You've seen Correctol, right?

Welll, now there's...

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In the following short essay, Michael Levy argues the sciences -- which in recent times have paid little attention to spiritual matters -- may find their research into the universe has a spiritual dimension.

-- Tim Machesney

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The Bonding of Science and Spirituality

by Michael Levy

FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, religious dogma and tribal superstitions kept scientific thinkers in a locked box. Many outspoken scholars were executed because their scientific findings were looked upon as heresy. It is only in the past two hundred years that free academic study of science was allowed to flourish unhindered by ancient religious doctrines.

Once modern-style academic scientific studies were established, they rejected and ridiculed anything spiritual or metaphysical if it could not be proven by a mathematical formula. Even today, a few professors and scientists are closed-minded to anything that resembles spirituality. But things are changing at a very rapid pace. For just as religion had to succumb to scientific knowledge, science is beginning to unravel the mysteries of the universe with quantum physics; and scientists' latest findings are stretching the field into the realms of metaphysical spirituality.

After all is said and done, there can only be one truth that explains the creation/ evolving of the universe, but there may be many pathways, within one truth, that will explain humanity's curiosity about cosmic puzzles.

Quantum science is going beyond looking into atoms, photons, neutrons, and quarks. Those within the field are exploring a newer string theory (dancing, unobservable, vibrational waves of energy) and membrane theory (multiple universes, carved up into slices, living side by side, all conjoined by ...?). Together they give room to explore theories which seek to prove the unity of gravity, electromagnetism, and the weak and strong nuclear forces. The deeper quantum physicists explore, the closer they encircle metaphysical philosophy. They are realizing there are higher realities, within infinite dimensions of intelligent vibrational energy.

Ever since humans could look up at the stars at night they have pondered the mystical magic of the cosmos. Many great ancient civilizations -- the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Chinese -- debated the awe and wonder of the heavens. Brilliant philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Confucius and many more, have talked about humankind's connection to the invisible, eternal flows of energy that govern the Cosmos. And within the next hundred years, mathematical proof will uncover the connection between science , philosophy and spirituality.

It seems string theorists have uncovered eleven dimensions to our universe. Some quantum physicists even go so far as to state the dimensions of the universe may be infinite. At the same time, they are theorizing about parallel universes that live side by side with our own. Perhaps there are an infinite number of them.

If this is proven true, it will explain why our world was not formed by chance, for if there is an infinite number of universes, then it stands to common sense at least one would contain intelligent life as found here on Earth. It could be no fluke, because of the infinite variety of universes; and the formula to create our universe must differ from each and every other universe -- in the same manner as no two humans are identical, and each has their own free will to act within an inescapable framework.

Such studies take place on more basic levels as well. In medicine, there are many ongoing studies of spirituality within the fields of neurology, psychology and other disciplines. There is also a greater openness to new ideas: mental illnesses that may be caused by stress and erroneous thoughts are being treated with many alternative, spiritually-related treatments, which were rejected a few years ago. At every level, open-minded professors, scientists and physicians are welcoming metaphysical philosophers and spiritual masters to help in the quest to eradicate disease, pollution and many other human ills.

Provided we keep communicating and balance the teaching of science and spirituality, humanity can eventually realize they are one harmonious unit within a unified symphonic universe. Maybe that unity on earth will make Albert Einstein a very happy camper as he looks at Earth from his eternal cosmic home?

Mr. Levy writes from Florida.

In the following essay, Diana Muir writes about one collegiate newspaper columnist whose arguments against Israel are built on extremely false pretenses.

-- Tim Machesney

LIES, DAMNED LIES, and ANTI-ISRAEL ARGUMENT

by Diana Muir

The Daily Illini is the student newspaper of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. On Dec. 11, 2003, a Daily Illini columnist printed a well-known false quotation slandering Israel. I was particularly concerned because this is at least the third time that this particular columnist, Mariam Sobh, has printed material slandering Israel that she knows -- or ought to have known -- to be false. Ms. Sobh is a graduate student in the journalism school.

