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9/11 Conspiracy Theories 'Ridiculous,' Al Qaeda Says
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Prop 8
16 years ago
Monday, March 31, 2008
Onion News Network: Al Qaeda Disputes 9/11 Truther
"It's like talking to a goat!"
9/11 Conspiracy Theories 'Ridiculous,' Al Qaeda Says
The Party Of Fiscal Responsibility
To Washington insiders, Republican commitment to fiscal discipline has been broken a thousand times. They laugh when they hear Republicans go to the House floor to excoriate Democrats as old tax-and-spend liberals. And they roll their eyes as so-called Republican budget hawks simultaneously call for an extension of the Bush tax cuts, a major factor contributing to endless budget deficits.The entire column is an illustration of unusually partisan framing and selection of facts. The current situation has an extremely important context going back thirty year to Ronald Reagan. Reagan faced an America that believed itself to be in decline, that had lost its confidence and its nerve in the face of unchecked Soviet aggression and the constant drumbeat of domestic partisans--many of them later revealed as agents of the Soviet Union, and many not--claiming that the era of America was over and the era of socialism had begun. Reagan's plan was most likely the best available: militarily outspend a Soviet Union that he knew could never keep up. The military had languished during the Carter years, a victim of liberal neglect and post-Vietnam malaise. This military build-up required the assistance of a Congress controlled by a Democratic party turned away from its old hawkish ways and focused on increasing social spending; the resulting compromise, in which both sides would simply spend a lot more on what they wanted, made sense at the time and was certainly a bipartisan effort. That doesn't mean that Reagan was simply a big spender; some of his attempts to limit government spending on social programs are reviled by liberals to this day.
After the collapse of the USSR and the subsequent election of Bill Clinton to the presidency, Republicans began to concentrate on decreasing spending again. No compromises needed this time; there was no need for a large military build-up anymore, with our major enemy out of the way. The 1994 Contract With America ushered in the first Republican house majority in decades, and a Senate majority as well. Its leader, Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich--a former college professor--outlined plans, bitterly opposed by liberals, for term limits, tax reductions, and cuts in spending. A battle erupted; Democrats pulled out every demagogic attack in the book. Those who paid attention to politics in the Nineties might remember how Republicans were attacked for depriving poor children of hot school lunches. Gingrich did not back down, and decided to bring government to a standstill in an attempt to force Clinton to reduce spending. Clinton refused, and the public disapproved of the government shutdown enough for Clinton to prevail. The GOP then passed a line-item veto for spending bills, which was promptly struck down by the Supreme Court. Only welfare reform, a major platform of the 1994 Republican invasion, was successful--and Bill Clinton, after several vetoes, signed and took credit for it.
The general defeat of the Republicans in the spending battles of the Nineties--also hurried along by a booming economy that increased tax revenues without really increasing taxes--led many congressional Republicans to abandon the spending restraints that had originally been so popular. A battle simmered among Republicans, won largely by the bigger spenders with George W. Bush's ascendancy to the White House, with his "compassionate conservatism." Now, the nation had three fiscal camps: a Democratic Party that continued to advocate high taxation and high spending, a GOP wing dominated by social conservatives that wanted moderate spending and low taxation, and a GOP wing dominated by fiscal conservatives and often social moderates who wanted both low spending and low taxation. The battle between the two GOP wings continues to this day, as witnessed in the recent GOP congressional summits and their battles for relevant chairmanships between big earmarkers and fiscal hawks like Jeff Flake and John Campbell.
The truth is that the column above does not ever say how the Democratic Party is more fiscally responsible; the truth is that, although they may have reined in earmarks, they have repeatedly resisted efforts at illuminating the process and have refused to institute a GOP-proposed moratorium on earmarking. But the real issues, the real reasons why the federal budget will continue to balloon--Social Security and Medicare--will never be addressed and will likely only be expanded by Democrats, especially those who are currently running for president. Although an unfortunate number of GOP members have proved themselves totally irresponsible in those areas as well, there are simply no Democrats at all who have proposed meaningful reform in those two all-important areas. The Republican Party is still the nation's only hope for fiscal reform.
Is It A Phobia If It's A Reasonable Fear?
Arab leaders ended a summit in Syria Sunday by issuing a statement lamenting what they see as growing anti-Islamic sentiment around the world.These guys sure know how to work a Western crowd. Plead the words "ignorance" and "racism" while being something other than a white male, and you automatically win, facts be hanged. On the whole, it isn't remarkable that "Islamophobia" would be on the rise in the world's most pluralistic countries; those are the very countries most likely to be attacked, because jihadists cannot abide pluralism--and those Arab leaders who are crying out for pluralism aren't exactly paragons of that particular virtue themselves. Neither is it remarkable that anti-Islamic sentiment should be increasing, since the global jihadist network continues to plot, too often successfully, to kill as many infidels as possible in as many nations as possible.
"The growth of ferocious attacks against Islam and the rise of Islamophobia are a deep source of concern, particularly given that the offenses to Muslims are increasing in countries known for their pluralism and acceptance of difference," said the final statement reported by Gulf Daily News.
What is remarkable, historically, is that Muslims have not faced exile and death in the Western nations that many (though not all) of their co-religionists attack. There is hardly even any move by them to declare unity with their fellow citizens. The first fact speaks to the commitment to tolerance that our nation has, honestly, taken the lead in championing, and that's a fantastic thing. The second fact speaks to the lack of cultural confidence that plagues America, especially in relation to Islamism.
Now, the title of this post may seem a bit inflammatory; I certainly don't mean that it's reasonable to think that all Muslims are terrorists or want Americans dead. But it is certainly not unreasonable to think of Islam as a whole as a violent religion, spread originally by the sword and with a long history of imperialism, especially considering the rise of jihadism across the world. The global terrorist network is a distinctly Islamic phenomenon, despite Hollywood's best attempts at portraying terrorists as either Communists or, even better, neo-Nazis. The Pope references Islam's history of conversion at swordpoint, and a Turkish priest is shot dead. A few cartoonists poke fun at Mohammed, and there are worldwide riots resulting in fatalities.
Maybe this is the reason why anti-Islamism is on the rise? (Nah...) LiveLeak has, by the way, restored the video to their website after beefing up security; Indonesians have called for the video's creator, Dutch MP Geert Wilders, to be killed. (h/t Ed Morrissey at HotAir.com)
All About 42
Obama: New Politician Or Old Partisan?
Politico has caught Barack Obama in another misstatement about his past, and this one goes right to the heart of his posing as a New Politics candidate. Working on a tip from opposition sources, Kenneth Vogel found a survey with Obama’s handwriting that he had previously denied handling. It shows that Obama himself established much more liberal positions on gun control, abortion, and other issues than he has admitted in his campaign.The answers--apparently written by a staffer and then supplemented with handwritten notes by Obama himself--supported a total ban on firearm possession and manufacture, non-requirement of parental notification for abortion for anyone over the age of 14, and the abolition of the death penalty. These things might sound moderate to the average churchgoer at Trinity United Church of Christ, but...
John McCain's presidential bid has been characterized by resolution in the face of adversity and, with a few exceptions, holding to principles shared by a majority of Americans and, incidentally, a majority of conservatives. Hillary Clinton's campaign has been characterized by a by-any-means-necessary attitude that has hurt her popularity but hurt Obama's, as well. What has characterized Barack Obama's campaign? Repeated deceit and pure emotional exploitation. Many of us suspected all along that Barack Obama's middle-way speechifying was pure politics; from his NAFTA dance, to the lie about his connection to the civil rights movement, and to his backtracking about his mentor/mere pastor, Jeremiah Wright, and now this...well, Barack Obama is shaping up to be about as shamelessly deceitful as, well, someone else we know.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
There Are No Cinderellas
Not so in the Frozen Four, however; although top-overall-seeded Michigan advanced past Clarkson with a magnificent 2-0 shutout by Billy Sauer and two more points for c'mon-obvious Hobey Baker favorite Kevin Porter, lowest-ranked at-large team Notre Dame sent Spartina packing with a 3-1 victory in the West regional finals to advance to the first Frozen Four in Fighting Irish history. Michigan's trip to Denver is an NCAA record twenty-third Frozen Four appearance. (!)
