Oddly enough, he's bypassing the normal peer reivew process and publishing straight to the internet, but other mathematicians, including the head of the department at Purdue, say he should be taken seriously.
Although it's not clear what the usefulness of this proof would be, I must say I'm as much or more interested in the fact that he's going straight to the internet. I've long felt that we need to see more research taken out of the musty dead-tree journals and available directly on the internet, using blog-style technology for the peer review process. Mind you, it'd put some journals out of business, but hey, buggy whip manufacturers don't make much of a living anymore either.
Professor Reynalds has good column on longevity research, and how some people seem to be resistant to the idea politically. Although I've had some arguments with some friends about this recently. :-)
Gays want to get married, have children, and go to church. Next they'll be advocating school vouchers, boycotting HBO, and voting Republican.
Compare this with the following, which yours truly wrote last August:
The gay rights movement has, for the most part, become a conservative movement.
Don't believe it? Think back over the last ten years, and ask yourself what the primary issues that gays have agitated for have been. I'll bet your list looks something like this:
* They want to hold steady jobs.
* They want to go to church and join the clergy.
* They want to live in nice, respectable communities without being kicked out.
* They want to join the military and fight for their country.
* They want to join the boy scouts--the freaking Boy Scouts!
And, oh yes,
* They want to settle down, have kids, and raise families.
...In short, these people don't want to destroy Republicans. They want to be Republicans.
P.J. O'Rourke! Stealing my ideas, cribbing my notes. Cheating bastard. Someone get Atlantic Monthly on the phone, I want my check!
Interestingly, Assistant Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz (who is generally viewed as Satan Himself by the Barking Moonbat crowd) has a piece in today's Wall Street Journal outlining the Road Map for Iraqi Sovereignty. Not surprisingly, it's fairly consistent with the plans the administration was discussing a year ago May as well as the plans announced by the administration before the invasion even began February.
You know, those plans we supposedly didn't have going in? Right, those.
Anyway, what I found most interesting of all is the fact that the undersecretary found mention of a specific weblogger worth his while. Which only goes to show, once again, that the blogosphere is already exerting a large and growing influence on journalism and politics around the world.
Of course, we already knew that many high officials in government are weblog readers. It's just nice to see it being confirmed again. For me, anyway.
Fortunately, one enterprising blogger compared the video version with the transcript available ont he web site, and was able to highlight the differences, along with links where you can confirm (at least for now) the un-redacted original interview.
Interesting. Some of those cuts seem to have included quite important statements.
Just popping in to drop off the keys....
Don't worry about changing the locks, I'll only drop by as invited...
This was such a great honor and I had a wonderful time. You guys are the best. Maybe you can come by my place sometime. I seem to have many more lurkers than commenters and you'd all be a welcome addition. I tend to be a bit sassier over there and tried to respect my host here.
Thanks so much. Dean's World is a nice place to be in!
This isn’t a statement on gay marriage per se, this for me is of rights, licenses, and privileges.
I have my own peeve with Massachusetts and the whole gay marriage subject.
I have a right granted by the Constitution to carry a firearm. But not in Massachusetts. Marriage and driving are not rights. That’s why you get a license for the privilege. But in Massachusetts you have to get a permit to purchase a gun, and a license to carry one that can be denied you for any reason regardless of a clear background check. As I understand it, there is no concealed carry permitted whatsoever.
In the State of Washington where I currently reside, I have a right to carry and have my concealed weapon permit. It is not transferable to another state and by the laws of Massachusetts it would be illegal for me to do so there.
See, the whole thing is much more of an issue than many think.
At least to this straight gun toting ex Commonwealth resident.
Mind you, only an idiot would call him a "traitor" for taking such a position. I would merely call him a man whose priorities were and are still, quite obviously, out of whack.
Mind you, I'd retract that if he finally disavowed the brutal mass-murdering, torturing tyrant Ortega and acknowledged that the Contra victory brought democracy, free press, free speech, and peace.
Since that is exactly what happened in Nicaragua.
And what is it that happened again? Oh yes, the Contras finally won in Nicaragua, and got what they always said they wanted: free speech, free press, and free elections. When they got that, the people of Nicaragua threw out the Ortega--who was, by the way, good friends with the North Korean, Cuban, and Soviet governments.
And the people of Nicaragua elected the wife of a man who Daniel Ortega had murdered, in a bit of perfect cosmic justice.
Senator Kerry, you and I were on the wrong side of that issue. The only difference I see is, I was able to admit I was wrong, whereas you still haven't. To your great shame.
Not that I consider a council dominated by tyrants, thugs, and theocrats (and no, that's not snarkage, that's just a fact) to have all that much moral legitimacy, but I suppose it's politically positive for the U.S.
One of the most profound quotes I ever read in my life was from Nancy Reagan. It was from a totally unrelated-to-politics-essay spread on Alzheimer's. I believe Peggy Noonan quoted it. I so wish I had the source but alas, I wasn't blogging then and it wasn't important at the time to keep a link. But it touched me so that I've never forgotten.
Stories of people who have been touched by this horrible disease. I cried through the whole thing.
Nancy's offering was how she and Ronnie had such an amazing life with so many great experiences. She often caught herself saying to him "Remember when....?"
And realizing that he didn't. He couldn't. And how she shared so much with him and couldn't reminisce. It broke my heart. I remember sending it along to a bunch of people because it needed to be regarded.
I lost a lot of respect for someone who replied "Don't send me any of that crap ever again".
Just because he didn't like Reagan. I was stunned...how could something like that be offensive in any way and not touch you deeply no matter who it involved?
As one who's also lived an extraordinary life I can understand the angst. I too, would pain inside if I had no one with whom to share my experiences.
My old neighbor, Gordon "Slim" Burt was and still is part of my only personal brush with Alzheimer's. He lived in the house adjacent to my back fence and I used to see him feed the birds, squirrels... and give my dogs a bone every time he went into his back yard because they would shout at him relentlessly every time he made an appearance, knowing they had a treat forthcoming. He'd walk to his garage, get two Milkbones and make his way to the fence where Odin and Jed stood waiting. It took him forever….an old man’s labored steps. I watched this for months from my garden, never saying a word, tears in my eyes.
The following Christmas, I decided to introduce myself and made up a gift bag with peanuts for the squirrels, a box of dog biscuits, some bird seed, and some Hershey kisses.
He greeted me warmly and took me inside to introduce me to his wife.
She showed me her shoes. All of them, taking out each pair and proudly iterated how much she loved them.
I knew right then and there that she was ill. I think I was the only one at the time who saw the dimming of her mind and knew exactly what was happening.
Four months later she was in a nursing home. Slim drove there three times a day, everyday, through snow, rain, and thunderstorms to feed her breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Never once missing a meal with her until she died 2 years later.
And after that, I watched Mr. Burt begin to fade.
He’s in a nursing home now himself, unable to carry on.
I miss seeing their clock, pendulum swaying , so dependable…. through my office window into their kitchen…the house belongs to a new family now.
And not a day goes by that I don’t think of her as I tie the laces of my sneakers. And regret that I cannot remember her name.
We have long known that men are more likely to commit suicide than women, more likely to be murdered than women, that infant mortality is higher in males than females, and that the vast majority of workplace injuries and workplace deaths are suffered by men. And, of course, that men live shorter lives in general.
Is there anyting to be done about it? Methinks not much so long as most people neither know nor care about such disparities. But who knows? Maybe it's just supposed to be this way. Males are the expendable sex, right?
Well gosh Mark, picky picky. I mean, surely a sign saying 'Smash the Jewish State' has all sorts of room for interpretation. What kind of rigid ideologue rightwing Arab hater are you that you can't see that, my good man?