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In the following short poem, Anne Pitcher writes about tough times during her childhood, and the people who helped her get through it.

-- Tim Machesney

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My friend Sam, who was born in, and lives in, Estonia, runs his own weblog, which you should check out. His English is quite excellent. He recently left a comment in my thread on why I hate Communists.

By the way, yes, I really do hate them. Seething, burning animosity of the kind that would likely make me spit in someone's face if not punch them. Furthermore, I consider that hatred to be utterly healthy and positive. I wonder about your sanity, your decency as a human being, if you don't hate them too. It was all I could do recently not to rip a commenter a new arsehole when he said that Marxism is an "outmoded" system.

Anyway, my Estonian friend Sam recently wrote this in my comments, and you should read it so I'm re-posting it:

Why do I hate them?

Because when I was a child, our family had to celebrate Christmas behind thick curtains, and couldn't talk about it outside our home.

Because my maternal grandfather gave directions to Finnish tourists on the street, resulting in their home phone being bugged for the next fifteen years.

Because ten percent of my country's population was sent to Siberia. Imagine 28 million Americans torn from their homes, men, women, children, infants - loaded on cattle trains, and moved to a bitterly cold, barren wasteland thousands of miles away.

Because everywhere I look in my country, I see the scars the bastards left behind.

Because my paternal grandfather was loaded on one of those cattle trains and deported to Siberia. He, unlike the thousands around him, managed to stay alive, and eventually found his way back. He lost all toes on both feet to frostbite.

Because my maternal great-grandfather was blacklisted his entire life under Soviet occupation, an educated man kept from working as anything but a janitor. They did this because at age 17, he fought against the Red Army in the Estonian Independence War (and won).

Because he died in 1987, a year before the blue, black, and white flag of Estonia was unfurled on the streets again, after 47 years.

Because he died before the Berlin Wall came down in 1989.

Because he died before we regained our independence in 1991.

Because during their famines, people ate their children, because hunger drives you mad.

Because their hands have the blood, screams, and torment of one hundred million people on them.

If you take a pen and start writing down the names of every single person who starved, froze, was beaten to death, was raped, shot, hung, stabbed, sobbed in despair and realized there was no hope, and then slowly but surely died, you'd go through countless pens, boxes and boxes of paper, and your goddamn arm would fall off.

That is why I fucking hate them. I've hated them as far back as I can remember, and as years go by, I've come to hate them even more.

And if I ever run across someone who actually defends these vile, repugnant monsters, I will hospitalize them.

You might want to check out Sam's weblog.

IN STUNNING ADMISSION,
LIBYA ADMITS ROLE IN PLOT
ON SMALL CALIFORNIA TOWN
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AMERICAN OFFICIALS CONFIRM
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By TADD ARBUCKLE

HILL VALLEY, Calif. -- The Libyan Government has confirmed its role in a failed 1985 attack against the small town of Hill Valley, Calif., American and British intelligence officials said yesterday. While little noticed at the time, the attack left a local man hurt and caused extensive damage to a local key-duplication establishment.

The stunning admission comes as Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi, the reclusive military dictator of that North African country, seeks to repair relations with the West. Intelligence officers who toured Libya's nuclear facilities said Libya had come closer to building a nuclear device than previously believed, but a top Libyan scientist revealed yesterday just how close they had come.

"We could have had a working nuclear bomb in 1987, 1988 at the latest," said Dr. Faisal ibn al-Khums, lead weapons scientist for Libya's covert nuclear program, "but all we got from that damned Yankee scientist was a bunch of scrap iron. Praise God, we took care of that infidel soon enough. But have you any idea how hard it is to build a working nuclear weapon? Years and years we worked, and all we managed to do was poison the water supply of a few outlying villages."

"By God, that set us back twenty years!" al-Khums added.

While little noticed at the time, federal authorities confirmed the attack had taken place in fall 1985 at the Twin Pines Mall, a large retail complex just outside of this small California enclave. While there are only two believed witnesses to what happened that autumn night, residents of the town who remembered the odd occurrences were stunned to learn of the Libyan gambit.

