Month: September 2005

  • And that’s the way it is? A “great excuse“?

    Watching Larry King a few minutes ago, I saw Walter Cronkite opine that “we now have a great excuse to get out of Iraq.” The “excuse”? “Natural disasters,” of course. “We cannot afford both.” Which means, according to Cronkite, that we should now tell the world that “we’re terribly, terribly sorry” and simply get out…

  • Race just isn’t sexy

    I really didn’t want to write a post defending Bill Bennett (about whose politics I share roughly John Cole’s opinion), because there are plenty of people in need of defending and because he’d probably never do the same thing for me. But Jeff Goldstein (in a wonderful post linked by Glenn) did such a good…

  • Secrets of the garden variety . . .

    Sean Kinsell and I had an email exchange earlier this week, and as Sean pointed out in a post titled “Secret Gardens,” it resulted in my earlier post about blogging. While Sean didn’t quote from the email exchange (phew!), he offers some additional thoughts about blogging under his real name: Since I write under my…

  • Arms are for hugging!* And for politeness!

    According to the Brady Bunch, it’s now open season on tourists in Florida. Tourists are being warned that Floridians now have the dangerous right to self defense: Florida’s ?30 billion tourism industry is under threat from a campaign launched by a gun-control group which warns visitors they could be killed. A series of alarming adverts,…

  • Spanish intolerance of multiculturalism

    What’s the best way for a man to beat his wife without getting caught? The blows should be concentrated on the hands and feet using a rod that is thin and light so that it does not leave scars or bruises on the body. So advises Imam Mohamed Kamal Mustafa, who officiates at a mosque…

  • Anarchist alternative to selling your soul

    Via Glenn Reynolds, I read of problems with the iPod Nano. Apparently, these highly fashionable gadgets crack too easily, among other things. Does that mean if you shell out hundreds of dollars and the thing breaks, you’re just another “fashion victim?” Is there any alternative to these high fashion, expensive, electronic devices which are still,…

  • Exactly what’s engraved in granite?

    I’m having a conceptual problem with the term “graven image,” and I don’t find the literal words especially illuminating: Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.…

  • Why I avoid the appearance of caring about certain things . . .

    I’ve never cared for Tom DeLay, and I don’t see why I am supposed to be jumping up and down over his indictment. The way some people are carrying on, you’d think the fabric of the Republic were at stake. Yet from what I can see, he’s accused of some conspiracy to commit campaign finance…

  • “Depraved disregard”?

    At the risk of looking like a simpleton, I’d like to pose a simple question: What is a rumor? Is there a difference between a rumor and a lie, or does a lie become “laundered” into a rumor when it is repeated by someone other than the original liar? For example, if I state that…

  • Comments

    Here are the comments from “Another Tragedy Of Higher Education”. I’ve edited (a bit) for continuity and brevity. An extended response to these arguments is available here… ———————————————————————- Well, aren’t we feeling a little smoldering resentment today? What, did poor Justin get personally snubbed by Kass? And we can’t touch Kass personally because he couldn’t…

  • A tale of three freezers?

    I think Brian Thevenot’s changing story of the Convention Center freezer is worth a post all its own. As of yesterday, Mr. Thevenot was complaining about “rumors” which led to a “widely circulated tale” about dead bodies in the freezer: One widely circulated tale, told to The Times-Picayune by a slew of evacuees and two…

  • Afraid to say what you think?

    If so, you are not alone. But if such fears have prevented you from writing a blog, your chances of finding gainful employment are much improved — at least according to this post from Daniel Drezner. Of course, if you’re tenured or have job security for other reasons, you’re lucky. The not so lucky are…

  • Gag! Retch! Barf!

    I fear that my blogging’s going to be light today because I’m having a bout (hopefully temporary) of severe abdominal pain. Too bad really, because I was getting all worked up about the New Orleans “bad reporting” scandal, which I see has now made Drudge: (Sorry to leave Shepard Smith out of the picture, but…

  • Who’s complaining about whose exaggerations?

    Everybody makes mistakes, and I try not to dwell on assigning blame because it isn’t generally productive of much. Usually when someone tries to avoid responsibility for assigning blame to others, I’m not terribly impressed, unless it appears that the person trying to shift blame helped create the problem. And I’m wondering what’s going on…

  • Deputizing loopholes and quagmires?

    Unless I’m reading this story (via InstaPundit) incorrectly, it’s clear that either the New York Times lied (when they quoted Chief Compass as saying that firearms were to be confiscated) or New Orleans’ Police Superintendant Compass lied when he denied making the statements. But perhaps I am being hasty. Perhaps a little interpretation is in…

  • Rachel’s RINOs drink no Kool-Aid!

    It’s time to get charged! By the RINOs, of course, now stampeding at Rachel’s Tinkerty Tonk. Rachel has the classiest RINO picture I’ve seen, but rather than reproduce it, I suggest you go over and take a look. She’s also come up with a new definition of RINO: Republicans / Independents Not Overdosed (on the…

  • ex post Katrina nostalgia

    The Louisiana ground hasn’t begun to dry, but the MSM (in the form of Knight Ridder outlets) have lost no time in launching the latest spin — Katrina Kontrast: Rita plans highlight Katrina failures Federal response this time brings praise, questions September 26, 2005 BY JONATHAN S. LANDAY, SETH BORENSTEIN and ALISON YOUNG KNIGHT RIDDER…

  • Searching for Katrina in the Kosmos

    While some blame sodomites, and others blame Israel’s land for peace program, Jeremy Rifkin is blaming Katrina and Rita on just plain old Americans: Make no mistake about it. We Americans created these monster storms. We’ve known about the potentially devastating impact of global warming for nearly a generation. Yet we turned up the throttle,…

  • Sunday peace puzzle protest

    At the risk of sounding like an antisocial spoilsport, I think I should disclose that I find demonstrations like this boring. Googling demonstrators, however, is more interesting, not necessarily because it reveals hidden agendas or big media lies, but because what’s omitted is often more interesting than what’s there. The WaPo article features an almost…

  • Katrinangulation strategizing

    Via InstaPundit, Tom Maguire links to this rather remarkable statement: Rightwing bloggers will do everything in their power to prevent another Katrina triangle, where the confluence of blogs, media, and Democratic leadership exposes the real Bush and shatters the conventional wisdom about his ability to lead. The Katrina Triangle? I still like “Katrinatarianism” better.