When America intervened in Chile, despite what criticisms anyone might make, it was to stop a Marxist who was receiving money and arms from the North Koreans, from Castro, and the Soviet Union. We helped, unfortunately, put a brutal dictator in his place, because it was the only option available to us except to allow another Communist state to take hold. But we urged that dictator to curb human rights abuses and to give his system up to democratic elections, and while it took until the early 1990s, he finally did that. Chile is a democracy with free speech and free press today, which it almost certainly wouldn't have been if the Communists had taken it over.
When we intervented in Nicaragua, we took out a Communist dictator named Ortega who had crushed freedom of speech, crushed opposition press, and slaughtered thousands of political opponents and inconvenient Indian populations. Due to our intervention, Nicaragua today has free speech, free press, and free elections.
That being the case, Val, why are you even bothering to debate this cretin from Counterpunch.org? Clearly these people are either deeply uninformed or they simply enjoy acting as apologists for brutal mass-murderers who haven't allowed disssent, free expression, or free elections in over 40 years.
Don't even bother trying, Val. Just remember, always remember, the kind of totalitarian-apologist scumbags who run Counterpunch. And make note of the idiots who try to defend them.
In short, he says that the rational voter would, every election season, have a look at the platforms and candidates of both parties, and based on that, would make a choice. Instead, most voters get their facts filtered through their partisan filters, ignore data that contradicts it, and make their judgements accordingly. Our political scientist friend Chris in Mississippi says that Brooks is oversimplifying but is basically correct.
It strikes me that, if this is really the natural, default state of the human animal, then this explains why partisans who switch parties usually think of it as a profound, shattering moment of betrayal; the feeling of "hey, those guys were lying to me!" practically pervades their thinking, at least in the first few years after switching parties.
I guess my real question is, is really the common wisdom among political scientists? That partisanship-first is how the vast majority of American voters operate? Party first, ideas second? That would certainly explain why those of us who see ourselves as outside the two-party system, as voting based first and foremost on the issues, get so frustrated at times.
I've had a wonderful time guest-blogging here at Dean's World. Thank you, Dean, for giving me the opportunity to interact with the thoughtful and provocative group of readers and commenters you have gathered here. You have created a prime example of the best of blogging -- a forum of discussion where respect for one another trumps ideological differences. It is quite an achievement and we who are about to comment salute you!
Thank you, also, to the commenters who have given me their insights into the ideas and questions I have brought up. I enjoy the challenge of writing for readers who are really paying attention and will not be shy about calling me on my slips, misses and hits. You are all invited to visit me at e-Claire to keep me honest and, maybe, tell me when I've hit one on the head -- and to continue the discussion . . .
As I've said many times, America is a two-party system and if you want to win political acceptance for your cause, the best possible strategy is to find supporters in both major political parties. Here's a brave lady who gets that. While she will almost certainly be pilloried as a "traitor" by some, I wish her all the luck in the world.
While I usually have a short attention span for lengthy posts....I was glued to this one through the end.
INDC Journal attends a rally and attempts an interview with Michael Berg.
A riveting and an insightful glimpse into the mind of a man who's son was brutally murdered by a bunch of Islamic wackos.
"Families must continue to be the foundation of our nation. Families -- not government programs -- are the best way to make sure our children are properly nurtured, our elderly are cared for, our cultural and spiritual heritages are perpetuated, our laws are observed and our values are preserved. Thus it is imperative that our government's programs, actions, officials and social welfare institutions never be allowed to jeopardize the family. We fear the government may be powerful enough to destroy our families; we know that it is not powerful enough to replace them. The New Republican Party must be committed to working always in the interest of the American family." [unattributed quote in The Federalist e-newsletter]
If families are the foundation of our society, why the death tax? Why not allow families to build empires?
Am I mistaken, or did America used to be about the individual? It is the individual who has "certain inalienable Rights." It is the individual who can be free. What happened to valuing the individual?
I'm not knocking the family, what I'm getting at is that emphasizing "the family" seems to be just another way of erasing the value of the individual unless and until he identifies himself as belonging to a group of one sort or another. Gay-American, Afro-American, Hispanic-American, Asian-American, Leftie, Rightie, smoker/nonsmoker -- aargh! Speaking as a Gyno-American, I hate the whole hyphenated-American thing.
I am still not sure what the definition of "Family Values" is.
America's mythos is based upon the value of the rugged individual. Our very archetype is the Cowboy taming the West, but think of the New Englander, the Kansas Jay Hawk, the Sooners, The Texan, the Southern Gentleman -- all are individuals who, if someone were foolish enough to attempt to tell them what to do, would in their various ways tell that person to go fly a kite. [which brings to mind another individualist]
Do you see this trend? Am I missing something -- is it a good idea? What do we do with it? How do we combat it?
Reagan had an excellent record on gay rights issues--to the extent that anyone at that level of office in that day and age could be said to have such a record, anyway, since he had publicly supported gay rights measures and, while he did ally with some conservative Christian forces, never once backed any anti-gay legislation and was always personally gay-friendly. While it's true that there were things his administration could have done better about the early AIDS crisis, this is true for just about everyone in the 1980s--gay rights activists, local and national elected officials of both parties and at all levels of government--responded poorly. If any of you saw that execrable HBO movie And The Band Played On, you should be aware that it gave a horribly politically slanted accounting, but the book it was based on, And The Band Played On by Randy Shilts, was a much fairer and more damning book. Shilts would never have approved that attrocious movie. The book is must-reading, for Shilts (who was gay, lived in San Francisco, and himself eventually died of AIDS) documents in excruciating detail how local government officials, gay rights activists, judges, and career civil servants in many cases conspired to keep the plague from being recognized and to prevent government from even getting involved. Shilts was unsparing in his indictment of everyone at all levels and in both parties, and if he was sometimes harsh on the Reagan administration, he was usually even harsher with others, including gay rights activists he personally knew and who were responsible for preventing government from taking direct action to stop the plague in its tracks.
It's great reading. And a good supplement, by the way, is David Horowitz' autobiography Radical Son, because in the last half of the book Horowitz talks about how he befriended Randy Shilts and saw himself how radical left-wing gay activists fought tooth and nail to prevent government from taking any action to stop the plague or even recognize that a plague was spreading. And how gay men who tried to act against it were often attacked as liars and traitors and sellouts to "the fundamentalists." It's powerful reading.
Oh, and by the way, there is also a consistent rumor floating around parts of the gay community that the Reagan administration wanted to put AIDS victims into concentration camps. Just so you know, that too is a myth.
It's remarkable what some people think they know that simply isn't true.
"He was dying for years and the day came and somehow it came as a blow. Not a loss but a blow. How could this be? Maybe we were all of us more loyal to him, and to the meaning of his life, than we quite meant to be. And maybe it's more. ... Ronald Reagan told the truth to a world made weary by lies. He believed truth was the only platform on which a better future could be built. He shocked the world when he called the Soviet Union 'evil,' because it was, and an 'empire,' because it was that, too. He never stopped bringing his message to the people of the world, to Europe and China and in the end the Soviet Union. And when it was over, the Berlin Wall had been turned into a million concrete souvenirs, and Soviet communism had fallen. But of course it didn't fall. It was pushed. By Mr. Know Nothing Cowboy Gunslinger Dimwit. All presidents should be so stupid. ... What an era his was. What a life he lived. He changed history for the better and was modest about it. He didn't bray about his accomplishments but saw them as the work of the American people. He did not see himself as entitled, never demanded respect, preferred talking to hotel doormen rather than State Department functionaries because he thought the doormen brighter and more interesting. When I pressed him once, a few years out of the presidency, to say what he thought the meaning of his presidency was, he answered, reluctantly, that it might be fairly said that he 'advanced the boundaries of freedom in a world more at peace with itself.' And so he did. And what could be bigger than that?"