"God as my witness, I remember it like it was yesterday," said Jasper Michaels, the then-proprietor of the Keys-2-Heaven kiosk, which was located in Parking Lot C of the Twin Pines Mall. "I got up for work at eight in the morning, like I always do, and there was a minibus on top of my store."

"All I wanted was my own store, designing, replacing, and reworking keys for the good people of Hill Valley," Michaels said. "Do you know how long it took me to save the money to start it? Two years, man. Two years."

"Now look at me," Michaels said. "I'm working sixteen-hour days down at the urinal cake factory outside of town. And you know that fragrance shit they put in those things? It doesn't wear off. Jesus Christ, I've tried everything -- lye, steel wool, acid -- it doesn't wear off.

"Help me! You've got to help me!" he added.

A mid-level federal official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said authorities were able to reconstruct what happened that evening.

"On Oct. 26, 1985, a 1971 Volkswagen minibus entered the parking lot of the Twin Pines Mall, a large retail complex outside of Hill Valley, California. The vehicle contained four adult Libyan nationals, armed with assault weapons. For reasons unknown, the Libyans accelerated at a high rate of speed around the parking lot, firing several rounds at a target believed to be Dr. Emmett Brown, a physicist of minor repute. Brown may have been hit several times by these rounds, or may have driven off in his silver DeLorean sports car, since neither his body nor the car were found at the scene. In any case, the Libyan operator then lost control of the vehicle, which came to rest on top of the Keys-2-Heaven kiosk, an establishment at the mall which provided key-duplication and key-refurbishment services," the official said, reading from the now de-classified Government report on the matter.

Libyan sources said that Colonel Qaddafi, terrified that American and British forces might turn on him next, decided to cave in before it was too late.

"Now look. When I say come clean with everything, I mean everything," Qaddafi reportedly said, according to someone familiar with the matter. "And that includes that little 'incident' we planned to get back at that Brown fellow. Wherever it was."

American officials also confirmed that Libya disclosed the Hill Valley incident. However, questions remain sketchy about the matter, and the present whereabouts of Brown, as well as one Marty McFly of Hill Valley, are unknown.

In related news, shares of automaker Volkswagen AG traded sharply higher on the XETRA bourse in late afternoon trading.

In the following brief essay, Dean Bartkiw argues that Americans ought focus on substantive issues, rather than the verbal blunders some politicians make while on the stump.

-- Tim Machesney

... BUT BY THE CONTENT OF THEIR IDEAS

by Dean Bartkiw

SOMETIMES AS I SIT and listen to superficial criticisms of certain politicians, I can’t help but wonder if those who criticize are consistent. George Bush has been a favorite target of amateur linguists since he was Governor of Texas. His infamous use of the word “nucular” is repeated ad nauseam in almost every debate I have with friends.

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In the following essay, J. Alistair Robinson writes that humanity must prevent letting the spirit of the present age impact its scientific understanding of the world and the things in it.

-- Tim Machesney

Animal Rights, Anthropomorphism, and Traumatized Fish

by J. Alistair Robinson

MOST OF US ARE OUTRAGED by the violent actions of animal rights extremists, but at the same time the movement’s ideas and assumptions are gaining a foothold in the media and the public imagination. From my own experience, it seems that among the young thinking people of this country, animal rights is a very attractive political and ethical stance. My question is this: how can we be sure that things such as empathy for animals, concern for their moral status, and a desire to put them on a par with humans, do not stem only from a false attribution of uniquely human emotions?

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In the following essay, Amy Phillips writes that the rights of women, in addition to religious minorities, will not be treated as equal to others' rights under post-war Afghanistan's planned "democratic" constitution.

A version of this essay appeared at Ms Phillips' Web site, The Fifty Minute Hour.

-- Tim Machesney

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Any Creed You Want, So Long As It Is Islam

By Amy Phillips

"There are some things in which you cannot make women equal, such as in
marriage, divorce, testifying in court, inheritance, and even leadership
of the nation."

