Q: I'm at a loss for words.

A: What is, something John Pilger at the New Statesman has never said! What a bunch of self-righteous drivel. Here's a sample:

"In Santa's Grotto, there is no place for Howard Zinn's honest People's History of the United States, or I F Stone's revelation of the truth of what the museum calls 'the forgotten war' in Korea, or Mark Twain's definition of patriotism as the need to keep 'multitudinous uniformed assassins on hand at heavy expense to grab slices of other people's countries'. Moreover, at the Price of Freedom Shop, you can buy US Army Monopoly, and a 'grateful nation blanket' for just $200. The exhibition's corporate sponsors include Sears, Roebuck, the mammoth retailer. The point is taken."

Read the rest if you like. It's full of egotistical, patronizing, whining, name-dropping, self-important, incoherent statements that make little sense. It's obvious the man is well read in the classics of liberalism, socialism and sarcastic commentary. But please, man. Make a point.

The other side of the blade...

...that gets overlooked by Republicans (Bloomberg):

"Still, the report also reveals a serious issue: While tax cuts may generate future growth, they can only do so if the government spends less."

And since the Republicans have gained power, they have quickly assimilated into the practice they blasted the Democrats for: overspending! At least in Reagan's day, it truly was the Democrats who helped spend the windfall. Not today.

Principles and Politics - Scientists

This TCS Daily piece asks the proverbial question related to "global warming": "How is politics involved?":

"Climatologist Hans von Storch of Germany, no global warming contrarian, had his own concerns about Schakowsky's question when his panel appeared:

'I was a bit disappointed about the comment from the lady from Illinois who said, aren't you afraid if you say this, that this would have negative implications on the policy process. I was kind of shocked. Should we really adapt what we say if that's useful for the policy process? Is that what you expect from science? If we give advice, must we first think, is it useful for something? I think that is not the way we should operate.'"

Seems like Mr. von Storch has the right approach to scientific exploration. I would hope that other scientists hold the same standards.

Turn elections into a lottery?

An Arizona politician has a referendum on the ballot calling for a 'lottery' to be attached to the voting process - you vote, you are entered for the chance to win a $1M! - or something like that. I agree with Jonah Goldberg:

"The push to make voting much easier has been considerably less controversial. Weekend voting, voting by mail and online voting are constantly greeted as vital reforms of our electoral system. And although some of these reforms are probably benign, all assume that even the slightest inconvenience in voting is an outrage because democratic health is purely a numbers game: More voters equals a healthier society. My own view is that voting should be more difficult because things of value usually require a little work. That goes for citizenship too."

Let's not turn our election process into some online, popularity poll. What's next, a rip-off of "American Idol": "American President" where we have a bunch of teenie-boppers on cells phones hitting re-dial for their favorite candidate? Yeah. That'll work.

Principles and Politics - Republicans

A survey by NPR, via Salon.com, suggests that the pandering some (and more are falling into line) in the Republican party partake in, is turning the voters off:

"People reject the 'moral values' demagoguery. Most voters in the contested districts say that they trust Democrats, not Republicans, on such issues as stem cell research, flag burning and gay rights. Those responses indicate that the summer strategy of setting up phony floor votes on right-wing constitutional amendments -- and the president's first veto -- may have backfired. Fifty-two percent say that the recent stem cell debate made them more inclined to vote for Democrats, and 49 percent said the same about flag burning, gay marriage and other 'values issues.' Only 29 percent -- essentially the conservative base -- said those debates would motivate them to vote for Republicans."

Again, as a Conservative, this troubles me as well. I am not a proponent of governments controlling social agendas - in either direction (despite Salon's attempt to brand conservatives in this way). Perhaps this is more of a Libertarian approach, but the bottom-line is, there are more important things for federal governments to do that worry about someone burning a flag or if a state has enough citizens who vote to allow two men to marry. [On the other hand, I don't trust that if Democrats took control, they wouldn't pander to the other side and propose bills that would "protect" these "rights" either.]

