completely into the Wintel Leviathan?

Sheets may be gone

Michelle Malkin links to some folks buzzing about a close race in '06 that may remove "Sheets" Byrd from office. I'm torn! I love having this embarrassment to the Democrats around (do you realize how much fun it is to tell my lib friends that their party has the only former Klan member in Congress?) but I would sooooooooo love to see this loony old racist be sent "gently into that good night". Plus it would give us one more senator to break the filibuster.

Our legislature at work

It seems that the Real ID Act was attached to an emergency military spending bill. So we now have federally mandated national ID cards (within three years). Note that you won't actually have to carry a new card becasue each states' drivers license will have to meet the new standard. Also, all the states' databases will be linked together.

There are good arguments for the national ID card and national database. There are also good arguments against the card and database. Had there been a seperate congressional vote on the topic, these pros and cons could have been debated.

Zimbabwe

More analysis on why thugocracies are bad. Money quote:
"Mugabe is the poor man's Pol Pot. And like Pol Pot, he is getting help and support from people in the West who will later pretend not to know what was going on."

I'm not sure whether I agree with Glenn's solution or not. I can't think of any better solution at this point. It's just that there is something unsettling about the sequence. Western world withdraws "benevolent" rule of country. Thugocracy takes over and burnonates the countryside. Western world gives guns to locals in hopes they will solve their own problems.

I've only thought a little about the problem, but I don't think just airdropping Glocks is the best solutions. I'm thinking that if we're going to do anything of the sort, we should give the people guns, training in use of the guns, and as much if not more training in classically liberal ideology. The hope being that if the people do get control of their country, they will be able to do something useful with it. Also, they would hopefully be less likely to later try and kill us with the skills we gave them.

The Mighty Weasel Bus is Delayed

The gargantuan A380 weasel-transport-device is being delayed - the problem is with a weasel factory in Germany. This is all they can come up with to compete with us? This and the floating display of weasel might? Really, do we have anything to worry about?

Finally

Microsoft to get rid of "My" prefix. I used to rename My Computer to Computer on any PC I regularly used. The "My" always seemed overly cute and dumb. I would also either deleted the My Documents shortcut from the desktop or at least move it from its topmost rightmost throne of positional importance. It just seemed dumb that we should have one directory where all personal files should go no matter what type they are or what program they're from.

Vive le France

On the heels of the French 'non' vote comes the Dutch vote, and it looks like the Dutch will reject the constitution as well, according to this story from the London Times. However, what I found most interesting in this story is this, regarding the new French PM:

M de Villepin, whose heroes are Napoleon and Charles de Gaulle, is a staunch nationalist whose views are mostly anathema to Britain.

As Foreign Minister, he fought passionately to stop Britain and the US going to war in Iraq. He champions the state-led French social model over “Anglo-Saxon” economics.

So, a "staunch nationalist" who champions the "state-led French social model"? Sounds like someone familiar in history, who rose to power sometime in the '30s......oh yeah, except he was a staunch nationalist who championed the state-led German social model.

New Member of Krugman Truth Squad

Paul Krugman is getting ripped by the departing Public Editor of the NYT. Sweet! I haven't run across Prof. Krugman on campus yet, but if I ever do, it may be difficult to keep from heckling.

Revenge of the Sith

If you haven't seen this movie yet, then don't read this. But the only people who read this are dorks, so you've probably already seen it.

Finally got around to watching Episode III the other day. It was not that great a movie. Seriously, it sucked. The wife fell asleep for about 20 minutes of it. The only non-sucky thing about it was that it was kinda cool to see the stories behind the original 3 episodes - such as Luke's and Leia's birth, and how Darth Vader got all jacked up. Oh, and the huge barking lizard that Obi-Wan rides was pretty cool. Plus, Yoda fights some more.

Sorry, I can't get into the story behind Star Wars the way I can get into Lord of the Rings, or the Chronicles of Narnia. There's too much mushy pseudo-pantheistic religiosity in the stories of Star Wars that turns me off. I was particularly repelled by these lines:

Anakin: You're either with me, or you're my enemy.

Obi-Wan: Only a Sith speaks in absolutes.

What the heck? Not only is Kenobe's statement in itself an absolute, the whole smarmy Star Wars series is nothing but absolute after friggin' absolute. Isn't an overarching theme of this whole stupid series the idea of good vs. evil? Clearly, this was just a cheap jab at W. (The Christian blogosphere has picked up on this also, saying that using this standard Jesus was a Sith lord - since the "absolutist" statement was actually his.) I couldn't believe the tripe that was in this movie - even the little green wise man was spouting idiotic sentiments. "You must learn to let go....Death is a natural part of life." Easy for the little green immortal to say. I don't enjoy these movies primarily because of this wayward moralism - there is no fixed moral compass like there is in LOTR or Narnia. The "wisest" characters in this story are constantly contradicting themselves by going from one squishy moral principle to another, evidently culled from various religions.