Those are the words of an anonymous member of the committee that drafted Afghanistan's recently unveiled draft constitution (PDF). The constitution has been designed to combine democratic principles with the demands of powerful religious elements inside the country, trying to create the world's first Islamic democracy. It declares both that Afghanistan "is an Islamic Republic," where "no law can be contrary to the sacred religion of Islam," and that the government should be "based on the people's will and democracy." The question is, what happens when those two principles come into conflict?

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In the following short essay, Joshua Siskin looks at the effects of the nation's school-prayer ban upon American education and society.

-- Tim Machesney

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THE SOUND OF SILENCE

by Joshua Siskin

IN CLASSROOMS ACROSS AMERICA, there is not a single moment of silence during the entire day. In such classrooms, little if any learning takes place. Instead, a constant war is fought to maintain order. It used to be that this situation was confined to inner-city public schools, but classroom chaos is spreading to suburban and private schools as well.

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In the following essay, Amy Phillips writes about Czechoslovakia's totalitarian past and the Czech Republic's democratic present, and a newly-passed law that could very well impact that country's future.

Ms. Phillips writes for her own blog, The Fifty Minute Hour.

-- Tim Machesney

THOSE WHO CONTROL THE PRESENT ...

by Amy Phillips

THIRTY-FIVE YEARS AGO, in the spring of 1968, the nation of Czechoslovakia received a brief reprieve from the decades-long tyranny of Soviet Socialism. During the Prague Spring, Alexander Dubcek, the leader of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, implemented an action program to relax controls on censorship and free expression as part of a larger flirtation with democratization and political reform. Dubcek's plan was put in place as a response to calls for reform already fomenting within the Czechoslovak populace, and they gave legitimacy to grassroots movements calling for greater freedom for the Czechoslovak people. Dubcek's government made an apology for the detrimental policies of the past, and for the first time in over two decades, affirmed the basic human rights and civil liberties belonging to all Czechoslovak citizens. He called it "Socialism with a human face," but it was actually an affirmation of the now-common understanding that Soviet Communism was a totalitarian regime under which no citizen was free.

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In the following essay, Don Pesci writes that Walter Duranty, The New York Times' notorious and late Moscow correspondent, should have his Pulitzer Prize rescinded.

-- Tim Machesney

FAMINE, LIES AND JUSTICE

by Don Pesci

SEVERAL YEARS AGO, I was contacted by a Ukrainian in New Britain, Connecticut who wanted to send me a film on the 1932-33 famine in that country. He asked me to view the film and let him know if I could think of any reason why it should not be shown in the United States. The film, Harvest of Despair, had been widely shown in Canada. That was my first exposure to the greatest man made disaster ever recorded, and the first time in history that famine on such a scale was used as an instrument of war and oppression.

I was stunned by Harvest of Despair. It contained footage of both the famine in 1932-33 and an earlier famine that was stopped in its tracks by Lenin, who imported food into the stricken areas. The 32-33 famine -- the Ukrainians call it the Holodomor, roughly translated as "famine-genocide," the "H" intentionally capitalized to emphasize a parallel with the Holocaust -- was caused by Joseph Stalin, who used the famine to break the resistance of Ukrainians to Soviet rule. The terror-famine, as historian Robert Conquest called it, was caused by Stalin's first Five Year Plan. This was a program designed, its Communist proponents claimed, to modernize an antiquated agricultural community, particularly in Ukraine. Between 6 and 10 million people died.

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In the following essay, Scott Harris examines the differing ways America and much of the world view the concept of honor, and the misunderstandings that result from those different world-views.

-- Tim Machesney

AN AMERICAN SENSE OF HONOR

by Scott Harris

A FUNDAMENTAL REASON America is misunderstood by other societies, regardless of race or region, is that many throughout the world view America as dishonorable. This is due to the fact that many non-Americans relate to one another based on the historical concept of honor, or "face." To those who live according to this ideal, an insult is a threat and honor demands a defense.