Republicans need to uphold the Constitution, reduce federal spending (and by default the need for increased taxation) - especially social and pork - and ensure for the defense of the nation. Period.

Principles and Politics - Democrats

Peter Beinart suggests the Democrats have their strategy: Pander and Run:

"Privately, some Democrats, while admitting that they haven't exactly been taking the high road, say they have no choice, that in a competition with Karl Rove, nice guys finish last. But even politically, that's probably wrong. The Democratic Party's single biggest foreign policy liability is not that Americans think Democrats are soft. It is that Americans think Democrats stand for nothing, that they have no principles beyond political expedience. And given the party's behavior over the past several months, it is not hard to understand why."

As a conservative and most often Republican voter, you'd think this would be a good thing for me. It's not.

I want leadership and decisiveness in public office. I want people to DO THEIR JOB, not PROTECT THEIR JOB. It isn't about being a Republican or a Democrat. Be an American and serve the public.

Proportionate Response?

From Best of the Web Today:

"BB 'C' No Evil

When Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers two weeks ago, provoking the current conflagration, the Shiite terrorist outfit apparently intended to use them as bargaining chips to demand the release of prisoners. Press reports often discuss this as if there were an equivalence between the Israeli soldiers, who committed no crimes but were simply defending their own country within its borders, and Arab terrorists. So it's worth pointing out just who the "prisoners" in Israeli hands are.

According to the BBC "the prisoner Hezbollah wants most" is Samir Qantar. On April 22, 1979, Qantar murdered 28-year-old Danny Haran and his 4-year-old daughter and caused the death of another Haran daughter, age 2. Haran's widow, Smadar Haran Kaiser, describes the crime (she transliterates the murderer's name as "Kuntar"):

It had been a peaceful Sabbath day. My husband, Danny, and I had picnicked with our little girls, Einat, 4, and Yael, 2, on the beach not far from our home in Nahariya, a city on the northern coast of Israel, about six miles south of the Lebanese border.

Around midnight, we were asleep in our apartment when four terrorists, sent by Abu Abbas from Lebanon, landed in a rubber boat on the beach two blocks away. Gunfire and exploding grenades awakened us as the terrorists burst into our building. They had already killed a police officer.

As they charged up to the floor above ours, I opened the door to our apartment. In the moment before the hall light went off, they turned and saw me. As they moved on, our neighbor from the upper floor came running down the stairs. I grabbed her and pushed her inside our apartment and slammed the door.

Outside, we could hear the men storming about. Desperately, we sought to hide. Danny helped our neighbor climb into a crawl space above our bedroom; I went in behind her with Yael in my arms. Then Danny grabbed Einat and was dashing out the front door to take refuge in an underground shelter when the terrorists came crashing into our flat.

They held Danny and Einat while they searched for me and Yael, knowing there were more people in the apartment. I will never forget the joy and the hatred in their voices as they swaggered about hunting for us, firing their guns and throwing grenades. I knew that if Yael cried out, the terrorists would toss a grenade into the crawl space and we would be killed. So I kept my hand over her mouth, hoping she could breathe. As I lay there, I remembered my mother telling me how she had hidden from the Nazis during the Holocaust. "This is just like what happened to my mother," I thought.

As police began to arrive, the terrorists took Danny and Einat down to the beach. There, according to eyewitnesses, one of them shot Danny in front of Einat so that his death would be the last sight she would ever see. Then he smashed my little girl's skull in against a rock with his rifle butt. That terrorist was Samir Kuntar.

By the time we were rescued from the crawl space, hours later, Yael, too, was dead. In trying to save all our lives, I had smothered her.

The BBC gives a rather more sanitized account of the crime: "Qantar . . . attacked a block of flats in Nahariha in 1979, killing a father and his daughter."

How's that for a "proportionate" report!?

Will Venezuela become the "American" N. Korea?

This is troubling news:

"Chavez, who has become an increasing thorn in Washington's side because of his anti-U.S. policies, is also hoping to set up Kalashnikov weapons and ammunition plants in Venezuela.

