(HT: Sigs)

Citizens of America, I give you the next Intelligence Chief…who is apparently none too intelligent.

If he flunked the quiz, can we fail him from his post? If only politics worked like school.

:UPDATE: He says “I’m acutely aware of al Qaeda’s desire to harm Americans. The Intelligence Committee will keep its eye on the ball, and focus on the pressing security and intelligence issues facing us.” This is a nifty combination of buzzwords (”eye on the ball”? C’mon, Mr. Congressman - surely you can do better than that?) and common knowledge that anyone who’s ever picked up a newspaper could attest to. al Queda wants to harm Americans? That’s news to me! I’m grateful that we have such smart people in the government to tell us these things. I would never have known otherwise!

I was getting dinner on my way back from church tonight when I read this article in the Greenville News. Hey, Greenvillians - your city ain’t ready for another ice storm! Isn’t that a shocker!
Click for more…

Question: what does a Philadelphia-native Republican candidate for PA’s Congressional District 13 do when he’s bored?
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It never ceases to amaze me. You frequent readers know I’ve said this before, and I’ll keep on saying it because it keeps on getting proven true. Very often, when an accusation is made, the one(s) being accused will prove those accusations correct while trying to disprove those accusations. Last time I said this, I was referring to Hysteric Fundamentalists © who prove their marginalistic and just plain crazy views while trying to prove they’re not marginalistic and just plain crazy. Typically this happens shortly after they run out of logical arguments against the accusation. Well now we see it again, this time well outside the Christian sector.

You all, I’m sure, have heard about some comments the Pope made in an academic lecture last week - how he quoted an ancient text that fingered the fact that violence seems to be the leading edge of Muslim missionary efforts. If you took the time to read the whole speech, you would have realized that the quote in question took a very small part of the larger speech. Of course Muslims took offense to this, just like they took offense at the political cartoons depecting Mohammed with a bomb in his turban, etc. Interestingly enough, if you read some of the comments from Muslim-controlled countries, you’ll find out the following:

1. We don’t actually know what he said,
2. but whatever he said, we think it’s offensive.
3. He should apologize, but we won’t accept it.

To greatly simplify things, let’s say the Pope came right out and said that violence and Islam go hand in hand (which isn’t what he said). For about two days there were folks getting up using the Koran to disprove that misstatement (at least the parts of the Koran that disproved it; what they did with the parts that do prove that misstatement is a mystery). Seeing that no one was believing it, they went and endorsed violence as the only way to correct this problem. And they apparently think that this makes perfect sense.

Read the Google headlines - there are fears of violence, violent protests, and calls for more violence in the wake of this misunderstanding. “Orthodox Islam isn’t violent, and if you don’t believe it we’ll just kill you!” Am I the only one that thinks this is nuts?

Did Ratzinger come out and say that pure Islam is violent? No, not really. He quoted someone else who did as an illustration. But he might as well have said that, for all flurry it caused. And he probably would have been right, too. Because whenever someone is ashamed about something, and that something gets fingered in a very public way, the typical reaction is not a calm, reasoned response. It’s usually an explosive tirade designed to deflect public attention away from that something. But when that something happens to be explosive in and of itself, there aren’t many other ways to turn. In the end, Islam will live by the sword. It’s been that way historically, and no amount of attention-deflecting can hide the fact that, in the four or five thousand years since Ishmael came and went, his descendants have been and will continue to be violent in their beliefs. Let’s stop pretending all these radical Muslims are really peaceful folks who are willing to live and let live. If anything, the events of this past week prove otherwise.

I was doing some more reading this afternoon on the Geno’s flap in South Philly. This after listening to the Mike Gallagher Show live from 9th and Passyunk in Philly. He invited the senior editorial writer from the Philadelphia Daily News (the other Philly newspaper) Deborah Leavy onto the phone lines. Ms. Leavy, it should be noted, was formerly the executive director of the area’s ACLU crowd and is still a raging feminist. Anywho, towards the end of the phone conversation, Gallagher was in his “flustering” mode - he’d just keep hitting hard on his caller until the caller got flustered and spit out something damaging. She folded after about three minutes. Funniest thing I’ve heard in a while. Eventually she mentioned that, really, she was more of a Pat’s fan (Pat’s King of Steaks is across the street and is considered Geno’s biggest rival).