Peggy Noonan
There has been another "statement" on the same Islamist web site that carried the N1ck B3rg video purporting to be from "al Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula." The warning seems to be focused on that area. It calls Westerners "crusaders" [the phrase "move on" having no equivalent in Arabic] and warns all Muslims who are "affiliated with these crusaders" away from compounds, bases and means of transport, especially Western and American airliners which will be "direct targets of our next operations."
The stated purpose of this warning is to spare "our Muslim brothers' blood."
..."We renew our warning to all security personnel, guards of crusader compounds and American bases, and all those that have stood by America and its allies ... We ask them to return to the right path, to separate themselves from non-believers, to become their enemies and to fight holy war against them by money, word and weapon."
"This enemy," the statement goes on to say, "must be fought. There is no other way but to fight it and eradicate it."
A very clear statement of their perception of the battle lines, eh?
New York Times
June 3, 2004
A Star Athlete, A Soldier, And A Challenge
By Ira Berkow
WASHINGTON, June 2 — The phone rang on May 25 at precisely five minutes to noon Chicago time .
"I want you to be strong," Willie Byrd recalled hearing from his wife, Specialist Danielle Green, in Baghdad with the 571st Military Police Company.
"What's wrong?" he said. "I know something's wrong."
"I'm all right," she said, "but I lost my left hand."
The following day, The New York Times and other newspapers published a dramatic photograph of an unidentified female soldier being transported on the hood of a Humvee to a hospital after being wounded. She was flanked by nervous American soldiers, their weapons pointed warily.
Specialist Green was that wounded soldier. She had been a standout for the University of Notre Dame basketball team in the late 1990's. Her nickname there was D. Smooth, for the graceful way she used her solid 5-foot-7 body on the court. After college she became Mr. Byrd's assistant coach at Washington High School in Chicago for two years.
They married two months ago, about a year and a half after she enlisted, when she returned to the United States for three weeks, he said. Then she was shipped back to her unit, and her job as a gunner for the commanding officer.
Mr. Byrd is 58, a retired girls high school basketball coach. She is 27. Some people said it would not work.
"Actually, I was shocked," said Ericka Haney, a teammate of Specialist Green's at Notre Dame who has remained her friend. "He was a lot older than her. She said: `We have a lot in common. And he treats me nice.' "
Mr. Byrd and Specialist Green thought it was a match made in heaven.
"Nothing's changed — on that score," he said.
But something has changed, of course.
It was intensely hot when she went up on the roof of the Sadoon Police Station the afternoon of May 25 in Baghdad, Specialist Green recalled Wednesday from her hospital bed on the fifth floor of Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Her left arm, which now ends just below the elbow, was swathed in bandages from surgery the day before for the insertion of a plate. It was her sixth operation, she estimated, since being wounded.
She had a more vivid memory of the attack: "I didn't like being alone, but I thought I'd let some of the others cool down below, and then they'd relieve me. It was like I was a sitting duck. But that's the way it is a lot of the time over there. You want to trust the Iraqis — some are such nice people — but you know you'd better not, even the children. You just never know. And they just don't want us there."
"We have so much time in which we do nothing," Specialist Green said, "and you stand outside, or, for me, sometimes sitting in the turret of a tank with your head exposed, and you're just waiting for something bad to happen."
Then she heard a burst of fire. Then there was a second blast, and a rocket from a homemade missile launcher in an apartment building next to the police station hit a water tank on the roof where she was standing guard. The explosion ripped into her.
She screamed in pain. Her left arm had been hit and shrapnel tore at her left leg and her face.
Within minutes, soldiers from her unit were up on the roof and covering her. She was quickly taken down to the Humvee. She never lost consciousness.
"This is all part of war," she said, "and you have to be brave. Good people get hurt. I was one of those people. I knew I was taking a risk in joining the Army. I felt certain I'd be sent to Iraq. It's hard to imagine it's going to be you."
When she got to the hospital, Specialist Green said, she asked her sergeant, "Is my hand gone?"
"Yes," said the sergeant, whose last name, Harrelson, was all she could recall.
"And then I broke down," she said. "And I didn't cry again until yesterday, when Sergeant Pearce called and asked how I was doing. He was one of those who got me off the roof and onto the vehicle."
She thinks it was Sergeant Pearce who had recovered her wedding ring, which had been found on her left hand on the roof. Specialist Green, who was left-handed, was flown first to a hospital in Germany, then to Walter Reed on Saturday. Her husband was flown by the military from Chicago to Washington to be with her.
Specialist Green seemed stoic, if not even accepting, of her disability. The scars on her left cheek will diminish, she said, and her leg wounds are healing.
"And I'm already learning to write with my right hand," she said. "It's not so pretty, but it'll get better. And worse things could have happened. It's happened to others over there. I'm just happy to be alive."
Mr. Byrd said: "I've never known anyone like her, so strong-willed. You know, I had no intention of marrying anybody. And she told me: `You need a good wife. I'm going to make you my husband, and make you happy.' And she did, and she has."
Why did she enlist?
"That's a good question," Mr. Byrd said. "When I heard she was going to do it — we weren't married then and were just dating — I said, `Don't do it.' "
Specialist Green said she was inspired not by patriotism, but by the honor and pride of being a uniformed American soldier.
"I decided that I was getting along in years and if I didn't join the military now, I wouldn't get another chance," she said. "I grew up very poor on the South and West Sides of Chicago," she added. "And my father wasn't around at all, and my mother got messed up with drugs. And I remember as a small child loving G.I. Joe. I thought, `Oh, man, that's cool.' "
Specialist Green said she had grown up with an aunt, who also became a drug addict, then lived with her grandmother. There was, she said, "a lot of chaos" in her early life, and perhaps the military way seemed to offer order.
"In high school, I joined the R.O.T.C., and by my senior year I was a lieutenant colonel," Specialist Green said. "I loved it." She decided that if she did not get a college scholarship — she dreamed of going to Notre Dame — she would join the Army.
"I thought I could develop greater discipline and organization if I did," she said.
Specialist Green became an all-state high school basketball player, her husband said, and received a scholarship to Notre Dame. Playing guard, she had career averages of 9.5 points and 4.5 rebounds and was Notre Dame's third-leading scorer in her final two seasons.
Specialist Green said she had been disappointed in her tour of duty in Iraq.
"I thought we were going for humanitarian reasons, like building things up and cleaning the neighborhoods up — it's filthy over there," she said. "But we hardly did any of it. We spent a lot of time just doing nothing."
"Looking back, I personally don't think we should have gone into Iraq," she added. "Not the way things have turned out. A lot more people are going to get hurt, and for what?"
As for her future, Specialist Green said she might go to graduate school. She was a psychology major in college, and said she might even teach R.O.T.C. or coach basketball. "There are opportunities out there for me," she said.
She hopes to have a child. "When she called me to tell me she'd been wounded, she said, `It's only my left hand that's gone,' " Mr. Byrd said. " `I'm O.K. otherwise, and we can still have a Little Smoothie.' She wants a boy."
Specialist Green, her dark hair spread on her white pillow, smiled.
"And if it's a girl, that'll be fine," she said. "We'll call her Little Smoothie, too."
Many of you may not know about my special esteem for soldiers...but it is great and personal. And I am sometimes called upon for a mission.