Friday, March 28, 2008
Michigan Advances To East Semifinals; Wisconsin Killed And Eaten By Davidson
Notre Dame scored seven (7) goals today against New Hampshire to advance to the West semifinals in Colorado Springs. Just to put this in perspective, Notre Dame's scoring is very poor this year and their best player was out. Yikes. UND will go on to play the winner of Colorado College vs. Spartina for the chance to play in the Frozen Four in Denver; it was 0-0 about halfway through the first period last I heard.
But the big basketball news: Stephen Curry and his teammates today beat Wisconsin today by a lot. No specific numbers, just a lot, like when people forget to keep score in a pickup game because the teams are so uneven. So Davidson will proceed to (almost assuredly) play Kansas in the Elite Eight; Kansas's potential road to the Final Four will now include no one higher than an 8-seed, as tenth-seeded Davidson awaits them after twelfth-seeded Villanova.
Non Scribo Hodie...
And as we speak, Michigan and Niagara are 0-0 after one period in Albany, though Michigan will have a man advantage for about the first minute of the second. Also, Clarkson has upset St. Cloud State, so that's the team we'll be facing if we manage to beat the CHA champs. Last I heard, Notre Dame was, insanely, leading New Hampshire 4-2 in the second period. (FOUR GOALS for Notre Dame? They probably won't score again for their next three games!)
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Southfield, Michigan, Terrorist Arrest
Surprise! Southfield resident and former head of Michigan's chapter of CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), Murthanna al-Hanooti, was indicted for working as a spy for Saddam Hussein. (What?! CAIR involved in militant Islam?!) Debbie Schlussel has the story, which you can read for yourself. Apparently the guy has a second family (including a wife) in Iraq.
Of note: Saddam paid for a trip to Iraq through al-Hanooti for several congressmen, including Michigan liberal congressman David Bonior. Sadly, there are also financial ties between al-Hanooti and Michigan Republican congressman Joe Knollenberg, whom Debbie Schlussel names "Hezbollah's Congressman." I was not aware of this fact, and regret that the rare Republican also sometimes engages with these murderous people.
Detroit: Making All The Wrong Headlines
A Comment, And A Reply, On The Auto Industry
Thomas Kazmierczak
"Honestly, I don't think Detroit's (or Michigan's) auto industry can be saved. In the past, Michigan was able to stay dominant due to its pool of highly skilled auto workers. Unfortunately, with newer and more advanced automation processes, auto workers don't need to be skilled anymore. Thus, auto companies will shift their production centers to places with large supplies of cheap, unskilled labor, which Michigan does not have. IMO Michigan needs to transition as quickly as possible from jobs that do not require skilled labor (such as manufacturing) to jobs that do (biotech, geospatial tech, etc.) it will not be an easy one, but it is a necessary one.
Additionally, with regard to your "excessive" environmental policies, we have an example of what happens when modern industry is allowe to run unchecked. It's called China. Massive economic growth at the expense of ruining the soils, rivers, and lakes you depend on? I'll err on the side of protection, thanks."
The Wandering Wolverine
"I agree with you that Detroit's auto industry probably cannot be saved, at least in the sense that GMC and Ford are beyond repair. I disagree that the introduction of more advanced machinery would lead companies to seek out less-skilled workers; the current situation is that, perversely, American automakers are opening plants in cheap labor areas like Mexico, whereas Japanese and other foreign automakers are opening plants in Ohio, Alabama, et al. In other words, foreign automakers are seeking more skilled labor and domestic automakers are seeking cheaper labor.
This is an indication of the real situation, which is not that there are simply job losses being suffered in areas with highly skilled workers. It is that some auto companies are thriving and expanding production, whereas others are struggling, find themselves without the ability to cut losses (fired union workers get put in lucrative job banks funded by the companies, plus there are exorbitant pension funds to deal with), and have to risk expansion through cheap labor alternatives in a desperate bid to stave off bankruptcy. Union control and the excessively lucrative contracts guaranteed to auto workers are now taking an inexorable toll. That must be stopped.
Finally, the demise of the American car manufacturers will be significantly hastened by proposed controls on CO2, something that does not create smog or health problems, but is in fact plant food. These controls on CO2 will hardly make a dent in atmospheric CO2 levels, even according to global warming die-hards' models, but it's more a religious issue now than anything else. Since the Detroit manufacturers have found their niche in the market for low fuel efficiency, high safety and stability SUVs, this is a de facto subsidy to Toyota and Honda (and actually a real subsidy, since the Prius only exists because of special tax incentives) and a knife in the back to American industries.
As far as China is concerned, instead of being an example of lack of government control leading to excessive pollution, their situation is in fact illustrative of the normal story of industrialization. At the beginning, pollution is awful as factories and plants are inefficient and technologically primitive. As efficiency is increased, pollution is cut down (since pollution represents output loss from waste); so we saw in America, as smog levels began to clear up significantly after 1900, long before any environmental controls. Pollutant levels in the air and water also began to decrease somewhat before the beginning of environmental legislation--that's not to say that pollution controls did not encourage the process, but it is to say that free markets take care of pollution on their own quite nicely. In fact, the United States is currently cutting down their rates of increase of CO2 production far faster than more government controlled systems like those in Europe."
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Michigan Democrat's Mask Falls Off, Briefly
Just so we've got this straight... if you go to the book store to pick up the NYT and sip a latte then you're a smart person but if you go to work at the factory, put in an honest days work and support your family then you're an idiot? Oh, and the best part, the "urban cores" are solidly Democrat and not "stupid people." Apparently folks who make the least and depend on government the most are brilliant. Hey, they figured out how to milk the system and make a living doing nothing, right, Mark?Surprise, surprise. More evidence that the REAL party of stereotyping isn't sitting on the right side of the aisle, if any such evidence were needed. You see, sipping lattes and reading the Grey Lady...that's how life is supposed to be for the decision-making class--that is, the people who are smart enough to run society. The proles, on the other hand, just have the job of believing the promises of future prosperity and being satisfied with the lottery and food stamps. I think the Dems are taking their stereotypes about country bumpkins and illiterate factory workers a bit too seriously.
I wonder why, incidentally, blue-collar workers are leaving the Democratic Party in Michigan? It's not as though their jobs have been endangered by irrationally structured and excessive corporate taxes. It's not like the corrupt, power-hungry unions who have been exploiting them for years own this state's Democratic Party. And it's certainly not as though the Democrats advocate for extreme environmental policies that will hasten the demise of the Detroit auto industry on which so many jobs and so many schools' revenue streams rely. So what's their deal?
Is Barack Obama REALLY A Liberal?
Or, I mean, maybe not, according to UPI:
Obama defies categorization, analysts say, despite being rated the most liberal senator in 2007 by the National Journal. He presents himself as appealing to independents and some Republicans, the Post said.No questions asked in the article about what Obama's policies might or might not be. And, really, this is where it becomes clear that Obama is not only highly partisan, but also seriously dishonest with the American people. As the article quotes John McCain saying, Obama's policies are down-the-line liberal: national health care, Iraq War pullout, high taxes, plenty of new spending on social programs. Of course he isn't presenting himself as a liberal; that's political suicide in national elections. Instead, he's pronouncing himself the candidate of change--even though he harbors the same-old leftist philosophy that has been prominent in the Democratic Party since the 1970s. He's running as a unity candidate, even though his promises are far more partisan and radical than anything George W. Bush has done in the last seven years.
Obama isn't hope for the future; he's straight from our socialist past. Let's just keep him there, shall we?
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
"Those Who Stay..."
Workouts = too hard.
Good = riddance.
"Those who stay will be champions."
--Glenn "Bo" Schembechler
Michigan: Ensuring Your Safety By Eliminating Your Freedom
And hilariously/frighteningly:Gov. Jennifer Granholm is expected to sign a bill requiring car booster seats for all passenger kids ages 4 through 7 who are under 4-foot-9 inches tall.
Current state law requires a car seat of some kind only or children under age 4.