Didn’t think anything of it until now. Now, two columnists for two papers (here and here) are saying the same thing - Pat’s is a better steakhouse, so of course Geno’s is in the wrong. By the way, it’s not just reporters - something tells me the heart of this little snit may have been corporate rivalry. Check out this quote from Fox News:

And a manager at Pat’s, Kathy Smith, said of Geno’s English-only policy: “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard in my life. I’d rather listen to the Spanish than the foul language of the college students.”

You know, that sign’s been up for a year before anyone took note of it. Reporters have seen that customers ordering in Spanish (or any other language, I suppose) are nonetheless coached through the ordering process. I think it’s obvious that Geno’s is not denying anyone service, which is what they’re being accused of. To discriminate against someone, action against them has to be taken. Joey Vento’s not taking action. He’s stating an opinion and going on with life. All that to say, I wonder if this issue isn’t so much the waking of a sleeping giant (as Gallagher put it) but rather a little jealousy on the part of Pat’s across the street. It’s hard to tell what came first - did legions of Pat’s fans get up and start this, hoping to bring bad publicity to Geno’s? Or did someone just happen to notice it and complain, in which case is the Pat’s vs. Geno’s thing a secondary discussion, possibly being used by the people who don’t appreciate the American language as a last-ditch effort to prove their position? I mean, tell me if this is a misrepresentation:

Geno’s Crowd: We support his right to state his opinion, and Americans should speak American.
Pat’s Crowd: We want that kind of sales volume.

Anyway, that’s a little local color in what has rapidly become a national debate. No doubt the big debate is focusing on 1st Amendment rights and the now-two-week-old law stating that official government stuff must be in English (which should have been a no-brainer), but I still wonder if it didn’t start out as sibling rivalry.

I don’t usually dabble in news blogging. After all, you’re talking to the guy who not once, not twice, but three times asked three different guys how their respective fiancees were doing, only to find out they’d broken up a few weeks before and still weren’t over each other. I typically hear my news from the guys who are usually the last to find anything out. Nevertheless, there is one news item out there that is being spoken about nation-wide (I was listening to the Russ & Lisa show for some strange reason this evening - they’re local Greenville folks, and they were talking about it) that happens to hit three issues very close to my heart: English as a national language, Philly, and Cheesesteaks (which hits physically pretty close to one’s heart, depending upon how many one consumes). So when a news item comes up that I can get three quick venting points out of (yes, bad grammar - sue me), I’m pretty happy to give it a go.

Let’s talk about the actual facts here. At the risk of sounding like every talk show host on the East Coast, the media’s not giving you the whole story.

Fact: Joey Vento, owner of Geno’s Cheesesteaks in South Philly, has a sign placed at his ordering window that reads: “This is America. When ordering, please speak English.”

Fact: He also has a second sign, in a completely different style, that reads: “Management reserves the right to refuse service.”

Fact: These signs are atop one another, but not connected to each other - they are two separate signs, not just one. The “Management refuses…” sign was up long before the “Speak English” sign went up.

Fact: The city is pretty divided on how they feel about this.

All right - first point is private business. Our Constitution says that the government (and by extension, the governed) may not discriminate on the basis of nationality, age, race, blah blah blah. The media spin on this one goes like so: He said Mexicans walk up and can’t say “Cheeze Wiz.” He has a sign saying “Speak English.” He has another sign about refusing service. Therefore, he will refuse service to anyone who doesn’t speak English. Therefore he’s being a discriminating pig, so let’s sue the tar out of him.

If you were nodding the whole way through that, you probably have less intelligence than a slice of proscuito. There are several leaps of “logic” that throw the whole thing into spin city. Starting at the backend, reporters in California assume he refuses service to non-English speaking people. He himself says he doesn’t, and that’s confirmed by bunches of customers, none of whom have been turned back. Next, those two signs aren’t necessarily (or actually) related. All businesses have the right to refuse service for their own reasons. Even if the English thing were a factor, he’s still got that right. By refusing people who speak any language other than English (and more languages exist than just English and Spanish, peeps) he’s not discriminating based on race. Suppose I’m Mexican, and I speak passable English. If he were banning non-English-ordering customers, I wouldn’t get banned. That one example alone confirms that he’s not discriminating against an entire national heritage.

But all this assumes he’s refusing people orders for not speaking English. Without any evidence to the contrary, I don’t think we can argue that. Taken at face value, two things are going on. With the first sign, he’s proclaiming his right to refuse service to people who are giving his workers a hard time, disrespecting something about him or the establishment, being disruptive, etc. All businesses have that right; he’s just confirming it in print. With the second sign, he’s making a political statement - this is America, and if you want to fit in, you should learn American.