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Cody Hatch writes that a cap on donations won't get excessive money out of politics. What will, he argues, is a cap on politicians' power.

-- Tim Machesney

IT'S NOT THE MONEY -- IT'S THE POWER

by Cody Hatch

MANY PEOPLE VIEW the ridiculous amounts of money spent on political campaigns as a problem. They rightly believe that campaign donations from various special-interest groups buys favors from a candidate should he or she be elected to office, and in short, believe the contributors are expecting a return on their investment. But while supporters of campaign finance reform are doing well to try and limit the influence of special interest groups in our political process, they are off the mark. The problem is not special interest money in politics. That's just a result of the problem. The problem is the far-reaching extent of government -- and the power that a politician wields over the lives of his or her constituents.

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In the following essay, Jon Yom-Tov writes that those who supported Saddam Hussein's forceful ouster ought not discount the words of noted anti-war ideologue Noam Chomsky.

-- Tim Machesney

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EDITOR'S NOTE: RECENTLY, Valentin Prieto sent us a very moving short story about a Cuban-American father and his young son, and we're very pleased to publish it on Dean's World.

We think the message imparted in the story speaks for itself, so there is no need for us to comment on it -- other than to say that we sincerely hope Valentin keeps writing when his muse inspires him. We think you'll see he has a good eye for what makes a story work.

-- Tim Machesney

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by Arnold Harris

THE PILOT was one of my lifelong heroes right from the first time I saw him on the big screen at the Nortown Theater on Chicago's north side in the spring of 1944. Back then, I was a newly-minted 10-year-old, following the victorious wonders of the United States and its allies as avidly as anyone in our then-united society.

He was the pilot of the Memphis Belle, the Boeing B-17F "Flying Fortress" heavy bomber whose 10-man crew was the first to complete 25 missions against enemy targets in Nazi-occupied western Europe. When he and his men completed their final mission on May 17, 1943, against the heavy concrete-reinforced U-boat pens at Lorient on the Atlantic coast of France, it was the last in a successful string of bombing raids that had begun on November 7, 1942, in a raid that was also against a heavily-defended U-boat base.

What was the significance of 25 missions?

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Let's start with the basics. The military cannot keep a guilty secret. Remember when that great defender of truth and freedom, Pierre Salinger, told us that the US Navy shot down TWA flight 800?

In order for that to be true AND for the Navy to be able to keep it quiet, every single sailor, chief and officer on board the ships in Long Island Sound, would have to keep the very FACT that they were in the Sound when that plane went down secret forever, from everyone. So would all the wives, girlfriends, boyfriends, husbands and significant others who knew where their better halves would be that day. So would all the shore-based support personnel who helped load the ships, fuel the ships, supply the ships, undock the ships, etcetera etcetera etcetera.

Just on the ships we are talking at least a couple of thousand people, and several hundred more shore-based support people, and at least a few hundred wives, girlfriends, etcetera.

A reasonable estimate, to make a nice tight number, would be, sayyyyy, 3000 people. Many of them civilians, many of them liberals, many others conservative, a few of them even Communist, or Arab, or (shudder) French. (Isn't Pierre Salinger a French name?)

What do you think are the chances that 3000 people can keep a secret so tightly that, with the area totally SWARMING with reporters, many of them ready to spend good money for "the rights" to a sensational story, not ONE SINGLE LEAK even suggests that there was a ship out there?

If you followed the Flight 800 link, you saw that Salinger said ONE sailer told his father that "we" shot down that plane. But Pierre doesn't seem to be able to produce either the sailor OR his father.

3000 people, and not a one of them leaked even a HINT for the last seven years. Not a one of them got drunk and let it slip, not a one of them suffered from remorse and confessed, not a one of them sold his story to a press that would give him truly huge money if he gave them the details.

Not one. None. Not any.

Nobody. Ever. Leaked.

It's not going to happen, people. It's just not.

Now we hear from the BBC that the Army "staged" the rescue of Jessica Lynch.