The state is planning a public awareness campaign for the new booster seat law, through the he Office of Highway Safety Planning.Well, I can't think of any way our state funds could be better used. We're going to pass a law restricting your freedoms for your own good. And we'll spend your money to tell you about the fact that we can now fine you $65 if we suspect you're driving down the road with an insufficiently buckled child.
Michigan is like a one-state liberal paradise! I only wish it was Ohio instead of us.
Akindele Akinyemi: Flood The Kwame-ists Away
Akindele Akinyemi has an incredibly long list of public supporters of Kwame Kilpatrick who should not, under any circumstances, be supported and who must be ousted as swiftly as possible. The long list of Christian ministers supporting the thuggish mayor is shocking in itself. Check it out yourself.
I myself remain skeptical about Detroit's chances. Image means a lot, and the image most people come away from Detroit with is that of a burned-out, unsafe city. The new riverwalk is nice, but it won't fix anything. The governance is hopelessly corrupt and not likely to improve anytime soon; to me, that corruption is almost a part of Detroit's culture. Money is swiftly leaving the city, since anyone who gets any of it uses it to leave. Crime is rampant, and unless there is a sincere effort to throw criminals in jail and uphold all the laws without making apologies, that will continue.
Yes, it is important to sack the City Council and the mayor's entire staff. But it's just as important to raise wages and benefits for policemen, to recruit them more aggressively, and to take back the streets and throw criminals in prison. Yes, it is important to stop corruption and stealing of public funds, but it's just as important to use what money is spent wisely. Instead of creating the appearance of a prosperous city by building nice-looking parks that will be littered by used needles and condoms in two years, Detroit must lay the foundations for the reality of a prosperous city by cleaning up the streets, cutting down on crime, and providing private school vouchers to encourage competition in education.
Most of all, this is a social issue. Top-down solutions are almost never the answer; the best cure is to spread the message of following the law, getting educated, and taking responsibility for your own life and your own actions.
Brits Abdicate, Iraqi Army Picks Up Slack
Moqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army and the Badr Brigades began fighting in Basra after the British pulled troops out, and who moved in to secure the area for the central Iraqi government? The Iraqi Army, that's who.
The surge has given us an enhanced opportunity to train Iraqi military units, and the results have been extremely positive. Long gone are the days when the Iraqi Army was an incompetent mess, entirely dependent on their American partners. Such victories may be very important to establishing a sense of national pride and confidence in the government, which has been succeeding to a degree unimaginable merely a year and a half ago.
This event should also be instructional about the consequences of pulling out of Iraq. The British left one section and triggered intense infighting. We are fortunate that it happened when the Iraqi Army had already become capable of dealing with the situation. What would happen if we left? Who would stop the bloodshed? If we found ourselves in another war, what local nationals would want to help us, seeing how we betrayed those who helped us in Iraq? But give us time to establish the government, to train and equip the army properly, and to instill a sense of secular national pride--then, although we may need permanent bases as staging areas against other threats, we can bring a great many of our brave soldiers home to their families.
AQI On Last Legs?
Michael Yon is reporting that Nineveh may be Al Qaeda in Iraq's last stand; read his whole report for yourself. (Also, Michael Yon's reporting is funded by donations, so if you appreciate the excellent reporting he's doing, then send him a few bucks!)
Captain Ed's post about this report, to me, displays the danger involved when headlines, news tickers, and even whole stories simply report that there's a new wave of violence. Americans don't understand that, quite often, the upticks we see in violence now are a result of new and important offensive operations by us rather than new outbreaks of insurgency.
Michael Yon has been reporting from Iraq since nearly the beginning of this war, and while he's seen dark times there for our troops and for that nation, his reporting has grown considerably more optimistic since the surge began turning the tide. At this point, it is reasonable to believe that we may very well see the establishment of a stable Iraqi state that will fight jihadists.
George W. Bush may very well be the Harry S Truman of his time.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Temperature Monitors Show Ocean (1) ****ing. Quiz.
1. Cool
2. cool
3. faulty
4. warm
5. crap. Gotcha!
Finally, Some Law Enforcement In Detroit
Only the rule of law will be able to rescue the darkened city of Detroit, and this is definitely a start.
But if you think this will be easy, think again. Deputy Mayor Anthony Adams declared on The Today Show that if Worthy prosecutes Kilpatrick, it will be because of politics. The brazen deception in which these people are engaging is amazing. The Fox News contributor is saying right now that this prosecution is a "no-brainer," and when looking over the evidence, I'm inclined to agree.
CCHA Champs!
Twelve freshmen. GLI champs. CHS champs. CCHA regular season champs. CCHA tournament champs. Whew.
We get Niagara to start off and after that the winner of St. Cloud State and Clarkson, avoiding having Michigan State in our bracket; we'll be playing in Albany in the East Regional, avoiding having to play Wisconsin on their home ice.
This last weekend, friends, was a VERY good one for Michigan hockey.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Happy Easter
"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures." 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (NIV)
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Detroit News Sports 18475, Detroit Free Press Sports 0
Fortunately, there is also a good sports writer in Detroit: "To dub this latest entry in the rivalry "Ohio State coach Jim Tressel 1, Michigan coach Rodriguez 0," is foolish."
Why anyone besides State fans pays attention to the Freep's sports coverage is beyond me. Drew Sharp (the aforementioned bad writer) is guaranteed to replace meaningful and substantive analysis with unrelenting cynicism and downright bitterness. Mitch Albom, a sports writer for girls, is guaranteed to use the Mitch Albom Patented Repetitive Theme/Word that mostly makes me want to puke. It's horrifying.
The News, on the other hand, is fantastic. Bob Wojnowski, Angelique Chengelis (the aforementioned good writer), John Niyo, Eric Lacy, and even the token State writer, Dave Dye, are all better than anyone working for the Freep. Yesterday's columns provided an excellent example of that ownage.
When Government Picks The Winners, They Never Pick People
Government's track record on picking which industries and products to invest in: poor. Support for more government involvement in picking industries and products: high.
Huh?
Anyway, this ought to clear one thing up: global warming is being used as a pretense for getting government more involved in your life.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Ohio State Guarantees Next National Championship, Four Years Of Probation
Anyway, Terrelle Pryor announced today that he would be pretending to attend classes at THE Ohio State University (actually, his exact words were, "The University of Ohio State," so I can only assume he'll be a part of tOSU's Jim Tressel School of Taking, Uhhh, Classes I Guess). He arrived at the press conference driving a Jaguar made of pure gold, largely ending speculation about where he was going in the fall.
You've got to love big-time college recruiting: TP just became the very devil himself throughout most of one of the most populous states in the Union and the favorite person of literally millions of fat slobs in another heavily populated state. Also, thousands of West Virginians will be celebrating Rich Rodriguez's first defeat by having a possum roast and getting really drunk; so, reportedly, will thousands of students at Michigan State University.
Something Good From Freep Sports: Vernon-Roy Fight Video!!
There's nothing better than having one of your all-time favorite hometown athletes sock a hated French Canadian hockey player in the nose. Except when both of them are starting goalies for deathly hateful rivals at the Joe Louis Arena.
Pryor-itizing
Bob Lichtenfels of Scout.com is on the Big Ten Network with some semi-interesting stuff: he thinks, as everyone does, that TP (that has to be his nickname if he's going to Ohio State, assuming he doesn't do something embarrassing between now and his first start) is headed to THE Cheating B****** University and become a Hairless Nut. But it's also being reported that Michigan is making a late push, including NFL folks telling Pryor that U-M is a better school for, well, going to the NFL.
But, that's not to get anyone's hopes up! Because we all know, if we've been reading our Drew Sharp, that no matter what happens, it's bad for Michigan, and, quote, "ha, ha, ha, some newspaper actually hired me." Plus: TP's probably headed down south.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Human Rights, Canadian Diplomacy Style
Canada's minority Conservative government is moving to assure China it supports a "one-China" policy including Tibet and Taiwan, the Globe and Mail reported.You know, this gives me an idea. Guess what, Canada? We're going to annex you. Don't try to stop it; our military is far vaster than yours, even with our Iraq commitment. And why not? You're white-majority, we're white-majority. We're a former British colony, you're a former British colony. Oh, and when we come we're going to have a colonization policy by which we move Texans and Southerners into every one of your cities. Aren't you happy to be part of the Motherland? (We forgot, we'll also enforce an official Christian faith on you, of course. You don't have any small, harmless, unorthodox religious sects, do you? Because we hate people like that.)
