Month: December 2006

  • War Is Not A Physics Problem

    Some people have the idea that all wars are optional. Or at least a vast majority are for America. This especially includes Iraq. Some wars are matters of survival. i.e. it is not always possible to choose your enemy. Sometimes the enemy chooses you. It is possible to choose how to fight the enemy. Boots…

  • Last minute Barcelona non-photogenic photo op

    After remarking that “EVERYONE COMES DOWN to Barcelona eventually,” Jose Guardia opined that he was unphotogenic! I took issue with this, as I don’t think he is at all. But still, I thought I should make an offer of proof. Here it is, taken today at Dali’s castle in Pubol, Spain: I’d say that if…

  • Happy New Year 2007 – Open Thread

    This is an open thread for all Classical Values readers who might wish to pass on New Years greetings (or any thing else) to each other. Have a Happy and Dangerous New Year. And, be careful out there.

  • special occasions call for celebrations!

    I’m loving Barcelona so much that I’ve been too busy to keep in touch with the outside world, although news like Saddam Hussein’s execution is difficult to ignore — even while on vacation. In all honesty, I did not expect Saddam to be executed any time soon, much less today. Considering Barcelona’s left-wing reputation (it’s…

  • I got the internet blowin’ up

    I awoke this morning to find that a number of search engines/web portals were down: Google, Yahoo, and MSN were the big ones. Live‘s front page loads, but searches time out. Ask.com seems to be fully functional. In addition, of the smaller search sites some are up, some down, some incredibly sluggish. What does it…

  • Corruption Is Routine

    For those who have been following the Duke “Rape” Case you will know that it is a case of egregious prosecutorial misconduct. And yet there are similar cases every day in the USA. Why don’t such cases recieve wide publicity? Simple – if such procedures were shown to be widespread the “justice” system in America…

  • Politicobiology

    Commenter passerby took exception to some of the things I said in The Origins Of Islamic Rage. Here is my reply to his question about the rise of tribalism in the west. I don’t actually answer his question (directly), but I do look at what I consider a subset of sociobiology – politicobiology. === As…

  • “Muslims” Abandoning Islam?

    Reader Paul sent me this interesting item on the decline in belief among Muslims in Russia. This latest research deals a severe blow to plans by Russian Muslim leaders to wrench concessions from the Kremlin. These Muslim leaders are pushing for the creation of a new high-ranking position in the government just for so-called `Muslim…

  • A Geologist Looks At Global Warming

    Commenter A. Jacksonian posted the following in the comments to Not Enough CO2. He has some nice easy to understand charts and graphs at the link below. ========= One of the great things about being a geologist is being able to actually get that ‘long term perspective’. So, when you want a long-term perspective on…

  • It Was Never About Drugs

    Jerry Ford has died. As always when you mention the life of Ford, the question of Nixon comes up. I have lots of beefs with Nixon’s career. This is my biggest. Using not just private henchmen, but the power of government to kidnap and injure your political opponents under color of law. Nixon said to…

  • Nazis to the Right of Me? I Must Be a Communist

    That Relapsed Catholic is hitting my buttons today. The Catholic has excerpted the following from That Fascist, Heinlein: Indeed, capitalism is the opposite of fascism, which favors government control of the every economic decision. Calling us (liberals and conservatives) ‘fascists’ simply reveals the Left’s nostaglia for truly evil enemies (like Nazis) and its current reluctance…

  • ‘Tis The Season

    I was noodling around at Relapsed Catholic and came across a note on Kwanzaa. Specifically Newsbusters says that Cox News is honoring the creator of Kwanzaa. Let us start with the headline of this little holiday confection. Cox News Honors Kwanzaa Creator, A Rapist and Torturer It only gets better after that. It amazes me…

  • Palestinian Civil War Watch – 6

    The Palestinians are still at it. A mother of two was murdered Tuesday evening in front of her children in the city of Ramla, south of Tel Aviv. The woman, a 29-year-old divorcee, was killed by a barrage of gunshots while standing at the entrance to her home. Large police forces were dispatched to the…

  • Greetings from Barcelona

    Barcelona is truly one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. I’ve only been here a day, but I’m having a wonderful time. Here’s how the streets looked on Christmas night: And today on the waterfront, the old port authority building: Oh, and earlier today, while strolling along Las Ramblas, I did a little “outreach”:…

  • Last.fm on Nintendo Wii

    I’m glad to see that Eric has enlisted a guest blogger considering I haven’t written about anything in a long time, and I really have no awareness of the outside world. for me it’s been nothing but teaching, lesson plans, and the politics of the public school system. And since M. Simon has been giving…

  • Treachery

    Cale Hahn at Israpundit is going on about American relations with Israel. He thinks America is being a treacherous ally. Especially the ISG (Iraq Study Group – James Baker leading the charge.) In regards to Israel, the ISG report states, “The US will not be able to achieve its goals in the Middle East unless…

  • The Pope On Science and Technology

    There is a discussion going on at the Netscape Blog about the Pope’s comments on science and technology. The Pope said worship God not technology. VATICAN CITY (Reuters) — Pope Benedict said in his Christmas message on Monday that mankind, which has reached other planets and worships technology, cannot live without God or turn its…

  • Not Enough CO2

    Atmospheric CO2 is very low by geological standards. Lack of sufficient CO2 in the atmosphere stunts plant growth. We need to get together with Russia, China, oil producers, coal producers, and in fact the rest of the world to see what we can do to get more CO2 in the atmosphere. Anon posted a couple…

  • A Sorry People

    Commenter Gabriel in a response to my post Middle East Politics had this to say: Thanks Simon. This is decent for Friedman…. Had heard this quote before: “It gnaws at the people in the Middle East that such a small country as Israel, with only about seven million inhabitants, can defeat the Arab nation with…

  • Winter Safety

    With winter fast coming on it might be a good idea to look at Winter Survival in the Wilderness. There really is too much important information to quote. So go read the whole thing. Cross Posted at Power and Control