I got the call out the other day for SPC Danielle L. Green...a request to put the word out and get some well wishes sent her way. I hope that Dean doesn't mind me using this forum to help do so. For anyone interested, you can contact me personally for the address... SondraK *at* SondraK.com.
It means the world to our brave men and women in the service of our country to know that we support them. And a small gesture goes a big way. I know this first hand and from experience. And it is my mission.
37 cents will reap you untold rewards.
I am pondering if Dean realized that me and Claire are coasty girls and in a whole different time World...
and me waking up with "for deposit only" stamped on my forehead isn't helping.
Gallup has an interesting article up comparing Reagan's historical approval ratings, which (like all Presidents) tended to go up and down over time, with his approval ratings after leaving office, which have consistently gone up since then, and now show him to have been one of the most popular Presidents in history, with those viewing him negatively a quite small and shrinking minority.
Makes sense to me. I despised him when he was President myself, but now I view him as in the same league as either of the Roosevelts in terms of importance, influence, and effectiveness. Although hardly perfect. But then, no one who's ever held that office was perfect.
I must've been counting clouds [come to think of it...] to have missed this but:
With U.S. Marines gone and central government authority virtually nonexistent, Fallujah resembles an Islamic mini-state...
"After all the blood that was shed, and the lives that were lost, we shall only accept God's law in Fallujah," said cleric Abdul-Qader al-Aloussi, offering a glimpse of what a future Iraq may look like as the U.S.-led occupation draws to a close. "We must capitalize on our victory over the Americans and implement Islamic sharia laws."
After all the anguish, the lives lost, the blood shed, to let Iraq descend into this makes me want to spit nails.
Fallujah's women hair stylists shut down their shops several months ago after repeated attacks blamed on Muslim militants. . ...Women rarely appear in public and when they do, they are covered from head to toe in accordance with Islam's strict dress code for women.
Hijab actually having been invented in Jordan in 1972 to protect and identify Islamic women in the streets, or in the 14th century [headscarf only], depending on your source. [It is not in the Koran.] Both in the 14th century and 20th century have been times when Islam has been waning. In the 1300's, the Mongols of Genghis Kahn were pushing over caliphs right and left and there was a resurgence of orthodoxy and puritanism in Islam -- much as they have responded to the threat of the freedoms of Western culture and democracy.
The lives of men revolve around Islam's tradition of praying five times a day. ...Men are encouraged to grow beards and barbers are warned against giving "Western" hair cuts.
Exerting control over every minute aspect of people's lives, every minute of the day.
On Sunday, for example, scores of masked mujahedeen, shouting "Allahu Akbar," or "God is Great," paraded four men stripped down to their underpants atop the back of a pickup truck that drove through the city. Their bare backs were bleeding from 80 lashes they had received as punishment for selling alcohol.
I thought it was sooooo humiliatingly awful for the Arab male to be seen without clothing that "death itself would be preferable?" This sounds like some of the things that caused such an uproar at Abu Graib. Who is outraged about this?
...On Tuesday, the mujahedeen expanded their "clean up" campaign. About 80 masked, armed men, accompanied by local police, forced hundreds of street hawkers at gun point to clear out from the streets and confine their businesses to designated areas. ... the police stood by without intervening.
...Four youths with long hair were stopped at a market by mujahedeen on Sunday and marched to a public market where they were shorn.
Theocracy as indistinguishable from Thuggery.
I can't take one more recitation of, "It's their religion," or "It's their culture." Religion is voluntary, a matter of belief and choices. This is totalitarianism -- no matter what the justification.
There is little sign of opposition to the mujahedeen, though it could be that some people are simply afraid of confronting armed men.
Ya think? After so long in one totalitarian regime, might it just feel like changing masters in the same game? I cannot even imagine how hard it must be for people in this situation to wrap their minds around the idea of a self-determined life, and if we allow this to pass, we will be denying them the time and the experiences necessary for them to be able to do so.
Sheik Omar Said of the Fallujah branch of the Association of Muslim Scholars, a Baghdad-based organization created last year to defend the rights of the Sunni Arab minority, insists that nearly everyone in Fallujah really wants Islamic law.
However, he hinted that perhaps in some cases, the mujahedeen have gone too far. [emph mine -C]
"This will only come after educating society in religious matters first and then moving on to applying Islamic punishments," he said.
This is not why I supported this war. This is not going to do us [US] any good. This is not going to do them [Iraqis] any good. This is letting the camel's nose into the tent. . . . the rest of the camel is soon to follow.
.
AND MORE: I feel heartened reading these words from LIFE magazine post WWII:
So far as Europe is concerned, American leadership up to now has been obsessed with a fear of our own virtues. Winston Churchill expressed this state of mind brilliantly in a speech to his own people which applies even more accurately to the people of the U.S.
“You must be prepared,” he warned them, “for further efforts of mind and body and further sacrifices to great causes, if you are not to fall back into the rut if inertia, the confusion of aim and the craven fear of being great.”
Reagan's passing could actually be more than the relief of his suffering.
At a time when our relationship and the perception of us as a nation in Europe has been at an all time low, they (as well as we) are being forced to acknowledge our greatness and accomplishments.
He was the shining beacon of eveything we stand for in America, and this could certainly cause some pause and reflection.
It could very well be his last gift to America.
It was brought to my attention that a dignified tribute to Mr. Reagan could be the honor of his body being transported in Air Force One to his final resting place.
I think I think it's quite a noble idea. And a nice return of his gesture.
I beleive this to be the a great accoutrement to Claire's popular post down there. Someone's made it a business to debunk what you've been told...
I present to you William Campbell Douglass, M.D.
HA!
We have added some new members to our household and, because I am so taken with them, I would like to brag introduce you to them. [photos are at the links in an effort not to drive to distraction our readers with slower connections]
We have added a trio of water fowl. [names are still tentative as they are too young to tell us clearly what their names are] Speaker is an African Goose who loves to talk. Arrow is a Blue Runner Duck, tall and swift, who likes to nap. Mac [really tentative name] is a Khaki Campbell Duck who is most likely to be able to fly when she [?] is grown. She [?] is very shy so there are no pictures yet of her alone. [hey, it's only been 24 hours...] But she and Arrow hang together most of the time.
The discovery for yesterday, beside the new home and new companions, was lettuce. Lettuce is goo-oood! Grass is good, too but lettuce is better.
Here is Speaker and one of her new companions, Wattagu who you've seen on my blog before as she whispers to me what to write. Speaker wants to grow up to be like the biiiig gooze.
Yes, this is all extremely silly and more than a little bit corny -- and I cannot express how refreshing and restoring it is to spend time with these water fowl.
An elderly lady phoned her telephone company to report that
her telephone failed to ring when her friends called - and that
on the few occasions when it did ring, her pet dog always moaned
right before the phone rang.
The telephone repairman proceeded to the scene, curious to see this
psychic dog or senile elderly lady. He climbed a nearby telephone
pole, hooked in his test set, and dialed the subscriber's house.
The phone didn't ring right away, but then the dog moaned loudly and
the telephone began to ring.
Climbing down from the pole, the telephone repairman found:
1. The dog was tied to the telephone system's ground wire via
a steel chain and collar.
2. The wire connection to the ground rod was loose.
3. The dog was receiving 24 volts of signaling current when
the phone number was called.
4. After a couple of such jolts, the dog would start moaning and then
urinate on himself and the ground.
5. The wet ground would complete the circuit, thus causing
the phone to ring.
THE MORAL OF THE STORY
SOME problems can be fixed by pissing and moaning.
It’s pretty well known around these parts that I am not a Christian.