Foreign affairs experts told the newspaper Canada has officially held the policy since establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing since 1970 but in recent weeks, Canadian officials have stopped using couched terms regarding Taiwan or Tibet.
The free world cannot shirk its responsibility to marginalize tyrants and murderers like those in the Chinese Communist Party. We must do our best to ensure the freedom of Taiwan against their would-be oppressors. We must speak out publicly about the horrors being perpetrated against Christians, Falun Gong, and Tibetans. The PRC are the real imperialists here, and we must stop kowtowing to them.
Day By Day
I will warn you, gentle readers: Chris loves to push the boundaries and be a little provocative--and although he is a political conservative, that provocation sometimes goes both ways! So...I suppose this is my disclaimer. Hope you enjoy getting to know Sam, Zed, Damon, and Jan as much as I have!
Monday, March 17, 2008
U-M Athletics "Scandal": Day 2 (Still Nothing There)
Today's article describes a situation even less shocking, if possible, than yesterday's. It seems that Michigan has a General Studies program that allows students to take courses in a wide variety of disciplines and that many athletes are a part of the program. It also seems that some professors aren't thrilled by having to teach athletes, who generally aren't as skilled as the average Michigan student. Furthermore, it seems that some Michigan athletes don't graduate--though the article doesn't mention that its examples of non-graduates had a tendency to leave school to earn lots of money at the pro level in their sport. Neither do they mention any examples of students that graduated with their degree and couldn't find a job anywhere; in fact, one prominent example of a kinesiology student, Chris Floyd, is now pursuing his master's degree from Wayne State. Bill Frieder, Michigan's old b-ball coach before Steve Fisher, told The Ann Arbor News that he respected the administration's willingness to take special-admissions athletes and help them to achieve academic success.
This is why I said in my last post on this subject that this is not only NOT a scandal, it's an anti-scandal: most schools leave athletes out in the cold, like Huggins when he was at Cincy and Florida State under Bowden. Michigan does their best to give their student-athletes a chance to succeed. A lot of them have graduated from poor high schools, a lot of them are extremely poor themselves, and for the vast majority, a Michigan college degree is the only way out. Michigan has given an extraordinary amount of attention to building these young men into successful people, in whatever profession they choose, be it pro sports or something else.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
MSU-miliating: CCHA Tournament Shocker!!
Yes, I'm happy about it, but you'll get no gloating from me. State has now lost four of their last five against NMU, which, while not a poor team, isn't exactly a national power on State's level. There's no question that State is a better team; but what does this do to the Spartans' NCAA tournament position? Shocking!
In order to make this post relevant to Michigan at all, I will say that Big Blue won its weekend series against Nebraska-Omaha, winning a 10-1 massacre and a 2-1 nailbiter at Yost Ice Arena, and will advance to the CCHA semifinals at Joe Louis Arena next weekend.
The Governance You Deserve
When the House in December voted to ban smoking in Michigan bars, restaurants and many other workplaces, the bill was assigned to a Senate committee where legislation typically goes to die.
Many Republicans said it was just more regulations on businesses during a time of economic hardship, and that the free market already is creating smoke-free workplaces. Senate Republicans could soon introduce legislation that would provide incentives for restaurants to go smoke-free, Marsden said.
The House last year passed a bill that would raise the landfill dumping fee from 21 cents a ton to $7.50 a ton. Democrats say it would discourage Canadians from shipping trash into Michigan. But Republicans oppose the bill because the same fee would be charged to Michigan businesses and residents. Senate Republicans have countered with bills that would increase inspections, limit the dumping of some materials and promote recycling.
So the Dems want increased fees for trash dumping and bans on smoking in private establishments. The GOP wants increased regulation on trash dumping and incentives (I can only assume those would be tax breaks or other financial incentives) for recycling and making restaurants smoke-free. MAN these are exciting differences; which kind of government intrusion you want? Republican, or Democratic?
Only one problem, boys: this downward slide has been caused by government interference. Our laws require employees to be unionized, so unions have absolute power over employees whether the workers agree or not. The unions have extorted massive wage and benefit packages that the Big Three went right along with. Now the government is making it worse with increased regulation, (in some cases) increased taxes, and picking favorites with targeted subsidies and tax breaks. (That last item is particularly nasty; governments have an awful record picking which industries to invest in. That's what we have, you know, private investment for.) Whether through Democrats or Republicans, that doesn't look to change anytime soon--but I know which party gives us the better chance.
It's simply vital that we pass a Right to Work law or constitutional amendment and that we reduce state spending. Michigan can be salvaged yet, but it won't be through inept government micromanagement.
Long-Awaited Ann Arbor News U-M Scandal: Not Much "There" There
The long anticipated story by The Ann Arbor News uncovering a scandal in Michigan's athletic program...well, it talks tough at the beginning, but reading the entire article (no short task) gives a different impression.
I'm not going to go into details--and you can read the article yourself--but it sounds like what's going on is that--surprise!--Michigan's student-athletes aren't quite as good in school as the general student body, and there's a particular professor who's willing to work with them to improve their study skills. Remediation, especially where athletes are concerned, isn't exactly new to universities. The writers compare the situation to an Auburn professor's "directed readings" given primarily to athletes to boost their GPA. But this is exactly where the difference between Michigan and a lot of these other colleges needs to be pointed out: those "directed readings" were junk courses designed to give players an easy A. The independent studies the article hones in on were study skills courses designed to help students understand how to perform better in their other classes. It shouldn't be surprising that these courses were taken largely by athletes with lower than average GPAs, and Michigan should be commended for taking personal interest in the academic success of its student-athletes, unlike most football factory schools.
Moreover, the only whistle-blowing sources the authors can muster up are two anonymous former employees of the university and a professor who was displaced from an important office by a departmental reorganization and wanted the post that John Hagen, the professor in question, ended up with. The university itself investigated the situation twice and affirmed the program's academic value both times. Now, I could obviously be wrong, but there just doesn't seem to be anything of interest here.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Michigan Sports Stuff
Also, Michigan State somehow managed to beat Northern Michigan, 5-1, in the CCHA quarterfinals last night.
Now, the good news: Michigan scored on three different goalies and Chad Kolarik got a hat trick in his first appearance since the LSSU series a few weeks ago; they defeated Nebraska-Omaha 10-1 (no typo...really, that was the score) at Yost last night in the CCHA quarterfinals.
Also, Michigan State saw a 12-point lead slip away and approximately eighteen big men foul out as Wisconsin came back to win their Big Ten basketball semifinal game today. Bo Ryan is now a glorious 11-3 against Tom Izzo. That oughta shut 'em up.
First They Came For The Smokers
Big-time profiteers and small-time cheaters are smuggling 7 million cartons of cigarettes into the state annually to evade Michigan's high cigarette taxes, costing the state about $140 million a year.Considering that we're such a well-run state, one would think that this would've been foreseen. Anyway, the Freep reasonably concludes that tobacco is evil:And some metro Detroit retailers are selling cigarette packs with sophisticated counterfeit stamps to evade a 10-year-old law aimed at thwarting smuggling.
Michigan's $2-per-pack tax, the fourth-highest in the nation, helps fuel an illicit demand for cigarettes bought in other states with much lower taxes.