Enter the intrepid City Council, who (like so many left-wing PC nuts) have decided to get offended on the behalf of the not-offended-but-should-be people. Apparently immigrants are either too illiterate or too stupid to take offense at being “discriminated against,” so it’s up to the smarter, more literate folks to be offended for them. (I’m being facetious, FYI.) Your Southpaw spin says that “these signs could offend immigrants who haven’t learned the language” (putting aside the fact that, if you can’t read the English sign, you can’t be offended by its content; and if you can read it, there’s no reason to get offended by its content) - consequently people with very Latino names are thinking of taking him to court. (Did I mention these people with Latino names speak flawless English? Just an observation.) This is, by the way, the same city that showed brotherly love for a guy who killed a cop just because the killer had a fake Arabic name. He was black and had a fake Arabic name! That must mean he’s not guilty! It’s also the same city that re-elected a mayor who was, at the time, under investigation by the FBI for a whole mess of charges, simply because the mayor claimed he was being oppressed by white people. So this whole mess with Geno’s is actually normal, in an abnormal sense.

Another neat fact is that he’s a 3rd generation Italian immigrant himself. It wasn’t until his grandparents started attending school that they had to learn English to actually get an education. If you’re more on the lebanon bologna side of the IQ scale, you’d probably see this as proof positive that immigrants should learn English. If you’re more on that proscuito side, you’d think that naturally it makes no sense for him to be complaining about immigrants not learning English when that’s exactly what his grandparents did. And if you just reread that sentence three times, scratched you head, and said, “What…?” then you’re smarter than a lot of folks. Hey, don’t take this “immigrants must learn English” stuff from me - my ancestors immigrated in the 1500s. Take it from him, who knows what it’s like to go around not knowing what anyone else is saying. Only difference is that now, the immigrants are telling us that we have to change for them.

Bottom line: Rush Limbaugh theorizes often that the liberals in this country need victims to survive, and that their survival instinct demands that they keep the victims in their current state, or else make new ones. This concept of being offended on behalf of people who clearly aren’t offended fits right in there. Personally, I agree with the guy completely. I think it’s better for immigrants in the long run to learn English so they can actually live the traditional American dream, which is NOT to sit at home all day, watch soap operas, and collect welfare checks to buy more Corona. I agree that he has a right to run his business as he pleases, provided he’s not violating any laws. And I agree that his place is the original home of the Cheesesteak.

Stay tuned for more updates and general mocking of the morons running that wonderful town.

I was browsing ABC News this evening, and I came across this story. One of Philly’s most famous landmarks, Geno’s Steaks, a staple on the campaign trail (Bush, Kerry, Clinton, etc. all stopped there for lunch at one point or another), has put up a sign ordering customers to speak English. Read the article, then watch the video. This guy, Joe Vento, is just plain Philly through and through.

Note to the other guys on the road trip: we’re stopping here for lunch. No questions asked. Pay no attention to the nutritional information about cheesesteaks on the bottom of the screen.

Normally I hate doing things for the sake of tradition…but today I participated in one tradition I hope never dies. Every year, for the last society meeting, Z meets and has a steak cookout. This tradition was started by the great Melchizidek (or Jon Michalek, if you prefer) three or four years ago and has continued every year since. I have always been an eager participant in the cooking process. This year was no different. “Ich bin der grillmeister!” is something I frequently shout out. I had help, too - die zwei Untergrillmeisters Josh Sexton and Alden Park. Here’s to ya, boys. We cooked a lot of raw meat to all order specifications, and then we chose our prizes and cooked them with love and care not shown to the rest. After all, we were the last to eat, so no one was clamoring “I wanted a medium well and you gave me a medium! Swine!” Okay, no one said that. But we took our time and pulled off the perfect slabs of meat. I chose a moderately thick piece and grilled it to a perfect medium rare. Ah…good times.

Finished the last exams today. Now I’m fried, and that little filter that catches all my sarcasm before it escapes my mouth was gone by 3 in the afternoon, instead of 1 in the morning like usual. So I really need to hit the sack before I really tick someone off.