The Venezuelan leader spoke Thursday of the 'astonishing progress in military-technical cooperation' -- a euphemism for arms sales -- and repeated his thanks to Putin for supplying Caracas with weaponry."

He has already co-opted a major oil producer, Citgo, and openly shares his admiration and respect to Fidel. I have yet to read or hear of any military threat to Venezuela, other than potential internal coups to remove him from his dictatorship.

This is worth watching.

Has anyone begun...

...the countdown clock on Kofi Annan?

UPDATE: Look to the right side of this screen.

Who's money is it?

This New York Times editorial tells us that those darn rich are getting all the breaks again:

"That's not very reassuring. Fewer smaller estates -- currently, those worth up to $2 million are exempt -- are subject to the tax today than when Mr. Bush first took office. But large estates are still taxed, and with inequalities in income and wealth producing ever more billionaires and millionaires, there's ever more gold in those hills for auditors to mine.

The I.R.S. also says that it's confident it is catching estate-tax cheats because a mere 10 percent of estate audits brings in 80 percent of the additional taxes. The logic is that auditing a greater percentage would yield diminishing results. "

"Ever more gold in those hills?" Are they serious? The incomes EARNED by citizens is to be considered "gold to be mined" by the government? Didn't we throw some tea in a harbor once protesting unconscionable taxation?

And another thing. Since when is "...producing ever more billionaires and millionaires..." a bad thing? Doesn't that, by definition of the word "more", mean more people are achieving this level of income? Isn't that a good thing? Apparently not at the NYTs.

What do the editors at the Times think happens with "all this gold" in the hands of the "evil wealthy"? Is it buried in coffee cans in backyards - err, acres? Do they use it heat their homes while the rest of us poor schleps have to buy natural gas or oil? Have they ever considered that the money is invested in: industry that employs hundreds of thousands of people -- who then have the opportunity to succeed and join the evil wealthy; charitable organizations who use the money to help those unable to participate; and still, pay their fair share of the tax burden, so that politicians can play with some money too.

Chicago Orders "Big Box" Stores to Raise Wage

The New York Times has the story of a "great" success in Chicago for the working poor:

"This is a great day for the working men and women of Chicago," said Alderman Joseph A. Moore, the measure's chief sponsor. Mr. Moore said he had had inquiries about the ordinance from officials in several other cities."

According to the story, 35 existing EMPLOYERS will be impacted by this decision. I emphasize EMPLOYERS because many of the "working poor" happen to be EMPLOYED at these stores. Many other poor people happen to shop at these stores because they provide inexpensive goods that people need and want to live. The biggest - and baddest - is Wal-Mart of course. But the list includes: "...branches of Kmart, Target, Toys “R” Us and stores like Sears and Lowes."

“The working people were overwhelmingly in favor of this law, and this was conveyed to the aldermen,” said Madeline Talbott, chief organizer for Acorn, a community group that campaigned for the bill.

Acorn? A community group? How many community groups have NATIONAL and INTERNATIONAL offices? And it has a number of other "Allies" it works with.

In a previous post, the question was raised about redistribution of wealth - a socialistic concept. Acorn is all about that!

Yates' former neighbors divided

As, I think, are most people in this country. Houston Chronicle:

"'I had goose bumps. I almost melted when I heard. I'm glad they saw it for what it was. It really gave me hope.' [said Diane Blossom, who lived two doors down from the Yates family]

The jury's verdict, however, was painful for Cheryl Lund- quist. 'I made a comment once before that finding her not guilty is like open season on kids,' said Lundquist, who was the Yateses' next-door neighbor."

I have always struggled getting my head around the term "not guilty by reason of insanity". How can anyone who takes the life of another human being, be considered sane. By definition you're not. Wouldn't the more appropriate term be "guilty, but insane".

By the way, if anyone out there equates my statement about taking another human being's life with soldiers defending their country or a citizen acting in self-defense, fuggetaboutit.

Huh?

Does this make anyone else just a little uncomfortable?

*N Sync singer Lance Bass says he is gay

Was he the last to know?