So now we know another way tobacco is bad for Michigan. Not only does it cost the state health care system hundreds of millions of dollars in smoking-related illnesses, but the Treasury can show at least $140 million in lost revenue from cigarettes being smuggled into Michigan from states with lower tobacco taxes than the $2-a-pack levy here. That's a lot of money going up in smoke.We'll skip arguing over whether the state should really be involved in health care. Amusingly, commenter "buka2" writes, "Just outlaw all smoking, and then the $140,000,000 won't be available to lose." Sometimes logic stings. But Michigan doesn't lose money from tobacco; in fact, that first Freep article mentions that the state makes about a billion dollars a year from tobacco. That $140 million just represents the obvious result of black market activity from overly high product taxes. But here's the mindset, courtesy of a few Freep commenters. First, "Allycatt":
"FreedomOfSpeech, I think we would gladly pay a 6% tax on our cigarettes. Right now, state tax alone is 40%. Hell, I was even for the 61 cent increase for the SCHIP program - as a smoker, why do I not have a say in how that money is spent? They will continue to tax our cigarettes, because we are the bad guys, they will continue to funnel the money to everywhere but where it should go (health & stop smoking programs). Non-smokers should be damn happy that we are there to pick up the slack. Igor: APPLAUSE! It took me two years to get management to get my office neighbor to tone down the cologne. Headaches, teary eyes, runny nose within seconds when I'm exposed. PERFUME SHOULD BE BANNED OR TAXED TO THE MAX."We've been so dumb all these years. We should just pass a law outlawing anything that's annoying to anyone! (It'd never pass, of course; obviously, it wouldn't be in the interests of congresshumans.) Then we'd be free from anything that we don't like! Freedom! Here's some "BubbRubb" for ya:
Ty - One last thing about taxing smokers before I begin my weekend: smoking causes many diseases which we all end up paying for through loss of productivity, paying into government assisted health care, etc. I think that smokers should pick up the tab for this, as there is no common benefit for taxes we pay for this. The only fair way I think would be a sin tax.Hmm....how could we get smokers to pick up the tab for this? What about free mark--no...wait, how about eliminating socialized heal--no....I just can't think of a good idea! Whatever the heck the problem is, it definitely must call for some sort of government action. After all, anytime someone isn't as productive as they otherwise could have been, it harms me and it should be illegal. Next to go: World of Warcraft! This is an example of a doctrinaire liberal slowly following his philosophy to its logical end: state control of nearly everything in your life, for your own good.
Friday, March 14, 2008
China Clarifies Human Rights Record
Clashes between protesters and security forces in Tibet's main city of Lhasa have left at least two people dead, according to reports.Well, at least this time they had the decency to kill Tibetans instead of students. After all, the students wanted democracy; the Tibetans just want to have their own country. You know, like they did before China conquered it a number of decades ago. Looks like all those "Free Tibet" stickers weren't quite as efficacious as people might have wanted. Well, but it's the thought that counts. In any case, in the story, the Chinese dispute that Tibet has ever been independent. Seriously.An emergency official told AFP news agency that many people had been hurt and an unspecified number had died.
The US-based Radio Free Asia quoted witnesses who said they had seen at least two bodies on Lhasa's streets.
Rallies have continued all week in what are said to be the largest protests against Beijing's rule in 20 years.
Richly, yesterday the Chinese government "hit back" on human rights, accusing the Americans of perpetrating the worst human-rights abuses in modern times. Here's a bit:
The report comes in response to the US State Department's annual survey of human rights across the world.
Although the report accuses China of denying its people basic freedoms, the country is not listed as one of the world's most systematic rights violators.
And...hmmm....
Evidently not widely recognized enough. But come, their victims are only crazy religious people like, you know, practicing Christians and Falun Gong members. Still, the bit about meddling in other people's affairs is a bit much, considering that not only did they ruthlessly invade and subjugate the independent nation of Tibet, they also want to take over the utterly unwilling citizens of the free nation of Taiwan. Just WHO is the imperialist aggressor here? I wonder if the "imperialist" charge is used against the United States because it deflects that criticism from the truly imperialist powers, for example the old USSR, today's Russia, and the "People's" Republic of China."Stop exercising double standards on human rights issues and wrongly meddling in the internal affairs of other countries," said ministry spokesman Qin Gang.
He added that China's achievements on human rights had been "widely recognised by the international community".
Americans may not care much about Taiwan, but it would be a serious blow to freedom in the world if the nefarious PRC is allowed to subjugate that bastion of freedom, as well.
Michigan vs Wisconsin -- Big Ten Tournament Liveblog
FINAL SCORE: 51-34 Badgers. That's as close to a high school game as you'll see a Big Ten game come; no wonder no one respects the Big Ten conference. Michigan must've shot less than 20% on the game for field goals, and...really, there's no way to describe that game other than by that stat. Wisconsin played badly and still scored 50% more points than we did. I don't know what words to use to talk about how Michigan plays; it isn't that they don't have the talent to win these kinds of games--they do--and it isn't that Beilein is a bad coach--he isn't. I'm not sure if it's that they aren't confident. But they do little dumb things. They pass to two teammates who are next to each other and neither one tries to grab it. They pass up good shots and take dumb ones. They play hard on defense and then leave somebody uncovered for an easy basket. I think that once Beilein gets smarter players things will be better. The only thing I can think of is that Amaker recruited about the dumbest guys in the world. Let's not knock the offers to Stu, Cronin, and Novak; they might just introduce the kind of intelligence you need to win in the Big Ten.
1:51 -- Now Bo Ryan brings out the former team manager whom Lavin describes as a "pepper pot deluxe" after Gibson throws up the air-ball three.
1:50 -- Nice way to finish the season: Bo Ryan sends in his freshmen back-up types with a minute and a half to go. I've never seen a Michigan game this bad.
1:44 -- Wisconsin gets two offensive rebounds and a possession lasting nearly (edit: MORE than) a minute, and ends up on the line. Michigan falling apart.
1:41 -- Grady passes up a wide-open lay-up that he skillfully created and passes to Harris, who clangs the three.
1:40 -- The hole gets deeper as Michigan continues its remarkably cold shooting and Wisconsin chips away. 46-32.
1:34 -- Anthony Wright continues to be our only real scorer, horrifically. Three-ball, cuts the lead to 10.
1:31 -- Ron Coleman's contribution: committing a foul on what should have been an easy rebound, then helpfully complaining to the ref. NOT gonna miss him next year. Thank you again, Tommy Amaker.
1:28 -- Gibson is apparently becoming a monster. A good inlet pass leads to an ALMOST Zach Gibson 3-point play, but he barely misses the shot. He hits 1 of 2. Nine-point lead, 38-29.
1:27 -- Gibson gets the great block!
1:18 -- Some foul trouble starting to emerge for Wisconsin. Merritt draws the foul on a good drive and shoots 2, drains 2. 37-28, Badgers.
1:16 -- GEEZ Wright is a good shooter. Another deep three-ball.
1:13 -- Out of control, Lee throws up a bad lay-up and Wisconsin returns for the pretty transition pass and monster jam. Score: 35-23 Badgers, with Wisconsin on a 9-0 run after Michigan's opening 5-0 run. Beilein calls timeout.
1:09 -- Commercial break. DeShawn Sims goes soft to the basket and gets the ball rejected right to a fast-breaking Wisconsin player, but M slows them up. Ant Wright deflects a cross-court pass out of bounds. I think that guy is going to be good for us going into the future.
1:07 -- The inevitable answer, and the lead is back to 8. Michigan needs to tighten up their D now. Harris's offensive struggles continue...he just missed his eighth shot straight.
1:04 -- OHH, WRIGHT! A trey from LONG distance lessens the lead to three.
1:03 -- LUCK! Ekpe Udoh drains 2 FTs! Six-point game.
FINAL THOUGHTS BEFORE SECOND HALF: Really no thoughts, just horror. Michigan shot 21%, according to Steve Lavin. Uhhhhh....
FIRST HALF THOUGHTS: Michigan's best assets: the refs and, evidently, the basketball gods, to an extent. Bo Ryan gets a totally unjustified technical, and nearly all questionable calls went Michigan's way, as well as some unquestionable calls that shouldn't have gone our way. Wisconsin's shooting, luckily, has been relatively poor. Blue's rebounding and defense has also been decent. The bad parts: turnovers and shooting. TOs aren't reaching Purdue Game Level yet, but they've been pretty bone-headed, and Manny Harris is again the worst offender. He, by the way, has only 4 points. It seems that a sort of Jordan Rules system works well against Michigan, since the rest of the team's offensive function is to pass around aimlessly until Harris takes a three or drives the lane. As for the shooting, Michigan has scored three treys...two by Gibson, known for his nearly statue-like coordination. I think our shooting is still below 30%...*shudder*. No Udoh blocks of any kind, but he did basically jump on top of someone, so that was cool.
