Month: October 2005

More thinking the unthinkable. Considering William Kristol’s (and his father’s) status as the architect of compassionate conservatism, might this apparent disagreement have been orchestrated? What if Kristol wasn’t really “Disappointed, Depressed and Demoralized,” but wanted Bush to nominate Miers to stir up the Republicans, fire up the “base”? I’m probably being overly negative, but I…

It’s Columbus Day, and so I feel it’s my duty to be insensitive. . . (Plus, I’m worried that God sent a quake to bin Laden’s home turf.) Anyway, as the struggle against the Darwinian theory of evolution continues to occupy the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer (today it’s preempted Columbus), I’m constantly fascinated…

Philadelphia has a new skyscraper — the 28 storey Cira Center. Everyone’s asking “Do you like it?” and various important people are reacting. Some like it. Some don’t. It was a bit startling at first, because the angles don’t seem “right” from any direction. But I have to say that it could have been worse.…

Anyone remember Patrick Purdy? Time Magazine still does: Slaughter in A School Yard Jan. 30, 1989 The gunman drove his Chevrolet station wagon to the rear of Cleveland Elementary School in Stockton, Calif. He stepped out, carrying a Chinese-made semiautomatic AK-47 rifle loaded with 75 bullets. Carved into the AK-47’s stock were disconnected words: ”…

It’s time for interpretative contemplation. I’ll start with some lyrics from a favorite song. Sailing down the river in an old canoe A bunch of bugs and an old tennis shoe Out of the river all ugly and green Came the biggest old alligator that I’ve ever seen Teeth big and pointed and his eyes…

Perhaps I shouldn’t be too hasty about dismissing God’s role in so-called “natural” events as I almost might have seemed to earlier today. After I wrote about last night’s power outage, I went out to inspect for damage. I feel it my duty to report that the power line which feeds me (and, of course,…

Regarding the ongoing reporting (particularly non-reporting) of the Norman, Oklahoma bombing matter, Dr. Rusty Shackleford has an interesting take on official statements made by Oklahoma University officials including David Boren: University spokeswoman Catherine Bishop said OU officials have reviewed their ticket records and determined that Hinrichs did not buy a football ticket from any university…

My power was out all night, and when that happens I can’t blog! But this morning, via the Inquirer’s Blinq, I see that Harriet Miers can. The following is from Daniel Rubin at Blinq: Not since Mrs. Spiggy’s Diary in the National Lampoon of old has there been something like Harriet Miers’s Blog. Against hot…

Orin Kerr makes a good point about the “bottom line” in the Miers debate: Dobson and Santorum have been focused on the bottom line of whether they support the confirmation of Miers (and in Santorum’s case, whether he will vote up or down). In contrast, Will, Frum, and Kristol have harshly criticized the President for…

Latest “news” — from “sources“: Family sources have told how the 59-year-old president was caught by First Lady Laura downing a shot of booze at their family ranch in Crawford, Texas, when he learned of the hurricane disaster. His worried wife yelled at him: “Stop, George.” Following the shocking incident, disclosed here for the first…

The first shock waves of the Hinrichs story seem to be hitting the media. The Washington Times has an editorial called “Terror in the heartland?” Norman itself is no stranger to Islamist activity. In 2000, Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called 20th hijacker, took flying lessons at the city’s flight school and attended a neighborhood mosque, which,…

This strikes me as not only the right legal result, but a good result for bloggers: In a decision hailed by free-speech advocates, the Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed a lower court decision requiring an Internet service provider to disclose the identity of an anonymous blogger who targeted a local elected official. In a…

Having read through Al Gore’s incredibly long tirade (yes, 4,649 words is long), I’m struck by his indictment of television and radio for ruining America’s tradition of freedom of speech, and his glorification of the printed word. I’m not about to fisk his entire speech, as I wouldn’t want to inflict that on readers, and…

Hard as it is to accept, a U.S. Marine was spying for Philippine politicians while working in the White House. Federal investigators say Aragoncillo, a naturalized citizen from the Philippines, used his top secret clearance to steal classified intelligence documents from White House computers. In 2000, Aragoncillo worked on the staff of then-Vice President Al…

In the latest now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t, the president of Oklahoma University’s Muslim Student Association has declared that Joel Hinrichs is not a Muslim: NORMAN, Okla. — The president of an OU student organization said he believes Joel Henry Hinrichs III was neither a Muslim nor a visitor to local mosques. Ashraf Hussein, the president of OU’s Muslim…

Jeff Goldstein has not only honored me by linking two of my posts in one day, but he’s made me think again about the “shift” in language by Oklahoma University Dean Boren (who’s now specifically refusing to call Hinrichs’ death a suicide). I think Dean Boren’s shift merits another look at the facts. If we…

George F. Will’s recent remarks — (which echo what Glenn has been saying about qualifications) set my mind to thinking along conspiratorial lines. (A mindset I’m afraid Jonah Goldberg’s Carswell specter does little to dispel.) At the risk of thinking impure thoughts, is it possible that Senate rejection of Harriet Miers might have been Bush’s…

If you like dogs as I do, and you thought it was bad to see dogs being shot in New Orleans, what Chinese authorities are doing makes that look humane by comparison: The start of the Chinese Year of the Dog is just four months away, but in the southern city of Guangzhou thousands of…

The story of the Oklahoma University student who blew himself up illustrates a contrast of two extremes in what I’ll refer to collectively as “reporting” for lack of a better term. At one extreme, there’s the Knight Ridder school of not reporting the story at all. Not even the basic, known, facts. At the other…

For a long time, I’ve been tired of calling myself a social liberal, but I’m not about to call myself a social conservative. I think the term “social conservative” is at least as much a misnomer as “social liberal,” because in practice, both groups consist of social activists who by definition want social change (usually…