I consider myself to be a cross between a bad pagan and an atheist. I’m far too pragmatic about most things and have long since given up on trying to figure out what it’s all about. But I tend to be very superstitious and am drawn to symbolism. That, I believe, is more of a psychological thing. Such as spell work and praying…I do it often myself as a means of reinforcing a goal or aspiration or a way to ease a fear of something I don’t understand.
I believe that most religious practice is an exercise in taming the incomprehensible. Some people need to have something to believe in. And something to hold them accountable, to keep them in line. The 10 Commandments for example are pretty good rules. Most of them are pretty straight forward guidelines for living in a civilized society , but the bible itself encompasses too many things that I find unnecessary and repetitive. I do not need those lessons. But some do and I respect it whole heartedly.
That said, a huge peeve of mine is the constant berating of Christians and those who practice and believe in God as they see it. Personally I don’t see that as a bad thing. I see those who embrace their Christian faith as a good thing, for the most part. People have questioned this outlook by wondering how I can respect a religion that doesn’t respect me. But they do. Things can seem far too contradictory at times, but as it stands they’ve no power of detriment to my belief system. And for sure they’re not trying to kill me for it. Fortunately our country keeps these things in check, at least by a legal and freedom standpoint. I know it furrows many eyebrows when folks see my pentagram sticker below my Freedom OF Religion, Not Freedom From.
It makes perfect sense to me.
Most Christians are on the side of keeping that freedom for us all.
When someone says God Bless you, Sondra, I say thank you. Merry Christmas? Yes, to you too!
They’re projecting a wonderful intent from their heart and I appreciate it. I have found in time that my thoughtful reflection on this has brought me greater comfort and far less animosity than ever before.
Christians had their reformations and I am looking forward to Islam receiving theirs. Now there’s something to pray for.
I was just reading Dean's post on longevity and obesity and comment thread, and a couple of things occurred to me.
It seems as if there is a growing trend that says that my body and what I do with it is everyone's business. Whether or not I smoke [in my own home, not around others.] What I eat and drink. How much I run about. What I weigh. All these things are freely evaluated and commented upon by complete strangers, as though it effected them in some way.
Moreover, there is an increasing tone of moral superiority woven into these discussions. As though someone who follows a particular set of choices is a better person than someone who makes different choices -- whatever the circumstances or reasons behind those choices. Or as though someone with a particular body type is somehow more worthwhile than someone with another type of body.
What is the deal on this? Why is it becoming acceptable for people to poke their noses into other people's persons in this way?
I was told once by an electrician that it is safer to work with wires when there's uncertainty with your right hand. The theory is, that the electrical current will flow to ground and by forcing it through your right side, you're less inclinded to have it go through your heart.
Now I can't even turn on a light switch with my left.
I must say I find that admission rather refreshing. When you admit up front that you don't know what research says and, furthermore, you don't care, you can save a lot of what otherwise would have been wasted time on a pointless discussion.
I hope you've all wiped the sleepy seeds from your eyes and are looking for a little eye-opener.
Blackfive has done a huge amount of work and has presented a compilation of links to take you through the 'sphere on the sixtieth anniversary of D-Day.
Stories, photographs, poems, and thoughts...
They're all there.
Grab your cup of joe and go salute.
Back in January, in the comments to this thread, Sheila asked me what happened to change my mind about communism. I had once been an apologist for it, and she was curious about my change of heart. This is what I said:
Well, while I'd like to tell you there was some dramatic event that caused the change, but it wasn't. It was a sort of gradual thing, mostly. Part of it was that I became self-employed, and did that for a number of years, and started to realize as a result that there's not much in this world that anyone can do for you unless they have power, and you have to give someone power in order to let them do things for you.
If that makes any sense? I'm not sure.
Then there was learning about the Berlin Wall. I for a while bought into the fact that it was a "defensive" wall, until I started to see documentaries and read about it, and I had to ask myself: "If their system is so great, why are they shooting people in the back for trying to escape?"
Last week I was in Grand Rapids for a wedding, and by coincidence the Gerald Ford Museum was across the street from our hotel. President Ford was a congressman from that area, and that's where he still lives. So being a history geek I went to check it out. Not that he was all that amazing a Presidenet, but what the hell, it was right across the street. There was a huge slab from the Berlin Wall there in the lobby. It was concrete, with metal wires and rocks embedded in it. On one side were some black painted-on numbers. On the other, wildly colorful graffiti. It was obvious by this alone which side had faced West, and which East. I remember reaching up to touch it, feeling the cold concrete reality of it, and my soul thrummed a little.
I used to apologize for these people. I felt a little ashamed, and a little proud. My country, my Presidents, helped tear down this wall.
Like you, I enjoy history. I've read any number of books, and magazine articles, on this subject over the last 15 years. But about a year and a half ago, I picked up a copy of "The Black Book of Communism," and read it from cover to cover. Reading it was sort of the breaking point for me. I mean, by then I'd already decided I had been wrong, that Communism was by its very nature an impossible system, one that could only oppress people if it were ever to work. So I already knew I was wrong, that I'd been foolish, that it was a good thing the Soviet Union was gone. But I don't know if I can describe what it was like reading this book anyway. It was, and is, the only work which attempts to simply list all the crimes of Communism in one place. The crimes of every regime are listed there, the big ones and the little ones: the Soviet Union, Poland, China, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Cuba, Chile, Peru... everywhere where Communists had an influence, big or small.
It was gripping, and it was hard, and I made myself read every page of it. I felt like a puppy getting his nose rubbed in a pile of shit. Often I just sat and read. Sometimes, my hands shook. A few times, I cried. And I can only tell you my conclusion:
I hate these people. And if you don't, there's something wrong with you.
I have a friend who likes to say that hate is an unhealthy emotion because it makes you sick inside. But I always argue with him. I say that hate is a normal human emotion, and that it only sickens you if you hate the wrong people. If you can't hate mass-murderers and people who crush the human spirit, then there is something sick in your soul already. If you can't hate an Adolph Hitler or a Joseph Stalin or a Mao Tse Tung, there's something sad about you. In my view, anyway. Not because it's about despising your fellow man, but because it's about despising the worst in the human animal.
I was born in 1966. Lyndon Johnson was President at that time. After him, in order, there was Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. Perhaps after Bush there will be Kerry, or perhaps not. But I have no doubt, no doubt at all, that the greatest words spoken by a President in my lifetime were these:
General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
I voted against Ronald Reagan in my first vote for President in 1984.
It's time for me to head back to my home in the Jewish ghetto, otherwise known as The Moderate Voice. Many thanks to Dean for inviting us to guest blog again (see Dean? It does pay off when you have one of Tony Soprano's cousins visit me at the office...).
But please visit us at our own blog which you can visit by clicking here and here and here and here. Of course, all of those get you to the same place, which is here. And any number of clicks are worth it, if it doesn't get you HERE.
Even so, we hope you'll include The Moderate Voice on your daily web surfing schedule and leave comments for us as we constantly update our relatively young blog. A million thanks for your thoughtful comments on our posts here again.
Bloggers of all persuasions are commenting on former President Ronald Reagan, who passed away yesterday. Some are passing judgement (good and bad) on his legacy.
What follows is only a small sampling of comments, differing opinions and links. We offer this to help you explore weblogs' comments on Reagan. There are many more blogs that have commented so we're only listing a cross section of those that posted original comments on him and/or his death. There is literally an opinion to suit every voter on the subject of Ronald Reagan. Here are some for starters:
--GREG PIPER was too young to pay much attention to Reagan when he was president, but from what he's read and seen now he is greatly impressed:
He was a mortal, to be sure, but a great man with a winning combination of intellect and charisma that changed the world. He had the "capacity to surprise," as former Senate leader and Reagan adviser Howard Baker said, especially in his dealings with Gorbachev. And he was just so damn funny - I laughed out loud reading some of his famous quips. Kinda makes our current president seem small, but living up to Reagan is probably too much for almost any politician in this age of deep polarization and new transnational threats.