One question…with some background. The background is our patriotic program we’re singing for Commencement Concert in three days. One of the songs is René Clausen’s Memorial, written for the 1st anniversary of the 9-11 attacks. In there is a line taken from Psalm 22:1 [+/-] [22:1]My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? (and later quoted by Christ on the cross) - “My God, why has thou forsaken me?” We’re singing along, and I just stopped. Okay - the terrorists carried out these attacks in the name of Allah - in the name of [g]od. So why are we, Christians who believe Allah to be not a god at all, a false god, why are we asking the true God why He’s forsaken us? Forget the obvious theological problem of comparing the attacks on the WTC to the death of Christ. Not even going there - I guess we’re not supposed to think about that and just sing the words, because we can do that because it’s not a sacred song and the words don’t matter. </sarcasm> More to the point, I think, is that in our haste to be remorseful and in our desire to remember those folks who died, we are each and every time allowing those godless men to win the day! Their attacks were as much motivated by politics as religion - only an absolute moron with an IQ of mayonnaise would deny that. So when we question God’s motives on that day, they’re winning. Their god has taken the stage from the true God.

But it’s all about the music, right? The music stirs up angst, remorse, and a general warm fuzzy feeling that may or may not be related to those three chalupas you had at Taco Bell before you came to the program. (Actually, chalupas sound pretty good right about now…) And that’s the point - to run everyone on an emotional tour of America. Well, I suppose it’s succeeded, then.

One more quote before I pack it in. “And even should the clouds of barbarism and despotism again obscure the science and liberties of Europe, this country remains to preserve and restore light and liberty to them” (emphasis mine). Who do you think said that? Sounds a lot like the current doctrine of “let’s rush in there with our military and start a war that has nothing to do with us so we can spread our brand of democracy around the world” that America seems to find itself using today, huh? Would you believe that was written more than 200 years ago? Thomas Jefferson’s the author. Seems like America has always seen herself as a country whose purpose is to enforce democracy around the world. Why? Why is it our job? Why should we spend our time and money, and why should we sacrifice our citizens just so some ungrateful nomads on the other side of the planet can risk their lives voting? Here’s another quote: “Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just.” That’s from our national anthem, folks. Read the last stanza sometime, the one that never gets sung anymore. Every time in the last 60 years that we’ve gone into some insect-infested nation for the purpose of establishing democracy, it’s been a disaster. Now, I like democracy. Nothing against it. But why does everyone in the world have to conform to our standard? Food for thought.

Yeah. Speaking of being busy. I don’t think I actually had a weekend this week. So reading assignments went unread, and listening assignments turned into experiments on the effects of background string quartets on work. (Result: maybe it was just that particular string quartet [Beethoven’s in E minor, op. 59, no. 2] but it’s a bad genre for working.) However, one perk of grad school is that there are no longer quiz grades handed out for reading on time. Which means I can skip the reading assignments until I actually have the cash to buy the books. (Why is it that the cost of textbooks rises proportionally with the cost of education and inversely to the amount of income?)

On the list update side of things, we’ve got an addition to report - Zack Walters, currently sitting out and making money (lots of it, if I read right) has had a site for a while, I just never knew about it. Or something. Anyway, his site, Grounded Reality, reminds me of a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon wherein Calvin, assigned to write a book report on dinosaurs (”All I have to do is write all I know about dinosaurs! For once, I’m guaranteed a good grade!”) builds a thinking cap out of a metal colander. He attaches wires to it, “to keep [his] ideas grounded in reality.” While Hobbes remarks that it’s a little late for that, Calvin proceeds to announce his intention to build a transformer for the Atomic Cerebral Enhance-o-Tron. All that to say - if you look real hard, you’ll find some stuff on Zack’s site that’s grounded in reality.

Finally, what’s with Massachusetts? Why on earth do they keep putting Ted Kennedy in front of the nation? Even most liberal democrats think the man’s off his rocker. I mean, when some of the most liberal papers start complaining about how he’s turning Alito’s hearings into a personal smear campaign for his own enjoyment, there’s a problem. Dave Barry suggests it’s genetic, or perhaps something in the air. A few quotes:

regarding the election of George Washington:

The leading contender in the first presedential election race was George Washington, who waged a campaign based on heavy exposure in media such as coins, stamps, and famous oil paintings. This shrewd strategy carried him to a landslide victory in which he carried every state except Massachusetts, which voted for George McGovern.

regarding the 1972 election:

He [Nixon] got a lot of help from the Democrats, who, continuing the tradition they established in 1968 of appearing to be incapable of operating an electric blanket, let alone the country, nominated George McGovern, who had exhibited a wide-ranging appeal to a broad cross section of nearly fourteen voters. The result was that in the 1972 election Nixon carried all the states and every major planet except Massachusetts.

regarding US Foreign policy in the Reagan era:

Look closely at Central America, and try to imagine what would happen if this vital region were to fall into Communist hands. What would happen is a lot of Communists would be stung repeatedly by vicious tropical insects the size of mature hamsters. We cannot afford to have this happen. We cannot afford to have a horde of Communists down there becoming so cranky and welt-covered that eventually, just for an excuse to get out of the jungle, they foment a revolution in Mexico, which means you’d have Communist guerrilla troops right next to Texas. I doubt if they could take Texas by force. Texas has the largest fleet of armed pickup trucks of any major power, and any invading guerrilla army would be shot and run over repeatedly before it got half a mile, especially if it invaded on a Saturday night. So the Communists would have to use a psychological approach. They’d win the Texans over by such ploys as holding barbecues, wearing big hats and promising to extend the football season. Once Texas went Communist, Oklahoma would follow quickly, followed by Nebraska, followed by whatever state is next to Nebraska, and so on until the entire nation had turned Communist except Massachusetts, which is already very left-wing and consequently would turn Republican.

Ah, well. It’s not a bad state, really…except that around Boston drivers violate not only the traffic laws but also the laws of physics. But that doesn’t speak of their politics. And since I’ve pretty much forgotten why I started saying this, let me sign off now before I write something embarrassing.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5119324

I like Arlen Specter. He’s a pretty fair guy, and has done a pretty good job representing my half of PA in the US Senate. And he’s from Philly, an avid Eagles and Phillies fan. But I think that, right now, he needs to stick his head in a bucket of ice water for a few minutes. Specter, who admits he’s as hostile towards TO as any other green-blooded Philadelphian, thinks that he may bring anti-trust law to bear against the NFL for upholding TO’s suspension. For those living in areas with no football reception, Terrell Owens was canned from the Eagles for making derogatory comments and basically being a stubborn clot. Not only was he suspended for four games without pay, but the team’s paying him the minimum for him to stay away from any of the team’s facilities and being even more disruptive than he already is. This has caused the city to come out against him in a fashion that hasn’t been seen since Eric Lindros whined to his daddy about the way he was being forced to play hurt.

So now Specter’s making something up about vindictiveness and inappropriateness and a very nebulous “restraint of trade” charge. I personally think he’s trying to have it both ways. He doesn’t want to alienate his neighbors by supporting the unsupportable; but he wants to stay on the up-and-up should the NFL find itself needing a friend. This, incidentally, is why I have absolutely zero time for anything political. I hate the games, I hate the double-talk, and I hate the trying to please everyone.

Senator Specter: chill.

Independent Online Edition > World Politics

I find it somewhat amusing that Democrats are forgetting that their fearless leader, the Right Man for the Job, their much-beloved former President, Bill Clinton, once took the nation to war with Iraq to distract attention from his impeachment hearings. Now he’s saying that it’s a colossal mistake…as if the idea weren’t his in the first place. And where were the pundits complaining about an “unjust war” when Clinton started shelling Baghdad and sending US troops in? Oh, yeah…I forgot. And keep forgetting. Democrats are always right, and Republicans are always wrong. Silly me.

AP Wire | 10/12/2005 | Venezuela’s Chavez orders U.S. missionary group to leave country

If you’re too lazy to read the article, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez gave all the New Tribes (website) missionaries their marching orders today, and those marching orders are orders to march straight out of Venezuela. Granted, Pat Robertson called for Chavez’ assassination a few weeks ago, so I suppose he has a right and a reason to do what he did.

I have to wonder if this is religious persecution (as I’m sure some will immediately see it as) or a result of Patty’s pie hole. I didn’t see anything in Chavez’ latest rant that said he hated the fact that they were Christians. He’s more concerned that they’re CIA spies. So I would tend not to view this as religious persecution. Seems to me this is a corporate version of I Peter 2:20 - “For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.” Short version: Pat Robertson sinned, and missionaries are being beaten for it.

Next time keep your mouth shut, Mr. Robertson. There are enough people in Christian camps that shoot their mouth from their hip without you making things worse. In this case, paranoid as he is, I think I sympathize with Chavez’ position. Courtesy of his instability and your tongue a good number of the misisonaries in Venezuela are being ordered out. Congratulations.

Oh, and quote of the day: “they take away sensitive, strategic information.” Yes, sensitive and strategic information. About Venezuela. And about Chavez’ secret mystery cabinet made up of men from Mars. So our military doesn’t get its collective behind kicked when we invade. From outer space. HELLO!!!! Remote mountaintop villages? What - are they reporting on the movements of parrots? How much sensitive information is there to be spied upon when you’re 8,000 feet above sea level, covered in a thick canopy of clouds, and miles away from the capital?? Get this man some Valium and a nice comfortable padded room!