The only other beef I have with this movie was how all of a sudden Anakin went from becoming a Sith for "good" reasons (to save his wife) and then all of a sudden became evil, slaying younglings and all. Of course Anakin was corrupted by the Dark Side, but I don't think Lucas portrayed this decay of Anakin's character well enough. It seemed to me to be too sudden a change. I dunno; maybe that's how the Dark Side works. Don't listen to me, since I'm just a consumer and this movie exploded from the wellspring of Lucas' fertile imagination.

At any rate, it was worth the $6.50 I paid for it, primarily for the imaginative creatures and places that Lucas can come up with, as well as it being the final nail in the coffin of this franchise. But I'm not buying the DVD of this or any other Star Wars flick.

Update: Check this Mark Steyn review. He's a master with language and he rips into Lucas for this stinker, which is good, because I didn't rip into the terrible acting at all. And it was terrible - especially Hayden Christensen, who plays pathetic fake newsreporters much better than dark Sith lords.

Attaching amino acids to electronic device materials

Researchers at Lucent Technologies’ Bell Laboratories in the US have tested the adhesion of amino acids to semiconductors, metals and insulators used in electronic devices. The team used their results to design an inorganic nanostructure that selectively bound to a particular primary peptide sequence.
via SciTech Daily
I find it interesting that we can still do such basic research. How well does amino acid x stick to gold? Of course, I'm far more interested in how sticking amino acids to electronic device materials can help us to make time traveling cyborgs...

Public Education Spirals Further Down the Toilet

via Instapundit
It seems that the correct "disposition" is a growing requirement to become a teacher. The article deals mostly with CUNY Brookly School of Education. Though the idea of evaluating prospective teachers' disposition is from a national education consortium; "Driving the new policies at the college and similar ones at other education schools is a mandate set forth by the largest accrediting agency of teacher education programs in America, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. That 51-year-old agency, composed of 33 professional associations, says it accredits 600 colleges of education - about half the country's total. Thirty-nine states have adopted or adapted the council's standards as their own, according to the agency."
In 2000 the council introduced new standards for accrediting education schools. Those standards incorporated the concept of dispositions, which the agency maintains ought to be measured, to sort out teachers who are likeliest to be successful. In a glossary, the council says dispositions "are guided by beliefs and attitudes related to values such as caring, fairness, honesty, responsibility, and social justice."
Some choice quotes:
"All of these buzz words don't seem to mean anything until you look and see how they're being implemented," a prominent history professor at Brooklyn College, Robert David Johnson, said. "Dispositions is an empty vessel that could be filled with any agenda you want," he said.
Critics such as Mr. Johnson say the dangers of the assessment policy became immediately apparent in the fall semester when several students filed complaints against an instructor who they said discriminated against them because of their political beliefs and "denounced white people as the oppressors."
The report to the council stated that teacher candidates will "self-evaluate and faculty will evaluate the candidates on 8 dispositions at mid-semester and at the end of the semester." Those who perform poorly in the assessment are given "counseling."
"Candidates who do not meet academic standards and candidates who do not demonstrate acceptable performance after such counseling will be counseled out of programs," the report stated.
A professor emerita at California State University Monterey Bay, Christine Sleeter, suggested in a March 2001 essay in the Journal of Teacher Education titled "Preparing Teachers for Culturally Diverse Schools: Research and the Overwhelming Presence of Whiteness" that education schools could "alter the mix of who becomes teachers" by recruiting and selecting "only those who bring experiences, knowledge, and dispositions that will enable them to teach well in culturally diverse urban schools."

Non

French reject EU constitution. One of the more interesting analyses is at PowerLine - I'm particularly interested in the red/blue state France map. It looks like a coalition of the extreme right and left defeated it, each with its own reasons - the right wanting to protect national sovereignty and the left wanting to protect "worker's rights". I don't really know if the urban/rural dichotomy exists in France like it does here, but it certainly looks that way.

I don't really know what to make of it - I despise the French, both the right and left wingers. It seems in continental Europe the right wingers ARE actually racists and bigots, and tend to be statist anyway. Going on principles, though, I'd say the best thing that could possibly emerge would be a European free trade zone, but one in which each state maintains its national identity. Chirac wanted a united Europe to counter U.S. might, however, so I'd say he wasn't shooting for that as his primary goal. Besides, there are too many loony left-wingers in France (read the PowerLine post - they name an elementary school for Karl Marx!) to allow a true free trade zone to reign. About the only real conclusion I can come up with is that Europe is in disarray. So what else is new?

Knife Control?

This was something we 2nd Amendmenters would joke about, but it looks like it's on the radar screen in Britain.

O How the Mighty Have Fallen

I'm a Jeopardy! addict, so I watched the fascinating slaughter of Ken Jennings over the past three days by Brad Rutter. It wasn't even close. It seems to me that Ken was a little rusty, which may have had something to do with it, but Brad was just quicker on the button in general. Ken's strategy was (and is) extremely conservative so he'd never go out on a limb unless it was a low dollar question. Brad seemed to take advantage of this, something that none of the contestants that Ken mowed down during his run seemed to do. Kudos to Brad, who by the way is from Lancaster, PA so he's somewhat of an area celeb now.

Re: Compromise?