Stem cell debate in Wisconsin

JS Online has a solid story defining the stem cell issues and the contrasts between the two candidates for Governor in Wisconsin. The following excerpt outlines most of my personal concerns:

"Meanwhile, the possibilities of stem cell research appeal to many. Nearly every conceivable ailment, illness and disease has been described as a possible beneficiary of research into stem cells, the cells from which all other cells in the body develop.
In theory, everyone from kids with juvenile diabetes to the elderly facing Alzheimer's could be helped. In reality, it's unclear in which areas there will be results.

'That's why it's such a powerful force,' said Arthur Caplan, head of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. 'You're saying to people we're not just going to cure psoriasis or we're not just fighting breast cancer.

'Everybody is thinking, 'This might help me.' '"

Some politicians have "used" this to appeal on emotion: "Vote for me and you'll live forever" (or as John Edwards said"...Christopher Reeves will walk again...!") "Everybody" is a large, potential voting block!

"Hope" is a terrible platform to run on. How many of these politicians will be there if the "hope balloon" pops? Who will catch those who put all their faith and resources into this possibility?

"True" reality gets in the way of Reality TV

Local pair turns to TV for sex therapy:

"'After a few days,' he admitted, 'I was ready for somebody to give me some coffee and a book and just leave me alone.' But that, he and his girlfriend both say, is one of the issues between them: Mike often wants to be left alone with that book, while Terri wants to go off hiking or biking or doing anything but sitting still."

Some people just aren't compatable. Mike needs to realize that Terri craves her "15 minutes" more than she craves him. Terri needs to realize that "she's" more important to herself than anyone else - move on, alone. Therapy over. Leave your money at the door.

From the "Who Cares" file:

JS Online: News(?):

"'I'm going to get married a few times this month to the same guy,' said the 39-year-old actress, who wore a white veil pulled-back from her face during a news conference about her new online poker site, PamelaPoker.com."

Does that mean in two to three years she'll be "divorcing the same guy" a few times?

'We will attack everywhere,' al-Qaeda leader warns

CBC News:

"The struggle against Israel by Hezbollah and Palestinian forces will not be ended with 'ceasefires or agreements,' he said.

'It is a jihad for God's sake and will last until [our] religion prevails. We will attack everywhere.'"

Tell me again how you negotiate with this position? How diplomacy would proceed? 'Cuz I still don't get it.

Thank You - Steve Castner

JS Online:Soldier, scholar, mentor:

"Steve Castner didn't have to join the Guard. Didn't have to go to Iraq. Didn't have to even think about it.

He'd had a good job in IT. He could have stayed close to one of the quaintest and most comfortable little towns in America. It would have been easy.

And it wouldn't have been him."

A friend reminds us, Steve was there for a purpose, and we should honor him for his sacrifice for all of us:

"I have no question in my mind," he said, "that he died or was killed being where he wanted to be, doing what he wanted to do and in the way he wanted to do it."

Setting things straight

This op-ed piece does an excellent job of setting the record straight regarding the Israeli/ Hezbollah conflict. First, Israel did not attack Lebanon and does not want to stay!:

"But now we come to the paradox. Despite some of the best efforts I've seen, by our liberal media, to spread poison, there is a growing understanding of what is taking place. Better yet, the response of the Arab world is increasingly directed against Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran; and even against Iran's other client, Hamas in Gaza (now suing for peace). This is unprecedented.

In a partly incoherent, rambling, and apocalyptic address on official Iranian TV, Sunday, President Ahmadinejad said, 'Lebanon is the scene of an historic test, which will determine the future of humanity.' Then, after condemning the unnamed leaders of various Arab regimes that had failed to align with Iran and Hezbollah, 'This is 'the Day that all things secret will be tested'.'"

It's clear that Israel faces more than Hezbollah in this conflict. Read it all.

"Put Grad School Within My Grasp" - Better yet "Pay it all!"

This attitude/expectation is not a surprise. It is a natural extension of the culture we've created - "It's not fair" and "I deserve more":

"Is access to graduate education in America exclusively for the upper class? As a first-year graduate student struggling to make ends meet, I believe the answer is yes. In my experience, searching for funding to pay the extensive costs of my higher education has been an upward climb leading only to dead ends."