Or perhaps unreal. Check out this quote from Louisana Governor Kathleen Blanco as cited on rediff.com:

Governor Kathleen Blanco called the looters ‘hoodlums’ and issued a warning to lawbreakers: hundreds of National Guard troops hardened on the battlefield in Iraq have landed in New Orleans.

“They have M-16s and they’re locked and loaded,” she said. “These troops know how to shoot and kill, they are more than willing to do so and I expect they will.”

Maybe it’s just the way the copy was said…but the idea that we’re bringing in our own military with shoot-to-kill orders against our own citizens is, frankly, disturbing. I know, desparate times and measures and all that good stuff, but couldn’t we at least use rubber bullets and beanbag shotguns? Haven’t enough people died in this storm and its aftermath without the most powerful military in the world killing more?

FOXNews.com - U.S. & World - Robertson: I Didn’t Say ‘Kill’ Chavez

“I didn’t say we should kill him, just assassinate him. Really!”

Other “humorous statements of the decade” -

• State Department spokesman Sean McCormack on Tuesday called Robertson’s remarks “inappropriate.” - No…really? You don’t say! Congrats, McCormak, you’ve won the “understatement of the year” award.
• Rumsfeld said he knew of no consideration ever being given to the idea of assassinating Chavez. “Our department doesn’t do that kind of thing. It’s against the law,” he said. - Not that illegal things are actually off-limits to the government.
• …some foreign-policy experts regard him [Chavez] as little more than a blowhard. - How many dictators of 3rd-world countries aren’t pretentious blowhards?
• …polls suggest he [Chavez] is the favorite [for an upcoming election]. - anyone want to hazard a guess at who runs the polls for Chavez?

Pat Robertson is an idiot. If that statement makes me a democrat, then I’m a democrat. But to go on the air and say what he said indicates a serious lack of connection between the brain and the mouth…and this isn’t the first time his mouth has gotten him in hot water. Honestly he probably does more harm than good to his “constituents.”

This morning I was listening to one of my favorite conservative talk shows during my morning rounds (Russ & Lisa on AM 1330, website here; note that Dr. Sobel looks exactly like I thought he would), and I heard something vaguely surprising. According to one site, Russ Cassell is a “former disc jockey turned immigrant-bashing xenophobe” and, given some of his comments, I’m inclined to believe there’s a little grain of truth in that assessment, overbearing though it may be. Generally, talk radio down here scares up the most interesting crowd - usually ultra-conservative rednecks (I mean that in every possible kind sense of the word) who have opinions, not necessarily intelligent, and who want everyone in a fifty-mile radius to hear them. (In case it’s not blindingly obvious at the moment, I’m not a big fan of talk radio, but there’s nothing else on the airwaves down here worth listening to.) This morning was just too much.

I don’t know what the argument was at the beginning - I was fixing a laptop across campus when the hour started - but as I was driving back the topic drifted to what the United States’ repose should be to terrorism. Out of morbid curiousity I kept listening. Sure enough, Redneck A calls in and floats the idea that, for every terrorist attack anywhere in the world, the US should bomb a major city in either Iran or Syria, our choice. Any thinking human being (here I am not referring to Redneck A) would dismiss this as overly reactionary and absolutely the wrong thing to do. I suppose the thought process is that, with enough leveled cities, the terrorists would return home to rebuild…or something. To my absolute surprise, Russ agreed that perhaps this was the way to go. He was a little vague, which made me think he was just trying to dismiss Redneck A without flat out telling him his idea should have landed him a place in an asylum. But then Redneck B gets on the line and suggests bombing the tar out of Iraq for the fun of it. Okay, so he didn’t say “for the fun of it,” but here was his reasoning: the terrorists are from Iraq; therefore, all Iraqis are terrorists and should be killed. He actually claimed on radio that he thought all the Iraqis should be killed off. Even more surprising was that Russ actually agreed to this madness.

So then Lisa Rollins (who looks nothing like what I was thinking) gets on and absolutely lays into this guy. What about the 80% of Iraqis who are thanking US troops? Should we kill them, too? Says Redneck B, yup. She starts putting out real facts to him about what Iraqis are saying, about how many terrorists are actually from Iraq, and (I have to admit to laughing hard at this) the guy starts literally sputtering on the phone. He has no idea what to say, so like so many uninformed (read: stupid) people, he resorts to dogmatism, facts or no facts. Even Russ was sputtering!