SCORE AT HALF: Wisconsin 26, Michigan 18
12:44 -- LUCK! Sharpshooter Bohannon only hits one FT out of two.
12:42 -- Good work by Sims to grab his own rebound and draw the shooting foul in the last minute of the half. Makes one...two FTs. 25-18.
12:41 -- Gibson hits the three and has half of Michigan's points. Where am I?
12:40 -- Evidence against my "paying the refs" theory that I forgot: Zach Gibson is punched in the back and the foul is called, but Ekpe Udoh didn't get the same consideration when he got punched in the face. Racism!
12:38 -- Michigan commits the smart foul against the three point shooter. Great work. Trevon Hughes hits 3 to extend the lead to 25-13.
12:37 -- Paying the refs pays off again. Out of bounds "off Wisconsin."
12:34 -- Michigan timeout. Our shooting is, not to put too fine a point on it, about 5th Grade Girls' Team level right now. However, with a few exceptions, our defense and rebounding have been as good as one could reasonably expect. The problem with that is that we also needed to have as good an offensive performance as one could reasonably expect...and that hasn't happened. Still, it could be worse. And we do have SOME fans there, anyway...
12:33 -- Wisconsin extends the lead to 9, 22-13. BUT...we got a "Defense" chant going for Michigan. WHAT!?!?
12:32 -- Oh my. The refs umm...we might've paid them. Traveling called on Wisconsin.
12:30 -- Speaking of luck, Wisconsin commits their seventeen thousandth turnover.
12:29 -- AHHH!! Zach Gibson hits the three to signal the apocalypse!
12:28 -- Oohh...clarification. The fire was actually aimed at Butch, but the refs misjudged it and gave him a T anyway. Luck is on our side so far!
12:24 -- Fire from Bo Ryan's eyes engulfs a referee and he gets a technical foul as Michigan defends well and David Merritt (he's back!!!) gets a tough rebound. Impressed with Michigan's defending and rebounding, but their offense is just horrific so far. Eight turnovers, on pace for around 25 for the game. The scoring has picked up, however: 15-9.
12:18 -- NICE job by Lee to gain control and dish to Sims for the lay-in. 13-7.
12:17 -- GEEZ this game is ugly. Michigan gets the first points for ANYone in about 4 minutes. 10-5 bad guys. Oops, too soon...13-5.
12:11 -- Merciful commercial break. Did I say low-scoring game? Wisconsin's pace will put them at 80 points, Michigan's will put them at 24. I have to assume that's going to change, just hopefully not because Wisconsin's third string will be out in the first half. 10-3 Badgers.
12:10 -- Harris hits a three for Michigan's first points...after 4.5 minutes of play.
12:09 -- Yet ANOTHER turnover by Michigan right at the beginning of the possession, and 10 points for Wisconsin, all lay-ups.
12:07 -- Wow. Michigan offense gets worse. Wisconsin's 6 points are all lay-ups.
12:05 -- Amazing lay-up in transition for Wisconsin. Bad turnovers for Michigan, but good defense. Low scoring game so far probably helps Michigan as much as anything...4-0 Wisconsin.
12:02 -- Wisconsin wins the tip. Here we go!
PRE-GAME: It's time for another edition of Michigan basketball liveblogs here at TW2! Well, the Blue managed to win their 8-9 game against Iowa in Indianapolis yesterday, destroying Iowa in the first half. Both teams decided to call a cease-fire in the second half, a move one observer described as "Zzzzz," and another as, "death-defyingly boring." Today Michigan has a chance to prove that their 3-point loss at Wisconsin wasn't a fluke, but will most likely prove that they're still a team in progress. But hope springs eternal here at TW2, which is why I'm still talking about Michigan basketball and not (currently) crying. And with that!...
Video: Liberal Fascism
Here is the video:
Report Proves No Link Between Iraq and Al Qaeda! (?)
But Stephen Hayes, contributor to The Weekly Standard and author of the book The Connection, begs to differ. With what evidence? Why, the report itself. As Scott Johnson writes, "If you have only learned of the report via reportage such as (ABC News and The New York Times), take a look at the report with your own eyes before drawing any conclusions about it." Verily. Here is the report; here is Hayes's post about it.
I'm not going to go into detail about the contradictions themselves, since Johnson and Hayes have done such a fine job of it already. But it seems that the main distinction that has not been made here by the news agencies is the difference between "ties" and "operational ties." Just because Iraqi and al Qaeda agents never conducted joint operations hardly means there are no ties between them. In fact, the report gives powerful evidence of cooperation between the two organizations. And, as Hayes points out, their short-term goals are extremely similar, so why not?
Beyond which, Saddam Hussein's ostentatious support of terrorism, whether cooperatively with al Qaeda or not, justified invasion under the Bush Doctrine, in principle if not in practice (which is a different debate altogether.) The idea that Hussein had nothing to do with Islamic terrorism is one simply dreamed up by anti-war (but mostly anti-Bush) folks after the fact. Atheistic Westerners loathe religious people, so I suppose it's easy for them to imagine that a secular nationalist government like Hussein's has the same loathing for jihadis. They may be forgetting that, whereas Westerners have the luxury to despise religious folks from the comfort of their studies in their enormous houses around San Francisco, California, Hussein and other such leaders kept power by encouraging and harnessing anti-Western emotions, just like al Qaeda, and shared with al Qaeda a violent hostility toward the West. The notion that cooperation between the two is philosophically impossible is absurd. Divergent philosophies never got in the way of marriages of convenience before (think Molotov-Ribbentrop).
Thursday, March 13, 2008
One Of Jenny's Promises Comes True
Now we finally understand what she means by "blow you away"! Well, you know. Some of us suspected.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
BBC: Fake But Accurate
In the face of many scandals in the last few years involving major media outlets using false information to run stories popular with people of a certain political persuasion (CBS's Rathergate and The New Republic's Scott Beauchamp debacle come to mind), the BBC is often touted as the ideal news agency. Au contraire:
The fact that this deceptive reporting targets Israel is not much of a surprise. Many of the examples of false news reporting, photoshopping, and mythologizing (think Jenin "massacre") are merely instances of media activism against Israel designed to inspire sympathy with Palestinian murderers. The BBC itself has a notorious recent history of anti-Semitism, or at the very least hatred of the state of Israel.On Friday, March 7, 2008, the BBC’s World News with Jonathan Charles (seen in the U.S. on PBS stations as part of BBC America) aired footage purporting to show the demolition and burning of a house that belongs to the family of Ala Abu Dheim, the terrorist who murdered eight students and wounded nine others in the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva (Rabbinical Seminary) .
Against footage of a bulldozer destroying a burning home, BBC reporter Nick Miles was heard in voiceover proclaiming:
But the BBC allegation was patently false.In the hours after the attack, Israeli bulldozers destroyed his [the terrorist’s] family home. Later, his mourners set up Hamas and Islamic Jihad banners nearby.
In fact, the film clip selected by BBC staff could not possibly have been of the terrorist’s family home, as it is still standing (as of March 12) and, together with the nearby public mourning tent erected by the family, serves as a shrine dedicated to the "martyred" terrorist. That such a shrine is still allowed to remain in place has, in fact, prompted public outrage among Israelis and members of Knesset across the political spectrum. On Monday, March 10 – three days after the report aired – Knesset speaker Dalia Itzik (Labor) petitioned the Attorney General to order the demolition of the public tent and the terrorist’s family home.
Notice, for example, the headline of this story: "Israelis kill four in West Bank." The article makes it sound like cold-blooded murder, but the "four" are members of the violent Islamic Jihad and were carrying assault rifles. The Israelis were a commando team. The next section describes Islamic Jihad's claim that the Israeli raid undermines any chance of a ceasefire, and the subheading reads, "'Ceasefire undermined.'" This is a ridiculous accusation from an organization dedicated to destroying Israel by any means necessary, especially in light of the constant rocket attacks launched against Israel daily and the repeated violations of negotiated ceasefires by Palestinian groups, but that's what gets the headline. The only background information in the article is the recent violence in Gaza; no mention of the yeshiva students ruthlessly gunned down days ago.