Just like countless others who have come before you. You are NOT guaranteed success in this country - or in life for that matter. Hard work will increase your chances!

We are failing to redistribute the wealth in America, and the divide between the upper and lower classes is widening.

Good! We should fail to "redistribute wealth"! That is not the goal of a free, capitalistic, democracy. Again, equal access, not equal results!

Money invested in graduate education will benefit the government by improving the
quality of life for citizens.."

And since when is "government" a smart investment?

The writer is a first-year graduate student at American University working toward a master's degree in public administration.

Probably the most disturbing part of the editorial is that the bio of the author. She's studying to work in government!

Diplomacy

Glenn Reynolds makes an excellent point!

Randi Rhodes - what planet is she on?

EdCone.com:

"My rush-hour drive back to New York yesterday was not bad at all, but I did have the misfortune of hearing the Randi Rhodes show on Air America. Sean Hannity in drag, she is, and facts are not her friends. She was ranting about Israel's 'genocide' in Lebanon.

Genocide? Whatever Israel is doing, however bad you may think it, it's not the mass systematic extermination of a people. She piled on, saying that people who talk about the world's last genocide (which, of course, the Holocaust was not) should never do it
themselves.

She also said, wrongly, that 'thousands' of people had died in Katrina.
It was pretty damn bad."

I think it's pretty clear why Air America continues to lose money, when one of their "top name talents" drops diatribes like this! But the far-left eat this up. Throw facts to the wind - let's turn up the emotion!

Who are you going to believe?

I caught a brief, few minutes of former-President Clinton's speech in Connecticut (more on that later) this morning on C-Span. While he was there to support Sen. Lieberman in his campaign, Clinton used the forum to do what he does best: self-promotion. I've looked for a transcript, but you've all heard it before. "We (me) are the party that unites. They are the party that divides." "We (me) are the party for jobs and the working class. They are the party of the wealthiest few." "We (me) unite, they divide." Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Over and over.

As for employment and the economy, some locals in Wisconsin (4.9% UR in June):

"'These are the best times since at least Miller Park (construction) in the '90s. It might be the best in our 105-year history,' Jorgensen said."

As for other economic facts, compare the Clinton Administration, with the Bush Administration. Not exactly what the former-President portrays in his speeches, is it?

And as far as "uniting and dividing", just the very statement creates division. The left, for many years now, has operated under the banner of diversity, but have so narrowly defined what diversity is, that, unless you agree with them, you are dividing us. Maybe Bill thinks uniting the Democrats was enough of an accomplishment - forget the rest of us. Given the current state of the Democratic party, he's probably right.

Mystery stretch of freeway

Barriers sought on I-43:

"All four fatal crashes have occurred along a six-mile stretch of I-43 between Mequon and Grafton.

'I'm just saying put a barrier up,' said John Holicek, the Ozaukee County coroner. Holicek urged the state Department of Transportation to act quickly to install the median barrier."

I drive this stretch on a somewhat regular basis (used to drive it daily in a previous career) and I still cannot explain "why" these accidents happen in this 6-mile area. The road is almost perfectly straight and flat. The grassy median between north and south-bound lanes is as wide - or wider - than many other miles of freeway in the state. It is a true "freeway": no cross-traffic, four-lane. Yet, the accidents continue.

A colleague in the office - who drives much of this stretch - suggested as plausible an answer as anything: The highway was built over an ancient burial ground. We don't know that to be true, but it there isn't any better reason.

UPDATE: This is probably a good idea. {Governor Doyle orders barriers erected immediatley - no waiting for study} Aren't six deaths enough of a study to make this decision?

If only...

...we had an international organization that could come together and solve the global problems that exist in this world, provide the security and maintain the peace, so that countries - and, more importantly, individuals, could be free to live life to the fullest! Instead, we have the U.N. and they, and the rest of world expect the US to be their security force - even after they criticize us repeatedly when we actually play the role they demand we play. Troops for Lebanon Force:

"The challenge of creating a viable international force to secure Israel's border with Lebanon was captured by Nahum Barnea, a columnist for the Israeli daily newspaper Yediot Aharonot. The European foreign ministers were enthusiastic, he said.