Sadly, racism like this dies hard here in the Bible Belt. It never ceases to amaze me the callous racism (whether intentional or otherwise; I can’t judge motives) that I occasionally see down here. Being on the road less travelled a lot, I come across phrases like “the black man,” a phrase that while meaning nothing in itself, hearkens back to a time when that phrase connoted inferiority. Recently I heard someone say, “We send missionsaries to Africa to save the black man, but we don’t talk to the black man next door!” Maybe it’s just where I grew up, but that phrase sounded enormously condescending. Then to hear these two callers suggest that all Iraqis are terrorists just because of the country in which they live…it just steamed me. I suppose some things, like bad habits and racist philosophies, just die hard.

CNN.com - Bullies need not apply - Apr 18, 2005

Tell me that Bob Jones III, the president of the segregationist South Carolina university of the same name, has been nominated as chairman of the Civil Rights Commission.

I thought we were over this by now. Suddenly I’ve lost any respect for CNN’s factual reporting arm. Of course, it’s been a while since I’ve bothered to check CNN for anything at all. The only reason this caught my eye was because it was a headling on Google news. I can’t fault Gnews - it’s a robot searching for the most popular news stories. So far as I know it has no human editor. But CNN should know better. “Segregationist”? Perhaps you could make that case up until a few years ago when the infamous ban on inter-racial dating was in force. But every dictionary I’ve checked says something along the lines of “One that advocates or practices a policy of racial segregation” or “someone who believes the races should be kept apart.”

I’ve heard from quite a few people that are more in the PR side of things that the number one annoying thing the media does to BJU is that they keep resurrecting a dead horse for the purpose of beating it once again. That dead horse is usually the inter-racial dating ban, though there are a few others. Now, if Mark Shields wanted to write his opening paragraph is “Tell me that Bob Jones III, the president of the anti-homosexual SC university of the same name, has been nominated as chairman of the [insert gay organization name here],” that’d be fine, because it would be a.) true and b.) shocking. His opening is a.) not true and therefore b.) kinda humorous. Quite the opposite effect on thinking people from what he was planning, I imagine. On the other hand, one might argue that the liberal left, in its attempts to shock and provoke, are merely being weak and vaguely funny, at least to those who analyze their argumetns. Then again, the only people anymore that are listening to the liberal left are the people that don’t think for themselves. That means that your more radical left elements are preaching to the choir and no one else, and that even their own party members are occasionally trying to distance themselves from their own.

Okay, I’m done channeling Rush Limbaugh here. I think I’m also done complaining about this factual errancy. In fact, I’ve probably given this guy more press than he deserves. Oh well.

I think I’ve earned my $0.50 for using the word “paradigm” correctly.

I’ve read a number of articles out there that are wondering out loud if Condi (Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice) is going to be on any sort of ticket in 2008. To be sure, 2008 seems like the best chance this country is ever going to see, at least for the forseeable future, of having a woman running for President. Want a real earth-shaker? Think Rice vs. Clinton (Hillary) with both candidates running for prez at the same time. Early speculation says that’s entirely possible. Who else do the Democrats have? Al Gore just needs to retire and write his memoirs if he thinks anyone is actually going to read them. Bill Clinton can just stay abroad for all anyone in this country cares. (Hey, anyone out there want to keep him? France, maybe? I’m quite certain Hillary won’t mind.) Rumblings have been out there that say Kerry might make a run at it, and unless he actually learned something last year that would be the best possible news for Republicans. “We’ve done it before, and we can do it again!” would be their battle cry. Watch for an absolute field trip if that happened. Howard Dean? His own state didn’t vote for him! Besides, I’m not sure Americans would be comfortable with a President who took every camera moment to either hug, embrace, or throw his arms around Kerry, who probably used the same stuff he put in his hair to keep his smile on. (”Dean! How many times do I have to tell you NOT to hug me warmly…anytime!”) Maybe Guiliani could swap parties - he’s about as liberal as Republicans come; he’d be about as conservative as Democrats come if he did.