----Attorney Seth Farber, of the liberal The Talking Dog blog, in a post titled "Mourning in America" says "Over the course of time, though I never voted for him, I came to respect our 40th President a great deal. To his credit, he and Nancy Reagan never really liked the Bushes. At 93, he lived the longest of any man ever to hold the presidency, and he was the oldest man ever to hold the office. "
It's difficult for those who weren't politically conscious by 1980 to understand how different it felt to be an American that year compared to eight years later. That profound difference was experienced not just by Reagan's admirers, but also by those like me who, during his tenure, viewed him more ambiguously. We could try to debate how much credit Reagan deserved, but the triumph and transformation of those years was indisputable.
--In an extensive post, Staunch Moderate Todd Kennedy argues that although he was likeable, Reagan ushered in a more brutal era of politics with more aggressive campaigns, a greater alliance on polling, and increased selling of politicos as if they were detergents. One small quote:
When we send people to congress or to the office of the presidency we are not purchasing a brand of detergent. Political selection must never, ever again be diluted into the emotional and the conceptual devoid of the factual and the specific. Let’s hope that we are evolving past a period of confidence games to an era of more classic democracy where policy is constructed, and it’s execution overseen by the people, not just confirmed because we think we know and like the guy. Let us leave the theatre and move towards reclamation of our duty as citizens in a democracy.
Perhaps the moment that cemented my affection for him was the Challenger disaster. I would be graduating from high school in a few months and knew full well what was going on in the world. Again, in a moment of crisis, he was able to talk to the American people in a way that acknowledged the tragedy but allowed us to keep moving forward. As he said, they “slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God”. Today he did the same. Thank you, Mr. President. You won’t be forgotten.
--Oxblog's Josh Chafetz has some great links to reaction to Reagan's death plus a great 1999 William F. Buckley quote on Reagan.
--Centerfield's Todd Pearson:" didn't agree with many of his policies, but I think he was the right man at the right time for the country."
As a political liberal, I disagree with many of Reagan's policies. I also disagree strongly with those on the right who seek to canonize Reagan...to whitewash his record and to keep the whole truth of his life and his Presidency from being told.
I believe that Reagan will be remembered first as "The Great Communicator". I think he would want that most of all. Reagan was a man who, like President Bill Clinton, charmed his way into office and even managed to charm his most vehement foes. I hope that in a few years that it will finally be okay to remember Reagan as a whole...and not just the parts that come across as positive. He presided over a complex, difficult and great time for the US. His life and his Presidency should be remembered in that way as well.
--And Lee at Right Thinking has one of the most eloquent posts which includes this:
Maybe it's because I lost my father recently, but I have been quite upset by Reagan's passing today. He was a larger-then-life figure, and a personal hero not only to me but to countless other people. He was our last truly great president. He was the first president I really remember, and during my teenage years he exemplified everything that I currently love about America.
I think that's one of the reasons that this has affected me so deeply—Reagan was America, and with his death it's as if a little piece of America died with him. He wouldn't agree with that sentiment, of course; he understood that the American experiment is bigger than any one man. But it's fair to say that the world is a drastically different and far better place because of Reagan's influence, wisdom, ideas, and steely resolve in the face of right and wrong.
So the views are varied but there's one common thread: Reagan eventually won the respect of some who doubted him. He remains a controversial president due to his program but there seems to be a consensus on him as a person and a leader.
Why Ronald Reagan Was Loved In the End (Joe Gandelman)
(NOTE: Immediately upon hearing of the death of former President Reagan we posted a bulletin here. Due to the huge nature of this story, we posted a quick post on our blog The Moderate Voice. This contains parts of it, but most of this is original for Dean's World).
RONALD REAGAN: Feb. 6, 1911-June 5, 2004
Even of you didn't agree with all of his policies at the time, you cannot but shed tears at hearing of the death of former President Ronald Reagan.
What can you possibly say about a president who left office the most popular president in U.S. history?
A lot.
A lot will be said and has been said about Ronald Reagan but the overriding quality he brought to office was something that had little to do with ideology -- something politicians of both parties can't duplicate.
It was his unshakeable, total, sincere optimism in the United States, its people, destiny and political process. In the 1960s, the late Minnestoa Senator and Vice President Humbert Humphrey was often pointed to as the key practioner of the politics of joy. But in the 80s, Reagan took it up several notches. And he became the embodiment of the politics of optimism and joy.
Pundits can (and will) list his many accomplishments. Among them: his role in bringing an end to the cold war and the fall of the Berlin Wall; his role in lifting conservatism from a limited political philosophy often considered on the fringes of his own political party during the sullen days of Barry Goldwater to a mainstream philosphy that plays a key role in the United States today; solidification of the Republican majority; personification of the perfect way to deliver Oval Office speeches and press conferences; the trimming of government services in keeping in line with conservative philosophy (still highly controversial since some moderates and liberals adamently fought it)...and much more.
Yet there was one thing about Ronald Reagan: political handlers will find him impossible to clone.
Maybe it's because of the divergent forces that helped shape him. He was shaped by his childhood, early experiences as an actor, experiences in Hollywood politics, and the California governorship during the turbulent 70s.
And no matter what, he never lost his authentic sense of optimism and joy -- and he infused that in the country, even in many of his political foes. That's why the term "Reagan Democrats" meant something beyond mere slogan creation. They gladly crossed political lines not to vote against someone, but for someone -- and for something.
The death of a President is always a time for reflection and reaffirmation -- and somehow it seems even moreso on this day....when America has lost its most famous and joyful optimist.
I was very fortunate. I had a personal glimpse of Ronald Reagan and he was a watershed in my own zig zag political history. Today, I don't belong to any party, but there was a time when I was a Democrat, then a Republican, then a Democrat, then a Republican. And in 1980 I became one of the famous Reagan Democrats.
He won me over even though I didn't agree with most of his policies his policies. I had been overseas writing for newspapers such as The Christian Science Monitor and the Chicago Daily News from places such as New Delhi and Madrid. By 1977 Jimmy Carter was in office and I was in Spain and, as usual, often interviewed diplomats who were in excruciating pain in their dealings with the Carter administration.
I had heard things about Reagan as governor of California and was NOT convinced by that. He was too conservative for me, circa 1976. Then, in early 1980, my dying uncle from Los Angeles told me on the phone:"Ronald Reagan will be the next President of the United States. He has such a sunny disposition and people like him."
In the end, Reagan won me over because of the way he conducted his campaign because I was ready to risk a change and he was in effect saying "We can do it!" For a wavering voter, he provided enough credibility and consistency to get my vote.
But those aren't my two anecdotes that to me typify Reagan and his era. The two:
(1)My former foster son Tom (who is now in his early 30s) had a mother who had cerebral palsey since birth. Even though he was a young kid, he knew about the Reagan budget cuts and was very upset that his mother's government money had been slashed.
So one sunny day in the early 80s, President Reagan came to San Diego. He bounded out of his car and ran over to a crowd and, known for his love of children, immediately saw blonde-haired Tom and stuck out his hand.
Tom, angry due to his mother's own anger over budget cuts, just looked at the president's hand and abruptly turned away. I'm told Reagan just looked puzzled, then went about his business. Yet in time Tom got to like Reagan.