"They only had one small condition -- for the force to be made up of soldiers from another country," Mr. Barnea wrote. "The Germans recommended France; the French recommended Egypt, and so on. It is doubtful whether there is a single country in the West currently volunteering to lay down its soldiers on Hezbollah's fence."

I'm not going to do it, you do it. I'm not going to do it. Hey, let's get Mikey (US)!

Hope for End to the Killing of Millions in Congo?

They're worried about more violence - other than the Middle East - over at The Progressive:

"Elections are being held on July 30 in the Congo, a country that has seen a staggering four million of its people die since 1998 due to combat. "Though the war in Congo officially ended in 2002, its deadly legacy of violence and decay will kill twice as many people this year as have died in the entire Darfur conflict, which began in 2003," states the New York Times."

The magnitude of the killing just boggles the mind."

"Though the war in Congo officially ended in 2002..." hmmm? Sound familiar? Ridicule the President's "Mission accomplished" statement and then overlook the reality of environment in the Middle East and parts of Africa. These are deep-seated conflicts that linger - even when western missions are accomplished (Saddam out of power).

But who can help? Who can the world turn to? More:

"A U.N. peacekeeping force has not been able to do much to stop the violence, given the size of the country and the enormity of the carnage. "

Not to mention, the ineffectiveness of the U.N.! Continue:

"So, what needs to be done to stop the horror?"

Ahhh. Finally. Solutions from the left!

"A group called the Friends of the Congo offers useful recommendations.

Neighboring countries should be internationally sanctioned for their continued interference in the country. Multinational corporations need to be held responsible for their role in perpetuating the conflict. The International Criminal Court should be used to haul the perpetrators of the carnage to justice. (The ICC has already arrested one of the faction leaders, Thomas Lubanga.) The global community should fully support the electoral process."

Oh. Not quite solutions, only "useful recommendations"! Yeah. That'll do it. Let's just be "friends"; blame the big, multi-national corporations; and treat this like a crime - as if this were a mugging in Central Park.

Oh yeah. I forgot the elections. They'll solve everything - even though they've had them and, even Saddam Hussein and Fidel Castro threw elections! Once those unarmed innocents vote for their candidate of peace, the armed-to-the-teeth, ruthless war-lords will turn their weapons into plowshares and accept the results.

"If the killing of people on this scale doesn’t attract our attention, then what will?"

Maybe the United States should send troops. That way, every time the "now-insurgent-rebel-freedom -fighters" who used to be "oppressive-ruthless-warlord-thugs" kill innocent civilians, we can blame the U.S. and demand we put an end to it! It's BusHitler's fault!

Now I feel better!

Cease-fires work...

"Kofi Anan would have loved it.

On November 19, 1939, Shirer's diary reported: 'For almost two months now there has been no military action on land, sea, or in the air.' On January 1, 1940, he wrote, 'this phony kind of war cannot continue long.' But it was now exactly four months since war was declared. How is that for a cease fire?

Did this de facto cease fire lead to peace? No. Like other cease fires, it helped the aggressor. It gave Hitler time to move his divisions from the eastern front, after they had conquered Poland, to the western front, facing France. Now that military superiority along the Rhine had shifted in favor of the German armies, the war suddenly went from being phony to being devastatingly real. Hitler attacked and France collapsed in six weeks."

...if you're the aggressor! Thomas Sowell

50 percent of U.S. says Iraq had WMDs

The Washington Times reports:

"Half of Americans now say Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when the United States invaded the country in 2003 -- up from 36 percent last year, a Harris poll finds."

This can't be viewed as good news by the liberal-Democrats. How can the American people continue to be SO stupid!

"Pollsters deemed the increase both 'substantial' and 'surprising' in light of persistent press reports to the contrary in recent years." (emphasis added)

Not that the MSM has a dog in this fight!