Kwame Kilpatrick Would Be Apologetic, If He Had Anything To Apologize For
Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick lashed out at his opponents and the news media Tuesday night, accusing them of showing a "lynch mob mentality" in the aftermath of the scandal over his exchange of sexually explicit text messages with a former top aide.Well then. Of course, lynch mobs attacked people simply for being black, so I can only assume this is what Kwame Kilpatrick wishes to claim happened to him. He might consider that it could have something to do with the corruption and perjury charges he seems clearly to be guilt of.
Kilpatrick, who is black, said he and his family have been subjected to racial slurs, as well as threats.
"In the past three days, I've received more death threats than I have in my entire administration," he said. "I've heard these words before, but I've never heard them said about my wife and children," he continued, his voice rising as he wagged his fingers and gestured with his arms.
"I don't believe that a Nielsen rating is worth the life of my children or your children. This unethical, illegal, lynch mob mentality has to stop."Well, geez, no one who has received death threats should resign from the office of the mayor! Okay, more seriously, I understand that receiving death threats and racial slurs is terrible and frightening for a man with a family. And there's no serious observer of the mayor's situation that would condone those actions, including myself. But being threatened with death doesn't really absolve one from serious criminal charges. Neither does being called nasty names. And do finger-wagging and accusations of illegality really befit a man with as many ethical and legal lapses as Kwame? (Note, too, the final sentence, and remember that a mentality can never be illegal--not even those of the lynch-mob variety. Although REAL lynch mobs are correctly illegal.)
Kilpatrick said future mayors "will remember this as a time when we thought not only about us, but about the future -- a time that we put aside divisions and found a new hour of healing and hopefulness in which we joined together to transform the city that we all love."There's no real story here. Kilpatrick wants people to forget, frankly. But he broke the law in a serious way, and he needs to go. Not, of course, that most Detroit officials differ substantially in their approach to their positions; but Kwame got caught, and if Detroit needs anything, it is a display of backbone in enforcing the law.
Creeping Health Tyranny
This kid bought a bag of Skittles from a candy pusher in the hallways of his own school. (Parents: this is the danger your kids face every day.)
Now, I realize that nobody died here and it's not an incredibly serious issue (although when it comes time to apply to colleges, a suspension never looks good). Even so, I ask you to witness the danger that comes with assigning responsibility for physical health to government entities. The school's policy was an infringement of the students' freedom for the sake of their health. Go on and keep thinking that universal health care will be different.
Kevorkian To Run For Congress
Assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian is planning a run for Congress.I'm surprised he's not running as a Democrat. After all, their policies seem to resemble his own: what to do with a state that's in significant economic pain? Put it out of its misery! I mean, as long as they ask for it--and with the Democratic gains of 2006, it looks like Michigan is asking for that very thing.Kevorkian was released from prison last year and remains on parole. But the 79-year-old told the Oakland Press for an article published Wednesday that he plans to run for office as a candidate with no party affiliation.
Kevorkian lives in Oakland County and the 9th District. That’s a seat now held by Republican Joe Knollenberg.
All in all, I think this is a good thing. Joe Knollenberg is one of the Republican representatives whom Democrats are targeting this fall, and heaven knows Kevorkian appeals more to utilitarian Democrats than to traditionalist Republicans. Let's give this one some publicity!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Michigan Signs Recruit To Classics Department
A Conservatism For Detroit?
The dialogue that Mr. Akinyemi talks about is an important one to have, but it assumes goodwill on the part of Detroit's governance--a goodwill that does not, in my opinion, exist. Rather, as Jack McHugh commented on one of my previous entries, anyone who enters the Detroit political sphere does so for personal gain. After all, those are by far the most lucrative jobs in the city, both in terms of explicit compensation and possibilities for corruption.
Furthermore, the real problem in Detroit isn't the public school system per se, or the tax regime, or infrastructural problems. There are two real underlying problems in Detroit; the first is the absence of law enforcement and the second is the breakdown of family and family values. When studying economics, the question of law enforcement often takes a back seat; discussions of policy impacts often simply assume that no one breaks the law. But in thinking about economic revitalization, nothing could be more important. Businesses need to think about a lot of different things before investing in a location, and you can bet they'll think about the likelihood of being robbed, having their buildings defaced, and being able to hire polite and capable employees. Enforcement of the laws would help keep children in school and drugs off the street. This is the area that requires the most financial attention from the city, immediately.
The question of family and values is not a political one, but a social one. Being a follower of Christ, I would like all the churches in the area to stop thinking about politics and simply encourage members to be productive and economically independent (I Thessalonians 4:11-12), without blaming anyone else--even if that blame is justified. Churches need to step up outreach and face-to-face assistance in job training, finding jobs, balancing a checkbook, drug rehabilitation, after-school programs, and other basic services.
In closing, I would like to mention that, as one might imagine, Detroit conservatism is simply not the same as West Michigan conservatism. (Nor is West Michigan conservatism like Minnesota conservatism, California conservatism, or Ohio conservatism.) But many important core principles are there:
In many minds, the government still retains responsibility for job creation. That should not be. And how then shall we create such wealth? We return to the themes I earlier hinted at: the need to build a free market economy, in which individual entrepreneurs, who trust each other, organize in firms of all sizes, to create prosperity and jobs. We must all enter into partnerships for creating prosperity...TW2 would like to wish Mr. Akinyemi all the best in his effort. This blog certainly supports efforts to restore Detroit--a once-proud city, now beset by false prophets of race and an illiberal culture of corruption--to global prominence. Make sure and follow his efforts; his blog will from now on appear on my sidebar.
For those who believe Detroit possesses a rightful place in the world, you are wrong. Respect is earned not handed out for free. Detroit will gain long lasting credibility by building a conservative appraoch to government and open economy that challenges the norm.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Schauer seems to be the sleaziest kind of politician, willing to use any tactic for the means of gaining votes or taking them away from his opponents. Neither using an opponent's ethnicity against him, nor blatantly violating campaign promises, nor ostentatious violation of campaign finance regulations seems to have occupied his conscience for long. The last item on the list has, however, occupied the office of Secretary of State Land; it may soon come before Attorney General Mike Cox.
Add this to the Granholm/Cherry tax fiasco and the Kwame Kilpatrick scandal, and Michigan Democrats are facing a veritable epidemic of crimes and gaffes. Will it give Republicans momentum going into November? Not a chance! Ever the optimist, I. Still, I suspect Tim Walberg will be re-elected. That is one congressmen that I want to be rooting for for many years to come.
One note about Nick's column though: I understand that Mark Schauer is as sleazy as they come, that he would flip a reliably conservative seat to a reliably liberal seat, and that he's part of a Michigan Democratic Party that has done its best to run Michigan into the ground and found great success. But words must be used carefully, and I can see very little that is constructive about calling Schauer a "racist," which he most likely is not. Yes, he did use an opponent's Jewish background to call his electability into question, and yes, it is heinous. But it's heinous because of the depths to which he would stoop to win election, not because of any truly racist beliefs. I'm not defending what he did, but it is always best to use accurate descriptions. Exaggerated invective is off-putting; criticism should be measured, proportionate to the crime.
Wandering No More? Part Deux: Almost Home
And you know what? I deserve this, solely on the basis of the fact that I know all the words to the U-M Alma Mater, "The Yellow and the Blue."
The Norsemen believed that fallen warriors proceeded to Valhalla, the feast-hall of heroes. Well, I certainly have been a warrior, and graduating from Michigan State is a fate as close to death as I can think of. (Just kidding; no worries.) But seriously, have you BEEN to Ann Arbor on game days? Whew...brings tears of joy to the eyes...
Your Tax Dollars At Work, Education Edition
(Warning: The link is to a news article containing some vulgar language and sexual content.)
Ugh:
Parents in Deerfield, Ill., are upset that a local high school is using books in advanced English classes this spring that they say are laced with graphic sexual content, pervasive expletives and mockery of religion.Double ugh:
Worse, the books - "Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes (Parts 1 & 2)" - are required reading for advanced placement English students at Deerfield High School, but a parents' group wants them removed.
"Who would have ever thought that we would be handing out pornography in public schools?" asked Lora Sue Hauser, executive director of North Shore Student Advocacy, and a Deerfield parent.