(2)A year or two after he left office, I had to do a show in a huge air hanger at the Marine Base Camp Pendleton. I was told I would be going on right after the special guest. When I got there the special guest was former President Ronald Reagan. He was sitting at a table on a long stage getting ready to deliver a speech to Marines coming home after Gulf War I.
He had to share the stage with some kids. And before the event began you could see his eyes light up when the kids approached him, his joy in talking to them, a huge smile, twinkling eyes -- and their genuine joy in talking with him not just because he was someone who had been president but because he was CONNECTING TO THEM on a personal level.
He wasn't talking down to them. He looked them in the eyes and connected with that little spark that's called the human spirit.
And that's what he seemingly did, as few other presidents had done before (probably the only parallel in recent times is John F Kennedy). It's something that transcends party, policy or spin. It's the ability to truly connect and be with someone, rather than trying to manipulate or sell someone.
In the end, when all the words are written, it may boil down to this, and you can't say this about other politicians of any party: there was a seeming innocence about Ronald Reagan, almost a purity of thought.
That's why when he wrote Americans saying he had Alzheimer's disease and would "begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life" it caused a bittersweet lump in many throats and left a sadness in many hearts.
Former President Ronald Reagan Dies at 93 (Joe Gandelman)
Bulletin:
Former President Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, has died at age 93. Reagan had been suffering for years with Alzheimer's disease. He died surrounded by his children.
The tipoff that the end was near for the former actor was a short news bulletin this morning about the deterioration of his health. He was known in office as The Great Communicator because of his uncanny ability to connect with the people and project an optimistic view of the United States and the country's future.
We'll be posting links to news stories on Reagan such as this one here. And we'll add additional links throughout the even for you.
The death of a president is always a time for reflection (and renewal. So do leave your thoughts and comments in the comment box.
In a little bit we'll also do a short post that gives you a personal anecdote about Reagan -- a gimpse I got of him right after he left office.
STORY LINKS:
--Text of Reagan's famous 1994 letter informing citizens of the United States that he had Alheimzers disease and was going to withdraw from public life
--Reagan: Champion of Conservative Politics (AP)
--An optimist who left office as the most popular president in U.S. history. MSNBC.
--From actor to politician/president with sunny outlook. ABC News.
--On his genuine optimism and patriotism. AP
--As a strong, controversial world statesman. Reuters.
--Chronology of Reagan's life. AP
--A more critical look at Reagan's goals versus his policies in "Ronald Reagan: Party Animal." Slate.
--The Reagan/Thatcher political relationship. AP
Dean Esmay's personal staement: I hated him when he was President.
A big controversy has erupted between Air America's showcase talk show host comedian Al Franken and the increasingly popular libertarian radio talk show host Neil Boortz. Various blogs on the right and left are taking sides in the who-said-what dispute.
The best way to find out? Listen to it yourself. I just did and found it great radio (I liked both of them, actually) and think declaration of a victor is in the ear of the beholder.
If you want to hear the (long) segment click here which will take you to the Air America site which gives you various listening options. I clicked on the underlined "here" in the first line, which allowed me to listen to this long, complete segment.
But now Michael Moore is being Michael Moored -- the target of an undaunting filmmaker who is trying fruitlessly to get an interview with MM and doing his own expose, on MM's films and their accuracy.
"Media Whores" Show Why They're Called "Media Whores"
Oliver Willis has it totally right...so The Moderate Voice will reproduce his comments then offer his own rant. First Oliver, one of the Internet's most perceptive liberal bloggers:
So I was watching Dateline's ratings-whore of an interview with OJ "Knife" Simpson last night, and I could barely keep down my lunch. Here's a guy who (literally) got away with murder and he's living the life of luxury down in Florida. What's even more disgusting is that he has essentially bought into the belief that he's the center of the universe, and sees nothing wrong with flaunting himself as a womanizer - even though that's the same macho path that set him on the road to murder.
OJ also has a very convenient "blackness". In the years before he was arrested, Simpson didn't exactly give back to the black community, but the minute he was hauled into jail -- and especially when slick Johnny Cochran became his lawyer -- OJ remembered he was black real quickly. For all the poor black men who are in jail for an inadequate defense, there are many OJs of all colors - rich guys who buy their way out of the fate they deserve.
Indeed, these are the two key issues at play here in the O.J. case. He's a guy who literally got off scott free and is living in (that horrible phrase used in divorces) "the style to which he is accustomed" -- a living example how $$$$ can buy or buy off justice...and that the race card works (Michael Jackson take note).
But TMV also worked in the media for many years and his heart is still very much in the media. And seeing how all the TV bigwigs are falling all over each other, and would be willing to slit their grandmother's throat (whoops! No offense OJ...), for the "get" of getting OJ on their show (read that GET RATINGS no matter what you have to do or what journalist principle you jettison) is enough to elicite The Immoderate Barf.
This isn't the first time the news media has exposed its "get" frenzy -- where the important thing is to get someone who's in the news on the show and do a segment with them, even with perfunctory "hard" questions that are merely to justify putting them on and getting the ratings.
A few months ago we were all "treated" to the contemptable interview Katie Couric had with New York Times serial fabricator Jayson Blair on the eve of the publication of his book. There was a lesson there, though: the shows with Blair got ratings but not as good as they hoped and you can buy large crates of Blair's fictional -- I mean biographical -- book to give out as cheap Xmas presents, since it didn't sell (despite Katie's and Larry King's best efforts).
The TV news and talk shows would insist they are not participating in the p.r. rehabilitation of O.J. Simpson but that is really what it is. A truly tough interview would end with OJ glaring angrily.
So he'll do his interviews, the news and talk shows will get their ratings, then OJ is free to go to eventually use his just rehabilitated notority to get involved in some money-making project in between his tireless search for wife Nicole's and Ron Goldman's "real" killers on golf courses and in fine restaurants throughout America.
The Sopranos: The Countdown Continues (Joe Gandelman)
Tomorrow nite is the season finale of HBO's "The Sopranos." Of course, the ragin question many have is: "Who's gonna get whacked?" But some also see the show as a solid one that poses serious moral questions...
Ideological Dating Services Are Now The Rage (Joe Gandelman)
There's a new way to find a date (or a mate): through ideological/partisan dating services. It raises all kinds of possibilities, including new pick up lines....
There's some debate about the true role of party affiliation in a demcoracy -- a positive way to press for new ideas or a filter that keeps them out? Roger Simon has a fascinating post here.
Is NBC's Potential New Hit a Potential Ratings Disaster? (Joe Gandelman)
These are nervous days for NBC. First, the beloved-to-many longrunning sitcom "Frasier" is ending so it's losing a ratings winner. So NBC thought it had the perfect to replace it -- one that would draw in kids as well as adults, one produced by a proven company. But there is big hitch...and now there are BIG WORRIES.
Newspapers Are Getting Their Obits Ready Now for Ronald Reagan (Joe Gandelman)
Very sad news this morning and the way it was released is clearly to prepare the American public for the eventual news: 93-year-old former President Ronald Reagan is failing very fast.
The Moderate Voice worked in newspapers for many years and he knows when the media is doing what's called a "Death Watch" and it has officially begun on Ronald Reagan with this short story, carried in varying forms by different agencies. This one from CNN:
Former President Ronald Reagan's health is deteriorating, according to a White House spokesman on Air Force One.
The 93-year-old former president had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease about a decade ago and he began to retreat from public view.
According to sources familiar with the situation, the White House has been told Reagan's death could happen in "weeks or months."
The sources said they were told: "Don't be surprised if....the time is getting close."
Alzheimer's is a progressive, irreversible neurological disorder.