Okay, let's look at that.

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Somehow, I managed to get through four months without reading this excellent essay by Clay Shirkey on Power Laws, Weblogs, and Inequality. Truly excellent stuff. First-rate thinking and analysis. Those of you who run weblogs, are thinking about starting a weblog, or just read weblogs, ought to give it a look, because the analysis applies to more than just one subject.

I've had many of the same thoughts as were in this article, but the analysis is especially good, and the mathematical modeling gives it sharp focus. The predictions for the future are very interesting too. A little sad, in some ways, but probably inevitable.

I picked this up from Jeff Licquia, who has still more links on the same subject. Including info about controversies surrounding this topic that I was blissfully unaware of. I honestly don't much care about the controversy because I'm too busy enjoying myself blogging, but you may find his thoughts and links worth a read.

I'd like to ask the following question of our female readers. In honor of Mother's Day, I'd like a blunt, straightforward answer:

Do you think women belong in direct combat duty roles in the armed forces? Should there be any limits at all?

Men are not allowed to join the discussion for at least 24 hours.

* Update * -- New rule: No men at all. Women only. I'll post something for men to discuss later. I'm enjoying watching women have this discussion, and if you guys are smart, you'll sit back and watch them too.

An American who's lived in South Korea for many years, and speaks Korean, gets an extremely rare chance to visit North Korea. He even managed to bring back some photos, and wrote a travelogue about his experience.

For some reason, the song "Let's Do The Time Warp Again" keeps running through my head as I read this.

All sarcasm aside, it's dynamite reading. Gripping and heartbreaking.

(Via Jerry again, who I will soon have to thrash for holding out on me. That's what I get for not reading his page every single day!)

Chris Muir, of Day By Day fame, has created a special editorial cartoon exclusively for Dean's World!

It is inspired by my earlier article on conspiracy theories. It also makes a nice followup to Joe Katzman's article examining how conspiracy theories are a form of mental infection. I really liked Joe's article, as well as comments left to the article by Kevin Shaum (a.k.a. LazyPundit).

Here's Chris' cartoon, which is an effective innoculation if you ask me--and you won't see anywhere but here on Dean's World!

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Be sure to check out Day By Day. He's been on a roll lately.

I just got back from East Dearborn.

Like anyone else within sight of a TV this morning I watched the spectacle of Saddam’s statue being pulled down. As news of the imminent destruction of the statue spread throughout Baghdad, ordinary citizens came to watch, to touch history. Many brought their children and hoisted them on their shoulders. I prayed for the future those children might see, free from a terrorist regime.

It reminded me of all the other parts of history I’d witness courtesy of the cathode ray tube in my thirty some years on this planet: man walking on the moon, the resignation of a president, attempts on the life of another president and a pope, the release of Nelson Mandela, the fall of the Berlin Wall. I often watched with envy, longing to be there, to touch history.

I tore myself away from the TV early in the afternoon to run some errands. When I heard NPR reporting spontaneous demonstrations on the streets of east Dearborn (the predominantly Middle Eastern suburb of Detroit) only fifteen minutes from my house in good traffic, I raced there.

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I have heard a few people in the last week or so say that we have "abandoned" Afghanistan, are now "ignoring" it. Which is funny, since I have a classmate whose son, a soldier, was almost killed a few weeks ago by an old Soviet landmine in Afghanistan. And I read regularly about what's going on in Afghanistan. The cities are in much better shape, the new democratic government is slowly getting better all the time, and we are continuing to root out the terrorists in the countryside.

Knowing all this, I thought you'd all enjoy reading this report by Chris Noble, that you can use as a reference for anyone who tries this "we've abandoned Afghanistan" business on you:

She has just passed the "checkpoint to freedom." What does this woman have to look forward to now?