"Meanwhile, the Harris poll offered some positive feedback on Iraq. Seventy-two percent of respondents said the Iraqi people are better off now than under Saddam Hussein's regime -- a figure similar to that of 2004, when it stood at 76 percent. In addition, 64 percent say Saddam had "strong links" with al Qaeda, up from 62 percent in October 2004. Fifty-five percent said that "history will give
the U.S. credit for bringing freedom and democracy to Iraq."

Hindsight (history) has a way of giving us clearer vision. Clear away all the emotion and stress of the moment and see the necessity of the situation and the potential consequences, and most people come to agreement on the actions. It's a good thing we have a President who was able to cut through the emotions more quickly than most -- especially his opponent.

Civilians as weapons!

Ralph Kinney Bennett, at TCS suggests: Maybe Now We'll Get It:

"Those who have visited any Hezbollah installation in Lebanon over the years always remark on the fact that there are families, women and children, in and around the place. 'Secret' bases are usually hidden in plain site. Houses or apartment buildings become weapons storage or even operations centers. An innocent shed or garage may contain a Toyota or a missile launcher.

Seldom, if ever, has a guerrilla movement been able to so openly and exquisitely weave itself into the fabric of a society as Hezbollah has done in Lebanon. "

This is not a pleasing thought. It also has been tactically and strategically played in the western media:

"Meanwhile, the headlines are filled with the shedding of blood, some innocent, some not so obviously innocent. But all the blood of this terrible struggle is on the hands of Hezbollah. As they have grown tactically and operationally wise in their hatred, they have shown more fully their utter disregard for human life. They have calculated the bloody effect of what they and their mentors in Tehran and Damascus have started."

To Hezbollah, the ends justify the means:

"So what if a beautiful city, Beirut, is destroyed? So what if thousands of the hapless, the ignorant, the innocent die? The Islamofanatic "vision" of submission or extermination is worth any cost. To the Hezbollah leaders, high on the furious anti-Semitic hatred of centuries, this is total war with implications and opportunities for them far beyond any geographical boundaries, and the very term "civilian" -- except for its temporary value in gulling the West -- does not apply."

Savagely.

Again. How do you negotiate with this "vision"? You don't, unless you are willing to lose.

When Art Attacks

From the BBC, Artwork victims 'fell to deaths':

"'Where the inflatable had landed there were people underneath so they had been crushed, and there were other, quite traumatic injuries where people had been thrown out and fallen quite a long distance.' "

Not to make light of the death of fellow humans, but the BBC has a follow-up story that is just creepy.

Poverty & "their" solutions

Tim Worstall at TCS Daily uses two mortal weapons against John Edwards and his approach to fighting poverty: facts, and his own words (against the backdrop of government process):

"Sen. Edwards' is suggesting billions upon billions of spending which will not, by the very measures he uses, have any effect at all on the number of people in poverty in the USA."

The number of people in poverty - 37 million - is accurate. How that number is measured is in question [government process].

Read the article and you will learn what Sen Edwards proposes to do about it and why the proposals will have zero effect on poverty levels. As Worstall states further:

"Come to think of it, this is actually pretty good politics isn't it? Advocating policies which you know will have no effect whatsoever on the problem being discussed so that you can simply call for more of the same next year? At least I hope that's what the Senator is doing. I really would be far more worried if he was simply ignorant of that fact. He did nearly get to be Vice President after all."

Politics versus results (unless those results are election wins, which is again, politics!) And still later:

"There was an important and wise man a couple of millennia ago who point out that the poor, you will always have them with you. Well, if you're going to state that there are 37 million people below the poverty line and then not add in all the things you're doing to stop them being poor this is pretty much a no brainer, isn't it?"

Do politicians looking for your vote really want to solve the problem, or always have a reason to ask for your vote?

Faith & Science

New York Times:

"I have been struck, Dr. Roughgarden writes, by how the debate over teaching evolution is not about plants and animals but about God and whether science somehow threatens one's belief in God.