These kinds of short advisories -- often carried on show biz luminaries as well -- are a kind of tip to newspaper editors to get their big obits ready. There were similar short updates on Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Hubert Humphrey, etc -- figures who had lingering illnesses or who lived to ripe old ages but took a turn for the worse.
UPDATE: Despite a comment from one of the former President's staffers downplaying him taking a turn for the worse, Reagan's family is reportedly gathering by his bedside.
Tragic French Offensive Stalled on Beaches (Normandy, France - June 6, 1944) - Pandemonium, shock and sheer terror predominate today's events in Europe.
In an as yet unfolding apparent fiasco, Supreme Allied Commander, Gen. Dwight David Eisenhower's troops got a rude awakening this morning at Omaha Beach here in Normandy.
Due to insufficient planning and lack of a workable entrance strategy, soldiers of the 1st and 29th Infantry as well as Army Rangers are now bogged down and sustaining heavy casualties inflicted on them by dug-in insurgent positions located 170 feet above them on cliffs overlooking the beaches which now resemble blood soaked killing fields at the time of this mid-morning filing.
Bodies, parts of bodies, and blood are the order of the day here, the screams of the dying and the stillness of the dead mingle in testament to this terrible event.
Morale can only be described as extremely poor--in some companies all the officers have been either killed or incapacitated,leaving only poorly trained privates to fend for themselves.
Things appear to be going so poorly that Lt. General Omar Bradley has been rumored to be considering breaking off the attack entirely. As we go to press embattled U.S. president Franklin Delano Roosevelt's spokesman has not made himself available for comment at all, fueling fires that something has gone disastrously awry. "
Pope John Paul II scolded GWB for his approach on Iraq...but praised him for trying to develope a "culture of life" in the United States. So the audience wasn't as bad as the White House feared or as good as it hoped.
Oh, no, it can't be so! Rush Limbaugh would never lift a blogger's work and not attribute it!
This charge MUST made by some Democrat or engineered by Hillary when she's taking a break from torpedoing John Kerry's campaign.
But wait: the The Moderate Voice found this item on one of his favorite conservative blogs, Whizbang, which runs the headline:"Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Thief"
Oh yeah? For YOUR information, Rush is NOT FAT any more. (He has a private chef so he slimmed down. So there.)
But Whizbang contains this interesting item that certainly seems to suggest (The Moderate Voice used to hang out with diplomats when he was overseas and you can tell it rubbed off) that some heavy unattributed lifting of ideas and/or graphics without attribution may have occured. Just compare this from Jessica's Well with this from The Man's website.
Writes Whizbang's Kevin Aylward:
Using words or graphics from another site without attribution and/or link back to the original is wrong. In the case of copyright material, permission is generally required for use (except in the case of fair use). If you have a small readership at your web site; no one will likely notice if you are not crediting your sources properly. The more readers you have the greater the scrutiny there will be on your sourcing.
At Wizbang we mind our P's and Q's, as best we can. There is a DCMA Compliance Notice on every page with a process to report copyright violations. I expect to be credited (actually I demand to be credited) when my words, ideas, stories or images are used elsewhere so it would be supremely hypocritical of me to not credit the sources I use in editing Wizbang.
Which brings me to the case of professional media personality Rush Limbaugh. It seems that Rush, 800 lb. media gorilla that he is, has decided it is OK to steal Jessica's Well (Natalie Drest) work. Take a look at Rush's version - noting that the graphic from Jessica's Well was two different pieces of the magazine combined into a new original graphic. Whether you are a Limbaugh fan or not you would be hard pressed to defend his uncredited theft of Natalie's material.
It's time to lay the smack down on Rush for his unethical actions. Act Now!
He has a link for readers to email Rush in protest and a phone number to protest to Rush's show. (Well, then, this MUST prove that Whizbang is funded by Hillary or run by RHINOs.)
Egads. what next???? Now they're warning us about Vitamin C. Reuters reports:
High doses of vitamin C may worsen arthritis, at least in guinea pigs, U.S. researchers reported on Friday.
The finding by a team at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina contradicts previous studies that suggested large doses of the vitamin may protect against osteoarthritis.
Dr. Virginia Kraus, an associate professor of medicine who led the study said the vitamin may help prevent the chemical reactions that cause damage in the short term, but become damaging in the long term.
"It's possible that brief exposure to high levels of vitamin C offers antioxidant effects with a minimum of side effects, while prolonged exposure results in deleterious effects," said Kraus.
Writing in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism, her team said guinea pigs given high doses of vitamin C for eight months had more symptoms of arthritis than animals fed low or moderate doses.
Is nothing sacred anymore? Now the Moderate Voice will have to revise his medical rant bit:
How ya doin? So, where are you from? Anyone here from Bridgeport, Connecticut? It's a great place to be from...Hope you're healthy. You gotta have your health.
The other day I went to my doctor. I walked in and he was next to his nurse shouting: "Polio! Tetnus! Pneumonia! Flu!" I asked her, "What's he doing?" She said, "Oh, he just likes to call the shots around here....."
But I gotta tell ya, I was running a bad fever. So he took out a thermometer. "Rectal or oral?" he asked. "Rectal or oral? Rectal or oral?" I said "Don't you know the difference between a rectal and oral thermometer?" He said, "Sure...the taste..." Then he took my temperature and said "you have mono."
I said "Mono, at my age? I knew a kid who came down with mono." So the doctor said, "I know Siamese twins who came down with stereo...." These are the jokes, folks....So then I thought I'd play it safe and take Vitamin C. Ya know, it's good for ya -- antioxidant, guzzle it and you cut down on your cold. But then I learned about a guy who took too much and he's now in a wheelchair. And now they say that if you take too much of it you can die of health..."
I hate to have to revise this AGAIN. (DISCLOSURE: The Moderate Voice does not actually use these jokes in his act. They are much too sophisticated).
God knows why, but at the moment I'm sitting here watching the typically execrable Hannity & Colmes show on Fox News. I note that they have on Susan Estrich guesting for Alan Colmes.
Fox News, do yourselves a favor: Fire that blowhard Hannity and name the show Estrich and Colmes. You want two thoughtful, interesting, and fair-minded left-wingers--left-wingers who are genuine, thinking liberals--who actually have a sense of humor and know how to make a logical, reasoned, consistent point? And challenge the right on their own terms? Give it to these two.
Plans to Move U.S. Combat Divisions (Joe Gandelman)
Is it merely something in the pipeline, or does it send the wrong, dangerous signal? IntelDump's Phil Carter, a former Army officer, has some concerns and you can read his serious analysis here.
He's baaaaaaaaaaaaack and Coming To a Bookstore Near You...(Joe Gandelman)
A certain somebody is baaaack...and he's coming soon to a bookstore near YOU as he promotes a book that may qualify as a lethal weapon if it's thrown at you. He's begun a Magical Mystery Tour of bookstores. We won't tell you who he is except he is a former president who once had a famous intern working on his staff....and he creates possible problems for a 21st Century politician with the initials JFK.
UPDATE: In the ultimate example of phoney, manufactured journalism, CNN, in a piece on John Kerry's choices for Vice President, lists Bill Clinton. This kind of "analysis" deameans serioius journalism. There has not been one shred of evidence that Bill Clinton is on anyone's list for Vice President on a Kerry ticket, except someone trying to create news where there is none. Drudge links to this truly idiotic piece on his website. After The Moderate Voice read it, he was puzzled. He thought Brothers Grimm died years ago.
I'd seriously like to know which news organization these news media people worked for. It would be irresponsible to assume they're American. But why is it that I will not be in the least bit surprised if they were?
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