Should she be happy that:

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For those of you who aren't news junkies: a couple of weeks ago, an American protestor was run over by a bulldozer in Palestine. Very sad, although no more sad than countless other deaths in the Middle East. Still and all, she's been made a martyr by some, a symbol of peace-protest stupidity by others. Me? I think she was an idealistic young girl who, in the heat of passion, accidentally killed herself by jumping onto the blade of a gigantic bulldozer driven by a guy who couldn't see her.

John Sutherland, a writer for The Guardian, says that webloggers have brutalized her. Oddly enough, he points to The Shark Blog, whose messages are not particularly nasty on this subject. He also fails to mention Bigwig's extensive report, which was widely linked to by many bloggers, and is very intellectually honest. He also seems to concentrate on some random comments left on some weblogs, not saying at all where he found them. Very interesting omission, that.

There are two pictures of Rachel Corrie I'll always remember. Both are from Bigwig's report: the one of her crumpled, bloodied body, and the one taken before her death, her face twisted in hatred and rage toward Israel (the one that Sutherland claims "looked, to some expert eyes, doctored," although he doesn't bother to say whose eyes those are.)

I urge you to read Bigwig's report on Rachel Corrie, as I think it's the most fair and evenhanded analysis I've seen yet. And while you're at it, you may enjoy this poem, written by our own Casey Tompkins. It was meant to be sung to the tune of Simon & Garfunkel's Richard Cory:

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Andrew Cory, better known to some as the Punning Pundit, conducted an interview today with an Iraqi expatriate named Yousip Enuiya, who once served in Saddam's military. As the interview was taking place, word flashed on CNN that there was a civil uprising against the Baathists in Basra, which is Yousip Enuiya's home town. Cory's report is as follows:

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To learn more about the efforts of Iraqis who are fighting for their own freedom, and why the Iraqi people support our efforts to liberate them, click here.

Let's start with my credentials as a Liberal and a Democrat.

1960: I'm fifteen years old, and John Fitzgerald Kennedy is my hero. I don't really understand the politics of the whole thing, but I've seen him speak, and heard people arguing about him and Nixon, and I think Kennedy is cool.

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That familiar bell's been going off in my head--the one that tells me when I'm being told something wrong. I’ve heard it a lot lately, ringing out though the fog of words—hollow, shallow and misinformed. Saying, in effect that the war on terrorism is “unprecedented” and “the United States has no right to take out its moral outrage on a sovereign nation,” or “we should seek diplomatic solutions.” Tired sentiments, and dead wrong on all counts. The US has done it before, done it well, and done it largely alone in spite of lackluster support from Congress and no help from European “allies.”

The first time the American flag flew over foreign soil taken in battle came in a war against international terrorists. Unlike today’s brigands, they were not driven by ideology or religion, but by a baser and perhaps more honest lust: gold. But terrorists they were, and our war against them was fought long and hard, in somewhat unconventional but still very real ways. And it was long before all of us were born...

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Over the last year, I've seen a number of good people, like Scott Koenig, Bill Quick, Dr. Weevil, and others attacked as "chicken hawks" or "chicken bloggers." Their crime? They favor war, but haven't served in combat, and are ineligible for service now.

On the one hand, I respect the mentality which says that if you haven't experienced it, you shouldn't be quick to send others. But another part of me says that's too easy; what does the military exist for in a democracy, if not to fight when we need them? The thought of war makes me sick, but I would go myself if they would take me (too fat, too old). But that's easy for me to say, right?

I decided to to ask my old partner Gary Utter what he thinks. He is a truly civilized human being--he's a blunt, stubborn son of a bitch, mind you, but very civilized. That is something I don't say about everyone. I'd entrust my wife or my son's safety with him under almost any circumstances, and without reservation. There are, perhaps, two or three living people about whom I would say such a thing.