Or as Dr. Collins put it, when religions require belief in fundamentally flawed claims about the world, they force curious and intelligent congregants to reject science, effectively committing intellectual suicide, a choice he calls "terrible and unnecessary".

But does science require the abandonment of faith? Not necessarily, and certainly not entirely, these authors argue."

As a Catholic - and one who believes strongly in God - I also accept science. I don't believe we, as humans, are anywhere close to understanding all that God has created. Science is only uncovering what God has created, bit-by-bit and trying to apply it as best we mere humans can. For us to draw a line in the sand and say "this is where God started" is pretty egotistical on our part.

A favorite, recent joke I read:

Two scientist come before God and announce, "We have found the ability to create life without you. We no longer need you." God responds, "Show Me."

The scientists reach down and collect dirt to place in their beaker in which to grow "life" and start their process. At this point God says, "Get your own dirt!"

Stossel's "Myths" May Be on the Bestseller List, But They Don't Belong on ABC

According to self-appointed Global Warming expert, Laurie David, who has no love lost for John Stossel - or, I'd imagine, anyone who doesn't agree with her:

"Stossel admits there's been warming, but thinks we need to wait for more evidence before we do anything about it. (Perhaps evidence such as the deadly heat wave now scorching the U.S. and straining our electric grid?)"

Is she truly suggesting that the heat wave we are currently experiencing is directly related to global warming and climate change caused by humans? How does she explain that, despite the hot temperatures (it is summer after all), few regions set record highs? In reading her bio I don't see much in the way of scientific study or experience. While her passion is admirable, methinks she falls into the category of "humans-are-bad-except-for-those-of-us-who-really-really-care-and-know-better-than-you" types, found predominantly along the west coast, hills of Hollywood and within air-conditioned penthouses of Manhattan!

'currents of hatred so intense as to sear the souls of those who swim upon them.'

Thomas Sowell invokes the words of Winston Churchill:

"The terrorists have spoken in words and in deeds, including suicide bombers. They have what Churchill once described in the Nazis as 'currents of hatred so intense as to sear the souls of those who swim upon them.'"

For all of those who say "diplomacy must be given a chance" and "we need to understand both sides", I say get your head out of the sand! Hezbollah, and other Arab and Muslim factions have openly stated that they will not cease UNTIL Israel no longer exists. There is no place to compromise with that unyielding position. Israel recently gave up both the Gaza Strip and musch of the West Bank - both demands of the Palestinians - and for that they get what? Missile attacks and kidnappings from Hezbollah. What a trade!

Ethanol boom could hurt world's poor - expert

From a Reuters AlertNet:

"'This is shaping up as competition between the 800 million people in the world that own automobiles and the 2 billion low- income people in the world, many of whom are already spending over half their income on food,' Lester Brown, president of Washington D.C.-based environmental research group Earth Policy Institute, told reporters on a teleconference."

As I've said many, many times, there are unintended consequences to everything. When emotion takes over, watch out!

If a tree falls....

This doesn't seem to be getting the press it should:

"The U.N. humanitarian mission was sent to the tsunami-hit areas in Indonesia's southern Java coasts Tuesday as death toll climbs to 357."

Red, Blue or PURPLE?

This sounds like a worthy aspiration.

For the most part, I think the old "silent majority" is, in fact, PURPLE. However, it takes less time than it used to in ordinary life, to come across a die-hard Red-stater or a die-hard Blue-stater. It seems to me, that it's easier to identify with the group, than think for yourself. Being purple takes work. In other words, being American takes work - and responsibility!

Ethanol's Dirty Little Secrets

The Law of Unintended Consequences strikes yet again (and will, I'm confident, do so over and over and over...) From TCS Daily:

"On all these scores -- its contribution to smog and soil erosion, and its 'ecological footprint' -- ethanol is almost as costly to the environment as it is to American drivers and taxpayers."

High gas prices may mean fewer deaths

Talk about your morbid "silver lining":

"'We are encouraged that something has changed behaviors,' he said. 'It's sad that it takes $3 a gallon gasoline to get people to live.'"