It looks like someone beat me to the "it might not be that bad sentiment" via instapundit

As to McCain running for president, i hope not as I'm pretty sure he'd loose (you never know who the dems will field though, imagine McCain vs. Clinton). During the talk I saw McCain give on the "compromise," he was asked what counted as extraordinary circumstances. McCain volunteered that an extraordinary circumstance is like child porn, you know it when you see it. Bringing up a generally super offensive topic when it has nothing to do with what's being discussed isn't really the mark of a charismatic leader.

Amazing Game

Just finished watching an amazing Champions League final. Liverpool came back from a 3-0 deficit to defeat a dominating AC Milan side in penalty kicks. They did in dramatic fashion too - they were down at halftime and came back to score 3 goals within the space of 7 minutes when the second half started. Brilliant goalkeeping by Jerzy Dudek kept Liverpool in the game until time ran out, and can be credited (along with crappy Milan penalties) for the final win. Some of the best soccer I've seen in club play.

Compromise?

I can't even begin to put it in any type of clarity my disappointment and my disbelief over the so-called compromise in regards to the judicial filibuster issue. I knew when I went to a news website and on display was a giant photo of McCain that the Republicans had caved and were screwed over once again. Perhaps a qoute or too from writers better at describing the events of the past week will help;

Nor is the worst aspect of the compromise the embarrassment the GOP brought upon itself with its inept rhetoric. Ever since they moronically coined and popularized the phrase “nuclear option,” the Republicans were destined to look bad. Implicit in the phrase is the notion that the Republicans were the ones determined to do something radical and dangerous, even though it was the Democrats who were actually promising to “blow up” the Senate.

First, there’s the abiding faith — eternally celebrated by the press — that compromise is always and everywhere a good thing. If I say two plus two equals four, and you say two plus two equals one billion, is it really such a great advance to split the difference and agree that it’s somewhere near 500 million?

The Senate Democrats hung tough and the Republicans wimped out. The Republicans had the votes but they didn't have the guts.

Unity often beats disunity, even when the side that is unified is smaller.

Every time we lose when we should win it is more difficult to even pretend that anything can ever get done.

My thoughts

exactly. I gotta say, he's a real piece of work, or a piece of something.

Nuclear Venezuela?

Rumors that Hugo Chavez wishes to go nuclear. A nuclear rogue state in our hemisphere? Pretty scary. I wonder what Castro's ambitions are in this regard, also. I guess he knows if he had any nuclear ambitions his little tinpot dictatorship would soon be swamped by Marines, so he's a little more discreet.

Interesting

Intel may provide chips for Apple computers. This guy thinks the technical hurdles are too high for Apple to justify jumping ship just yet. I hope that Intel can get a bit more business to help out my former colleagues though, they really need that stock price to go up.

I was a bit perturbed that I wasn't aware that Motorola's chip unit had separated, and while I was still working in the chip industry. I guess my nose was pressed so hard to the grindstone that even important business news was flying past me.

Evil Empire

Some freakin' sweet photoshops of Star Wars. My personal favorite is "Damn it feels good to be a Jedi". Although I really would like to see who Darth Vader is strangling in "Vader press conference".

Imperial Judiciary

Vetes' post (see below) reminded me of another argument I had with a liberal (this one was from Maryland). When I brought up my loathing of the current liberal-law-by-judicial-fiat system we've got going (in place since the great *spit* FDR) he said (to this effect), "well, I trust judges more than the rabble. All great advances in human rights have come from judges." To which I would reply "Haven't you heard of the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th amendments? Last I checked, amendments were DEMOCRATICALLY enacted changes (read: human rights advances)." I'm surprised by the level of civics and Constitutional ignorance that exists on the left. It's like they don't even read the Constitution; they just "feel" something should be right and then search the Constitution for the right string of words they can twist to get the desired result.

My Favorite Subject?

Or just the thing that's been bugging me the most lately? Often, there's nothing better than the apt words of a fine writer bothered by the same. The latest from WFB (isn't NRO great for their collection of legendary initials?) starts with this gem;

Really, you would think the Republicans had proposed to rape the Statue of Liberty. The brummagem moral fanfare imposed on the controversy reminds one of the desperation with which losers will attempt to cope with disappointment at the polls.

It's amazing how long this has gone on and I'm sure that most who punish themselves by giving time to my thoughts have heard enough of my fears regarding weak knees on the side that needs to get something done, it feels good to not be alone;

...the Republican senators tend to dissipate their authority by hesitating to use it. That hesitation, after a while, comes over not as deliberation, but as irresolution.

To say that these words from a master make me giddy is more than an understatement. If only I had the eloquence and clarity to organize my thoughts in the same manner.

Money quote

From VDH's current article on NRO:
So just as al Qaeda will always find an enabling Westerner to say, "You lashed out at us in frustration for your unfair treatment," so too a guilty Westerner will always find a compliant terrorist to boast, "Yes, we kill you for your sins."

So Right...

is Thomas Sowell in his latest column;

Again and again, the left has claimed rights for itself that it denies to others.

How many times must obvious facts like this be brought up before it garners appropriate attention? Cynics and the failure of some to even pay attention only embolden poor behaviour.