I don't like bugging veterans to talk about combat; in my experience, most of them don't like to discuss it. Still, these are serious times, and I wanted to know what he thought about "chickenhawks." He wrote me a response, for publication. One thing you'll note is that he didn't say whether or not he favored war with Iraq. I didn't ask that question, you see, and, being Gary, he therefore did not answer that question. ;-) But this is what he did say:

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I was moved to write this article by a minor disagreement between George Paine and Dean Esmay in a separate thread on this weblog, regarding the legitimacy of the house of Saud. For example, Mr. Paine said, "During World War I the Saudis received Allied backing to attack the Ottomans (see 'Lawrence of Arabia' -- and this is why they were anointed by the British." This is not wrong, exactly, but 

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Remember, remember 11 September
Suicide demons' dark plot
We see no reasons
Why suicide demons'
Evil should ever be forgot

Remember, remember 11 September
Murderous monsters in flight
Reject their dark game
And let Liberty's flame
Burn prouder and ever more bright

Remember, remember 11 September
When madness and malice took wing
Face darkness and fear
With this memory clear
And everywhere let Freedom ring!

---by Geoffrey Barto

The sun is going down over the sea. The light is

that golden color you only get at the end of the

day. The camera pans over a row of large

apartment buildings along the shore. It stops on

a large hotel, where it pulls back to show a...

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I'm a political junkie.

I love current events, especially current political events. I love history, especially American history. I love to read about it and I love to write about it.

I love it all.

Recently, I noticed that someone had posted some comments to this site as well as my site, Postmodern Politics, using the pseudonym of "Skylar Coalfax." I say it's a pseudonym (and a badly spelled one) because the real Schuyler Colfax has been dead for over 125 years.

Enjoying the fun, I contacted the usual suspects asking for a confession of sorts. Dean Esmay pleaded ignorance on the posts, but he did...

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Patrick Moore is one of the founders of Greenpeace. His new organization, Green Spirit, is devoted to advocating for consensus rather than confrontation in issues affecting the environment, taking economic and other human factors into consideration when advocating various environmental policies, and using sound science rather than pseudoscience, new-age spiritualism, and political extremism.

His changing views brought predictable wrath from the environmentalist establishment. He's been painted as a Judas, a sellout, a liar, a money-grubbing opportunist, and more. It's what certain people always do when their beliefs are questioned: if you can't go after the facts, can't really beat the arguments, go right for the personal attack. He may be the second-most hated figure in the environmentalist movement.

The most-hated, of course, is Danish scientist Bjorn Lomborg, who has had the audacity to use hard data to dispute many of the most common beliefs of today's pseudo-religious environmental movement. Lomborg, despite being a moderate socialist and a clear member of the political left, seems to be the Pym Fortuyn of the environmentalist movement: a man who dares question the orthodoxy, and must be slandered and vilified as a right-winger and an extremist as a punishment for his apostacy. It's a wonder he hasn't been shot.

Patrick Moore has taken up the cudgels in defense of Lomborg. He is urging those of us who have our own web sites to support Lomborg by reprinting an article that Scientific American has attempted to suppress with legal bullying. Having read through Lomborg's piece, and having worked as a professional writer and editor, I believe Scientific American's case is without merit; Lomborg's article clearly falls within everyday fair use guidelines.

In defense of freedom of expression and, every bit as important, free inquiry, I, too, publish Lomborg's article in PDF format; to see it simply click here. I encourage other webmasters to show their support. You don't have to agree with everything Lomborg has to say (hell, you don't have to agree with anything he has to say) to see Scientific American's actions as what they are: shameful bullying by a respected scientific publication that should know better.

My former New Horizons colleague Ara Rubyan has an excellent website: Postmodern Politics; you may have seen some of his comments reproduced here. His thoughts on the current Middle East situation, for example, are lucid, well thought out and bear the hallmarks of his indomitable reason. Too bad such qualities are completely wasted on that region.

I do have one corollary to offer to a piece he posted on Tuesday May 14th. Commenting on a Matt Drudge "scoop" that Bill O'Reilly is apparently paying local stations to carry his syndicated radio show, Ara rightly yawned at this non-starter of a story. Unfortunately Ara was drawn into the "no-spin" zone when he riffed on Drudge's comments that this was an "unprecedented" arrangement. Not exactly. The history of radio is far more interesting than that......MORE...

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