Hauser noted that this isn't the first time that Deerfield High School and the school district have come at cross-purposes to parents. The district ordered 14-year-old freshmen to take a seminar that amounted to homosexual indoctrination, she said, and had them sign a confidentiality agreement promising not to tell their parents.The Left long ago realized that its best shot at winning the debate in America was to go after the children. Children are wonderfully impressionable, and they're a better investment in future voting cycles than people in their thirties and forties. Rush Limbaugh and others cite the the influence of Antonio Gramsci, an early 20th century Italian socialist who advocated for a gradual takeover of social institutions in order to advance the socialist agenda, and that's really where this has come from.
Homeschooling and private and charter schooling are not attempts by rich people to isolate their children from poor people or by religious people to isolate their children from reason. It's just an inevitable step in the culture war; what recourse do parents have if they don't want their children to be indoctrinated? Dinesh D'Souza's wonderful book What's So Great About Christianity documents the admission by several on the Left that turning students against their parents' beliefs is their avowed goal. Vigilance is terribly important at this time, so let us be thankful for groups like the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, which keeps these people on their toes.
Super Tuesday For Equality
Last month, I urged dispirited conservatives to take an active role in supporting the candidates, officeholders, and issues that reflect our views and values. One of the campaigns I mentioned was my friend and hero Ward Connerly’s multi-state battle this fall to end discriminatory government race and gender preferences.She also gives us this lovely video of an irate woman protesting someone collecting signatures for the Oklahoma Civil Rights Initiative:
While so many other false prophets preach the color-blind gospel, Connerly is, as I’ve said before, the real deal.
The drive to end state-sponsored racial and sexual discrimination was successful here in Michigan two years ago, despite the legions of leftist goons who repeatedly harassed and intimidated supporters of the MCRI. Now that Michigan, California, and Washington state have passed these landmark color-blind amendments, five more states have them on the ballot: Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Missouri.
The tide of anti-discriminatory law is turning into unstoppable momentum. TW2 wants to congratulate Ward Connerly for the success he is now enjoying after years of insults and demonization directed at him and his associates. I would also like to thank him for giving Michigan the chance to be one of the first states to adopt this crucial law.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Buckley: In His Own Words
Part I
Part II
The Detroit Aristocracy
That $650,000 office allotment is about SIX TIMES larger than what the average member of the Michigan House of Representatives gets for the same purpose -- paying the bills of running their legislative office. And it's also noteworthy to point out that Michigan lawmakers are the second highest paid in America, while Detroit is one of the poorest big cities in the nation.The members of the Detroit City Council are protesting Kwame Kilpatrick's blatant corruption, but all politics there is a farce. Even school board members are corrupt. As Rush Limbaugh says, people get the kind of governance that they deserve. And years of race baiting and identity politics have established a pattern that does not seem to have any hope of ending soon. And the market is adjusting: people and businesses are rightly moving out of Detroit as quickly as possible.
Thanks to blatant political corruption wrought by grievance mongers and union thugs, Detroit is looking more and more like a feudal European state. The elite drive by in their fancy cars bought with taxpayer money while around them people struggle to eke out a barely subsistence income. This, my friends, is democracy for an electorate with the wrong priorities and values. People who believe they can spend your money better than you inevitably end up driving cars worth twenty times as much as yours.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
A Tough Act For The GOP To Follow...
Jeffrey Bell provides an interesting history and analysis of the Bush Administration; it's a very long column, but save it if you can't read it. It provides a useful historical and political context for the events of the last eight years, and speculates on the state of the Republican Party and John McCain's presidential bid.
I think the analysis is mostly dead-on. George W. Bush is a president who somehow managed to score significant political victories, but never followed through on them. The tax cuts were never made permanent, Social Security was never reformed. Faith-based initiatives were popular, but never went through. Iraq is quickly becoming a victory in the war on global jihadism, but that fact has never been articulated; meanwhile, the victories for democracy in Ukraine, Georgia, Lebanon, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia have seen very little follow-up and have struggled.
The Bush Doctrine of making Islamic terrorism a national security issue rather than a law enforcement issue is sound, and I believe that Iraq will turn into a victory of some significance; in the end, George W. Bush, in my opinion, will likely be seen as a generally good president. But his errors in judgment may be difficult for Republicans to deal with for the next few years.
Friday, March 7, 2008
The Politically Incorrect Guide To What I'm Really Thinking
Apparently all it takes to be a "moderate" in the Middle East is not to say that you want to kill Jews and destroy Israel in English. It's the soft bigotry of low expectations all over again! Anyway, Mahmoud Abbas said some fairly nasty things about Israel. TW2 doesn't know what they were, but they seem to involve violence, not recognizing the Zionist state, stuff like that. What I do know is that he said it in Arabic, just like MOST of the Palestinian leaders do when they want to reassure their constituents that all that stuff about getting rid of NAFTA--check that, cooperating with Israel--is just a ruse. (It's kind of like the Navajo wind talkers, except we actually know Arabic. So...it's a like a secret code for use against willfully ignorant people. Your tax dollars at work! Seriously, as you'll see.) But Abbas actually got caught, thanks to the Palestinian Media Watch.
President Bush, zealously following Clinton's traditional Presidential Roadmap to Peace (TM)--where the rest stops have two lanes, one marked "American Officials" that leads to a place with vending machines and bathrooms and one marked "Israeli People" that leads out into oncoming traffic on Intifada Route 3--has asked for millions of your dollars to go to the Palestinian Authority, Abbas's outfit. If you can't trust an organization with a history of using aid ambulances to hide terrorists, whom can you trust?
In all seriousness, it is imperative that we stop negotiating with people who have no intention of coming to a real compromise. Our history of mediation between Israeli officials willing to agree to enormously sacrificial deals and Palestinians who reject them outright or accept them only to break their agreement the following week has been a fiasco for long enough. No more Nobel Prizes for murderers like Arafat and Abbas; only isolation and defeat.
In Which I Agree With...George McGovern!?
Former U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern, the far-left, anti-war politician who helped drive religion out of Democratic politics and helped Nixon win almost every state in 1972, has written an op-ed with which I almost unreservedly agree. This has left me feeling dazed, but I write on. Read the whole thing, because it's a fantastic column about specific health-care and home mortgage policies, but here's a sample:
Apparently the former senator has realized that an America filled with citizens who have to take care of themselves is superior to one in which 536 federal officials (435 representatives, 100 senators, and 1 president) try to make life smooth for everyone.Since leaving office I've written about public policy from a new perspective: outside looking in. I've come to realize that protecting freedom of choice in our everyday lives is essential to maintaining a healthy civil society.
Why do we think we are helping adult consumers by taking away their options? We don't take away cars because we don't like some people speeding. We allow state lotteries despite knowing some people are betting their grocery money. Everyone is exposed to economic risks of some kind. But we don't operate mindlessly in trying to smooth out every theoretical wrinkle in life.
The nature of freedom of choice is that some people will misuse their responsibility and hurt themselves in the process. We should do our best to educate them, but without diminishing choice for everyone else.
It isn't just that that sort of interventionist government typically restrains or eradicates economic growth; it's that it is just plain wrong. When did we stop being concerned primarily with citizens' freedom to act autonomously and become concerned primarily with delivering the most pleasurable and least painful life possible? When did we reduce human beings from creatures imbued by their nature with dignity, freedom, and responsibility to simple creatures whose highest goal is the fulfillment of their appetites?
Treating human beings this way is dangerous. The modern liberalism whose excesses even its bygone champion must decry operates on the assumption that the highest form of fulfillment is physical, and so it concentrates on access to food, health care, and sex. Freedom entails responsibility for our actions; it is a paradox and a universal truth that seeking freedom without obligation will leave us with only obligation and no freedom. Freedom and obligation are two necessary characteristics of humanity; modern liberals have done their best to eliminate them and reduce us to the level of animals. Barack Obama is not particularly talented because he can present this philosophy in lofty terms; history is filled with those who eloquently convinced humans out of their natural dignity.
Why else do you think, according to a recent study, conservative college students have goals that embrace social obligations, while their liberal counterparts seek to break them?
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