On the Republican side of the coin, there’s Jeb Bush (who I would dismiss out-of-hand as having lost the election before he started, Florida notwithstanding); the afore-mentioned Condi, who is as smart as Cheney is but with a personality; and Cheney, who is smart, more-or-less healthy, but lacking anything that could be remotely called a “personality.” Just don’t tick him off. (I foresee US/Russian tensions flaring if Cheney ever went to a reception in Moscow and had one too many vodkas in him…I mean, he was sober on the Senate floor when he gave his suggestion to a disagreeing senator!) I understand that Cheney would be the best idea, since he was the brains behind a lot of what’s going on right now…but that could be bad for him, especially considering there’s people out there that are ready to go to Canada now that Bush is in for a second term. (You think it’s bad here? Strange how Canadian enforcement of “freedom of speech” is in reality limiting the same. Wait…sounds like what’s going on here…) So you really want to elect the guy that thought up the whole Iraq/Afghanistan/[Iran] invasion plans? Just give that guy power - the Veep can’t tie his shoes without permission - and watch the rest of the world become American. Or not. But at least that’s what they’ll say.

So is the country ready for that paradigm shift? Are we ready for a woman to have that kind of power? Even if Cheney ran for prez with Condi as his veep, it’d still be a shocker. Bad? Now that’s the question. All I know is, I’m still not ready to hear someone referred to as the “First Husband.”

World Peace Herald

Just days after North Korea became the world’s first mental ward armed with nuclear weapons, China (who we all know is looking out for the safety and peace of the world) announced that it would bring N. Korea to talks to remove those weapons. I find so many funny things about this. The first is N. Korea’s reasoning for weapons and the United States’ response to that reason. N. Korea said it was worried about threats to its borders and was using its nukes as a deterrent to anyone that might think to attack. The U.S. scoffed at this reason…but why does the U.S. keep nukes on hand? Could it be as a detterent? So here’s a superpower telling a mental ward that what’s good for the goose is definitely wrong for the gander. Patriotic as I am, that’s a weak argument. Second, we’ve got China acting out of the goodness of its heart? Excuse me while I stop laughing. First, China has its own nukes - neither they nor anyone else has credibility to stand up and say, “See, you don’t really need these things to assure your own peace and safety.” This whole conference, on that point, is probably useless. Second, what are they worried about? They’re both Communist. One might be more radical than the other, but they both sleep, if not in the same bed, then at least in the same room. The worst that could happen is that they could see secondary effects from wind-blown radioactive debris…and we know China generally doesn’t care about the people of its country as long as the people in question aren’t in the ruling class. Third, since when has China done anything because they want to help the good ol’ U.S. of A.? On the flip side, it’s entirely possible they’re worried about MFN status and are trying to cozy up to Bush. The finaly funny thing I see in this is the patronizing tone that China’s taking. “Oh, you couldn’t do anything to get them to stop? Don’t you worry about a thing. Uncle China will make sure the mean old North Koreans treat you nice, you hear?” I still think the military attitude of other countries thinking they’re all big and bad is really humorous, when you think about it. What good does a standing army of one million do you when you have no way of getting them overseas? China’s air force? Pretty much Cold-War-era Russian yard sale leftovers. China’s Navy? A few submarines here and there, but you can’t transport a million ground troops underwater. The United States’ air force, on the other hand? Bases in just about every country on the map with a fleet of transport planes that can get our soldiers anywhere on the planet in 12 hours. Our Navy? Just talking about the aircraft carriers is enough - floating cities with their own zip codes. Portable military bases, if you want to think of them that way. So many other nations are cocky about their military, thinking that they can stand in the same class as the US when it comes to military matters, but they’re so very wrong. And because they think they’re all that, they think they can adopt a patronizing tone with us. News flash: the US is in a class by itself, all things considered.

In Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles, towards the end of the collection, an accident causes Australia’s nuclear arsenel to go up all at once, vaporizing the continent. I keep wondering of something like that might happen to N. Korea. I wonder how the world would respond…

I just stumbled across this Non-Sequitur cartoon this afternoon. He has to be talking about Michael Moore.

I’m reasonably sure the cartoonist is left of center (slightly liberal), further proving that pretty much everyone except Moore’s loyal band of brainwashees…er, followers, loves picking on him.

:second time posting this…thank you, Scripturizer plugin…:

Our story begins a few months ago with the death of a Marine in Iraq. He maintained an @yahoo.com email account. After he was killed, his family requested that Yahoo! deliver his email account to them so they could keep track of his last affairs and such. Reasonable request. Only Yahoo wasn’t so reasonable. They rigidly stick to their laws - accounts expire in the event of the death of the account holder, or 90 days after the last login, whichever occurs first. No password, no email; it doesn’t matter that the people asking for the email are the grieving parents of the soldier.

Do what you will with this. Boycott ‘em, email ‘em, whatever. Me, I’m going to go find a new internet portal that’s a little more patriotic…or at least understanding.